Arena

“You’ve arrived.”

A small girl angel in a tunic that was reminiscent of the robes of ancient Greece floated down.

The girl angel’s blue eyes were staring at the man summoned before her.

A handsome man with long black hair, tall, perfectly balanced face, and pale skin.

Dana Litalin smiled.

“Hi.”

“Hello, examinee Dana Litalin. Did you have a comfortable rest?”

“Thanks to you. Were you well too?”

“I am always in sound state, not good nor bad.”

“If it’s the same as always, it means you’re well. That’s good.”

Said Dana as he smiled warmly.

Male or female, old or young, an attractive smile that could warm anyone. Yet in front of this the girl angel remained expressionless.

“Examinee Dana Litalin, today you had an important mental change. “

“Yep.”

“You have met the one who will decide.”

“The one who will decide? Is that the expression you use to mean Kim Hyun-ho?”

“Yes.”

“What will he be deciding?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yes.”

Dana momentarily closed his eyes and was deep in thought.

Korean examinee Kim Hyun-ho, who sky-rocketed into the top 10 rankings.

With explosive growth and countless special skills.

He recalled his kind but determined gaze.

“He really is someone special.”

“He is.”

“Considering the current situation and saying he’ll decide it all…that means the final mission?”

“……”

The girl angel didn’t answer. But Dana accepted that as affirmation.

“What is it that he’ll decide, is that something I can’t do?”

“……”

“The end, is it not possible for me to reach that before he does?”

“Examinee Dana Litalin cannot reach the end before he does.”

Dana became silent a while.

Then he spoke again. 𝒇𝔯e𝚎𝘄𝑒𝑏𝙣𝑜𝚟𝗲𝑙.c𝘰𝚖

“Do I die before reaching the final mission?”

“That depends on examinee Dana Litalin’s decision. In this mission, examinee Dana Litalin may live or may die.”

The mission that Dana had pushed off clearing for 3 turns now boasted an outrageously high degree of danger.

A mission so dangerous that as legendary as he was, he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Dana, with that mission before him again, was asking his fate of the girl angel.

The crossroads between life and death.

Attempt to clear the mission or just give up.

Which side would he be able to find life through?

Dana couldn’t help but think it over seriously.

Paat!

The exam door appeared before him.

The girl angel gestured to the exam door. Gesturing to hurry on through.

Dana opened the exam door and smiled at the girl angel.

“See you later.”

“……”

Paat!

Dana’s handsomely tall figure, as if seeping into the light in the door, disappeared.

***

When he opened his eyes, Dana was in darkness, without any light.

“Eye of the Abyss.”

Pat!

In the palm of Dana’s hand, a round blue sphere about the size of a baseball appeared.

The Eye of the Abyss was a magic that allowed you see your surroundings clearly while in the dark.

The blue globe that appeared in his hand was called the Eye of the Abyss, a magic user’s 3rd eye.

The visual information taken in by the blue sphere would be delivered to the user.

The Eye of the Abyss was a sphere therefore has the advantage of being able to see 360 degrees.

If you were a very high level magician then the eye wasn’t restricted only to visuals but could also provide auditory information as well.

Dana looked around his room through the Eye of the Abyss.

A basement.

It was without sunlight or candlelight, but it was his private space with a bed, desk and bookshelf. It was quite clean and organized.

And……

Atop the desk, exactly like the one he just made, another Eye of the Abyss could be found.

Dana smiled and bowed respectfully to that Eye of the Abyss.

“I greet you again today, master.”

Yes.

That was his master’s eye of abyss.

His master left that in this room and was monitoring Dana 365 days, 24 hours a day.

-You are awake?

An ominous voice rang out inside Dana’s head.

A message was delivered through telepathy.

But the master really didn’t like other peoples’ telepathy in his head.

Because of that, Dana replied with his voice rather than telepathically.

“Yes, as you can see.”

-Hurry up now. An important decision made will be made today.

“An important decision?”

-Yes. The supreme priest has summoned all the high priests. Everyone will gather except for Allan who died on the pirate archipelago.

“A very important decision…I see.”

-That’s right, today we might be able to execute our earnest wish.

“The day has finally come. My chest is pounding and nervous.”

Without blinking an eye, Dana lied.

-As it should be. Anyway, do hurry.

The master’s telepathy continued.

-Since you’re a high priest too.

“Yes, master.”

Dana, like always, smiled gorgeously.

***

Dana got ready and left his room.

Outside, in the grand hall, there was also not a single spot of light.

The underground palace.

A vast space blanketed in darkness in the basement of the Aman kingdom’s royal palace.

Actually, not even 10 people in the whole of Arena knew of this underground palace.

And it was also the destination of the final mission and the root of the power of the dark magician’s organization.

Dana Litalin.

After he became an examinee and went through countless exams, he arrived here.

He easily withstood it but there were difficult and painful days.

