Chapter 174: Dagger Raptor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 174: Dagger Raptor
If anyone were to write a history of this university, this incident would surely be mentioned.
From professors to first-year undergraduates, hundreds of mages of all tiers swarmed forward in a chaotic mass.
All charging toward the Dagger Raptor.
But I had my doubts.
Was this really possible?
Magic is sensitive to attribute combinations.
For example, say I was trying to inflict the ‘Wet’ status with Cumulonimbus while Meldini was trying to inflict ‘Burn’ with Scorching Ray.
How could the two of us possibly coordinate?
Meldini had evacuated the mages not just to protect the students, but also because too many mages could actually become a hindrance.
“Scorching Ray!”
“Erupting Furnace.”
“Flamefall!”
“Energy Focus.”
“Arcane Torrent!”
But as soon as I saw the spells pouring from the mages’ wands, I realized what Isilof had done.
He had them coordinate beforehand.
The Memory Book expansion procedure was something usually done by high-tier mages, graduate students and above. They had more spells in reserve than slots in their Memory Books.
While they each had their own specialties, they had organized their Memory Books according to Isilof’s guidelines before coming here.
The low-tier mages, of course, couldn’t do that. And so…
“Waaaaah!”
Most of them were just shouting. They were only pretending to cast spells, mouthing incantations for magic that wasn't even in their Memory Books.
I understood the reason for that, too.
They had inflated the number of mages and wands.
Because the Dagger Raptor wouldn’t know which of them were high-tier and which were low-tier.
He was an arrogant demon.
A total psychopath with anger management issues.
The kind who’d hurl insults at his own ally, the chihuahua, calling her a useless bitch.
The kind who’d ignore Isilof right in front of him, dismissing him as a nuisance.
Isilof had grasped his personality in an instant.
That’s why he brought the students!
Boom! Cra-boom! Boom!
The Dagger Raptor backpedaled, deflecting the barrage of spells with his right arm and shadow spikes.
“He’s blocking everything!” Scarlett shouted, dismayed, but the one who was truly panicking was the Dagger Raptor.
“Hrk…!”
There wasn’t a trace of composure on his face.
I could feel it.
There was a limit to how much he could defend with his shadow spikes. This guy was probably about to…
“He’s running!”
Isilof shouted.
Instead of clashing with the swarm of mages, the Dagger Raptor changed direction. He started to run.
[Your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
I flipped the hourglass.
To be honest, after my encounters with the Spider Doctor and the White Lion, I’d been a little worried.
The Spider Doctor had out-strategized me during the monster wave. He managed to create a one-on-one situation with me. The fact that it even got to that point was my defeat.
The same went for the White Lion.
Though I managed to obliterate him with Corpse Explosion in the end, I was getting completely thrashed by him right up until that moment. I’d been completely fooled into dragging the Public Security Headquarters into that back alley. And when I went to rescue Dalstream, I ended up trapped with him in the Ethereal Lake.
But the Dagger Raptor is different.
He might be an Inter-floor Lord like the others, but he was a far cry from the Spider Doctor or the White Lion.
He was arrogant and reckless.
His tactical judgment was poor and emotional.
But now, I can see right through his moves. It feels like I know everything he’s going to do.
“Look at you, controlling your anger now.”
He was the type to attack like a mad dog the moment he saw an enemy, but now he’d chosen to flee.
So how would he escape through this crowd of mages?
There are two major problems with your escape route.
First, you lost your left wing to Meldini’s magic. You can’t fly right now.
Second, the grand confinement barbed wire that Isel created covers the entire magic university. It won’t be easy to escape this birdcage.
So how do you plan to run?
You’ll probably head for the scroll warehouse.
You’ll try to use a Designated Coordinate Transfer Scroll there.
But to get there, you have to break through the mages, which is impossible without your wings. Therefore, right now…
“You’re going to eat the corpses, aren’t you?”
His eyes, as he half-turned his body, were fixed on the West Tower.
The bodies of the four Assembly members should be lying there. One of them was Professor Clay, whose head had been blown off by Meldini.
