Episode 59
Episode 59
"Can't we just leave them behind? There's a 90% chance we'll be in danger too!"
Ashan said urgently.
At those words, not only the students of the Black Turtle Tower but even those from the Blue Dragon Tower looked at Ashan with horrified expressions.
How could he say such a thing?
"Hey, even if we ignore the White Tiger Tower guys, there are priests here too."
"We can't abandon the priests as well."
"How can you think so coldly?"
Lee Han flinched at the other students' reactions.
Truthfully, he had been thinking the same thing as Ashan.
"It's too late to leave them now! Everyone, scatter first!"
Nilia shouted urgently.
Having faced dangerous monsters in the mountains multiple times, Nilia knew exactly how to handle this situation.
Running away blindly with a monster chasing them from behind was even more dangerous.
They needed to split up, slow the creature down, and escape methodically.
Rowena asked breathlessly as she ran,
"Can you use <Yumidihus' Water Prison Bomb> again, the spell you cast earlier?"
"What? I don't even know what that is, but I can't use it now! Just focus on evacuating everyone!"
As he answered, Lee Han belatedly recalled who Yumidihus was—a famous imperial mage who had created several water-attribute spells.
But regardless of that, he couldn't cast it right now. It had taken him dozens of minutes to complete earlier.
With the mud golem charging at them...
"I hide in the night!"
Lee Han chanted the spell, and his body vanished into the rain.
He had already confirmed earlier that the mud golem relied on sight to track its enemies.
'What a waste, but...'
Lee Han, now close to the mud golem, pulled out a smoke chalk from his pocket.
It was one of the incomplete artifacts he had bought from the Black Turtle Tower's black market.
'Go!'
Crack!
With a shattering sound, thick smoke billowed around the mud golem. The sudden obstruction of its vision made the creature hesitate.
Lee Han drew the sword he had received from the principal—Morning Star, a blade once wielded by an Imperial Anti-Magic Zealot.
The black magnetite blade absorbed the surrounding mana, emitting an eerie sound. The bone summon recoiled in disgust and backed away.
'Aim for the legs!'
Thud!
From the start, Lee Han had no intention of capturing the mud golem.
'Just stealing its vision and slowing it down is enough. Mud golems are different from other monsters—once the students disappear, it won't keep chasing.'
Morning Star's effect was better than expected.
The mud golem, its thick ankle tendons severed, couldn't recover immediately. It lost balance, wobbled, and dropped to one knee.
Then, something fell from above.
"?"
Lee Han caught it instinctively.
It was a dwarf from the White Tiger Tower.
"???"
Batrek Bark, who had been caught in the mud golem's fist, looked around in confusion.
An invisible someone was holding him.
"What are you doing? Not getting up?"
At the indifferent voice of the unseen person, Batrek startled and quickly straightened his posture.
"Are you... a Wardanaz?"
"?!"
Now it was Lee Han's turn to be shocked.
'What the hell? How did this White Tiger Tower guy figure it out?'
"How did you know?"
"I just figured the only one who'd do something like this is the Wardanaz from the Blue Dragon Tower..."
"......"
Lee Han was speechless.
That... kind of made sense—
"Help Batrek! Help Batrek!"
"Batrek! We're coming!"
As the mud golem halted, the White Tiger Tower students regrouped and prepared to launch another attack.
It was truly impressive how their fighting spirit remained unbroken even after being beaten and forced to flee.
Of course, Lee Han was furious.
"Damn it, these unnecessary bastards!"
Batrek pretended not to hear, for the sake of the Wardanaz who had just saved him.
'Can't these idiots even evacuate properly?!'
Lee Han's plan had been simple.
Using the mud golem's weakness he had discovered earlier, he would confuse its vision and buy time.
Meanwhile, the students would evacuate on their own.
Once they were all gone, Lee Han would use the invisibility belt's power to slip away effortlessly.
It was a simple yet decent plan—but the White Tiger Tower students had completely ruined it.
Of course, they hadn't heard Lee Han's plan, so there was room for leniency, but that meant nothing to him.
"Hey, run away!"
