WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 107: Mafia
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“Excellent support, Ian!!!”
Thanks to my quick thinking, Argus got behind the captain and drove in his greatsword, blazing with Holy Flame.
Booom!
“You bug-like lizard...”
The power of a perfect elemental counter and a dragonkin’s overwhelming strength.
Several of the drowned captain’s disgustingly writhing eyeballs burst, making the drowned captain stagger.
Good. That takes care of this side for now.
Boom! Boom!
I watched what was happening beyond the monsters being held back by Ulric, the archer brothers, and Lucian’s group.
Aaaahhhhhh!
Greta, the siren separated from its master, began to sing.
The beautiful melody tickled my ears and suddenly made my heart race.
‘A Song of Enchantment.’
“It’s a wicked song! Everyone, keep your wits about you!!!”
[Under Meia’s protection, Daisy successfully resists!]
[Thanks to his sturdy mental barrier, Ian successfully resists!]
[The brothers Cole and Kenny successfully resist by cutting off their own ears!]
[Knight Pierre successfully resists using a magic item!]
[Ned is seeing an illusion of the lover he left behind in his hometown!]
Coins slowly spun above the heads of those who had failed to resist.
[Heads/Tails]
[Heads/Tails]
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads.’
‘Heads.’
‘Heads.’
[Success]
[Failure]
[Failure]
“Ugh...”
“Anna... Anna is there...”
I desperately took my gamble, but several people were still enchanted and dropped their weapons.
Fuck. Of course, I had prepared for this.
I called Daisy again.
“Daisy!”
“The wicked shall vanish!”
Daisy cast Purification on them.
“Huh?”
“What was I...?”
The people who had been walking around blankly came to their senses and faced the monsters again.
“You idiot!!!”
Before I knew it, the noble swordsman Lucian had joined Argus in driving back the drowned captain.
“Keep singing! What are you doing?!!!”
Cornered, the captain ordered the siren.
Just as the siren was about to sing its wicked melody again, Nadia shouted.
“Greta! Stop it!!!”
Ooooooh...
This was why I had saved the NPC named Nadia.
She could still play a part in the intermediate boss fight.
[Mysterious blue eyes draw memories from the grotesquely swollen brain.]
[Greta is suffering from an unwanted reunion with a friend.]
The siren’s vacant gaze turned toward Nadia.
The moment it hesitated, I called Turkan.
“Turkan!”
Turkan swayed as he silently praised his heathen god, then performed a shamanic rite.
A hot wind blew through the area, dispersing the storm clouds between me and the siren.
Good. Then now...
[Charge]
[Lightning Arrow]
Crack!
A wedge of lightning I fired struck through the opening.
Grrrk...
A perfect elemental counter against a water-aspected monster.
The siren shook from head to toe, then collapsed, cooked dry.
“Rest in peace, Greta.”
I’ll avenge you.
[You vermin dare...]
With the siren down, the drowned captain staggered before chanting another spell.
That rhythm and the wicked energy spreading through the air...
‘Soul Drain!’
The most dangerous pattern had appeared.
If it succeeded, the spell would instantly kill its designated target without exception.
“Daisy!”
But when it came to Soul Drain, having a priest gave us a high chance of resisting it.
“Evil shall be destroyed!”
Light burst from Daisy, pushing back the wicked spell pouring from the drowned captain.
At that moment, the docked ghost ship let out an ominous cry.
Bwooooo!
The murky darkness thickened, and Daisy’s light grew faint.
“Urgh!”
The drowned captain laughed grotesquely and stretched out a hand.
Then a Coin spun before my eyes.
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads.’
[Heads]
It failed.
Fuck.
But I had Spare Coin, the ability I got last time.
I rolled the Coin once more.
Ting!
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads.’
[Heads]
[Success]
‘That’s it!’
Depending on the situation, the Coin was such a shitty mechanic that it was sometimes better not to toss it at all.
The risk was great if it failed, but success brought an equally great reward.
[Pattern nullified.]
[Witcheslamp is flustered.]
“Why is this... Aargh!”
The drowned captain was caught off guard and suffered a critical wound from Argus’s strike.
[Arcane Ray]
Ziiiiing!
Taking advantage of the opening, the Arcane Ray I fired tore through the undead and struck the drowned captain’s heart.
Kyaaaaaah...!
