I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 16

Randel reached out towards the Blood Goblin.

At the same time, mana surged throughout his body.

What Randel wanted now was not a fight. It was to crush the creature mercilessly.

So he planned to cast a spell to subdue it first.

“Kesha!”

But it seemed the Blood Goblin sensed it too.

The Blood Goblin, who once again let out an angry roar, grabbed another goblin nearby and used it as a shield.

Randel’s hand hesitated.

The Blood Goblin’s body was obscured, making it difficult to aim his spell.

“Tsk.”

While Randel clicked his tongue, the Blood Goblin grabbed the Goblin’s head with both hands.

“…?”

The paralyzed Goblin couldn’t move, so it couldn’t resist at all.

It just rolled its eyes anxiously.

But only for a moment.

“Kiiek! Kiiiiiik!”

With the Goblin’s terrible scream, veins bulged in the Blood Goblin’s hands.

The skin of the captured Goblin began to shrivel.

Thud.

A moment later, the Blood Goblin threw the mummified Goblin to the ground.

Judging by the light sound, it seemed that even the blood and muscles had been completely drained.

“Kihihihi!”

The Blood Goblin standing in front of Randel laughed wickedly.

The paralysis had long since worn off, and thanks to the absorption, it seemed even more vigorous than before.

‘Is that its ability?’

If so, the Blood Goblin would see hell today.

Thanks to Randel’s hard work killing them earlier, there were only a few Goblins left around.

That meant there were no more Goblins for it to absorb.

‘I’ll just have to keep my distance and use magic.’

But then, the Blood Goblin picked up a staff lying on the ground.

Clang.

The three rings attached to the staff made a strange sound as they shook.

And in response to that sound, a dark energy rose between the dimly lit torches.

“Damn…!”

He didn’t know what kind of energy it was, but he realized it as soon as he saw it.

The Blood Goblin’s ability wasn’t life absorption, but controlling that energy.

But he realized it half a beat too late.

Ssssss!

The explosively generated dark current engulfed Randel.

* * *

A strange sensation of floating enveloped his entire body.

Randell opened his eyes and looked around.

‘Where is this…?’

The surroundings were entirely white. It was so immaculately white that nothing could be seen except for Randell.

It was strange.

When he was engulfed by the black current, he thought it might be some kind of curse magic.

A curse that drains your strength, blinds you, and makes you see hallucinations.

In the end, Randell’s guess was correct.

The spell cast by the hobgoblin was indeed a curse.

A dreadful one at that…

Swoosh.

People began to appear one by one in front of Randell, proving his suspicion.

A middle-aged man and woman, two young men, and a girl.

They were Randell’s family.

“Hmm…”

Randell let out a deep groan.

The appearance of his family was anything but normal.

His father was missing an arm, and his mother was bleeding from her head. His brothers and sister were in similar states.

Moreover, their complexions were pale, as if they were dead.

No, they were dead.

These were the appearances of his family who had been killed by goblins in the past.

“Randell…”

His father spoke.

“Why couldn’t you protect us?”

His sister and everyone else spoke too.

“Why didn’t you come back quickly from the academy?”

“If you knew you had no talent, you should have returned sooner!”

“You became a wizard and lived comfortably on your own, while we were stuck in this rural corner.”

“Brother, we resent you.”

“You killed us!”

The cries of the family, no, the accusations grew stronger and stronger.

Each voice, pouring out with tears of blood, was filled with deep frustration, resentment, and pain.

“……”

But Randel did not respond.

He just closed his eyes and listened silently.

“Say something!”

“Are we a joke to you? Is this funny to you!?”

“You b*stard, you survived, didn’t you!”

Eventually, the family surrounded Randel and hurled all sorts of curses at him.

Randel looked up with his eyes closed.

But the voice that followed was like an abstract.

“Pathetic. Disappear!”

Boom.

With that, he stomped his foot.

Then, an unimaginable, rock-like will arose from the 13-year-old boy.

Crack.

Under Randel’s feet, the white space began to crack.

Crash.

Soon, like a glass tank that couldn’t withstand the water pressure, the space itself shattered into pieces.

Swoosh—

What rushed in through the broken space was black seawater. The mental world of a wizard who had lived for 43 years.

The black seawater began to fill the white space.

Just before being submerged in that seawater.

Randel’s bloodshot eyes gleamed red.

* * *

“Keke! Kehehe!”

The hobgoblin laughed incessantly, as if he couldn’t contain his joy.

In front of the hobgoblin, a human was floating, wrapped in a dark current.

He had finally caught the human who had been troubling him for days.

The Hobgoblin was very pleased with his ability.

The ability to extract trauma from the opponent’s subconscious and torment them until they died.

The Hobgoblin didn’t know what scenes the victim was seeing.

But without exception, they would scream, apologizing or begging for their lives.

Watching them struggle was incredibly entertaining.

“Kikikiki…”

But there was a downside.

Once engulfed in that black current, even the caster, the Hobgoblin himself, couldn’t touch them.

But he wasn’t worried.

Every human who had fallen victim to him so far had convulsed and taken their own lives.

How would this human die?

Would they use magic, or would they strangle themselves like the human who handled mana last time?

“Kii, kii!”

Just imagining it made him laugh uncontrollably.

It was almost time.

After killing this human, he would gather his numbers and attack this human’s village first.

It was the price for the young human bothering him.

But then.

Puhwak!

A hand suddenly reached out from the black current.

It grabbed the Hobgoblin’s neck tightly.

There was no time to escape. He had gotten too close, wanting to savor the suffering human.

“Kek!”

The Hobgoblin, his breath cut off, panicked and swung the staff in his hand wildly.

