The Blockhead Became an Overpowered Magician

8 – To Kagon (2)

As Kagon neared, Eren’s tension also increased proportionally.

‘The ambush incident will definitely happen.’

He didn’t know exactly when Eve’s doppelganger had died. And it was also unknown how she had died. The only fact they could be sure of was that the devil worshippers were targeting Eve.

Devil worshippers, or dark wizards. They were an important villain in the original work. They had various demonic factions and organizations worshipping them, but they had one thing in common: they were mad.

Some of them were openly fanatical, laughing and shouting, ‘hehehe, dark magic unleashed!’, while others hid their identities and calmly performed insane rituals such as human sacrifice.

Judging by this encounter with the devil worshippers, who targeted the duke’s children, it was safe to say they belonged to the former category.

‘The schedule on this side might have changed a bit… but they’re not the type to give up just because of that.’

They saved Lady Melsen. The merchant provided a fast and stable carriage. As a result, Eve’s schedule could have been pushed up by a few days.

However, the devil worshippers are relentless. It was clear that they had set a trap as soon as they obtained information about her heading to the academy.

– Tap tap

As Eren opened the carriage window, Sermey, who was riding a horse, appeared, matching the speed.

“It will be quite a distance to the next village, so we’ll arrive late at night.”

“Understood.”

“…Balthes?”

“…I understood.”

Only after Sermey called out again did Balthes respond without taking his eyes off the grimoire.

The sun had already set. The procession of carriages was progressing along the road hidden in pitch darkness.

‘It seems like the time has come…’

The torches illuminated the darkness and shone on the surroundings. The shadows of trees and rocks, created by the light, danced wildly.

“Stop!”

At the shout of the knight in the front, the carriage stopped. Eren stuck his head out the opened window and looked outside.

‘A horse…?’

A large horse was blocking the road. Judging by the lack of a saddle and reins, it had been abandoned or was a wild horse. The knight approached it, threateningly shaking a torch to scare it away.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

The knights seemed to dismiss the situation as an ordinary occurrence. However, for Eren, who knows the future, the appearance of that horse felt too coincidental.

He sensed something was off. Instead of running away, the horse approached the knight.

Eren examined the horse closely.

The direction of the knee joints was reversed.

“…!”

– Crash!

A terrible hybrid created by black magic exploded. The rotten flesh of the already decayed horse was scattered in all directions.

The knight who had approached was thrown away by the shockwave. At the same time, the trees standing in front and behind the procession fell, blocking the retreat route.

‘Did they manage to make such a well-conditioned chimera?’

[Quest: The Devil’s Deception]

[Successfully repel the attack of the devil worshippers.]

[Required Condition: All party members survive]

[Reward: 8000P, Fragment of Memory, 2nd Circle Unlocked]

“…!”

“It’s an ambush!!”

“Prepare for battle!!”

Sermei couldn’t hide her confusion as she drew her sword and lined up.

‘Did a horse just explode?’

It was her first time seeing such a thing. Moreover, the explosive power was considerable. Even if the horse’s belly was stuffed full of gunpowder, it wouldn’t have been able to produce that level of force. The most plausible explanation was magic, but she had never even heard of such a spell.

‘Could it be black magic? But I thought black magic was just a legend with no proven existence.’

Chimeras were approaching.

‘Whatever it is, we need to defeat the enemy and think about it later.’

“…Tsk.”

The dark mage Rak clicked his tongue. The knight caught in the blast was still alive.

‘I thought I had found a useful chimera that seemed unharmed, but it seems I was mistaken.’

Fusing chimeras was like gambling. No matter how carefully the process was controlled, the outcome was random.

‘Still, he won’t be able to move for a while.’

He hadn’t killed the knight, but he had incapacitated him. That was enough. There was merit in granting the exploding curse to the horse chimera.

“Release the chimeras!”

“hehehehe!”

As the other dark mages in the ambush cast their spells, chimeras hidden behind trees and rocks charged out.

Knights armed with swords and shields engaged them. They swiftly moved and cut down the chimeras.

‘These slowpoke things, when will it end?’

Rak glanced at the dark mages, who were focused on casting their spells. He wanted to hurry them, but he knew doing so could interrupt their casting.

At last, one dark mage completed a spell that clouded the minds of their enemies. Another released a mist filled with curses. The knights began to falter.

“Muahahahaha!”

Rak was proud of having gathered these crazy beings and successfully executed the attack. Surely, their master would be pleased too.

Images of what he would do after the attack filled Rak’s mind.

