Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Spendthrift Necromancer (126)

While the guild members and Legion Commanders handled training the Awakened.

Inside the Black Mages' research laboratory in the Temple, Kim Minwoo immersed himself in alchemy.

To be precise, he wasn't actually the one immersed in it.[Apprentice Alchemist 234 uses Elven Alchemy(D)

…….][Apprentice Alchemist 342 uses Elven…….][Critical Failure!][This combination cannot possibly become a potion! No proficiency is gained!][Critical Failure!]..

The Skeletons were the ones working themselves to death.

Iphrax's mental attack.

Interfering with another person's mind was already an incredibly high-level field.

Creating a potion capable of blocking something like that with mere D-rank Alchemy was close to impossible. He'd probably need at least S-rank to make one.

So he changed his approach.

Did a potion intended to counter mental attacks really need to defend the mind?

Not in Kim Minwoo's opinion.

A mental attack wasn't an ability that instantly turned someone into a slave through mind control the moment it looked at them.

That kind of ability was close to divine Authority.‘It's not like gods are some joke.’If it possessed power like that?

The Priest and every other Black Mage would've long since been reduced to slaves.‘If a sealing formation can restrain it…….’At best, it probably took time to turn someone into a puppet.

In other words, there was a gap between shaking someone's mind and completely binding it.

If they exploited that gap properly, they could disrupt the mental attack. That was why he had the Skeletons working themselves half to death.Three full days of grinding.

“Something should pop soon…….”

That was when.[Success!][‘Foul-Smelling Potion So Disgusting Even a Hundred-Day-Starved Ogre Would Refuse It’ has been crafted!][A new Alchemy Recipe has been discovered! It is added to the list!][The Apprentice Alchemists gain valuable experience!][Explosion of Know-How!][Success!][‘Tickling Potion That Could Make Even a Veteran Demon Cry’ has been crafted…….][Success!][‘Catastrophic Sneezing Potion’ has been…….][New Alchemy Recipes have been discovered! They are added to the list!][Elven Alchemy(D)

proficiency increases.]

“Did we get one?”

The Skeletons respectfully presented the potions. He took them and examined the details.[Foul-Smelling Potion So Disgusting Even a Hundred-Day-Starved Ogre Would Refuse It][Rank: Unique+][The first masterpiece of a creator driven mad. It seems as though everything disgusting and foul-smelling in the world was thrown inside.][Effect 1. It is overwhelmingly spicy, salty, sour, bitter, and nauseating. On top of that, the umami explodes.][Effect 2. Upon consumption, continuously inflicts indescribable agony upon the senses of taste and smell. (2 hours)][Tickling Potion That Could Make Even a Veteran Demon Cry][Rank: Rare+][The second masterpiece of a creator driven mad. Drinking it is not recommended.][Effect 1. Drinking it seems likely to make you feel as though ants are crawling all over your body. (1 hour 30 minutes)][Catastrophic Sneezing Potion][Rank: Magic+][The mad creator's third work. At least this one is somewhat humane.][Effect 1. Drinking it causes sneezing. (1 hour)]

“Oh.”

Kim Minwoo exclaimed after reading the descriptions. Since nothing like these existed among the Elven Recipes, they'd simply thrown in every ingredient that seemed even remotely relevant and attempted to make potions.

“A Unique came out?”

Three days of passionate effort.

Fortunately, it seemed it hadn't gone to waste. Now that the Recipe was registered, they could mass-produce it endlessly as long as they supplied the ingredients.‘And one's Rare.’The effects might be even more horrifying than he'd expected.‘I should probably test them once…….’Lives were on the line.

Verifying their power was mandatory.

He would only feel comfortable after trying them himself. Picking up the foul-smelling potion, he swallowed.

“……

Screw it.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and drank.

Gulp.

The instant the liquid touched his tongue came an explosive banquet of flavors.

And the stench was so horrible it felt like food scraps had been fermenting inside a sewer for decades.

“Bleeergh!”

He gagged reflexively.

The only reason he didn't collapse was the sheer amount of hell he'd experienced in his life.

“Hah. Hah.”

He hurriedly pulled peppermint candies from his inventory.

Even after stuffing ten of them into his mouth, the horrific taste and stench remained.

If anything, the cool mint mixing with it made the whole thing even stranger. He instantly understood what the description meant by indescribable agony.

“This works.”

There was a saying that even inside a tiger's den, you could survive if you kept your wits about you.

Mental attacks were similar.

If the victim could keep their mind clear, they could greatly delay the process.

Pain was one of the finest tools for snapping someone back to attention.

He took a sip from the Rare and Magic potions too.

They were weaker than the Unique one, but still more than powerful enough.‘I never expected to block it perfectly.’Eleven Light Bombs.

This wasn't a fight meant to become a prolonged battle. By the time every bomb exploded, either the monster would be dead or they would be.

“Achoo! Make these. As many as possible.”

Clatter!

The loyal Skeletons began working diligently.* * *Kim Minwoo remained shut inside the Temple laboratory for three days.

Nobody could approach.

From morning to evening, everyone was being worked to the bone through training and had no time to visit in the first place.

And between night and dawn, the two Legion Commanders who never slept guarded the entrance.

Only his guild members occasionally entered. Naturally, everyone's curiosity continued to grow.‘What the hell is he doing in there?’Nobody needed to say it out loud: Kim Minwoo was the leader of the Awakened gathered here.

