The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 158

The sight of Seong walking out completely unscathed left Viscount Paragon, his retainers, and the gathered soldiers utterly speechless.

It wasn’t just surprising—it was absurd.

The one who had been lurking in that labyrinth was Carmen.

The worst criminal this city had ever seen.

And yet, Seong had defeated her and still looked perfectly fine?

On top of that—

He claimed he had stayed behind to clear out the remaining monsters?

Viscount Paragon understood the words.

But his mind was struggling to process them.

Was this really happening?

“Wha... W-whaaaat?!”

“T-that’s impossible!”

“H-he actually did it!?”

His retainers were just as shocked.

Either this foreigner was lying, or he was exaggerating the truth.

That’s what they assumed.

But then, a few soldiers entered the labyrinth to verify—

And soon returned, their faces pale.

“T-there’s nothing inside! No monsters, no Carmen—nothing!”

“He... really cleared it out!?”

It was one thing to clear the dungeon of monsters.

But to do that after fighting Carmen?

It sounded impossible.

And yet, the proof was right in front of them.

Viscount Paragon and his retainers had no choice but to accept reality.

The man standing before them—

Was worthy of knighthood.

Seong understood their reaction.

‘Of course they’d be shocked.’

Carmen had been an absolute monster.

If he had fought her alone?

Things might have turned out differently.

But that didn’t matter—he had won.

That was all that mattered.

Now then—

‘The monster count was a nice bonus.’

The number of creatures in the central area had been surprisingly high.

He had been worried Carmen had wiped most of them out—

But it turned out there had been plenty left.

Most of the monsters had avoided Carmen, clustering together in certain areas.

That had made the cleanup a lot faster.

By the end, Seong had slain a total of 300 monsters.

He would have hunted more, but—

‘The central zone got sealed off, so I couldn’t.’

There simply weren’t any monsters left to kill.

The zone had been cut off from the rest of the labyrinth, forcing him to leave.

Convenient timing.

Now that he was out, he might as well collect his reward.

[You may now claim the remaining rewards for the Hidden Unique Quest, 『The Worst of Pentagrid』.]

The system notification popped up just as he was thinking about it.

Seong smiled.

Viscount Paragon, seeing his reaction, gave an approving nod.

“You had every right to be confident. Your abilities are truly astonishing. A knight’s title is not granted lightly.”

He had calmed down enough to regain his noble composure.

And then—

“I must honor my promise. Open the treasure vault!!!”

At his command, his retainers bowed and hurried off.

The steward and house servants rushed to make the necessary preparations.

As they worked, Viscount Paragon turned back to Seong.

“You may take your time heading to the vault while we prepare.”

“Thank you.”

“Hahaha! If anything, I should be thanking you! It feels like I just got rid of a massive headache!”

Viscount Paragon’s joy was undeniable.

Carmen had caused him endless trouble.

There was no reason not to celebrate.

As they walked at a leisurely pace, chatting—

They soon arrived.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

“This is the treasure vault of the Pentagrid Viscounty.”

“Whoa.”

Hearing the introduction, Seong let out a genuine expression of awe.

The door alone was massive, far too grand to exist inside a mere castle.

And beyond it—

The radiant glow of countless treasures.

Even from outside, the items inside shimmered brilliantly.

It was impossible not to be impressed.

Noticing Seong’s reaction, Viscount Paragon smiled with pride.

“Now, you may choose three items from within. But be warned—attempting to take more will trigger a powerful curse.”

Seong nodded.

That was obvious.

Still—

‘Three items from this place?’

A lot of the items inside had an orange glow.

In other words—

‘Three Legendary items!’

He could pick three Legendary-grade treasures.

Where should he start?

Seong stepped inside.

And the vault doors automatically shut behind him.

Rumble—

Thud!

The heavy sound of the door closing echoed through the vault.

But Seong wasn’t concerned.

[The doors will reopen once you have selected three items.]

A perfectly normal message.

Without hesitation, Seong started browsing.

At first glance, it looked similar to Kaahku’s third treasure vault—

But there was a major difference.

He could actually read the item descriptions.

As he explored, his eyes landed on a bookshelf.

‘Books?’

Could it be—

Seong moved closer, just in case.

And sure enough—

A bookshelf filled with Skillbooks.

Jackpot.

Seong scanned the titles carefully—

And among them, he found a Legendary-tier Skillbook for Dark Mages.

『Skillbook – Fate Manipulation』

A Legendary-class Dark Mage skill.

Until he used the book, he wouldn’t know its exact effect—

But just from the name alone, it had to be broken.

Seong picked it up.

[You have selected the Legendary Skillbook, 『Skillbook – Fate Manipulation』.]

[You may select two more items.]

With one down, he continued his search.

What else was there?

Seong scanned through the vault, checking the descriptions of various items.

‘No weapons or staffs here are better than what I have.’

Then again—

Growth-type items weren’t exactly common.

Most of the items were good, but—

Either their level requirements were too high, or their conditions were too specific.

Just as he was considering grabbing another Skillbook—

Helena suddenly emerged from his [N O V E L I G H T] body and shouted—

“Seong! Over there!”

“Hm?”

He had been told he could summon her whenever needed—

But she had never just appeared on her own before.

Which meant—

Whatever she was pointing at had to be extremely important.

Seong quickly turned his gaze to where she was indicating.

And there—

A jewel, gleaming like a star, caught his eye.

