Surviving in a Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage - Chapter 57

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 57: A Flash Cutting Through Foul-Smelling Things

──────

The stalactites embedded in the ceiling shook, scattering chips of stone.

The once-still lake churned with enormous ripples, and the wrecked ships bobbing on the current groaned in agony.

Creeeak, creak.

Whoooosh!

It looked as though a tidal wave had struck.

Furious waves crashed over us, and we staggered about while clinging to the swaying wrecked ship.

“Aaaah! Cough! Cough!”

Gimlius, who had been rolling across the deck, was drenched by a rising wave and began coughing from the saltwater.

“What is this?!”

“Dwarf!”

Elena threw a rope to Gimlius, who was about to be swept into the waves, and pulled him to safety.

“Ghk.”

‘Why now of all times?!’

I gritted my teeth as I endured the tidal wave with my staff planted in the rotten deck.

Few people knew it, but the Salt Cave had a special gimmick.

It was the Sea God’s Feast, which activated when the number of offerings the fishfolk gave to the altar passed a certain threshold.

It was commonly called a wave.

Since it was a second-floor gimmick, it normally only meant more monsters than usual would appear, but...

‘Our current location is the problem!’

A massive space filled with water.

Wasn't this exactly the kind of place fish would love?

Woooooo!

The cry of the Deep-Sea God echoed gloomily throughout the cave.

Splash! Splash!

Kiiiiik!

Shadows spread across the surface, and disgusting creatures answered the call as they leaped out of the water.

Fishfolk harpooners and Shamans had slick skin, bellies bloated like starving children, and nothing but filthy underwear on their bodies. They carried shell shields and harpoons.

There were armored crabmen we had faced before, Drowned Slaves with bloated, necrotic skin covered in barnacles, octopus humanoids clad in iron armor, and stinging jellyfish.

The salty, fishy stench thickened, and so did the Labyrinth's darkness.

Torchlight flickered weakly as countless monsters living in the Salt Cave began crawling onto the wrecked ship where we stood.

“Fuck! We finally got the treasure, and now there are more monsters?!”

“The law of the Labyrinth. Taking treasure away is harder than getting it...”

“Prepare for battle!!!”

The orb of light I created floated over the wrecked ship, illuminating our surroundings.

We faced the monsters back-to-back with the four-member elf party.

Gulp. Gulp.

Elena, Gimlius, and Hans each drank a Drake Potion I had given them.

“My spells are restricted!”

Alejandro couldn't use his golem on an unstable wrecked ship like this because of its weight.

Still, he seemed to have another plan. After shouting that, he took out spellcasting materials under the protection of the front line.

“Hup!”

The Elven Archer nimbly climbed across the wreckage and took position atop a half-tilted mast. She drew her bow and fired at a fishfolk Shaman preparing a spell.

Thud!

Graaah!

Perhaps because the ship was swaying wildly in the tidal wave, the arrow struck its upper arm instead of its heart or eye.

“Tsk.”

The Elven Archer clicked her tongue. Just as the enraged creature was about to cast its spell...

Thunk!

Hans's crossbow fired.

The new weapon, made with Drake sinew, had such tremendous draw strength that its quarrel pierced the Shaman's chest and lodged in the harpooner behind it.

“I'll reload!”

He planted his foot in the stirrup, pulled back the string, and set it on the latch again.

The crossbow boasted great power, but it took a long time to reload.

While Hans did that, the Elven Archer fired an arrow every two seconds.

Yet even the firepower of two shooters couldn't stop this overwhelming wave. It was time for the front line to step in.

“They're coming!!! Hold them back!!!”

“Aaaah!”

Elena, Gimlius, and two front-line fighters from the elf party formed a shield wall and clashed with the fishfolk.

Weapons flew wildly with a bang. Shields shook, and blood and flesh splattered.

“...”

Shouts and monstrous cries filled the battlefield.

In the deafening chaos, I had to target the monsters that would be hardest for my companions to deal with.

