WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression

Chapter 29

Ethan decided to ambush the demons outside the cabin, taking advantage of the fact that they didn’t know his exact location. This also had the benefit of allowing him to pinpoint the demons’ actual positions.

Ethan waited on a large tree stump on a small hill overlooking the cabin. He noticed a different group of demons approaching earlier than the demons that stormed the cabin.

‘So they surrounded the cabin completely before approaching.’

Ethan ambushed the approaching group of demons and managed to take down eight of them. However, even with a suppressor, gunfire wasn’t quiet. Moreover, while Ethan was reloading, one demon he had failed to kill escaped and joined the others. The demons seemed skilled in forest combat. Ethan missed the timing for a counterattack and died.

The next time, Ethan changed his location. He wanted to get a full grasp of the enemy’s numbers, and he couldn’t count them all at once. Ethan changed his location five times, and in so doing, he learned there were twenty-one demons in total. Among them were Moraiotz Sing and Sirund Zen, whom Ethan was already familiar with. Fortunately for Ethan, the two were far apart, and given their high status, they weren’t the type to act first.

‘Spreading their forces is advantageous for surrounding the cabin. If they’re elders or scions of powerful families, they’ll know stronger spells, so they must be prepared for unexpected situations.’

That judgment proved correct. Ethan was already struggling just dealing with the demon soldiers.

‘But there’s a weakness.’

Through his ambushes, Ethan discovered that the demons arrived at the cabin at different times before forming their encirclement. Typically, three demons formed a squad, and three squads supported each other. According to Ethan’s memory, this was called a platoon. Here, Sirund, one demon assisting Sirund, and Moraiotz acted as squad leaders.

‘But each squad leader doesn’t engage directly with their squads. Instead, they maintain some distance to fill gaps in the encirclement. After all, they have communication magic.’

Generally, communication magic referred to spells that allowed communication over distances where normal communication was impossible. For example, telepathy, wherein a being without a mouth speaks directly into another being’s mind, as Demi did with Ethan. The demons’ communication magic involved transforming voices to transmit them to other demons far away.

‘Each squad seems to maintain line-of-sight distance within the forest. But because of their communication magic, unless I take out an entire squad in one ambush, they’ll call for reinforcements.’

Ethan knew his limits, but he still tried about twenty times to find the optimal ambush spot around the cabin. Most attempts didn’t surpass the initial limit of eight kills, and only once did he manage to kill nine, at which point he died after being pierced by Moraiotz’s blood thorns. Even when he managed to defeat Moraiotz after a few attempts, he could see the rest of the demons rushing toward him, so Ethan concluded that this location wasn’t good enough.

‘The cabin is surrounded by an open area, so no matter where I fight, the sounds of battle will be heard, and the demons’ communication magic will link them together.’

So Ethan decided to strike first by rushing toward the demons before they reached the cabin.

‘The demons head straight for the cabin because they heard from the forest keepers that they use several cabins as bases to navigate Yurmus Forest without getting lost. Since the demons run at full speed instead of wandering together, the squads naturally spread out based on their running speed and the importance of their members. If my prediction is correct, the squads and platoons will be much farther apart than if we fight in the cabin’s open area.’

At the forefront was Moraiotz Sing, a scion of a powerful family with yellow eyes, dark blue skin, and spiral horns extending above his ears. According to Ethan’s studies, the Sing family was a warrior family that valued bravery and cruelty, creating combat magic advantageous against many enemies. Most of the soldiers Ethan was facing were from the Sing family’s branch families, and their representative magic was Blood Thorns.

‘But all that magic...’

Ethan revealed himself from behind a tree trunk beside Moraiotz as he ran. Demons had keen senses, including sight, but when running at full speed, their detection abilities were naturally weaker. Moraiotz clearly panicked and slowed down, and that was the cause of his defeat.

‘...is useless if you miss the timing to use it.’

Ethan had already used his handgun against Moraiotz before. No matter how quickly a demon could cast magic, it was slower than a Glock 45. Moraiotz fell, bleeding from his forehead.

The gunshot echoed, but no other demons appeared immediately.

‘Are they still far away? Then I might have some time.’

As Ethan expected, three more demons appeared. But this time, he missed one, and his presence was discovered by the reinforcements. To ambush each demon, Ethan needed to ensure that his presence, and the deaths of the previous demons, remained unknown until the last moment.

‘Not all of them are as fast as Moraiotz. Some squads might be closer together. Moraiotz acted independently even during the fight at the magic academy, so he probably has an independent streak.’