"Everyone, get to safety! Don't come to help me!"
Batrek was flustered but followed Lee Han's instructions for now.
The one currently blocking the Mud Golem's vision and saving him wasn't another student—it was Lee Han.
Given the situation, no one with even a shred of conscience could refuse, tower pride be damned.
...But the White Tiger Tower students ignored Batrek's words.
"Batrek! We're coming to help you now!"
"Batrek, we're on our way!"
"......"
Without realizing it, Batrek glanced at Lee Han's reaction. Of course, he couldn't see anything due to the invisibility.
Thud—
With smoke bombs detonated nearby and the Mud Golem pausing to regenerate its legs, the creature slowly began moving again.
Moreover, the White Tiger Tower students charging through the smoke seemed to have provoked the Mud Golem. The golem turned its head, glaring straight at them.
'Anyone could tell it's locking onto targets and tracking them.'
"Hey. How the hell did you even get this far? The Mud Golem wouldn't have just let you pass so easily."
Lee Han asked Batrek.
While Lee Han had managed to circle behind the Mud Golem using invisibility magic, the White Tiger Tower students had no such method.
"We made and threw Mud Dissolving Potions. Priest Siana knew how to brew them..."
"!"
Lee Han was startled. He hadn't known such a thing existed.
If they had that, weakening the Mud Golem itself wouldn't have been impossible.
"Perfect! Where is that potion now?"
"We used it all..."
"......"
Lee Han, unseen, barely stopped himself from smacking Batrek upside the head. Wasting such a precious potion so carelessly...
Are your heads just helmet stands?
Sigh.
After exhaling sharply, Lee Han refocused.
The White Tiger Tower brats showed no intention of backing down...
At this point, before the smoke fully cleared, they had to deal as much damage as possible to the Mud Golem.
What was the best method now?
'Even if I slash with Morning Star, the wounds would be too small for its size, and a Water Orb would take too long to prepare.'
There was no time to deliberate—the White Tiger Tower students were already closing in. The Mud Golem had already raised its fist.
'Damn it!'
"Burn!"
It was less a consciously cast spell and more something closer to instinct.
Given how close he was to the Mud Golem, the range worked, and it was more aggressive than other spells.
...But the effect far surpassed what Lee Han had expected.
Whoooooosh—!
"?!?"
Batrek startled and dropped to the ground.
A sudden, violent pillar of flames erupted, completely engulfing the Mud Golem.
Normally, the flames should have been extinguished by the pouring rain, but fueled by Lee Han's mana, they raged uncontrollably.
"Th-this is amazing!!"
Batrek couldn't help but be impressed.
Many in White Tiger Tower disliked and envied the Wardanaz, but this was undeniable.
A fellow freshman incinerating a Mud Golem with a single spell?
The gap was so vast that awe overshadowed jealousy.
"This is insane!"
"??"
But instead of admiration, Lee Han cursed aloud.
'Sorry, Professor Garcia!'
Lee Han now physically understood why Professor Garcia had advised practicing fire elemental magic later.
In his haste, he had poured more mana into the spell than he could control, and the flames immediately broke free, rampaging wildly.
He had grown too arrogant from his earlier success.
The only saving grace was that the Mud Golem absorbed the berserk flames entirely.
Otherwise, the fire would have spread uncontrollably.
Crackle—
'Huh?'
Lee Han lifted his head at the splitting sound.
The Mud Golem was crumbling as it burned in the flames.
People often assumed that hardening clay by fire made it tougher, but unless properly prepared, earth didn't strengthen under heat.
Instead, it became brittle and shattered like this.
"...Y-you planned this...?!"
Batrek was beyond impressed now.
And Lee Han was beyond responding.
Lee Han dispelled his invisibility magic.
Then, alongside the charging White Tiger Tower students, he synchronized his breath—slashing and stabbing the Mud Golem in unison.
Since the Mud Golem was already cracked and crumbling, it could no longer hold out. It collapsed and toppled over, falling to the ground with a thud.
"Waaaah!"
"We got it! We got it!"
"It's all thanks to you! You did great!!"
