Infinite Mage (Re-make)

Hidden in the bushes, Canis couldn’t move a muscle as the shockwave spread painfully through her abdomen.

After discovering Arin’s gift for telepathy, Canis had rigorously trained in dark physical magic. One of his defenses, Dark Skin, absorbed impact by enhancing physical resistance. Even a hammer swung by a grown adult would feel like a child's punch against it.

But the photon cannon caught him off guard—and its destructive power was beyond anything he expected. What truly baffled him was how light, something considered intangible, could carry such physical force.

“Kikiki... You felt that, didn’t you, Canis?”
A muffled voice echoed in his ear. Though the mountain appeared empty, the voice was unmistakably real.

“Harvest… What happened to me?”

“I’m not sure. But what I can sense… is mass. Something with mass hit your abdomen at high speed.”

“Mass? But light has no mass.”

As a battle mage, Canis was well-versed in the study of opposites and understood the theory of photonization.

“Technically, yes. Light has no rest mass. But it does have energy.”

In truth, photons in motion exhibit an incredibly small amount of kinetic mass. This is the same principle behind phenomena like the solar wind.

“But that’s just theoretical. Like being pushed by a strong wind—it doesn’t explain getting hit like that.”

“There’s truth in what you’re saying. But theoretically, it's possible. Which means it’s not completely impossible.”

“No... something’s missing. To generate this much power, there has to be a clear link between mass and energy. And nothing like that exists in our world.”

Harvest’s voice lowered, tinged with wonder.

“Unless... you’ve found him.”

Canis stayed silent. Though he and Harvest were separate beings, they could sense each other’s thoughts. Harvest, picking up on Canis’s unease, relented.

“He’s remarkable. Truly unique. I didn’t expect to find someone like him at a magic school.”

With that, Canis stood up. Understanding an enemy’s abilities was always the first step toward victory. This was the first real nemesis he had encountered, and the adrenaline in his body surged.

“Do you think we can win, Harvest?”

“Quack... If you truly want to, Canis…”

Harvest’s voice echoed ominously through the darkness.

“There’s never been a time we couldn’t win.”

Casting a long, eerie shadow behind him, Canis headed back up the mountain—toward Shirone.

Shirone stared into the darkness of the forest, silent and tense. She wasn’t sure if Canis had activated Dark Skin, but even without conscious recognition, her instincts screamed danger. The sensation was burned into her vision.

Canis emerged from the woods, and Neid’s face tightened—Shirone had been right.

“Damn. He’s still coming?”

“Neid… The sun’s gone.”

With nightfall, dark magic grew even more powerful. Iruki quickly cast a lighting spell. Its glow was dimmer than the daytime Fire Sun, so Neid helped amplify it. Two orbs of light hovered 10 meters overhead, illuminating the area. Even so, it was barely enough to see properly, let alone fight at full strength.

“Ugh. It’s still too dark…”

Just then, Canis cast his own lighting magic. The fact that a dark mage was using light magic unsettled them both.

“What the hell is he doing? That’s lighting magic.”

“Why not? Every mage learns about photonization—it’s basic teleportation theory.”

“That’s not the point! Isn’t light supposed to be a dark mage’s weakness? Why’s he acting like it’s nothing?!”

Canis let out a wild, chilling laugh.

“Ha ha ha! HAHAHAHAHA!”

“As expected, students from the magic school are both arrogant and clueless,” Canis sneered. “No magic is without weakness. What matters is how you compensate for those flaws. Lighting magic is the perfect example. Arin, show them again.”

Arin, typically cautious and composed, obeyed without question and cast another lighting spell.

Four orbs of light appeared, their brightness enough to mimic daylight. Still, Canis looked unimpressed. His gaze shifted to Shirone—a light magician known for his unusual powers. With Shirone’s skill, the battlefield could be shaped exactly as he desired.

“Hey, how about you give it a try too? I’m curious to see what you’ve got.”

But Shirone didn’t know how to use lighting magic. He had spent all his time pushing the limits of teleportation, developing rainbow drop, photon output, and the photon cannon. He’d never bothered to learn the basics of lighting spells.

“What? You can't? That’s hilarious. A light magician who can’t cast lighting magic?”

It wasn’t unheard of. Sometimes a magician specialized in one technique simply because the opportunity arose, like a performer who masters a single stunt. But magic wasn’t a circus—it was war. And on a battlefield filled with complex strategies and psychological warfare, a one-trick magician like Shirone seemed destined to fall.

“I misjudged you,” Canis said coldly. “I thought you might be a worthy opponent. Turns out, you're just a kid.”