Ethan’s prediction was correct. Not all the demons were so easy to deal with. Ethan tried different ambush positions and experimented with different attack methods. On his thirty-third attempt, he defeated Moraiotz’s vanguard… but even that level of fighting created a sense of unease from a considerable distance. No matter how successful Ethan’s ambush was, he couldn’t avoid the smell of demon blood from those he killed and the silence as birds fled the gunfire.

Above all, the gunshots were a problem. Suppressors were effective in noisy environments but less so in silent ones. Sirund’s main force, while not knowing exactly what had happened to Moraiotz, sensed that something was wrong and cautiously spread their encirclement instead of rushing in.

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‘I need to change my attack method.’

Ethan picked up a sword in favor of his handgun. This made his challenge even harder.

The Glock 45 was a magical tool that overwhelmingly reduced the gap between Ethan and the demons. When it came to swordsmanship, Ethan was by no means superior. In fact, he was clearly outmatched by Moraiotz.

Still, Ethan thought it was worth trying.

‘First, these demons are fools who enjoy fighting, so if I pick up a sword, they’ll match me with their own swords. Second, they look down on me. Even in situations where they could use magic to gain the upper hand, they’ll give me an opportunity or two. And third, I’m not that far behind.’

Clearly, when Ethan first faced Moraiotz, his sword had moved unpredictably. Now, however, Ethan could see the trajectory of Moraiotz’s sword and even counter it. Indeed, he lost five times in a row… but on the sixth attempt, he managed to counterattack. Of course, this wasn’t because Ethan’s swordsmanship had improved but because Moraiotz’s movements were consistent across regressions, allowing Ethan to exploit them.

‘I can do this.’

Ethan remembered Rivielton’s words. Swordsmanship was a complex game. Even if there was a significant gap in strength and skill between opponents, if he knew where and how to place his sword and where to apply force, he could hold his own. It was like wrestling.

‘...But this isn’t the end.’

Ethan also knew the Hunting Sword. Above all, the most important thing was observation. You observe your opponent dozens, even hundreds of times, learning their habits, wounds, illnesses, and weaknesses. Then, you incorporate all of that into your swordsmanship. A charging boar struggles to change direction, so you twist your body to avoid its attack. A giant deer with a missing right ear always approaches from the right. A wolf with lung disease is best challenged on the coldest of days. And a giant bear with a hunter’s spear still lodged in its heart is stabbed once more with a blade.

That was the way of the Ruure hunters.

Ordinary people didn’t have the opportunity to stare at and observe others so intently, but Ethan was different. Moraiotz’s first attack was always a feint to gauge his opponent. Moraiotz’s left shoulder wasn’t in the best condition, likely due to an old injury. Moraiotz didn’t seem to have any illnesses, but he had an excessive aversion to filth.

"Moraiotz Sing," Ethan began.

"...How do you know my name?"

And Moraiotz was weak to taunts.

"Who doesn’t know the weakest bloodline of the Sing family?"

"...You bastard!"

Moraiotz’s first attack seemed aimed at Ethan’s legs but changed trajectory toward his neck. But Ethan wasn’t fooled. If a feint didn’t work, it was just a wasted movement. Ethan’s blade took the shortest possible path to cut Moraiotz’s neck.

As necessary, Ethan called out the demons’ names to insult them, lured them away by pretending to be a comrade from afar, and even feigned death only to rise and slash their stomachs. The more Ethan used his sword, the more his swordsmanship against demons gradually improved.

It wasn’t that Ethan’s skill was rapidly increasing—he didn’t have any exceptional talent for swordsmanship—it was just that Ethan treated the demons like practice dummies. He learned where to start cutting a demon’s body, where to avoid based on their clothing, and which attacks were more lethal. It wasn’t so much an improvement in skill as it was an improvement in knowledge. After cutting down a hundred demons, Ethan saw the individuality of each demon. After cutting down a thousand, he gained a holistic understanding of the demon race itself, a realization of them purely as targets to be cut down.

It was different from shooting a gun. A gun provided little feedback. The target was far away, only the finger moved, and the sensation came from the shockwave left by the bullet and gunpowder. Ethan was always just aiming at a point.

With a sword, the opponent was close enough to see their grimacing face and hear their shallow breaths. Covered in blood and bodily fluids, swinging his entire body, feeling his muscles grow weary and his lungs tear, Ethan had to aim for the line connecting two points.

Without realizing it, Ethan was approaching the "Demon-Slaying Sword."

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