Level -99 Archmage

Chapter 1. Return of the Archmage

“Impressive, human!”

The Dragon God, Sephiro, looked down from the middle of the Dragon God’s Temple and let out an exclamation of admiration.

A human. A race so inferior that even mere insects were considered superior to them, and now one of them had dared to pierce the heart of a Dragon God!

But the most astonishing part was that the damage to his body had been inflicted by magic.

The dragons were the undisputed rulers of magic. And at the top of those dragons was Sephiro, the Dragon God, the one who reigned over all magic. For him to be wounded by magic was nothing short of inconceivable.

“I shall personally grant you the title of ‘Archmage.’ You may boast about it wherever you go!”

No other human had ever received such recognition from Sephiro. In fact, among all the races in existence, no one had ever been called an Archmage by him. Any who attempted to imitate dragon magic had always been pathetic at best. Even those who had been granted magical abilities could barely use them properly—mere fools, not even worth to be called mediocre.

But the human standing before him was different.

“Human, what is your name?”

“…Your mom.”

Park Chan-woo, breathing heavily, raised his middle finger.

It was his final attack, his last strike, into which he had poured every ounce of his magic. Yet, it had only managed to destroy one of Sephiro’s twelve hearts.

Even if he was called an Archmage, his opponent was still the God of Magic. Among the twelve alien races that had invaded Earth, the dragon race was one of the three strongest—and Sephiro stood at their peak.

From the very beginning, the outcome had already been decided.

Before long, the wound in his chest had completely regenerated, healed by his super-regeneration ability. Sephiro ignored Park Chan-woo’s insult and tilted his head.

“But why do you only use basic magic? With your intelligence, you should be capable of understanding and mastering high-level magic as well.”

“…”

Park Chan-woo remained silent.

Because it was true.

The magic that had pierced Sephiro’s heart was merely Fireball—a basic spell that 90% of all mages learned as their very first magic.

Sephiro smirked as he realized why Chan-woo had stayed silent.

“Ah, I see. You started down the path of magic too late. That’s why you had no choice but to cling to basic spells. It’s already a miracle that you pushed basic magic to the Tenth level, but that was the limit, wasn’t it?”

…He was right.

It was too late.

Originally, Park Chan-woo had not been a mage. His first class was Berserker. After three class advancements, he had become a Knight. And only much later had he realized his talent and started learning magic.

The only spells he could use were basic magics.

Because of this, he had earned the title of “The First Magic Swordsman”

But to him, that title was akin to a nightmare.

“But don’t be disappointed. At the very least, the basic magic you wield has surpassed the existing magical framework. It has even reached the point where it could be considered an entirely new system of magic. In the endless lifetime of mine, you are the first to intrigue me this much. Therefore—”

Sephiro was excited.

This was the first time he had ever spoken this much. Magic was chanted through words, and words themselves contained power. Speaking carelessly could alter reality, which was why dragons rarely spoke.

But the human before him had ignited his curiosity.

Clap!

Sephiro clapped his hands. At the same moment, twelve suns appeared above his head. This was magic beyond the tenth realm. a level even ancient dragons could not use freely without engraving thousands of pre casted magic circles in advance.

Yet, Sephiro had manifested it with no incantation, no magic circle.

That was the overwhelming gap in innate abilities.

An existence beyond the reach of mere mortals.

And so, he showed it. That a world existed beyond human comprehension, That no matter how hard they struggled, they could never reach it.

Smiling, Sephiro declared,“I shall dissect your brain.”

“…When did I ever say…”

At that moment—

Park Chan-woo lifted his head.

Was he about to fall into despair, having witnessed the insurmountable difference in power?

No.

Not a trace of despair was visible in his eyes.

Instead—

“When did I ever say I could only use basic magic?”

“…?”

“O God of Sacrifice! I offer you everything I have—along with the Dragon God, Sephiro!”

“Hmm? Are you offering me as a sacrifice?”

Sephiro blinked in confusion.

Sacrifices could only be offered from one’s own possessions. Moreover, he had never even heard of “God of Sacrifice”. And the idea of offering him as a sacrifice was even more absurd.

“…Wait.”

Sephiro looked down.

The wound that had fully regenerated was splitting open again. More importantly, one of his twelve hearts, which should have been destroyed, was still beating.

‘An illusion? No. There’s no way I would fall for such magic.’

It wasn’t an illusion.

It was a far more intricate spell. It wasn’t just a simple mind trick…

“…Domain Magic. A human has mastered a twelfth realm magic?”

Chan-woo had sacrificed all of his mana to seize control over one of Sephiro’s hearts. And Sephiro had mistaken it for being destroyed.

But why?

