How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 313

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (313)

 

My nasal bone is throbbing all over.

 

To tell the truth, I’m in trouble too. The patient took a proper hit to the face but didn’t lose strength, putting force into my neck and bringing me down. The makeshift bed that looked like an operating table collapsed, and the medical blades that were on it scattered around.

 

‘How is he still sane after all this?’

 

My compressed neck hurts. He fell down too, so things went somewhat as expected… but I didn’t expect him to take me down with him.

 

At this point, my reasoning was as follows. If this patient is indeed the one who was chasing Narke, then he approached Narke wanting divine power. There must have been a path the patient knew through the treatment room’s side door, wherever it led, and he was planning to go there to find Narke. But he encountered another mage who came to capture him, and when he got close to me, he was lucky enough to sense divine power.

 

‘How could a non-mage human possibly…’

 

Confusion dominated my mind, but the answer is actually simple.

 

The most reasonable guess, and what’s likely true, is that this person is contaminated, so a Vitriol core capable of detecting mana is forming. It’s not showing yet, but he’ll rampage soon, and his ability to endure with superhuman strength is probably also due to the Vitriol that hasn’t emerged from his body yet.

 

‘Two rampagers on my first high-risk field deployment?’

 

I have a guess about why this guy noticed divine power when even mages can’t sense mine, and it’s based on the summary fact that Vitriol and rampage phenomena are ‘maximized manifestations of emotion.’

 

Let’s set that aside for now. I don’t have time to think more about it.

 

I can see transparent gray glass fragments where the personal communication artifact broke during the fall, the transparency spell having been dispelled. I can’t receive personal contacts from anyone, but fortunately the group communication side still works.

 

“Ah… ahhh…”

 

The patient gritted his teeth and pressed his twisted nose with one hand. Feeling the new rampager’s weight on my neck bones, I barely secured my breathing and spoke calmly.

 

“Come out.”

 

I have no intention of having a leisurely conversation. If we let the new rampager change targets and bounce around everywhere, it would be quite troublesome for us, so I had to make the patient focus entirely on me. At the same time, I needed preparation time to restore my mana.

 

A supporter will come up soon. The sound of shutters opening and closing began from below. I just need to endure a little longer. Just a little. Telling myself that, I focused on the sounds of my friends’ special incantations coming through the artifact. From what I could hear, the 7th floor was already in chaos just from me being out of commission. If I report that a new rampager has appeared and I’m currently under attack, the balance we’re barely maintaining could break at that moment. Especially psychologically.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Sweat-soaked hands began searching for my core on my back. The patient’s face, which I checked from the corner of my eye, had an incomprehensibly strange expression. It seemed like he sensed divine power but didn’t know what to do next, looking both tearful and absent-minded, so there’s no way to describe it other than truly strange.

 

And…

 

Though his expression wasn’t like that, I couldn’t maintain my earlier expression either. In an instant, the mana in my hands, feet, and head drained out and concentrated toward my heart. So right now, my core’s mana is being sucked into his body, and if my mana becomes insufficient…

 

Wait. Wait, wait, wait!

 

Crack—!

 

“Urgh…!”

 

“…That won’t work.”

 

I have no intention of begging for someone else’s blood again. Especially not in such a public place.

 

I headbutted the patient’s face and my back of the head aches. My vision is spinning, but is this the time to wait for adaptation? I turned my body to slam the patient’s head into the floor and pressed down on his limbs. I thought it wouldn’t be very easy since the patient was a human male in a pre-rampage state, but somehow he was human so his bones were light, and crucially, he was a span shorter than me. Even so, perhaps because he’d lost his reason and was in a frenzied state, it wasn’t easy to pin him down even with a new human’s strength.

 

“Grrrgh, kraaaah!”

 

‘What the hell is this…’

 

With the sound of teeth clashing, foam formed at the patient’s mouth. Now he’s trying to bite—is this really okay?

