How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 73: 6-Circle (4)

The unit members and the prisoners all panted raggedly, dazed, as they stared at the corpse of the swarm commander spider. It felt strangely surreal.

A rather anticlimactic end for a monster so monstrous they hadn’t even managed to land a proper hit on it, even with a full-force joint assault.

Naturally, all eyes turned to one young man, brushing dust off his robe.

"...Are you alright?"

Henry approached with his sword sheathed and asked Karl.

"I'm fine. What about you, sir?"

"I’ve taken some internal damage, but nothing serious."

Like everyone else, Henry was still in shock.

He just wasn’t showing it on his face because of what he’d already witnessed on the ship.

He’d known Karl was skilled ever since he took down all those prisoners alone—but magic that calls down lightning from the sky? Sure, the world was full of strange magic, but that was a first.

It was more than enough to inspire fresh awe.

"Still... it’s tragic. Too many have died..."

Henry looked around and muttered bitterly.

The ground was soaked red with blood, bodies strewn across it, and who knew how many more were still inside the spider’s gut.

Even among the survivors, half were critically wounded and barely able to move.

He noticed Rail struggling to her feet on one side, wearing a hollow expression.

Though Henry only handled prisoner transport and wasn’t close with the unit members managing the island, he could understand the despair she was feeling. He’d gone through something similar not too long ago himself.

Even for Squad 3, whose job revolved around unexplored territory and monster encounters, losses like this were unprecedented.

And if not for Karl, they would’ve all been wiped out.

‘That thing really was a goddamn nightmare.’

Henry finally voiced a question he’d been too busy to ask earlier.

"How did you know about that thing?"

He couldn’t help but wonder.

A monster from an unexplored zone—a red cocoon even the island personnel knew nothing about—Karl had recognized it precisely.

"I came across a reference in an old ancient text."

Karl answered without changing his expression.

Reading was always a convenient excuse.

"Regardless, thanks to you, at least this many made it out alive. If not for you, we’d be toast."

But Karl shook his head.

"It’s not over yet."

"...What?"

"Somewhere on this island, the queen spider is still hiding..."

Karl trailed off, turning his head.

Someone was approaching. It was Rail—helmet in one hand, staggering forward.

Her injuries were far worse than the others', and the nearby unit members had tried to stop her. But she’d made it all the way to Karl and Henry.

"......"

Red hair. Green eyes.

Her bare face was different than expected. Far from the rough look one might expect from a squad leader of Lugesium, she actually had a soft, almost fragile appearance.

She stared at Karl for a long moment, then bowed deeply.

"...I owe you a great debt."

A complete reversal from her earlier attitude.

As Henry had said, if not for Karl, Rail and the rest would’ve been devoured by the swarm commander spider.

Rail had been incapacitated before Karl even joined the fight, so she’d seen everything unfold while lying on ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the ground.

She alone had witnessed it clearly—Karl killing a prisoner and throwing the body into the spider’s mouth.

And then, the sudden explosion from inside the spider after it swallowed the corpse.

Of course, killing the prisoner wasn’t an issue. It was a necessary sacrifice. They were monsters—there was no reason to pity them.

She’d also seen Biden kill a unit member and try to run. If she had been physically able, she would’ve sliced his head off herself.

Only one thing stuck with her—Karl’s magic.

That was... not normal magic.

‘What the hell kind of spell was that? Did the body just explode?’

Questions popped up in her mind, but she didn’t dwell on them.

There were countless spells in the world. One that made corpses explode wasn’t exactly shocking.

More importantly, they had survived because of it.

"I’m sorry to bring more bad news, but this isn’t over."

Karl’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Now that she was here too, he continued his earlier explanation.

Puzzlement spread across both their faces.

"These spiders were all born from a single queen. And that queen isn’t a regular monster—she’s a magic beast."

"...A magic beast?"

"Yes. And like most magic beasts, she has a special ability. She's mentally linked to every member of her swarm."

Even after hearing that, Henry and Rail didn’t seem to grasp the full weight of it.

So Karl spelled it out.

"You still don’t get it? The queen is hiding somewhere on this island. And she just received a full relay of everything that just happened."

"...!!"

"The swarm's elite were wiped out. What do you think she'll do now? She’s probably already on her way here."

There was no need to spell out what exactly was coming.

"Hey! Over here!"

A unit member stationed on a rock for lookout screamed.

From the distance, a black tide came crashing toward them like a wave.

It was a swarm of spiders—far more than what they had faced before.

Everyone watched in horror.

"...Fucking hell."

One surviving prisoner muttered under his breath.

