Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Spendthrift Necromancer (124)

Cursed Land (3)

Kim Minwoo stared at the headless corpse. He'd already realized something was strange.

Merhen had been subtly tapping his body with Mana to send signals.

An SSS-rank Archer was standing still, yet the Mage was the first one warning him that an enemy was approaching?

He understood immediately.

From that point on, he'd roughly figured it out.

An enemy was approaching with magic.

That wasn't particularly strange.

Invisibility magic genuinely existed.‘Usually it isn't very high-level…….’Invisibility magic was far inferior to an Assassin's Stealth.

At least on Earth.

Apparently things were different in this dimension.

Even Kim Minwoo had never encountered invisibility magic this refined before.‘Was it enhanced with dark magic? Still, so what.’A Black Mage was ultimately still a Mage.

At least within the field of magic, there weren't many beings capable of defeating Merhen.

That was why.

He'd simply let the enemy approach.

Merhen seemed to want that too.

Sure enough.

The man had suddenly appeared with a triumphant smile and tried detonating dark magic at point-blank range.

Apparently he'd never considered the possibility of that magic suddenly being canceled.

That was why his head had flown into the sky immediately.

Fail to anticipate it, and you die.[You have hunted Mortan, Priest of the Holy Land!][500,000 points are awarded!]

“Whoa. He gives a lot of points.”―Really?

“Yeah. Same as that Vampire from before.”―Hmm……. Was he really that strong?

Merhen tilted her head. Seeing that made Minwoo feel all over again just how important compatibility could be.

If Mortan had been a physical-type monster rather than a magic-type one, they wouldn't have killed him this easily.‘Having a Legion Commander really paid off.’Kim Minwoo looked ahead.

Far away, a group of Black Mages stood murmuring among themselves with dumbfounded expressions.

The Awakened who had been following behind were equally shocked.

Put simply, a head had gone flying in the blink of an eye.

What was even more shocking was that not a single Awakened had noticed the Black Mage approaching.

By the time they understood what was happening, the Black Mage's hand had already turned pitch-black right in front of Kim Minwoo.

If it had been them?

They would've died without understanding what had happened.‘S-rank? No. Far beyond that.’If Mortan had merely possessed the strength of an ordinary S-rank, they would've been able to respond to some degree.

He was an overwhelmingly stronger being.‘And…… he suppressed that instantly?’Gulp.

The Awakened swallowed as they looked at Kim Minwoo.

The magic canceled instantly.

The Black Mage's eyes widening in shock. Then his head flying away in the next instant.

Everything felt dreamlike.

Only then did the Awakened accept the suspicion they'd been harboring.Fifteen million points. Yeah, he really had earned them.

Seo Yerim closed the distance through the murmuring crowd.

“Are you okay?”

“As you can see, perfectly fine.”

“……

Sorry. I should've noticed him first…….”

She spoke while biting her lip.

Because of their excellent vision, Archers usually handled scouting and sniping within a party.

Apparently her pride had taken a hit.

“Don't take it personally. That was something you wouldn't have been able to detect.”

There was a reason he had been worth 500,000 points.

His body was far weaker than the Vampire's, but he possessed some extremely troublesome tricks.

He probably had several trump cards besides invisibility too.

Without Merhen, even Minwoo would've been in serious danger.

Either way.

If the monster sealed underground was the final boss, then as the Priest, this Black Mage was probably something like the mid-boss.

That was likely why the Black Mages who had been rushing over in a mob looked so shaken.

That was when.

Seo Yerim frowned slightly and spoke.

“There are Awakened over there too.”

“Awakened?”

“Yes. Those Chinese guys we saw before.”

“Could they be prisoners?”

“If they were prisoners, I doubt they'd be letting them move around that freely.”

Wow.

Kim Minwoo was inwardly impressed.

He'd heard plenty of stories about Liu Wei having a garbage personality.

But even so, he hadn't expected the bastard to join hands with Black Mages and stab fellow Awakened in the back.

The Awakened around them who heard her words began filling with anger.

“They're with the Black Mages? And walking around freely? Don't tell me…….”

“If that's true, aren't they complete trash?”

Black Mages abducting people was at least something they could understand. But stabbing fellow Awakened in the back?

If true, they were truly the worst kind of human garbage.

“Let's capture everyone. Don't kill them. We need sacrifices.”

The group nodded.

They had already witnessed Kim Minwoo's strength.

Confidence in victory filled their eyes.* * *Maybe because their leader had gone down from the very beginning. The Black Mages were captured more easily than expected.

The Chinese Awakened were the same. They struggled violently for a while, but once the furious group charged them, they were beaten down and subdued one by one.

Liu Wei, bound from head to toe, shouted indignantly.

“We really had no choice! Those bastards carved something strange into our hearts!”

They roughly understood what had happened.

The Chinese group had encountered the Priest right at the beginning, been subdued immediately, and forced to serve under him.

