Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Defense Against the Horde
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The second puzzle was base defense. All they had to do was protect the flag from the monsters swarming in from the front, including goblins and orcs.
If the first puzzle had judged their scouting abilities, this one evaluated the power of their magic.
Boom! Boom! Crash! Crash!
The mages who had passed through the maze destroyed the battlefield with their respective spells.
Corpses piled up and flesh sprayed everywhere, but new monsters soon took their places.
There was no time limit. The horde of monsters would continue endlessly until a certain number of participants were eliminated.
It was a test that required not only raw power but also mana efficiency.
“Arghhh!!”
The first mage to be eliminated was one who had recklessly spammed powerful spells from the start, ignoring those factors.
Just before being trampled by goblins and orcs, he reverted to his original body.
“No, no, no!!”
Another used magic efficiently but broke mentally first.
The endless horde of monsters was intimidating in itself.
Few mages had ever experienced combat like this.
It was a time of peace. Unless they had volunteered for the Imperial Army, they had never faced an army of this scale.
Moreover, this was Ariella’s mental realm. While casting magic was possible, it felt slightly different from the real world.
In the face of a tidal wave of enemies, any lapse in concentration meant death.
In that regard, Dennis and Cadrel were undoubtedly skilled.
Though neither was particularly old, they weren’t inexperienced either.
They had overcome countless hardships to reach their positions as Guardian and Mage Tower Councilor.
They weren’t fragile enough to lose focus in a situation like this.
Splat! As blue light flickered in Dennis’s eyes, the ankles of the monsters charging at the front exploded.
The shockwave toppled the charging pack, crushing the ones ahead.
Hoo. As Cadrel exhaled deeply, red smoke spread toward the front.
The monsters that inhaled it had their eyes turn bloodshot, then attacked the nearby monsters.
“Huh….”
“He’s skilled too.”
“It’s not just about looks, huh.”
But even those two failed to capture the attention of the people gathered in the banquet hall. Because Damian was there.
[Now I get why Her Majesty wants us to secure him.]
[Right? I thought his talent was all in his face, but he keeps surprising me every time.]
[Just like you said, we have to recruit him without killing him if possible. He’ll be a very useful long-term piece.]
Whoosh. Crunch. Hellfire burned the monsters’ flesh, and stone scale boulders shredded the rest.
But what surprised people wasn’t just the sheer power.
First off, there was no hesitation in how he handled his mana.
In the mental realm, Dennis and Cadrel showed slight pauses, but Damian had none.
‘I didn’t expect this to be helpful here.’
This was thanks to the sensation he’d gained from the old mage’s trial. Infusing black magic with will to accelerate it.
This didn’t just boost his black magic casting speed in normal times; it gave him a huge edge even in situations like this, where mana usage was restricted.
But the strangest thing people sensed was how accustomed Damian seemed to combat.
He had fought quite a bit in the past half-year, but never against a horde like this.
This kind of battle was hard to experience unless you served in the northern wastelands.
Dennis and Cadrel were enduring thanks to past experience, but they had never actually fought in one either.
‘It oddly reminds me of the old days.’
Damian hadn’t faced this many monsters before either.
The enemies he’d fought during the civil war had all been humans like himself.
War isn’t made up of knights and mages alone.
Most infantry didn’t even know how to properly use mana.
Still, he couldn’t just leave them be. Once he chose a side, he had to pay the corresponding price.
Some were vicious criminals, others had simply followed because their homeland was under the orthodox faction’s control. Some had joined for the pay.
But burning alive from black magic or having limbs torn off was the same for all. All by Damian’s hand.
He felt no regret or guilt. He only hoped that this time, only those who deserved death would die.
Soon after, the second puzzle ended.
Since the goal was endurance, no announcement was made about who had felled the most monsters.
But the observers all knew the answer.
* * *
As the number of participants dwindled, Damian, Dennis, and Cadrel produced overwhelmingly superior results compared to the others.
Everyone had expected something like this.
But no one had anticipated Damian standing out the most among the three.
In terms of spell level or experience alone, he couldn’t compare to the other two.
Yet Damian possessed a strange power that defied common sense.
Was it simply talent?
The mages present had experienced Rubia, said to be the greatest talent of the era. But Damian felt different from that.
Ariella felt the same.
Since she had left the Cadrel issue to Damian anyway, she watched the matches as one of the audience.
‘I didn’t know Marian left me such a gift.’
Rather than being flustered by the situation, she was pleased.
A being who could inspire her. For a mage, such a person was truly precious.
Watching Damian today sparked many thoughts. There were many aspects she wanted to apply to her own magic.
But Damian’s magic had a subtle sense of dissonance.
The problem was that Ariella could feel it but couldn’t properly explain it.
“Lord Damian is…. *hic*. Even more amazing. *hic*.”
A voice came from behind Ariella. A girl with a subtly dissatisfied expression sipped her drink.
“Nice to meet you, Agnes Schubert.”
