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Davian entered the old student hall and quickly scanned the upper floors.
'As expected, it's the basement.'
If it's the basement, even better.
It'll be full of shadows.
He went down to the second basement floor, but there was no trace of the lich.
'Is it not this building...?'
Then.
A worn-out cabinet caught Davian's eye.
Feeling an unknown sense of unease, he approached it.
There were a few handprints on the thickly accumulated dust.
'Found it.'
Swish.
After creating an ice sword.
He pushed the cabinet to the side with his left hand.
Drrrrr.
The cabinet slid along its designated path.
A secret staircase leading to the basement was revealed.
After a moment of contemplation, Davian carefully stepped onto the stairs and began to descend.
Bringing a swarm of reinforcements would be pointless.
You never know who might fall under a mental magic spell.
He maximized all his senses.
And focused on the flow of mana.
If any subtle changes were felt before Davian discovered the lich.
He had to get out of here immediately.
The lich had used area-of-effect mental magic to control one-fifth of the academy's personnel like his own limbs.
And only those with high mana affinity.
Who knows what might happen if they faced each other one-on-one.
He had to find and eliminate him first, or leave.
The stairs continued far below.
Just as the end of the stairs came into view.
―So it's you. That young whelp that Billian warned me to be careful of.
Instantly.
Davian felt every hair on his body stand on end.
It was as if he had been waiting for Davian to come.
'I have to get out of here!'
At that moment, mana tendrils stretched out from all directions and struck Davian's head.
"Ugh!"
Davian quickly moved his body back towards the stairs.
No.
He tried to head back.
But his legs, already frozen in place, wouldn't move as Davian intended.
Ssss.
The lich floated gently out of the darkness.
―How is it? I planted a lot of mediums all over this space, just in case you came.
Davian turned his head to look at the lich.
He had experienced the lich's area-of-effect mental magic incident twice, but this was the first time he had actually seen him.
'This is a disaster. I underestimated Professor Billian Dishpullus's judgment.'
Billian Dishpullus.
He had somehow become a henchman of the lich and was plotting a major villainous scheme.
But he was the one who had elevated that difficult and complex mental magic to a certain level.
In short, he was a very intelligent person.
―I heard that you always know in advance when something is going to happen at the academy and solve the case. Do you have prophetic dreams or something?
Davian slowly examined his body.
The operation of inner force and magic power was fundamentally blocked.
And he couldn't move below the waist.
With the operation of inner force blocked, the Shadow Assimilation skill was naturally released.
―Billian said that your potential for growth is also tremendous. What do you say? Will you pierce your own heart with that sword now, or will you become my henchman and lead the way in conquering the continent?
"What... nonsense."
Conquering the continent.
That's the kind of line that would come out of a villain in a boy's manga.
But.
The lich was a being who only had the lingering thoughts of a magician who wanted to become stronger.
He was in a state where only the desire for display, domination, and destruction controlled his body and mind, so it was understandable that he would utter such a line without hesitation.
That hideous body would be filled only with the desire to show off the mental magic he had built up over a lifetime and to dominate others with that power.
―I'll help you decide.
The lich's hollow eyes stared at Davian.
And a moment of time passed.
―...You have a great mental strength.
Ssss.
The lich came even closer to Davian.
―I heard he was amazing, and it's true. Billian's eyes were accurate.
The lich controlled Davian's brain, which he had seized, and tried to bring the ice sword in his hand to his heart.
Of course, he didn't intend to stab him to death right away, he just wanted to scare him.
The opponent was just an 18-year-old kid, wasn't he?
After coaxing him well like that, he planned to use permanent mental magic like Billian Dishpullus to use him as his limbs.
But.
His arm wouldn't budge.
His sharp and firm eyes were still looking straight at the lich.
―I can make your legs stiff, but you won't easily allow me to move them, will you?
Kekeke.
An eerie laughter echoed in the underground space.
―You're stimulating my competitive spirit. Even though your inner force and magic power are sealed and you can't move an inch. To defend against mental magic with your mental strength.
Davian looked at the lich without saying a word.
Actually.
He couldn't speak.
He was focusing all his nerves on blocking the mental magic that was relentlessly digging into his brain.
11 years since he was possessed by the game Elton Academy.
It was a type of battle he was experiencing for the first time.
The lich, thanks to his overflowing magic power and the mediums he had planted everywhere, quickly drifted into Davian's brain.
The mana tendrils spreading through the mediums matched Davian's brainwaves, and his brain was taken over by the lich.
At first, he tied up his inner force and magic power and prevented his legs from moving.
Now he was constantly trying to move Davian's arm.
The inner force, magic power, and outer force he had built up so far were all useless.
The only way to interfere with the lich's mental magic was Davian's mental strength.
If he lost his mental strength even a little and allowed Davian's brain to send a signal to the muscles to move using a magnetic field.
Davian's body would move according to the lich's will like a puppet.
'I have to hold on. I have to find a way somehow.'
He thought about briefly giving up on enduring the mental magic and calling Glacier.
But if his brain was completely taken over in the meantime.
He might commit suicide without being able to stop it.
Or Glacier, who appeared without knowing anything, might be ambushed.
It would be fortunate if Glacier from beyond the dimension was watching this right now.
