WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

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◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 80: Victory, the Weakest One's Courage

──────

The thunder that had shaken heaven and earth died down, leaving behind the acrid stench of burnt flesh and clouds of dust.

Crackle, crackle.

A massive lump of flesh burned, flames rising from it.

The Watcher had been roasted dry and was giving off smoke.

Cough, cough.

Ignoring the ringing in my ears and the nausea twisting my stomach, I coughed.

Was everyone... all right?

Blinking through blurred vision, I looked around.

...

Gimlius, Hans, Elena, and Daisy.

The parties of Ulric the barbarian and Kadega the dark mage.

Everyone except me, the caster, had collapsed unconscious.

Seeing that, I clenched my teeth.

'I didn't want to use this method for this exact reason...'

The Lightning strike had been that massive.

It was a natural disaster I had created using three spells and the environment.

'They weren't struck directly like the Watcher, but...'

They had all suffered from the aftershock.

I didn't know whether they were dead or unconscious.

At the very least, I prayed that my companions, especially Elena and Daisy, were alive.

'First, before the monsters gather, I need to use potions...'

Just as I hurriedly pulled potions from my backpack to treat everyone,

Krrrriiik...

The fallen Watcher twitched.

Most of the tentacles that had hung around it like a lion's mane had burned away, and its eyes had burst and shattered, but it was still alive.

Its rage-filled eyes glared at me.

"You crazy bastard..."

I let out a groan.

I thought that much would have sent it back even if it didn't kill it, but it had endured to the end.

'The damage should've been enough?'

Then I realized something.

That bastard was refusing to be sent back through sheer force of will.

'It's pissed off, is that it?'

'It's saying it can't retreat like this?'

Not until it died?

What a goddamn real-world variable!

Flames rose in the Watcher's bloodied eyes as it stared at me.

The Light of Destruction it used was far weaker than before, but it was still enough to finish off my dying companions and me.

'The dice's effect has ended too.'

'Even if I cast a spell, it'll use Magic Nullification again.'

What should I do?

As I gritted my teeth and thought, one of my fallen companions rose.

"Elena...?"

It was Elena.

But she wasn't in her right mind.

Her green eyes, usually filled with mischief, gleamed red, and a crimson aura swirled around her.

Grrr...

As Elena reached the brink of death, the Bracelet of Wrath's Berserk mode activated.

"Raaaaaah!"

Out of her mind, Elena charged at the hostile Watcher before her.

The Star Watcher fired a destructive beam at Elena.

But Elena, now a berserker, dodged it with the movements of a beast.

Crunch!

Then she buried her axe and sword in its body.

A bloody battle began between a dying monster and an elf burning away her life.

Screeeech!

Amid cries of pain and rage, Elena hacked at the Watcher while it lashed at her with its few remaining tentacles.

Crack!

Each sickening snap of bone left Elena's limbs hanging loose, blood spraying from all over her body.

"Elena!"

I threw a potion at her.

The glass bottle shattered with a crash, and Elena's wounds bubbled as they regenerated.

Unable to stand on my weakened legs, I raised only my staff and supported Elena with covering fire.

Squeeeal!

I dealt with the other monsters rushing toward us.

Rooooar!

────────!

The battle between the berserker and the Floor Master continued for some time.

Then, had she finally reached her limit?

"Ghh..."

Elena lost consciousness and collapsed.

The Watcher, glaring at her as if it were sick of her, coughed up blood. Then it crawled toward Elena and opened its maw wide, baring its sharp teeth.

"Ghk..."

Just one hit...

One more hit was all I needed.

I rose and kicked off the ground toward the Watcher.

There was another way to neutralize its Magic Nullification.

It was...

'Make it explode from the inside.'

[White Parchment]

Using the last parchment Iromis had given me, I inscribed a spell.

I thrust my hand into its mouth and cast my final spell.

It was...

[Chain Lightning]

Crackcrackcrack!

A powerful current exploded.

"Raaaaaah!"

The electricity bursting inside its mouth made my whole body convulse wildly, and my right hand felt as though it would burn away.

But...

...!

The strike I unleashed was enough to shatter the vessel holding the Watcher's remaining life.

Its huge eyes flew open as its whole body trembled. Then it turned into starlight and vanished.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

I let out ragged breaths, my burnt right hand hanging at my side, then collapsed.

Watching the starlight drift around me, I laughed.

"Haha, hahahaha..."

We won.

We had forced that mighty Floor Master to return.

We did it!!!

"Haha! Ahahahahahaha!"

We won!

Still giggling, I looked around.

'I need to... treat everyone... urgh.'

But I didn't have the strength to move even a finger.

Then I saw the bushes rustle and opened my eyes wide.

Squeal.

A badly wounded Aberrant Pig emerged from the undergrowth.

The problem was...

"Elena! Daisy! Kadega! Ulric!"

My companions were still down, and I had no spells left.

Did it realize that?

It sniffed the air, then staggered toward me.

Squeal, squeal, squeal.

It smiled far too cunningly for a monster, baring teeth and claws stained with bright red blood.

"E-Elizabeth? Be good, okay?"

Screeeal!

Fuck, what are the other bastards at the base doing!?