Shamans using dangerous spells, or medium and large monsters capable of breaking through the front line.

[Arcane Barrier] [2]

[Magic Missile] [2]

[Faint Light] [3]

[Rising Water Jet] [2]

[Chain Lightning] [2]

[Charge] [2]

[Arcane Firefly] [1]

I recalled the spells I had engraved.

With my five senses, I felt mana. With my mind, I calculated its flow. With my eyes, I surveyed the battlefield.

A coin spun into the air.

[Heads/Tails]

‘There!’

An armored crabman had just picked up a Drowned Slave like a piece of luggage.

Its vicious pattern involved throwing the slave, followed by the slave's self-destruction.

If that landed, the balance we had barely maintained would collapse in an instant.

I consumed a spell parchment and flicked my staff.

Boom!

A Rising Water Jet struck the falling Drowned Slave in midair.

The creature flailed as it fell into the crowd of monsters. Its entire body swelled before exploding.

Geh-eeeek!

In that opening, the Magic Missile I fired weaved through the monsters and shattered the armored crabman's black eyes as it prepared another throw.

Kikikikik!

Blinded in an instant, it furiously swung its claws in every direction.

‘I want to finish it off, but...’

‘Right now, I don't have a spell that can kill it!’

‘If only I'd prepared more offensive spells!’

Clicking my tongue in frustration, I used another spell.

[Arcane Barrier]

The barrier unfolded around the Elven Archer, who was firing arrows from the mast.

She was startled by the translucent wall blocking her view, but when a harpoon aimed at her back bounced away, she gave me a grateful look.

“...”

Then she shot the harpooner that had targeted her.

Whoosh, thud!

Gehk...

Faint light and writhing darkness cast shifting shadows as weapons flew through them.

The reason I could grasp the battlefield so easily even in this chaos was the coin.

A coin that foretold a target's fate.

Only I could see and control this special ability, which was why coins continued appearing around me without pause.

[Heads/Tails]

Still, too many monsters were crawling out of the water, and a situation arose that I couldn't cover with spells.

‘Heads.’

[Heads]

At times like this, I had no choice but to rely on the coin's power.

The moment I succeeded with the coin, a sharp sound rang out, as if water pressure had burst.

It struck the shield of an elf party front-liner who happened to be raising it.

Boom!

“Ghk!”

The impact sent him flying. I rolled across the deck as well and was struck in the chest by the weapon the warrior held.

“O-oh no! Hey! Are you all right...?!”

“Ugh... I'm fine, so get back to the front!”

Huff. Huff.

Ignoring the ache in my chest, I looked beneath my robe.

The Drake leather vest I wore underneath had saved me. With ordinary armor, my ribs would have cracked.

‘It really was worth the price!’

‘But it was only this bad even though I succeeded with the coin?’

If I had failed, the front-liner would have died, or I would have suffered a serious injury.

“...”

We had already dealt with most of the Shamans.

But one was hiding in the darkness, cleverly targeting us.

Where was it? Where?

Desperately looking around, I used a new spell parchment.

[Arcane Firefly]

The Arcane light I fired flew like an arrow and lit up the area.

‘So that's where you were hiding!’

Under that mysterious light was a fishfolk Shaman hiding behind a nearby wrecked ship and preparing a spell.

“There! Behind the wrecked ship!”

Hans fired his crossbow.

But the curtain of water the creature summoned blocked the quarrel.

“Ghk!”

At that moment, the Elven Archer on the mast chanted a mysterious spell.

A stream of wind swirled between the taut bowstring.

“Arepeila.”

She borrowed the power of a spirit.

Her slender but callused fingers released the string.

A green arrow carrying the spirit's power shot out like a drill and pierced the Shaman that had been hiding and targeting us.

The creature's head was punctured by a sharp blade of wind, and its skin burst apart from the inside.

It was a powerful blow.

‘Good!’

But while my attention was elsewhere, another problem arose.

The old deck beneath our feet suddenly broke apart, and a bluish Salt Slime sprang out from within.