The longer Arcane Ray kept hitting its target, the more its damage rose exponentially.
Witcheslamp vanished with a scream.
[Minion of the evil sea god.]
[The drowned captain has fallen into eternal slumber.]
[The soul will sink into the murky sea of the abyss and never find rest.]
Creeeak...
With the captain defeated, the remaining enemies were nothing special.
The ghost ship retreated with a horn blast, as though it were a living creature.
Bwoooo!
Once the battle ended, Argus wiped his sweat- and blood-covered face and laughed.
“Having a priest and a mage really does make battle much easier! Excellent work, Ian! Daisy!”
The shaman Turkan looked at me and signed enthusiastically.
“...”
Ulric translated from beside him.
“He says your skill at blocking their dangerous spells was truly remarkable!”
Well, I was a genius.
‘Though the Coin had helped too.’
“Mr. Argus, you and the others did great too. More importantly, is it really okay for you to use Dragon Blood already?”
As powerful as it was, Dragon Blood came with the penalty of only being usable once every few weeks.
At my question, Argus nodded as though it were no problem.
“It’s fine! I can still use it one more time!”
Then the boss fight shouldn’t be a problem.
I looked around and thought to myself.
‘Our fighting strength is overflowing.’
Even though it had been an intermediate boss fight, not a single person had died.
Well, it was all thanks to me, but everyone was skilled enough to enter an outer dimension.
At this rate, the boss fight should be fine too.
“Ian, Memorize time is coming up soon. Can I heal everyone?”
“Yeah.”
Daisy hurried around using her remaining spells to treat everyone.
“Thank you, Priestess.”
“Hey, if you have any spare bandages, give me some!”
“Whew.”
Everyone sat heavily in the empty, ruined village and recovered.
Unlike the pirates, the undead army that had appeared this time dropped Mana Stones.
After gathering the chunks of money that were a little larger than third-floor Mana Stones, we examined the most valuable loot.
The item dropped by Witcheslamp, the intermediate boss.
It was...
“A scroll.”
It was a scroll filled with magical energy.
An unidentified scroll, at that.
“Do you know what it is?”
Ulric asked, but I shook my head.
“No. We’ll need to have it appraised first.”
“...”
“Turkan says the same.”
The shaman Turkan was no different.
Scrolls required a specialized appraisal blessing.
Still, whatever it contained, it was certainly valuable because it allowed even ordinary people to use spells.
‘It could have something like Hellfire in it.’
Though the chances were low, considering it came from a second-floor Secret Dungeon.
“Tch. I wish it had been a magic item.”
“Tell me about it.”
Of course, everyone clicked their tongues because it was a little disappointing for an intermediate boss drop.
Argus held up the spell parchment and spoke to Lucian’s group.
“After it is appraised, we will decide whether to sell it or choose who will use it.”
“Fine.”
“I was thinking of splitting the shares like this. What do you think?”
“I agree.”
“If you feel uneasy about us holding it, you can take it yourselves.”
“No. We’ll leave it to your side.”
Did treating their subordinates and fighting back-to-back with them help Daisy and me build some camaraderie?
The atmosphere between Argus’s group and the noble group, who had been bickering until now, improved.
‘That’s a relief.’
Internal division was the most dangerous thing when exploring a Secret Dungeon, so I let out a breath.
‘The final stretch is the trickiest part, after all.’
“Well then... Ian! You’re a mage, so you hold onto this!”
Argus gave me the parchment with an awkward smile.
“Sure.”
Then our attention turned to the sinister altar in the center of the village.
Decorated with a statue of the Snake King, the altar gave off an eerie and unsettling aura just by looking at it.
“So this is the altar.”
“The Snake King’s symbol... This is a cursed place.”
There was another secret here, actually.
Just as the villagers had done before, offering a living sacrifice would produce valuable equipment or rare items.
That was why, when rifts formed between teams that entered together, many people fought each other and offered one another as sacrifices, only to die without escaping.
‘It was like that in the game, so it must be worse in reality.’
Then Argus studied it closely, pulled me aside, and whispered.
“Hey, Ian.”
“Yes?”
“That girl Nadia. She is an existence of the Labyrinth, right?”
He was pointing at the NPC I had saved this time.
“That’s right.”
“Does she still have a use?”
“What do you mean?”
“Wouldn’t she count as a person too?”
