WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 163

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I quietly swept my eyes over the area. The first thing I saw was the fog of magical power created when the puppet Ugo had hidden self-destructed. Near it, the people from our group who had been caught in the explosion lay collapsed.

Thankfully, no one seemed badly hurt. That was probably because everyone had prepared for an explosion in advance. But since we had failed to predict that explosion properly, most of them had lost consciousness and fallen.

In that sense, now was the perfect chance to finish them off. But Ugo did not move carelessly. It was probably because one of his corpse puppets had already been taken down.

I looked at the corpse puppet sprawled on the ground. After twitching for a moment, it soon went limp and began leaking the magical power inside it. It had clearly collapsed completely and would no longer be able to move.

That was the result of Miorang dealing with it in an instant. His group faced Ugo while giving off murderous magical power. Miorang looked around after following my gaze, then gave me an apologetic look.

“I can only apologize. I should have come sooner and prevented this.”

“No. If it were not for you, Miorang, we would have been in danger instead. I never expected another corpse puppet to be hiding.”

Miorang dipped his head slightly toward me. Then he clapped his hands together. The magical power lingering between them burst out and cleared away the fog from the explosion in an instant.

“You have all worked hard until now. We will carry on your will, so please step back for a bit. From here on, we will handle Ugo.”

Miorang said that while lowering his face guard. I could feel firm resolve from him. It was less a suggestion and more a kind of notice.

I shrugged at that. I knew very well why he was acting like this. I nodded and took a step back.

“Thank you for your consideration. Then I will keep the other corpse puppets tied down.”

Miorang looked at me, then turned his head. Then he poured out magical power and focused his gaze on Ugo. Like Ugo, he was aiming for the pieces. If he obtained all of Ugo’s pieces, he would probably be able to complete a coin.

In that sense, he was claiming a kind of ownership. The fact that they had only shown themselves now meant they were confident enough to hunt Ugo. Well, if they were offering to take on the trouble, there was no need for me to refuse.

I narrowed my eyes and drew in magical power. I felt the wide-spread domain of my shadow tree seep back into my chest. Inside it was a hazy cluster of wavering stars.

They belonged to my puppet. When I sent my will to it, the thing slowly approached me. Its appearance had turned quite grotesque.

Cassian’s shape rose within the silver liquid, then melted again. The thing was mixing not only Cassian’s face, but many other people’s faces inside it.

I gently stroked it and shook my head. This was the result of it pouring out all of its strength to save me from the woman puppet’s lightning just now. The soul that made up its body had clearly been damaged.

I had never imagined that what Ugo was hiding would neutralize my puppet. To think my puppet was this vulnerable to attacks aimed at the soul. I had not been affected at all.

As I thought that, a small realization brushed through my head. I placed a hand on my chest. That attack had not done much damage to me. It was probably thanks to Professor having trained my soul.

Having my soul burn was nothing to me, after all. I felt grateful toward Professor. Then I looked down at my puppet.

This thing could also be called a piece that had flowed out from my soul. But by taking on a puppet body, the soul fragments that made it up had been newly processed through my unique magic. They had become a kind of Fake Soul.

In that sense, the toughness engraved into my soul had naturally disappeared as well. That must be why it had melted down like this. Following that logic, I was also able to quickly find a way to restore it.

I sent magical power into it. The magical power circulating through the tree inside my chest, and the soul fragments flowing along with it, headed into my puppet. They filled in the cracks and began helping it regenerate.

With my support, it quickly regenerated again. The screams of the soul that had been burning its body were cleanly washed away inside my magical power. Watching that, I nodded.

If anything, it was fortunate that this happened now. Now I only had to prepare for this kind of weakness. Besides, I no longer had to fight Ugo myself.

I glanced at Ugo. He was sending magical power toward Miorang. Burning a soul was a very interesting method, but from his position, it was clearly not something he could use lightly.

Restoring a soul was not easy, after all. Only time could solve that. In that sense, burning the woman’s soul like that was ultimately nothing more than a consumable act with a clear end.

