Chapter 46
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 046
Chapter Title: Veteran and Newcomer (1)
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‘What the hell?’
Terence, an executive of the Eremus Eastern Branch.
Up until he spotted the group blocking the path of his undead army, he’d been brimming with confidence.
But now, that confidence had evaporated.
It was because the enemy mage had unleashed lightning magic.
Even Terence, who had become a mage in his twenties and devoted over forty years to the art, was seeing a Lightning Mage for the first time.
No wonder he was shocked.
‘The report just said “mage,” so I didn’t think much of it. But if it’s a Lightning Mage, that changes everything.’
Terence recalled the monster dispatched from headquarters.
A man with no merits beyond his ability to transform into a werewolf.
Not only had he failed to eliminate Birch Baron, but his report was a mess too.
It was enough to make Terence lament the situation.
After all, Terence was the one who had tracked the baron’s group based on that report.
‘Was it really that hard to mention anything unusual? Damn it!’
An unexpected powerhouse had appeared.
Though Terence panicked at first, he quickly regained his composure.
He’d spotted the enemy’s youthful face.
‘Doesn’t even look like an adult yet. Probably hasn’t read many grimoires, so his mana reserves must be low. He’ll blast away with spells at full tilt and tire out fast.’
Drawing from his experience, Terence judged that a young-faced mage like that would run out of steam quickly.
With that, he shifted his attention away from the boy.
Of course, plenty of dark mages would die before the young Lightning Mage exhausted his mana.
But Terence didn’t care.
He had brought a large number of subordinates.
‘They’re just cannon fodder I drag around anyway. A few deaths don’t matter.’
Terence truly believed that.
Aside from five elite dark mages, the rest had only learned basic necromancy.
They could do nothing but create and control undead soldiers.
With the organization’s support, churning out mages at that level was trivial, so there was no need to coddle them.
‘The real issue is those knights...’
The enemy had two knights.
They looked strong, and their skills matched their imposing builds.
Every swing of their weapons shattered at least one undead.
But this was anticipated.
Terence didn’t falter and kept pushing more undead forward.
‘Undead can always be made again.’
The east was crawling with corpses.
Low-grade undead could be mass-produced indefinitely.
That’s why he hounded his dark mages, sending their controlled undead charging ahead.
Of course, he kept himself well hidden the whole time.
He had no desire to get zapped by that lightning.
“Gah!”
Just moments ago, one of Terence’s subordinates had been struck by lightning magic and met a pathetic end.
But Terence was glad about it.
Fewer dark mages under his command meant the Lightning Mage had burned more mana.
What happens when the enemy mage runs dry?
‘That’s my cue to step in.’
With that thought, Terence melted into the crowd.
Stealth was his specialty.
Having spent over half his life on the run, he had unmatched confidence in hiding.
‘Time’s on my side anyway. No need to rush.’
Terence remained at ease.
Until that insane skeleton showed up.
“Aaaagh!”
A scream from one of his dark mages in the rear.
Startled, Terence whipped around to see a skeleton rampaging through the back lines.
Oddly, it wore a hood.
Its swordsmanship was so superb that every swing carved chunks out of undead bodies.
But that wasn’t the real problem.
The key issue was that it was targeting the dark mages.
‘That’s at least mid-grade... Whose familiar is that thing?’
As far as Terence knew, none of the twenty or so dark mages with him controlled anything like that.
Which meant there was a traitor in their midst.
That realization led him to start suspecting his allies.
‘Good thing there are so many undead.’
I let out a sigh of relief upon confirming Gilbert tearing through the dark mages’ rear guard.
I’d been prepared to risk exposing myself as a necromancer by deploying him on the battlefield.
But with all these undead swarming around, courtesy of the dark mages?
I could send Gilbert out without a worry.
Hide a tree in the forest, right?
This was the perfect scenario.
No one here—except Bear—would suspect I was controlling that skeleton.
‘There. Target that one.’
Using Gilbert for auto-hunting was incredibly convenient.
I’d pinpoint a suspected dark mage’s location and issue a mental command; he’d carry it out faithfully.
Any undead blocking his path?
He’d slice right through them.
Just like that, Gilbert reached his target in a flash.
He cleanly dispatched the panicking dark mage and moved on to the next without pause.
Watching him, I felt deeply satisfied.
‘I can really feel how much stronger he’s gotten.’
Gilbert had always been powerful enough to handle low-grade undead with ease.
But after I taught him enemy magecraft via the Puppeteer Grimoire, he’d grown even more formidable.
He still wasn’t quite at the level of his days as Master’s familiar, but this was noticeable progress.
“Sir Bear! Sir Conall! Target the dark mages!”
Between controlling Gilbert, I directed Bear and Conall to focus on the dark mages too.
They were the type to do it even without orders.
Right now, they were mowing through the dark mage army.
They weren’t even going all out, yet every sword stroke pulverized enemies in their path.
In terms of raw power, they outclassed Gilbert.
From the rear, I observed them with a pleased smile.
‘Bringing Bear into the fray was the right call.’
Bear had originally wanted to stay by my side.
For protection.
But in my judgment, using a sword like his purely for defense was a waste.
So I’d ordered him to attack.
And this was the result.
It proved my thinking correct.