 

I gritted my teeth while trying to lift my head as high as possible to get away. Unlike all the rampagers I’ve dealt with after receiving reports so far, the fact that Vitriol hasn’t emerged externally yet suggests it’s maturing inside his body. If I use mana on blood vessels instead of destroying the core, there’s a possibility he’ll absorb it and become stronger. Regardless of the cause of rampage, rampagers feel a thirst for mana and go berserk to absorb external mana. Even if they get hurt from forcibly absorbing mana in that process, eating someone else’s mana is their top priority—survival-type—goal.

 

But if I try to destroy the core, he’ll bite me if I let go of my hands.

 

I could consider a plan to take the risk and flow maximum mana through my arm to destroy the Vitriol core, but that risk still stands. If I fail, I’d be creating one more victim like that 3rd-grade rampager.

 

‘If I could use divine power now, I could buy time.’

 

Even without entering the labyrinth, I could buy a few seconds with purification magic. If not that, I could attack using special formulas with just mana…

 

As soon as I had that thought, the sound of shutters rising began to be heard nearby. Just a little more endurance and support will come. The moment I thought I should save immediate attacks for the supporter’s safety, someone kicked down the door.

 

Crash—!

 

“Found him. I’ll take Lucas.”

 

It’s Narke.

 

Narke, who had been speaking with his hand on the artifact, smiled when our eyes met.

 

‘Not a supporter…’

 

The tension completely released.

 

Narke sat facing me and placed his hand on the biting patient’s forehead. Divine light flashed.

 

—Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

 

Instantly, the patient’s movement stopped. As he fell asleep, the veins standing out on his neck gradually relaxed. As I caught my breath with slight deflation and let out a hollow laugh, Narke grinned.

 

“Since he’s human and hasn’t rampaged yet, he doesn’t know how to defend. That’s fortunate.”

 

“…Yeah, fortunate.”

 

“Here.”

 

Narke helped me up and took out an elixir.

 

“I was startled because I saw a future where one more person would rampage… but you changed it. This one can return to normal with just treatment.”

 

“Good news.”

 

I answered like that while observing Narke. Unlike before, he’s purifying the space. Even now, divine power continues to flow out through the staff Narke is holding. Narke explained the situation to the supporter who arrived just in time, and while he did so, I drank the elixir. As the supporter restrained the sleeping patient with mana, I looked up at the upper floor and spoke.

 

“I’ve been thinking.”

 

“You’ve been thinking. While going through all that?”

 

Narke looked back at me with a smile. He seems too busy to read my thoughts yet.

 

“There are five upstairs. Haike is maintaining the barrier, and four are draining the rampager’s energy.”

 

“Right. I brought back both escapees. Now you and I just need to go up.”

 

Not only that, but I’m also casting purification magic stronger than before to prevent additional rampaging. Perhaps to reassure the patients, I can see white light flowing into the infirmary. I swallowed those words and looked at the flashes of mana bursting from the upper floor.

 

I should call Ulrike. Since I can’t make personal communication, I had no choice but to ask loud enough for everyone to hear.

 

“Ulri… no. Luise, how’s the rampager’s pattern?”

 

[Oh, well… he’s wary of all of us. Spraying Vitriol indiscriminately.]

 

“He’s not just focusing on whoever’s attacking in close combat right now?”

 

“He thinks it’s not advantageous to attack you when there are six more people around.”

 

You can think about it in connection with what Ulrike told us earlier.

 

[Oh yeah, that’s it! He’s observing all directions. He’s slow though… but the Vitriol is so strong that even just those calculations are hard to endure. Where are you now? There was a strange sound earlier…!]

 

“Just a moment. Thanks.”

 

I looked at Narke again and said.

 

“This patient wanted your divine power.”

 

“Quick understanding~”

 

“And the rampager upstairs received treatment close to torture multiple times, and though you might not have felt it that way, that patient’s usual treatment probably wasn’t good either. The nurse said she rampaged because she wanted to get outside too.”