“Right?”
The special ability ‘Corpse Devour’ is quite common among Labyrinth monsters. A creature like the Dagger Raptor would surely have it.
How accurately could the mages hit the Dagger Raptor as he dashed for the West Tower, using his shadow spikes as a shield?
I wonder.
The success rate of the Dagger Raptor’s escape plan is probably about fifty-fifty.
Of course, I can make it zero.
“Back Attack.”
My original plan was to back up Meldini using enchantments and clouds, but the situation had changed.
“Use Shadow Leap and take Aimus with you.”
Because no matter what I did, a single hit from Isilof’s Positive Charge Bullet would deal more damage.
“To the front of the West Tower.”
[Your turn. Time remaining: 45 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■□]
It would be much simpler if I could give orders to Aimus as well, but this was fine.
Just placing him in the Dagger Raptor’s path would be more than effective.
“Yernil.”
Next, I used Yernil.
“Use Reposition Sentinel to get below the belfry.”
[Your turn. Time remaining: 40 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■□]
In my build, the way I've developed my archer has insane synergy with a wizard.
And this place is crawling with mages ready to unleash a barrage of damage.
“Shoot a Marking Arrow into the Dagger Raptor's shoulder.”
BOOM!
The Dagger Raptor sprinted, deflecting half the incoming spells and dodging the other half.
“He’s heading for the West Tower!”
Isilof shouted, carefully aiming his Positive Charge Bullet.
The Lord of the Spirit Tower was charging toward the Dagger Raptor at incredible speed. But the Dagger Raptor was slightly faster.
“Don’t let him get inside the building!”
Isilof didn’t know the Dagger Raptor’s exact intentions, but he knew that numerically and in terms of matchups, fighting in the open plaza was more advantageous for the mages.
If he got inside the West Tower, it would be much harder to land their spells.
“Get him!”
“He’s too fast!”
Just as the mages were excitedly spewing incantations and shouts, something happened.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, Back Attack appeared in front of the West Tower’s main entrance, Aimus in tow.
Aimus was slightly startled, but he reacted instantly as the Dagger Raptor charged toward him.
‘Smashing Gaia!’
The descending iron staff shattered the ground, sending earth and dust flying. The sheer pressure from the staff forced the Dagger Raptor to a halt.
Thwack!
And an arrow struck him just below the wing.
The Mark of Resistance Nullification was left on the monster’s right shoulder.
“…”
In that brief moment as the dust settled.
Everyone realized what was about to happen.
The atmosphere grew so cold that even someone as dense as Yernil could feel it.
Even the Dagger Raptor’s eyes flickered with a momentary terror.
“Positive Charge Bullet.”
Isilof finally fired the spell he had been aiming.
“Frostfire Explosion.”
“Scorching Ray.”
“Psychokinetic Stab.”
“Venom Burst.”
“Starlight Smite.”
“Semi-Regeneration Incineration.”
“Seed of Corruption.”
“Arcane Focus.”
“Firefall.”
“Spear of Flame.”
“Surging Power.”
“Target Annihilation.”
“Necrotic Probe.”
“Cursed Viper.”
“Living Plague.”
“Lightning Induction.”
A bombardment of magic followed.
‘Arrogance. That is your cause of defeat.’
A long, long time ago, when he was still human. When he was called one of the Nine Kings.
That’s what the Labyrinth Master had said.
Right after delivering a crushing defeat to him, the one who, unlike the other kings, refused to bow to the Labyrinth and instead tried to conquer it.
The reason that memory resurfaced now was probably because of that wizard’s party.
Caleb.
To be honest, that wizard hadn’t been on his radar before this war.
No matter how skilled he was rumored to be, he was just a mid-level mage—from the 7th floor at best.
Top-class professors like Isilof and Meldini.
Deep Layer adventurers like the Consul and Cardinal Servan in front of the Public Security Headquarters.
The Dagger Raptor had too many other enemies to worry about.
‘Things started going wrong when the mailbox was raided.’
Perhaps he shouldn’t have lost his temper and chased after them.