Then I needed to do my own work too. I looked at the corpse puppets slowly moving toward Miorang’s group. Miorang had said he would handle Ugo, so I needed to make sure he could focus on that fight.

My fully recovered puppet quickly ran toward those corpse puppets. Taking Cassian’s shape, it thrust its sword straight at them.

The corpse puppets, which had been swelling their magical power as if they might explode at any moment, hurriedly built up magic when they faced that sword tip. My puppet was knocked away, but it managed to stop the corpse puppets from exploding.

It kicked off the ground again and cut through the magic. Then it shot toward the corpse puppets. They wove the puppets they had controlled while alive together with magical power and blocked its path.

The movements of those puppets were extremely awkward. Their masters were only controlling them according to the habits they had in life. Still, their level was quite high, enough to block my puppet’s movements.

The corpse puppets escaped my puppet’s restraint like that and began building up magical power. They were trying to explode again. But they soon had no choice but to retreat quickly.

The first person to come to his senses had joined my puppet and thrust out a sword.

It was Biogan. He swung the sword in his hand and split apart the corpse puppet’s magical power.

Then my puppet coordinated with Biogan and charged toward them again. Trapped by the movements of those two, the corpse puppets could do nothing but scatter their magical power.

If an explosion like before happened again, another opening might be created. So we had to suppress the corpse puppets like this and stop them from exploding.

Of course, the corpse puppets could accept the sacrifice and explode. The others had not yet rejoined the fight.

But even then, all they could take down would be Biogan and my puppet. If they did not accumulate enough magical power, the explosion would be weak too.

For Ugo, that was practically the key to escaping this situation. It would clearly be a waste to use something like that just to take down two of them. I could even feel that thought from Ugo.

Ugo clicked his tongue as he watched the blocked corpse puppets.

“The teamwork between you two is amazing. Throwing the newcomers in and waiting for a chance like this. You truly are as vile as can be.”

“Haha, if we did not do this, it would be hard to drag Ugo out. We have not forgotten that you attacked our group the day before yesterday either. One person suffered a critical wound and had no choice but to leave the competition.”

Miorang faced Ugo and shrugged. Then he released a bit of killing intent. After overhearing that, I nodded. No wonder. I had thought something felt a little odd.

I glanced at Miorang’s group. Including Miorang, there were five people total. That was one fewer than what I had heard before. It seemed Ugo had attacked them while eavesdropping on the location of my piece.

Then he must have used his stealth to slip away easily. Perhaps because they were wary of him running away like that again, Miorang was calmly searching the surroundings.

He did not seem to have any intention of fighting right away. Time was on our side anyway. The people from our group who had been swept up in the explosion were slowly getting up. So it seemed he planned to keep stalling.

Ugo knew that too, but still could not move recklessly. It was only natural. The situation was already half over. No matter what Ugo did, he clearly could not overcome the strength in numbers created by these two groups joining together.

“And waiting for a chance? I reached this place as quickly as I could too. Thankfully, that let me catch Ugo before he could run away.”

Miorang grinned. Then he crossed his arms and nodded. He looked as confident as could be.

Watching him from the corner of my eye, I let out a bitter smile. He was right. Miorang had arrived at a very appropriate time. I could see the corpse puppet collapsed at his feet.

If that had exploded, we would have fallen apart right there. Then Ugo would have escaped this place very easily. In that sense, Miorang could be called our hero.

I lightly clicked my tongue. Of course, I was sure all of it was a load of lies. Miorang himself definitely knew that it was a lie almost no one would believe.

The life-tracking spell we had designed and created together was enormous. Because of that, handling the amount of magical power it consumed must have been difficult. I could sense that exhaustion from Miorang’s group.

But separate from that magical power, joining up with us would have been easy. Unlike its massive scale, the structure of the spell was extremely simple. All they had to do was leave one or two people behind to keep supplying magical power.

If they had done that, the rest would have reached this place faster. And they could have dealt with Ugo without facing an explosion like this.

But they had arrived here only after finishing very thorough preparations, just like now. I narrowed my eyes and looked at Miorang. The fact that he had prepared this thoroughly meant he did not intend to stop at simply hunting Ugo.

