WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 162

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162.

I saw Ugo glaring at me as he let his magical power flow. That secretive power groped in every direction and spread in an instant. He was clearly trying to find where the mark carved into his body had come from.

Of course, he would not find it. I quietly folded my arms and met his gaze. A moment later, Ugo withdrew all his magical power and clicked his tongue.

I let out a small laugh at him. Maybe what he had done to me before had left a strong impression, because seeing that flustered look made me feel a little pleased.

I lightly shrugged. Then I jerked my chin at the hazy afterimage of magical power covering his body. A clear light was shining through that haze.

That was the mark we had carved. Ugo had tried to erase it, but it stubbornly held in place and refused to disappear. Watching it, I nodded.

“How is it, the trap we prepared? Since you can’t hide perfectly like before, it seems things aren’t going the way you expected.”

Ugo frowned slightly. I smiled brightly at him. All the effort we had put into this trap had paid off.

I glanced at Biogan. He was lightly shaking out his hand. The magic circle that had been floating above it lost its magical power at his touch and scattered.

The mirror at the center of the magic circle was also full of cracks. Those cracks spread, and soon the mirror shattered into pieces. It had used up all its charges.

We had really gotten everything we could out of it, right to the very end. Biogan nodded at me. It seemed the signal that Ugo had appeared had been delivered properly.

That must have been why the magic surrounding the area had worked so well. The mark carved into Ugo’s body came from the magical power wrapped around this area. The function of this magic was very simple.

I glanced around. I could see bright lights flickering like dots on the others’ bodies too. Like this, the magic was carving marks into every living being within the magic circle.

It was a simple tracking magic that did not require much power to set up, or any especially unusual materials.

That was why Ugo had quickly noticed its structure and tried to find the magic circle. If he cut off the magic circle’s circuit, the mark would vanish quickly too. But as things stood, he could not find it.

Of course he could not. This magic circle was far larger than he imagined. I smiled quietly. The magic circle itself was very simple. Because of that, expanding its size was also easy.

In that sense, it was not simply covering the area around us. It had been drawn along the path we had taken while moving toward the center.

I had not drawn it alone either. Miorang, positioned on the opposite side from us, had also been building up circuits while dealing with people. The magic circle the two of us had woven together broadly embraced this place.

Though I had not expected something like this to happen. I raised my hand slightly and looked at the magical power flowing over it. Like the others, a fixed mark had been carved onto my hand as well, giving off light.

Seeing that, I scratched my head. Right now, I was mixed into an offshoot body. I had not expected this magic to recognize even me as a living being. I supposed that meant my offshoot body had been made that perfectly.

Of course, since the magic was simple, melting away the mark was also easy. All one had to do was thoroughly wrap their entire body in magical power.

But if he did that, stealth like before would become impossible. He could not secretly melt away all that distinctive magical power. In the end, he had been bound inside this place.

This was the magic Miorang and I had created after a great deal of thought. It was very simple, but it was also a snare that was not easy to escape.

I felt Ugo glaring at me. His face no longer held the ease from before. I laughed lightly and looked at the woman puppet beside Ugo.

Ugo was the one who had taken first place in the previous competition. Had they said he had been staying on the fourth floor back then too? By now, he must have reached the far end of that fourth floor.

In that sense, as I had felt firsthand, that puppet was very strong. It was clear that no one in this competition could face that puppet alone.

But that did not mean it could handle all these people alone as easily as Mira could. I looked around. The others were gathering themselves and letting their magical power flow.

If his puppet were strong enough to wipe all of them out in an instant, I would have brought Mira from the start. That would have been a puppet beyond the level of a fourth floor mage.

But his puppet was not quite at that level. Even so, he had always been relaxed. The reason was simple. His magic gave him confidence.

That strange magic still wrapped around his body now. It rippled around Ugo and hid him. I lightly rubbed my chin and nodded.

If I lost focus even for a moment, I felt like I would lose sight of Ugo. Even though a mark had clearly been left on him, his presence was extremely faint. If that mark had not been there, he would certainly have vanished completely.

His magic, as it looked now, was bizarre beyond words. It could not be called magic made of circuits. Should I call it something like a hazy fog? No magical power could be felt from Ugo inside it.

I was fairly confident in stealth too. But when I faced Ugo’s, I felt something like a wall. That was the realm of talent, something that could not be built through effort.

I suspected that was his unique magic. It even made his magical power that secretive and allowed him to stage a kind of “accident.” The memory of being bewitched by it before and nearly dying, no, actually dying, was still vivid.

