Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 623

**Crack!** A sharp sound like breaking bones echoed. **“!”** Then, with a deafening roar, thick, slimy tentacles burst from the fallen fanatic’s body, tearing through his robes.

Dark, evil magic twisted the tentacles together, making them into a monstrous shape, like a creature made of many parts.

The fallen fanatic was no longer human. His face was stretched and pale, and strange growths bulged under his skin.

“For… for… for… Prahgal…” the fanatic choked out, his voice gurgling.

“He worships an evil god!” Giselle cried, stepping back in horror. “One of the twisted ones!”

These evil god worshippers were the most dangerous enemies of the Empire. Their minds were poisoned by strange, dark gods.

“Be steel, cloak!”

As the tentacle-arm, thick as a club, flew towards him, Ethan chose to defend rather than evade. His friend was behind him, after all.

**Thud!** The blow knocked him backwards, but Ethan gritted his teeth and focused. “Power, surge forth!” From the dark pages of Gonadalte’s black book, a spell unleashed raw strength. Ethan felt it flood his arms, a burning power that could crush stone, and he tightened his grip on his cloak.

**Thud!** This time, he didn’t go flying.

“Lightning, gather!”

Bzzzzzt!

At once, lightning sparked and crackled across the cloak. It was the >Lightning Cloak Enchantment>, the most difficult of the 3rd Circle lightning elemental spells.

Even though Ethan used perfect battle magic – quickly turning his cloak to steel, boosting his strength, and adding lightning – the fanatic didn’t even flinch. He kept attacking, ignoring his own tentacle-arm, which was now rotting.

“Why isn’t he dodging!” Giselle thought, a fraction of a second too late. She drew her twin swords and rushed towards the fanatic. Ethan’s refusal to dodge had surprised her, slowing her down. There was only one reason Ethan would stand his ground like that.

“Blast it all!” Giselle bit her lip, focusing her magic on her swords. These blades, Ice Light and Ice Flower, were family heirlooms, forged from ice from the frozen northern seas. As she poured her magic into them, they glowed with a cold, eerie light and began to crackle with the bitter cold of the North.

“Well done, Giselle!” Having bought himself time thanks to his friend, Ethan quickly stepped back and began to chant the next spell.

He had already cast spells to make himself stronger and faster. “Mist of concealment, spread forth!” Ethan chanted. A thick mist swirled around them, blurring the air. The fanatic hesitated for a moment, and Ethan seized the chance. He sent forward his skeleton warriors – magical constructs of bone that obeyed his will. “Hold him! Bones, be launched!” Reaching into a pouch at his belt, Ethan grabbed sharp bone shards and flung them like arrows.

The bones hit the fanatic’s monstrous body, but he didn’t even flinch. ‘How strong is this guy?!’ Ethan thought in surprise. These were special bones, filled with dark magic, yet the fanatic seemed to ignore them.

The skeleton warriors, now magically stronger, stabbed at the fanatic, trying to pin him down. Slowed by Giselle’s earlier sword strikes, the fanatic creaked and groaned, struggling to break free.

“Your arm! Are you hurt?” Giselle asked, noticing Ethan wince slightly.

“What? Oh, it’s fine,” Ethan said, quickly flexing his arm.

“Really alright?” Giselle pressed, her voice worried.

“Yes, yes! Just cast a spell!” Ethan urged, wanting to change the subject.

“What do you know about Prahgal? What *is* he?” Ethan asked, his voice strained.

“Prahgal…” Giselle frowned, thinking hard. “My family… I think we fought Prahgal worshippers long ago, but I don’t know much… They’re very dangerous, that’s all I know!”

Ethan pondered whether to use lightning elemental magic, a water orb, or some other form of attack. He couldn’t choose immediately due to the lack of information about his opponent. ‘Why is that evil god worshipper so powerful?’ The man, who hadn’t seemed particularly threatening at first, was now displaying monstrous strength as he rampaged.

“Is it his madness?” Ethan wondered. He remembered what his family head had once said about divine magic: ‘True divine magic needs true madness. Not many people are truly mad enough.’ Blind faith, that was the key. This fanatic must be incredibly mad to be so strong, wielding such powerful divine magic.

“I have no choice. Giselle, step back! This could splash.”

“Splash what?” Giselle asked, confused.

“Burn!” Ethan shouted, summoning flames into the air. He made them bigger than he usually dared, thinking, ‘It’s the cold North, it should be safe… probably!’ “In the name of Afha!” Ethan chanted, adding divine power to his flames. The ordinary fire turned into blazing White Flames, the holy fire of the Afha Order.

The fanatic, who had been dealing with the skeleton warriors and breaking through the encirclement, reacted differently than before.

“Keeeugh!”

‘I chose correctly!’ Ethan knew he had made the right choice. The man feared the divine magic of other orders!

“Arise, warriors of bone!” Once more, the skeleton warriors held him in place, and at the same time, sparks of white flame flew and struck the fanatic.

“It’s working!” Giselle lowered her sword and cried out. The man, who had withstood any attack, screamed each time he was struck by the flames.

“P, P, P… Prahgal…!”

“He’s charging!” Ethan nodded and gestured. The skeleton warriors blocked the way, and the energy of the flames condensed and grew stronger.

Whoosh!

The flying sparks combined, attacking the fanatic as if to burn him alive. The fanatic’s screams were deafening, echoing through the trees. Suddenly, with a final surge of power, he transformed his entire body into a spear of writhing tentacles.

“!” Ethan, using his precognitive magic to see the attack coming, grabbed Giselle and dove to the side. But it was too late. Or rather, it was unnecessary. Zicklin, who had been running towards them, swung his sword in a blur. **Slice!** The tentacle-spear, and the fanatic with it, was cleaved in two. “…!!” Zicklin didn’t stop. He swung again, splitting the fanatic into four pieces. Even then, the pieces writhed, so Zicklin unleashed a flurry of slashes, until the fragmented remains finally erupted in a burst of black flames and were gone.

