Chapter 12: Familiar Places

A charge attack, shield thrust forward without hesitation.

The Cursed Adventurer expected to crush her instantly under the shield, relying on the overwhelming difference in physical size.

But the shield in his hands felt strangely light.

A Kite Shield as large as a person couldn’t possibly be light.

Instinctively sensing danger, a question simultaneously arose.

“Too late.”

As her words ended, a faint white line appeared.

In a single strike, the tanker’s movement ceased.

“!”

“!!”

The other adventurers, never imagining he would fall to a simple downward slash, momentarily froze.

Didn’t she say she was a mage?

It was common sense in this world that magic and swordsmanship couldn’t coexist.

The Cursed Adventurers judged that they shouldn’t underestimate their opponent.

“If you won’t come, then I shall go to you.”

Perhaps deciding that close combat was disadvantageous.

The rogue hastily retreated, creating distance.

And the mage adventurer rapidly chanted a spell to counter her.

First.

The staff maintaining the light orb needed to be dealt with.

If that happened, they could receive support from the shadow nightmares waiting in the darkness.

Shwoong!

The rogue’s small daggers cut through the darkness, flying towards Edelin.

A simple distracting attack to buy time for the mage’s spellcasting.

If hit, she would freeze from the chill.

Even if missed, it aided the mage’s incantation.

Edelin lightly deflected the daggers with her sword.

– Kihihihi.

Watching this, the rogue adventurer let out an unpleasant laugh.

The multiple daggers thrown weren’t aimed solely at Edelin.

The daggers headed for their original target.

Crack…!

They struck the crystal orb on the staff lying on the ground.

The crystal orb that aided the mage’s mana manipulation shattered.

This meant Edelin’s sphere of light, which had been maintained, would disappear.

“My gifted staff… You resort to cowardly tricks.”

As the light instantly faded, darkness took its place.

– Kieeeeek!

The Cursed Adventurers roared in victory.

No one could defeat the nightmares in the darkness.

The darkness provided advantageous buffs to the monsters within it.

And inflicted debuffs, including chills, on those who were not.

Just wait a little longer, and she would be consumed by the darkness and cursed.

Then they could seize that coveted mage’s body.

– Kieeeeek.

Several shadow nightmares rushed towards Edelin, now completely enveloped in darkness.

Driven by instinctual desire, they charged from all directions.

Slice.

As if in a final act of defiance.

Edelin swung her sword at the charging nightmares.

Physical attacks don’t work on nightmares.

The rogue adventurer knew this fact.

Sneering at her, he approached quickly, step by step.

To claim her frozen body.

To appease his unbearable hunger.

What the rogue, driven by instinct, saw next…

Was his final scene.

Thud. Roll.

A single sword instantly slit the throat of the rogue, who hadn’t properly grasped the situation.

His head flew into the air before rolling onto the ground.

How.

How could she be unharmed in the darkness?

[ – I don’t get it either.]

[ – Watched it in 0.25x speed, now I see.]

[ – What do you see lolololol]

[ – Seriously, looked frame by frame, she infuses mana right before the sword makes contact?]

[ – Wait, how does a mage infuse mana into a sword? If that were possible, everyone would be a magic swordsman.]

[ – How should I know?]

[ – It works because she’s the genius High School Girl-chan ㅇㅇ.]

Even amidst the adverse condition of fading light.

Edelin’s mind was spinning intensely.

“Hoo…”

With every breath inhaled and exhaled, a freezing cold filled her lungs.

The sphere of light maintained by the staff…

Was used because the staff enhanced mana efficiency.

Without the staff, there was no need to specifically summon and maintain a sphere of light.

“What would inferior monsters possibly understand?”

Even unseen, she knew.

Her eyes, capable of seeing through mana, pierced the darkness.

The mana used to create the light sphere now coated her skin, preventing the darkness from penetrating.

[ – Someone explain why streamer isn’t dying.]

[ – Analyzed at 0.25x, looks like she’s protecting her body with mana?]

[ – Can you really do that with just mana?]

[ – Current Hunter Mage here. To be precise, think of it as wearing a thin coating of light-attribute magic.]

[ – Wow, she’s insane lololololol]

Slice!

In that interval, another shadow nightmare was cut down by the sword.

As scenes no one had expected kept popping up one after another.

The viewers watching gave up trying to understand.

[ – At this point, I’d believe she’s a swordsman.]

[ – Current mage, can you explain how she’s wielding that heavy sword?]

[ – Hmm…? Since it’s Realism Mode. Maybe it’s basic stat correction…?]

[ – Or maybe the sword is just light.]

[ – Dunno about that, but I’d believe she’s a 2nd class swordsman.]

Her swordsmanship, sending them to the afterlife with clean, unblemished strikes.