 

“…So?”

 

“If their illness is cured, they can escape from this hell called a mental hospital, so there’s no reason not to seek divine power. If you help me, I’ll go.”

 

“Ah.”

 

[…Are you sane?! Lucas!]

 

[…That’s what you’d expect from the Empire Academy’s top student.]

 

[Stay out of this!]

 

[Th, that’s right. Lucas. I don’t know what it is, but if Leo is saying that much…]

 

Ulrike joined Leo and Elias’s conversation. Ulrike, who thinks Leo and I are awkward, might well say “that much,” but Leo was always like that, and as usual, he’s perceptive. I don’t know when 3rd exam 1st place changed to school foundation 1st place, but Elias also understood what I was saying. Even though he couldn’t see what I went through.

 

Narke answered with a regretful smile.

 

“Lucas, think about it one more time. I’ve been continuously purifying this place, but that rampager didn’t chase me.”

 

“Meaning he has at least some intelligence.”

 

“Hmm… that rampager knew he’d be caught if he came to me?”

 

“Right.”

 

Narke pulled out all the artifacts from his ear and also pulled out the artifact hanging on my earlobe. He made sure no sound would reach headquarters and said.

 

“It’ll be the same even if you become bait. Besides, only that pre-rampage patient was lucky enough to notice your…, there’s no certainty that one will notice too.”

 

“Your foresight?”

 

“…Haha.”

 

He seems likely to notice. If I just get close enough.

 

I pointed to the artifact in his hand and said.

 

“Wrap me in your divine power.”

 

That would serve as a smokescreen for headquarters. A brief ecstasy flashed through Narke’s light-filled eyes. Wondering if I was mistaken, when I looked at him again, his expression had returned to its usual composure.

 

“…”

 

Boom—!

 

When Narke stomped his foot, divine power burst forth. He hung the artifact on my earlobe and swept his hand down from my shoulder. Divine power wrapped around my clothes like a barrier.

 

“Will this much covering work?”

 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

 

I smiled as gently as possible in greeting and called Leo.

 

“Leo. I’m going to charge in with my sword. All five of you support according to the situation.”

 

[…]

 

“If we exceed the recommended time, the survival rate drops drastically. You know we can’t drag this out any longer. Don’t let personal emotions cloud your judgment.”

 

[…No, guys! What are you doing right now!]

 

Ulrike’s voice came through, filled with despair. Cheringen and Haike showed no reaction. To the three of them, it would sound like ‘no matter how much you hate me, you should listen when you need to’… They’re probably thinking our teamwork is completely screwed at this point. At least to those three, I meant for it to sound negative.

 

Soon I heard an answer from Leo. Like thread tightly binding a core, Leo’s mana began wrapping around tightly. He was giving me a signal about our future strategy.

 

[Do it.]

 

“I’m counting down. Haike, remove the barrier.”

 

[…Got it.]

 

I grabbed the 6th floor railing and ran so the rampage spraying vitriol in all directions could see me. The rampage was right on the floor above where I stood, so it had to come to the opposite side.

 

Because.

 

“3, 2…”

 

It wouldn’t be using the stairs.

 

I aimed my wand at the iron bridge leading to the 7th floor caretaker’s office and said.

 

“1.”

 

Crash—!

 

I cast mana on the bridge and jumped, using the barrier that formed under my feet as a foothold to gain momentum and grabbed onto the bridge. Thanks to being trained to death by Leo, it didn’t take long to climb up onto the bridge while hanging in midair. I stepped on the crude iron bridge that could barely fit one person and landed on the hallway floor in front of the infirmary. Only after I passed did the corroded and weakened bolts of the bridge come loose and fall vertically.

 

Creak— Bang, crash—!

 

I rolled my wand to transform it into a sword and charged forward. Cheringen and Leo had retreated about two steps from their previous position and were attacking, while the rampage’s gaze turned toward me.