But betting his life on that was also a gamble.
It would be easy if he was already watching and appeared to immediately subdue the lich.
But if he appeared with a "Davian, what's wrong?", Davian, who had already been hit by the lich's mental magic while calling Glacier, might be stabbed by his ice sword.
―You're an amazing guy. Good. Then I need to shake up that amazing mental strength a bit.
The lich stretched out his skeletal hands towards Davian.
"Kuaaak!"
A completely different attack from what he had experienced so far struck Davian's brain.
Extreme pain took over his entire body.
He couldn't even tell if it was real pain or if his brain was creating an illusion.
Davian's vision darkened in an instant and he couldn't see anything.
A moment later.
Davian was standing alone in a dark space with nothing in it.
'What happened?'
Suddenly.
A giant spider suddenly appeared in front of Davian.
Clatter. Clatter.
The giant spider approached quickly, making a creepy noise.
The surrounding view also brightened quickly and the space Davian was in changed.
Inside a dungeon.
Without time to think about anything, Davian immediately jumped to the side.
'Huh?'
But.
His movements were strange.
Slow movements that didn't feel like his own body.
Thud!
Davian fell roughly to the ground and rolled to avoid the giant spider's web attack.
'What's wrong with this movement?'
He quickly turned his head.
The giant spider was running at him again.
Clatter. Clatter.
This time, instead of shooting a web, it opened its hideous mouth wide and charged at Davian.
'Ah!'
He remembered now.
Vivid memory.
1st playthrough.
The memory of being eaten by a giant spider and dying in the mid-term dungeon exploration assessment in the first semester of freshman year.
It was exactly the same situation as back then.
His first death.
It was such a terrible experience.
Goosebumps broke out all over his body and he shuddered.
Crunch!
Without a chance to do anything.
The giant spider's mouth bit into Davian's torso.
"Keuheok!"
Terrible pain.
Bones were crushed and internal organs were mangled.
Blood gushed from his mouth and nose like a fountain.
Crunch!
The giant spider, raising its head high, repeatedly opened and closed its mouth, chewing and swallowing Davian's body.
The last thing Davian saw was.
It was the roof of the giant spider's mouth.
Again, a dark space with nothing in it.
Davian groped his body.
Fortunately, nothing was broken, but.
His palms were wet, so it seemed he was sweating profusely all over his body.
Whoosh.
The surroundings changed again and a new place appeared.
Inside the 3rd grade dormitory.
Bang!
Latia Meridiem's fireball struck Davian's ice barrier.
Crack, crackle.
The ice barrier cracked with a large crack after blocking just one attack.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Latia prepared an even larger fireball than before.
Her eyes were facing Davian.
But her focus was subtly lost.
2nd playthrough, 1st semester of 3rd grade.
It was the memory of the lich's area-of-effect mental magic incident.
"Davian! Get out of the way!"
Bang!
Nubes's shoulder hit Davian.
Davian, who had only learned magic, collided with Nubes's shoulder, flew far away, and rolled down the hallway.
Boom!
Nubes raised a large shield and blocked Latia's fireball.
But.
Swoosh!
With the sound of tearing through the air.
Latia's sharp wind element magic cut deeply into Nubes's left ankle.
"Kuaaak!"
As Nubes collapsed in extreme pain, wind element magic flew again over his head.
Davian urgently fired wind element magic.
Swoosh!
Latia's and Davian's wind element magic intertwined in the air.
But Davian's wind element magic was too weak.
It was fired urgently.
And up to this point in the 2nd playthrough, 3rd grade, he was several levels below Latia's skill.
Latia's wind element magic, which canceled out Davian's wind element magic, was about to fly again towards Nubes's head.
Swish!
Bonita Fortis appeared and cut off the wind element magic with her sword.
"Nubes! Get back now!"
"But...!"
"The injured should get out! You'll only be a hindrance!"
Other friends quickly helped Nubes back.
Luna Puella was busy treating the injured at the back of the hallway.
Boom!
Bonita, who had cut down Latia's fireball, shouted.
"Davian, Nune! What are you doing! Aren't you paying attention? Can't you see Colson is being pushed back by Elaim? Go help! Billie! You follow me!"
Davian was confused.
He had just relived the end of the 1st playthrough.
And now he was on the road to the end of the 2nd playthrough.
He was sure that he was being hit by the lich's mental magic and past memories were being replayed.
But unless he moved on his own, his body wouldn't move.
Eventually, Davian got up on his own.
Looking at where Bonita was pointing, he saw Elaim and Colson, who were top students in the Department of Magic, fighting.
Elaim's eyes were slightly unfocused.
And Colson, who was in their camp, was being pushed back.
Davian unknowingly ran behind Colson and joined the fight.
It was hard to distinguish whether it was Davian's current will or Davian's will in the 2nd playthrough memory.
Latia Meridiem was the immovable number one in the Department of Magic.
Elaim Bristin was number two.
Colson Blake was number three.
Davian was next.
When Davian joined, Elaim began to be pushed back this time.
Davian turned his head to look at Latia.
Rex and Billie, holding swords, were firmly guarding Latia's front.
And Latia was indiscriminately firing magic at the approaching students.
'About this time, I came up with a brilliant idea.'
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