WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

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◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 90: Battle at the Ominous Mansion

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A plush, lavish bedroom beyond compare with the cramped, foul-smelling inns we usually stayed in.

We had each been given a room in the noble mansion of our dreams, but we decided to sleep together in one room.

With every lamp brightly lit and someone standing watch, no less.

"To think we have to do this even inside a room, not the Labyrinth... This place truly is a demon den... We might not even survive the night... Even if the Secret Society doesn't come for us..."

Gimlius, who had taken the first watch, trembled as he searched for alcohol.

"Do you know how terrifying dark elf assassins are? Their true strength comes out in darkness like this..."

"But what choice do we have? It's still better than dealing with the Expedition Party members from the Deep Floors."

Elena spoke as she tended to her sword.

Daisy had been reading her scripture when she asked me a question.

"Hey, Ian. What are we going to do after this? We can't stay here forever."

"Mm..."

We had hidden ourselves to deal with the immediate danger, but we couldn't live as guests forever.

Of course, I was a genius mage, so I had prepared several plans.

'First, stall for time and use the Golden Lion Clan.'

They had greater strength and influence than low-floor Expedition Party members like us. Whether it was the Expedition Party Guild or the City Administration, they would have more say and could use all sorts of means to pressure the Secret Society.

"But what if the Golden Lions keep their mouths shut? You said Dmitri was a respected hero. And every member of the Secret Society is a terrifying monster. Things have gotten too big for them to step in just to avenge a few dead clan members."

Was it because she was in dark elf mode?

"Mm!?"

"Elena, you've gotten smarter..."

Even Gimlius was impressed by how much Elena's intelligence had improved.

"You don't think I only prepared one way out, do you?"

Naturally, I had a second plan prepared for a situation like this.

It was...

"If the Secret Society isn't a tightly united organization, couldn't this incident cause internal conflict among them?"

Daisy clapped her hands, realizing what I had been thinking.

"Right! That guy showed us his face and failed to kill us! From the organization's perspective, he'd be a thorn in their side!"

It seemed studying at the temple had taught her how to read the political situation too.

"Exactly, Daisy."

I snapped my fingers and praised her.

Honestly, I thought this was the most likely option too.

"Hehe."

"Tch. You're showing off something even a child could think of."

Elena, whose personality had gotten worse after becoming a dark elf, scoffed.

"I hope Hans is safe..."

"He'll be fine. He's a strong guy."

In any case, we needed to recover our strength before fighting them, so we decided to sleep first.

I lay there with my eyes closed while Elena and Daisy snored behind me. When I got up, Gimlius, who was standing guard, asked me a question.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to meet the owner of this house."

"That terrifying dark elf? Are you sure you don't want Elena to come with you?"

"Her room is right next door, so it'll be fine."

Of course, I kept Arcane Barrier ready just in case...

I opened the door and carefully checked every direction as I crossed part of the hallway before knocking on Darnen's door.

Knock, knock.

"Are you awake? It's Ian."

The door opened.

"Eek!"

I jumped.

Purple eyes glinted viciously beneath the lamp illuminating the darkness.

"..."

Had Darnen thought assassins might have disguised themselves?

After confirming it was me, Darnen put away the sword she had been holding and asked,

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you something..."

Then I was surprised again.

No, fuck.

Why was she topless again?

"Come in."

Darnen casually let me into the room, shut the door, and finished changing.

A tight black sleeveless shirt covered her enormous chest.

"So, what did you want to ask?"

I asked the rare dark elf who possessed both culture and knowledge and could actually be reasoned with.

"Do you know about the forgotten Eighth King?"

The being said to be the king of the dark elves.

Someone who might hold the key to the Labyrinth's secrets.

'There won't be another chance to ask!'

Was it truly no ordinary subject?

Darnen, who was always calm, narrowed her eyes and asked,

"...Where did you hear that?"

"I saw it in a book I found in the library by chance. It insulted the Five Kings and claimed that the truth we'd believed in was actually a lie."

"Are you interested in forbidden books? It wouldn't be good if humans found out..."

Of course, I didn't want to know that badly either.

If I were branded a subversive thinker and caught by the City Administration, I'd end up in prison or at the execution grounds.

Still, the Secret Society members we were entangled with were connected to this, so I had no choice.

Perhaps even my ultimate goal, returning home, depended on it.

Fortunately, Darnen answered me.

"The Eighth King exists. At least, that is what we believe. The revelation left behind moves the elders, and the heads of every family and their dark elf subordinates all believe and follow those words."

"Then was stealing the elves' World Tree seed because of that revelation?"

"Yes."

"What exactly do those words mean?"

"I can't tell you that much unless you become a dark elf."

Ah.

I was so close...

I'd never resented my fucking human race this much before!

