Chapter 69
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Frost Against the Undying Horde
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Her exhaled breath was cold, making the Magic Tower Lord feel the chill as she slowly blinked her eyes.
Even the Snowfield Magic Tower, masters of ice magic, couldn't escape the loss of body heat.
Normally, her high resistance would hold out, but after casting spells continuously for hours, even the caster herself gradually lost warmth.
"What a goddamn mess."
Yet, the monsters kept multiplying faster than they could kill them.
Corpse Golem—that cursed name. Just saying it made her grit her teeth in rage at its behavior.
It attached monsters it liked to its body, or envied their armor and stuck it on.
Otherwise, it simply slathered corpses all over itself out of hunger or to bulk up.
Monsters that should have been dead twitched and let out eerie wails the moment they were affixed to the Corpse Golem's body.
Its form was pieced together from such scavenged monsters.
But they weren't neatly joined, so crushed heads, restricted limbs dangled awkwardly like thorns here and there.
Dozens, hundreds of arms and legs flailing and wailing to be freed.
Faces without vocal cords spewed not-quite-cries, with unexpelled fluids and organ fragments oozing from mouths and noses.
It was revolting, nauseating.
To the point where the guardians protecting the contamination core earlier seemed far better.
That massive thing had been horrific, but it hadn't worn that leering expression.
"That golem can't be allowed to grow bigger. Push the front line."
"But the mana consumption...!"
"Potions are authorized. Concentrate your firepower."
Mana stones finely ground and refined into liquid form.
Refined from mana stones that cost more than precious metals by weight—it wasn't cheap.
But the Magic Tower Lord demonstratively downed a potion and shaped an enormous ice crystal.
Gleaming with countless internal mirrors, the ice refracted shades of blue light.
Yet this spell's beauty held piercing power beyond aesthetics.
Bang! Ziiing!
The massive ice crystal shot forward, its sharp tip skewering monsters that frothed and fell.
As it shattered, it birthed an ice mist, scattering small shards that sparkled with refracted light.
In this chaotic melee, those seemingly insignificant fragments were easy to overlook. Most monsters, seeing them fall, didn't bother dodging despite knowing better.
They were soon answered with frost blooming across their bodies.
"Kirrik? Kreeeek."
"Ka, kyaaak! Kyaaaak."
"Kruk, rrreuk."
Frostflowers.
Like a contagion, frostflowers blanketed their bodies, reaping warmth like a scythe-wielding reaper.
Even cold-resistant monsters tried to resist, but their struggles were futile before the frostflowers.
Shaking them off only birthed new ones from their limbs, spreading faster across their forms.
Contact meant certain death.
The fully bloomed frostflowers exploded, scattering new seeds around.
This chain continued until the Magic Tower Lord's mana was depleted.
Bang bang, bang bang bang—!
Ice mist swept the front and billowed upward.
Riding the wind, it drifted far away.
"Huff, huff."
The Magic Tower Lord panted heavily.
The spells she wielded were icy cold, yet her breaths were hot and humid like midsummer.
The pops of bursting frostflowers mingled with the splatters of monster fluids hitting the ground.
With the area breached, the tower's mages converged their prepared spells on the Corpse Golem.
A barrage of magic unleashed at once.
Flesh bursting, impaled, frozen, frosted.
The Corpse Golem, blocking a blizzard, seemed about to be swallowed by the storm...
—Grraaaaaah!
Every face attached to the Corpse Golem bellowed in unison.
Now dozens of meters tall, it gulped down the corpses it couldn't devour earlier and loomed before the tower.
The grown golem towered at least a hundred meters.
Melting, mashed flesh formed a colossal hand that smashed toward the tower.
The corpse-mass fist crushed down.
The tower's defensive spells screeched and cracked.
Some shattered, others warped.
Denting and deforming, they lost their effects.
"Huh, h-heuk!"
"How can this... the, the tower."
Mages directly below the tower shrieked shrilly.
"It's fine!"
The Magic Tower Lord steadied the panic by swallowing another potion.
The cool liquid seeped in, and she unleashed a fierce storm to pry the Corpse Golem from the tower.
All eyes focused on the near-miraculous fury.
Her white robe fluttered in the gale.
The mages gazed at her, entranced by the charismatic figure.
"Remember the trial we overcame before. Who felled that behemoth? We haven't forgotten."
She rallied the wavering with blood-veined cries, gripping their resolve.
Then she seized her staff and aimed at the Corpse Golem.
'Professor Aiden, I'll borrow your feat for a bit.'
The Magic Tower Lord knew Aiden had slain that behemoth.
Without his aid from behind, the Snowfield Magic Tower would have been disgraced in defeat.
'That's why I gave you that artifact.'
She'd bought his silence with it.
A necklace containing Memorize, poured with the tower's full might.
She could guess who received it, but such a deal had transpired.
Thus, the tower members believed they'd resolved the magic contamination themselves.
Buoyed by that pride, the Magic Tower Lord bellowed louder.
"That hellish purple earth—we blanketed even it in pure snow. That hell itself! Conquered in pristine white. So, as always, under the tower's name, we will overcome this trial once more."
