episode_0008

I turned off all the torches in the room.

Darkness is my domain.

At least for now.

One of the powers of the Darkness card.

If used even once during combat, I can see everything as if it were daytime, even in complete darkness, until the end of the battle.

Of course, they aren’t fools either.

They’ll light the torches and come in.

Just like now.

“Exactly where is he?!”

A man giving orders from the second line, behind the first.

That’s the one using the flame sword.

If that’s the case, he’s the strongest one here.

Roughly, my win rate has gone up by 10%.

Sniff, sniff.

Suddenly, one of them is sniffing.

If anyone has sensory abilities, it must be that guy.

I use [Lightning].

The same 3-cost attack card as Whirlwind.

I obtained this card alongside Lyman.

I’ve already tested its power.

Zap!

Electricity flares from my body.

“He’s over there!!”

“Fire!!”

One of the disadvantages of my card magic is that it shows such premonitions.

Doesn’t matter.

I use [Blink].

Flash!!

I dodge the arrows by moving to the side.

And electricity gathers at my fingertips.

Quickly, it becomes a giant lightning bolt.

The optimal direction flashes in my mind.

I launched it straight towards the man who was sniffing.

Flash!!

Lightning flies faster than the blink of an eye.

It pierces through the man sniffing and the two in front of him simultaneously.

Kwa-ga-gang!!!

Thunder follows after the lightning passes.

After the ear-splitting sound passes, my ears are ringing.

“K-, Kyle?!!”

“What is this?!! You were hiding something like this?”

Whirr-lick.

I watch the three corpses, completely dried up and burning, in the darkness.

My first kill.

I try to calm my trembling fingertips with my other hand.

Because I’m still in battle.

“Kill him!!!”

“Charge!!”

Death breeds rage.

And that rage makes them lose their reason.

Seven men charging at me quickly.

『It is your turn. Draw 5 cards.』

[Water Spray(0)] [Smash(1)] [Freeze(2)] [Body Enhancement(0)] [Fireball(1)]

It’s still my turn.

And the goddess of fortune is smiling on me this time.

I’ll kill them all with this draw.

『Next draw in 58… 57…』

Dismissing the status window, I use [Body Enhancement].

My body feels lighter.

The enemies’ movements seem slow.

The fear and rage visible in their eyes.

I’ll use that.

I use [Water Spray].

Pop!!

As I flick my hand, a powerful water spray erupts in the air.

The torches are extinguished by the large amount of water that appeared from nowhere.

Water Spray doesn’t have a strong force, but since it erupts out of nowhere in the air, it’s good for creating variables like this.

I thought it would be good for extinguishing torches from the first time I used it.

Pop!!

I diligently extinguish the other torches as well.

A maximum of 10 times in 1 minute.

But since they can’t know that, they panic every time a torch goes out.

“Damn it!!”

In the end, the guy with the flame sword pulls it out.

Whirr-lick.

A distinct, bright light illuminates the surroundings.

Now that visibility is secured, the guys charge in.

A slight glimmer of hope appears on their faces.

But all of this is as expected.

Pop!!

First, I extinguish the last torch.

“End this quickly!!!”

Relying on the light from the flame sword, the seven men charge in.

We could play hide-and-seek in this large room.

But there’s no need.

It’s already checkmate.

I use the Freeze card.

A chill rises around my body.

The guys aren’t fools either.

Seeing the premonitions before I use magic, they charge in.

“Die!!!”

Their hope was not realized.

The chill emanating from my two fingers extends forward and touches the man with the flame sword.

The flame from his sword alone cannot stop this freezing magic, which even froze Jaimar.

The guy freezes as if he’s being sealed.

The last light disappears.

The six men are trapped in darkness.

“D-, Damn it!!!”

Humans who lose light are consumed by fear.

The six showed various reactions: some fled in different directions, some wildly swung their weapons, and others quietly listened to the surrounding sounds.

And by chance, one guy with a spear wildly swinging his weapon came towards me.

Should I call this lucky?

Thud!!

I strike the guy’s solar plexus hard with Smash magic.

The guy’s body flies far backwards as is.

The spear he was holding slips from his hand and floats in the air.

My enhanced body snatched the spear.

And I pierced the guy’s body with it.

“Aaaaaargh!!!”

It didn’t penetrate as deeply as I thought.

As expected, it’s not easy for me to use a spear.

I took out a dagger from my chest.

I can’t wait until the next draw.

I don’t know what variable might occur.

“Wa-, wait… urgh!!”

1 person.

“……!?!!”

2 people.