Pak, pak.

But hitting an opponent at close range with a long staff, especially when his neck was being held, was futile.

The opponent didn’t budge.

Instead, the grip on his neck tightened.

“Kek! Kkeuk…”

In the meantime, the man who had emerged from the dark current, Randell, spoke.

“First, let me thank you.”

For letting me see my family again, even if it was just like this.

Even though it was now a thing of the past, something I would never see again…

They were still the family I couldn’t protect.

“And let me also say I’m sorry.”

Randell picked up the hand axe that had fallen at his feet.

He loosened his grip so that the hobgoblin wouldn’t die.

“Kehek! Kehehek!”

The hobgoblin gasped for breath.

It probably thought it had survived.

But it was mistaken.

Randell placed the hand axe on the hobgoblin’s ankle and slashed it.

Shhhk.

“Kieek!”

The hobgoblin was thrown to the ground.

But it couldn’t run away quickly and only limped back pitifully.

Its ankle tendon had been cut.

“You won’t die easily. So…”

Randell turned around and extended his hand.

A flame arrow flew and hit the goblin’s head, just as it was about to get up from its paralysis.

Thud.

It was an instant death without a doubt.

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That was just the beginning.

Goblins that had survived started to rise all around the cave.

“Just wait a little longer.”

Whoosh.

Randell said as he ignited flames in both hands.

“I’ll make you beg for death.”

* * *

Dong― Dong― Dong―

The bell rang again to announce a gathering in the village.

The village bell usually rang once every few years, if at all.

But recently, it had been ringing almost every day, making the villagers anxious.

However, today, everyone had a bright expression.

It was because the lord’s subjugation squad had arrived in the village.

“The subjugation squad is here?”

“I heard there’s one knight and twenty soldiers.”

“A knight too? Phew, we’re finally free from those pesky goblins.”

The villagers felt relieved and happy as they watched the subjugation squad enter the square.

But their voices were small enough to be heard only by each other.

It was because of the knight in the subjugation squad.

The soldiers were scary, but at least they were commoners like them.

On the other hand, the knight was a quasi-noble by default and possessed great martial prowess.

The villagers wondered if they could defeat even one knight if they all attacked together.

Moreover, knights were the kind who, except for eating and sleeping, constantly thought about “how to cut down their opponents more beautifully.”

Naturally, most of them had bad tempers.

It was best not to get on their bad side.

So everyone quietly watched from a distance.

Thud! Thud!

The soldiers lined up in the square with disciplined postures, as if they never neglected their training.

Then, the waiting village chief approached the leading knight with a welcoming expression.

The knight was easy to recognize.

The young knight was wearing shiny leather armor, reinforced with iron plates over the heart and other vital areas.

Most importantly, he was on horseback.

“You’ve arrived, Sir Knight. I apologize for making you take such a troublesome journey.”

“No need. It is the knight’s duty to protect the lord’s subjects. Has there been any damage to the village?”

“Thanks to the lord’s protection, nothing significant has happened yet. But, um…”

The village chief hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked in a small voice.

“Could it be that you are the lord’s eldest daughter…?”

The village chief was glancing sideways at the squire next to the knight.

At those words, the knight let out a low hum.

It was because a memory he had been trying hard to ignore resurfaced.

The knight glared at the village chief and asked,

“How did you know?”

“I’ve seen you nearby before…”

“Never speak of this. And find a place for me to stay. Make sure it’s as clean as possible.”

“Ah, understood.”

The village chief, who was surprised but had suspected it, withdrew to find a new house.

Watching this, the young lady, Manwellin, observed with amusement.

Though she was dressed as a man, her characteristic cheerful and confident smile could not be hidden.

“What are you so happy about?” the knight asked Manwellin grumpily.

“Just. I didn’t expect to be recognized even though I came as a knight’s squire in disguise.”

“Is there anyone in the territory who doesn’t know you, my lady? You should have disguised yourself better.”

“I thought I did well enough, but here we are.”

“Why did you follow me then…”

“I’m a knight too, I need to experience real battles.”

“Ugh.”

The young knight clicked his tongue.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

Manwellin was an official member of the knight order but also the lord’s daughter.

There was no way the lord, who cherished his daughter, would send Manwellin into real combat as a knight.

If she lacked skill, there would be nothing to say.

But Manwellin, who had trained in swordsmanship since childhood, was already handling mana as if it were part of her body.

Of course, he knew these facts… but as a knight, it was still uncomfortable.

She was a good comrade, but after all, she was the daughter of the lord he served.

“By the way, didn’t you say you had something to do? I heard you were looking for someone.”

“Yes, but there’s been no progress.”

“If even you can’t find them, they must have moved here recently.”

“That could be…”

Manwellin looked regretful. It would be reassuring if a great wizard joined the territory.

‘Anyway, the next lord will be the young master, so why is he working so hard?’

The knight thought so but did not say it out loud.

Manwellin’s love for his younger brother was well known.

The knight shook off his thoughts and spoke.

“Everyone, line up!”

At the knight’s shout, the soldiers straightened their postures.

“We will go on a subjugation as soon as the day breaks. We don’t have time to waste on goblins, right? Let’s finish quickly and return.”

“Yes!”

“Fortunately, we will sleep at home today instead of camping. Divide into groups of three and follow your guides.”

As they were about to disperse after saying that, the murmuring of the villagers was heard.

At first, they thought it was to guide the soldiers.

But it wasn’t.

The murmuring started at the entrance of the village. It spread here like a wave.

“A, a hobgoblin!”

“What?”

The stunned knight and Manwellin looked at each other.