WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 42: The Wizard's Boss Rush
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Dimensional Guardian.
A being on an entirely different level from the monsters and Mutants normally found in the Labyrinth.
Its physical abilities and advanced intelligence varied by individual, but its greatest threat was its blessings.
It possessed several skills that had previously been exclusive to players.
It truly deserved the title of boss monster.
‘Fuck, a Corrupted Paladin?’
Among them, that one was special.
It sometimes appeared in place of the Eternal Guardian, the original boss of the Prisoner's Tower.
According to the setting, it had come here on some mission, killed the Guardian, and become corrupted.
Its appearance rate was 0.01 percent.
And I'd hit that miserable chance.
‘Isn't this too much?!’
[Hodrick is praying.]
[A sacred yet unsettling aura spreads through the room.]
“Ian! This isn't the one you explained!”
“We need to get out of here first...!”
I shouted, but Darnen and Drian were burning with fighting spirit.
“A variable in the Labyrinth.”
“A Paladin? Even so...”
They clearly had no idea what he was capable of.
As Hodrick drew his sword, brilliant radiance burst from him.
“M... y... Go... ddess...”
Turn Undead.
Then Sanctification.
Flash!
An immense radiance burst from the Corrupted Paladin.
The revived Jailer zombies did not merely turn back into corpses. They crumbled to ash, and the bodies we'd prepared for unholy spells caught fire as well.
“Gaaah!”
Drian, the dark elf assassin, had been about to charge, but he covered his eyes and staggered back.
Darnen coughed up blood, likely suffering backlash as her minions were instantly unsummoned.
“Cough.”
With a single attack from the Dimensional Guardian, the dark elves, our party's strongest force, had been neutralized.
“Fuck! Run!”
The hired Expedition Party members and slave warriors shouted at the ominous energy pouring from him.
“T-the door's closed!”
But the door had sealed shut.
We had to fight him in this enclosed space.
‘I knew there was a slim chance he could appear.’
I'd prepared countermeasures, but...
‘The problem is that he's even stronger in reality than I expected.’
His racial makeup included undead traits, so his own skills hurt him too, but the corrupting foreign matter's regenerative power had already healed his wounds.
Clink!
He wore chainmail and a surcoat embroidered with the goddess's symbol.
Despite his heavy armor, the Paladin vanished.
In less than a blink, he had closed the distance.
[Heads/Tails]
The coin appeared.
Before I could even choose.
Crunch!
A shadowed greatsword, faintly gleaming, fell like a guillotine.
A dark elf slave warrior's head shattered in an instant.
“Huh?”
Brains spilled out as the body collapsed.
A party member who had endured so much with us died just like that.
“Petennnn!”
The other slave, who had lost an arm, screamed.
“...!”
Gimlius, Elena, Daisy, Hans, and even the elf mage's party could only blink, unable to react.
It was that abnormal a sight.
“Get a hold of yourselves!”
I shattered a catalyst and cast a spell.
Boom!
A fierce jet of water surged from the floor.
I planned to mix in an Ice Spike as a feint, soak him, then fire a Lightning Arrow.
The Corrupted Paladin deftly stepped aside from the water jet and deflected the Ice Spike with his sword.
Crackle!
He even blocked the Lightning Arrow with Holy Barrier, one of the Divine Authorities he possessed.
“S... low.”
‘Fuck.’
A humanoid monster.
And this was why Paladins were so overpowered. If they had the advantage in affinity and level, it was nearly impossible to pierce that overwhelming defense.
Still, my desperate flailing hadn't been pointless.
My companions used the opening to regain their composure.
Cough! Cough!
Darnen, still coughing blood, stabbed her own hand and cursed Hodrick.
“You arrogant bastard of the Light!”
Drian hurled concealed weapons and charged at Hodrick.
When he touched the necklace around his neck, black smoke spread through the room and disrupted Hodrick's vision.
[Purification]
The black smoke quickly vanished under Hodrick's Divine Authority, but it hadn't been meaningless.
At least it had forced him to use one Authority.
The elf swordsman accompanying the elf mage could block at least part of Hodrick's sword strikes.
Clang!
Elena could also keep up with him for a few exchanges.
“Gaaaaah!”
“Get on him! Don't swing! Just raise your shields! Pin him down!”
Gimlius, the one-armed slave, and the last remaining human mercenary threw themselves forward, taking the places of the front-line fighters whenever they were in danger.
The outer dimension guardian.
Its terrifying presence had united people who'd been ready to draw swords on each other.
