Chapter 13
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: The Magic Tower Genius Descends into the Labyrinth
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마탑 천재는 미궁을 내려간다 13화.
An uneasy premonition has never been wrong, neither in the past nor now.
Perhaps everyone has had that kind of experience at some point in their lives.
The worst-case scenario one had imagined.
The massive wave of dread crashing down when the very thing you desperately hoped would never happen finally becomes reality.
Whoosh!
Sylbian and Cherentia whipped their heads around in unison.
"……!"
Thud.
Even from a distance, it boldly revealed its presence. And there was only one such entity.
But it exuded a far more ominous and sinister aura than the hundreds of gremlins they'd encountered in the cave.
That left only one possibility.
"Cursed Gremlin."
Sylbian spat the words out, and Cherentia quietly rose to her feet.
"I'll handle it. Sylbian, you don't need to push yourself."
"Yeah, for this fight, I'll put my complete trust in you."
Sylbian accepted her decision without argument.
His current condition was close to the worst possible.
His body had reached its limit from the constant tension, and he couldn't even muster half of his mana reserves.
So for this one, he had to trust Cherentia.
Shrrrr…!
An ominous wind kept gusting in, and something began rapidly closing in through those blasts.
"Kreek…!"
Finally, the monster revealed itself atop a withered tree, and both of them naturally turned their gazes there.
"……!"
For a split second, the monster's eyes met theirs.
Its presence felt utterly different from the gremlins they'd faced in the cave.
Its protruding fangs and torn maw were abnormally large.
Srrek!
Not to mention the grotesque muscles bulging along its elongated arms. And those red eyes glowing even in the darkness were all the more foreboding.
Flap!
What truly seized their attention, though, was the pair of dark crimson wings sprouting from the gremlin's back.
Kreeek…!
A sharp screech like claws raking branches rode the wind.
The malice packed into that tiny motion spread with vicious clarity.
"…Cherentia."
Sylbian murmured, swallowing dryly.
Prolonging this fight would inevitably lead to serious injury.
"I know."
With that, Cherentia kicked off the ground and charged in a flash.
"Kick-kick…!"
As if mocking her, the cursed gremlin flapped its wings and took to the air.
Screee…!
Cherentia's long claws sliced through empty air with a sharp whine.
But she immediately kicked off the withered tree again and leaped once more.
…!
In her relentless pursuit without even a hint of hesitation, the monster glided away, evading her.
Slash! Whirr…!
As the chase between the monster and Cherentia dragged on endlessly, Sylbian watched, biting his lip.
"Damn it…."
The reason cursed monsters received such a different evaluation from ordinary ones.
Sure, there were the obvious physical traits, but the biggest factor was that they gained intelligence.
Whoosh! Slash…!
Even now, the cursed gremlin deliberately avoided matching her rhythm.
It was evident in how it slyly dodged while probing her full capabilities.
If he had at least half his mana left, he could've cast a spell to disrupt that movement.
But that wasn't the case now.
'Does that mean I just have to sit here and watch?'
Right now, he needed to focus on spells to protect himself.
He knew that was the smart choice.
But his heart wouldn't allow it. Helping Cherentia seemed like the fastest way to end this threat.
Whoosh!
The gremlin weaving between bushes and trees suddenly snapped its head around.
Its chilling red gaze locked straight onto Sylbian.
"Kreek!"
Its twisted maw grinned wide, as if it had found fresh prey, its eyes narrowing wickedly.
Krunch!
At that moment, Cherentia kicked off the withered tree with enough force to snap it, accelerating fiercely.
Swoosh!
Her form sliced through the air in an instant, surpassing even the gremlin's perception.
In a flash, her razor-sharp claws tore a massive gash through the space.
Riiip…!
She carved a long wound into one section of the monster's right wing and landed right in front of Sylbian.
"…This won't be easy."
Despite the clear success, her voice was even colder.
"I understand the situation fully."
Sylbian grasped her meaning.
The burst of speed she'd shown moments ago had been a deliberate gambit.
It had been obvious even to him that she'd aimed to rip the gremlin's throat out in that instant.
Yet the gremlin had reacted, sacrificing a chunk of its wing to evade her.
"Kieeeek…!!"
Seeing its deeply torn wing, the gremlin let out a piercing shriek.
Swoosh! Swoooosh!
Immediately after, its frenzied flight etched wild patterns across the sky, far more erratic than before.
It darted cunningly in all directions, unleashing sonic booms that made it look like it was weaving some curse.
Stagger!
Suddenly, Cherentia's form lurched violently.
"Ugh…!"
She stared at her body in disbelief.