After gaining magic as his main skill and joining the magician society and walked the path of a well-known magician, he caught the eye of a dark magic expert that had infiltrated the magician society.

A high level dark magic master that could hide his dark magic even in a group of magicians.

That was his master.

The master coveted Dana Litalin who was full of talent.

So he slowly approached him, slowly divulging his intentions. He led him little by little towards the path of darkness.

Through the mission of having to become his disciple, a little bit at a time, very slowly, he divulged his intent to draw closer to the darkness.

So as not to rouse suspicion, he had to show himself slowly falling into darkness a bit at a time to his master. That was an extremely difficult job.

But eventually he did it.

He became his master’s disciple and turned into a dark magician.

When the dark magic had penetrated his body, when it encroached on his heart, he would never be able to forget that pain.

As if branded with a hot iron, dark magic took hold in Dana’s body.

-You are now walking the path of darkness. You can never return to the light, your life-or-death hangs on me. Always be aware that there is a stamp of subordination stamped in your dark magic circle.

“Yes, master.”

A stamp of subordination.

If the master wants to destroy the dark magic circle at any time, then he could activate the curse that was sealed in his heart.

His master really didn’t trust anyone. But that restriction on his disciple was there so that if he changed his mind, he could take it all away. That was his safety net.

Dana endured such a pain.

And all this time, by working hard in order to earn his master’s trust, he got to where he was today.

A high priest. 𝐟𝘳𝑒𝗲𝘸e𝒃𝘯𝒐𝐯e𝚕.c𝒐𝒎

Right below the supreme priest that actually led the organization, he was 1 among the 6. But since there were now only 5 it could be said his position held more weight than before.

And finally, the mission given to him.

-Mission: kill high priest Aprit and postpone the revival ceremony.

The high priest Aprit was his master.

The revival ceremony was the ultimate goal that they had been preparing for all this time.

Chairman Maglun felt bad thinking he didn’t clear his mission 3 times now due to business issues, but honestly it was not because of that.

He might be the great Dana that excelled through countless exams to get this far, but this mission held a stifling amount of danger.

More than anything, it had to do with the stamp of subordination his master placed on his dark magic circle.

If his master wanted to he could destroy his dark magic circle at any time.

All the dark magic power he had achieved so far, all of his black magic would completely disappear.

Seconding that point even, how will he handle the punishment from the other high priests and the supreme priest for postponing the ritual?

How will he take care of master Aprit who is already suspicious of everyone he encounters?

These worries have been weighting down heavily on Dana’s heart.

‘That depends on examinee Dana Litalin’s decision. In this mission, examinee Dana Litalin may live or may die.’

Dana smiled a bitter smile.

Should he give up?

Or carry out the mission?

Which side was the path to survival?

At the end of his walk, Dana arrived at the middle hall in the underground palace.

From here on out, others were present.

Dana took out a white mask and put it on his face and pulled the hood of his robe over his head.

There was a reason for hiding his face from this point on.

In the very middle of the center hall was a hexagonal pillar shaped room.

Actually a giant hexagon shaped pillar.

On each of the six sides there was a door, six in total. Only high priests could enter through those six doors.

In front of the doors to the hexagon room stood several men.

Among them, one man approached the masked Dana.

“You have arrived, high priest.”

“You are Lee Chang-wee.”

“Yes, high priest.”

The man, Lee Chang-wee, smiled and bowed his head.

Having completely dominated the Chinese exam group, he had always stood by the dark magicians’ side and had the role of blocking the completion of the exam.

The high priests used Lee Chang-wee’s group and gave them what they want most, majeong.

Because of that, Lee Chang-wee played as their pawn.

‘Kill one of the high priests or something like that is probably his mission.’

Dana’s face was known far and wide in Arena so he wore the mask to conceal his identity from Lee Chang-wee.

His official reason was that some of the other high priests made sarcastic remarks about how his smiling face rubbed them the wrong way.

“Work hard. I think there will be good news soon. Then, you will surely get as much as you deserve.”

“I look forward to it, sir.”

Lee Chang-wee smiled like a wolf and stepped back.

Dana opened a door to the hexagon room and went inside.

The inside the hexagon room had a strange atmosphere.

In the middle, a red magic circle had been drawn in blood and emitted a sparkling, yet spooky, red glow.

Above the magic circle, someone was soundly asleep atop a grand stone coffin and around it there were tons of round marbles spread about.

Dizzyingly scattered around, those marbles were all fake souls.

The high priests stood along the six walls of the room. He could see his master, Aprit, too. Only high priest Allan, who died not too long ago, was absent.

“Is everyone here?”

From the top an imposing voice travelled down the six walls and rang out.

The 5 high priests all looked up at simultaneously.

From the throne at the top sat the supreme priest.

The supreme priest was a middle aged man of average size.

But the crown on his head wasn’t average.

Because was the symbol of the sultan of the Aman kingdom.