The Undying Magician - Book 2 - Chapter 33 - The Monsters (Patreon)

                                                                                 Nathan
                                                          Year 2849 | Month 10 | Day 23

Yeah, I’m not gonna be opening this door for the duration of my stay here. It’s gonna stay securely shut. And the sight of that shriveled up old man begin dragged around by whatever that thing was won’t change my mind.

I nod my head at that thought before walking away from the door.

Whatever the creature was, in the brief time I saw it, it was giving off three types of mana. So it looks like they technically succeeded in their experiments. Just that they don’t seem to have found a way to control it, judging by the shriveled old man in there who I am guessing must be the life magician.

Poor guy.

Not my problem though.

I look around the lab a little bit more, ignoring the banging on the door caused by the monster thanks to the reassuring thought that the door – which looks to be made out of enchanted Arcadian Metal – has been holding up for who knows how long now, so it won’t be breaking now. Especially considering that it still looks to be in good condition.

Although where they got the Arcadian Metal required for it is beyond me.

Despite the experimental subject beyond that door, this place really does look like a pretty good spot to make a home as I train my mana arcs. A very nice place.

I’ll have to make sure to keep a watch on the door though. I would just cause a cave-in here and bury the lab along with it, but there might be something useful to me inside of that room. All I got was a brief glance, but it looked to be full of test tubes. Large ones. Test tubes big enough to fit people in them.

There has to be something of use in there, right?

Either way, it’s not like there’s anyone else here. And that thing can’t hurt me either. So there isn’t much of a risk to ignoring it for now.

Push comes to shove, and I can just run away.

After finishing my last search of the lab, I leave it before stopping in front of the poison wall.

Yeah, maybe I’ll take a nap first. To regenerate my mana.

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                                                                         The Barren Sea
                                                         Year 2849 | Month 10 | Day 23

“Incoming!” a magician shouts right before a large ball of poisonous gas passes through the mist of the massive sea and slams into a hastily drawn up barrier. Right after his shouts, the soldiers on the large battleship rush to their positions. Turrets are raised, magicians push through the soldiers to reach their battle platforms, and the torpedo launchers are loaded. “The enemy is to the south! Magicians, form a barrier to hold off their assault!”

The barrier hastily set up by the colonel is immediately reinforced by nearly a hundred magicians’ magic. Meanwhile all of the other battleships nearby all proceed with their own preparation as well, having heard the commotion from the vanguard ship.

Silence suddenly fills the sea as all of the soldiers wait at the ready, holding their positions until some sign of the enemy shows up. Something to show their current position beyond just a stray fireball.

Then, an eerie cackling sound echoes through the night as the poisonous gas that had fallen to the sea level after striking the barrier moves past them to reach the other battleships, where it begins to snake up the sides of the ships and strangles various soldiers until the magicians manage to get it under control by burning the non-magician soldiers that were attacked alive with the poisonous mist. But this just makes the cackling increase in volume. Then a man’s volume echoes through the waters, carrying to each and every battleship. One seemingly distorted slightly with a faintly sinister tone to it.

“Death of one. Death of two. Increase the count, and the deaths pile up.”

The soldiers – both magicians and non-magicians, but especially the non-magicians – all tense up at the voice as it continues talking rather lethargically. As if the man it belongs to were just randomly talking to himself.

“Death of ten. Death of twenty. Increase the count, and the soldiers all perish.”

A thick fog washes over all of the battleships. One that is slightly different from the sea of fog already covering everything.

“Death of one hundred. Death of two hundred. Oh, who am I kidding?”

The voice suddenly cuts off as the magicians on the battleships – each at least a Class D magician – rush to clear out the fog at all costs. Some even using sacrificial spells that cost a price that cannot be restored to clear it out. And some succeed.

But as soon as the man’s final words echo throughout the fog, those who hadn’t already cleared it out find that it’s now too late.

“Let’s just kill them all!”

The fog suddenly turns to a thick red shade, and everyone in the half a dozen battleships covered by the fog suddenly begin seizing up and falling to the ground. Everyone. Even including the Class C magicians and the two Class B magicians.

“Damnit, retreat!! Everyone, retreat now!” the general in charge of this assault – which was supposed to be a secret mission – shouts from his place on the flagship. All of the battleships and the flagship immediately begin to turn around, with many of them turning much faster than should be possible thanks to the help of the magicians on board.

They all then leave the area, with the man who was the cause of the half a dozen recently made ghostships not following. Instead, the man finally appears from within the fog with a sinister grin on his face as he watches the soldiers on the ships his red fog had infested all begin writhing on the ground before turning into abominations of flesh and blood.

But the grin vanishes when he looks up at the vanishing ships and taps his finger to his lips.

“I wonder. Was this enough for the little chairman to come out to play?”

His voice echoes quietly through the area before he shrugs, lets out a short giggle, and turns around while still floating through the air. Meanwhile, all of the abominations aboard the ship that used to be soldiers begin to slide into the water, off of the ship. Then they slowly move through the water after the man.

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