A sudden confusion overwhelmed her senses. Even standing upright properly was proving impossible.
Thud.
At that moment, Sylbian placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Sylbian! Do you know what's happening?"
She asked urgently.
This was an unforeseen development. She was supposed to protect him, but her body wasn't obeying.
At this rate, they'd be in grave danger.
"It's fine."
"Fine? What do you…."
"The monster just destabilized the mana in your body. We just need to stabilize it in reverse."
After a brief explanation, Sylbian attuned his mana, instantly steadying the flows within both their bodies.
"Ah!"
Cherentia looked at him in astonishment.
Her twisted senses snapped back into place, and her mana flow stabilized even better than before.
Even while she'd staggered, nothing had changed for Sylbian.
That meant he'd maintained his composure perfectly amid the monster's curse.
"Quuurrk!"
The monster, watching the scene, twisted its neck in irritation.
Flash!
Immediately after, it took in the mana currents swirling around Sylbian's form.
Swoosh—!
The gremlin launched itself at him without hesitation.
The charge was at an unbelievable speed, but Cherentia's reaction was instantaneous.
Clang!
Her long claws clashed with the monster's sharp talons, erupting in a blaze of sparks that lit up the darkness.
Kreeeeng—!!
In the fierce deadlock, Cherentia's amber eyes suddenly flashed wickedly.
"Chen!"
With a low rumble, her arm swelled slightly.
Boom—!
She smashed the locked talons away with sheer force alone, then took a split-second breath.
Her arm returned to normal as if it had never swelled.
Sylbian, witnessing the exchange, couldn't hide his shock.
'She can even use Chen?'
He'd heard about it a few times at the Magic Tower.
The other way adventurers, mercenaries, or knights wielded mana—it was called Chen.
Without a perfected body, it was impossible, so the tower's mages couldn't use it.
But Sylbian's thoughts didn't linger.
"Kiaaak…!!"
With its talons badly damaged too, the gremlin howled in rage.
Above all, its movements were markedly different now.
Shrrk…!
It flapped rapidly, widening the distance in a hurry.
Soon, high in the sky, it hovered above them, glaring down with eerie eyes.
"Kreek…! Kiki-reek…! Kiki-kik-kreek…!!"
"Ngh!"
As the gremlin's howling spread, Cherentia groaned in pain from her sensitive hearing.
Sylbian instantly sensed the monster was targeting her.
'Insanely cunning.'
First it disrupted her senses, now this horrific howl that made even standing a struggle.
If he weren't a mage, the crisis would've been even worse.
The biggest problem now was that Cherentia had no way to counter a monster airborne like that.
He didn't think the gremlin knew about beastkin traits or habits.
Yet it was using curses specifically to neutralize Cherentia, his greatest threat.
If he weren't a mage who could control his mana, the howling would've made his ears bleed.
"Kaaaaak…!!"
The howl intensified, spreading wider, to the point where standing properly was nearly impossible.
Above all, the biggest issue was that Cherentia had no means to fight a monster hovering so high.
'Even if I poured all my mana into a spell, it'd probably dodge.'
Despite the torn wing, the gremlin was unbelievably agile.
Landing a spell on it from this range was next to impossible.
Sylbian racked his brain in an instant, searching for options.
And he found the answer in a flash.
"Cherentia."
He whispered softly, careful not to aggravate her wounded hearing.
"…Sorry. I have no way to fight a monster that's taken to the skies."
Cherentia's face twisted in despair, gripped by utter helplessness.
"I know. But I have a way to make it possible for you."
Cherentia stared at him in disbelief.
"You have a proper plan?"
To her, no solution was visible in this situation.
Sylbian's mana was far too low, and she had no way to reach the gremlin in the sky.
Even fleeing, the cursed monster would surely pursue.
And yet.
Sylbian was saying he had an answer.
"I'm going to use all my mana on you to cast Hesente. It'll leave me wide open, but it's our only shot."
His voice was calmly composed, mismatched to the dire circumstances.
But realizing his intent, Cherentia blinked involuntarily.
"Sylbian…."
In a way, it was a massive gamble.
A mage was staking his own life on this solution.
That showed how deeply he trusted her.
He had near-absolute faith that she could leap into the sky and kill that gremlin.
"…Understood."
Cherentia gladly accepted his trust.
If he placed such faith in her, she had to respond in kind.
If the wise Sylbian saw this as the answer, it would surely become reality.
"Kiki-kik-kreek…!!"
As the cursed gremlin howled even more fiercely,
Shaaa—!
Subtle mana currents rose around Sylbian's form, beginning to glow with a vivid blue light.