“So you captured Awakened and handed them to the Black Mages?”

“W-We had no choice! We could've died if we disobeyed!”

“The brands are still there?”

“……

Yes. We didn't want to fight either. But we couldn't resist those damned bastards' orders.”

Liu Wei glared furiously at the Black Mages as he spoke.

Kim Minwoo snorted.

“If that Priest had killed me, I get the feeling you would've rushed in happily.”

“Th-There's no way! They're fellow Awakened! We eat from the same table! We really had no choice.”

“So, are the Awakened you handed over still alive?”

“……

I-I don't know…….”

Minwoo punched him in the face.

Blood-covered teeth flew through the air.

“Ghk!”

“Stop rolling your eyes and answer. How many did you capture?”

“A-About ten…….”

“And are they alive?”

“I-I heard they sacrifice five a day. I don't know anything beyond that! Really!”

Kim Minwoo and the other Awakened fell silent.‘Come to think of it…….’When they'd first arrived here, the monster had cried out and tentacles had appeared, but now, on the second day, nothing like that had happened.

Had the monster's anger subsided because a sacrifice had been offered?

Then five were already gone.

They had to save the remaining five.

The location of the Black Mages' headquarters, the ‘Temple,’ along with the composition of their forces.

They extracted every piece of information from the prisoners.

Fortunately, there weren't that many Black Mages.

Three hundred at most?‘And there aren't any more like Mortan.’At that level, they could probably wipe them out in one sweep.

“Let's move.”

Before long, the furious group of Awakened swept through the entire Temple. Normally, the enemy's numbers might have forced them to struggle more.

But things were different now.

No Mage could resist Merhen.

Even Mortan, the Priest, couldn't handle her, never mind ordinary believers.

The Black Mages attempting to cast spells collapsed one after another.

Some were killed, while others were captured.[You have hunted Black Mage ‘Edon.’][2,000 points are awarded…….]

Roughly two thousand points each.

The officers with some actual ability gave around ten thousand.

Nearly a hundred slaughtered.Over 300,000 points poured in.

They followed the captured Black Mages' directions.

Deep beneath the Temple.

They found the captive Awakened as well.

“Fuck! Disgusting.”

Thompson, a massively built American Awakened, spat onto the ground.

The unconscious Awakened lay in a row within what looked like a pentagram-shaped magic circle. Nail-like objects had even been driven through their limbs.

“Why the hell did you put those in them?”

“To restrain their movement…….”

After hearing the answer, Thompson slammed a fist into the Black Mage's head as though venting his anger. Leaving the unconscious man behind, they were just about to free the captured Awakened.

The Black Mages behind them shouted in horror.

“Y-You can't simply release them! Sacrifices must continue to be offered!”

“……

Then what are we supposed to do?”

“We need replacement sacrifices for the sealing formation. Otherwise He will become enraged and kill us all!”

Thompson flinched.

The Black Mages sounded that desperate.

He stared at Kim Minwoo.

“Boss?”

“You mean me?”

“Who else here would I call Boss? You heard them, right? We need replacement sacrifices.”

“Yes.”

“Who are we using?”

Thompson asked.

The Chinese Awakened.

It was essentially a question about what they should do with them.

“You said five, right? Use those three and two Black Mages.”

“Mmph!”

Kim Minwoo's finger pointed directly at the Chinese Awakened.

Liu Wei and the other two began thrashing violently.

“Ooh, ruthless.”

Thompson whistled.

Frankly, it was exactly what he'd been hoping for.‘Fucking bastards.’Whatever the process had been, they'd ultimately betrayed their fellow Awakened. Five people were already in that monster's stomach because of them.

If they acted that way in a life-or-death situation, they naturally had to bear the consequences.

Branded, no choice, whatever else—they were all excuses and bullshit.‘I was uneasy about them anyway. This works out.’Didn't they say the brands still remained on their hearts?

Keep them alive, and nobody knew what sort of variable they might become.

Thompson wasn't the only one who thought that way.

“Does everyone agree?”

Nod.

Every Awakened agreed.‘There's no reason to spare them.’If Kim Minwoo had lost, they would've been the ones reduced to this state.

Liu Wei?

The man's garbage personality was famous. He would've bowed to the Black Mages while laughing his ass off.

The positions had simply been reversed.

Thompson released a few of the Black Mages and spoke.

“Offer those guys instead.”

“…….”

Mmph!

Mmmmph!

Still completely bound, the Chinese Awakened were dragged into the center of the pentagram.

Two Black Mages were added to make up the number.

“W-We will begin the sacrificial ritual.”

Bang, bang!

Nails were driven into their limbs, and the Awakened who had previously been bound there were released. Potions and Priests' healing spells poured over them.

“Ugh…….”

“Are you all right?”

The Awakened opened their eyes and looked down at their bodies.

Tears quickly filled their eyes.

“Th-Thank you! Thank you so much!”