‘What power…?!’ Ethan could scarcely believe his eyes as the man, who had withstood various spells, was now being cut apart like butter.

“Sorry I’m late!” Zicklin said, a little out of breath.

“Ah… no problem,” Ethan mumbled, still a bit stunned.

“Get off me,” Giselle muttered, pushing Ethan’s head aside and standing up. Zicklin looked apologetic. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you into danger while I was… tracking my target.” Silence fell between Ethan and Giselle. They exchanged a quick glance. Neither of them wanted to admit they had rushed ahead to catch the fanatic themselves.

“It’s okay,” Ethan said quickly.

“Really, it’s nothing…” Giselle added, trying to sound casual.

“No,” Zicklin insisted. “It’s my fault. Let’s stop hunting for today.”

“!” Ethan and Giselle’s eyes widened, just for a moment. *Wait, don’t get too happy,* Ethan thought to himself. *I know, calm down,* Giselle mentally replied.

“I’m really sorry…” Zicklin repeated.

“I’m sorry too, Ethan,” Giselle said, playing along. “But I can’t have guests in such dangerous hunts again.” She sniffed dramatically. Ethan joined in with a fake sniff. Giselle had to pretend to be upset, but inside, she felt a pang of guilt.

“Please wait a moment.” Zicklin stopped them and turned his head. Then, he swung his sword to extinguish the blazing white flames. They had already burned all the surrounding trees and were spreading vigorously. Giselle asked, as if she couldn’t understand.

“Why is he spreading the fire magic without controlling it like that?”

“…It’s a secret.” Ethan avoided answering.

Later, news of the incident reached the Moradi family estate.

“Prahgal? More trouble,” the Skull Headmaster sighed, leaning back in his chair in the family office.

These evil god worshippers were like mold, always appearing somewhere no matter how much they were cleaned up. Perhaps it was because of this painful world. The Skull Headmaster had abandoned his body and reached a state of enlightenment, but he couldn’t expect that from other mortals… ‘How unfortunate!’

“Gonadalte.”

“Ah. Sorry. Continue.”

“The family suppressed Prahgal fanatics several years ago. We suspect that there is a temple of theirs somewhere in the North.”

Despite being past middle age, the head of the Moradi family still looked the same. Anyone would think he was the same age as the Skull Headmaster. A strong will was etched on the head of the family’s cold, sharp face.

“Suppress them again.”

“Shouldn’t we?”

“We need the help of excellent magicians.”

“Ugh…” The Skull Headmaster openly showed that he didn’t want to.

Finding hidden evil god worshippers in this vast northern empire was like finding a needle in a haystack. The needle in the haystack was easy to find with magic, but the evil god worshippers really had to be determined to bury the magic.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Yes. I ask for your favor.” The head of the family’s eyes, which said to ask for a favor, were not at all asking for a favor. It was as if he was staring until he listened, staring as if he would devour him. But the Skull Headmaster didn’t care. How many years had he lived? He wouldn’t be shaken by the pressure of that young elf.

“By the way, who found the Prahgal fanatics? It must be hard to distinguish the fanatics, but they found them.”

“Zicklin…”

“Ah.” The Skull Headmaster and the head of the family both made expressions that said, ‘That’s possible.’ A knight like Zicklin could have sensed it.

“He went hunting with Giselle and Wodanaise, and they found them.” The Skull Headmaster and the head of the family lowered their heads at the same time. They were that embarrassed.

‘What is this guy doing?’ The Skull Headmaster was dumbfounded. I told him to rest until the banquet, but he couldn’t stand it and went outside to catch Prahgal fanatics. Is he crazy about ambition??

‘It’s not like he’s trying to make his name known throughout the empire…’ When the Skull Headmaster looked at the head of the family, the head of the family also seemed quite embarrassed. His cold face was shaking.

Well, that’s true. Zicklin’s hunt was not an ordinary hunt. To take an invited guest, even a member of the great noble family of Wodanaise, on such a dangerous hunt. It was something that the efficiency-oriented and rationalist head of the family could never tolerate.

But the Skull Headmaster knew the truth. ‘Wodanaise must have been the one who suggested it first!’ I haven’t asked yet, but the Skull Headmaster could bet the gold coins he received this time that Ethan had offered to take responsibility.

“This is…”

“Ah. Ah. Don’t be too surprised. They’re close friends.”

“Yes?” The head of the family looked at the Skull Headmaster with eyes that said, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

“He’s an Einrogard student.”

“The towers are different, aren’t they?”

“Hey! Does that mean you can’t build friendships just because the towers are different? How can you have such narrow-minded thoughts!”

“……” The head of the family was dumbfounded that the person who divided the towers and made them fight each other was saying such a thing.

“Anyway, they’re close friends, so don’t be surprised. If you’re close friends, you can go hunting together and catch fanatics.”

“…?” The servant who was listening next to him tilted his head. Is that so?

“I understand.” He still didn’t believe it, but the head of the family nodded for now. Come to think of it, there was no reason for the Skull Headmaster to lie about this. And Zicklin and Giselle would not take the family’s precious guests to dangerous places for no reason.

‘…No. Zicklin might do that.’

“Gonadalte. I would like to meet the boy from the Wodanaise family.”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound like a good idea.” The Skull Headmaster seriously advised him, fearing that the head of the family’s blood pressure would rise.

At that, the head of the family pondered again. ‘Is he trying to prevent friendship with the Wodanaise family as someone who maintains the balance of the empire?’

“Hey, just meet him.” The Skull Headmaster said, looking disgusted. That’s why he hated young people with too many thoughts.