“Ah, uh…. *hic*. I-It’s an honor to meet you like this, Tower Lord Ariella.”
“You seem uncomfortable. Are you feeling ill anywhere?”
Her eyes were glazed, cheeks slightly flushed. Anyone could see she was drunk.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just Lord Damian….”
“What about Damian?”
Ariella valued not just the mentor-disciple relationship, but also the bond between man and woman.
It was because of different existences that humanity and the Empire had developed this far.
“If you have something to say, feel free. Your fiancé is in the middle of the matches right now.”
Of course, setting aside such philosophical notions, her curiosity about young love was the biggest factor.
There’s no moment more honest with one’s emotions than when drunk. Her body tingled imagining what innocent words might spill out.
“Lord Damian… *hic*.”
“Damian.”
“Has excellent swordsmanship too. *hic*. Ehehe.”
“Pardon?”
Agnes giggled and took another sip.
“With just a single sword, *hic*, a puzzle like that would be, *hic*, no problem at all, *hic*. Ehehe.”
A statue-like physique and outstanding sword skills. Another trait symbolizing Damian. But not the topic for now.
She’d expected some sweet-and-bitter confession, but their relationship was far from ordinary.
“Well then, let’s take a short break.”
The third puzzle had also concluded.
Staying long in the mental realm consumed significant stamina, so they took a brief rest.
‘Maybe I should have held back a bit.’
When he exited the mental realm, the gazes toward Damian had clearly changed.
Mages were people who trusted their eyes over rumors.
Having witnessed with their own eyes the skills of Damian, who had only been the subject of rampant rumors, they couldn’t help but take interest.
“Wow, Damian. If you do just a little better, you might actually win.”
“Our little brother looks cooler the more I see him. What about the necklace? You keeping it? Or….”
Especially Boris and Erwin were burdensome. Their approach carried clear intent.
“Why is she like this?”
Agnes, swaying unsteadily, had reached the point where she could no longer properly support herself.
Her face was quite red, so she’d gone to the balcony to cool off.
“She did drink a fair amount, but….”
This wasn’t the first time Agnes had attended a banquet. Yet she had never acted like this before.
‘Is this to ease her anxiety?’
Agnes had noticed Damian was up to something. But she hadn’t shown it.
She must have felt some unease. That led to unconsciously overdrinking.
[Lord Damian. What do you plan to do now?]
While checking on Agnes’s condition, a mental message arrived from Dennis.
[Shouldn’t you tell me what you’re thinking by now?]
[I’ll draw out Cadrel’s memories.]
[…You mean kidnap him? How do you extract memories without a magic tool’s aid?]
That’s true in the realm of conventional magic.
As a black mage, Damian could easily extract memories from subdued foes via Absorption.
It broke their minds, but it was far more efficient than normal methods.
But he couldn’t use that this time. Not just Damian, but everyone needed to see those memories.
[I can’t reveal the specific plan yet. If you show agitation, Cadrel might notice. Don’t misunderstand. It’s not like you’re weirdly emotional like Duke Dennis?]
[I’m not….]
[Whether it’s feelings for me or Lord Ezekiel, I don’t care. It’s probably concern for the Tower Lord anyway. So just wait for now.]
Dennis was at a loss for words.
It was true he harbored some resentment toward Damian and Ezekiel.
Of course, he didn’t think he’d expressed it emotionally.
It had simply slipped out unconsciously while fulfilling his duty as Guardian.
Leaving the terrace, Dennis headed back to the banquet hall. Against one wall, footage of the previous match was replaying.
“…”
Dennis and Cadrel both wore subtle expressions.
It wasn’t the first time seeing Damian’s skills today, but it was the first time witnessing such a diverse array.
It had been unusual from breaking through the maze walls, and everything after was equally extraordinary.
The two had held back somewhat, it was true.
Frankly, the skill gap with other participants was huge. No need to overexert.
But even accounting for that, they couldn’t deny being outshone by Damian.
“Then we’ll resume the matches.”
Before entering the mental realm again, Ariella gave Damian a meaningful glance. Damian nodded upon seeing it.
* * *
The fourth and fifth puzzles proceeded. As everyone expected, Cadrel, Dennis, and Damian were the final three remaining.
The winner would come from these three. The previous puzzles vanished, and the surrounding space expanded greatly.
As their vision stabilized, it was filled with multicolored mist.
“Something seems wrong.”
Dennis looked around. There was nothing but the mist.
“Hmm…. The Tower Lord wouldn’t make a mistake like this.”
Cadrel tilted his head too.
Even if there was a problem, it should have been resolved immediately.
Ariella’s control over the mental realm was absolute. This situation had to be her intent.
“Lord Damian?”
Unlike the other two, who showed no doubt, Damian knelt on one knee and placed his hand on the ground.
[I’ll feed you, so keep your promise.]
[Kuhhuhu. Got it, got it.]
Crunch. Crunch. Grind. Grind. Valefor’s jaws tore into the mental realm.
Before the other two could react, a massive hole ripped open, and all three plummeted downward.