They had been certain they were about to die…….

It all felt like a dream.

They thanked everyone sincerely.

Then they looked at the Awakened bound to the sealing formation.

“Those bastards…….”

The memories of being captured by them and dragged to the Temple were still vivid.

Along with every hellish thing that had happened afterward.

“I-It is time. Today's sacrifices will now be offered.”

As the Black Mage spoke, a massive cluster of tentacles emerged from the hole at the center of the sealing formation. They wrapped around the five bodies and immediately began dragging them into the hole.

Mmph!

Mmmmmph!

Leaving behind screams like their final death throes, the sacrifices vanished from the sealing formation.

“What the hell was that…….”

One Black Mage trembled as he spoke.

“H-He considers flesh and souls delicacies. As long as five are offered each day, our safety is guaranteed.”

“This place is fucking awful.”

Someone frowned as they spoke.

It truly was.

Kim Minwoo looked at the Awakened.

“We aren't fighting that monster immediately. We still don't have enough information about it, and we haven't practiced working together either.”

“We should regroup with the remaining Awakened too. Then how long do you plan to prepare?”

“How about roughly one week?”

“That leaves quite a lot of time before the second trial ends…….”

“We may earn extra points for that.”

The objective was to survive a month by offering sacrifices.

But what if they killed the boss and cleared the stage much earlier?

They might receive a substantial bonus. They could use the Black Mages as sacrifices, then kill any leftovers before the hunt.

The Awakened nodded in agreement.* * *The Priest's room inside the Temple.

Thousands of books were gathered there. Quite a few contained information about the monster supposedly sealed underground. Minwoo pulled out one especially eye-catching volume.

Seo Yerim tilted her head when she saw it.

“Book of Truth?”

“It had the flashiest cover, so I picked it. Let's read.”

He opened the book on the desk.

The first page turned.

The first thing that appeared was an illustration.

He suddenly remembered what Merhen had said.‘She said it tasted complicated. Like a Chimera.’Just as she'd said, the monster's appearance was…….‘A genuine hybrid.’It looked almost like a bunch of grapes.

Except enormously large, and every grape was an eyeball.

The eyes weren't even uniformly sized.

As though eyes from every imaginable creature had been mixed together, the contents ranged from tiny to enormous.

“……

That's seriously disgusting.”

“You don't like scary things?”

“That isn't scary. It's just disgusting.”

He nodded and turned to the next page. Someone's history had been written there.[First Priest, Kamilon]―We discovered a city like a dream for Black Mages who have always suffered persecution. I can feel its energy. There is unquestionably something beneath this place. Something tremendously beneficial to us.―The underground had rotted away from curses. Training here was no different from a fortuitous encounter. As we continued exploring, we encountered the source of the curse.―We named the underground creature ‘Iphrax.’―Iphrax appears to be a parasitic life-form. It lives rooted underground like a tree. We attempted to move it elsewhere, but eventually realized it was impossible.―In only ten years, my companions and I advanced another stage! Iphrax, which grew as it consumed more food, played an enormous role. We can never abandon this creature…….―……

The city above has become troublesome. If enough time passes, they'll discover Iphrax. It seems war cannot be avoided..―Forty years! At last, we fulfilled our great wish! We have finally created a holy land where Black Mages can live and breathe freely!―Iphrax's potential is limitless. May glory shine upon the future of our Black Mages![Fifth Priest, Irmus]―As time passes, Iphrax's power continues increasing. It has developed a proper sense of self. For the first time, it made a demand of us. It wants ‘delicious’ food.―It showed its anger. Wandering mercenaries no longer seem enough to satisfy it.―My mind went blank for a moment. Iphrax appears to possess abilities related to the mind. An extremely dangerous power. We must establish a sealing formation…….[Fifteenth Priest, Amarzan]―For now it is only the deviance of a few, but more and more people are beginning to praise ‘God.’ Future Priests must remember this. We do not worship a god.[Twenty-Fifth Priest, Mortan]―I remain constantly vigilant, yet even I sometimes waver. At times I feel fear. Its influence is already this powerful despite the sealing formation. What happens if even the Priest begins praising God?

“Mental abilities?”

Seo Yerim tilted her head.

Monsters with abilities like that weren't completely unheard of, but they were extremely rare.‘This got troublesome.’Kim Minwoo narrowed his eyes as well. Apparently the sealing formation was restricting Iphrax's power.

If they released it, the monster's abilities would unquestionably reach their peak. Anyone with weak mental resistance would struggle to oppose it.‘It'll probably use curses too.’Judging by the circumstances, it seemed like a monster in an entirely different league from Duke Timorn.

Then they needed to prepare.

He stood.

“Ms. Yerim, handle searching for the remaining Awakened and training them. I'll assign the Legion Commanders to you. I have something I need to do.”

“What are you planning……?”

“Preparing for mental attacks.”

It was time to put the Skeletons' alchemy to use.