Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 181 : Like a Shining Star (2)

Like a Shining Star (2)

To Chester Mayer, Sol Mayer was an existence he both loved and hated.

At once a proud younger sibling, but also the person who erased Chester's very existence from the world.

'It wasn't like that from the start.'

Sol Mayer was a much younger sibling, ten years his junior.

Chester used to teach magic to Sol Mayer when he was still young, and at that time, Chester himself was a highly promising talent.

Everyone said Chester could become S-rank by his early thirties.

Perhaps, that was when he shone the brightest.

"Why do you use magic so inefficiently, brother?"

Sol Mayer said that when he was just a little over ten years old.

At first, Chester thought it was just the misconception of a young sibling.

But it didn't take long for him to realize the one who was mistaken was himself.

"He's truly a tremendous genius! I never thought a mage with such talent could exist in the world!"

"If we have Sol Mayer, UK leading the magic world would be nothing!"

As Sol Mayer's talent became known to the world, those seeking Chester gradually disappeared.

He was on the cusp of reaching S-rank, just a bit more and he could have made it.

Yet, somehow, Chester, overshadowed by Sol Mayer's brilliance, could never reach S-rank.

Ironically, even after learning the 'Conceptualization Technique', Chester's strength did not change much from when he was at A-rank.

But upon seeing his brother's conceptualization technique, Sol Mayer began to use Chester.

"With your Conceptualization Technique, learning the formulas of all kinds of magic should be nothing."

Was it because of Sol Mayer's influence?

Chester's Conceptualization Technique was a power that perfectly analyzed and could imitate the opponent.

Of course, it was only an imitation.

'A fake that infinitely falls short of the real thing.'

With it, he explained the structures of all manner of newly emerging magical formulas to Sol Mayer.

And in exchange, Chester was able to live as a 'genius'.

Not as the forgotten Chester Mayer, but as Sol Mayer.

'Now, I can also grasp the principle of that magic.'

Through the demons, he realized that the magic that woman used was dark magic.

Magic that uses demonic energy, not magic power.

Before, he couldn't understand the principle and was helpless, but now it was different.

In fact, seeing Yeon-ji unable to keep up with his magic filled Chester with exhilaration.

Yes, this was the gaze Sol Mayer always saw.

"You're the one wearing a mask."

This girl wore the mask of a genius.

She gave Chester the same feeling he once had.

He was sure this wasn't a mere illusion.

"How funny."

At Sol Mayer's words, Yeon-ji let out a hollow laugh.

"Just listen to your tone. Now you're not satisfied with just the mask—you want to become the person himself?"

"...!"

Sol Mayer's eyes widened at being called out for copying his brother's tone.

"Chester Mayer."

"You."

Her voice was so quiet that only Sol Mayer likely heard it.

Yet, Sol Mayer felt his heart sink.

How did she know?

"I already knew that Sol Mayer had an older brother, though he disappeared at some point."

Yeon-ji had known about Sol Mayer since the time she was Ji Yeon-hwa.

The poor brother whose light faded due to his genius sibling.

That was about the extent of what was known.

Ironically, Ji Yeon-hwa had secretly sympathized with and pitied such a Chester.

Wasn't this just like herself and Shin Ah-yeon?

Once praised as a genius, but as soon as the real thing appeared, forgotten like a lie.

"You are, aren't you?"

KWAANG!!

With Yeon-ji's words, the ground suddenly shot up, and a massive stone spear struck her body head-on.

She reflexively created a magical barrier to protect herself, but couldn't fully block the attack.

"Nonsense."

Sol Mayer replied coldly to Yeon-ji, who was barely able to regain her stance after landing.

But Yeon-ji could sense anxiety in his eyes.

Also, from his heart, a bizarrely familiar sensation.

'... Demonic energy?'

Why was she sensing demonic energy from a human, not a demon?

Unless someone had consumed an ultimate magic stone, it shouldn't be possible for a human to exude demonic energy.

Moreover, the demonic energy from Sol Mayer's body was different from the dirty energy of the ultimate magic stone.

"The power you possess is interesting, I intended to play with you a bit—but it looks like it ends here."

Sol Mayer's noble yet arrogant speech.

He was even closer to the real thing than the 'fake Sol Mayer' she'd seen in Korea.

It wasn't just the speech—his actions and demeanor as well.

Even those who'd been around him the whole time hadn't noticed—the Sol Mayer before her was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

However, Yeon-ji was sure.

The one before her was a fake.

Definitely Chester Mayer.

"An A-rank can never beat an S-rank."

He said.

"I will make you realize that fact once more."

It wasn't the Conceptualization Technique.

But power, on a different scale than before, began to move.

"Haa..."

Yeon-ji gave out a hollow laugh at the sight, knowing that all her efforts so far had just barely allowed her to withstand the fight.

'It's so different from when I fought him in Korea.'

She'd held out hope.

Even if he was a fake, she'd once managed to defeat a monster that reached S-rank.

However, even among S-ranks, there were tiers.

Sol Mayer's power was clearly top-tier even among S-ranks.

A genius among geniuses. Perhaps only Shin Ah-yeon could surpass him as a mage.

KUKUNG, kUKUKUKUNG!!

With just the emission of magic power, the surrounding mist scattered, and the ground shattered.

It looked just like when Kian Rogers unleashed the full force of the sun.

'No, actually...'

Yeon-ji narrowed her eyes at the overwhelming magic power.

Could this surpass even the real Sol Mayer?

"It's best not to resist."

It would be meaningless anyway, and only dangerous.

That's what Sol Mayer seemed to be saying.

