Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 557

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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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Chapter 557

The mercenaries cursed as they retreated down the stairs.

Even excluding those who had fallen, the mercenaries’ condition wasn’t very good.

From those with burns to those bleeding with their armor torn to shreds.

A well-prepared mage, no matter how inexperienced, boasted deadly power.

Not to mention when there were several such mages.

“Damn it, to be ambushed by mages…”

“They’re chasing us. Block them for now!”

Clang!

A wolf beastman mercenary with a long scar on his cheek threw sharp metal seeds.

With an explosive sound, steel thorn vines sprouted in the space connecting the corridor and stairs.

Though they had been overpowered head-on, the battle-hardened mercenaries showed their wit even in disadvantageous circumstances.

It wasn’t a particularly impressive magic item, but it could be used effectively depending on how it was employed.

When the path was blocked, the student mages’ pursuit also stopped for the moment. Taking advantage of this gap, the wolf beastman mercenary growled and shouted.

“You spell-casting bastards, don’t even think about sticking your heads in if you don’t want to die! Do you know who I am? I’m Garddam, the ‘Bleeding Hand’! I’ve torn apart countless young spell-casters like you!”

“Gasp!”

The mercenaries threatened by invoking their infamy to buy time and retreat.

Since the opposing mages looked young, murderous threats had a high chance of working.

There was nothing more powerless than a mage whose mind was shaken or concentration broken.

They were certainly prepared to deal with mages.

However, they picked the wrong opponents.

“He really is a criminal!”

“Wardanaz was right…!”

“I believed him from the start. These bastards. Don’t you guys trust Wardanaz?”

“I believed him too! I believed him too!”

“…???”

The mercenaries were flustered by the calm conversation coming from above.

It wasn’t a reaction of fear or hesitation.

Garddam gritted his teeth. As expected of the crazy archmage’s subordinates, their nerves weren’t ordinary.

“Fall back! Get out of their line of fire!”

The mercenaries who came down the stairs moved around the wall to escape the magic range.

Then they reloaded their crossbows and drew their throwing knives.

They planned to catch the mages off guard and take them down the moment they came down defenseless.

“Don’t go down.”

Despite the initial victory, Lee Han didn’t immediately go down the stairs.

“Sharkan.”

The leopard roared and leaped down. As the mercenaries shot bolts and throwing knives that cut through the air, Garddam shouted.

“You idiots! Look before you shoot!”

“Now.”

The skeleton warriors came down the stairs again. Garddam suppressed his frustration and ordered another retreat.

“That leader guy. He’s not ordinary.”

“If we keep retreating like this…”

“I know!”

The villa manor was damn big and spacious, but if they kept being pushed back by the mages like this, they would eventually be surrounded.

And as they learned from being beaten once earlier, a head-on confrontation was close to suicide.

“Use the demon’s tongue too!”

“Now??”

“Would you rather use it after we’re all dead!”

“Shit. Fine! I got it!”

Expensive magic items were like a mercenary’s lifeline, so they were reluctant to use them except in dire situations.

However, the intense pressure the mercenaries felt made them act regardless of such profit and loss.

Whoooosh!

Black flames engulfed the skeleton warriors coming down through the stairs.

The flames didn’t just burn but took shape as if they had physical force, slashing through the skeleton warriors.

“Spring forth.”

Lee Han summoned a massive water mass from thin air.

The mercenary who threw the demon’s tongue cursed, apparently finding it quite precious.

“You think water will work! This fire is…”

Splash!

“Spring forth, spring forth, spring forth, spring forth.”

In less than a second, the space above the stairs was filled with water.

The mercenaries froze at the sight of a mage summoning such an amount of water when there was no river or stream nearby.

Hissss-

The black flames, which initially ignored the water and evaporated it, couldn’t withstand the continuous attacks and died out.

Lee Han quickly took out bone fragments and summoned five black skeleton warriors.

The mercenary just blinked as his precious magic item disappeared without a trace.

“Gather, rotate.”

The remaining moisture gathered and began to rotate.

The mercenary who saw the flying water mass hastily raised his shield, but it was clearly a mistake.