“Sa-, Save me!!”

3 people.

“I was just following orders. I was just following orders.”

“I have no personal grudge.”

4 people.

“D-, Die!! Just die already!!!!”

Stab!!

5 people.

“To think you were hiding your strength.”

“Does looking weak mean it’s okay to kill us however you want?”

“Didn’t you guys interfere with our business first?!!”

“…….”

6 people.

Float.

『Check your card rewards,』

Unlike my complicated feelings, card rewards appeared before my eyes.

[Triple Smash(1) – Vanish – Rare] [Ignite(0) – Rare] [Terrain Manipulation(3) – Power – Rare]

Three shining yellow rare cards.

It felt as if they were congratulating me on this murder.

Uuurgh…!

I vomited.

“Haa…, haa…”

I tossed the card rewards and status window to the side.

I don’t even want to look at them.

Thud.

I leaned my back against the wall.

An overwhelming victory.

Just like when I first came to this other world.

I didn’t get injured before entering the maze.

An overwhelming massacre where I could feel how strong I’ve become.

But I wasn’t exactly happy.

“…….”

“In the end, you caused an incident?”

Thud.

Someone blocking the light coming from the only entrance.

Full plate armor and a cumbersome cloak.

From an efficiency point of view, this appearance is immersed in style.

Not an explorer, but a soldier.

No, they seem to be a higher rank than a soldier.

What do they usually call these people…

That’s right.

Knight.

I was wondering why my luck was so good and things were going so well.

In the end, I’m going to get caught even after winning.

“You turned off all the torches.”

The knight drew the sword from their waist.

With that, the mana of blue light flickered.

That mana formed and settled on the sword.

The mana, in the form of a liquid enclosing the sword, was just like dew settling on a leaf.

I wonder if what they commonly call aura is something like that.

I re-examined the card rewards.

[Triple Smash(1) – Vanish – Rare] [Ignite(0) – Rare] [Terrain Manipulation(3) – Power – Rare]

I chose terrain manipulation.

A 3-cost power card has never been bad in a game.

Sometimes it’s a card that determines the direction of the deck.

Terrain manipulation returned to the deck, and the deck was shuffled and returned to its original state.

It doesn’t seem like the knight is hostile to me first.

But the probability of fighting is 100 percent.

I drew 5 cards.

[Body Enhancement(0)] [Smash(1)] [Time Stop(1)] [Charge(1)] [Darkness(1)]

『Next draw in 60… 59…』

Seeing the timer working normally.

Before I knew it, the knight approached me, illuminating the surroundings with the light emitted from their aura-covered sword.

First, I surrounded myself with Body Enhancement.

“Fighting in the maze is common, but causing such a big deal. Which school are you from? Magician.”

“……I don’t belong to any.”

“A wandering magician, then… I don’t know who you’ve earned the grudge of, but you’ll have to come with me for investigation. It seems to be related to the bridge to the safe zone being cut off this time.”

It seems like they’re not as stupid as I thought.

Maybe I can talk to them.

“I can’t come with you.”

“What? Say that again.”

“They were trying to kill me, so…….”

“No, I’m not listening to pitiful stories. The details will come out during the investigation. Come with me. If you’re not some black magician, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?”

……They don’t trust me.

Is this the disadvantage of the [Darkness] magic?

“Looking at you, it seems like you’re not an orthodox black magician, but just a wandering magician who’s learned a little bit of everything. Come with me. I’ll protect you from the guy chasing you.”

“How can I trust that?”

“Are you insulting the Imperial Family now?”

“That Imperial Family would never protect some wandering magician. You should know that much, right? I might get stabbed in prison.”

“…….”

Although I couldn’t see the knight’s expression, the tip of their sword trembled slightly.

“Then, I have no choice but to take you by force.”

“……?!”

Grasp.

Before I knew it, my hand reaching for the cards was grabbed.

A movement that wasn’t even visible to my Body Enhanced body.

Is this the skill of the Maze City Knight?!

Slither.

I was lifted straight up.

They’re a little shorter than me.

Thanks to that, I was able to get up.

Should I be thankful?

“I guess you use magic through those cards. If you can’t use this, you can’t use magic, right?”

“……Ugh.”

A sensation like my fingers were broken.

But then, my vision becomes distorted.

Before I knew it, my body was upside down, floating in the sky.

Thwack!!

I crashed into the wall.

“Ugh!!”

The air in my lungs bursts out at once due to the strong pressure, and shock washes over my entire body.

I then freefall from a height of about 1 meter.