Just as he finished speaking, a radiant orb appeared above Shirone’s head—blindingly bright, outshining the other lighting spells entirely.

Neid and Iruki stood frozen in disbelief. Shirone had cast lighting magic without ever learning it. His fury had triggered a breakthrough, letting his raw understanding of light override any formal process.

Shirone stepped into Canis’ spirit zone, his anger boiling over. He couldn’t forgive Canis for using innocent students as pawns while pretending this was some kind of noble duel.

“You’ve had your fun,” Shirone said, his voice sharp. “Now do what you came to do.”

Canis’s earlier dismissiveness vanished. Shirone wasn’t just some flashy performer. But that didn’t change anything. No matter how strong Shirone was, Canis believed he was stronger. This was the perfect moment to prove it.

“Anything, huh?” Canis smirked. “You’ll regret that.”

He summoned the power of darkness, and his shadow surged toward Shirone like a tidal wave. In response, Shirone rose into the air, a glowing photon forming in his palm. It looked like a standard attack—nothing he hadn’t used before.

Is he just showing off again?

Shirone launched the photon cannon. Canis vanished beneath the shadow just in time. It was a clever move—basic movement magic pulled from a textbook—but effective. He kept dodging like a mole popping from the ground, and the mountaintop quickly became a cratered wasteland.

Now!

Anticipating Canis’s next move, Shirone fired a predictive shot at the one place he couldn’t dodge. Canis appeared right where the blast landed. There was no time to escape. Even his dark magic couldn’t defend against the full force of that photon cannon.

Just when everyone thought it was over, a shadow emerged beneath Canis. It twisted into a humanoid form and caught the photon cannon with its bare hands and chest. Then, in a chilling moment, it absorbed the photons into itself with a sharp pop.

Shirone dropped to the ground, stunned. That shadow had just destroyed his most powerful attack. Darkness had overpowered light.

“Keh keh keh… Quite the entrance, huh?” the shadow said with a mocking grin. “How’d I do?”

Neid stared in disbelief. “That’s… that’s impossible. Darkness doesn’t swallow light. If you light a torch, the darkness disappears… right?”

But this creature, formed from Canis’s shadow, moved as if it was completely unaffected by the lighting spells around it.

Its body was surreal—tiny face, massive shoulders and chest, a tiger-slim waist, and freakishly long arms ending in shield-sized palms with blade-like fingers. The form was grotesque yet strangely beautiful, a clear sign it had been artificially created.

“Didn’t I say it was no big deal?” the creature teased. “Hey kid, those photons of yours tasted delicious.”

Shirone was speechless. The creature had said photons, not light—an indication it had intelligence.

Canis introduced it with pride.

“This is the essence of dark magic—my greatest creation. A magical creature known as Harvest.”

“A magical creature…?” Shirone echoed.

A fusion of alchemy and magical engineering, Harvest was a living testament to magical biology, something Shirone had only read about in theory. But this one wasn’t in any textbook. This one could think.

“Kikiki! Look at his face! Like some yokel seeing magic for the first time!” Harvest taunted, shaking with laughter.

Was he a chaotic clown? No—there was something more. He was strangely human... yet obviously beyond human.

“Harvest is immune to light,” Canis explained. “He’s also linked to my life. If I live, he lives.”

“Gorum, gorum! Two as one, one as two!” Harvest cackled. “Though clearly, I got the better looks. So handsome, yet no one gets to see it—keh keh keh!”

Shirone didn’t have time for jokes. If Harvest was truly immune to light, even the one weakness of dark mages had been erased.

Can I even win?

They didn’t know where Alpheas was. No help was coming. The lives of everyone present were hanging by a thread.

Canis noticed the panic growing in Shirone’s eyes. The dramatic reveal had worked perfectly. Harvest’s silly behavior was just an act—his idea. In truth, Harvest was even smarter than Canis, having inherited all of Arcane’s knowledge. Right now, he was silently communicating with Canis through synchronized brainwaves.

Harvest: Canis, we need to move into the forest. We’re at a disadvantage here.

Canis: You think they’ll follow easily?

Harvest: There’s more danger on their side. And Lucas is stronger than expected. If we bring him into the fray, our odds improve.

Canis: I don’t like it. I’d rather not rely on that kid. If you hadn’t stopped me earlier, I would’ve fought him myself.

Harvest: I get it, Canis. But Lucas isn’t stupid. His power level already exceeds yours. We can’t risk a drawn-out emotional battle right now.

Lucas. The very person who once tormented Canis in Radum. The idea of needing his help twisted Canis’s gut.