Out of the frying pan, into the inferno.

They’d barely escaped the giant spider, and now this?

"They’ve arrived faster than I expected."

Karl remained the only calm one, having predicted this exact outcome. Though inside, he was cursing up a storm.

"What... what should we do now?"

Rail asked, her voice completely subdued.

She was technically in charge, but she couldn’t make a call. Guilt weighed heavily on her—those unit members had died because she had rashly disturbed the cocoon.

So she had no choice but to turn to the only one who understood the situation: Karl.

"Everyone needs to do what they can."

Karl pointed.

Toward the bridge connecting to the central island.

"Get the injured, cross to the central island, and destroy the bridge so the spiders can’t follow."

Henry picked up something in Karl’s words.

It sounded like Karl had no intention of crossing over with them.

"What about you?"

"I’ll stay behind and find the queen spider."

That made Henry and Rail whip their heads around in shock.

"What are you talking about? The swarm is coming this way!!"

"This isn’t the whole swarm. More of those giant commander-types will show up too. You think breaking a single bridge will stop them from getting to the central island? If we don’t locate and eliminate the queen, it won’t end."

"But still—how the hell do you plan to find her?! You don’t even know where she is!"

"I have my ways. There’s no time to explain. Just follow my lead."

The situation was urgent.

In the end, Henry and Rail could only follow Karl’s plan, confused and reluctant. They offered to help, but Karl flat-out refused, saying they’d only get in the way.

Left alone, Karl watched them walk away.

Then looked again at the incoming spider horde and clicked his tongue.

"Goddamn vermin, there’s a lot of you."

There was a simple reason Karl was going this far.

The appearance of a commander-tier meant the swarm was already enormous, and from how things looked, a full invasion wasn’t far off.

Put simply, one wrong move and he’d die here with the rest of them.

He didn’t know the exact scale of Lugesium’s total strength, but there was no way they could handle an army led by the queen spider. And with the sea surrounding them on all sides, there was nowhere to run.

He could already picture it: corpses piling up, prisoners going berserk, people fighting to the death over the few remaining ships.

‘Did the Stemic Archipelago get overrun by the spider queen in the future?’

He wasn’t sure.

The era when he’d played as a shaman had been during the height of the Great Dark Magic War. The continent was a complete mess.

Countless nations had fallen. The Sehton Kingdom was probably one of them.

There was no real game storyline tied to a country that no longer existed. Especially not to a remote place like the Stemic Archipelago.

Maybe there was some minor background lore that mentioned it in passing—but Karl didn’t know every detail like that.

Either way, what mattered now was finding and killing the queen spider, Kainbella.

Kill her, and the swarm would scatter without their leader.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

Not only was the swarm massive, but the queen herself was incredibly strong—even stronger than a commander.

Normally, she’d be untouchable. But Karl had one ace.

<Quest: Save Lugesium>

Defeat the spider queen Kainbella and protect peace in Lugesium.

Kainbella is currently undergoing molting. It is recommended to kill her before the process completes.

Quest Reward: To be determined.

It had been a while since he’d seen a quest pop up in his head.

“Peace” in the continent’s worst prison island? Kinda ridiculous.

Anyway, the quest clearly stated that Kainbella was in the middle of molting.

And Karl knew: while molting, she’d be drastically weaker than usual.

‘But seriously... what the hell does “reward to be determined” mean?’

He tilted his head, but there was no time to stand around.

Shhhraaaaa!

The light drizzle turned into a torrential downpour.

Karl moved behind a nearby rock and cast a spell.

CRACK!

He used force magic to dig deep into the ground, climbed in, cast a shield, and covered the hole back with dirt.

Thud, thud, thud...

The rumbling overhead signaled the spider horde passing above.

It was a long time before the vibrations stopped.

Once he confirmed with detection magic that they’d fully passed, Karl clawed his way back up to the surface.

"......"

He scanned the area, then began rummaging through the corpses of the spiders.

Eventually, he found one that was relatively intact and cast a spell.

FWOOOM!

The spider absorbed a dark aura, twitched, and slowly rose.

It had been a while since he last used dark magic.

He avoided it whenever possible—but this time, it was the only way to find the queen.

Not like anyone would notice. It’s not like that crazy old cultist was still around to track magic traces.

Besides, he had the holy sword as a last resort. No one would accuse him of being a dark mage.

Sure, he knew dark magic, but it was insulting to lump him in with those freaks.

"Go. Lead me to where your queen is hiding."

Karl ordered the spider, which was now staring up at him.

Every time he used this necromancy spell, he was reminded—it was practically a cheat code for tracking.