The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage

5.

It took Seong’s party only 1 hour to reach the 96th floor.

Even looking at it again, the record was so astonishing that Luna clicked her tongue and shook her head.

In Luna’s team’s case, in that same 1 hour they had barely broken through the 92nd floor and were now only descending to the 93rd.

He’s really incredible.

She marveled inwardly, but she didn’t let her focus slip.

Upon reaching the 93rd floor and fighting the boss wrapped in the power of Destruction, it was only natural that Luna was the one who had to put in the most work.

Among the backup teams, Luna’s team was evaluated as having the weakest members.

Even so, each of them was definitely strong enough to count as a first-division expert in a major guild.

More than anything, aside from Luna, all three were Legendary grade.

They weren’t lacking in any serious way.

Even so, it was inevitable that they were gradually getting caught up to by Kyou and Embris’s teams.

Luna was the strongest among the three leaders, but since the overall balance of the teams was nearly perfect, the gap wasn’t widening; if anything, it was shrinking.

Even so, while Luna was barely keeping a lead, she gradually began to notice something strange.

Huh?

Mihael’s party, the one Seong was in—the party that had reached the 96th floor in only about an hour—was still stuck on the 96th floor.

She stared at that, puzzled, wondering what was going on.

Just in case, she checked the chat.

All she saw was several chats being chopped up by the spoiler-prevention function.

It was a mode turned on to keep people from revealing each other’s circumstances—what players commonly called “cuckooing”—so it only made Luna more curious.

And so, when Luna’s team was the first to reach the 95th floor—

The moment they stepped in, before the stairs leading down could close, Luna tilted her head, feeling a strange presence from the passage toward the stairs.

There was definitely something there...

Just then, Longfeng looked at Luna and asked what was wrong.

“Team leader? What’s up?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Focus, you failure thief.”

“Yeah, you too, reverse archer.”

“Yaaawn, everyone, let’s concentrate.”

At a glance they looked like they were bickering, but every one of them was focused, so Luna threw away her idle thoughts for now.

Without trying to overthink it, Luna rushed toward the black shadow human, which was far darker than before, and began the battle.

The fight against the black shadow human who possessed the power of Destruction was even fiercer than anything up to now.

Of course, Luna used the power of the Primordial Barbarian Lord she wielded to hold the thing in place while the others came in to cover and attack.

Naturally, Luna carried the most weight, and she was in a position the team simply could not do without.

Even the slightest mistake on her part could wipe the entire party, but that never happened.

KAAAAA-BOOOOOOM———!!!

The Almighty-grade class Primordial Barbarian Lord.

It had some similarities to her previous class, Primordial Barbarian Warrior, but it had become overwhelmingly superior.

The way her stats increased the more she exposed herself was similar, but now she didn’t need to wear an outfit as close to a bikini as before to get the full effect. Luna’s outfit was actually fairly covering.

Of course—

Wow, this is such a feast for the eyes...

Somehow it’s even sexier half-covered...

I can’t even type in chat...

The viewers felt that despite being more covered than before, she somehow seemed even sexier, and they couldn’t help but gulp.

Anyway, Luna’s class, now even stronger, didn’t wield a sword anymore; it was bare-handed.

And as it happened, the enemy, the black shadow human, was bare-handed too.

KWA-BOOM——!!!

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Their fists, one wrapped in the aura of Destruction and the other strong enough to match it, collided countless times.

The sight of a delicate-looking woman trading blows with a muscular-looking black silhouette was nothing short of spectacular.

Holy crap;;;

Unnie, you’re so cool!!!!

She looks so pure, but seeing her fight like that... gulp.

Unnie, take me please, waaah.

The female viewers were going wild too.

She was using movements like a fighter girl, employing martial arts, striking, grappling on the ground, responding flexibly, and clearly showing very high-level combat skill.

Everyone was stunned by the exceptional battle—

And Luna’s team, supporting and covering her, was likewise extremely impressive.

Longfeng, called the Failure Thief, attacked by stacking failure values and then slamming in explosive damage.

Reverse Archer, Hwa-Wol, who shot her bow from melee range, narrowed the distance like before, but this time her arrows didn’t pierce; they exploded massively.

And Elzahar, the so-called Binding Mage, bound himself and gradually gathered energy, unleashing still stronger spells over a wide area onto the black shadow human.

With attacks pouring from all directions, the black shadow human, already irritated by Luna alone, tried to escape somehow, but couldn’t.

