Episode 437

In truth, even having two summoned beasts was already pushing things.

What business did such a young-looking magician have operating like this, to such an extreme?

And this was right after calling down those massive lightning strikes. Even if you squeezed the magic out of your very blood, this would be hard to pull off.

But when even the griffon appeared, Bakdgul’s patience finally snapped.

“I’ll kill you!”

A blood-red aura, filled with murderous intent, blazed on his skewer-like sword. Lee Han shouted to Fongrif.

“Get back, Fongrif!”

The opponent’s swordsmanship was extraordinary, seemingly on par with Jeancliffe. Against someone like that, even a griffon’s head could be chopped off in a single strike.

Unbothered by damage, Sharkan and the skeleton warrior Gonadalthes charged.

“Gonadalthes! I’m counting on you!”

“Who… what…!”

Crunch!

Even in his flustered state, Bakdgul precisely skewered the skeleton warrior with aura.

Aura, hard-won through endless and agonizing training, was both the crystallization of patience and a spear capable of piercing anything.

To skewer a reinforced skeleton warrior—made by stacking over ten skeleton warriors—shields and all, was shocking beyond belief.

Lee Han was astonished by the overwhelming destructive power.

‘What the…!’

But Bakdgul was caught off guard by something as well.

When the skeleton warrior grabbed on and wouldn’t let go, Bakdgul’s eyes widened.

Even though he had applied extra bone armor with multiple layers, he managed to hold out against the aura attack without being instantly banished.

“What is this…!”

In that split second, Sharkan lunged with a fierce snarl and bit Bakdgul’s ankle.

Bakdgul cursed and tried to kick Sharkan, but the summoned beast withdrew before getting greedy.

“Huff, huff…”

The skeleton warrior was finally banished, but Bakdgul wasted no time retreating from it.

A true necromancer’s attack truly began after their summoned beast fell.

You had to be wary even of the corpse.

Despite his caution, an explosion erupted from Bakdgul’s coat.

Boom!!

Bakdgul instinctively focused his magic into his muscles, blocking the attack, though he didn’t manage to stop the shock completely.

“What the… damn it…???”

He couldn’t understand.

He’d distanced himself plenty from the summon’s corpse—how did the explosion reach him?

At most, a few bone shards might have stuck to him…

‘Good thing.’

Lee Han breathed a sigh of relief.

If the enemy had been right next to the corpse, he wouldn’t have tried an all-out detonation; but once Bakdgul had shaken off the bone pieces, it actually became easier to use the spell.

At that level, there were limited risks even with an explosion!

Of course, even so, the effect exceeded his expectations…

Bakdgul saw the magician’s arrogant face.

As if declaring, ‘I still have plenty of tricks hidden.’

‘…This can’t go on.’

Bakdgul stopped worrying about Sharkan and the griffon.

The summoner’s beasts were certainly threats, but the magician was no pushover, able to handle those summons as obstacles too.

He needed to escape his opponent’s palm.

Bakdgul took a deep, steadying breath.

Murderous intent made his crimson aura burn even hotter, deepening its color.

He was prepared to sacrifice a limb if it meant he could strike the magician directly.

‘Damn.’

Lee Han clicked his tongue internally.

Things were drifting further from his expectations.

He had thought the enemies would retreat after being blocked this hard…

‘Why aren’t they falling back?’

He had stopped nearly all their means, blocked both direct and flanking attacks.

Normally, anyone would have retreated by now.

‘Was their grudge against the knights that deep? Did the Beechwood Knights insult their parents or something?’

Lee Han hadn’t realized he’d backed his enemies into a corner too violently.

Having suffered this much, withdrawal wasn’t even an option. With a magician this crafty, who knew what traps awaited during a retreat.

Bakdgul’s only option was to behead the magician. It was the only clear route left.

“…Go ahead, then.”

“?”

“What are you waiting for?”

Bakdgul called out to Lee Han.

He wanted to probe his opponent and shake his concentration.

What trap had that magician left?

‘Actually, nothing’s left.’

Lee Han was a bit flustered.

He’d already used all his summons; the only tool left was a pure contest of force.

Once the enemy charged, he planned to cast illusion magic or invisibility, then barrage them with spells.

He worried whether he’d have enough time, given the opponent was an aura-wielding knight, but this was all he had.

‘Wait. No.’

Realizing that Bakdgul misunderstood, Lee Han decided to play along.

Anyway, it would buy him some time.

“I’m waiting for you to attack.”

“I see…”

Bakdgul let out a low snort, glaring at Lee Han.

“There’s a magic circle on the floor, isn’t there?”

Traps that activated an invisible sigil the moment someone stepped on the floor were common among defensive magics.

Lee Han nodded.

“That’s right.”

“And on the ceiling?”

“That’s right.”

“And the walls?”

“That’s right.”

“……”

Bakdgul suddenly grew confused.

The magician sounded so matter-of-fact, as if simply stating the truth.

What was this?

‘No, no, almost got fooled by another magician…’

Bakdgul abandoned his pride.

He had to admit, this magician was more skilled than him, period.

It was humiliating—being outdone by such a green magician felt like his soul was burning to ashes—but he had no choice.

He’d been in that magician’s grasp from start to finish.

‘I’ll kill him!’

Just then, a dagger flew from behind Bakdgul. He sensed it and dodged swiftly.

“What… so that’s what it was! Ha!”