KWAAAA!!

Sol Mayer slowly raised his right hand.

Then, behind his back, condensed brilliant light began to take shape as round orbs.

Sol Mayer's spell, which created orbs of light outside of ordinary elemental magic, drew cries of admiration from the crowd.

Such beautiful magic had never been seen before.

KWAKWAKWAKWA!!!

All at once, beams of light shot from the orbs toward Yeon-ji.

Yeon-ji tried to evade by slipping through shadows, but unlike primitive magic that merely hurled fireballs or blasted ice, this was truly a barrage of light beams.

Just because she could move through shadows didn't mean she could dodge light.

'Ah.'

Squinting against the intense light, Yeon-ji realized.

'This won't do.'

The Sol Mayer before her was surely a fake.

But he was a fake that was far closer to the real thing than the one she fought in Korea.

No, perhaps he'd surpassed even the real thing.

For, at the moment he used magic, she could sense a foreign presence stirring in his heart.

Or maybe it was all an illusion—just what she wanted to believe.

'See, I told you—it wouldn't work.'

Even as she created black flames, the light beam pierced through them and struck her shoulder.

Barely managing to stay upright as her body was knocked back, she lashed out with black chains, but they only struck Sol Mayer's mirage.

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

She couldn't understand what kind of magic could do such things.

Really, had she ever understood the magic geniuses performed?

KWAANG!

Her body was thrown again.

If she didn't have a sturdy demon's body, she would have collapsed long ago.

Barely rolling to the floor, she slipped into a shadow to just dodge a beam aimed at her chest.

But what was the point of dodging?

'When I can't even get close.'

The distance that had once narrowed between her and Sol Mayer was stretched wide again.

From one end of the stadium to the other.

If she was going to beat Sol Mayer, she would have to get him into close quarters, but that was all but impossible.

This distance felt much like the gulf between A-rank and S-rank.

It was right before her eyes, yet completely out of reach.

'What can I possibly do?'

Liar.

Thinking so, Yeon-ji stared at Sol Mayer, who slowly pointed his index finger at her, then slowly closed her eyes.

She lost. She had lost, completely and utterly.

Still, Baek Hojun remained—maybe, unlike her, he could do something.

Unlike Yeon-ji, stuck at A-rank, he was S-rank.

KWAAAA!!!

"...?"

At that moment, with a great roar, the entire stadium shook.

Yeon-ji opened her half-closed eyes.

The area was trembling, and red emergency lights flashed all over the stadium as if there had been an earthquake.

Even Sol Mayer, about to attack, frowned.

"Uh, we'll temporarily stop the match here!"

It seemed the whole ground had shaken from some unknown shock.

Thinking it was an earthquake, the spectators screamed, and the abruptly unfolding incident halted the match.

"We will pause the match until the cause is found."

The referee spoke, glancing between Sol Mayer and Yeon-ji.

Sol Mayer looked at the referee as if asking if the match hadn't already been decided, but the referee shook his head.

"Tch."

In the end, Sol Mayer clicked his tongue and turned away.

Yeon-ji watched him walk away, wiping her forehead with a trembling hand.

"What's the point..."

She muttered as she staggered out of the arena.

So, a sudden 30-minute break was given.

***

"It was you, wasn't it?"

As Yeon-ji left the stadium, she met Jung-woo in the corridor on the way to the waiting room.

He looked oddly dirtier than before, as if he'd been covered in dust.

"I was going to do it another way originally..."

He hadn't intended for the match to be so grandly interrupted.

"You can request a maintenance break once during an Odyssey match, you know."

Of course, that was assuming the opponent agreed.

But since it's a seldom-used rule, the organizers rejected Jung-woo's request.

"So I had no choice."

"You're awfully at ease if you think just saying 'no choice' ends things."

Yeon-ji sighed as she soothed her aching body.

"Why did you do it?"

She quietly asked as she ran her hands over her battered body.

"You know it's useless, don't you?"

He must have watched the match.

The moment Sol Mayer started to get serious, she was completely overwhelmed.

Even if her physical strength had improved overall, she was still A-rank.

The difference in realm between mages in a duel was absolute.

Sol Mayer could have stopped her spells if he'd wanted to, but he didn't.

As if to show he could win easily without it.

"What's the point of stopping the match..."

Would anything change just by taking a short break?

It was impossible to miraculously get stronger in this short time.

"Point, huh."

Jung-woo muttered so, looking at Yeon-ji.

She was covered in wounds.

Her magic power hadn't increased much, but she wasn't going to overpower Sol Mayer's enormous mana with what she had.

"Original, you can only make a correction after making a mistake, you know."

"...?"

Yeon-ji looked at Jung-woo, not knowing what he meant.

'Correction?'

"Do you remember what I said before?"

"What?"

"I told you not to forget Ji Yeon-hwa."

"... I said I remembered."

"You know it wasn't just that kind of reminder."

Jung-woo gazed at Yeon-ji with calm eyes.

In truth, since before the match, Jung-woo thought things would turn out like this.

Yeon-ji was still refusing Ji Yeon-hwa.

That's why Jung-woo sought a way to stop the match.

He didn't prevent the match, since there was a chance Yeon-ji might overcome herself by fighting an S-rank.

But, as expected—

Yeon-ji was refusing.

"Why aren't you using that magic?"

He wasn't talking about the dark magic she'd been using in the match.

He meant the magic she'd possessed all along.

The magic Ji Yeon-hwa used.

"You can use it. That one."

At those words, Yeon-ji pressed her lips shut.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Yeon-ji! Fighting!

「৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)」