The Black Mage's Desperate Gamble
“Theo. That light means what I think it does, right?” I mouthed the word Claire without making a sound. I didn’t want to risk any black mages overhearing us.
“If the light’s already risen, they’ve probably noticed us one way or another. Does it really matter now?”
“Ah. Yeah. You’ve got a point.” I pursed my lips a few times, feeling a little awkward.
“Anyway, it’s Claire, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I told her to locate the black mage while we joined the fight.”
No matter where the black mage was hiding, Claire—former holy knight that she was—could track them down. It worked like a tracking skill, but far stronger. A holy knight’s pursuit was overwhelmingly effective against religious enemies like black mages or heretics, yet almost useless against anything else. They couldn’t catch wanted criminals, follow allies, or hunt beasts. It wasn’t a learnable “technique” so much as a class skill unique to holy knights.
Claire possessed that ability, making her perfect for finding a hidden black mage. The problem was that she was alone.
“I already warned Claire not to engage. If she gets spotted and has no choice, fine—but she’s not supposed to start a fight before we arrive.”
“Then what’s with the light?”
“She’s probably been discovered. Or maybe she stopped the black mage from escaping.”
“Either way, we need to hurry.”
We pushed harder, pouring more strength into our legs and picking up speed. When we finally reached the source of the light, Claire was already facing off against the black mage. Several piles of undead remains melted by holy power lay scattered around them—she’d clearly been fighting before we got here.
“Luna! Theo!” Claire’s face lit up the moment she spotted us. Her armor and shield were covered in scratches, but she didn’t seem injured. The defensive effects were working as advertised.
“Tch. Already caught up, huh.” The black mage, by contrast, made no effort to hide his irritation. Then again, it would’ve been weirder if he greeted us with a smile when we were about to try killing each other.
“At this rate, slipping away won’t be easy. I didn’t want to use this…”
He reached into his robe and rummaged around. Whatever it was, I wasn’t about to wait and find out. I dashed forward and kicked.
—Thud!
My kick only managed to smash a zombie that had thrown itself in the way. The creature, half its torso already gone, had apparently not been as dead as I thought. Using only its arms, it launched itself up to block the black mage. In that brief opening, he retreated a few steps and pulled a potion bottle from his robe.
Except it wasn’t a potion. At least, not any potion I knew. Nothing I’d ever seen glowed that murky, ominous color. Poison, maybe—but definitely not a potion.
The black mage uncorked the bottle and poured it straight down his throat.
“Luna, fall back!” Claire’s voice reached me just as I was about to press the attack. Why? The question flashed through my mind, but I didn’t hesitate. Claire had fought this black mage multiple times—she had to have a reason.
“Kuh, kuheheh… Power… so much power…!!”
At the same time, the black mage’s body began to swell. Muscles all over him convulsed and bulged outward in grotesque waves. It looked like watching a bodybuilder’s steroid-fueled growth in fast-forward—except even the most reckless bodybuilding drugs were tame compared to whatever he’d just drunk.
—Rip. Pop.
His skin tore with sickening sounds, unable to contain the sudden growth. His clothes shredded and fell away. What remained was a single monster, its bright red muscles exposed and glistening with blood.
“Ugh. Disgusting.”
I’d known about monsters like this from the game. Some black mages transformed into a second phase when cornered. Still, I hadn’t expected the transformation to be this grotesque. Even the wind brushing against his body must have felt like blades, yet the creature that had once been a black mage showed no sign of pain. He only laughed, wild and unhinged.
“Kuhahahaha!! With this power, I can do anything!! I was a fool to hesitate. I should’ve used it from the start!!”
The monster rolled its lidless eyes toward us.
“Ah, yes. You lot were here. As thanks for giving me this opportunity, I’ll kill you painlessly!!”
“Big words for an event boss. Did that potion just stretch your tongue?”
“You bitch!!”
—Thud. Thud.
The monster charged, each step heavy and fast. It was nothing like the sluggish Flesh Golem. Dodging wasn’t impossible, but there wasn’t much room to spare either.
“Luna!”
Claire darted in front of me, raising her shield. She’d even holstered her mace, gripping the shield with both hands.
“For faith and belief! Radiant Shield!”
A shield of light appeared—brighter and larger than before. Claire had grown, and so had her divine arts.
“Slave of a scarecrow!!”
The monster’s earlier laughter vanished. It snarled and slammed a fist into the glowing barrier.
—BOOM!
The air itself trembled from the impact, yet the shield held firm, unmoving, as if embodying Claire’s unwavering faith.
“GRAAAAAHH!!!”
The monster’s eyes rolled back as it rained blows down in a frenzy. Whether it was the clash between holy power and black magic that consumed its attention, or something else, it seemed to have forgotten I even existed.
“Side effect of the Chimera Faction’s rampage potion,” Theo explained as he stepped closer. “Turns them into mindless monsters.”
How did he know so much? The question surfaced for a moment before I realized it was obvious. After his sister was kidnapped by black mages, Theo had spent years studying them out of hatred and a thirst for revenge. Of course he’d know their weaknesses best.
“If you know that much, you know their weak points too, right?”
“Obviously. Their strength and speed increase, but they lose all ability to use black magic. They’re just oversized brutes now.”
That simplified things.
“Then we just beat it to death.”
Theo nodded and immediately began chanting. I circled around to the monster’s back. It was still hammering uselessly at Claire’s immovable shield. Any ordinary tank would’ve already lost their defense and collapsed under that assault, but against Claire, it was nothing but wasted effort.
Theo and I exchanged glances across the monster, timing our strike. This wasn’t like the mindless Flesh Golem. Those massive muscles acted as natural armor. A sloppy attack would only distract Claire for nothing. We needed to land a single, devastating burst of damage at the perfect moment.
One. Two. Three!
“Piercing frost, freeze and shatter! Ice Spear!”
“Hah!”
A jagged spear of ice shot toward the monster’s head. Even without its mind, the creature sensed the mana and tried to dodge. The moment it stopped attacking to evade—
—Thud!
I kicked it in the back of the neck from behind. No matter how much muscle it had, muscle couldn’t stop impact.
—Shunk…!
Off-balance and unable to dodge, the monster took the spear straight through its body. An icy spike erupted from its back.
“GRAAAAAHH!!!”
I quickly moved away before I could get impaled myself. The monster clawed at the spear embedded in its chest, trying to pull it out with trembling hands. We weren’t about to let that happen. I rushed in and kicked its arms away. But it had two arms. The other one reached for the spear—
Then Claire shouted.
“Now!”
Huh? Me? What? Before I could process it, an orange blur streaked past me.
“Huh?”
Faye appeared out of nowhere, sword raised high. Why is she here?
“HYAAAAH!!”
One flash. A razor-sharp arc sliced toward the monster—though it didn’t quite cut through. Maybe her blade was too damaged; even her full-power strike failed to bisect it. Still, it managed to snap the monster’s fingers.
“Kuh, kuhk, kuhuk…”
The monster wheezed, still desperately trying to remove the spear. With its fingers bent at unnatural angles, it couldn’t grip anything. It only clawed uselessly at its own chest.
If left alone, it might regenerate—but we had no intention of giving it that chance.
“Claire! Get ready for a finishing blow!”
Without waiting for her reply, I spun and targeted the back of its knee. A solid kick sent the monster crashing down. Its head lowered to Claire’s level. She had already drawn her mace, holy power gathering into a brilliant white sphere around it.
“In the Goddess’s name!!”
She brought the mace down with every ounce of strength she possessed, driving an enormous surge of divine power into the blow.
“……!”
—CRACK!
That was the end of the monster that had once been a black mage.