“You over there, you must know what will happen after they finish me off if you stay like this. You are next.”

Ugo said that to me. I smiled lightly at him and lowered my head. Just as he said, Miorang was as vile as could be. Compared to me, he was truly mage-like to an absurd degree.

Our group had suffered heavy damage from the explosion. Miorang had jumped out to exploit that opening. That meant he had been watching for a chance the whole time. He was clearly keeping in mind what would happen after hunting Ugo too.

Who would not know that? Someone who did not look for chances was as good as a fool. In that sense, Miorang was only moving according to the most rational line of thought.

“Well... that might be true. But would that not be a matter for later?”

I also thought rationally, just like Miorang. Even so, would it not be easier to deal with someone like Miorang, who could be reasoned with? In that sense, even if we had to accept this sacrifice, catching Ugo had more value.

The result of that unspoken agreement was the current situation. Well, our damage was a little greater than I had expected. I shrugged and stepped back slightly.

“You damned bastards....”

Ugo ground his teeth. He seemed to have realized that driving a wedge between us would mean nothing. And now there was only one thing he could choose.

I glanced at the woman puppet standing beside him. Its despairing face began to smooth out again, and a smile formed on it. That meant he had begun burning the soul inside it once more.

Miorang looked at the woman puppet and nodded. Then he layered magical power over his armor again and again. Seeing that, Ugo ground his teeth even harder. Then he began secretly scattering magical power.

Feeling that, I took a half step back. They had probably guessed something about Ugo’s stealth too. So there was no need for me to go out of my way to warn them about it.

Of course, if I handled that, dealing with it would become easier. But defeating Ugo too quickly like that would not do either.

I glanced at the people from our group who were slowly raising themselves. They still had not recovered from the shock of the explosion.

We needed to let Ugo rampage as much as possible and buy time for them to recover. Also, if we could draw out as much consumption from Miorang’s group as possible in the process, that would be good too.

If Miorang was thinking about what came after the hunt, should we not do the same? I looked straight at the corpse puppets. In front of Biogan and my puppet’s restraint, they were not moving recklessly.

But as Ugo made up his mind to fight, I could tell their movements had changed as well. They had begun trying to break out of the encirclement even if they had to accept some damage.

The two blocked them as much as they could, but their movements were growing more violent. So I needed to wake the others quickly.

I headed to the center of the earlier explosion. There, a fairly large boulder sat in place. Burned black by the explosion, it looked like a charred lump of charcoal.

“You should get up now. I know you have not fully recovered yet, but I think we need to control those things quickly.”

I placed magical power into my hand and gently tapped the boulder. Then the boulder sensed my magical power and began wriggling. Soon, it slowly split apart and revealed what was inside.

“Ugh, I nearly died. If I had not prepared in advance like you said, that would have been dangerous.”

Inside was Gunda, his entire body wrapped tightly in magical power. He shook himself off and stood up. As he moved, chunks of debris fell away.

Those were things that had been attached to his armor. He had layered on a great deal of materials obtained within this competition and used them to absorb the shock of the explosion.

He looked a little pale, but the magical power coming from him was fairly normal. At the very least, there did not seem to be any issue with him operating magical power. He looked around and nodded.

“As you said, we should block those corpses first. I will move right away. So please gather the others quickly.”

Gunda rose and ran off. Then he swung his fist at the corpse puppets that had been moving little by little. In front of his magical power, the puppets were pushed back again.

Through that gap, my puppet dashed out and half split a corpse puppet’s body. Magical power intertwined and quickly joined the corpse puppet’s body back together, but that only consumed more of its magical power.

After checking their situation, I moved on. As Gunda had asked, I needed to quickly bring the others to their senses too. I pulled out several chunk puppets from my clothes and flicked them.

They exploded and drew magic circles in the air. The magical power flowing roughly inside began to settle down. This was to help everyone stabilize their magical power more easily.

Through that process, everyone quickly came to their senses. There were a few who had been swept up in the explosion and suffered heavy injuries, but the damage was still not large. It was thanks to everyone preparing for the explosion, like Gunda had.

