Episode 1044
Episode 1044
Listening to the leather merchant spewing curses behind him, Lee Han turned away with a bitter expression.
'What a truly regrettable turn of events.'
Of all people, it had to be Professor Voladi who caught him.
It could only be described as extraordinarily bad luck.
"Wait a minute. Doesn't this mean other fighting arenas might have been ruined too?"
"......"
For the first time, Professor Voladi hesitated. Lee Han was shocked by his reaction.
No way?!
Fortunately, there was still one underground arena left intact.
Of course, before discovering that particular arena, Professor Voladi had to visit three additional ruined ones first.
-You bastards took out all the leaders and now what's left of the arena? It's completely disbanded!
-P-please spare me! I don't have anything around my neck! No weapons either! I'm unarmed, so please, not that spell!
-Ah, so you're that combat mage? Thanks to you, I got this tavern dirt cheap. The guild bastards who used to run this place were utterly terrified.
"Found it. Let's go in."
'Can this really be called "finding" it?'
Lee Han thought to himself.
With this method, even he or Professor Garcia could have located it easily.
All they had to do was grab any mercenary who looked like a criminal along the way, hang them upside down, and demand, "Tell me where the entrance to the underground arena is!"
Click
-The entrance to the underground arena they heard about this time was hidden near the sewers in the slums.
After passing through a dimly lit tunnel lined with old, rounded stones, knocking three times on a red-painted stone would open a hidden door from the inside.
As the door opened, a surprisingly bright light spilled out. It seemed there were not just torches but numerous magical light sources illuminating the place.
-That's all you know? Keep walking, you scum!
-Hands off my cards!? Anyone who dares covet my Magic Tower card will have their hearts chewed out!
-Aim low! I said aim low! Not at the shielded top, you idiot!
From the end of the long tunnel, rowdy shouts could be heard.
It was clear that all sorts of gambling—from Wizard Card matches to underground arena fights—were in full swing.
A guild member of the arena, counting numbers while carelessly stacking tarnished silver coins on the counter, noticed the new arrivals and asked,
"Who referred you?"
"Has a gorgon hybrid ever come here?"
"Who? Never heard of 'em. I asked who referred you."
A threatening edge crept into the man's voice. It was obvious he suspected them not as guests who'd come to spend gold but as suspicious intruders.
Lee Han gripped his staff. But Professor Voladi was a step faster.
BAM!
The guild member slammed face-first into the counter and collapsed unconscious. Simultaneously, Professor Voladi blasted a powerful telepathic wave at everyone inside.
Don't move!
Those who sensed something was wrong under the overwhelming telepathic pressure quickly dropped to the floor.
But the fearless or foolish ones tried to draw weapons from their belts while hurling curses.
"Split apart, Perkuntra's Lightning!"
Having pushed himself relentlessly with multiple 5th Circle spells throughout the semester, Lee Han instinctively adapted a spell he hadn't even formally learned.
The magic he just used was an enhanced and condensed variation of Perkuntra's basic lightning spell, forcibly split apart and fired like buckshot.
If one had to name it, it would be Perkuntra's Chain Lightning—roughly a 4th Circle-level spell.
Crackle-crackle-ZAP!
As multiple bolts of lightning pierced through them, people collapsed screaming in agony. Without pause, Lee Han activated his next spell. Lightning Spear and Lightning Cloak manifested, causing electrical discharges to ripple through the surroundings.
"Don't come any closer! I'll attack if you do!"
"You attacked first and now you're warning us, you crazy bastard!"
"......Hmph!"
Lee Han's retort died in his throat as he found himself momentarily speechless.
Since mages are particularly vulnerable to ambushes, Professor Voladi had chosen to strike first, though that choice must have felt incredibly rude to the members of this criminal guild.
'But there's no helping it.'
Once the fight had broken out, they couldn't just stand there and take it. Lee Han summoned a medium-sized Skeleton Golem composed of dragon teeth.
Crunch!
The insane rampage of destruction, which threatened to demolish the already cramped underground arena, drew curses from the guild members who had been trying to snipe the mages with crossbows.
"You damn cursed mage bastard!!"
"What the hell is your problem, wrecking the whole place like this?!"
"..."
"Ugh..."
Lee Han wanted to explain, 'Sure, the situation is chaotic right now, and I'm defending myself with a Lightning Cloak and psychokinesis, but if magic arrows or bolts come flying from a distance, unexpected damage is possible—that's why I summoned a defensive summon.'
But since he had already destroyed half the underground arena's facilities, the chance for such an explanation had long passed. Lee Han gave up and issued the order to destroy.
"Wipe out everyone still standing!"
The lightly armored arena guild members couldn't subdue the golem and were swept away like bowling pins. Meanwhile, Lee Han continuously cast Crow's Evil Eye from behind. Those struck by the curse collapsed, poisoned.
"Wha... what the...?!"
"Did an entire magic tower come crashing down on us?!"
Guild members who had rushed in from connected rooms were baffled, unable to grasp the situation.
Flashing lightning streaked across the area, a medium-sized golem rampaged in the center of the arena, smashing everything in sight, and their armed comrades were dropping like flies without even being hit—as if struck by some curse.
No matter how they looked at it, this wasn't the kind of violence one or two mages should be capable of.
This was excessive destruction, as if an entire magic tower had descended upon them!
Why are they going this far?!
'Did someone kidnap a mage or something?? That never happened, though...'
"O sword, Vible's..."
