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The Wizard’s Escape Strategy (3)

“I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”

Backstab scratched under his chin.

He couldn’t remember anything.

He had heard that Aimus’s party was attacked and rushed into the labyrinth, but from then on, his memory was hazy and unclear.

When he came to his senses, he was on the sanctuary roof in a very urgent situation, chewing garbage in his mouth.

Ptui.

When he spat it out, it was a hair tie.

Then everyone was chattering about Aimus, Aimus, and the wizard suddenly…

“He shouted loudly to use a dagger, so I threw it as I figured I should, and it seems like I did it right?”

“……”

“But where exactly is this place? Are these people Brother Aimus’s new party… Urgh!”

Suddenly Aimus rushed over and hugged Backstab tightly.

“Thank goodness.”

“I can’t breathe!”

“Thank goodness.”

“Why are you being so disgusting!”

“Let’s go outside and talk. I’ll tell you everything.”

Following Backstab’s revival, another piece of good news came in.

“Caleb!”

Yernil appeared in the distance, waving her hand.

Next to her, having perfectly carried out her special mission, stood the dwarf wizard.

Although this side was on a 7-meter high roof and that side was on the field, creating quite a distance between them.

“Austin!”

The hot-tempered barbarian’s shout echoed far into the distance.

This side had finally reunited as well.

“Thank goodness you’re alive!”

“You stupid fools! What are you doing there instead of running away all this time!”

The dwarf also shouted toward the roof.

“Better than someone who fell behind long ago! You idiot! Good to see you alive!”

The Halfling shouted with reddened eyes.

“Yeah! You morons! When I opened my eyes, there was a pretty Elf instead of your ugly face, so it was twice as good! Damn!”

“Austin! Austin! Sniff sniff!”

Suddenly the barbarian, despite his large build, started crying.

“Now, everyone.”

I moved forward and changed the topic.

“I understand you’re all happy to be reunited, but we’re still in danger. Especially Yernil and the dwarf – if you keep making noise over there, you’ll draw the Sentinels’ aggro, so now shush!”

Caleb put his finger to his lips, signaling for quiet.

“From now on, I’ll speak quietly. The dwarf won’t be able to hear, but Yernil will listen and let him know.”

He said.

“I’ll only explain once, so listen carefully to the operation.”

***

The display case was 5 meters high, and the roof that could barely be reached by jumping from its top was over 7 meters high.

So here’s a question.

How do you escape from a 7-meter high sanctuary roof surrounded by monsters and move to a gate 30 meters away?

First, just jumping down would be suicide.

The moment we fall, the Sentinels will chase us like crazy.

Moreover, the strength monk and paladin, who are somewhat lacking in agility here, have a high chance of ankle injuries, and for me, it’s not just a possibility but 100% guaranteed ankle damage.

Therefore, we need to subdue the Sentinels and the Manager so they can’t move, then quickly escape.

“For that, I need to use one big magic spell, which requires about 30 seconds. Let’s hold out for a bit.”

30 seconds is the remaining cooldown of the hourglass.

If combat were in full swing, it would be an incredibly long time, but we can hold out now.

Why?

Because the Sentinels also need time to get out of the roof debris and regroup.

Besides, those guys don’t have proper long-range attack methods either.

The Manager can fire decay rays with a wand, but the roof itself becomes covered, so the angle won’t work.

There’s only one way they can attack us.

“They’ll climb up the display case.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than one Sentinel climbed up the display case and poked his head onto the roof.

Thunk!

The barbarian immediately swung his axe and chopped off the guy’s head.

“Never let corpses pile up on the roof. The Manager can restore undead. If the roof starts getting occupied, it’s over.”

Then the barbarian quickly dropped the Sentinel’s corpse below the display case.

“I’ll hold this position.”

He burned with fighting spirit with a determined expression, but the barbarian has a different job.

“No. Backstab and Bernard will handle this position.”

“Understood.”

Bernard readily accepted, but Backstab’s memory was still a bit outdated.

“Sorry, but my party leader is Brother Aimus, so I should follow his instructions…”

“Do as you’re told!”

“Listen to him!”

“It would be good to listen to Caleb.”

Criticism poured from all directions.

“What, what is this. Okay. I got it.”

The flustered Backstab quickly agreed. Aimus nodded and taught him.

“Backstab. Right now, our party leader is Caleb.”

“This wizard? He’s totally…”

Backstab whispered in Aimus’s ear.

“Just a kid.”

Damn. You want to taste a 4-shot Lightning Shock show?

I admit being small though.

“Anyway, please, Backstab.”

“What happens after those 30 seconds?”

The Halfling asked.

“After that, I’ll briefly hold the enemies with large-scale lightning magic. We can escape during that gap. First, Yernil!”

I gave instructions to Yernil.

“Move to the front of the gate with the dwarf wizard and hide. Then when I summon clouds, use earthen wall magic.”

Yernil nodded and began moving quietly with the dwarf.

’10 seconds left.’

***

After the cooldown returned, I carefully headed to the end of the half-destroyed roof.

Now the Sentinels that had mostly escaped from the roof debris were swarming.

