WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 109: Mafia
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[He observes the properties of elements and understands the phenomena themselves.]
[His very way of perceiving the world is different.]
[Magic is not merely the study of currying favor with a Grimoire, pouring in mana, and firing off spells.]
[It is only natural that Ian's spells are on a different level from those of other mages!]
The blue butterfly landed precisely on the sea giant's grotesque forehead, encrusted with all manner of marine life.
At that moment, Ice Armor shattered with fine cracks.
Crackle!
“Uoh?”
As the butterfly fluttered its wings as if hatching from an egg, the ice broke apart, and the Lightning condensed within flashed.
A bright yellow pattern of lightning shimmered brilliantly on the giant's forehead like a lightning rod.
Rumble!
The churning sky, the black clouds, and the storm sensed that mark.
Then the sky split open.
The entire night sky, filled with storm clouds, was instantly dyed a blinding white.
KRAAAAAASH!!!
At the same time, a colossal pillar of lightning descended from the sky and struck the corrupted giant's head.
KRAAAAAAH!
What rang out was not a living creature's cry, but an earth-splitting boom and a scream.
The overwhelming shockwave created the instant the lightning struck forced the surrounding sea apart in every direction, like Moses' miracle.
As bolts continued to fall one after another, the giant's enormous body convulsed madly. The centuries-old wreckage and chains tangled around it could not withstand the current. They glowed red, then exploded into fragments.
Screeeeech!
The giant's eyes took the light of the lightning head-on. Every blood vessel burst as its eyes blackened and burned away. Foul-smelling blood and smoke billowed from its sagging nostrils and mouth.
“Fuck... What the hell is that...?”
“How can someone at the level of a third-floor expedition member cast a spell like that...?”
An outer-dimension guardian.
The enormous underwater monster that had shaken the entire sea was left dazed by a spell cast by a single mage.
Even Argus's party, hardened by countless trials, and Lucian's party, with Lucian, the refined Castle noble, among them, could only stare blankly at that overwhelming, destructive sight.
Yeah, this was magic.
The power to change the physical laws and causality of this world.
The secret that had allowed a weakling like me, who could not even properly swing a sword, to survive in this brutal world.
Hahaha.
Hm, if I had to give this spell a name, maybe Lightning Storm?
A thrill surged through my body, as electrifying as the moment lightning struck.
I did that?
Yeah, of course I did. I'm a genius.
I looked at the sea giant twitching in the storm, then shouted at the people standing there dumbfounded.
“What are you all doing? Snap out of it!”
It was an outer-dimension guardian.
It had taken an enormous hit, but it was not dead yet.
[Blessing of the Great Sea]
[Gunbar's wounds are regenerating.]
That bastard had magic resistance and regenerative abilities.
“...O-Okay!!!”
Argus's hostile attitude vanished. Startled, he ran forward as though to follow my orders.
Was this his hidden strength?
Black wings unfurled from Argus's back. Activating the power of a dragon, he charged the struggling sea giant.
“You stinking giant bastard! I'm your opponent!!!”
But there was a problem.
Crackle!
“Urgh.”
The lightning strike had been enormous, even if we were some distance from the giant.
It had not hit us directly, but several people had been shocked and were staggering around.
[The Merfolk Commander has fainted.]
[The Scaled Harpooner has fainted.]
The monsters attacking from underwater were dazed too, of course, but...
‘That won't stop it.’
Uooooooh!!!
The sea giant, writhing in agony from its terrible wounds, opened its mouth spasmodically.
Breath.
A water cannon as large as a shot put blasted toward us.
“P-Prepare for impact!”
“Aaaah!”
‘Ah, this is bad...’
[Arcane Barrier]
KRAAASH!
I raised a barrier, but the impact sent my body flying. My vision filled with hazy bubbles.
The ship shattered, and everyone aboard, myself included, was flung into the sea.
Glub glub!
There was another problem.
Lightning might work on fishfolk, but it did nothing to undead.