The same went for what had just happened. The explosion had struck this place in an instant. If not for the warning the tree had given me, I would have been caught by it just like that. Even though I had prepared in advance, I had still taken some damage.

Until he revealed himself as he had now, no one had been able to notice him. And that had probably been the source of his composure. He had always had a way to survive.

In that sense, perhaps Ugo was like me. I lightly stroked my chest. Beyond it, I could feel my main body connected to the tree.

That well-hidden body was quietly asleep. Like this, I was nothing but an offshoot body. So even if I died, I could come back at any time. That was why I had been confident I could win this competition.

Like me, Ugo also trusted his magic. It must have been easy for him to slip out of any situation. He had probably never thought of himself as being in danger.

So I needed to break that method of his first. Just like now. This was a huge trap woven together by using ourselves, and also the people who had surrendered and disappeared.

Just as Ugo had done before, I spread both arms wide. Then I laughed loudly and nodded.

“We are the bait meant to bind you to this place. You said that if we didn’t hand over the pieces, you would take us down, didn’t you? I suppose I should return those words to you. Unless you take all of us down, you won’t be able to leave this place.”

“Ahem, we’ll take those puppets.”

Gunda grinned and infused magical power into his armor. His armor had changed greatly compared to when this competition had first begun. It had swollen to almost twice its size.

He had attached various materials obtained while moving around this place. The other people’s puppets had also changed little by little like that.

It was the result of each of them strengthening their puppets for this. Saving materials and moving on to the next competition was good, but first, getting through the first round of the competition was important too.

Everyone raised their magical power and glared at Ugo. It seemed they had all built up resentment over what happened last time, and even more over this attack. I could feel thick killing intent in the gazes fixed on him.

Seeing us, Ugo wiped his forehead. Then he let out a deep sigh. The mischievous smile from before, and the relaxed air, could no longer be found on his face.

All that remained in him was a single thread of murderous intent. With a frown, he released his stealth magic. From him, along with the thick stench of blood, savage magical power began to flutter.

“Looking at how things are going, it seems you aren’t the only ones here. The ones who activated this magic must be elsewhere. And that is probably... Miorang. Ha, did you leak information on purpose? You and he really are endlessly sly.”

Ugo glared at me. Sly? Where could he find someone as pure as me? Before I could complain about that injustice, he continued.

“Ha, it seems you really do see me as a joke. Newcomers who only recently joined the association gathered together and declared they would stop me? Did you think this much would be enough? I’ll quickly take care of you here and show you that you were wrong.”

Ugo’s face twisted like a demon’s. Then the corpse puppets beside him shot forward. Those puppets were full of the thick stench of blood and killing intent. At that killing intent, the half-destroyed barrier collapsed completely.

As Ugo had said, Miorang was not here. So from his perspective, all he had to do was deal with us. If we let him escape from here, he would surely never fall into our trap again.

So I would never let him go. Facing the puppets, I stirred my magical power. Stalling with conversation ended here. The prey had stepped into the trap, so it had to be hunted. Now, only strength would prove the result.

The first to move was Gunda. He shot toward the charging corpse puppets. The reason the corpse puppets were rushing in was obvious. They were trying to trigger an explosion at close range.

Gunda stepped forward toward them as if sacrificing himself. It was a rough movement with no thought for what came after. The magical power flowing through his armor sharpened and aided his movements.

Gunda brought both hands together and swung them at the corpse puppets like a single hammer. At that, the corpse puppets briefly stopped and spewed out magical power. It formed the shape of a wall and blocked Gunda’s hands.

“Haha, why don’t you try exploding again!”

Gunda burst out laughing and kept swinging his arms. The puppets only filled the area with more walls of magical power. His attacks did not land as effective hits, but the effect was clear. He had blocked the puppets’ movements.

Perhaps they had given up on the self-destruct attack, because the puppets began weaving magical power and creating several spells. Those spells shot straight toward Gunda, who was striking the walls.

But Gunda paid no attention to those spells. He only poured more strength into smashing the walls apart.

Before those spells could slam into his body, a streak of sword light flashed past. Biogan stood behind Gunda with his sword raised. From some distance away, sharp magical power dwelled in his sword.

There was no tool better suited to cutting magic than a swordsman’s sword. Of course, he was someone who could not even be called a fake sword-user, but he was still very practiced at imitating that sword.

The corpse puppets continued spewing magic while facing them, but they were repeatedly blocked. In the end, they tried a different method. They began controlling the puppets they had used while alive.