The Manager was also among them.

The Manager is smart.

Instead of recklessly climbing onto the roof or using magic to destroy the roof, he was creating an encirclement to prevent us from escaping by surrounding the inside and outside of the sanctuary.

But what’s about to happen will be beyond what you can imagine.

I aimed my wand toward the inside of the sanctuary and cast magic.

“Cumulonimbus.”

While flipping the hourglass.

[Your turn. Remaining time: 60 seconds]

[Action Points: ■■■■]

***

Let’s wait for the cooldown.

Cumulonimbus’s cooldown is 15 seconds.

During this time, I design the thunder and lightning show that will decorate the finale of this escape battle.

How should Cumulonimbus be arranged?

At roof height.

If I set it higher, it’ll be hard for us to escape.

But it can’t be too low. The rainfall range will become smaller.

At a consistent roof height, thoroughly filling the half-destroyed area of the sanctuary to the space in front of the main gate and the left and right sides of the sanctuary.

“Cumulonimbus.”

Cumulonimbus will pour out an enormous amount of rain in an instant, and the earthen wall will prevent that water from flowing over toward the gate.

Since it’s only a 30-meter distance, precisely dividing the two areas is key.

To use the 15-second Cumulonimbus four times within the hourglass’s 60 seconds, I need to match the timing like playing a rhythm game.

Right when the remaining time becomes 30 seconds.

“Cumulonimbus.”

[Your turn. Remaining time: 30 seconds]

[Action Points: ■■□□]

Cumulonimbus is a type of summoning magic.

Every 3 seconds, a summon called Cumulonimbus fires additional lightning strikes at targets hit by lightning magic.

In the game, with a 15-second cooldown and 30-second duration, it was too short to summon on a large scale and use.

Even drinking cooldown reduction potions, maintaining about three Cumulonimbus at once was the limit.

“Cumulonimbus.”

[Your turn. Remaining time: 15 seconds]

[Action Points: ■□□□]

I once tried a perverted combination like a 4-wizard Cumulonimbus build to get the most out of a Cumulonimbus build, and it was strong.

The problem was that the wizards kept dying before all the clouds could be summoned.

But now it’s fine.

“Cumulonimbus.”

At the 0-second mark, I efficiently used the last action point.

[Action Points fully consumed.]

[Ending turn.]

[The hourglass has been flipped again. Cooldown: 60 seconds]

I immediately flip the temporary hourglass.

[Your turn. Remaining time: 60 seconds]

[Action Points: ■■]

After waiting another 15 seconds, I summon the sixth cloud.

“Cumulonimbus.”

The clouds had already covered the sanctuary as if surrounding it.

It’s like being on top of Lotte Tower’s observation deck and looking out the window. There are clouds under my feet.

“Cumulonimbus.”

I finish with the seventh cloud.

[Action Points fully consumed.]

[Ending turn.]

Drip. Drip.

Patter patter.

As the stopped time flows, raindrops fall.

Whoooosh!

Pouring torrential rain.

The rapidly swelling rainwater began to flood, sweeping away the Sentinels and the Manager.

And into that, one sharp thing.

“Lightning Shock.”

***

“What the…”

Dwarf wizard Austin’s mind went blank for a moment at the shocking sight.

Suddenly, massive black clouds gathered in front of the sanctuary and began pouring tremendous rainfall.

“Use earthen wall magic! Quickly!”

Yernil shouted.

“Ah, oh right. That’s right.”

The dwarf aimed his wand and quickly chanted.

“Rise up! Border earthen wall!”

The dirt ground surged up, surrounding the sanctuary in a semicircle.

At first glance, it looked like a castle wall, but it wasn’t. That was a ‘dam’ to prevent rainwater from flowing over to this side.

“……”

Torrential rain was pouring beyond the dam, causing a flood.

It was somewhat shocking to the dwarf.

Magic capable of causing that level of precipitation only appears when you reach 3rd-grade Spellbook, so how could a 1st floor wizard…?

If he had consecutively cast something among 1st and 2nd grade magic that summons clouds, he would have had to cast consecutively about six or seven times in a short time to achieve that.

‘They said he was an Ultra-high-speed caster.’

The dwarf, being a wizard himself, remembered hearing such rumors somewhere.

‘It must be true.’

It’s a talent among the highest ranks of wizards’ talents.

And those black clouds weren’t just pouring rainwater…

CRACK!

BOOM!

CRACK!

They were madly pouring lightning strikes down into the torrential rain on the ground.

The water flow that rapidly swelled with massive rainwater surged like an overflowing river inside the sanctuary, and the lightning pouring down created hell.

BOOM!

A torrent of lightning.

That’s the only way to describe it. Insane river water with high-voltage current flowing through it swept through the inside and outside of the sanctuary.

“Wait a minute. But…”

Austin, whose mind had gone blank for a moment at the monstrous magic, finally came to his senses.

“How are they going to get out of there?”

“The barbarian will come over first.”

“What does that mean?”

“Get-out-of-the-way-! Austin!”

“Huh?”

It was real.