Harvest: Your heart rate just jumped 1.7x. Adrenaline's impairing your judgment. Sorry if I upset you.

The calm analysis from his magical partner helped Canis regain control. As long as Harvest was with him, thinking with perfect clarity, he believed no one could defeat them.

Canis: No, you’re right. Thanks, Harvest. Let’s begin.

Canis steadied her thoughts and glared at Shirone. His composed expression irritated her, as if he’d never known hardship.

‘You’ll probably see me as the villain…’

Dark energy rose from Canis’s shadow. Even though her power had been struck down by Shirone’s lightning magic, it regenerated quickly.

‘But to me, you're all evil!’

As the wave of darkness surged forward, Shirone wiped the ground clean with a blast of photon energy. He then detached the photon cannon from his right arm and hurled it. Harvest intercepted it with his body, absorbing the impact as he was flung back into the forest. Yet instead of being stunned, he mocked Shirone with a twisted smile, flicking his long fingers.

“Heh. Come on, step into my domain.”

The forest was the perfect battleground for a dark mage, but Shirone didn’t hesitate. He dashed into the woods and fired dozens of photon blasts in sweeping arcs above his head.

Doo doo doo doo! Doo doo doo doo!

Hundreds of radiant flares lit up the canopy, turning night into day. Neid and Iruki, watching from a distance, stared at the glowing sky.

“That lunatic really went for it,” Neid muttered.

Iruki nodded. “He knows what’s at stake. If Shirone can’t stop them, we’re done for.”

His gaze shifted. Lucas had followed Shirone into the forest. Noticing the faint gray smoke drifting toward him, Lucas quickly leapt back—just in time. An atomic blast exploded behind him. He landed ten meters away and turned to Iruki with a fierce glare.

“You little punks…”

“Don’t try anything reckless,” Iruki warned. “We’re thinking the same thing you are. Just stay back.”

Lucas scoffed. “What nonsense.”

To think that a mere student—still in training—could take on a B-class criminal? Ridiculous. He drew his twin swords, the air around him crackling with energy. His spirit zone flared with the dry, flickering tension of burning firewood.

While schema could theoretically enhance any part of the body, most users stuck with balanced builds. Overloading a single system could have disastrous effects—like if nerves fired faster than muscles could react, tearing the body apart.

Lucas had chosen a mitochondrial build, which boosted cellular energy efficiency by enhancing mitochondria—the energy factories in cells. Though it drained stamina quickly, it gave a significant all-around power boost, making it a favorite choice among combatants.

‘Still… this might be dangerous…’

Iruki glanced at Neid. The cold focus in his friend’s eyes brought back a memory—five years ago, during a summer storm. That night, Neid had nearly died. It was a miracle he could still smile. But now, he would never show that same face again. Not to someone who resembled the person he once loved most.

“Be careful, Neid,” Iruki said quietly. “He’s a schema user.”

“I know. Let’s hit him hard before he gains momentum.”

Lucas scoffed. “'Be careful'?” he sneered. “That’s what you say when crossing a muddy road, not when a blade’s about to slit your throat.”

He scratched his head in disbelief—just as a golden flash lit up between them. A burst of teleportation light, and Iruki and Neid reappeared ten meters away.

Iruki clutched his chest. His shirt was sliced open, blood seeping from a shallow cut.

“You alright?” Neid asked.

“It’s not fatal. But he’s fast. Really fast.”

Even with magic, wizards were still human. Their physical reflexes couldn’t match a schema-enhanced warrior. But it worked both ways—schema couldn’t endure magic’s destructive force. A well-placed spell could still be lethal, even to someone like Lucas.

They focused their firepower. A chain of atomic blasts slithered forward like a snake. Neid tried to predict Lucas’s movements and fired accordingly—but Lucas wasn’t moving like a training dummy. He was unpredictable, fast.

‘Damn… these kids are better than I thought.’

Lucas was having a hard time too. His mitochondrial build was eating away at his stamina. At maximum energy output, his speed was blinding. He sprinted in a wide arc, then lunged at Iruki, twin swords flashing.

Neid intercepted from the other side, hands crackling with electric magic. The shocks hit Lucas in the gut, sending vibrations through his body at 60 pulses per second.

“Iruki! Now!”

Iruki was ready. Gray smoke curled around Lucas’s face. As the detonation magic triggered, Lucas tried to move, but his muscles felt charred and lifeless.

‘No… Not like this… Am I really going to die here…?’

Iruki was sure it was over. The spell had landed. The detonation had triggered. But suddenly, his Spirit Zone vanished. His legs gave out before he understood why.

