Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 939

Chapter 939

-We have no intention of stopping the play.-

The Death Knights said, their blue eyes flashing.

Some sighed worriedly, while others clamored that this was how it should be.

-It would be more humiliating to bend to the vile schemes of evil ones and cancel previously planned events.-

The information the Death Knights had obtained from interrogating this evil god worshipper was fragmentary.

Evil god worshippers who worshipped Prahgal were targeting the palace, and one of them, Madpf, had infiltrated first to look for opportunities and would cause a commotion when he received a signal.

Even Madpf himself didn't know when and how the attack would occur. The evil god worshippers who had survived in the empire's dark corners for a long time had meticulously prepared so that they wouldn't know each other's plans.

'Arbitrarily canceling the play is a problem, but it's an even bigger problem if the evil god worshippers retreat.'

The Death Knights intended to use this opportunity to draw out the evil god worshippers and eliminate them completely.

If the play stopped here, they would notice something was off and hide again, and then it would be impossible to know when and where damage might occur.

"As expected of the knights of justice, they're quite bellicose."

Like Yi-Han, Alcicle also noticed the Death Knights' intentions.

Though outwardly they said it was for the face of this play, inwardly a sense of responsibility to surely catch the evil god worshippers was evident.

As expected of the knights of the Demon Realm.

"...Wait, then what about the illusion magic we prepared?"

"We have to cancel it. Is that even a question right now?"

Yi-Han whispered sternly.

When they didn't know when and how the evil god worshippers would enter, how could they surprise people with a shock play?

They might even be mistaken for collaborators of the evil god worshippers.

"We prepared so hard..."

Alcicle made an expression like a penguin who had lost all the sardines he'd fished for a day.

Seeing that expression, Yi-Han felt sorry too, but it couldn't be helped.

"Let's forget about it and focus on the evil god worshippers."

"What about the escape?"

"The escape... we'll have to give up on that too."

Yi-Han said after pondering.

The theater club students would be very disappointed, but given the situation, all plans were on hold.

What escape could there be with evil god worshippers prowling around and everyone scattered?

'Fortunately, I can get out.'

The one fortunate point was that even if the theater club students couldn't go out, Yi-Han could.

The theater club students would realize in time that they had joined the wrong club.

-Mr. Anog. Mr. Pengerin.-

"Yes."

-Please find any suspicious individuals among the audience who have entered the palace.-

The Death Knights knew the skills of Alcicle of the Pengerin family, and Setlad of the Anog family was the first to detect the soul's abnormality.

If there were any additional infiltrators, these two should be able to catch them.

"Leave it to us."

"It's an honor!"

-Mr. Klvik. Could you ask the illusion mages to strengthen the palace's magical defenses?-

"Certainly possible! However, the illusion mages here aren't that outstanding in their level. Don't expect too much."

-Of course. If you just let us know what magic has been installed, our knights will take note.-

'How humble.'

Yi-Han thought inwardly.

To be so humble when the mages included even Baldoorn.

-Einroguard students, divide your roles and respond flexibly.-

"We'll prepare potions to be ready for any unexpected situations."

"We'll secure evacuation routes to evacuate the nobles outside the palace if an unusual situation occurs."

"We'll create secret passages to extract the nobles when they need to avoid attention."

-...Students!-

The Death Knights were deeply moved.

When had Einroguard students grown so much?

The Death Knights were unknowingly touched by the sight of students who would normally whine and grumble moving in perfect unison without wasting a moment of time.

The students bowed their heads with solemn expressions despite the Death Knights' emotion.

At a glance, they seemed to deeply feel their responsibility as students of the empire's top magic school.

'Surely we weren't discovered.'

'We weren't discovered. ...Probably.'

'Wait a minute. The escape isn't messed up because of the evil god worshippers, right? We're still escaping as planned, right?'

'No. It's on hold, they said.'

'...I'll kill them if they come!'

  *

"There don't seem to be any suspicious people."

"It seems so. Me neither."

Alcicle lightly swung a pendulum with an ice crystal attached.

Though he couldn't pierce through souls deeply like Yi-Han, this cold divination magic had the effect of sensitively detecting malice or evil schemes.

Yi-Han, who knew well that divination magic had more constraints and was trickier than expected, asked with interest.

"Could I learn this divination too?"

"This? You should be able to."

Alcicle asked what divination Yi-Han had learned, just in case.

Of course, this Wardanaz fellow was a genius who could be called a magic monster, but divination magic was the magic that could ruin one's life the fastest and easiest among various magic schools.

This was especially true for talented mages. The more one indulged in exploring the future, the more price they had to pay and the more severe the rebound they had to suffer.

What a truly outstanding divination mage needed might not be talent, but humility or moderation.

"I learned things like crystal top, spirit gold coin, five demons and such."

"That should be fine then."

Alcicle nodded.

If he had safely used such divinations, it was clear Yi-Han had used them with control.

"Wait. Isn't the price for crystal top divination mana?"

"That's right."

"...You sneaky bastard."

"!?"

Alcicle grumbled and began explaining, seeing his junior display fraudulent talent even in divination.

This pendulum divination first required a diamond cut in a teardrop shape as the price.

"..."

Yi-Han looked at Alcicle with dumbfounded and shocked eyes. However, Alcicle didn't notice and continued explaining.

