How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 39: Ruins Exploration (5)

Karl felt it first.

He was about to quietly raise his mana, sure that something was about to happen, when he was jolted by the sudden pressure surrounding them.

‘...What the hell? When did this happen?’

THUD!

A mage tried to rush Tobaz but was flung back mid-air, hitting something invisible.

"What the—? What is this?!"

The mage lay on the ground, stunned.

Somehow, an invisible barrier had surrounded the entire expedition.

Outside the barrier stood only Tobaz, off to the side—and next to him, looking confused, was Arman.

"Uncle? What is this...?"

BOOM!

Tobaz blasted Arman with a shockwave, sending him flying into the barrier, crashing to the ground.

Arman clutched his face, blood pouring from his nose as he looked up in horror.

"U-Uncle! What the hell are you doing?!"

Now, only Tobaz remained outside the barrier.

He just stood there, grinning, watching the people trapped inside like an audience watching caged animals.

"I’ll give you a hint. You’re all sacrifices."

Sacrifices?

No one understood.

All they knew was that Tobaz had clearly betrayed the expedition, and the panic spreading was real.

Karl wanted nothing more than to fry that smug face with lightning magic, but he couldn’t.

Because his instincts screamed at him.

There was no way to break this barrier.

This wasn’t just some spell formed from Tobaz’s mana. If it was, Karl would’ve smashed through it already.

‘...Divine power?’

Divine power.

The essence of gods.

Karl recognized it because he’d once felt the divine power of the Holy Sword Dreudante.

But this barrier didn’t carry any of that holy, sacred aura.

It was twisted, chilling. Dark and sticky like a pit of despair.

And right on cue, a system message popped into Karl’s mind, telling him exactly where that power came from.

[You have entered the 'Domain of the Evil God.']

[Gallios, the Evil God of Anguish, will test you through four trials.]

[You cannot leave the domain until all trials are complete.]

"What is the meaning of this, Tobaz?!"

"Tobaz! What are you doing?!"

BOOM! BANG!!

Some of the sharper knights and mages sprang into action.

They unleashed sword energy and spells at the barrier, but it was useless. Nothing made a dent.

Tobaz just stood there, watching their efforts with a smug grin before speaking again.

"Good luck."

CRASH!!

With those words, the ground beneath them gave way.

The chamber floor collapsed in an instant.

Though the fall caught them by surprise, no one screamed.

These weren’t amateurs.

The knights strengthened their bodies with aura, bracing for impact. The mages cast spells to slow their descent.

Pakion and the adventurers each handled it in their own way.

The few priests, and Karl, had nearby mages helping them land safely.

THUMP... THUD...

One by one, everyone landed without injury.

And then, as they looked around at the new space below, they were struck speechless.

"...What is this place?"

Massive pillars rose all around them.

Geometric patterns etched into the floor.

Ahead, a huge stone door, just like the one before—and beside it, a solitary statue.

They had fallen into an underground space far larger than the previous chamber.

No one could make sense of the situation.

Only that Tobaz had betrayed them, pulled some insane stunt, and now they were royally screwed.

Only Karl had some idea, piecing things together.

‘...The Domain of an Evil God?’

An Evil God.

As the name implied—gods of malevolence.

Beings that delighted in tormenting humans, who long ago summoned demons from the underworld, plunging the world into chaos. Defeated by the gods of order and peace, they vanished into myth and history.

And now this was the domain of one such being—Gallios, the Evil God of Anguish.

A memory from his future knowledge flickered in Karl’s mind.

‘Gallios... wasn’t there a demon empowered by him that rampaged somewhere in the lore?’

Yeah, near Ormantis, if he remembered right.

A ton of mercenaries died, and a few noble houses got wiped out. Funny how he remembered now.

But that was all he needed to understand the situation.

‘There’s a demon tied to Gallios inside this ruin, and Tobaz dragged the expedition here as a sacrifice.’

And the goal was obvious.

Didn’t Tobaz already say it? Sacrifice.

Not to mention, Helzar School—the one Tobaz belonged to—had deep ties to demons.

Evil Gods, demons, and dark mages rooted in demon kings.

These three had always been twisted together in some perverse symbiosis.

If Tobaz planned to offer the expedition as a sacrifice to a demon of Anguish hiding in these ruins, it all made sense.

Except for one thing.

‘Why go through all this trouble?’

If he just wanted sacrifices, he could’ve taken them straight to the demon.

Why drag them into an Evil God’s domain and set up all these theatrics?

Karl cut off that line of thought.

The tension among the group was spiking.

SHINK!

The knights of the marquis drew their swords and pointed them at the mages.

One knight spat the words out like poison.

"What the hell is this? What are you plotting?"

It was a natural reaction.

Tobaz had led this expedition and represented the Earth School.

Their anger had to go somewhere—and it turned on the mages.

"W-We don’t know anything! We’re just as trapped as you!"

The mages were furious in their own right—just as betrayed as the knights.

The priests and adventurers stood between them, glancing around nervously.

"Everyone, calm down."

Karl stepped forward, holding the knights back.

"The mages are probably just as confused. You saw what happened, right? Look..."

He pointed.

At Arman, sitting stunned on the ground.

"M-Me? What about me...?"

He flinched under the sudden attention.

"That’s Tobaz’s nephew. He was thrown in here too. Betrayed by his own uncle. How are the rest of them any different?"

"......"

"I get how you feel, but look at the situation. If they were all in on it, why are they trapped with us? This is Tobaz acting alone. We’ve all been caught in it."

Coming from Karl—the one who’d done the most so far—his words carried weight.

