How a wizard lives 13

Chapter 13- The Extermination of the Demonic Beast.

The sun, which had once reached its zenith, slowly dipped below the mountain ridge.

As the sunset began, even the usually talkative mercenaries fell silent and began to tense up.

Night was the time of monsters.

Especially since the enemy they were about to face was a demonic beast that had already wiped out numerous groups.

“…The mages better do their job.”

“That old man is a court mage. That means he’s crazy strong, right?”

“Well, he should be. We just have to trust him and fight. What else can we do?”

The mercenaries ate their fill, perhaps for the last time.

And then, the forest night descended in an instant.

Unfortunately, clouds covered the sky, leaving little moonlight to aid them.

One mercenary looked up at the sky and muttered, ‘Damn, our luck’s rotten.’

The knights and mercenaries stayed armed, ready to fight at any moment if the demonic beast or monsters appeared.

The watch rotation was set, and the mercenaries began to lie down one by one.

Yurik, once again, didn’t go to sleep right away.

Instead of reading Adrian’s grimoire, he meditated and organized his magic, preparing himself to fight at any moment, just like the mercenaries and knights.

He mentally rehearsed the circuits of dozens of spells, stamping them into his mind one by one like a seal.

While most mages chanted runes to construct their spells, Yurik memorized entire circuits as if they were paintings.

To him, magic was like a masterpiece of circuits.

Once prepared, Yurik lay down. Perhaps because of the restless spirits of those who had died unjustly here, the cold rising from the ground felt even more intense than the night before.

The distant howl of a beast echoed unsettlingly.

The extermination team tossed and turned, unable to sleep easily.

—

Yurik’s eyes snapped open in the middle of the night.

The watchmen sitting around the campfire saw the handsome mage sit up abruptly and joked, ‘Did you get up to pee?’ But Yurik didn’t answer, only stared intently into the darkness.

The laughter died instantly.

“…Why are you looking so scary, man?”

“What’s there?”

Then Yurik spoke with certainty.

“Wake everyone up. It’s a horde of monsters.”

He wasn’t some rookie mercenary—he was a mage. And in a situation like this, he wouldn’t be joking.

The watchman bit his lip and rang the bell. Instantly, the entire extermination team sprang to their feet as if it were a lie.

“What’s going on? What’s happening? Is it the demonic beast?”

“It’s a horde of monsters!”

The court mage Dunmer, who had woken up with the alarm, quickly spread his mana around.

He confirmed it.

“It’s a horde of monsters! Everyone, get ready!”

Since all they needed was to grab their weapons, preparation was quick.

Team leader Thomas pushed the mages and civilians into the center.

“Protecting the mages is the top priority!”

As soon as he shouted the order, the horde of monsters surged out of the forest.

However, a horde of this scale had never been reported in this forest before.

Dunmer concluded that this was likely the work of the demonic beast.

“There might be a demonic beast nearby!”

When the court mage reported this to the team leader, Thomas shouted again to the team.

“There might be a demonic beast! Keep your guard up!”

And as soon as he finished speaking, the horde of monsters charged at the extermination team without hesitation.

Each monster had four blood-red eyes and pitch-black, spiky fur, making them hard to distinguish in the dark.

“Don’t let the formation break! Hold the line!”

The mercenaries and knights swung their weapons with all their might at the attacking monsters.

Though the monsters weren’t particularly strong, their numbers were overwhelming, and injuries began to pile up.

While they fought the monsters, the mages kept their eyes on the sky, ready to cast spells the moment the demonic beast appeared.

And finally.

The demonic beast revealed itself in the eastern sky.

“…There!”

The silhouette of the flying demonic beast grew larger as it approached.

It closed the distance to the extermination team and then suddenly dove at incredible speed.

The mages fired their spells without hesitation, but hitting the demonic beast, which could adjust its direction and speed at will, was no easy task.

The beast grabbed one of the carriages and soared back into the sky.

—!

Then, it hurled the carriage toward the extermination team.

As Team Leader Thomas hesitated whether to shout for everyone to dodge, Dunmer fired a mana bullet at the carriage.