‘The able-bodied men are exceeding expectations too.’
The spot Bear had vacated in the assault was filled by twelve able-bodied villagers.
Honestly, this was surprising.
I’d figured over half would flee.
The numbers were so lopsided.
We had barely ten; they had hundreds.
It was natural for morale to crumble.
‘Doesn’t seem like they stayed out of pure loyalty... But staying is what matters.’
The villagers kept stealing glances at me.
Probably scared of retaliation if they ran.
Still, wasn’t that commendable?
If we won this battle, I planned to reward them generously.
Of course, the cost would come from Birch Baron’s coffers.
“Fall back slowly while fighting! Don’t let them surround us!”
Assessing the battlefield, I shouted to the villagers.
They couldn’t cleanly dispatch the surging undead with their skills.
Against enemies that kept moving even headless, there wasn’t much they could do.
So I instructed them to block or shove back any undead approaching us.
That alone was enough.
Bear or Conall would join in periodically to help.
Thanks to that, we hadn’t faced any real crisis yet.
But I wasn’t letting my guard down.
‘Where’s that executive?’
The Eremus Eastern Branch executive the werewolf had mentioned.
Terence, was it?
No sign of anyone matching that description.
Only small fry were dying.
Which meant I should hold back on magic soon too.
‘Time to stop sniping.’
When a dark mage falls, the undead they controlled break free and rampage wildly.
What happens then?
They clash with other dark mages’ undead, tangling up and disrupting formations.
That’s why I’d targeted the dark mages.
Disarray in their ranks would tilt the battle our way, even slightly.
‘Mana left: 305. Solid.’
I’d fired Lightning Bolt four times.
And taken out four dark mages.
Ah, make that seven including Gilbert’s kills.
Not bad.
The problem? Even after seven down, more remained.
‘They’ve surely pinpointed my position, but no one’s targeting me with spells. That means...’
They’re waiting for me to tire out.
That’s when it clicked.
How Terence was directing the fight.
He dragged around a horde of dark mages, treating them and their undead like expendables.
Once they wore down the enemy, he’d swoop in for the kill.
A cheap tactic.
But would it work on us?
‘No way.’
His subordinates had no bandwidth for anything but necromancy amid controlling undead, and their familiars were all weak.
We had a mage, two knights.
Three knight-class forces counting Gilbert.
Unless Terence himself went all-in, he couldn’t gain the upper hand against us.
So.
‘He might try a counterattack soon.’
After four Lightning Bolts, I stopped casting.
They might think I was exhausted.
Or even out of mana.
All I had to do was wait for the enemy to move first.
‘Stay sharp.’
I heightened my focus to the max, sharpening my already keen senses.
Mana flows became crystal clear.
A few minutes passed in that state.
Then, a strange sensation hit.
‘Mana’s gathering.’
The speed was impressive.
Sign of a skilled mage.
My response couldn’t outpace the spell’s completion.
“Duck!”
The villager nearest the incoming magic’s direction.
I yanked him down with me.
Something whistled over our heads, and the spear he held snapped clean off.
The shaft clattered to the ground.
Its cut end was flawlessly smooth, like a razor’s work.
‘Wind.’
What had passed over my head.
Definitely wind.
Extremely sharp wind.
‘Alright, let’s call it Wind Blade.’
No exact name? I’d make one up.
Helped me identify the spell quickly when they prepped another.
Wind Blade.
A spell as threatening as Lightning Bolt.
But no time to admire it.
The enemy had revealed himself.
‘Found you.’
Amid the undead horde.
An old man stared at me, eyes wide.
Shocked that I’d dodged his spell.
I’d asked the werewolf about Terence’s appearance; he’d advised targeting the oldest dark mage.
If he was right, that had to be Terence.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
I unleashed Lightning Bolt at the presumed Terence.
Then issued new orders to Gilbert.
Take him out.
Right after.
Bzzt-crack!
An undead beside the old man blocked the bolt with its body.
Then, a familiar mana flow.
Wind Blade again.
The spell completed at a speed that still impressed.
Confirming it was Terence.
Whoosh!
I dodged the Wind Blade unscathed.
Then pointed at the old man and yelled.
“Bear! Conall! Prioritize that old man! He’s their leader!”
Situation was dire; no time for polite speech.
Thankfully, they got it—Bear and Conall shifted their breakthrough toward him.
Immediately, Terence’s face twisted in fury.
He’d grasped the turn of events.
Bear and Conall up front.
Gilbert in the rear.
To me, it looked hopeless for him.
‘How’s my magic?’
Commanding three knight-class forces.
Wasn’t that magic too?
So thinking, I eyed Terence.
That’s when it happened.
“Take out the skeleton and knights first!”
Terence’s shout was followed by mana signs from the mages around him.
Five in total.
Seemed like their elites.
Them stepping up meant Terence was committing fully.
In other words, total war from here on.
‘Hmph...’
I glared at Terence.
White hair, face etched with wrinkles.
Clearly a veteran mage.
But I didn’t feel like I’d lose.
I was the genius Master had acknowledged.
‘I’ll win for sure.’
Back then, Master had said it.
True talent is catching up to decades of others’ effort in a fraction of the time.
Today, I’d prove him right.