The knights exchanged looks, then slowly lowered their swords.

Rosariel also stepped forward, giving her order.

"Right now, we need to work together. Let’s start by examining our surroundings."

Following her lead, the expedition began searching the area.

But there was nothing.

It didn’t take long to realize they were completely trapped.

"That barrier from before—it’s here too."

One of ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the mages spoke in despair.

This underground space was sealed, just like the chamber above.

There was no way out.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Even if they tried to climb back up, the barrier would still be there.

— Humans.

A voice echoed from somewhere.

Everyone spun around in shock.

The source of the voice was the statue standing beside the stone door.

"Did... did that thing just speak...?"

Dark light now flickered in the statue’s eyes.

The grotesque sight left them speechless.

The statue’s voice continued.

— Enter the stone door to begin the trials. There are four in total. If you pass them all, you will be granted freedom. Fail, and you shall become nourishment for the great Gallios.

The voice fell silent.

Eril muttered, bewildered.

"Trials? Gallios? What kind of bullshit is this..."

Everyone felt the same.

Thrown into some unknown place, now they had a talking statue and so-called "trials" to deal with?

"What the hell are you talking about! Stop with this nonsense and let us out of here!"

Arman shrieked, practically frothing.

The statue gave no response.

"You bastard! Don’t ignore me!"

BOOM!!

Arman hurled a massive fireball at the statue.

But not even a scratch appeared.

Instead, the statue’s eyes lit up again, and it swung the massive spear it held toward Arman.

FLASH! BOOM!!

A blinding light ripped through the space, splitting the ground in two.

Literally.

"...Ugh! AAAAAH!"

Arman collapsed, screaming.

The ground-cleaving strike had missed him by inches.

What an idiot.

Karl clicked his tongue in annoyance.

How could someone follow the script of "dumbass who makes everything worse" so perfectly?

The statue’s terrifying power left everyone stunned.

— Attack will be met with retaliation. That was your only warning. Facing me instead of the trials is a foolish choice, humans.

The light in its eyes faded once more.

While the others stood frozen in shock, someone whispered.

"What... the hell is that thing..."

One strike made it clear—the statue was not something they could fight.

Of course, Karl had already known that. He could see its level.

No chance.

Karl felt a twinge of guilt.

He hadn’t had a chance to kill Tobaz discreetly, but still—he was the only one who’d known Tobaz’s true nature.

He’d been arrogant, thinking he could handle whatever Tobaz tried.

He never expected to be dragged into a god’s domain.

And now, here he was, caught like a rat in a trap, because he failed to stop that bastard.

Although, some blame also lay with the quest that told him to uncover Tobaz’s plans rather than kill him outright.

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What, I wouldn’t have found out about the demon if I’d just killed him?

Whatever the reason, the quest had screwed him again.

Maybe getting trapped here was all part of its plan.

[An emergency quest has appeared.]

< Emergency Quest: Pass the Trials >

You are trapped in Gallios, the Evil God of Anguish’s domain. Complete all four trials to escape.

Quest reward: 50,000 SP, 2 random magic tools.

Of course it is, you fucker.

Karl let out a deep sigh.

How long did he have to keep dancing to the tune of these goddamn quests?

He shouldn’t have come to the ruins. He should’ve stayed in the inn, waiting for news from the information guild. Too late for regrets now.

The only way out was to pass the trials.

The system message made that clear.

No matter how much the Evil Gods had lost their power, no matter how deep they had hidden underground, they were still gods.

A mere human couldn’t escape their domain by force.

Trials, huh...

Trials.

A favorite method of the Evil Gods, designed to twist fate without violating causality.

Karl chose to think positively.

It’s a quest, so it’ll be doable.

Quests never asked for the impossible.

Whatever these trials were, they wouldn’t be beyond his ability to overcome.

Pass the trials, get out of this place, and then find Tobaz and break him.

And with that, he’d know exactly what Tobaz was up to.

Complete the quest, and get out of this cursed ruin as fast as possible.

Then no more of this nonsense—he’d focus entirely on finding a way back to Earth.

This would be the last time he played along with the quest system’s bullshit.

[Lv.38]

[Apostate, Worshipper of an Evil God]

With his mind made up, Karl glanced at the priestess.

She was biting her lip, eyes darting around.

Clearly trying to suppress a laugh.

Oh, fuck...

She’d figured it out.

Of course she had—no Evil God worshipper wouldn’t recognize Gallios.

Karl felt a pounding headache. This was ridiculous.

She didn’t seem to be working with Tobaz, since she was trapped here too, but what were the odds of something like this?

From now on, she’d be the bigger threat than the spy.

The statue had said they’d be "nourishment" if they failed the trials. She’d probably do everything she could to sabotage them.

Karl turned to the group.

"That door looks like our only way out. Am I wrong?"

He pointed to the stone door. Everyone nodded grimly.

"But do we even know what these trials are? Are we just walking in blind?"

"Do you see any other way out? The longer we wait, the more exhausted we’ll get. If we’re going to try, it’s better to do it now."

The priestess immediately chimed in.

"He’s right. If we work together, we can overcome this. The gods will guide us."

The irony of her words made Karl want to vomit, but at least she was helping convince the others.

One by one, they agreed.

Better to try than to sit here and rot.

After a brief discussion, the expedition gathered before the stone door.

"Everyone ready?"

The knights and mages lined up, nodding.

Karl pushed against the stone door.

Grrrrk...

It scraped open slowly, cold air rushing out.

Inside, the first thing they saw was a massive glowing word floating in mid-air.

「Trial of Wisdom」