How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 21: Orc Invasion (6)

Sure, they had two mages on their side—but they were up against a grand shaman.

To create optimal conditions for the elite knights to fight, they needed to close the gap as much as possible.

Just as planned, the group steered their horses around to approach from behind the shaman, rather than from the side.

“Let’s dismount here.”

This was the true beginning.

Dismounting at a safe distance, the five of them began to slowly close in on the shaman on foot.

【Silence】

Karl cast a spell to suppress all sound.

Mayer let out a small breath of awe.

“You really know every damn spell. That one’s usually only learned by mercenary mages.”

It wouldn’t completely mask their presence—not the spiritual one, anyway—but it would help them get as close as possible.

The elite knights led the way, moving cautiously.

Karl and Mayer followed close behind.

They were now within a hundred paces.

Without a word, the group instinctively held their breath as they crept toward the shaman.

“...”

The knights came to a sudden stop.

The shaman had reacted.

‘We’ve been spotted.’

The shaman slowly, sluggishly turned his head.

Through the thick curtains of matted hair, glowing red eyes flickered and scanned them.

Everyone felt it at once.

That bizarre chill, the hair-raising wrongness, and the suffocating pressure of an overwhelmingly powerful presence.

‘Goddammit.’

Karl gave a humorless laugh inside.

Lately, he’d been running into way too many enemies way above his level.

This was going to be another life-or-death fight, no doubt—but after his near-death experience last time, it all felt a little more distant. A little more numb.

If I die, I die. Maybe that’s what sends me back to Earth. Fine by me.

Still... odds are in our favor.

If the opponent had been a Swordmaster or Archmage, this group wouldn’t stand a chance. They’d be wiped out before the fight even began.

But this was a shaman.

Shamanism was fundamentally different from swordsmanship or magic—more complex, more esoteric. Harder to counter if you didn’t understand it.

Which meant: if you did know the counters, you could bridge the power gap—even if the difference in level was vast.

And more importantly, Garduka was currently maintaining the Ritual of Madness across the entire orc army. That alone tied up most of his power.

Karl stared back at Garduka, eyes calm.

“...You little rats figured it out after all.”

Garduka’s voice scraped the air like rusted metal.

FWOOM!

At the same time, a translucent black field burst out from around him.

Karl shouted, “Don’t counterattack!”

Because they’d been warned beforehand, the elite knights didn’t panic.

They didn’t even raise their swords—just stood there and let the black field wash over them.

It passed harmlessly through their bodies and faded without a trace.

Garduka’s brow twitched.

A spell—Scorn of the Exile.

A reflective curse that bounces any attack made within the field back at the attacker.

If the knights had responded with aura or sword strikes, they’d be critically wounded right now.

FWOOOSH!

From behind, Mayer cast a massive burst of azure flames.

The blaze roared across the ground but simply fizzled out against the silver barrier surrounding Garduka.

Using that moment as a distraction, the elite knights charged in.

“You wretches!”

Garduka waved his hand again, and the ground turned black—then erupted.

Black, shadowy creatures emerged. Twisting, slippery forms with glowing red cores in their centers.

Another spell—Maws of the Abyss.

One Karl had warned about ahead of time.

The knights didn’t try to strike the flailing limbs. They just evaded—because they already knew attacking those parts would do nothing but make the monsters cling.

To kill them, you had to hit the red core.

BOOOM!

As the knights handled the monsters, Karl and Mayer bombarded Garduka with magic.

Everything was blocked by his barrier—but it was enough to keep pressure on.

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“...This bastard’s way stronger than I thought,” Mayer muttered, visibly rattled as his spells were all deflected.

“Once the knights finish off the monsters, we’ll get our opening. Keep pressing.”

Karl kept his focus locked on Garduka.

He had no idea what kind of spell might come next.

SHHK!

Eventually, the elite knights destroyed the last of the Abyss Maws.

Without hesitation, they charged Garduka again.

Mayer lit up, ready to unleash support magic—

BOOM!

—when Karl’s vision suddenly blurred.

A surge of searing pain followed.

He barely choked # Nоvеlight # down a scream and looked down.

His entire right torso was gone. Blood fountained out in torrents.

“Gghhhh...!!”

The world reeled—but Karl steadied his thoughts.

It’s not real.

This wasn’t real.

Lose that grip on reality, fall into the hallucination, and you die for real.

Karl bit down hard—his molars crushing into his cheek.

The taste of real blood and real pain jolted him back. His vision cleared.

“H-hhhuuuh...”

Mayer and the knights stood frozen, dazed.

All of them had fallen into the illusion.

Karl had warned them beforehand that Garduka used a hallucinatory curse, but experiencing it firsthand made it far harder to resist.

Karl cast a weakened lightning spell.

CRACK!

“Gah!”

The electric jolt snapped the knights out of their daze.