"?"
Lee Han stared blankly at the White Tiger Tower students swarming around him with gratitude.
'What's going on?'
Of course, he understood they were happy about defeating the golem, but why were they suddenly acting so friendly after fighting together just moments ago?
"...Wait, who are you? I don't remember seeing you before...?"
"Which family are you from?"
"???"
The White Tiger Tower students, who had been thanking Lee Han, suddenly sensed something off.
They had assumed he was one of their own since he'd fought alongside Batrek with a sword, but...
The more they looked at him, the less he seemed like a White Tiger Tower student.
Unable to stand it any longer, Batrek stepped in to explain.
"He's not from our tower. He's Wardanaz, from the Blue Dragon Tower."
"...Guh—gwahhhk?!"
The White Tiger Tower students, who had been thanking him just moments ago, recoiled in shock, some even stumbling backward.
'They look more startled now than when the Mud Golem attacked them.'
"W-what kind of scheme... are you plotting against us?"
"No, more importantly, how did you deceive us? Was it the rain? That still doesn't make sense..."
"Did you use magic to trick us?!"
As the White Tiger Tower students babbled nonsense and let their imaginations run wild, Lee Han shook his head in exasperation.
Batrek, limping slightly from being caught by the Mud Golem earlier, spoke up.
"This Wardanaz came to help us. He saved me. Stop talking nonsense."
"Batrek! Are you okay?"
"Just a sprain, but I'm fine. Can you gather the other students? It'd be best to regroup before they scatter too far."
At Batrek's words, the White Tiger Tower students nodded.
Not all of them had recklessly charged into battle.
The priests from the Phoenix Tower and the more cautious (or, in Lee Han's eyes, sensible) White Tiger Tower students had chosen to flee instead of fight.
They needed to be called back before they got lost in the mountains.
"But..."
"?"
"Is it really okay to leave Batrek alone with him? Wardanaz, you won't do anything to Batrek, right?"
"......"
"Ah, no! It's not that we don't trust your honor, but Batrek is injured right now..."
Under Lee Han's icy glare, the White Tiger Tower students shrank back, stammering excuses.
"Everyone's accounted for, right?"
"Yeah. I've checked everyone."
Lee Han had confirmed the headcount for the students from the Blue Dragon Tower and the Black Turtle Tower.
Glancing to the side, it seemed the White Tiger Tower and Phoenix Tower students had also regrouped.
While no one on Lee Han's side was injured, the White Tiger Tower students had suffered the most casualties.
Having recklessly charged at the Mud Golem, few among them were without bruises or fractures.
The Phoenix Tower priests provided first aid to their injured peers. Priest Siana, true to her Flemeng Order background, even prepared pain-relief and bruise-healing potions to distribute.
Yoner marveled at her skill.
"As expected, you're amazing! Coming from the Flemeng Order, you know so many recipes, and your speed and craftsmanship are just—"
"......"
But Lee Han, who had heard about Priest Siana's jealousy, felt a headache coming on.
—If only you disappeared, I'd be first!!
...Thoughts like that suddenly flashed through his mind.
'I've already made enemies with the White Tiger Tower. I don't want to add the Phoenix Tower to that list...'
As Lee Han pondered this, Priest Siana approached him.
"I heard you fought the Mud Golem directly. Here, try this. It's a bruise-healing potion."
"Lee Han isn't injured—"
Yoner tried to explain kindly, but Lee Han was a step ahead.
He swiftly accepted the potion, downed it in one go, and then poured his entire soul into praising it.
"This... is the finest potion I've ever tasted!!"
"Huh?"
Yoner was baffled by Lee Han's exaggerated reaction.
Of course, Priest Siana's skills were impressive, but a hastily made potion couldn't possibly be that good...?
But Lee Han's enthusiastic performance had only just begun.
His skills, honed by enduring the professor's tedious lectures, now burst into full flame.
"Did you make this yourself? Unbelievable! You should be selling this for money! By the gods!"
While showering praise, Lee Han stole a glance.
And there it was—clear as day.
The sight of Priest Siana's face brightening into a radiant smile!