'Still, I've learned that the Eighth King exists, and that the dark elves follow that one's faith along with Nox, the god of darkness.'

"I see. Thanks for telling me."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah."

It was late, so I was about to return to my room.

Yet as I grabbed the doorknob, I suddenly turned back to look at Darnen.

"What is it?"

"Um, can I sleep with you?"

"...?"

It wasn't for any lewd reason.

I was scared of the Secret Society.

The safest place in this mansion was beside her.

Darnen looked flustered, but like the kind dark elf she was, she nodded.

"You have a childish side. Fine."

Mommy!

"Wait."

At that moment, Darnen suddenly stretched out an arm and stopped me.

Why? Was she going to refuse now?

How petty.

But Darnen's eyes had turned grim as she stared toward the window.

"Prepare yourself, Mage Ian."

"Huh?"

"Intruders."

At once, every lamp in the room went out.

Without hesitation, I activated Light.

Creeeak. Creak.

The window, which had clearly been shut tight, was now open, letting in a cold wind. Three intruders stood on the terrace.

All of them had their faces hidden behind masks, but a few details stood out.

One with a tail was a beastman, another was a dark elf, and the last appeared to be a human holding a scripture.

Their threatening auras made it obvious.

'The Secret Society!'

It was them.

Still, they didn't have the oppressive presence of the dragonkin Dmitri from before, so they were probably underlings.

"There's no use calling the guards. We've already cast a silencing spell around this area."

They were no ordinary people if they had managed to infiltrate through such tight security.

Fuck.

They finally came for us.

'It's sorcery, not a spell!'

They had slipped in a small deception.

As a genius mage and veteran player, I could tell.

Thanks to their trick, the area had become eerily silent, without even the sound of insects.

"Our target is that mage. Hand him over, and we will leave without causing any harm."

They stared at me with gloomy eyes before speaking to Darnen.

Yet the vicious dark elf moved me.

"I refuse. A kind dark elf does not sell out a friend."

"A friend? A dark elf?"

...

Their confusion lasted only a moment. They exchanged glances, then charged at us without another word.

Used to this kind of ambush, Darnen quickly pulled out a catalyst from her bag, chanted, and summoned a wall of bone.

Awooooo!

The beastman grew to over three meters tall and transformed into a lion, then charged forward after smashing through the Bone Wall Darnen had summoned.

The one holding the scripture began to chant, while the dark elf vanished into the darkness.

Damn it, one caster and two warrior-or-rogue types?

For a dark mage and a mage, this was the worst possible matchup.

'They'll counter our spells with their own.'

'Then the rogue type will move in and go for our throats!'

As if that wasn't enough, Darnen began preparing another chant and said,

"There are four, not three."

'What? Four? Then don't tell me...'

A coin spun through the air.

[Heads/Tails]

Remembering what Darnen had said and seeing the coin, I hastily created a barrier.

[Arcane Barrier]

Not in front of me, but behind me.

Whoosh!

The air split as a chain silently aimed at my neck struck the force field instead and bounced away.

"Tch."

A halfling appeared out of thin air as if being drawn into existence, clicking their tongue.

'Invisibility!'

One more had been hiding and waiting for an opening!

This was the worst.

But if I hesitated, I would only get hit.

I immediately changed tactics and reacted quickly.

[Chain Lightning][2] [Arcane Doppelganger][2] [Electric Spark][4] [Arcane Barrier][2]

[Magic Missile][3] [Ice Spike][5] [Mystic Dimensional Gate][2] [Charge][2]

[Rising Water Jet][3] [Faint Light][4]

Recalling the spells I had engraved, I fired lightning in the halfling's direction.

[Chain Lightning]

Crackle!

The zigzagging lightning bounced around the room, snapping its teeth.

Yet no scream came from the halfling, who had turned invisible again.

'They dodged it!'

"Urgh."

Instead, the dark elf who had hidden in the shadows sprang out with a short cry and thrust a blade at me.

Whoosh!

'Ugh!'

At that moment, Darnen was fighting the other two.

Manus

Grotesque tentacles burst from the human Shaman's scripture and collided with Darnen's Dark Spike.

Rooaar!

The lion beastman slipped past her and lunged at me, but the eyes of the dark suit of armor decorating one side of the wall flashed. It drew its sword and blocked the way.

Clang!

Sharp claws collided with a sword filled with the chill of the undead, sending sparks flying.

"A Death Knight!"

It was the Death Knight, Darnen's undead servant.

'I knew she could use it!'

"Ghk!"

The transformed beastman was skilled enough not to be pushed back by the powerful undead Death Knight, but they couldn't overwhelm it either.

"You idiots! I told you to deal with the necromancer first!"

