Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 788

Antagondalus was speechless for a moment, shocked by Lee Han’s bold attitude.

‘He really is as cunning and sly as the monster said he would be!’ he thought.

Lee Han was so tricky that Antagondalus felt ashamed for ever wondering, ‘Why did the monster bring someone like *him* here?’ He should have known Lee Han was trouble from the start.

We should have known what he was really like from the start. Right after escaping, he blackmailed and used an evil magical criminal.

However, Antagondalus didn’t explode in anger. Even though he was very angry inside, Antagondalus spoke calmly, like a criminal who is used to trouble.

“You seem to have forgotten… Heh heh… When escaping from the mad ancient magical copy… didn’t I help you…?”

“Huh?”

“When… you needed to leave… you asked me to draw attention…!”

“Huh?”

“You little brat… are you going to keep pretending you don’t know?!!!”

The hundreds-year-old magical criminal finally exploded.

Lee Han, expecting this, launched an attack. He used the Telekinesis of Wodanaz, magic that moves things, and slammed Antagondalus, in his strange chimera form, against the stone wall.

Thud!!!

“Nilia, attack!”

“Ah… alright!”

Nilia didn’t know who the opponent was, but she trusted Lee Han and decided to follow his lead.

Nilia didn’t know who this monster was. But Lee Han was her friend. Friends stick together, right?

Whoosh!

As the sharp arrow flew, Antagondalus groaned.

‘That wicked fellow is trying to trick me to launch a surprise attack…!’

With that reaction speed, he must have been planning a surprise attack from the moment he saw him.

And to top it off, he was pretending not to know in order to ambush his opponent.

Like the mad magical copy’s student, he was a nasty piece of work.

Sssssss-

‘Kuh!’

Attacks that he could have blocked easily in his original state were now heavily impacting his body.

It was because of the punishment the mad magical copy had given to Antagondalus.

Antagondalus felt a deep gloom.

It wasn’t because of the pain. A great wizard wouldn’t despair because of pain.

Antagondalus felt gloomy because of Lee Han.

‘To think that he would find out I’ve become weak!’

“Did I use too strong a poison?!”

“Nilia. Where did the cruel hunter of the North go! Return to the you from back then!”

“I never was! I was just an ordinary hunter!”

Nilia protested at Lee Han’s scolding but immediately prepared for the next attack.

Nilia, who studied enchantment magic and alchemy, knew how to make the most of her skills.

The magic arrow she had made during class glowed as it passed through the bow, twisting like a snake to find the enemy’s flesh. At the same time, the thick black potion on the arrowhead melted the magic and spread a dark curse into the bones.

Antagondalus spat out a curse he hadn’t used in a long time and barely managed to pull out the arrow with one hand.

“Melt… into the wall!”

Antagondalus, who had melted into the nearby wall, barely bought himself some time and opened his mouth.

“You. You are not only ungrateful but also foolish… What if I were to take you to your master right now…!”

“Is that so? From my perspective, it seems like you would have done it a long time ago if you had the ability to do so.”

At Lee Han’s words, Antagondalus’s heart sank.

It was clear that this Wodanaz family boy already had an idea of Antagondalus’s situation.

“What… are you talking about…?”

“When you first appeared, I thought you came to kidnap me on behalf of the magical copy. But after talking to you, I thought it was a bit strange.”

Lee Han said with conviction.

It’s not easy for anyone to just walk into the main building of Einrogaard. Especially not strong, dangerous people.

Moreover, this semester, Headmaster Skull knew about the existence of the magical copy and Antagondalus.

And yet Antagondalus entered so freely?

‘That’s a magical copy weak enough not to be caught by the security.’

From entering as he pleased, to being unable to respond to Lee Han’s surprise attack and Nilia’s attack and getting beaten up, Lee Han was convinced that his judgment was correct.

“You came as a very weak magical copy, didn’t you?”

“…You’re damn good at noticing things!”

Antagondalus hid his frustration and readily admitted it.

There was no choice once he was found out.

“This is… a magical copy as weak and flimsy as a pile of mud… so weak that it can’t even kidnap you… and the reason is because of you…!”

Antagondalus recounted in a resentful voice what had happened since Lee Han’s escape.

The mad magical copy was lenient to Einrogaard students, enough to send Lee Han back and even a foolish royal family boy, but not to Antagondalus.

-You helped him, didn’t you?

-I think there’s a misunderstanding. Master…

-Don’t call me master. That title has been revoked because you betrayed me. How dare a lowly slave interfere with the master’s work?

-Master, if you give me death, I will accept it…

Sensing a different danger than usual, Antagondalus tried to destroy his body and temporarily die.

Before coming to the mad magical copy, Antagondalus had naturally set up a backup plan. No magical criminal would be foolish enough to approach an ancient mad being and learn magic without any preparation.

Antagondalus’s backup plan was an extra body.

The extra body, created with ancient magic from the time of the Three Kingdoms, would transfer the soul to that body if the current body was destroyed, reviving the wizard.

This was a powerful and complex secret ritual that most wizards couldn’t even dream of. Naturally, Antagondalus also believed in this magic.

Otherwise, would he have dared to approach the mad magical copy?

-Stealing the soul? A shallow trick. You’re like trash who doesn’t even know who created that secret ritual. How dare you try to trick your master with your master’s teachings?