The moment I hit the water, hands grabbed my ankles. As I struggled to swim, I looked down.
“Come with us... Into that cold abyss...”
A drowned sailor's skull, with only scraps of flesh remaining, clattered its teeth as it grabbed my leg.
Glub glub!
Daisy, who was tied to me, could not do much either. Her armor weighed her down, and undead hands were grabbing her legs.
Fuck.
Underwater was a battlefield far too unfavorable for us.
I had no levitation spell. This was a life-or-death moment.
Whirr.
Then a Coin floated into my blurred vision.
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads!’
[Heads]
[Success]
The instant the Coin succeeded, mysterious energy spread from somewhere.
Then, contrasting with the murky light of the deep sea, a bright, refreshing blue glow began approaching us.
“Ian! Daisy!”
A voice that seemed to reach us through the water by force of will.
It was Nadia.
The girl, whose legs had transformed into fish fins, moved freely through the water. She struck away the undead holding us.
“Get away!”
Gasp!
Thanks to her, Daisy and I surfaced and drew in fresh air.
“Cough, cough... Thanks, Nadia.”
“You saved us!”
Supporting Daisy and me while vigorously flicking her tail beneath the surface, Nadia chattered excitedly.
“This is amazing! My legs turned into fish!”
Yeah, that was your ability.
“Look! Webbing grew on my arms too, and I'm super fast!”
This was not the time to be talking about that.
I lightly smacked her on the head and shouted.
“Quick! Somewhere we can stand!”
“Ah, okay!”
We quickly climbed onto a nearby sunken wreck.
‘That, I need to find that...’
As I scanned our surroundings, a pale, soaked face appeared from inside the ship alongside torchlight.
“Ian!”
It was the vampire man.
“You are?”
“I'm Clive! I'm glad everyone's safe! And this is what you were looking for, right?”
A giant on the second floor, even in a Secret Dungeon?
Of course, the Labyrinth would not give us something impossible to solve.
There was always a way.
A special gimmick for clearing it.
Some of the sunken wrecks here carried Mana Cannons.
We could use them to inflict serious damage on the sea giant.
‘Now that we're here, we can kill it easily if we fire the cannons properly.’
Before the Mafia began throwing its weight around, our plan had been to hold out as long as possible, then use these cannons to kill the guardian.
Fwoosh!
Perhaps everyone else had thought the same thing.
Like the veterans they were, they quickly regained formation.
A graveyard of ships.
Torchlight rose from the surviving people among the wrecks scattered all around us.
“Fire! Fire!”
Boom! Boom!
Soon, they activated the Mana Cannons and began striking the sea giant.
Uooooooh!
It was a bold strategy possible only because Argus, who was drawing the monster's attention, became immune to all physical attacks when he used his power.
“Aren't you firing?!”
“It still needs to charge.”
I poured mana into the Mana Cannon mounted on the half-destroyed deck.
Since it was powered by mana, a mage could increase its power.
‘Lightning, Frost, Arcane. Take it all!’
For a Triple Master like me, its power would double.
Of course, charging it took time.
It was a kind of time attack.
“Ian!!! The monsters are coming!!!”
[Cornered, Gunbar has summoned the Deep Sea kin!]
Fuck, the guardian used its power at that moment.
Ominous bubbles began rising to the surface, and monsters started crawling onto the wreck we stood on.
‘Hurry up. Hurry!’
It still needed time to charge.
“I-I'll stop them!!!”
The vampire man who had only run from monsters in fear until now.
No, Clive, charged forward.
“Aaaah!”
Rather than fighting, he desperately held out by using his sturdy vampire body to take their attacks himself.
Whoosh! Thud!
“Urgh.”
Daisy, who was holding the monsters back alongside the vampire, snapped the rotten harpoon embedded in her body and steeled herself.
“I'll protect Ian... In Elena's place...!”
Hup!
Then a pure white light surged around Daisy.
[Level Up]
[Courage that does not break in any circumstances.]
[Meia's hand has reached through the Labyrinth's deep darkness.]