Her commanding roar echoed strong and heavy across the battlefield.
"Remember the deeds we forged in the past. Remember who we are, the ones who forged them."
The tide had turned grim.
She had to boost morale somehow.
The Magic Tower Lord glared sharply at the Corpse Golem.
'At least, even if it costs my life, I'll take it with me.'
But the tower's kin...!
With that resolve, she led the charge ahead of all.
The other mages followed—some inspired, others urged by peers—one step at a time.
Soon, it formed ranks advancing behind the vanguard Magic Tower Lord.
Their white robes flapped like on a high mountain gale.
All was the tower's affair, and the tower's affairs were for its kin alone.
But that mindset didn't last.
Amid pursuing flames with shadowy figures.
No—people shaped like flames.
The lead figures leaping forward were faces the Magic Tower Lord knew well.
Silver-haired half-elf—then the rest were obvious.
But why drag that weird fireball clump behind?
"Professor Aiden's students? Why are they...?"
The Magic Tower Lord openly showed her bewilderment at the unexpected sight.
* * *
Back when Elin's group was still brainstorming countermeasures, bound by the fire demon without a solid plan.
Isel eyed Elin as if doubting her words.
"So that Corpse Golem thing is weak to fire?"
"Yes, Professor Aiden said it has high cold resistance since it's made of monster corpses, but fire melts it well."
"Melty-gooey?"
Elin mulled the onomatopoeia, tilting her head.
While senior Radia coldly analyzed the Corpse Golem, Isel fixated on something odd.
Whether it melted like ice cream in the sun or marshmallows over a fire, the exact change didn't matter.
'She must have a reason for saying that.'
Elin affirmed Isel's words.
"Melty-gooey... it will."
Though it'd probably burn first.
Elin skipped the afterthought.
"But the flesh might stick to blades and resist cutting."
Elin was surprised by Isel's unique angle.
After stressing the Corpse Golem's dangers and advocating ranged magic solutions, this was the retort: it wouldn't cut well.
Elin's lips quirked wryly.
"...I'd prefer to avoid melee as much as possible. For your safety too."
"We can't just stand by idly."
To get the tower's aid, they had to deal with the Corpse Golem somehow.
But its ice resistance was immense, shrugging off the tower's attacks.
The Snowfield Magic Tower dabbled in all magics, save one: fire, the antithesis of their specialty.
The enemy knew and sent monsters with the Corpse Golem.
Wearing down the tower with monster waves, then toppling it with the grown golem.
That was the plan.
'Simple, but...'
As the grand professor said, if directed by the magic beast tamer, it had to be.
The culprit behind the same ploy fifty years ago.
Still alive after leading beasts against the empire—hardly ordinary danger.
Yet that's why Elin settled on a straightforward counter.
"Because they're fixated on Professor Aiden."
Whatever calculations the tamer made, Aiden's prowess likely exceeded them.
The battlefield's balance showed it.
Aiden matched their numbers by blocking monsters from slipping behind.
In other words, once no more emerged from tunnels, the tide would turn.
In that scenario, the tamer's options against the tower were limited.
'With Professor Aiden holding firm, they lack room for complex tactics.'
Elin nodded.
The tamer chose minimal cost for maximal gain.
It seemed effective to her eyes.
The tower alone couldn't cope.
'Weaken the Corpse Golem with heavy firepower, then take it down.'
Ice was futile against its freeze resistance.
Elin replied to Isel.
"Exposing it to fire will create temperature differentials, sure. But it won't turn to mud like you think. It'll soften and harden repeatedly, deforming from the changes."
"Then it can be cut. If differentials form."
"Probably... yes."
Elin pondered silently, then closed her eyes.
Prezel, demonized, blocked the Magic Department; the Corpse Golem plugged the tower.
If the tamer aimed to slowly whittle Aiden, he'd guard against external forces uniting.
Magic Department prepping grand magic? Block with demon.
Tower able to support? Block with golem.
'Back to square one.'
No rushing tangled threads—untangle one by one.
"Isel senior, how's the Martial Arts College?"
"Huh? Monsters? Or status?"
"How many monsters?"
"Plenty."
Radia cut in, her gaze chilling.
Elin met Radia's gleaming eyes and gulped.
Radia brushed it off.
"Martial Arts College is fine. We handled it. Professor Aiden's class students are holding too."
"I... see. So reinforcements from there?"
"Yep."
Radia assured.
No endless siege on the capital, even warlike.
Thus, hit-and-run.
A cunning veteran wouldn't act impulsively.
'Most variables under the tamers' control.'
Tower, Magic College, Martial Arts—all per plan, yet fortune still eluded him.
Aiden stood at the center.
'Proof they misjudged Professor Aiden's ability.'
Proper assessment meant no stalling helplessly post-raid.
Aiden: their sole variable, greatest hurdle.
Any move required acting while he held.
Elin glanced down at the flame-spewing demon.
"Before tower aid, we handle the Magic Department building first."
Unaware of Elin's group, the demon scattered flames about.
'Professor Prezel.'
As Elin watched with mixed emotions, the demon slyly turned.
Elin's eyes met the demon's.
"Huh?"