Whirrr.

[Heads/Tails]

The coin that foretold my fate appeared.

'Heads!'

[Heads]

[Success]

The coin succeeded.

But the Aberrant Pig was still fine.

Fuck, what is this!?

Step. Step.

Its breath came closer and closer.

Even then, the surroundings stayed quiet. At last, it reached me and opened its maw wide, baring its sharp teeth.

Screeeal!

'Am I really going to die like this?'

After killing a Floor Master, to a thing like this?

Me?

At that desperate moment,

"────an! Elena! Daisy!"

A voice rang out from somewhere.

The familiar voice trembled strangely at the end.

Then a small-looking Expedition Party member emerged from the forest and charged at the monster pig.

"G-Get away! You monster! Aaaaaah!"

Both hands and limbs trembling.

A sword swung with pitiful force.

But that strike saved my life and my friends' lives.

Huh?

You are...?

* * *

A man searching the Expedition Party Guild for work again stopped in his tracks.

"Hah, I was wondering where you'd gone. You've been doing this behind our backs?"

"You'll die doing this."

Before him, a blond elf clicked her tongue and looked at him as if he were pathetic.

The man tried to make excuses, but the elf told him the Labyrinth was dangerous, that someone as weak as him wouldn't survive there, and that he should stop doing such stupid things.

...

She was right, so he kept his mouth shut.

He had thought he was doing pretty well, but they had already gone far ahead of him again.

"We're going to the third floor."

Unlike him, who was still struggling even though they had entered the Labyrinth at around the same time.

...

The man recalled that day.

"Get a grip, Dize!!!"

"Y-Yes!"

Startled by Greg, the party leader, Dize gripped his shield tightly.

Bang!

"Urgh!"

As Dize staggered, fishfolk spears flew toward him.

"Now! Get them!"

Dize had spent several months on the first floor, but he had been lucky enough to find a good party.

The shares were still poor, but he had entered the second floor with the party members he had grown familiar with.

"Bleegh!"

"Haha! You're really such a weakling!"

A female warrior laughed as she patted Dize's back while he vomited from the stench of the Salt Cave.

She took especially good care of him because he reminded her of her dead younger brother.

"D-Don't tease me, Rina!"

"Then get stronger if you don't like it."

"...Ugh."

They cautiously made their way through the Salt Cave, continuing their first exploration.

"A portal!"

"This was the second area, so it must be a return portal!"

During the exploration, the party found two portals.

One was a return portal, while the other was a red portal leading to the next floor.

Greg, the experienced party leader, looked at the portal leading to the third floor and spoke with an uneasy expression.

"Something must have happened."

"What?"

"The portal is unstable. Something must've happened on the third floor."

"...!"

Dize looked startled and asked,

"G-Greg, is it very dangerous?"

"What? The third floor?"

"Y-Yes."

"Of course it's fucking dangerous. Guys like us would die the moment we went in. Besides, it doesn't seem like the Contraction Period based on the date, which makes it worse. Variables in the Labyrinth are never welcome, and they always create victims."

"..."

Dize's face paled as he stared at the unusually unstable red portal.

Hadn't Elena, Ian, and Daisy said they were going to the third floor this time?

His friends might be in danger.

'So what can you do?'

Even so, there was nothing Dize could do.

The third floor was vast.

Even if he went there, finding the three of them would be virtually impossible.

Just as Elena had said, he had only just reached the second floor. He was still struggling on the lower floors, and he wouldn't be able to help at all.

He would only die for nothing.

"..."

Yes, reason clearly screamed that at him.

His instincts warned him that he was scared to death and should stay buried away like always.

But...

'I don't want to be left alone again.'

He couldn't do nothing when his friends might be in danger.

The thought of living with guilt and loneliness for the rest of his life was even more frightening.

Having made his decision, Dize rose and clenched his fist.

"Greg."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry!"

The return portal was right before them, so Greg's party would be fine without him.

Dize set down his bag of spoils and bowed deeply to Greg and the others.

"What?"

Leaving the confused party behind, Dize stepped toward the portal.

"Aaaaaah!"

"Dize!?"

"Where are you going all of a sudden!? That's the third-floor portal!!!"

Into the third-floor portal.

"Aaaaaah!"

The gaze of some enormous being followed Dize as he gathered his courage.

Whirrr.

A coin appeared before Dize's eyes.

Then his vision abruptly changed, revealing the third floor.

"Eek!"

Monster corpses filled the area. Trees had been smashed apart, and people lay everywhere.

Amid that chaos, Dize saw Ian, Elena, and Daisy, all in terrible condition.

"Guys?"

What an incredible coincidence.

Of all places in this vast area, he had appeared right in front of his friends?

But Dize had no time to think about that.

'You... bastard...!'

The sight of his grievously injured friends filled Dize with rage and courage.

"Raaaaaah!"

Dize charged forward and drove his sword into the monster pig.

Stab!

Screeeal!

The noble courage shown by the weakest one.

It changed the fate of countless people there.

[The Star Watcher, master of the third floor, has been exiled to the Otherworld!]

[Ian's party has won!]

[A treasure chest has appeared!]

Footnotes:

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