Their puppets were not badly damaged either. They were at least in good enough condition to fight. They repaired their puppets, then joined the corpse puppet hunt again.

I also joined them and slowly adjusted my magical power. Then I glanced toward Ugo and Miorang. This side was stable enough that I did not really need to be here. So I needed to watch that side more carefully.

Over there, magical power and magic were wavering on a level that could not be compared to this place. As if Ugo was going all out, the woman puppet was letting out an intense scream.

Just as before, that scream carried magical power and shook the souls of those nearby. And it did not stop there. The magical power contained inside that scream flowed through the air and drew many magic circles.

The magical power that flowed through those magic circles became lightning and fell toward Miorang’s group. That countless rain of lightning was intensely powerful.

It was on a completely different scale from what my puppet had experienced earlier. That also meant he was burning that much of the woman’s soul.

But Miorang’s group received it very calmly. I could see the circuits engraved on their armor flashing. The magical power flowing through those circuits did not simply move through each person’s armor, but was organically connected between them.

One of them stepped forward and struck away the lightning. The impact shook the armor he wore. Like that, the limit arrived quickly. But when someone reached their limit, another stepped forward and filled the empty spot.

When that person’s magical power ran out, another stepped forward. That repeated process looked very natural. Those who retreated quickly recharged their armor within the magical power connected between them. Then they joined that flow again.

I was a little impressed. Based on the powerful anti-magic resistance dwelling in their armor, they were carrying out a kind of rotation battle. It seemed they planned to slowly whittle Ugo down like that. It was a very stable hunting method.

Of course, Ugo did not just take it. The secret magical power he had scattered flowed along the bodies of those who stepped forward and constantly created a kind of “mistake.” Those hit by it suffered large wounds and retreated.

But that alone could not break the flow. Miorang stepped forward at the right moments and overcame each crisis. He had clearly analyzed Ugo thoroughly.

Ugo’s face, as he faced them, was filled with impatience. Miorang shrugged. He looked completely relaxed.

He continued pressuring Ugo while facing him. But even as he did that, he absolutely did not cross the kind of line Ugo had created. He only kept forcing him to consume more and gnawing away at him.

“You and him both. You just love pissing me off...!”

Unable to endure it, Ugo exploded with magical power. That power surged intensely and pushed Miorang away. It seemed he was preparing a huge spell. Ugo poured out killing intent.

That killing intent was not aimed only at Miorang. It was wavering toward me too. I gave a dry cough and quietly turned my gaze away. If I kept watching for no reason, sparks might fly my way.

That spell was not something I had to concern myself with. Miorang would block it on his own, would he not? Mm, as expected, you should never rile someone up too much. If you tease someone too far, they start rampaging without thinking about what comes next.

From what I saw, that fight would take quite a while. Then we needed to match that speed too. I quietly sent a signal to the others.

We also had to slowly whittle down the corpse puppets’ magical power. I felt the people move according to the existing method. Of course, probably because of the aftermath of the explosion, the formation was not as perfect as before.

But the number of corpse puppets we had to deal with had dropped by one. My puppet had joined in too. In that sense, a few openings were easy enough to cover.

The most important thing in this formation was having someone who could endure a corpse puppet’s explosion alone. Gunda had taken that role before. That was because he was confident in his thick shell.

And now, my puppet was taking that role. Even if it was swept up in an explosion, it could just regenerate afterward. I saw the thing charge quickly toward a corpse puppet while ignoring its wounds.

The corpse puppet was busy avoiding it. It was using a great deal of magical power to block the magical power dwelling in that sword.

I sent my will and naturally adjusted my puppet’s movements. It could not end too quickly, but it could not end too slowly either. Following my puppet’s movements, the others also slowed their pace.

They restrained the corpse puppets while slowly recovering their own bodies as well. Perhaps thanks to that recovery, dealing with the corpse puppets became easier as time passed. Within that, the amount of time they could rest also increased.

And during that time, the corpse puppets’ magical power continued to be shaved away. I felt their movements gradually grow dull.