The ugly barbarian was leaping over the clouds and jumping over the earthen wall, flying toward this side.

***

“He seems to have flown well.”

A frail body like mine would have no intact parts even if I jumped down vertically and used breakfall techniques, but a sturdy barbarian can jump and fly over 20 meters.

‘Barbarian long jump.’

When I heard that the barbarian had that skill, I devised this operation. The barbarian first escapes by long jumping over the clouds.

By the way, you’re really an amazing wizard, Caleb!

To use such water techniques in a place without water!

Pfft.

Seeing another crazy joke pop into my head, I must also be excited about escaping.

I need to calm down, calm down.

Meticulously until the end!

“Now, it’s monk’s turn. Remember the oak barrel interview?”

“Understood. I’ll do my best.”

The strong monk who can lift even the heavily armed Virtanen, who’s even heavier than that incredibly heavy oak barrel.

“We’re much lighter than the oak barrel. Please throw us.”

He’s now going to throw the luggage and people on the roof over the clouds and earthen wall.

And on the other side, the barbarian will catch them like an outfielder.

“And before starting, to make sure of the success rate. Bernard.”

I have Bernard use the divine magic he used during the interview on the monk.

“Use Radiance Power on Aimus.”

It’s a +3 Strength enhancement buff.

Monk, powered up with strength, picked up the Halfling first as planned.

“Let’s go!”

The Halfling nervously hugged his crossbow to his chest, and Aimus ran patter patter to take a running start, then threw him from a power position like a javelin thrower.

Whiiiiish!

“Aaaaah-!”

The Halfling’s scream and the sound of cutting through air were heard simultaneously as he flew over the clouds.

And the end was.

“I-got-him-!”

The barbarian’s powerful shout.

“Next is Bernard.”

Since this one’s a bit heavy, we first remove his equipment.

“See you outside. Monk. You really worked hard.”

The paladin is heavier than the Halfling, but to Aimus who received Radiance Power, there’s not much difference.

Hup!”

With the monk’s short shout, Bernard who flew away was also caught by the barbarian.

“I-got-him-!”

“Now it’s the luggage’s turn.”

I roughly tied and wrapped the steel armor, mace, and shield that Bernard had taken off onto Aimus’s staff.

This time he really looks like a javelin thrower because of the staff.

Since these aren’t even people and just need to get over the earthen wall, it doesn’t matter whether the barbarian catches them or not, so we can throw them roughly.

Hup!”

This time also succeeded magnificently.

Only three people remained on the roof: me, Aimus, and Backstab.

“But, I have a question.”

Backstab raised his hand and asked.

“With magic this strong, couldn’t you just kill the monsters below?”

“It won’t work.”

The Sentinels swarm has probably been nearly wiped out, but the Manager won’t die from this much.

As proof, thud! thud! sounds have been heard since earlier.

“The Manager is trying to escape by breaking down the sanctuary’s back door.”

Since rainwater is pouring through the front gate, that would be the only exit route. Phase shift has already been used.

‘Honestly speaking, I find it regrettable too.’

Because I could kill him if I pushed just a little more.

But there’s no one to add additional damage.

Not only me without the hourglass, but Yernil and the dwarf outside don’t have the right angle to respond.

And Aimus, Backstab, Bernard, and the barbarian would go to the afterlife the moment they go down to deal damage by stepping on the lightning torrent.

“…Therefore, there’s no suitable person to attack besides the Halfling crossbow user, so the success rate is low. If the boss escapes and restores undead on a large scale again, we’ll be the ones in danger. Right now, it’s better to escape without being greedy and taking on risk.”

“…I see.”

“Now it’s Caleb’s turn.”

Aimus extended his hand to me.

I put my wand into my belt and approached him.

“Aimus, Backstab. After I cross the earthen wall, Aimus and Backstab must also escape right away. As I told you.”

“Understood.”

“Cumulonimbus has about 10 seconds left, so there’s no time to take it easy.”

I entrusted my body to the monk.

He gripped my shoulder and pelvis like lifting a rice sack and lifted me up, then.

Patter patter patter!

Started running.

Shit, the running is faster than I thought.

It’s kind of scary.

“Thanks to you, we survived.”

Aimus said.

“See you outside.”

Sorry, but I’m too nervous to have the capacity to answer.

I’m the kind of person who doesn’t ride the T Express even if I go to Everland.

“Aaaaah!”

Now I understand why the Halfling screamed.

Below my view, clouds and waves of high-voltage current and earthen walls pass by.

Beyond that…

Kuhuhuhuh!”

An excited barbarian with a scary expression was wiggling his butt.

Damn, that’s more frightening!

***

“Got him!”

The barbarian caught Caleb in a princess carry.

“Caleb!”

Yernil jumped excitedly next to them, but he himself had a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“Almost everyone’s out now.”

Six people except Aimus and Backstab had gathered right in front of the gate.

“Aimus and Backstab will come out together using Shadow Leap.”

Backstab is the person who pulled out the wizard from inside the Black Hornet Egg Plate Chest Armor and teleported onto the platform.

Shadow Leap can move up to one companion.

“Then everyone escaped.”

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