[Heads/Tails]

It was too close to the front line to fire a spell.

In the end, I tossed the coin.

‘Tails.’

[Heads]

Failure.

The slime writhed violently and latched onto Gimlius's unarmored armpit.

Sharp salt crystals protruded like thorns from inside its transparent body.

“Gaaah!”

Gimlius screamed and collapsed.

It was a serious wound, enough to tear his arm off.

“Gimlius!!!”

[Magic Missile]

The Magic Missile I fired shattered the core of the Salt Slime as it greedily drank blood.

Grrraaaah!

[Arcane Barrier]

The barrier I cast immediately afterward filled the gap Gimlius had left.

‘I've used up most of my spells...’

“My arm... My arm...!”

“Hold on a little longer!”

Just as I urgently pulled out an emergency intermediate potion...

“Sam! Go fill the gap!”

The Elven Archer, who had been shooting from the mast, ordered Sam, the halfling thief guarding us, to take Gimlius's place.

But Sam hesitated.

“I-I can't! I don't even have a shield! I'm a thief!”

“You're the kind of person who'll become nourishment for the World Tree...!”

My barrier cracked apart.

Then a reassuring voice rang out.

“You've all held on well.”

Alejandro's spell was complete.

* * *

“Go. My hands and feet.”

Six earthen figures, each about a meter tall and resembling miniature versions of the golems he usually controlled, stood in the monsters' way.

They weren't as powerful as one giant golem, but the mini golems rammed into the fishfolk and clung to their waists.

A miracle of knowledge that brought mysteries beyond reason into the present world, overcoming unjust situations and phenomena.

The power of a creation spell turned the tide in an instant.

“...”

Elena spat on the ground and let go of her half-broken shield. Blood ran down both her hands as she gripped her sword.

“Dieeeeee!”

With a blade carrying pure white light, Elena unleashed a devastating slash.

Boom!

The head of the octopus humanoid acting as the fishfolk's charging leader flew off.

“Huff, huff!”

Bloodied fishfolk corpses littered the area around us.

Once their vanguard fell, the remaining fishfolk became frightened.

“Come at me, you fish-headed bastards!!! What, scared?! Huh?!”

Elena, covered in blood and radiating vicious killing intent, surely had something to do with that.

Kiiiik...

Every time Elena took a step forward, the fishfolk flinched and retreated.

Phew, was it over?

Had we stopped the wave?

Just as I thought that, the remaining fishfolk froze, then suddenly began cheering with joy.

Arururur.

Their grotesque laughter and dancing.

A shadow incomparably larger than anything before it spread across the water beneath the orb of light I had created.

[Heads/Tails]

At the same time, the coin appeared.

Before I could choose, a massive impact struck the wrecked ship we were standing on.

Craaaaaash!

“Ah!”

“Ian!!!”

Elena's firm hand caught my waist as I was about to be sent flying.

But not everyone was lucky. Sam was flung overboard.

Aaaaah!

Only blood spreading across the surface with a splash marked his final moment.

“...!”

“F-fuck! What the hell is that?!”

My companions and I witnessed something horrifying.

Sharp teeth emerged from beneath the surface and swallowed Sam whole.

Grrrrrr...

A massive tail splashed through the lake water.

A back covered in rough scales.

The vertically slit, yellow eyes of a predator.

What appeared after eating Sam was a huge crocodile.

‘Fuck. That bastard appears here?’

The unfairness had reached the point where I couldn't even laugh bitterly anymore.

The savage monster cutting across the water was an Alligator.

It wasn't a named Dimensional Guardian, but it was a field boss of this area, comparable to a high-level Mutant.

‘The problem is that we're on water!’

‘We're at a complete disadvantage!’

“Hold on tight! It's coming again!!!”

Kraaaaaah!

When it rammed its head into us again, the wrecked ship cracked apart and split in half.

The golems fell into the water. Alejandro and I gritted our teeth as we clung to the railing of the tilting ship.

“Ghk!”