But the others stepped in to stop those puppets. They restricted their movements and fought wildly to keep the puppets from reaching Gunda and Biogan.

Looking at the complicated situation unfolding around me, I laughed lightly. The corpse puppets would not be able to cause that explosion. If they exploded now, we only had to step back.

To keep Ugo from escaping, we needed to control the corpse puppets’ movements. That was why we had prepared for everything so carefully.

Ugo saw the situation and frowned. Then he scattered a large amount of magical power. It secretly seeped into the ground and flowed toward the others.

At the same time, the woman puppet remaining beside him also drew a magic circle. The magic built within the red glow became lightning and fell toward the others.

My puppet shot quickly toward that magic. It split the lightning apart. Watching the magic scatter back into magical power, I nodded slightly.

The puppet that had been caught in the explosion was already back in perfect condition. Just as Biogan imitated a sword-user, my puppet could imitate Cassian, a swordsman. That meant it was very effective against mages.

I stepped forward and let out a bit of magical power. Within it, I revealed the domain held by my shadow tree. It spread out like a tree and wrapped around the surroundings.

At the same time, secretly hidden magical power revealed itself. Seeing that, I narrowed my eyes. Then I quickly cut it off. It had clearly been targeting the others.

At my movement, Ugo glared at me. I lightly bowed my head at him. If it were simply dealing with corpse puppets, my puppet would be the best option. Since it regenerated anyway, it only had to ignore the explosions.

But it was obvious that it would not be easy for the others to deal with Ugo. The magical power he scattered, as just now, was far too secretive.

If one of us were caught by it and suffered an “accident” like I had before, this trap we had gone to the trouble of creating might be shaken. So I needed to take charge of him.

As someone who had already been controlled by that magical power once, I could understand at least a little of how it moved. Besides, because it was secretive, it was extremely faint. If I eroded the surroundings with my magical power, it had no choice but to reveal itself like this.

“Shouldn’t you be playing with me, Ugo? I think I need to get some payback for last time.”

Ugo ground his teeth and his eyes flashed. Even beyond those narrow eyes, the killing intent I felt was extremely sharp. It seemed he intended to kill me again.

Facing him, I showed a relaxed smile. This time would be different from before. While facing him, the only thing I had to do was endure without dying.

It was the complete opposite of last time. Back then, I had to run away, but now he was the one who had to run. The more time passed, the more advantageous it became for me.

Ugo clicked his tongue and looked at the woman puppet. Then the puppet began spitting out magical power. Red magical power flowing from her fingertips burned and carved circuits into the air.

It took the shape of a magic circle in an instant and began rippling with lightning. The charged lightning inside it fell straight toward me.

I gestured to my puppet. Sensing my will, it kicked off the ground and rose. Then it gently received that lightning with the tip of its sword.

The lightning collided with the sword and spat out intense light. But it could not overcome that sharp magical power. It was split in half.

The sword raised by my puppet rippled with savage magical power. It quietly raised the sword toward the woman puppet. Then it shot forward.

The woman puppet quickly built magic and flashed with lightning. Then it began blocking my puppet’s charge. My puppet paid no attention to that magic and simply advanced.

After cutting through magic again and again, it reached right in front of that puppet. Then it swung its sword straight down. But before the sword’s magical power could flow, the woman puppet quickly pulled her body back.

Seeing that, I clicked my tongue lightly. Same as last time, it seemed the depth was lacking this time too. In the end, imitating a swordsman was only an imitation. It lacked the will to advance.

The magic drawn by the woman puppet struck my puppet directly. Within the flow of lightning, it collapsed. Burned black, it fell to the ground.

But that was only for a moment. It returned to its original form, that silver liquid, and began wriggling little by little. Soon, it borrowed Cassian’s form again and stood up.

“They say puppets resemble their masters. Surviving so stubbornly even after being killed, you’re exactly like a cockroach.”

Ugo made a disgusted face. Then he raised his hand and let magical power flow. It formed circuits. Then it connected to the woman puppet’s magic circle and drew a huge magic circle.

Facing the magic circle rippling with the stench of blood, I took a deep breath. Then I calmly stretched my magical power toward it.

I handled my magical power delicately. It stretched out like thread and seeped into the gaps of the magic circle he had created. As it did, his magic circle began twisting little by little inside my magical power.

Ugo must have sensed my magical power, because he frowned and quickly knocked it away. The time I could touch it was only an instant. But that was enough.

