How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 69: Prisoners of the Ship (6)

But Bahon could feel it.

The mana radiating from Karl was far weaker than at the start.

“You’re getting tired too, huh? Of course—you’ve been firing off spells nonstop. There’s no such thing as infinite mana.”

Bahon found a sliver of relief in the fact that his opponent was also being worn down.

Karl didn’t answer.

He simply flicked his hand—and something materialized in the air, landing in his grip. A potion containing a glowing blue liquid.

Gulp.

He downed it in a single swig and tossed aside the empty vial.

At once, mana surged from him again—strong and violent.

“Stop worrying about me. Worry about yourself.”

“......”

Bahon let out a hollow laugh.

None of this made any sense.

A potion that restored that much mana, instantly?

He didn’t know the details of potion types, but even he could tell that was absurd.

So... this is the end, huh.

The battle had already been tilted out of his favor. Now, the gap was final.

A flash of death and defeat swept through Bahon’s mind.

That young mage—was impossibly strong.

Every mage he had fought before felt like a half-measure by comparison.

Why, why did someone like this have to be aboard this ship, this time?

He shook off the bitter thought.

Bahon gathered his remaining aura, compressing it into his sword.

He forced his reflexes to their peak, preparing one final strike.

In a blur, he vanished—reappearing right at Karl’s side.

Karl had been expecting it. He was already focusing intensely.

Binding spells and frost magic surged forward to block Bahon’s approach.

BOOM!!

But Bahon accelerated again.

It was his secret technique—draining the last dregs of his aura.

He tore through the barrage of spells and charged directly in front of Karl.

A blood-red blade aura, condensed to its sharpest form, slashed downward at terrifying speed.

His goal: destroy the shield in one stroke—and cut Karl down along with it.

But then—

Shlkk.

Bahon’s body staggered.

The disrupted swing barely scratched the shield.

“......”

In disbelief, Bahon looked down at the icy spear that had pierced through his chest.

Why?

He had the opening...

Blood gushed from his mouth. Pain surged. And then he understood.

He... could’ve gone even faster.

It was simple.

Karl hadn’t been using his full speed all this time.

He’d held back—waiting for this final moment to land a fatal blow.

A monster...

Thud.

Bahon’s body crumpled to the deck.

The surrounding knights held their breath as they watched.

Then Henry—barely upright—staggered toward him.

He was seriously wounded, his chest slashed open deep.

Karl watched silently, but Henry raised a hand, signaling he was fine.

He stood over Bahon’s dying body, eyes heavy.

A cracked voice spilled from Bahon’s lips.

“I... don’t regret it.”

“......”

“I don’t regret becoming a murderous demon consumed by revenge. Even now, what I feel most is... regret that I couldn’t kill more. That I didn’t make him suffer enough...”

Henry’s eyes filled with a conflicted fury.

Meanwhile, the life was fading rapidly from Bahon’s gaze.

“...But I’m sorry to you. If hell really exists, I’ll surely fall into it. I’ll pay my dues there.”

And with that—Bahon breathed his last.

The long night of blood had ended.

Countless sailors and knights were dead—and now, so were the prisoners who had killed them.

Over the horizon, the sun was slowly beginning to rise.

The dawn’s glow glimmered over the half-destroyed ship, reflecting off the pools of blood.

* * *

Much of the ship had been wrecked—especially from the battle between Karl and Bahon—but with emergency repairs, it would hold up for the rest of the journey.

Henry and the surviving crew members expressed deep gratitude to Karl.

They’d always treated him with formality, but now their deference was far greater.

And how could it not be?

What Karl had displayed that night went beyond imagination.

Had he not been there, they would all be dead, and the ship entirely seized by the prisoners.

It was unthinkable—an unprecedented disaster.

As they cleared bodies from the deck and interior, they held brief ceremonies aboard the ship for the fallen sailors and knights. The knights also inspected the corpses of the prisoners one by one.

They had to make sure the headcount matched.

Many were too disfigured to recognize, making it difficult, but in the end, they confirmed everyone.

Days passed.

“......”

While the sailors and knights continued with cleanup,

Karl remained quietly in his quarters.

Reading.

Karl hadn’t stepped out during the past few days.

Everyone was busy, and the mood was already heavy from all the deaths. He didn’t want to draw attention or burden them further.

After killing Bahon, his level had risen from 55 to 56.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected a level-up. It had caught him off guard.

In most games, slaughtering lower-leveled enemies didn’t really yield experience.

That’s because games typically penalized you for killing enemies far beneath your level—granting drastically reduced XP.