Illusion curses were terrifying because once you fell in deep, it was hard to escape. But they were vulnerable to physical shock.

“W-What the hell was that?!”

“It was a hallucination. Get it together and attack him!”

Karl approached Mayer, who was still unresponsive.

Unlike the knights, Mayer didn’t have the body to endure an electric shock. Even at low power, it might’ve done real damage.

THWACK!

Karl punched him square in the face. Mayer crumpled.

Then slowly looked up at Karl with a stunned expression.

“You were hallucinating. I snapped you out of it.”

“...Much obliged. I think you knocked a few teeth loose, though.”

Groaning, Mayer got back on his feet and quickly began casting again.

Garduka threw everything he had at them after that, unleashing a barrage of shamanic curses.

But Karl’s leadership blocked them all.

The elite knights got in close and battered his barrier, while Karl and Mayer rained down magic from the rear.

Garduka’s face twisted as the tide turned.

“You... You damn insects...”

BOOM!

A shockwave erupted—flinging all the knights backward.

“Not one of you will leave this place alive!”

And then came what Karl had been expecting:

The worst-case scenario.

KRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!

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At Garduka’s enraged roar, the orcs clinging to the distant city walls began to stir.

They started to move—toward them.

A green wave surged from the horizon. Mayer let out a grim sound through his teeth.

“So... it’s come to this.”

“It’s late, actually. Nothing’s changed—we still do what we came to do.”

Now there was simply a time limit.

They had to kill Garduka before that orc army reached them.

“He’s hit his limit. That’s why he called for reinforcements! Keep pushing!”

The knights nodded and began to charge Garduka again—just as he sneered and raised both hands.

“Heh... let’s see you squirm now!”

Shhhh.

The space around them distorted. Darkness swallowed the area—and at the same moment, a message flickered across Karl’s vision.

[You are trapped within ‘Dark Binding Field.’]

[Mana and Aura usage is restricted.]

“...?!”

What the hell?

Karl froze, genuinely thrown off.

‘Dark Binding Field’? That’s not part of Garduka’s attack pattern.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with the spell.

It was a wide-area skill Karl had used all the time when playing the shaman class.

But players used it. Not Garduka.

Which meant one thing: the boundary between game and reality had shifted again.

This was one of the variables he’d feared.

There’s no direct damage from this spell... but if I stay stuck here too long, the orcs will catch up...

The entire world had gone pitch black.

And with mana and aura sealed, none of the others could do a damn thing.

But that goes for him too.

While maintaining Dark Binding Field, Garduka wouldn’t be able to cast anything else. And he couldn’t see in this darkness either.

Karl dug deep into his memory and began walking.

Back when he used to PVP against shamans, he’d maintained over an 80% win rate.

The reason?

Those idiot shaman players never realized that the Dark Binding Field followed a set pattern. Most let their guard down, thinking they were safe.

Thirty steps forward, ten to the left, then twenty more forward.

That was the path to reach the caster.

Take a single step wrong and you’d get dragged deeper into the binding field. But Karl’s footsteps were unwavering.

Finally, he stopped.

From his inventory, he drew a dagger.

Then drove it forward with all his strength.

THUCK!

At the same moment, the darkness dissipated.

Garduka stood before him, eyes wide, blood trailing from the dagger embedded in his chest.

“...You... How did you...?”

“Karl!”

The knights, still recovering from the confusion, saw them and rushed over.

SHLUKK!

Blades pierced Garduka’s neck, head, heart.

The light drained from his eyes.

“Huff...”

Was that it? Was he finally dead?

Karl’s legs gave out, and he stumbled back—only for Garduka’s eyes to blaze once more with rage.

「You little bastard! You dare ruin my life’s vengeance, you wretched brat?!」

FWOOM!

Darkness surged again.

Karl instinctively tried to cast—but like with the binding field, his mana wouldn’t respond.

“...!!”

Frozen in place, he stared at Garduka’s soul, now burning with spectral fire.

「You’re coming with me! Don’t think you’ll die a simple death! I’ll twist your soul and your body’s bond—turn you into a wandering corpse, denied peace, denied rest! I’ll offer up my soul just to trap you in eternal agony—!」

Garduka shrieked with laughter.

「You’ll belong to neither the world of the living nor the dead. You’ll suffer for all eternity and—wait... what...?」

He suddenly faltered.

「You... What are you? Why is your soul already severed from your body?」

Staring at Karl in disbelief.

「Th-This can’t be...! How are you walking around in that state? What are you?! No—no! I won’t go alone! Give me back my soul! Nooooo—!!」

His shrieking turned to panic.

Then, with a final scream, Garduka’s spirit was sucked into the void.

Shhhk.

The darkness dissolved, and the real world returned once again.

“...The hell was that,” Karl muttered.

What was that freak even trying to do?

He glanced around in a daze.