Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 595

*Sound of crashing music and screams.* Suddenly, everything was chaos. Lee Han blinked, his head spinning. A huge, pale monster was there, holding a student in the air! The student wore a fancy coat. The monster looked as surprised as everyone else, almost like it didn’t mean to grab the student.

It was strange. Why grab a coat when there was magic in the air?

“Kyaaaah!” someone screamed.

“A monster!” yelled another.

Students shrieked as the vampire monster crashed into the ballroom. Panic spread quickly.

But some students were brave. “It’s that monster!” Lee Han shouted, his voice cutting through the screams. “Scatter, but stay together! Form ranks!”

Seasoned students from each tower, like Giselle, quickly helped their scared friends.

Lee Han and the experienced students got everyone focused. They needed to make space, get into formation, and cast spells – all before the monster attacked.

Time was short. Lee Han knew he had to act fast. He pointed his wand. “Darkness, take it!” he yelled.

A wave of dark magic shot from his wand, spreading like black smoke. Lee Han knew this monster healed quickly. Dark magic, which hurt its life force directly, was the best way to fight it.

The monster saw the dark magic coming. It jumped away fast, landing on a pillar. Then it leaped again, hanging onto the ceiling like a bat.

Lee Han hadn’t expected to beat the monster with just one spell. While the monster dodged, Lee Han quickly cast spells to make himself stronger and faster. He cast spells for strength, speed, and protection. Then, he started to gather power for a strong lightning spell.

He knew lightning alone wouldn’t be enough to stop the monster because it healed so fast. So, while making lightning in one hand, he grabbed his sword with the other. He was ready to charge.

“Charge!” Lee Han yelled.

Giselle and the White Tiger Tower students ran forward at once. They had cast their own spells and now held long wooden swords, sharpened by magic to be like spears. They glared at the monster. The plan was: if Wodanaz could just hold the monster still for a second, their spear-swords would stab right through it.

*Roar!*

But the monster didn’t attack with lightning, and it didn’t run away as fast as it could. Instead, it was busy protecting the student’s coat! It held the coat tightly, moving awkwardly, as if scared of ruining the design.

Lee Han frowned. Even in the middle of the fight, he noticed something strange.

In a magic fight, finding the enemy’s weakness is key. Could it be… was the monster after the coat?

“It wants Gainando’s coat!” Lee Han shouted. “Attack the coat!”

“What?” His friends looked confused, but they trusted Lee Han. They attacked anyway.

Lee Han was surprised himself, but it seemed to be true. Why else would a monster, who came for *him*, suddenly attack Gainando? And why was this monster, who was so fast before, now moving so clumsily?

There was only one answer in Lee Han’s mind. *What did Gainando use to make those patterns on the coat?* To make a monster obsessed like this… Gainando had made something truly strange.

*Whoosh!* Fire magic rushed through the ballroom, a hot mist moving fast. Lee Han’s friends were attacking.

Fire was supposed to be bad for monsters that healed quickly, but Lee Han knew this fire wasn’t strong enough to really hurt it.

But the monster acted like the fire was a huge threat to the coat. It puffed up its body, making itself bigger, and used itself as a shield to protect the coat from the flames.

*It’s true!*

*Wodanaz was right!*

Giselle’s voice was sharp. “It’s scared of the coat! Stab it now!”

“Wait,” one student said, worried. “But… Prince Gainando is still there!”

Giselle was firm. “It’s using its body to block. Don’t worry about hitting him. Strike the coat!” She knew they couldn’t hesitate. Against a monster this strong, any hesitation could be deadly.

“Look!” someone pointed. “The prince agrees!”

Gainando was limp in the monster’s grasp. *He looks like he fainted,* someone thought.

Luckily for Gainando, the monster was so scary that he had fainted as soon as it grabbed him.

“Acid Ghosts, go!” Siana yelled. Yoner nodded, and they both used potions to create see-through, ghost-like creatures.

The ghosts floated into the ballroom, spitting acid. The monster swung its arms, making gusts of wind, as if annoyed by buzzing flies.

*Thwack!*

Suddenly, an arrow hit the monster’s chest. It wasn’t a normal arrow. This one burned the monster’s skin with a sizzling sound.

Aden Artt breathed deeply and got ready to shoot again. Magic patterns on the arrow glowed. A spirit stood beside him, adding power to the shot. The arrow tip was covered in a sticky, magic liquid that would melt the monster’s muscles and stick the arrow to its bones.

Aden Artt was incredibly skilled. Someone like him, who knew so many kinds of magic, was rare. Maybe once in ten years you’d see a student this talented. His amazing arrow shots proved it.

“Hoo!” Aden Artt sighed softly, happy he hit the monster again. He looked around for Lee Han.

He was worried Wodanaz had gotten the wrong idea earlier. Aden Artt didn’t care about Gainando’s coat for itself. He was just really curious about how the design was made. It was strange and amazing, like nothing he’d ever seen.

It must be some secret from the dark magic school, but how could Aden Artt know that? He had just asked Wodanaz, a friend he trusted, about it. Now, it seemed like Wodanaz thought he was obsessed with the coat!

*Roar…*

The monster felt the danger from Aden Artt’s arrows. It turned quickly, ready to attack him and the princess.

“Stop it!” it roared.

Aden Ardent’s followers stepped forward, beginning to cast their spells.

Even a defensive spell from the Magic Circle, when layered and strengthened like this, was very hard to break through. Aden Ardent’s followers created a Magic Circle, a shimmering shield of energy.