『Brilliant Celestial Starlight』

→《Legendary》

→Material Item.

→A crystallized essence of radiant starlight that descended from the heavens.

→When used in alchemy or crafting, it grants powerful life-related effects.

‘Oh?’

—What do you think? It’d make an amazing crafting material, right?

Helena had a point.

A Legendary-grade material.

Not something he came across often.

Seong selected it immediately.

[You have selected the Legendary material item, 『Brilliant Celestial Starlight』.]

[You may now select 1 more item.]

Then—

—Over there too!

Helena urgently pointed at another item.

Seong followed her gaze—

And sure enough, there was another material of similar value.

『Fragment of a Corrupted Abyssal Heart』

→《Legendary》

→Material Item.

→A shattered fragment of a heart from an abyssal entity that succumbed to corruption.

→When used in alchemy or crafting, it grants abyssal attributes and mana-related effects.

‘Oh? This would let me gain an abyssal attribute.’

—Yep! It could even work as a heart substitute!

Seong nodded at Helena’s words.

This was the final piece he needed.

[You have selected all items.]

[You will now be expelled from the Treasure Vault of the Viscounty of Pentagrid.]

The moment Seong made his final choice—

He found himself outside.

Waiting there, Viscount Paragon smiled in satisfaction.

“Did you find items to your liking?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I obtained some excellent treasures.”

“Hahaha! If anything, I should be thanking you! You’ve done me a tremendous favor.”

Viscount Paragon expressed his gratitude once more.

After exchanging a few more words—

“I’ll be heading back to the labyrinth now.”

“What? You’re not even going to rest?”

“No. I need to hunt more monsters.”

“...Hahaha. Seong, you truly are an example for knights to follow.”

His dedication was something else.

Viscount Paragon looked at him with admiration—

While Seong felt a little awkward.

It wasn’t that deep.

He just needed to farm monsters like crazy to buy more items.

Still, if people saw him in a positive light, that wasn’t a bad thing.

Seong left the Viscounty with a polite bow.

As he disappeared from sight—

Viscount Paragon murmured.

“He is the hero of our city.”

“Indeed, my lord.”

“Entrusting this to him was the right choice.”

The retainers nodded in agreement, watching Seong vanish into the distance.

With him around—

The monsters of Pentagrid were no longer a concern.

2.

Eternal World Community Forum.

Each region had its own dedicated forums.

Lately, however—

The Fifth Region’s forum had been in chaos.

[Thread Title: Is it true that Overpalace's Branch Leader is in Pentagrid?]

[Posted by: KaldenBandit]

Has Overpalace ever made a move like this before?

People are saying a branch leader is personally moving around.

Is this for real?

[TodayCoolTime: ㅇㅇㅇ For real. I was riding a carriage into Pentagrid and saw some VIP being escorted. They even picked up another player on the way.]

└[OneComboMaster: Who was the player?]

└[TodayCoolTime: No clue. Lol.]

The rumors about Overpalace’s Branch Leader traveling through Pentagrid were spreading fast.

At first, no one believed it.

But as more and more players gave matching testimonies—

And considering no one had anything to gain from lying—

People started accepting it as fact.

Overpalace had never made an open move before.

The reaction was massive.

A branch leader personally traveling?

And on top of that—

They had lowered themselves to escort a player?

A player important enough for Overpalace to act directly?

That was a mystery worth investigating.

And on the same day those rumors were circulating—

Another thread appeared.

[Thread Title: Why was Overpalace’s Branch Leader at the Auction House?]

[Posted by: ManaLessMage]

I finally got into the auction after a ton of effort, and some VIP just threw down 100,000 gold to buy something and left.

I wasn’t bidding on that item, but after that, they spoke to another player.

The same VIP that was being escorted earlier.

Also, I heard they went after a runaway player right after.

[FloorHazardAvoider: Something is going on, huh?]

└[ManaLessMage (OP): Lol, exactly. Who is this player?]

Another player.

Another Overpalace sighting.

And once again, a single user was at the center of it all.

People were dying to know who it was.

And before long—

The truth started emerging.

[Thread Title: HOLY SH*T. THE DEMON KING IS IN PENTAGRID.]

[Posted by: SideQuestHunter]

Bro.

This guy is solo-farming the entire labyrinth.

Just mowing everything down with an undead army.

WTF???

My party just froze when we saw that. Straight up lost our will to play.

[ForcedToLevelUp: ??? Isn’t that a huge nuisance?]

└[SideQuestHunter (OP): Nah, he’s not stealing kills or taking control of the whole map. He’s only hunting untouched mobs.]

└[ForcedToLevelUp: Damn, so that’s what commanding an undead army looks like? The skill gap is insane...]

[HealerInChaos: ??? Wait.

So the Overpalace Branch Leader’s mystery player... is the Demon King???]

└[DungeonHamster: Oh.

That actually makes sense??

He’s a dark mage, so... sh*t. Does that mean the only player Overpalace considers an ally is the Demon King???]

└[HealerInChaos: I mean, he does have connections with other players, but a Branch Leader moving for him? That’s next level.]

As speculation exploded, more and more players flocked to Pentagrid.

Some were aspiring dark mages hoping to get into Overpalace.

Others were guildless players chasing rumors.

And then—

There were those with grudges.

Staring at the city from the outskirts, one of them muttered—

“This is the place?”

Another clenched their fist.

“Demon King. This time, we won’t let you get away.”

Seong had unknowingly drawn a lot of attention.