My puppet, having regenerated enough, shot forward quickly. Then it cut apart the magic circle Ugo was creating. In exchange, it was struck by lightning several more times, but that damage also regenerated quickly.

I let out a slight laugh. Since Ugo was at the end of the fourth floor, his magical power was extremely strong. But this competition arena had a limit on how much magical power could be used. So I could interfere with it a little too.

If I created even a partial opening like this, my puppet could cut it. I could not keep running away forever. In that sense, now was my chance to build confidence.

My puppet had failed to cut that woman puppet, but that was only two failures. If it could not break through after one or two tries, I only had to repeat it until it did. Was that not why I had made this puppet?

I glanced to the side. The others were also dealing with the corpse puppets while being careful of explosions. Their orderly movements were extremely clean.

Connected organically, they were properly carrying out their respective roles. And within those movements, the magical power of the corpse puppets continued to be consumed. I smiled slightly and shrugged.

“You really shouldn’t be spending time like this. We only need to hold out like we are now.”

A puppet was usually moved by its puppeteer’s magical power. There were few puppets that had magical power of their own. Unless it was a special case like me, one needed high-quality materials to make such puppets.

Of course, thanks to using mages as material, those corpse puppets also held the magical power their trees had possessed while alive. But that was nothing more than a consumable that would not refill. At this rate, they would clearly become unable to produce explosions too.

I gently stepped on the ground. I felt the secretive magical power Ugo had unconsciously released climb my ankle, then get cut off. He still had not given up? Seeing him click his tongue, I gave my puppet a look.

It kicked off the ground and charged in. It had only one target. The woman puppet Ugo had supposedly made from his master.

I quietly looked at that face. She was a striking woman, with hair and eyes the same color as that red magical power. Her features would originally have been very beautiful, but the expression stained with despair and betrayal ruined everything.

As someone who pursued beautiful puppets, I needed to put that body at ease. My puppet swung its sword straight at the woman puppet. Of course, it was blocked by the magic she drew in an instant and bounced back again.

I glanced at Ugo and drew a calm smile on my lips. His face was heavily crumpled. As if revealing his impatience, the woman puppet was also exposing even stronger magical power.

My puppet held its sword and calmly moved its feet. Then, as if digging into an opening, it shot forward again. The woman puppet also drew a magic circle and rushed toward it.

The magical power surging from her fingertips was extremely rough. That unstable, rippling magical power was all the more powerful for it. The huge lightning created by that power pierced straight through my puppet.

It tried to block it, but even the sword was pierced by lightning. It collapsed. Then, in an instant, it regained its form and stood up again.

Holding the sword again, it continued charging despite its previous failure. It collapsed and regenerated, over and over. The difference between it and that puppet was clearly showing.

Its sword could not even graze the hem of the woman puppet’s clothes. Even so, it was enough to restrain her movements to a certain degree. She could not leave that place carelessly and could only counter its attacks.

Amid the fight between those puppets, I also focused my mind. I interfered with the magic circles Ugo drew and cut off the magical power he secretly released. Even so, I did not lose my composure and kept watching Ugo.

I was one step removed from this battle. Unlike Ugo, who was constantly supplying magical power to his puppet, my puppet was recovering on its own.

The atmosphere around us was also changing before I knew it. As I found my composure, Ugo was beginning to feel impatience and unease. I could sense that nervousness from him.

He was clearly flustered because he could not get past us as easily as he had expected. Watching each unstable movement of my opponent, I narrowed my eyes. Now then, how would he move?

Of course, as time passed, he had a higher chance of winning. I glanced at the others. The magical power I sensed from them had also decreased a little.

There was nothing to be done, since both his accumulated magical power and his realm were higher. But time was on our side. Miorang was coming toward this place.

In that sense, there was nothing advantageous for him right now. So he was sure to use any means possible to overcome this situation. For a mage, carrying around three hidden moves was simply normal.

That moment came not long after. Ugo let out a sigh and gestured. Then the woman puppet quickly retreated to his side and built a magical power wall.

“Ha, how fun. You said you would face me, and now I see why you were so confident. The way you keep wriggling and regenerating really is no different from a cockroach. In that case, I suppose I’ll have to accept a little sacrifice too....”

Ugo looked straight at the woman puppet. Then he raised his hand and thrust it toward her chest. I could see the thing held in his grip seep straight into that chest.

“Master, please wake up after so long. Your disciple is in danger.”

The woman puppet violently spewed magical power. Within that magical power, I saw the woman’s face gradually change. The face that had been twisted in pain slowly began to hold a bright smile.