 

Swoosh—

 

The rampage’s vitriol flew toward me. I split through that mud, threw it to the floor, and rushed right up to the rampage’s face. I could feel the vitriol stabbing through my body barrier extensively. An aggressiveness I couldn’t feel from ordinary mana pressed against my lungs. I could see the rampage’s mouth opening. Narke hadn’t come up for some reason, probably because she had just read my plan.

 

“Aaaaaahhh!”

 

The rampage let out a shriek and stomped its foot hard. The black slime covering the floor shot up in all directions.

 

‘As expected.’

 

It didn’t immediately bite when I threw the bait, staying wary of everyone. I covered my front with both arms and retreated.

 

Hiss—…

 

“…!”

 

When vitriol touched the weakest part of my body barrier, the fabric at the contact point changed as if scorched by fire. When I applied force, it fell off like it had really been burned. What would happen if this touched skin… It’s clear I’d need to get to the emergency room before my bones melted, so it’s better not to imagine further. This person being a high-risk rampage was probably due not only to intelligence but also to the aggressiveness of this vitriol. Even Elias, who had joked about not ruining expensive clothes, was now utterly serious, and everyone continued confronting the rampage as before. I was still the only one who needed to create variables.

 

‘It would be nice if I could conference with my friends.’

 

In this situation, there’s no time to make everyone understand. At least the rest, excluding Ulrike and Haike, probably roughly figured out the plan from when I came upstairs wearing Narke’s divine power. I have no choice but to rely on the fact that Leo fortunately rated my plan’s success probability highly.

 

Crash—!

 

Blocking the attack with my back against the infirmary door, I split the rampage’s vitriol attacks shooting in all directions with my sword and rushed toward it again. I could see the rampage’s mouth opening again.

 

“Aaaaaahhh!”

 

I swung my sword down toward the rampage’s head and relaxed the strength in my hand.

 

Crash—! Splat—

 

“…?!”

 

I could see Ulrike’s widened eyes in the distance.

 

The moment I relaxed my hand, I naturally fell after being hit by the rampage’s attack, and the rampage didn’t miss the opportunity of my collapse. A baptism of vitriol incomparable to anything before poured toward Leo and my friends. Sensing something was seriously wrong, I could hear screams from people in the infirmary. While attacking my friends, it lifted its slimy foot mass up and brought it down on my shin.

 

Crack—

 

“…!”

 

It felt like my bone would break. At least since I had strengthened my body barrier, I probably didn’t need to worry about dying from contamination. I tried to reassure myself.

 

Crash— Bang—!

 

The rampage changed strategy due to my friends’ continued attacks, trapping both me and itself in vitriol. A blunt hand covered in black mud—no, what had been a hand—began searching for where the core would be above my body barrier.

 

This person, no different from that patient earlier, was trying to absorb divine power. The emotional pain and resentment accumulated from inhumane ‘treatment’ acts had caused his rampage, and thinking from a slightly different perspective, that rampage was the result of a strong desire to eliminate his illness and escape this prison-like hospital. How rational the rumors are doesn’t matter to those who suffer.

 

Cleverly enough, it’s true that divine power is a tool that treats certain kinds of illnesses.

 

My vision turned black from the dome-shaped vitriol barrier. There’s no more time to think. If I stay longer, I’ll die.

 

“Lucas! Why aren’t you using magic formulas!”

 

Ulrike, who hadn’t yet figured out my plan, shouted urgently. She shouted so loudly that Ulrike’s voice came through not just the artifact but directly to my ears.

 

I was just about to use it anyway. Though it would be used in a different direction than Ulrike expected. I quietly muttered the incantation.

 

[If you remain in me and my words remain in you.]

 

Crack— Crash—!

 

[Ask whatever you wish.]

 

Before I finished speaking, something broke and red mana splashed on the rampage’s wrist in the darkness. The moment the binding mana enhanced by amplification magic firmly fixed the rampage’s and my hands, I distributed mana with my still-free other hand and reached out.