Normally, these followers were students who sometimes slowed Aden Ardent down with their mistakes. But when danger came, they were completely loyal and brave.

The monster felt their strong will. It stopped attacking and turned away again.

“Well done!” Lee Han shouted to his followers.

He needed to keep the pressure on the blood-sucking monster and make it nervous. If his followers panicked and ran, the monster would charge right through them.

“Don’t worry about us, Wodanaz!”

“That’s good to hear! Hold your ground, everyone!” Lee Han shouted, quickly moving to the other side.

Now that the princess was safe, there was no reason for him to stay put. Besides, when facing a fast enemy like this monster, standing still was dangerous.

Aden Ardent blinked, noticing her followers taking credit for her successful spell.

She swung her staff and whacked the followers on their backs.

“Ah, Your Highness. What…”

“Out of my way, you fools! You’re blocking my spells!”

“Oh no, Your Highness! Terribly sorry! Didn’t see you there!”

Bzzzt!

‘I just need to buy a little more time,’ Lee Han thought. The monster hesitated, unsure what to do. He thought he could catch it more easily than he’d expected.

The monster seemed to care far too much about Gynand’s coat. Lee Han wondered why the monster was so focused on the coat. Was it valuable? Did it have magic?

Afraid of damaging the coat, it couldn’t attack fiercely and just kept hesitating, merely blocking them.

If they could stall for time like this, the students would have a much better chance.

The Death Knights, the elite guards of the kingdom, would arrive soon.

-■■■■■■■■!

“Wodanaz!!” His friends screamed.

The monster hesitated for another moment, its eyes darting between Lee Han and the coat. Then, something seemed to snap in its mind. Suddenly, the blood-sucking monster abandoned its previous attitude and charged madly at Lee Han.

It moved so fast that it was hard to track, but Lee Han didn’t panic.

>Begrek’s Premonition> was showing him the monster’s movements a second in advance.

It was more difficult when the blood-sucking monster moved unpredictably and wildly.

If it moved in a straight line like this, making it easy to anticipate, someone prepared like Lee Han could…

Thwack!

-■!

…respond accordingly.

Like a matador, Lee Han sidestepped the charge and thrust Morning Star forward. The silver blade pierced the monster’s side with a sickening squelch. Then, he turned his staff into a Lightning Spear and stabbed it again. The monster roared ferociously.

He didn’t stop there. Giselle and the White Tiger Tower students, who had been waiting, charged in and unleashed a barrage of attacks. The blood-sucking monster’s body was quickly torn apart.

“…?!” At that moment, Lee Han realized something was wrong.

The monster wasn’t holding Gynand’s coat.

‘Could it be?!’ He quickly turned his gaze and saw the fleshy part of the blood-sucking monster’s tail lying with the unconscious Gynand at the back of the arena.

Before charging at Lee Han, it had cut off its own tail and thrown it away.

Sluuuurp-

The blood-sucking monster’s body, severely attacked by Lee Han and the White Tiger Tower students, didn’t regenerate on the spot.

Instead, it began regenerating from the fleshy part of its tail.

‘I’ve been had!’ Lee Han thought angrily. He had fallen for a simple trick. He clenched his staff, determined not to be fooled again.

Like a lizard cutting off its tail to escape, it was the same trick the blood-sucking monster had used to escape the Death Knights.

Cutting off a part of its body and then regenerating from it.

Having quickly finished regenerating, the blood-sucking monster picked up Gynand’s coat again and dashed out through the arena entrance. The attack had broken their circle. Now, they couldn’t trap the monster.

“Chase it!! It’s taking Gynand’s coat!!” The students were horrified and ran out.

To be outsmarted by a monster like this.

‘Damn it. The situation is…’ Lee Han was worried even as he ran out in front.

They were trapped in the dusty arena, the high stone walls closing them in. Even though the arena was large, it was enclosed on all sides, which limited the blood-sucking monster’s movements.

Forming a formation and creating an encirclement made it difficult for the blood-sucking monster to move easily.

But outside was different.

The blood-sucking monster could easily use its speed to strike and retreat, taking down students.

“Asan, get the Death Knights here quickly! We need support!”

“A-alright!”

“Everyone, don’t chase it carelessly. It will attack again…”

Before he could finish speaking, the blood-sucking monster, which had created some distance, threw Gynand’s coat onto a tree and charged fiercely.

The attack from Lee Han must have hurt quite a bit, because its movements were different from before. It kicked off the tree and went upwards, then grabbed a branch again and twisted its body, moving unpredictably.

Unlike before, the premonition missed. Lee Han, kicked hard by the monster, flew backwards.

“Wodanaz!!!”

“I’m fine, maintain the formation!” Lee Han coughed as he spoke to the students who were running up from behind.

He had been protecting his body by drawing on mana as well as various spells, so the impact wasn’t too severe.

But the problem was the fact that he had been attacked.

Not only had he lost the chance to cast a spell and the monster had gained the upper hand, but the monster was also attacking cunningly.

Just now, instead of charging in to finish him off, it had cautiously checked Lee Han’s condition and retreated.

It was quite a cunning and cautious monster.

‘I need to buy time somehow.’ Lee Han resolved to land a blow in close combat, even if it was disadvantageous, to create time to cast a spell again.

Even if he couldn’t keep up with its speed, the premonition would become more accurate if he kept getting hit.

At that moment, Asan returned.

“Wodanaz!!”