Because he had believed that humans could only use basic magic. And up until this moment, Park Chan-woo had only used basic magic to reach the Dragon God’s Temple. However the gap between basic magic and twelfth realm magic was like heaven and earth.

Domain Magic required an extremely advanced level of spellcasting. There were only a few beings in existence capable of using it.

“Even so, you can only control one heart.”

“That’s all I need.”

Park Chan-woo grinned, displaying his teeth.

He had bought enough time to fully seize control of one of Sephiro’s hearts. Once fully controlled, the heart belonged to him. Of course, sacrificing it would not be enough to kill Sephiro.

“But to drive you into insanity, one heart is more than enough.”

Suddenly, Sephiro’s entire body began to swell up. His form as a dragon disintegrated into wretched masses of flesh.

His magic had spiraled out of control.

BOOOOM!

The twelve suns he had summoned crashed down upon him. The explosion engulfed the entire Dragon God’s Temple. But this alone wasn’t enough to kill Sephiro. It would only buy him thirty seconds.

‘If I don’t act now, it will be impossible later.’

Park Chan-woo immediately pulled out a sacred chalice.

‘The Sealed Chalice of the Demon God.’

Inside, the God of Sacrifice had been sealed away. As soon as he opened the lid, Sephiro’s flesh began to be absorbed into the chalice. In an instance, Sephiro’s very existence became Park Chan-woo’s possession.

The conditions for sacrifice had been fulfilled.

— “Park Chan-woo, my contractor. You have given me everything I wanted. What is your wish?”

“Turn back time. Send me back to the moment of my awakening.”

Chan-woo answered immediately. His only goal had been to rewind time. His treasures, the Dragon God Sephiro, and even the Sealed Chalice of the Demon God. He thought this much would be sufficient for his goal.

— “That’s not enough.”

“…What? You said it would be enough.”

― “The one sealed within the Holy Grail is only half of the Dragon God Sephiro.”

“Half? What do you mean?”

― “The Dragon God Sephiro has two main bodies.”

“This isn’t even its complete form?”

― “I just realized it myself… Another body of that thing will arrive soon.”

“Damn it…!”

It was a situation where cursing was unavoidable.

The Absolute Being, Sephiro, the monster that had stolen humanity’s hope, to think that was only a half of it.

Everything had already been poured into this fight. Everything was sacrificed just to get here. He had thrown his comrades into the abyss of death and used a hundred thousand warriors as a shield.

All for this one goal.

To turn back time and seize hope once more.

But… Even so…

“If that’s not enough, then I’ll sell my future! If that’s still not enough, I’ll offer my very soul as a sacrifice…!”

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

From a distance, a being larger than the entire Dragon God Temple was approaching. It had already surpassed the scale of a mere dragon. Only then did he realize. The body within the Holy Grail, which he had thought was the true form of Sephiro, was nothing compared to that colossal figure.

“I shall grant you the greatest despair.”

“Humans, be erased.”

Ah…

Beneath the Dragon God Temple, all of humanity on Earth was vanishing.

They crumbled into dust.

Park Chan-woo hurriedly reached out his hand, but he couldn’t grasp anything.

He couldn’t reach. Because his own hand was also disappearing.

Just a single phrase.

The desperate struggle of humanity was nothing in the face of that one statement.

It was frustrating. It was infuriating.

The price of an incomplete preparation was the complete annihilation of humanity?

If only he could start over… At the very least, the ending wouldn’t be like this.

― “The transaction is complete.”

“…!”

And then–

Tick, tick.

Suddenly, the gears of time began to turn in reverse.

― “Contractor Park Chan-woo, your final time regression shall commence.”

* * *

Tweet, tweet!

Bird’s sound.

That was strange.

There shouldn’t be a single bird left on Earth.

‘Where I am…?’

A park. A very familiar lakeside park.

Was this a dream? Or reality?

『All humans on Earth will now begin awakening.』

『From this moment, if you say “Status Window,“ you can check your abilities.』

『Prepare yourselves! The Abyss will open in 60 seconds!』

The moment he saw the text before his eyes, his mind became cleared.

‘I… came back.’

He had successfully returned to the time just before the awakening.

Which meant he had no time to spare. Park Chan-woo quickly said the phrase.

“Status Window.”

Immediately, a translucent window appeared before him. At the same time, his expression darkened.

“…Wait. What the hell is this…?”

Even though he had returned to the past, he couldn’t rejoice. Because the status window was different from what he remembered.

[Status Window]

Affiliation: Earth / Human / Republic of Korea

Name: Park Chan-woo

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Height / Weight: 180 cm / 71 kg

Level: -99

Strength (1)

Endurance (1)

Agility (1)

Intelligence (1)

Magic (1)

“Minus level 99…?”