Glorious Soul, the game Karl had once played and now found himself trapped inside, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} was far worse in that regard than most.

Unless you defeated someone of a much higher level—or at least similar—you barely gained any experience at all.

After reaching a certain point, Karl had only leveled up by killing enemies that truly posed a threat to his life.

The chimera Krurk, the grand shaman Garduka, and the demon he’d taken down during the ruins expedition—those were real enemies.

But this time...

The throwaway prisoners and even Aguf weren’t worth mentioning.

Bahon had been the only one higher-leveled than Karl, but even he hadn’t felt like a serious threat.

Was I already close to leveling up before that fight?

Karl couldn’t know the exact accumulation of experience. There wasn’t a visible XP bar or anything like that.

As he sat quietly, feeling the enhanced power of his upgraded Circle, he cut off the train of thought.

He gazed blankly out the window when—knock knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Meylin entered.

After a perfectly formal salute that felt borderline excessive, she said:

“We’re about to reach the Stemic Archipelago. I came to report.”

“Ah, is that so.”

So they were finally arriving.

He’d still need to transfer ships and continue traveling toward the Mon Continent, but the thought of touching solid ground again was a small relief.

Karl stepped out onto the deck. At the bow, Henry stood with his hands behind his back.

“Ah, there you are.”

He turned and smiled as Karl approached.

“How are you feeling?”

Though he’d been treated with healing magic, the injuries Henry and the knights had suffered weren’t going to disappear in just a few days.

“I wouldn’t say I’m fine, but I can manage. If a knight can’t endure wounds like these, he may as well resign his post.”

Henry sighed, then added:

“I owe you more than I can say. I already had a debt I could never repay to Lord Seindal, and now I’ve added one to his disciple.”

It was something Karl had heard more than ten times in the past few days.

Before Henry launched into another heartfelt speech, Karl quickly changed the subject.

“That island we’re starting to see... that must be the Stemic Archipelago.”

A fog-veiled island appeared in the distance.

Henry nodded.

“How long will the trade ship to the Mon Continent remain docked at the island?”

“Hmm... at least three days, maybe a week. The Mon Continent route is much longer than what we’ve done so far. We’ll need to resupply, let the sailors rest, all that.”

As they drew closer, the fog thickened around them.

Eventually, after pushing through the mist, the island loomed up before them.

Sailors and knights hurried across the deck, furling sails, adjusting the anchor, and preparing to disembark.

“We’ll need to hold a proper funeral for our fallen once we arrive.”

Henry murmured quietly as he gazed at the island.

At last, the long voyage was at its midpoint—Stemic Archipelago.

* * *

“Yeah, lower the planks over there. We need to unload the cargo properly.”

“Start clearing the third floor storage, not the second. We moved all the important goods up there.”

Sailors bustled around, unloading crates and moving supplies.

Karl disembarked first, alongside the knights.

The cold air kissed his skin—a faint chill, a feeling of unease in the atmosphere.

Karl had heard about the Stemic Archipelago on the way. He had a decent understanding now.

This was where Lugesium, the prison tower for convicts, was located—the core of the archipelago. The smaller surrounding islands were largely undeveloped.

So they used prisoners as expendable labor to push development forward.

At the perimeter, stationed guards gave the knights a cursory ID check.

When they saw no prisoners accompanying them, the guards were confused—until Henry explained the situation.

Their faces turned pale, and they quickly stepped aside.

They walked a good distance inland before the silhouette of a tower came into view.

“That must be Lugesium.”

“Indeed.”

Surrounding the massive tower were clusters of large and small buildings forming a settlement.

“The tower and the buildings attached to it are the prison facilities. Everything else is staff housing.”

Karl nodded and glanced around at the buildings.

Just then, a group approached from the opposite direction.

Several knights escorting a prisoner—headed somewhere.

“Oh? Henry?”

The armored figure at the front—judging by her voice, a woman—called out.

“It’s been a while. Is it already time for the next batch of prisoners? I lose track of time stuck on this island.”

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Henry offered a strained smile and nodded.

She looked past him and continued.

“But... where are the prisoners? Did you already transfer them to the tower?”

“Rail, you look busy. Let’s talk later.”

She gave a short laugh through her nose, eyeing Henry with mild amusement, then nodded.

“Alright, we’ll do that. But...”

Her gaze shifted to Karl, standing beside Henry.

“What’s with this brat? Don’t tell me a sailor managed to make it in here. Did the Black Shark Knights pick up a new recruit or something?”