KWA-BOOOM!

Whenever it showed even the smallest opening, Luna rushed in, unleashed barbaric energy, and drove her fists forward.

Using the Lord’s presence correctly, Luna’s speed was terrifyingly fast, and the moment the black shadow human revealed even a sliver of an opening, she thrust dozens of punches into its face.

When the creature took the blows directly and smashed into the wall—

Longfeng’s daggers, charged with accumulated ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) failure, poured in like explosions, and moments later Hwa-Wol closed in and her arrows detonated.

Chunks of the wall ripped away, and when the black shadow human bounced out—

Elzahar’s magic detonated again, slamming it back into the wall.

But just as the creature tried to get up and pull away—

Luna’s two feet tore through the air faster than sound and rammed into the black shadow human’s abdomen.

KAAAAAA-BOOOOOOM———!!!

CRRRRACK-CRRRRACK-CRRRRACK————!!

“Kuhk!”

The entire cavern shook wildly, vibrating harder than an earthquake.

All the force slammed into the black shadow human.

They had already been fighting for over twenty minutes.

In the end, the black shadow human couldn’t endure Luna’s dropkick and vanished, disintegrating.

The moment they cleared the 95th floor—

The original door leading down began to open, and as always, Luna checked the rankings.

And then—

[Mugan Ranking]

[1st Place (tie) – Mihael Party: 96th Floor]

[1st Place (tie) – Demon King Backup Team 1, Luna Party: 96th Floor]

[2nd Place (tie) – Demon King Backup Team 2, Kyou Party: 95th Floor]

[2nd Place (tie) – Demon King Backup Team 3, Embris Party: 95th Floor]

Luna’s team was recorded on the 96th floor first by a tiny margin.

After a moment, Kyou’s and Embris’s teams were also recorded on the 96th floor.

But Mihael’s party, with Seong, was still on the 96th floor.

What on earth was going on?

Seong had reached the 96th floor an hour ago.

Did that mean he hadn’t been able to clear it for a full hour?

Or was he intentionally holding back?

Those thoughts came, but Luna shook her head; neither possibility made sense.

She figured they’d find out once they went down.

Luna said:

“Let’s hurry down. I think something’s there.”

At her words, everyone nodded and descended.

Luna’s team was the first to arrive, and when they looked around—

They saw a familiar face.

It was Seong and his team, Mihael’s party.

“H-huh?”

“Demon King?”

“What are you doing here...?”

“Oh my.”

While Luna’s team stood there dumbfounded—

Kyou’s and Embris’s parties also reached the 96th floor, and sure enough, everyone looked a bit confused.

No one had expected to gather together like this.

At that moment, Seong approached them with a small smile.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

“To be precise, we had no choice but to wait.”

Mihael, standing behind him, added to his words.

They had no choice but to wait?

Hearing that, all three newly arrived teams looked around the cavern.

And sure enough, a system window appeared.

[At least 3 teams are required to proceed.]

[Conditions satisfied.]

[Current number of teams: 4]

Seeing that, everyone finally seemed to understand and nodded.

They had cleared everything separately this whole time, and only now were they required to gather teams.

It was ridiculous, but everyone nodded as if it was actually convenient.

“This works out better. We can merge the streams, and we backup teams can help too.”

“It started as a competitive event, sure, but it’s been fun up to now.”

As Seong said that, Luna was about to nod when—

Kyou spoke.

“Hm, setting the Demon King aside, our team is in second place.”

Embris heard that and tilted her head incredulously.

“...What? We came first.”

“Hm, in this humble one’s eyes, our team was first.”

When Kim Che-geon joined in, a strange tension rose between the two teams, and just as Seong gave a slight chuckle and was about to calm them—

[A portion of the Lord of Despair’s mind awakens.]

[The 96th-floor Lord of Despair’s Eye is born.]

With that system message, a single ash-gray eye suddenly began forming in the cavern.

The eyeball wasn’t even fully formed yet, but—

Everyone could feel it.

Compared to this, the black shadow humans were nothing.

Even incomplete, the eye scattered despair around the cavern as it formed.

Seeing that, the earlier bickering vanished as everyone focused completely on battle.

Seong looked at it and grinned.

The Lord was finally starting to appear.

But he also wondered why the Lord of Despair awakened first.

Well, that was something they could figure out gradually.

Throwing away his idle thoughts, Seong said:

“For now, let’s focus.”