As Lee Han prepared to summon Vible's Flying Sword, a spell he had recently learned, just to be thorough, Professor Voladi, who had returned in the meantime, spoke up.
"She doesn't seem to be here."
"Ah. Is that so?"
While his disciple was busy beating up the guild members in the center, Professor Voladi had subdued all the guild members inside and finished his search.
"Let's go back."
"Yes."
After the two mages vanished, a suffocating silence fell.
The remaining guests cautiously glanced around before sneaking out. The guild members sprawled across the floor were too dazed to even think of threatening or stopping them.
Someone muttered under their breath.
"...Those crazy mage bastards...!"
Truthfully, it wasn't surprising that Eandurde wasn't in the first underground arena they checked.
The capital was one of the largest cities in the Empire, and the crimes lurking in its shadows were just as vast.
Even just counting the big and small underground arenas in the slums, there had to be at least a dozen.
But when Eandurde wasn't in the second underground arena either, Lee Han grew slightly troubled.
"Could Eandurde have gone to a different illegal arena? Maybe not this one..."
'Shouldn't you have thought of that before wrecking everything?'
A fallen guild member cursed inwardly, keeping his eyes shut. He was too afraid to open them, fearing the mages would immediately start beating him again.
Just who the hell is this Gorgon half-breed?!
However, Professor Voladi shook his head.
"That's unlikely."
While there could be other arenas in different parts of the capital outside the slums, places like that weren't easily accessible to someone like Eandurde. They required identity verification and guarantees.
It was far more plausible that she would be in one of the arenas in this district, where entry was relatively easier and she was familiar.
"Hmm. Let me ask you something. Are there any other illegal arenas around here?"
Lee Han directed his question to a guild member who was pretending to be unconscious with his eyes closed. Realizing he'd been caught, the man hastily blurted out an answer.
"Over there! I heard there are some guys operating near the pasture down the road! Please spare me!"
"Thank you."
"Those bastards are really bad people! You must punish them!!"
"Understood."
Lee Han moved forward again with Professor Voladi while listening to the guild member's enthusiastic encouragement.
But this time was slightly different.
At the third underground arena, the guild members had come out to greet them first.
"We don't have any Gorgon hybrids here!"
Rumors had spread that a mad hunter-slaughterer was rampaging through the area, leaving the guild members of this arena—disguised as a pasture—in a state of extreme tension.
Under normal circumstances, they might have resorted to force, but this time, their opponent was far too dangerous.
From what they'd heard, this lunatic was tearing through every place in search of some Gorgon hybrid...
—Wasn't he originally not the type to go around destroying everything? Why the hell is he wrecking everything now?
—Does that matter? If anyone's hiding a Gorgon hybrid, speak up now. If we find out later you were hiding one, we'll skin you alive!
After checking the ledgers and even searching the guild members' back pockets, they were certain.
They didn't have any Gorgon hybrid with them.
The guild members, finally able to catch their breath, had been waiting on the narrow path leading up to the pasture and shouted out like this.
"None here?"
"That's right. If you don't believe us, we can let you verify it."
"...Uh, by any chance, are you a guild officially sanctioned by the Empire?"
Lee Han asked back in bewilderment.
These criminals running an illegal operation were being far too polite and courteous.
The guild members made faces like they'd bitten into something sour.
Hearing that kind of talk from a deranged mage who had been obliterating guilds left and right made their insides twist in fury. 'Bastard!'
"Begin."
Professor Voladi spoke in a low voice to Lee Han.
He was only saying it because Lee Han had pleaded, 'Please give me a signal before attacking.'
"??"
The guild members were slow to react, not understanding what "begin" meant. In that instant, the two mages vanished.
BOOM!
The first strike was a precisely refined attack. The fallen guild members collapsed like sacks without even realizing that illusionary blades formed from magic had sliced through their vital points.
And what followed was the merciless, unrestrained violence of uncontrolled magic.
A disciple lacking his master's confidence showed no restraint. Fired by the tension of not knowing when a counterattack might come, he continued to unleash spell after spell.
"Damn... bastards..."
While someone was muttering, Professor Voladi had already slipped inside the arena.
And after a short while, he came back out.
"Nothing here."
'As expected. This is what a pro looks like.'
Lee Han thought he understood why Professor Voladi had refused the guild members' offer and instead subdued them before searching himself.
Such offers were only possible with trustworthy opponents.
You couldn't shake hands with shady characters like these guild members, who might have ulterior motives.
They could have hidden Eandurde elsewhere and played innocent, or let them in only to ambush them at the most opportune moment.
The important thing was never losing the initiative.
'I learned something today. I shouldn't let my guard down so easily.'
No matter how sweet the offer, he should never just accept it blindly...
Swish—
A paper bird flew in.
Lee Han caught it and unfolded it. It was Professor Garcia's handwriting.
"What's the letter say?"
"...It says Eandurde is currently with Professor Garcia? Apparently, she went to the arena to retrieve money she'd hidden in an old, defunct arena..."
"Naturally. We're heading back."
Lee Han deeply regretted his actions.
If he had trusted Eandurde just a little more, he wouldn't have mistakenly assumed she'd recklessly gone to an underground arena just to get gold coins.
'I should have trusted her more.'
"......"
"......"
The half-dead guild members, lying sprawled like corpses, trembled with rage at the retreating backs of the two mages.
They were truly despicable bastards—the kind you wouldn't even want your shadow to touch.