Bakdgul loudly proclaimed that he’d finally figured it out.

The White Tiger Tower students, who had been fighting alongside the knights, had now come to help Lee Han.

“No…”

Lee Han was taken aback.

Why are you here??

“I told you to keep fighting with the knights!”

“You’re bad at acting!”

Bakdgul sneered openly.

Seeing Lee Han’s surprise, he felt certainty.

These young knights must be the magician’s hidden card.

“Let’s see you try, then!”

Angrago raised his shortbow.

He was fairly skilled, but to a weathered swordsman like Bakdgul, still lacking here and there.

‘What is it? I won’t let my guard down. Must be a trap…’

Bakdgul didn’t pay it much mind until he felt a surge of magic from the shortbow.

Thwip!

“…!”

Whatever artifact this was, the arrow tore past with an ominous sound. One wrong hit and he’d be done for.

‘Of course!’

“Hey! I can’t control it with this much power…”

“Bear with it! You’ll have to get used to it one way or another!”

‘So the magician cast a spell on it!?’

Bakdgul now found himself genuinely curious.

Just how many of the magics on display had been cast by this magician?

Clang!

At that moment, a potion bottle flew at him—thrown by Bartrek. Judging by its aura, it was clearly poison.

Bakdgul had to pause again to knock the bottle away.

‘It didn’t seem that strong. Did I really need to block it? No, I can’t trust appearances. That’s another trap!’

‘His movement stalled.’

All the while, Lee Han gripped his staff and finished his spell.

Honestly, the White Tiger Tower friends hadn’t posed that much threat, but somehow Bakdgul wasted time warily guarding against them, giving Lee Han another chance.

CRACK-K-K-K-K-K-K!

“Ugh!”

A much thicker bolt of lightning than before tore through the tent. Bakdgul instinctively dodged.

‘He’s trying to widen the distance!’

Rather than aim for a single hit, the enemy magician kept firing in succession as if only to force Bakdgul back. The more he dodged, the wider the gap became.

It was rare to see tactics like this among magicians.

With the magic cost, most would try to hit in a single shot, and if they missed, they’d instantly leave an opening…

“Are you okay?!”

“We’re fine! Protecting the magician is the knight’s job!”

“Are you sure you can hold him off?”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower friends didn’t answer. Lee Han felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

‘I have to protect them somehow.’

Meanwhile, Giselle stepped in front of Bakdgul, swinging both swords.

The opponent’s sword blazed with aura.

It was a technique with immense destructive power, but aura wasn’t all-powerful.

Giselle avoided direct contact, controlling the distance and probing with her thrusts.

“…House Moradi!! Wait, you—wait… wait?!”

Bakdgul’s eyes widened at her swordplay.

So many confusing things had happened today, his mind was foggy, but when he saw that swordplay, something clicked.

‘That’s the Alpha family’s emblem, and that’s the Bark family… wait, wait…’

None of these houses had anything to do with the Beechwood Knights, nor any reason to be here.

On top of that, these knights looked absurdly young.

A flash of realization struck Bakdgul.

“Don’t tell me—you’re students?!?!”

“……”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower students were even more flustered.

‘He didn’t know we were students? Why is he so shocked?’

“This damn magician bastard—what a trickster…!”

“Huh? No, he’s a student too…”

Realizing once again he’d been duped, Bakdgul burned with demonic rage.

Disguising students as knights and tying him up!

That enemy was not only cunning but truly ruthless.

“Screw magic or whatever…”

Bakdgul, ignoring the threat of summoned beasts and spells, readied to rely on his forged swordsman’s body and charge through.

“…Try and stop me!”

With a roar, the air itself trembled with condensed killing intent.

Crasssh!!

Then the undead knight overseer’s Death Knights smashed through the tent with blue gleaming eyes.

• * *

The Death Knights trampled the mercenaries outside, drained energy from those inside, and finally surrounded Bakdgul and rotated their relentless assault.

Bakdgul, enraged by the sudden onslaught, swung his aura, but the Death Knights simply sneered and regenerated, heedless of damage.

-Stab me more, mortal! Try stabbing some more!

-Mortal, I mastered aura since you were squirming in your father’s coin pouch. Did you really think skill alone would save you? Wahaha!

-The most wicked and gruesome magic shields us!

“You damned undead things!”

Bakdgul was appalled.

He experienced a sense of powerlessness not felt since attaining aura mastery.

Even the undead from the Empire’s darkest, foulest lands couldn’t regenerate after being struck by aura—they’d be left rolling on the ground…!

Slice!

Each graze from a Death Knight’s sword froze his blood, dulled his bones, and sapped all life from his body.

Bakdgul tried to draw up more magic, but his body stiffened and his legs gave out.

Thud!

“I’ll remember you… bastard…!”

-???

-Why are you holding a grudge against us?

As the Death Knights tightly bound Bakdgul with all manner of artifacts, they sounded exasperated by his words.

Did this fool even know whose sword had cut him?

“You magician bastard… today… in your grasp… I admit it… but next time… never…!”

-……

-……

The Death Knights, realizing the situation, grew a bit awkward.

They’d only come to follow the students and ended up helping during the battle—yet somehow it became a brilliantly executed ambush.

-True. You got played.

-Hey!

-What? Isn’t it better this way?

-Yeah, I guess so. The master’s apprentice will gain all the more infamy, so he’ll be pleased.

“????”