 

‘Toward where the 6th floor railing should be.’

 

Please.

 

Quickly!

 

Thud—

 

The vitriol dome where I reached out was pierced by red mana. The rampage’s head turned that way. It was an instant. I felt my mana catch firmly on something and pulled hard. I could feel my center disappearing.

 

Success. The rampage’s body fell into midair along with me.

 

“Uh, uhhhhhhh!”

 

“W-wait! Lucas!”

 

Following Ulrike, even Haike, who had been reinforcing barriers on the back gate stairs in the distance, shouted loudly.

 

* * *

 

‘This…!’

 

Leo grabbed the infirmary door handle behind him and stomped his foot. Several plant stems caught his friend who had fallen into midair. Trying not to break bones was giving him a headache.

 

His heart was beating like crazy, and Leo could hear nothing but his own heartbeat in his ears. It must be from fear. To prevent emotions from ruining things, one must always clearly face their own state. Leo swiftly raised his hand upward. Simultaneously, a sound not of his making burst from somewhere on the 6th floor.

 

Craaaaaash—!

 

Divine power exploded on the 6th floor, making it impossible to see ahead. That strike that had purified ten thousand square meters could now be used. Narke caught the falling rampage, and Julia and Elias drove the rampage to one side as if they had planned it. Ulrike Kleist and Haike Ainsiedel also followed belatedly. Thus, now Narke could finally burst his core. Leo closed his eyes, relied on other senses for balance, and sharply pulled his arm back.

 

Thoom—

 

The human covered in vitriol fell to the floor. Even though I thought I had calculated it, I must have pulled wrong as I could hear coughing sounds.

 

Leo briefly checked his friend’s condition and immediately swung his wand in all directions to block the rampage’s vitriol from bursting out one last time. The rampage’s shriek was louder than ever. It was natural since even he would now know his time had come.

 

Isolating him on the 6th floor to gain the upper hand. This must have been Lucas’s plan.

 

If we could just get a moment’s breathing room, if we could just pin down the rampage, we could attack from a distance. The reason we hadn’t attacked with a floor’s difference until now was clear enough for anyone to understand. For everyone to attempt long-range attacks while unable to subdue the rampage would be insane. Did we think the rampage couldn’t jump up?

 

Moreover, the rampage had been on the top floor from the beginning, wouldn’t obediently fall to lower floors, and even if it actually fell, it would be difficult to prevent the risk of immediate counterattack as long as the rampage’s attention was focused on all of us. Hadn’t I been thinking this since rejecting Julia’s proposal?

 

The reason we were able to subdue our first high-risk rampage was…

 

Because Lucas grasped the essence of the victim, became bait, and gave us an opening. While we focused on the rampage’s aggressiveness, he thought about the process that led the victim to rampage. It was a trivial difference, but at least to me, who knew he was Nicolaus Ernst, it didn’t seem trivial. He clearly hadn’t forgotten that the rampage wasn’t originally a monster but had once been our citizen and still was.

 

The rampage’s voice diminished and was completely cut off. Leo completely withdrew the plant stems he had used to pull Lucas up to the 7th floor and muttered.

 

“You’re insane.”

 

“…”

 

Lucas, sprawled on the floor from exhaustion, just smiled with an expression asking if I had the energy to act hostile in this situation. Then he struggled to sit up, shook off his body barrier to drop all the vitriol, and quietly asked.

 

“It’s all over. Did it take about 15 minutes?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Good. Now we can send him to the hospital.”

 

Leo took out the final report signal device for headquarters from his jacket pocket and tossed it. Lucas should understand what it meant, but he just looked up expressionlessly. Leo gestured and briefly explained.

 

“You report it.”

 

“…”

 

Elias probably would have complained at this moment about who makes someone do formalities with something like this. Lucas seemed to understand the meaning behind the words, chuckled, and pressed the button three times. He took a long breath and said calmly.

 

“Mission completed. Returning to base.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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