The shadow nightmares, possessing little intelligence, continued to charge at her.

The scene resembled mayflies diving into a flame.

– !

The Cursed Mage Adventurer, watching this, felt a glimmer of hope.

If they kept draining that monstrous human’s stamina like this…

Wouldn’t she eventually collapse from exhaustion? He hoped, just in case.

However, the number of shadow nightmares was decreasing rapidly.

Nightmares weren’t infinite.

It took a long time for them to regenerate.

The Cursed Mage decided to contribute to their attack.

He attempted to chant the most powerful spell among his quick incantations once more.

Hoping the monstrous human wouldn’t notice at all.

Unfortunately. There was no way Edelin, sensitive to mana, would miss it.

『 Freeze · Air 』

Ice magic, activated with a simple incantation.

The place where the magic was used was none other than…

– Mmph Mmph Mmph!

The mouth of the mage, who was muttering and chanting the spell.

[ – lololololololol]

[ – Wow, never thought of that lololololol]

[ – ????]

[ – Her magic application ability is seriously insane lololol]

[ – Wait, how is that possible without moisture?]

[ – The darkness in the 1st Gate also has fog-like properties, so moisture exists ㅇㅇ. That’s why you get chills when nightmares die.]

The instantly subdued mage tried desperately to break the ice.

But with his spellcasting mouth sealed, he couldn’t melt it with fire.

Nor did he have the ability to cast spells internally.

– Mmph Mmph… Mmmph!

All the mage could do was…

Cheer for the shadow nightmares to hopefully finish her off.

Naturally, the mage’s hope did not come true.

“This is the price for breaking my staff.”

– Mmmmmmmph!

The adventurer’s screams, desperately trying to deny it but unheard by her…

Soon merged with the floor and gradually faded.

The adventurers’ corpses melted away, turning into ice.

[ – A battle that even physically gifted streamers struggled with…]

[ – Cleared without light?]

[ – Starting to suspect streamer might be a current Hunter Mage.]

[ – Plausible. How else could she use magic without learning it lol]

[ – But a Hunter with that level of skill, wouldn’t they be S-rank?]

[ – How many underage Hunters are there in our country… Streamer definitely isn’t one ㅇㅇ.]

While everyone watched Edelin’s actions.

Edelin discovered something within the melted adventurer’s corpse.

[ – Alright, looting time~]

[ – Mate-ajussi found a legendary ring here once.]

[ – That’s if you’re lucky. Other streamers looted frozen trash lol]

[ – They say it’s like pulling an S-rank in a gacha game.]

[ – Doesn’t seem like equipment, though. Can’t see an item shape lol]

Reaching out and searching through the ice, Edelin pulled something out.

[ Mage’s Token ]
An ice-covered Mage’s Token. Its purpose is unknown.

[ – Looks like trash at first glance, right?]

[ – That’s the item. They searched every Magic Tower on the continent and called it an unknown token.]

[ – So, is it good?]

[ – Nope. Just an iron ornament lol]

Unlike the disappointed viewers, Edelin instantly recognized what the token was.

A token she had given to the mages belonging to her own Magic Tower in the past, an unforgettable symbol.

The token of the Prism Magic Tower.

‘Why is this here?’

Even so, giving it to every single mage would have been unreasonable.

The mages who received the token were limited.

They were precisely the leaders of the Magic Towers existing in each branch.

She fiddled with the token absently, deep in thought.

‘This might be related to the vanished Magic Tower.’

Edelin, who had intended to pass through the gate quickly, changed her mind.

‘I need to investigate what happened here.’

Having found a small clue, an investigation was necessary.

The first place Edelin’s thoughts turned to was…

“It really exists.”

A Magic Tower, its roof half blown off but still maintaining its form.

Located far from the main road in the complex city center.

It was a building in a secluded corner.

A building most users had never even seen.

“Time might be tight.”

If the entrance was in the south and the exit in the north.

The Magic Tower was located to the east, so she needed to hurry.

[ – Uh oh? Where are you going?]

[ – ???]

[ – Don’t try to understand High School Girl-chan’s brain.]

[ – Nooo my bet against her!! Come back!!]

She ran, sword in hand, cutting down obstructing shadow nightmares.

As she passed through the countless city streets, nothing hindered her except the nightmares.

The shapes occasionally seen while passing complex buildings…

Felt familiar, yet somehow not quite right.

“!”

After running for a long time, passing through residential areas and reaching the shopping district…

She realized the source of the unease she had been feeling.

[ Muzen Apothecary ]

“This place is Muzen?”

It was the castle where one of the Prism Magic Tower branches was located.

A place she had occasionally visited as a resort destination.

Her eyes turned icy cold.