"If you sublimate this with cold energy and offer it as a sacrifice, it temporarily creates an ice crystal pendulum like this, which then takes on the risk of peeking into the future instead... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I-I'm just surprised because it's such an outrageous price."

"What are you talking about? This much is thankful. It's not like you're offering a hand or foot."

Alcicle was rather dumbfounded.

Among divination magic, there were many that required even more evil and powerful prices, so a jewel was getting off cheap.

'No wonder you're always short on research funds.'

Yi-Han thought rudely to himself.

Meanwhile, the two had checked all the people inside.

No one appeared whose soul felt dissonant or made the pendulum swing.

"Seems there are no more. Well, I didn't think they would infiltrate many evil god worshippers."

"Then let's move to above the stage."

The upper area was convenient for monitoring the surroundings or responding to situations while the play was in progress.

Alcicle asked with a lingering voice.

"Is there really no use for the illusion magic we prepared?"

"I told you there isn't. Take it home."

"What would I use this for at home! It would make children faint in shock."

As they were walking, Yi-Han spotted Baldoorn groaning and making pained noises near the palace stairs.

"Is it the elastic labyrinth magic?"

"Yes. It's about half complete."

Both Alcicle and Yi-Han immediately recognized what magic she was preparing.

<Elastic Labyrinth Summoning>, a 3rd Circle magic, was a magic that summoned an illusory labyrinth with defense specialized against physical force to trap intruders.

It wasn't a very easy magic, but it wasn't so difficult that the two couldn't do it. Alcicle asked curiously.

"Why is she struggling over that?"

"She must be agonizing because the magic is cliché and poor. But if she casts a high Circle magic alone, it won't match the balance and she'll run out of reagents."

Yi-Han nodded as if he understood.

As it wasn't a solo work, even if she didn't like the magic, she couldn't change it arbitrarily.

She had to match the balance with other mages.

Baldoorn was clearly looking for a better method even within such constraints.

"Let's go. Let's not interfere unnecessarily."

"Alright."

As the two left without stopping, Baldoorn grumbled inwardly.

'If they're such great mages, they could help a bit...!'

She had heard they were both great mages, but to leave without giving any advice on the part she was stuck on.

Since they were preparing the palace's defense together, couldn't they throw a piece of advice to a junior mage struggling and groaning?

As expected, outstanding mages were all impossibly eccentric.

  *

"Something is strange."

"What do you mean?"

"Hasn't the atmosphere in the palace become sharper?"

"Perhaps. But nothing changes."

The priest with a beetle pattern engraved on his forehead muttered.

The evil god worshippers' way of thinking was basically twisted and steeped in madness.

Even so, ordinary believers or collaborators could still live normally, but by the time one became a priest, though the outside was human, the inside should be seen as an alien race from another realm.

A being whose thoughts were impossible to predict with normal thinking.

The priest with the beetle pattern engraved on his forehead was such a being. He had offered everything including his name to the evil god long ago, and all that remained was the engraved pattern.

The same was true for the priest with the tree pattern engraved on his forehead and the priest with the sun pattern engraved on his forehead.

"The Defiler will descend and Lord Prahgal will be pleased."

"The Defiler will descend and Lord Prahgal will be pleased!"

Along with the ominous chant, the priests' forms began to shrink.

Even though they became smaller than children, the shrinking didn't stop. Eventually, the priests turned into small lumps of blood and disappeared with a pop.

No one noticed that such a ritual had quietly taken place on a hill far from the palace.

However, the empty air above the palace noticed. The being from the undead realm that had received the sacrifice rejoiced and began fulfilling the contract.

-Above!-

-How?!-

The Death Knights reacted immediately.

They had been thinking about how they would approach the palace, but summoning from the empty air?

'Impossible! How can they summon such a strong being without any approach or preparation?'

Even as they moved to respond, the Death Knights were flustered.

As their master was their master, though they were knights, they were quite proficient in magic as well.

Magic was absolutely not an omnipotent technique. It was a cold discipline only possible by paying a price under laws.

The aura felt in the empty air now was that of a considerable strong being.

To summon such a strong being without approach or ritual?

-Could they have offered themselves as sacrifices? It's their specialty!-

-Impossible. Even with human sacrifice, for this level, several high priests would have to...-

The Death Knight trailed off.

Thinking normally, it would be crazy to sacrifice several high priests just to attack a palace where a play was being held.

But evil god worshippers were far from normal thinking and worshipped grand plans that only they understood.

They really could sacrifice high priests for their grand plan.

-For what on earth? For what purpose?-

-I don't care about the thoughts of that mad evil god bastard! Prepare for battle! Evacuate those below!-

The Death Knight clicked his tongue.

They had wondered where the attack would come from, but this was just a brute force terror attack.

To think the answer was evacuation, without any need for delicate preparation.

Crack-crack-crack-!

Chains filled with negative energy tightly wrapped around the realm gate, and the siege weapons the Death Knights had brought out began their attack.

A fierce assault poured through the realm gate opened in the empty air.

However, the summoning of the undead didn't stop. The Death Knights cursed at the disgusting smell.

-It's the Defiler! Of all things, it's a tough one!-

-Buy time! If it takes interest in those below, things will get troublesome!-

Hee, hee, hee!

As the undead leading an army of corruption and decay finally tried to crawl out, the Death Knights tensed.

At that moment, a huge dragon shot out from the palace below.

-!!!?!-

D-ra-gon?!

Even the Defiler seemed startled and hastily retreated.