-!!!

Antagondalus was horrified that he had been discovered and immediately destroyed his body and escaped his soul.

However, before the soul could escape, the mad magical copy sealed the magical criminal’s soul with a gesture. Then, he shoved the soul back into the destroyed body.

-Trash. The prison you will be confined to is your body, and your sentence is until your soul wears away. If you want even a shred of mercy, make up for it. Even a ten-thousandth of the work you ruined!

-Kuh… Kraaah!

The mad magical copy not only shoved the soul back in but also cast a curse to prevent it from escaping, binding it.

The curse was so severe that even the fairly sturdy body transformed into a hideous chimera. What exactly did it look like?

Antagondalus had no choice but to admit that he had underestimated the ancient great wizard too much.

Even if he was a being who had fallen into madness and become like a law, he had the power to easily destroy someone like Antagondalus.

“Thanks to you… I’m in this state… I can’t even use proper magic… and this magical copy… it took me days to barely create it… to make contact!”

Antagondalus said, pointing to himself hidden in the wall.

He had suffered so much to create this weak and insignificant magical copy.

It was a trivial magical copy that he could have created in seconds if he could only use magic as he used to.

“Indeed. You’ve suffered a lot.”

Lee Han said with a hint of pity. Antagondalus noticed the insincerity in his voice and glared at him.

“Your master wants to see you again.”

“Yes. I understand. I’ll be sure to visit him next time.”

“Right now!”

“I have a schedule. Why are you doing this?”

……

Antagondalus, who had been glaring at Lee Han for a while, gritted his teeth and accepted that he was not in a situation where he could threaten him with force.

With this magical copy, he would be destroyed if he got hit even once more, let alone kidnap him.

“What are you dissatisfied with…? Your master loves and cherishes you… He’s waiting for you to teach you the secret rituals!”

‘Does he think I’m some kind of simpleton?’

Lee Han was shocked by the magical criminal’s lies.

Who would fall for such lies?

“He was going to kill me if I didn’t learn the magic, wasn’t he?”

“And then he would have resurrected you… Being able to learn under such conditions is a blessing…! Why don’t you know your own luck…?”

“Ah. Yes.”

Lee Han replied nonchalantly.

“I understand. Tell him to have a meal with me later when I have time. I’ll definitely go.”

“If you go back… your master will treat you more gently…”

“Instead of killing me painfully, he’ll kill me painlessly?”

‘I was wrong.’

Antagondalus gave up trying to persuade Lee Han.

That Wodanaz family boy was as cunning and nasty as he was, so he could never be tricked.

Instead, Antagondalus looked at Nilia. The innocent-looking hunter girl might waver.

“There… young wizard… listen to me… I risked my life… to save your kidnapped friend… That’s why I’m in this state… Don’t you feel sorry for me?”

Lee Han whispered, “Just so you know, that person is the magical criminal Antagondalus.”

Antagondalus didn’t give up.

“Of course… I… don’t deny that I committed some magical crimes… and that I’m an enemy of the empire…! But… let’s just look at it as a matter of gratitude… I did a favor for that friend… A wizard shouldn’t forget that favor, should they…?”

“…Is that so?”

“That’s right!”

“Okay. Then come out and swear to my face that you won’t harm Wodanaz in exchange for my help.”

“Of course…!”

Antagondalus was thrilled and stepped out of the wall.

He could make such oaths any number of times.

Whoosh!

The arrow Nilia took out, the blade stolen from Professor Verdus, flew quickly and pierced the forehead of Antagondalus, who had come out of the wall.

Antagondalus’s magical copy, who couldn’t have imagined being ambushed in this situation, melted away.

“Hey! What’s a magical criminal doing pulling tricks here!”

……

Lee Han looked at his friend with shocked eyes. Nilia, who belatedly noticed his gaze, was flustered.

“Why?? The magical criminal was trying to kidnap you, Wodanaz!!”

“Ah, no. That’s true, but I didn’t think he would be tricked like that.”

“…Isn’t this normal?”

“Is it?”

“It is!”

Nilia burst into anger.

And then, after a while, she said in a low voice.

“…It’s a secret that I used this kind of trick. Got it?”

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

Lee Han nodded as if telling her to trust him.

What difficulty was there in keeping such a secret for a friend who had helped him?

At that moment, a bat popped out of the melted magical copy and shouted in a mournful voice.

“That Antagondalus would be defeated by a mere young hunter…!”

“Huh?!”

Nilia was startled and tried to shoot the bat, but the bat flew far away.

It was racing to return to Antagondalus in the mountains outside the main building.

“That Antagondalus would be defeated by a mere young hunter…!”

“Wh, why is that thing doing that?”

The bat continued to twist and change shape. And it uttered the same words as if it had lost its mind.

“He hasn’t fully recovered from the shock of the magical copy being destroyed.”

Even though he was trying to extract only the core of the magical copy and return it, he was unable to overcome the shock of being destroyed and was becoming uncontrollable.

“Let’s chase after it quickly!”

“It’ll be destroyed on its own soon, won’t it? It’ll collapse after flying for a few minutes at that rate.”

“I, is that so?”

Nilia was tempted, but then she heard the bat’s voice again from afar.

–That Antagondalus would be defeated by a mere young hunter…!

“…No, we have to catch it now! Before it spreads it more loudly!!”