[Daisy has learned a new spell.]
That was...
Daisy trembled all over as though she had realized something, then opened her eyes wide and raised Lu's holy relic high into the sky.
“Disappear!!!”
Then she cried out.
[Banish Evil Spirits]
In other words, Turn Undead.
At Daisy's command, the undead army rushing at us collapsed and turned into salt.
“I-It's not over yet... Aaargh!”
That bought us time.
Bzzzzzz.
“It's ready!!!”
Just then, the Mana Cannon finished charging.
“Nadia! Help me!”
“Okay!”
My frail body was not strong enough to even move this hunk of metal and aim it properly. With Nadia's help, I shifted the cannon and aimed it at the sea giant.
‘Still not enough.’
Uooooooh!!!
Though it was not as imposing as before, the guardian was still rampaging.
I gauged its condition, then spoke to Nadia.
“Nadia!”
“Yeah?”
“Don't you feel anything?”
“Feel anything?”
“Yeah! Something inside you! A power that makes your soul tremble! A trail flickering before your eyes! Anything works!”
“That... Huh?”
They were trigger words of a sort.
Nadia's eyes widened at my words, and mysterious power poured from the necklace she wore. The light shot out in a straight line and shone into the giant's eye as it held Argus and tried to devour him.
[The power of the true Kin of the Great Sea, whose line has now been severed.]
[The declining giant Gunbar is suffering!]
Krrrraaaah!
“T-Take this! Blood Curse!”
At the same time, the vampire used his own arm and blood as a catalyst to place a curse on the giant.
Whirr.
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads!’
[Heads]
[By miraculous odds, the curse has overcome its resistance and been engraved upon the giant's body!]
The giant's furious gaze turned toward us along with an ominous seal.
Got it!
I had done everything I could.
Aiming at the sea giant, I pulled the Mana Cannon's trigger.
“I hate Mondays, so die already, you pineapple monster.”
KRAAAAAASH!!!
Before the destructive light reached its body, the Coin appeared again.
‘Heads.’
[Tails]
[Failure]
It failed.
“I'm your opponent!!! You damn turtle bastard!!!”
Ignoring Argus, Lucian, and Knight Pierre, who were buzzing around its waist, the giant raised both arms into a defensive stance.
Ting!
In that split second, I tossed the Spare Coin, the ability I had gained before.
‘Heads.’
[Heads]
[Success]
The shell exploded.
A flash erupted, and an elemental storm far more powerful than usual swept forth.
...
With a chilling sound, both arms of the creature trembling violently were torn off.
A massive hole had been punched through its brow.
Its eyes rolled back. Drool streamed from its mouth as it collapsed.
Grrrk...
As the massive body, as large as a small hill, fell, a huge spray rose from the sea.
Blood gushed out, dyeing the surrounding waters red.
[Ruler of Storm-Tossed Waters]
[Gunbar, the aged giant and servant of the evil Snake King, has fallen into eternal rest!]
A tingling rise in rank came with a fragment of enlightenment inside me.
[Level Up]
And...
‘You finally coughed it up, you Grimoire bastards!’
“Phew...”
The moment I sighed and leaned against the Mana Cannon, the storm gradually began to subside, and I heard people shouting.
“W-We wonnnnn!!!”
“We killed it! We really killed it!!!”
“Everyone, get a hold of yourselves! Help those in the water and the wounded first!”
“Hahaha! Ian! We won...!”
But we did not join them.
“Shh.”
“Pardon?”
Daisy silenced Nadia and the vampire as they celebrated.
Then she silently surveyed the area with a stern expression before speaking.
“Ian is setting a trap. A trap to catch the evil killer deceiving everyone.”
“Yeah. That bastard will show himself soon.”
I nodded, put on the Shadow Helm of the Darkgrove Warden, and hid myself.
[Invisibility]
Not long after...
Urk...
“H-How did you...?”
A scream rang out amid the cheers of celebration.
The Mafia had begun to act.
‘So it really was you.’
Just as I expected.
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