I sent my will to my puppet. It raised its sword and swung it down at her. The sword cut through the wall and flowed in, then fell toward the woman puppet’s body. But it was blocked by the magical power Ugo created.

The woman puppet slowly opened her eyes. That peaceful face was more beautiful than I had imagined. But I had no choice but to click my tongue as I met those eyes.

Because beyond those clouded eyes, I could feel the presence of a suffering soul. He had said he had contained his master fully, and it seemed he had somehow collected that soul as well. The thing Ugo had just inserted was clearly that soul.

The soul forcibly trapped inside the puppet was pouring out terrible despair at its changed state. And within that despair, the soul was burning too. Along with that, the magical power held by the puppet began to amplify.

It was a method of gaining more power by burning that soul. The puppet opened her mouth. Then she let out a scream. That cry quickly spread through the surroundings.

High-purity magical power gained by burning a soul, and beyond that, a terrible scream created by mixing in that soul’s despair, swept past everything before her.

It was a kind of act that made latent power explode. The method of creating it through a puppet could be called very rare. The problem was that it was aimed at us.

That soul’s scream first headed toward my puppet, which stood in front of her. It was like a death cry that affected all living things. My puppet could not endure it and quickly collapsed.

And it could not recover easily. At that, I frowned slightly. My puppet was like a gathering of small soul fragments. So that soul’s scream must have worked more fatally on it.

It was an unexpected weakness. The woman puppet seemed to notice that too, because she poured an even stronger scream at it. The scream that completely neutralized my puppet spread beyond it and toward the surroundings.

The posture of the others who heard it crumbled. Of course, they came to their senses quickly, but an opening had been created. Along with that, a great deal of ominous presence began to fill the area.

It was the same feeling as when a corpse puppet had exploded before. The others must have felt it too, because their faces hardened. Gunda moved quickly and struck the corpse puppets. But they only built up magical power and blocked his attacks.

“It’s not these ones!”

Gunda shouted. Then he quickly tried to pull back. But before he could leave that spot, a corpse puppet exploded. The explosion rose from the floor.

Another corpse puppet had been hidden there. The explosion sent the others flying. Of course, they had heard the warning and prepared in advance, but none of them could fully endure the impact.

“Didn’t I say this? I tried to use two bodies, but only used one. One body was still in the ground. Good thing I hid it ahead of time.”

Ugo looked around with a slight smile. There were not many people who remained fine within that explosion. An opening Ugo could move through had been created.

At that, my expression stiffened. It was our mistake to assume he only had three corpse puppets. To think he had hidden one more.

“Now then, the situation has changed again. I’ll send the others off, and I’ll get rid of you too. I’ll make sure to find your main body and kill it too, so look forward to that. You made me burn Master’s soul, after all.”

Ugo’s sharp eyes flashed, and he licked his lips as he looked at me. The killing intent dwelling in that chilling face poured toward me in full. Mm, seeing him so venomous, it seemed I had provoked him too much.

Was that a little excessive? Thinking that, I scratched my head. The situation had become quite bad. I did think he would be hiding something, but I had not expected this much. I had not expected us to be hit this hard.

I looked at the woman puppet. Perhaps he had removed the soul again, because she had returned to a despairing face. That woman puppet shot lightning straight toward me.

My puppet, again in Cassian’s form, staggered as it blocked the path. It melted down. At the same time, one corpse puppet that had regained its freedom charged toward me.

I could feel magical power rippling heavily from its body. It was clearly trying to dig into our center and explode. Well, I might lose another life here. Did he still have no intention of moving?

The moment I sighed like that, a flashing suit of armor rushed past my side. Then it clenched its fist and struck the corpse puppet that was about to explode.

Together with the magical power inside it, the fist drove straight into the puppet’s body. Then it destroyed the puppet’s core, the wood at its center. Along with that, the magical power rippling through its body slowly began to fade.

The armor stopped between Ugo and me. After lightly shaking off the corpse puppet held in its hand, the armor raised its faceplate.

Inside was a familiar face. It was Miorang. Looking at me, he slightly shook his head.

“Oh dear, I was a little late. It seems I stayed too far away to avoid drawing Ugo’s suspicion.”

With a refreshing smile, he raised his thumb. Behind him, the others also appeared. Those wearing armor were revealing strong magical power.

It seemed they were all part of his group. After confirming that, I let out a bitter laugh. A little late? He was very late. Even more than I had expected.

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