Unlike the water elemental magic seen on battlefields, the water orb bullet had a completely different level of power.

Crack!

With the sound of breaking bones, the mercenary who used the demon’s tongue collapsed.

“…”

“…”

“Wh… what do we do, Garddam. What should we do?”

Though he thought he had experienced all kinds of battles, Garddam realized how narrow a world he had lived in until now.

What the Death Knights had said was true.

‘Until now… I’ve only faced fake mages…!’

“Over there! Catch those criminal bastards!”

“This side is blocked too!”

“!!”

When he came to his senses, mages were also coming down from the opposite corridor.

While buying time, they had split their forces and circled around.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

* * *

“Tell the backup team about the situation and have them wait for a moment.”

Lee Han sent a message to his friends who would be waiting at school and focused on the pursuit.

He didn’t know why those criminal bastards were in this villa, but he had a guess.

‘Isn’t the Skeleton Principal keeping them stored for use during finals?’

There was nothing else particularly suspicious besides that.

It seemed quite likely too…

Anyway, regardless of the reason, those criminal bastards had to be subdued quickly.

Even now, more commotion had already occurred than calculated.

If more disturbance happened here, the Death Knights might come running, outing or not.

‘Subdue them as quickly as possible and get out!’

“Surrender, mercenaries! I’ll show mercy.”

“Don’t bullshit us, you crazy spell-casting bastards!”

“Aren’t you ashamed of licking the soles of boots under some trickster who practices dark magic!?”

The mercenaries reacted violently.

Lee Han was dumbfounded by their reaction.

‘What did we even do?’

They had fought fair and square, and if they lost, they should accept defeat gracefully, yet here they were hurling insults like “spell-caster” and “trickster.”

The other students were furious and fuming.

“Spell-caster?!”

“Dark magic? Do I look like a dark mage to you? Oh. Wardanaz. I’m not insulting you.”

“…Forget it. Everyone follow me.”

Though they had almost won, Lee Han didn’t let his guard down.

He led the students to systematically occupy areas of the manor while checking each room.

Mercenaries who had fled and hidden alone to survive were dragged out miserably.

“No, don’t! Have mercy!”

“Try calling us spell-casters again! You criminal bastard!”

“Call your accomplice! If you don’t call your accomplice, I’ll put you in the punishment room…”

“Hey. The punishment room only works on us.”

“Is that so?”

“Knock them out and bring them along! We need to subdue them quickly!”

At Lee Han’s shout, the Phoenix Tower priest nodded and waved his staff.

“Sleep magic…”

Whack!

Lee Han swung his staff and knocked out the mercenary’s jaw. The mercenary went limp and collapsed.

“Let’s go!”

“Ah, no…”

“Now this is real sleep magic!”

The Black Turtle Tower students and White Tiger Tower students followed Lee Han with admiration.

Whatever else, Wardanaz’s magic was always impressive.

* * *

“Those bastards are heading for the main gate!!”

As they knocked out the last mercenary hiding in the manor, screams erupted from behind.

The remaining few mercenaries were desperately running toward the main gate.

‘What?’

Lee Han’s face grew serious as well.

‘Is there a way to escape? Why?’

Naturally, Lee Han had thought the mercenaries wouldn’t be able to escape this manor.

The Skeleton Principal wasn’t a fool, and there had to be a reason the mercenaries were trapped here.

But seeing them run like that suddenly made him anxious.

What if the mercenaries had some other method Lee Han didn’t know about?

“Follow me! We stop them no matter what!”

Lee Han fired water orbs at the mercenaries without even aiming. The floor shattered and the main gate shook.

“Flash forth…”

As his heart grew urgent, a lightning spear began forming at the tip of his staff once again.

Lee Han drew Dawnstar with his other hand and charged explosively.

“Crazy bastard!?”

Garddam, not expecting the young mage to charge, threw his body to the side.

The lightning spear struck the main gate and Dawnstar sliced through the air.

“Moradi!”

Giselle, who had run up from behind, swung her twin swords and knocked away Garddam’s weapon. Garddam screamed in pain.