The first to show an opening among them were the puppets they controlled. One puppet that was not receiving enough magical power paused for a moment. The others’ puppets did not miss that gap and rushed in.

The puppet tried to resist, but with a body that had already lost most of its magical power, it could not escape the encirclement. It was neutralized and laid flat on the ground.

After finishing one like that, things became even easier. It was about time to end this roughly. When I sent the signal, my puppet charged toward the corpse puppets.

They poured out magical power and blocked my puppet’s sword, but that strength had clearly weakened compared to before. Seeing that, I nodded.

This was enough. The magical power I could feel from them had dropped to the point that they could no longer even control puppets. That meant the self-destruction we had been watching out for was also impossible.

Well, they would have had a hard time exploding even if they had enough magical power. I looked at Ugo. He had been pushed into a corner far more than before. Desperation showed on his face.

He must have recognized the situation here. I gave Ugo a slight wave, then finished off the corpse puppets. Having lost most of their magical power, they were neutralized in an instant.

All kinds of seals were poured over them, blocking their movement. The seals covering them so thoroughly were like a kind of taxidermy.

There was no need to break these. We could not break them either. The others would definitely oppose it. I glanced at the people surrounding them.

Their eyes as they looked down at the corpse puppets were shining like nothing else. Thick greed was flowing from those sparkling eyes.

That was only natural. These corpse puppets had been made using mages as material. The fact that Ugo used them like bombs also meant they were that valuable as materials.

And we had captured those corpse puppets so cleanly. Then who would end up owning them? Everyone was clearly thinking about that.

Well, if they used them in the next competition, they would be able to gain an advantageous position. And beyond that, as puppeteers, it was something they could not bear to ignore. I clapped my hands toward them and released magical power.

Seeing their gazes gather on me, I smiled lightly. Then I shrugged and pointed in Ugo’s direction.

“Let us move first. Whatever happens, would it not be better to discuss things after finishing that?”

The others smacked their lips and nodded. Then they rose and headed toward Ugo. The magical power wavering from them carried dense killing intent.

Ugo had apparently tried several times to escape Miorang’s encirclement, because his body was completely covered in blood. He looked at me and ground his teeth. I smiled slightly at him and stood beside Miorang.

“Haha, you’re here. It took longer than I expected.”

Miorang looked at us and gave a smooth laugh. He looked quite exhausted too, just like Ugo. I nodded lightly and scratched my head.

“We had to stop the corpses from exploding again. Those puppets have been preserved in place.”

I met Miorang’s eyes and smiled. We already understood each other very well even without putting things into words. So he probably knew why we had taken our time too.

“Urgh, Ugo’s resistance is fiercer than we expected. Will you join us?”

Miorang jerked his chin toward Ugo. Looking at the current situation, his group alone seemed more than enough to take down Ugo. But doing that would clearly cause that much more consumption. That would create problems afterward.

I nodded lightly. There was no need to refuse this request here and provoke a backlash from him. For now, we were in a cooperative relationship. So we needed to finish the original goal first.

I looked at Ugo. From the woman puppet lingering beside him, intense magical power created by burning a soul was flowing out. But it did not feel as threatening as before.

The people who quietly took their places sent their puppets toward Ugo. This was the finishing stage. Judging by the situation, Ugo clearly had no moves left.

Of course, the woman puppet’s power was very strong. The screams of that puppet as it struggled until the end were utterly horrible. My puppet also collapsed several times inside those screams.

But no matter how strong that puppet was, it could not overcome this violence of numbers. It did not take long for it to fall. It was the result of that soul’s consumption reaching its limit.

That was why Miorang had fought a rotation battle. Unlike the others’ puppets, Ugo’s puppet only repeated consumption. It could not be called suited for a long fight.

He was probably confident in his stealth. He could always hide himself whenever he needed to. But once that was blocked, his limits were exposed in the end.

“Damn it, damn it.... You damned bastards did this to Master!”

Ugo muttered while raising a great deal of magical power. His bloodshot eyes, with veins bulging, stared fixedly at the fallen woman puppet. Seeing that, I smiled in satisfaction. It was time to pay back my debt tenfold.

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