It exploded mid-air, scattering debris.

“That damn bastard!”

The demonic beast circled above the team, disorienting them, before diving again at incredible speed.

The mages fired more mana bullets at the descending beast, but it twisted its body to dodge them.

At that moment, a dazzling magic circle appeared above Yurik’s head, and a white arrow, shaped like a feather, shot out.

…!

The demonic beast instinctively realized this was no ordinary spell and veered sharply,But unlike the mana bullets, the white arrow traced a graceful arc and pursued the beast.

The demonic beast soared high into the sky to create distance, and the white arrow gradually faded before disappearing.

“…It was too far. The power was also slightly lacking.”

Yurik’s demeanor changed as he closed and opened his eyes.

But next time, he wouldn’t miss.

He focused on the demonic beast, overlapping his palms diagonally. He compressed and twisted mana between his hands, then spread them upward as if scattering snow.

Powerful magic circles began to form one after another.

The refined mana circulating through Yurik’s body surged out and quickly infused into the magic circles he had drawn.

A brighter, more vivid white arrow shot out from the magic circle.

One, two, three, four. Four arrows shot into the sky like beams of light.

—!

The glowing white arrows left shimmering trails as they spiraled through the air.

The four arrows compressed and spun faster, transforming into a massive spear that shot toward the demonic beast at an impossible speed.

The demonic beast desperately increased its speed and changed direction, but it couldn’t escape the massive white spear.

The spear struck the beast, causing a tremendous explosion.

Ah.

The extermination team couldn’t tear their eyes away from the overwhelming aerial battle.

Some even suffered severe injuries from the monsters because they were distracted.

“Don’t lose focus! Deal with the monsters first!”

The demonic beast, having lost one of its wings, crashed to the ground.

The impact sent up a cloud of dust and a deafening crash.

Only then did the influence over the monsters seem to fade, and the horde that had been frantically attacking began to retreat.

But it was too early to celebrate.

“The demonic beast isn’t dead yet.”

At Yurik’s words, Team Leader Thomas nodded.

He had no intention of ending the battle until he saw the demonic beast’s corpse.

“Move to where it fell!”

Of course, they couldn’t take all the workers, coachmen, and injured with them, so the leader left part of the team behind and led the rest.

The court mage used wide-area mana detection to pinpoint the demonic beast’s location.

The team moved cautiously through the dark forest, keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

“Don’t let your guard down! Stay alert!”

Perhaps because they had tasted blood, everyone was on edge, breathing heavily.

After moving for a while, they finally found the fallen demonic beast.

As expected, it wasn’t dead yet. In fact, it was still very much alive.

Enraged and missing a wing, the demonic beast let out a strange screech and charged at the extermination team, slashing wildly with its sharp claws.

Though it wasn’t as fast as when it could fly, it was still a force to be reckoned with.

“Spread out!”

Team Leader Thomas ordered the team to scatter.

While they distracted the beast, the mages began chanting their spells. Of course, the most striking figure was the handsome mage, Yurik.

‘I’ll end it here.’

This was an evil creature that had claimed countless lives.

There was no room for mercy.

As the mages fired mana bullets at the beast, Yurik spread his arms and created a magic circle.

In this terrain full of obstacles, using mana arrows risked missing or even hitting allies.

There was only one way.

Yurik pointed two fingers at the sky and looked up.

Against the pitch-black night sky, a magic circle formed, and a massive hammer-shaped mass of mana emerged.

The moment Yurik pointed his fingers downward, it dropped onto the demonic beast’s head before it could react.

Kwaaaang—!

With an earth-shaking crash, the demonic beast’s body was crushed.

Fortunately, its hide wasn’t as tough as the Black Serpent of Eldrover Forest.

That monster had withstood this mass magic three times before finally dying on the fourth attempt.

The extermination team stared in stunned silence at the demonic beast, which had been frantically rampaging just moments ago, now crushed by a single hammer strike.

…And then, their gaze slowly shifted to the source of the magic.

The handsome mage, Yurik.

Through this battle, they had come to understand all too clearly just how terrifying a powerful mage could be.