Even from their awkward positions, the Elven Archer and Hans returned fire, but their arrows couldn't pierce the creature's tough hide.

The Elven Archer could pierce its hide if she borrowed the power of a wind spirit, but considering its size, it would probably feel no worse than being pricked by a toothpick.

Splaash!

The monstrous crocodile was fast.

It could dive freely as well.

It had split the wrecked ship we stood on in half with one body slam. A creature the size of a small boat, it was practically a beast in every sense of the word.

“To the side! Get on the ship next to us! Hurry!”

We barely managed to climb onto another sunken ship nearby.

But it only bought us a little time.

Kraaaaaah!

The monstrous crocodile, over ten meters long, was cutting through the water and charging toward us again.

“U-ugh...”

“It's over! If we sink, it'll eat us one by one!!!”

[Galon falls into despair.]

[Mondrak loses the will to fight.]

[Elias...]

[Alejandro falls into confusion.]

“My spells can't hurt it!”

Alejandro shouted urgently.

As a golem mage, he excelled at holding enemies back, but this environment was poison to him.

Elena hurriedly asked me.

“Ian! Your spells?!”

“Only Lightning spells are left.”

“Then use them!”

“If I use them, everyone here will get electrocuted.”

The greatest weakness of Lightning spells was the risk of hitting allies in water.

We were drenched from head to toe after fighting fishfolk amid the raging tidal waves.

‘I can't dry us with a torch or anything.’

“Use it anyway! Better to take a gamble than let that bastard eat us!!!”

“I agree! It's better than becoming crocodile food!!!”

Leaving my agitated companions behind, I stood up.

“...”

I was a genius mage.

Powerful mana? Spells?

The foundation of a mage was always preparation.

Perhaps because of all the unfairness in the outer dimension, I had prepared for the worst once again.

Wasn't that why I had saved my strongest spell and that item?

‘Should I be glad I got this now?’

In my hand was a magic tool I had received after answering the Ghost Captain's question.

Oldimara’s Dice.

A magical item that granted its bearer three limited wishes.

“That's...”

Ignoring my companions, who didn't know what it was, I threw the dice.

Thirteen.

Not a bad number.

Whoooom.

I felt as if the gaze of some immense being had focused on me, but I made my wish.

Dice that could grant limited wishes.

I couldn't make a wish like, “Please kill that giant crocodile,” because that would defy causality.

But...

‘I can create the possibility for a miracle.’

‘Make the water on me and the people around me disappear. Make it so electricity can't flow through us easily either.’

“Huh?”

The moment I made my wish, a warm wind swept over us.

Our bodies became so dry that it felt as though we were standing in the desert.

“My body suddenly...”

Then I held out my palm toward the charging Alligator.

In that hand was a lightning-struck stone.

This spell was still too advanced for me to handle, so I absolutely needed a catalyst.

...

The moment I burned the spell parchment, drew up mana, calculated the trajectory, and shattered the catalyst...

A small mass of light flickered in my hand along with a tingling sensation that felt as if my entire body were burning.

Crackle!

A dazzling flash exploded, completely erasing the darkness around us.

A massive bolt of lightning shot from my fingertips, splitting through the air and raging like a predator with a will of its own.

[Chain Lightning]

Crack-crack-crack!

The lightning bolts twisted and turned across the lake, passing through the heads of the remaining fishfolk one after another and bursting them like popcorn.

The destructive lightning did not stop there.

It finally struck the face of the monstrous crocodile as it leaped from the water.

Kraaaaaah!!!

High-voltage currents scattered in every direction through the water.

Its flesh cooked beneath its tough hide, and it twisted in agony. Yet, true to its monstrous nature, it opened its eyes with stubborn vitality.

But I had no intention of stopping there.

[Charge]

The second spell followed as naturally as a breath.

A yellow aura rose around my body.

An amplification spell that pushed the next Lightning spell's power beyond its limit.

The lingering traces of the current I had fired before resonated with my mana and trembled.

The entire lake had already become a massive trap of electricity.