“Elrond! A spell!”
“My spells cannot defeat that being.”
Blazing Seeds, poisonous vines, and the like.
Elrond was an earth mage, so his spells were far from offensive. He did have powerful attack spells, but they were too slow to hit Hodrick.
“You have barriers, don't you?!”
But I wasn't asking him for an attack spell.
That thing was at least fifth-floor level.
It was armed with all kinds of skills, equipment, and durability.
Mages were supposed to prepare for situations like this.
We needed time to create an opening.
“If it's that...”
“Everyone, fall back!”
I used Frost Burst, and Elrond cast a spell that summoned rising vines through the opening.
As everyone retreated, massive vines grew and wrapped around Hodrick.
“Huff, huff!”
“Potion! Someone get a potion!”
The front line caught their breath with the time we'd bought.
I also considered how to survive this situation.
First, the spells I had left.
[Ice Spike] [2]
[Magic Missile] [2]
[Arcane Barrier] [1]
I'd used up Frost Burst, Rising Water Jet, and Lightning Arrow.
These three were all I had left.
‘Until the next Memorize?’
It was 5:20 a.m.
Hold out for forty minutes? Our heads would be smashed in long before then.
Even if I could refill my spells, I wouldn't suddenly have a good solution.
‘Should I use my tools?’
Set him on fire with black firebombs?
No. He wasn't some ordinary trash mob that would fall for that.
“...”
Think.
How could I turn this situation around?
I had two White Parchments left, so I could refill Lightning Arrow, my strongest current spell. But could that kill him?
Objectively, it was impossible.
I shook my head.
Hodrick probably had at least five barrier spells.
Not to mention Heal.
Then should I give the White Parchments away?
To whom?
Even if I gave them to Darnen, dark spells that clashed with Divine Power would barely affect him.
Corpse Explosion might work, since it caused physical damage.
‘But the unholy corpses were already blown to pieces by Sanctification.’
‘Then, as horrible as it is, what about using the people killed in battle?’
‘One or two bodies won't be enough.’
Refilling Elrond's spells would only buy us more time...
Boom!
The vines Elrond had summoned were torn apart.
“Corrupted ones... I will purify you...”
The insane Paladin walked out, his eyes gleaming through the Great Helm.
“Fucking bastard...”
“My legs... My legs won't move...”
“What are you doing?! Get him!”
Gaaaaah!
The front line charged again, forcing down their fear.
Whirr.
The coin appeared.
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads.’
[Tails]
A mercenary from the elf mage's party was cut deeply across the upper body.
“Meia!”
Daisy hurriedly used Heal, but they staggered with a pale face, spilling a handful of intestines.
“Huff! Huff!”
They were barely alive.
“Back! Get back!”
Even in that desperate situation, I thought.
Phew.
Maybe things were different on the other side of a monitor, but now that this was reality, I hated leaving my fate to this damn luck.
If luck was on my side, fine. But if misfortune followed me, all I could do was suffer helplessly.
But...
‘In the end, this is my only option.’
This time, I had to pray to the god of fate.
To that damn luck.
‘Please appear. Please.’
An ancient book that gave a new spell to whoever opened it.
I took out Nasihira's Grimoire, which Darnen had given me.
There was a high chance of getting a useless spell if I simply opened this book, so I'd planned to go to a safe city and improve the odds through research.
‘But this isn't the time for that.’
I forced the Grimoire open.
The book burned with strange light, and new knowledge rose in my mind.
[Mystic Dimensional Gate]
* * *
Fuck.
I should've been thrilled about a new spell, but instead I clenched my teeth.
I wasn't even hoping for Chain Lightning.
If I'd gotten Arcane Beam or at least Ice Spear, there might've been a chance. But a dimensional gate?
[What will come out today? Spin the wheel, spin the wheel~]
Mystic Dimensional Gate opened a portal and randomly pulled something out of it.
Most of the time, it was stones or trash. Sometimes, though, it summoned valuable magic items or creatures capable of causing chaos in a city.
In other words, it was a skill for dopamine addicts to play around with when they were bored.
What a fucking terrible luck-based game!
Fuck, if this was what I got, then there really was no way...
A sudden realization flashed through my despairing mind.
‘No, this is an opportunity!’
My eyes widened as I thought of the dimensional gate.
Hadn't I often used dimensional gates to troll and clear encounters with random gacha results in the game?
I'd needed cheats to run countless simulations, but still...
I remembered one of Dungeon of Death's messages.