Looking down, he saw it—another shadow connected to his. It had to be Arin’s spell.

‘Damn it!’

Lucas broke free of the electric field and charged at Neid, eyes wild with fury. His rage pushed him beyond exhaustion, and his swords gleamed with lethal intent.

“Neid! Get back!” Iruki shouted.

Neid didn’t move. Even under the Eye’s paralyzing effect, he charged electricity in both hands. Lucas aimed to strike from both sides with his twin blades.

But then—crack! Two massive pillars of ice erupted on either side of Neid.

The swords slammed into the ice, halted. Lucas’s eyes went wide. His blades could cleave stone, but they hadn’t pierced the ice.

He turned slowly—and saw a familiar face. The teacher he had thrown off a cliff.

“Siana-sensei!”

Neid’s voice cracked with emotion. But Siana said nothing. Her eyes were cold and unreadable. She stared only at Lucas.

Meanwhile...

Ethela staggered against a tree, barely able to stand. Her legs trembled from the thirty-minute chase. And yet, she hadn’t escaped Arcane.

‘The poison’s spreading… I can’t delay treatment any longer.’

She collapsed and tore open her robe. Black blood oozed from a wound near her navel—a strike from a poison-coated blade. Breathing techniques had slowed the venom, but she needed to extract it—fast.

Her lips couldn’t reach the wound, so she twisted her body, spine cracking as she contorted. She bent until her lips touched the wound, then inhaled deeply and began sucking the venom out.

A searing pain shot through her body. She winced, then spat out the poison—black blood hitting the grass and withering it instantly.

Her color began returning. She ripped off her bent glasses and tightened her robe around her fist.

“Whew… I’ll live—for now.”

Her Spirit Zone stabilized, synesthesia feeding her information about the energy around her. She sprang upward.

But the ground below writhed. Dozens of black hands rose like spilled ink.

‘He’s already here…’

Arcane appeared, stepping through the veil of darkness.

“Well, looks like you cleared the poison. The more I watch, the more impressive you become.”

But Ethela didn’t retreat. Not anymore.

“It won’t be easy for you now,” she said, power charging into her fist.

Arcane’s eyes narrowed. She’d abandoned her Spirit Zone entirely.

She was using the Yin-Yang Wave Fist.

Wizards typically focused on Spirit Zones, warriors on schema. But monks like Ethela trained in both. The capital encouraged this—monks weren’t meant to ascend for glory, but to embrace the world with open arms.

Arcane hated that philosophy.

‘If you had focused on one path, you could’ve been a continent-shaking legend. But no—you chose balance over dominance.’

He extended a hand. “Then let’s play.”

“Darkness.”

From the forest floor, shadows twisted as giant spiders crawled out—each the size of a human head.

HIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSS!

Then came something far worse. A golem of darkness—over three meters tall—rose beside Arcane.

Its face was sunken, shoulders hunched. Its limbs looked like they were wrapped in wool—bulky arms, stubby legs.

This was Dark Fellowship—a spell that turned 100% of mental energy into brute force. Unlike traditional dark magic that absorbed external energy, this created monsters fueled by the caster’s mind. They weren’t immune to light, but at night, they were unmatched.

“Go, my children.”

The spiders swarmed first, moving in tangled masses.

Ethela met them head-on. She jabbed and scattered them, then punched a cluster with a blast that sent shadows flying.

HIIISSSSS!

The dark golem burst through, slamming the ground. Ethela leapt aside like a flying squirrel. The ground rippled from the impact and exploded.

She paled. That strength rivaled Rubtion’s earth magic.

The golem raised its arms again and swung like a giant hammer.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ethela dodged, retreating as the barrage continued. Speed, flexibility, and sheer force—the golem was a perfect killing machine.

She couldn’t keep retreating forever.

Planting her feet, she lunged forward and struck the golem’s side with a powerful blow.

THUMP!

The golem staggered. Arcane winced—linked through the equivalent exchange of energy.

“Hah… Is this really a human’s fist?”

The sheer force was nothing short of magical. And it didn’t stop at one blow. Ethela held her breath and kept attacking, throwing punch after punch. Each strike made her wrists throb, but the damage her opponent received was far greater.

Arcane gritted his teeth, focusing his mind. Ethela’s punches weren’t just strong—they were strange. Instead of breaking the surface, they sent shockwaves deep inside. That was the real threat: the overlapping waves interfering with each other.

“A wave sequence… This is dangerous.”

The Dark Golem howled in agony under the barrage. Ethela’s eyes lit up. She stepped forward and slammed her palm into the golem’s abdomen, sending a powerful wave crashing inward. Nearly 400 waves overlapped at once. The result was a shockwave 400 times stronger than her usual attack, detonating inside the creature.