‘I shouldn’t have gone straight for the scroll warehouse.’
He never imagined they would follow him there.
‘To think he could control a wand from a distance.’
No matter how talented the wizard was rumored to be, he had never heard of such a thing.
And the thing that bothered him most now…
‘That wizard’s party…’
The wizard’s party was anything but ordinary.
Arrogance.
That is your cause of defeat.
The Labyrinth Master’s words still rang true.
Even after being soundly beaten, he had only been concerned with the wizard who could control wands from afar.
An elf archer, a balding monk, and some half-wit rogue.
An Inter-floor Lord had dealt with countless scrubs like them.
But in the end, hadn’t the single moment they created led to this fatal situation?
“…”
Blood gushed from his entire body.
The Positive Charge Bullet that had pierced his shoulder shattered his ribs, tore through his lung, and exited out the other side.
Countless spells had struck his shoulder.
Poison, burn, corruption, confusion, asphyxiation, fracture, regeneration halt, necrosis.
And all sorts of status ailments on top of that.
“Master…”
Could he save the Dagger Raptor again?
Unlikely.
The Master is not so merciful.
Thump.
He slowly dragged his blood-soaked, heavy legs forward. Like a zombie, the Dagger Raptor moved toward his goal, driven by a vitality he himself couldn’t comprehend.
He was almost there. Just a few more steps.
It was similar to the chihuahua, who had been sent to the afterlife just before she could return home.
But the Dagger Raptor was stronger than her.
CRACK!
Even as the monk’s iron staff slammed into the back of his head.
‘The corpses.’
The Dagger Raptor opened the door to the West Tower.
I have to eat the corpses.
I can do it.
It’s right there. I can do it.
I have to devour the corpses, recover, and escape…
“Haha.”
Witnessing the scene inside the West Tower, a hollow laugh escaped him.
He remembered that day, long ago.
The day he was defeated by the Labyrinth Master.
That hell where every escape route he sought, in every direction, was blocked.
Looking back, he had been fighting in the palm of his hand from the very beginning.
That same dreadful sense of despair washed over him again.
‘Ice Cloud.’
A frigid cloud of ice lay thick over the corpses.
‘Caleb.’
When he turned, he saw the wizard aiming his wand, staring intently at him.
He could control a wand from a distance.
He must have picked up the wand that had fallen next to Professor Clay’s body.
And he had cast Ice Cloud over the four corpses.
‘To keep me from getting close.’
The trauma from the scroll warehouse resurfaced.
That cloud, impossible to escape no matter how he struggled, felt just like that day he lost to the Labyrinth Master.
At the same time, he knew instinctively.
It was over.
Squeeze!
A searing aetherial hand grabbed the raptor’s shoulder.
It was Meldini.
Her staff was aimed just below the Dagger Raptor’s chin.
“Ethereal Explosion.”
I was glad Meldini was the one to finish him off.
That was my thought.
The magic that made him burst with a pop! was similar to the one used on Professor Clay.
The Dagger Raptor’s head was gone.
“Hah… hah…”
Meldini gasped for breath, staring intently at the corpse.
“It won’t revive again, will it?”
“It should be fine.”
Isilof patted Meldini’s shoulder.
“If the laws of the Labyrinth apply to this land now, once an Exit Boss is defeated, it cannot be revived.”
I agreed.
And in the end, things might have turned out for the better.
Because as long as that exit gate remained, the White Lion couldn’t be revived either.
This war was almost over.
I needed to send a message to Blackdog. It was time to deal with things on that end.
But before that…
“Professor.”
Burdened by guilt, I approached Meldini.
I had to be ready to accept whatever she might say.
And one more thing.
“Here, I’m returning this.”
I held out the compass.
Honestly, it was such a great treasure that I was reluctant to part with it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me carry it any longer.
It was her daughter’s memento, after all.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
But Meldini pressed the compass back into my hand.
“Give it back when you get tenure.”
“…”
“Let’s go, Isilof.”
Meldini walked past me with Professor Isilof.
“If Henry had done half as well as you…”
She added in a low voice.
“I would have let him marry her.”