“What kind of damn tricksters!”

“Surrender!”

“Shut up. I’d rather die here than be tortured by undead!”

“No… damn it.”

The mercenaries were pointlessly persistent. Lee Han lamented that there was no time to explain and swung his weapon again.

Garddam leaped back and drew a dagger. The remaining mercenaries also put their backs together and aimed their weapons.

“Wardanaz. Be careful. They’re not to be underestimated.”

“I know!”

Though it wasn’t properly learned swordsmanship, their opponent’s technique was fierce and explosive.

Moreover, those who had survived this far were the most experienced and vicious among the mercenaries.

If they made a mistake, they could lose after cornering them all, so the two approached cautiously.

Crackle!

“!”

As the lightning spear covering his staff grew even larger and flew at them, the mercenaries gritted their teeth and dodged.

“Guhheuk!”

“Gruk!”

However, the lightning bounced in all directions, striking the mercenaries. The mercenaries groaned as lightning energy flowed through their bodies.

Taking advantage of the opening, Giselle simultaneously slashed one person’s leg and wrist, subduing them.

“One more time!”

“Got it!”

As the opponent focused on the lightning spear, Lee Han instantly canceled the magic and moved to the next spell.

“Strike down, lightning of Perkuntra!”

A thick bolt of lightning coming from an unexpected direction pierced through one mercenary.

And it also pierced through the main gate.

Creak, bang!

The manor’s main gate made a grating metal sound and swung open with a clatter.

Lee Han and Giselle froze in place.

The mercenaries also froze in place.

“…Get out of the way!”

This time, Garddam was the first to act. After pushing down his companions who had come with him, Garddam ran toward the main gate with all his might. He also used all the magic items in his possession.

With indescribable complex sounds, fog, sandstorms, poison clouds, and more were briefly released.

As Giselle subdued the fallen mercenaries, Lee Han looked at his friend and said seriously.

“For the record, you told me to hit them one more time. Moradi.”

“…Are you seriously saying that right now?!!!!!!”

Giselle let out a scream without realizing it.

“Let’s chase him first.”

“Chase him!! If we lose him, we’re all going to the punishment room!”

Lee Han and Giselle gritted their teeth and ran out.

They had to catch the last remaining bastard as quickly as possible.

“Salko. Get the other students changed into clothes and move according to the original plan! We’ll catch that bastard!”

“Ah, got it! Wardanaz. Moradi. Good luck!”

* * *

The Einroguard-born official, Iwunrade, bowed obsequiously as he looked at his superior.

“Excellent work today as well. Lord Hodlong! Lord Gonadaltes must be eagerly awaiting your arrival!”

“Stop talking nonsense. Iwunrade. There’s no way Lord Gonadaltes would be happy about a visit from an inspector like me.”

Hodlong sat in a city cafe with an uncomfortable expression, sipping his coffee.

He wasn’t in a good mood since he would soon have to enter Einroguard.

Once he entered Einroguard, how much more bullshit and excuses would he have to face?

-My dog ate my research materials! *sob sob* But please forgive the dog. Isn’t it cute?

-There’s a misunderstanding about burning down the entire farm. Of course there was a fire, but first shouldn’t we examine what the concept of ‘entire’ means?

“I understand that since you’re from Einrogard, you can’t help but be biased toward your own.”

“Ah, no, what are you saying. No. Absolutely not!”

“But I absolutely cannot let personal feelings interfere with matters like this. Understand? If you want to persuade me, bring me proper evidence.”

“Well, magic tends to fail often…”

“If the magical results are lacking, then at least show me the mages’ attitudes! Bring me proof that Einrogard’s mages have devoted themselves to the Empire’s citizens. Only then would I have the nerve to go back and ask for more gold coin support!”

‘That seems even more impossible.’

Iwunrade quickly gave up internally.

Rather than hoping for his juniors to devote themselves to the Empire’s citizens, it seemed more likely that a single Archmage would emerge.

-We caught a criminal!!

-An Einrogard student caught a wanted fugitive!

“Cough.”

Iwunrade spat coffee all over his superior’s face.

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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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