After falling from my back, I rolled twice and came to the knight’s feet.

“Wouldn’t it have been better if you had cooperated willingly?”

Shiver.

I tried to get up somehow with my trembling hands, but my body wouldn’t move.

In one attack, my entire body was destroyed.

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like any bones are broken.

“……Don’t resist. I’ll really kill you.”

The knight put me on their shoulder as is and started walking.

Thud, thud.

What should I do.

Should I think about what to do after being dragged away like this?

Variable.

I need a variable.

I recall from the beginning the Maze’s information that I heard from Lyman again.

Even minor conversations they muttered in passing.

[Sometimes a white portal opens in the maze! It’s a place called Gerhart’s Painting. Inside there…….]

Just one.

There is a way.

If I recall correctly, it opens once a day.

They said for sure.

But it didn’t open today.

First, I need to draw the Blink card.

I picked cards from the deck for now.

[Smash] [Momentum] [Blink] [Body Enhancement] [Whirlwind]

I drew it.

I’ve only been oppressed usually, so it’s time to get carried once in a while.

Now all that’s left is for the portal to open.

Thud, thud.

This place is only filled with the knight’s footsteps.

I recall.

The feeling of the portal I felt when I first entered the maze from Maze City.

The feeling I felt when I saw the red portal when I was letting the raiders out.

Wouldn’t the portals be roughly similar?

“…………….”

Tingle.

Something catches on my finger.

Like putting a finger in the flowing water of a stream.

I can feel something flowing.

When I opened my eyes, the world looked different.

A flow of something visible.

Something blue was flowing in one direction like water.

It’s a phenomenon that I can’t understand with my head.

But my body knew what this was.

“The flow of mana…….”

“What did you say?”

I used Blink.

Flash!!!

My body shone and instantly escaped from the knight’s arms.

“Wh-?!”

Faster than the knight’s words, I use Body Enhancement.

Tingle.

Senses that are sharpened along with the strengthening body.

But I couldn’t feel that feeling anymore.

Still, I remember the direction.

‘The mana was being sucked into one place earlier.’

If that’s the harbinger of the portal.

The only thread of hope.

I launched Whirlwind towards the knight.

Because I know that it won’t kill them at this level anyway.

“You!!!”

While watching the knight being pushed away by Whirlwind, I run in the direction I remembered.

Even with my whole body ruined, the enhanced body made it possible to run reasonably well.

Stumble, stumble, stumble.

A desperate gait.

But now I can feel it with my skin.

Because wind was blowing in the maze where there was no wind.

“Stop right there!!!”

As if the knight predicted what I would do, they were desperately following me.

Still, I succeeded.

Whoooosh!!!

A white vortex of light appearing in the air.

White portal.

I throw my body towards that place.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

『Deck List』

[Smash] [Smash] [Smash] [Smash] [Smash]

[Shield] [Shield] [Shield] [Shield]

[Charge] [Wind Blade] [Electrocute] [Fireball]

[Whirlwind] [Freeze] [Body Enhancement] [Blink]

[Ice Shield] [Darkness] [Incinerate] [Water Spray]

[Ice Arrow] [Earth Wall] [Momentum – Power]

[Time Stop] [Fireball] [Lightning]

[Terrain Manipulation (New) – Power]

12 attack cards

14 skill cards

2 power cards

0 curse cards

Total of 28 cards.

@@@@@@@@@@@@

What I saw when I opened my eyes was.

Ruins.

Collapsed buildings and broken ramparts.

Accumulated snow and strong blizzards that constantly rummage through my clothes.

Whooooosh!!

The cold wind gets into my bones.

“…….”

“To think you’d think of escaping here…….”

The knight, already across the portal, was standing next to me.

The best-case scenario failed.

“I roughly get it now. Since [Gerhart’s Painting] can only accommodate up to 5 people, you were hoping that you alone would enter and I wouldn’t be able to, right?”

“…….”

“As expected of a wandering magician, huh? Just before the maze initializes, there aren’t many explorers staying in the maze, so people don’t gather quickly in [Gerhart’s Painting] either.”

“I definitely heard that they open a lot in all the places on the first floor.”

“That’s right. But you only know one thing and not the two?”

“…….”

“The explorers who usually frequent the first floor don’t have the guts to come here. It has to be someone who’s active on the 3rd floor to be worth it.”

Whoooosh!!

At that time, the portal opened again.

A signal that someone is coming here.

Soon, 3 people entered with intervals between them.

One human woman.

One human man.

One bear beastkin man.

『Malice detected. Draw 5 cards.』