[Year 1411]
[The Arcana School, an Arcane School, caused an accident.]
[It was part of experimental research intended to obtain materials for rebuilding cities by opening Mystic Dimensional Gates on a massive scale. But alas! A demon emerged from one of the gates!]
[Many mages of the Arcana School, including apprentices and Summoners, died due to the demon's descent. The Magic Tower was half destroyed. The situation was resolved thanks to Paladins and high-ranking Priests dispatched by the church, but the Arcana School's master and the Tower Lord had to bear great responsibility.]
[Dimensional gate research was banned afterward.]
[What a shame. It was fun, though.]
The problem was...
‘Can I summon a monster that can fight that thing, something at least as strong as a high-tier fifth-floor creature?’
The level of a dimensional gate also followed the level of its caster.
Could I break through those already slim odds?
No, wait.
I had the coin.
What if I used my shitty luck to pull the absolute worst result instead?
‘Dimensional gate gacha. I never thought I'd do this in real life.’
‘There's no time to hesitate.’
Start now.
[Mystic Dimensional Gate]
Crackle!
“Huff, huff! Ian? That spell is...?”
There was no time to explain.
Leaving the flustered elf mage Elrond behind, I opened the dimensional gate.
‘Coin!’
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads!’
[Heads]
The dimensional gate spat out a decent sword.
Fuuuck.
When I wanted it to listen, this contrarian coin always did the opposite.
Slash!
“Rediras!”
Rediras's leg was severed.
“Urgh!”
As Rediras stumbled and left a gap in our forces, the burden on the remaining front line instantly increased.
Leaving that rapidly worsening situation behind, I used one of my two White Parchments to refill Mystic Dimensional Gate and opened it again.
[Heads/Tails]
‘Tails.’
[Tails]
Gaaaaah!
Crackle!
The dimensional gate spat out a single stone.
Boom!
“Cough!”
Gimlius's shield shattered, and he was sent flying into the wall.
A few strands of Elena's hair were cut off. She ducked and thrust her sword through a gap in Hodrick's armor.
“Die!”
[Heal]
But the corrupting foreign matter's regenerative power immediately filled the wound with new flesh, trapping Elena's sword in his abdomen.
“Urgh.”
“Gimlius! Elena!”
Hans, who had been protecting Daisy and me, threw aside his crossbow, grabbed a dented shield, and charged forward.
He was a Scout with little combat power, but he desperately tried to block the enemy with his body.
‘At this rate, we'll be wiped out!’
“Darnen! Elrond! Do you have any White Parchments left?!”
I shouted at the two mages.
Elrond shook his head. Darnen took out two White Parchments and asked,
“What have you been doing this whole time?! Dimensional gates are...”
“Hurry!”
The two parchments flew toward me.
I opened dimensional gates one after another.
Crackle!
Failure. Another failure.
Only one chance remained.
Fuck, should I give up even now?
Wouldn't it be better to refill Lightning Arrow and at least hurt him a little?
That thought crossed my mind countless times.
...
No.
If this didn't work, there was no way to kill him.
That thing even had a second phase.
Casting aside my hesitation, I opened the dimensional gate again.
Crackle!
[Heads/Tails]
‘Heads.’
[Tails]
The coin rang out clearly, as if in regret.
At the same time, it was as if it intended to give me misfortune as enormous as all the luck it had given me so far.
Thud! Thud!
The dimensional gate I'd summoned grew larger and larger.
Then huge footsteps began to echo from within, accompanied by ominous shadows.
“Ian... what on earth have you...”
“What is that...?”
Elrond and Darnen, who had been supporting the party with their spells, went pale.
Hahaha... Hahahahahaha!
“Long live the coin!”
[Magic Missile]
Boom!
Laughing loudly, I fired a spell to draw Hodrick's attention and pulled my companions back.
“Everyone, fall back!”
“What... If we fall back... Huh?”
The front-line fighters, focused on the battle, saw what was happening behind them.
They saw the being emerging from the dimensional gate, and their eyes widened.
“Fuck... what the hell is that now...?!”
“A Drake... It's a Drake! Why is that here?!”
Kraaaaaaah!
Beyond the portal, the furious eyes of the Drake, whose rest had been disturbed, fixed on the Corrupted Paladin.
“In the goddess's... name.”
The insane Paladin willingly raised his sword at the Drake.
────────!
The two monsters began to fight.
[Madness That Defies Despair]
[When everyone was losing hope, Ian summoned a dragon.]
“Kieeeek!”
Footnotes:
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