He wasn’t afraid of the retribution from the knights of Winter Castle and the ducal house. If they succeeded in their mission, their master would grant them even more power! How could he decline that?

‘I can already control such powerful chimeras now, imagine what I could do in the future…’

Rak reveled in his own power and the greatness of the demon.

“hahahahaha! hahahaha…huh?”

It was before dozens of glowing fireballs rose in the night sky.

***

In an instant, the chimeras attacked.

While the knights drew their swords, Baltez came out of the carriage to assess the situation. He didn’t recklessly cast magic spells. Doing so could disrupt the knights’ rhythm or ruin their formation.

Aern also followed Baltez out of the carriage.

‘Oh, right, I had this friend, too.’

In an emergency, having an additional wizard was a great help. However, Aern couldn’t be carelessly thrown into combat. Baltez decided to ask him to use magic that indirectly supported the others.

“First, brighten this place up with some fire!”

“Yes!”

The surrounding area was suddenly illuminated with blazing light.

“!”

Baltez was impressed, as he had only expected two or three fireballs at most. His vision cleared up instantly, giving him a clear view of the battle.

‘Damn it!’

A knight losing his balance came into Baltez’s sight. He was pushed back by the chimera’s irregular attacks and stumbled. There were no other knights nearby to protect him.

＜Magic Missile＞

＜Earth Manipulation＞

As the magic arrow struck its head, the chimera curled up.

The ground beneath the knight’s feet rose up. He almost fell but managed to regain his balance by stepping on higher ground. Then, he swung his sword with that momentum.

-Slashing sound-

“You are…!”

Baltez’s mouth was agape in amazement.

‘Unbelievable casting speed. And even matching the knight’s moves…!’

Just now, Baltez had tried to cast an offensive spell on the chimera. But no matter how fast he was, by the time his casting finished, the knight would have surely been defeated and overrun.

In contrast, the wizard before him created maximum results with minimal spells. And he did it all in an instant!

“Baltez, I understand your concerns.”

＜Fireball＞

As the chimera’s eye caught the fireball, it was scorched. With its vision temporarily lost, the chimera’s arm was severed.

“But in this battle, will you trust me?”

Aern’s eyes were filled with conviction. Baltez couldn’t help but nod.

‘Fantasia’ was not a game about casting magic spells alone. It also had significant emphasis on party play and group raids. And since the main damage dealer was a knight, there were many times when they had to work in harmony.

＜Wind Blow＞

The knight, who had been retreating cautiously from the ominous fog, began to charge forward with renewed confidence.

Eren was already a skilled player. Now, he no longer needed to press a keyboard, as his skills were cast immediately according to his will.

＜Aqua Bolt＞

The slowed-down knight, due to a mental curse, was hit by a water barrage and instantly regained his senses.

‘I feel so relaxed.’

However, it was too relaxed. Eren continued to ponder while using his skills.

‘The battle is too one-sided.’

Although the Winter Castle Knights were skilled, the chimeras were rather sloppy. If things continued like this, they would be able to exterminate the devil worshippers without any problems.

‘I understand that the chimeras are weak because it’s early in the story. But one of us definitely died.’

The first candidate that came to mind was Sermei. After watching her for the past few days, she seemed to be close with Eve. If Sermei died, it would certainly cause significant mental damage to Eve.

‘There must be something else.’

Just as he hadn’t anticipated the exploding horse, Eren felt there was a hidden trump card that the devil worshippers had.

“Lord Valtez, please cast a powerful attack spell! Precise, not an area attack! I think there might be something else!”

Valtez couldn’t comprehend why Eren insisted on using first-circle magic. With his skill level, he could easily perform more powerful attacks.

However, now he seemed to understand.

Valtez did not have the confidence to be a battle support like Eren.

‘He must have already figured it out.’

Therefore, the magician in front of him planned to perform the battle support entirely by himself. If they had only heard about it, they might have thought he was being overconfident… but he had already proven his skills.

‘He’s holding out on his own with low-mana-consuming first-circle magic… He must be intending to delegate the longer, more powerful attack casting to me, who has been conserving mana!’

“Understood!”

Valtez closed his eyes to focus on casting the spell. Closing one’s eyes during casting meant exposing oneself to danger – something he would never do under normal circumstances. But this time, he had faith.

‘I’ll trust this person!’

Meanwhile.

‘I really want second-circle magic!’

Eren momentarily shifted his gaze to check if Valtez was casting well while using his skills.

‘Why is he closing his eyes?’

He now had one more person to protect.

[Essential Condition: All Party Members Survive]

Damn it!