In other words, he was suggesting we offer her as a sacrifice to get an item.
“...”
For a moment, I had nothing to say.
Wow. It was such an evil thought that even Elena, a dark elf, would shake her head at it.
‘She’s not a person.’
Maybe it would be different in a game, but in reality...
Naturally, I refused.
“You want to sacrifice that cute little girl?”
“Greta... Sob.”
Perhaps Nadia noticed my gaze. She had been touching the siren’s corpse and grieving over her friend’s death, but now she looked toward us.
“...”
Such a vile act suited someone like Elena or Darnen.
It did not fit the motto of a kind-hearted genius mage, and Nadia still had plenty of uses left anyway.
“Haha! A joke! Just a joke!”
Mr. Argus slapped my shoulder, laughed heartily, and waved as he walked away.
That was what he said, but I knew it had not been entirely a joke.
‘This is why those Expedition Party bastards get called animals.’
The friendly-looking dragonkin, the barbarian warrior, and the cheerful archer brothers had all reached this point with blood on their hands.
Of course, they could be cruel whenever the situation called for it.
‘Primitive medieval bastards.’
Anyway, only the boss fight remained.
We headed for where our ship was docked to prepare to set sail again. Nadia, whose eyes were red from crying, looked at the ship and asked.
“We’re going on that?”
“Yeah.”
“It looks old... Can it get through those rough waves?”
‘This little brat. She has a way of making things sound annoying.’
I patted Nadia’s seaweed-like hair.
“Don’t worry. We have a shaman here who can control the wind and rain.”
“Okay.”
Once we boarded again, the ship set sail on its own.
We had some time before the final Wave began, so everyone rested in the cabins.
I unpacked the food I had obtained through Nadia.
“Food!”
‘I can demand a settlement for the food distribution later. Heh heh.’
It was only dried fish and seaweed, but having something to eat raised the spirits that had been fading during the exhausting journey.
Crackle, crackle!
‘This is lightning-grilled fish.’
“Wow! Magic is so convenient!”
“Eat as much as you want.”
As I cooked dried fish and shared it with Daisy and Nadia, Lucian, who had been drinking, spoke to me.
“Your magic was truly remarkable. This is also the first time I have seen someone handle three attributes.”
His face possessed an androgynous beauty that did not suit a man, and his eyes glittered with curiosity as he watched me.
Hm. A guy as handsome as me looking at me like that made me a little uncomfortable.
I shrugged.
“Well, I’m a genius mage.”
“I see.”
Lucian seemed to have something to say. His lips moved as he watched me, but when one of his subordinates called him, he shook his head and left.
We warmed ourselves, ate a light meal, and shared drinks. Then, except for those keeping watch, everyone went to their rooms to rest.
‘Considering the boss fight, I should engrave this one this time.’
I also went into a room with Daisy and Nadia to rest.
After sleeping for a while, I woke up at six in the morning and Memorized with Daisy.
‘The final Wave is coming soon. It’s time to start preparing.’
But before that, there was something I wanted to ask.
“Nadia.”
I spoke to Nadia, who yawned with sleepy, bleary eyes.
“Yeah?”
“Do you know any old stories or legends?”
“Stories?”
“Yeah. Anything is fine.”
An NPC capable of free thought.
The secrets of the Deep Floors, the Seven Kings.
If I talked with her a little more, I might find a clue about the Labyrinth’s secrets.
“Um... They aren’t very interesting, but there are a few my late mother told me.”
‘An interaction that wasn’t in the game!’
My eyes lit up.
Just as I was about to ask about it, a loud shout rang out.
“Enemy!!!”
What?
The shout had come from Lucian, the leader of the noble party.
Standing in front of a cabin, his handsome face was coldly twisted with rage.
“What is it?! Monsters?!”
“I didn’t sense anything! What happened?!”
Everyone gathered in one place, fully armed by the time the commotion drew them out.
[In the darkness, a stealthy hand flashed.]
[Ned has fallen into eternal rest.]
A young soldier lay dead and bleeding before Lucian.
He was one of Lucian’s subordinates.
“It wasn’t a monster. A person did this.”
A shocking statement was spoken.
Lucian, who had checked the soldier’s pulse, glared at us with fierce eyes.
“What?”
Fuck. The pleasant atmosphere had suddenly turned into a game of Mafia.
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