The dark elf assassin cursed his companions and swung his sword.

It was bizarre, lethal swordsmanship, striking like a snake.

"Hup!"

I summoned another barrier and blocked the dark elf's blade.

"Protect Ian!"

The zombies and skeletons Darnen had summoned rushed over.

Instead of chasing the enemy directly with their slow movements, they surrounded me so the enemy's swords couldn't reach me.

"Dirty bitch..."

Whew. That saved me.

Using the time I'd bought, I prepared a spell.

Ordinary methods wouldn't work against formidable enemies, each with distinct techniques at their disposal...

'Tome of Starlight!'

I used the magic item I had obtained before and began fusing spells.

Geh, geh, geh!

The Tome of Starlight licked its lips and swallowed my spell parchments.

It was...

[Arcane Doppelganger] + [Electric Spark] = [Lightning Doppelganger]

The ancient Grimoire shone, and my figure multiplied in an instant like afterimages.

"Cheap tricks!"

Thinking they were ordinary duplicates, the halfling swung their chain, intending to wipe them out alongside the undead blocking their path...

Crackle!

"Aaagh!"

Each one was a deadly conductor carrying the nature of lightning.

The halfling screamed and convulsed.

They were no amateur, though. They quickly steadied themselves and cast Invisibility again, but...

[Rising Water Jet]

Instead of directly striking them with a spell as before, I scattered water over a wide area.

The streams poured down like rain, soaking the carpet and leaving small footprints from the hidden halfling.

There?

[Magic Missile] + [Ice Spike] = [Ice Missile]

A bluish, sharp projectile flashed from my staff.

Whoosh!

Ice Spike normally flew in a straight line.

But by combining the spells like this, I could control a projectile with Ice Spike's properties as freely as Magic Missile.

"A crude spell like this...!"

It looked as if it would fly straight ahead, then curved to the side and came back for their neck.

Crunch!

"Ghk... What... is thi..."

Their eyes bulged from the shock as blood spurted out in thick bursts.

When I curled my finger, the halfling rogue who had tried to block it with the small shield on their wrist trembled with an Ice Spike lodged in their neck, then collapsed.

'Too slow.'

"...!"

"You useless idiot!"

I could feel their terrified gazes, wondering what kind of spell that was.

Before I could enjoy my victory, a light flashed in the darkness.

[Heads/Tails]

A coin spun in front of my eyes.

'Heads.'

[Tails]

'Fuck.'

At that critical moment, the coin failed, and a dagger plunged into my hand.

It must have been coated in poison. My palm tingled, interrupting my chant.

"Ugh..."

"Die."

As I staggered, the masked dark elf assassin kicked aside the corpses, lightly leaped over them, and thrust his sword at me like lightning.

'Damn it.'

He was aiming precisely for my unprotected neck.

It was an attack I couldn't possibly dodge, enough to make me think I was going to die.

But I opened my eyes wide.

Clang!

Darnen had sent the Death Knight over to block the assassin's sword.

"What the hell are these useless worms doing!"

Having lost his prey at the last moment, the dark elf assassin let out a sinister, beautiful voice.

He shouted at the remaining two, but his eyes soon widened behind the mask.

Rumble!

An earthquake shook the room.

The next moment, the floor exploded apart, and a gigantic, murky green hand reached out from beneath it.

"W-What!?"

"Aaaagh!"

It seized the enemy Shaman and beastman.

Crunch!

The hand closed, crushing them with a sickening sound.

Ghk!

Their panicked cries and struggles were the last sounds they made.

Fragments of shattered bone and organs, blood and flesh, dripped down like juice.

In the space beneath the broken floor, a headless Ogre writhed.

...

The Ogre corpse I had sold Darnen had become undead and finished them off.

"Now there's only one left."

Darnen had dealt with the Secret Society's underlings without a scratch. Her purple eyes glinted chillingly.

"You crazy bitch... You made another monster like that in less than a day..."

Her overwhelming presence was enough to intimidate even a dark elf who enjoyed battle.

The dark elf assassin hesitated, then burst out a cloud of black smoke and kicked off the ground.

"Tch."

I knew it.

[Faint Light] + [Magic Missile] + [Ice Spike] = [Guided Light Lance]

A frosty projectile bearing destructive light flew through the sticky darkness.

'Ice lets light pass through!'

I fired the fused spell combo into the back of the fleeing assassin, who was escaping Darnen's spell.

Thud!

"...!"

The assassin, who had been about to leap out the window, trembled with wide, disbelieving eyes before collapsing.

An Ice Spike was lodged in the back of his shattered head.

"Whew."

Those insignificant bastards had gotten pretty cocky.

I smiled, brushing my sweat-soaked hair back.

I wasn't the same as I used to be.

Footnotes:

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