The golem convulsed like it had swallowed a bomb. Its dark body swelled ominously—ready to burst.

“Damn it!”

Arcane grimaced, reinforcing his Spirit Zone. If that barrier shattered, the golem would collapse entirely. As the tremors began to subside, Ethela bit her lip in frustration.

“Still not enough? I should’ve layered it more.”

The Yin-Yang Wave Fist was a martial art that used flowing energy like water, sending ripples through an enemy’s body before unleashing a devastating final wave. Its only drawback was the time it took to build up power. But when it hit… it really hit.

Even so, Arcane endured. The golem had taken damage equivalent to 400 perfectly executed strikes, but Arcane’s will as an archmage held firm.

“You’re not bad, kid.”

“The next hit won’t be so merciful. Surrender.”

“Ha! So you’ve still got some fire. Good. It’s been a while since I had a proper warm-up.”

Arcane raised his hand, and all the Dark Spiders nearby merged into the golem’s body. The creature grew rapidly, eventually breaking through the watery ceiling above like a towering pillar of darkness.

Ethela’s head spun. She now recognized this form—the same monstrous weapon Arcane had used to level entire cities. With this, even a medium-sized city could vanish in days.

“How does it look?” Arcane sneered. “You think some wave technique can break this? My golem’s depths are darker than the sea.”

The newly enlarged golem stood over 10 meters tall. Ethela clenched her fists until they nearly crumbled in her grip. She would be the light in this darkness. Even if it meant her death, she had to stand.

BOOOOM!

The golem roared and charged. Despite its massive size, it moved just as fast. That terrifying speed was why the Dark Fellowship’s creations were considered nearly unstoppable.

THUD!

Its fist smashed into the ground where Ethela had stood. The impact shook the forest, toppling trees and ripping the earth apart.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

A relentless barrage followed, pummeling the ground and tearing through everything in its path. On the sixth strike, Ethela leapt onto the golem’s arm. She ran up to its shoulder, crossed her arms mid-air, and delivered a rapid flurry of strikes on the way down.

BZZZZZZZTTT!

It was the Thousand-Handed Guanyin Strike—the fifth technique of the Yin-Yang Wave Fist. A storm of invisible blows rained down, faster than the eye could see.

“Urgh!”

Sparks exploded in Arcane’s mind. More than 30 shockwaves per second—if each second produced 300 ripples, then in just two seconds, over 600 shockwaves spread through the golem’s body. That alone triggered around 3,000 chaotic interference effects.

But that wasn’t the end. The Yin-Yang Wave Fist’s true power lay in its final move: the Jangbeop. If that landed...

Considering the combined effects of interference, refraction, and reflection...

“68,000.”

That’s how many overlapping shock effects would explode from within. Arcane’s hair stood on end. Yet instead of fear, a twisted smile spread across his face.

“Ahh… now it feels like I’ve really come back.”

He had no intention of retreating. If his opponent was strong, he would simply overpower them. This was what he had missed—the thrill of facing true talent. Memories of past battles flashed before his eyes like a kaleidoscope.

ROOOAAARRR!

The Dark Golem twisted its massive frame like a coiled spring. Ethela, back on the ground, drew both hands to her sides. She gathered the final energy: the thunderbolt field—the last and most destructive form of the Thousand-Handed Guanyin.

The golem hurled its fist.

Ethela clenched her teeth and thrust her palms forward.

A Thunderbolt Field!

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A mushroom cloud burst from the mountain range.

Trees within a 20-meter radius were instantly uprooted. The lush forest had become a barren wasteland.

The stars glittered in the night sky.

Ethela slowly blinked, dazed by the light filtering through broken branches.

How much time had passed?

Or rather—how far had she been thrown?

All the trees in her flight path were shattered. At the end of this trail of destruction, Ethela lay sprawled out, unable to move a finger. Her body trembled involuntarily. She had no feeling left in her hands or feet.

Master…

She could no longer fight.

The Archmage… is unbelievably strong.

Even the might of the Yin-Yang Wave Fist wasn’t enough to bring down Arcane’s monstrous creation.

Is this what disaster-level magic looks like?

The shame of failing to destroy evil burned deep in her heart.

If only she had overlapped the waves more precisely. If only she had fully mastered the Guanyin strike. If only she had summoned just a bit more thunder.

“Hhhn… Hhhh…”

With a trembling arm, she covered her eyes.

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry… Master…”

Ethela’s quiet sobs echoed across the shattered mountains.