The four strongest instructors already treated him that way.

Yet at such an important moment, when they needed to practice coordination, their leader had locked himself away and was doing who knew what.

Their curiosity grew by the day.

Then finally.

Kim Minwoo emerged. Skeletons followed behind him carrying boxes packed with bizarre potions.

“Everyone stop training for a moment and gather around.”

The 42 Awakened assembled.

Kim Minwoo explained everything he'd learned about Iphrax.

“So…… it controls minds, uses curses, and possesses even more special abilities?”

“Yes. I looked through the records whenever I had time. That's what they said.”

The Skeletons were the ones using Alchemy, not Kim Minwoo.

That left him free to study the books whenever he had spare time. As a bonus, he found a hidden chamber inside the Priest's room.

There were books there describing Iphrax's abilities.

Abilities generations of Priests had thoroughly analyzed and investigated.‘They probably prepared against it in their own way.’Their entire mindset had been like that from the beginning.

It is not a god.

Recognize that it is a dangerous monster.

Feel fear, and so on…….

Despite being called Priests, they had clearly remained wary of Iphrax. That vigilance was probably why they'd so thoroughly analyzed the monster's abilities and power.

Thanks to them, Kim Minwoo hit the jackpot.

He could learn the enemy's strength and Authorities in detail before even beginning the raid.

“We can prepare for the curses with the Priests' blessings. And you'll use these against the mental attacks.”

The Skeletons behind him picked up three potions and distributed them to the Awakened.

Shock flashed through their eyes as they read the detailed descriptions.

“……A Potion So Disgusting Even a Hundred-Day-Starved Ogre Refuses?”

“……

Even a veteran demon cries?”

The most harmless adjective among them was ‘catastrophic.’

Of course, they were all experienced veterans in their own right, so they roughly understood why he was giving them potions like these.

Mental attacks, the monster's primary Authority. It was obviously problematic to endure those with the mental fortitude of mere A-rank Awakened.‘That's why he's giving us these potions.’The problem was how horrifying the names sounded. There was a reason even useless garbage items like these had received Unique and Rare ranks.‘Come to think of it, Ilseong sells Plus potions…….’‘Did that Alchemist make this stuff too? What a bizarre taste.’Even the detailed descriptions seemed to agree, kindly calling them creations of ‘a creator driven mad.’

Kim Minwoo carrying grotesque concoctions like these all the way into the Selection Tournament was equally difficult to understand.

No matter how much space he had in his Spatial Rings, did he really have that much room to waste?

“Everyone has a rough handle on the fundamentals by now. From here, we're entering advanced training. You'll drink the potions and move. Understood?”

“C-Couldn't we…… just drink them when we actually fight the monster?”

“Someone as experienced as you should know better. You need to get used to them now so you can move properly after drinking them then. Don't you agree?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Drink up. These cost more than health food.”

The ingredients consumed before discovering the Recipes alone had cost tens of billions of won. They genuinely were more expensive than most health foods.

Gulp.

The Awakened stared at the potions with tense faces.

One brave Awakened stepped forward first.

“Screw it!”

Thompson opened the potion with one massive arm and chugged it.

“……

Bleeergh!”

“Ah! Turn your head before you do that!”

“Bleeergh! It won't stop…… bleeergh!”

The Awakened went pale.

An indescribable smell had spread from the instant the cap was opened.

One thing was certain: even smelling it from a distance was enough to make someone gag.‘W-We're screwed.’The remaining four days.

It looked like hell was about to manifest in the mortal world.* * *Four days later.

The Awakened gathered together first thing in the morning.

“As you all know, today we're raiding that thing. Like I said, we'll throw the Light Bombs one at a time. We'll probably wear it down gradually.”

Everyone nodded.

They already knew the information about Iphrax.

Beyond its mental attacks and curses.‘They said it also has Pain Mitigation. More troublesome than expected.’Pain Mitigation.

A few A-rank Gate Bosses possessed abilities like that.

The effect was simple.

When hit by a massive burst of damage, they could ignore part of it.

The greater the single blow, the more damage was proportionally nullified. That meant they couldn't simply throw all the bombs at once. The damage reduction would become much larger.

That was when.

Kim Minwoo smiled.

“There's no need to be so nervous. Everyone worked hard, didn't you?”

“That's…… true. Thought I'd die getting used to those potions you gave us, Boss.”

Thompson spoke with a bitter smile.

By now, drinking the potion no longer made him completely lose his senses, collapse, and vomit uncontrollably.

It was merely somewhat—no, extremely disgusting.

“Let's go.”

They moved underground with the Awakened.

Black Mages were bound between the vast magic formations.‘The condition for its appearance…….’Was to stop offering sacrifices to the sealing formation.

Until now, they'd faithfully offered Black Mages as sacrifices.

But now that preparations were complete.

There was no reason to continue.

The undead army filled the underground chamber. Awakened threaded themselves through the gaps, gripping their weapons with tense expressions.

Naturally, raids attempted by large groups were difficult.

One mistake could easily get someone killed. Casualties weren't unusual.

Of course they were nervous.

Kim Minwoo turned around and spoke.

“Just move the way we practiced. I can't promise nobody will die, but I think I can promise one thing.”

After pausing for a beat, he smiled.

“The reward will be worth risking your lives for. Then let's begin.”

Immediately afterward.

Five blue arrows pierced the foreheads of the bound Black Mages.

Clean instant deaths.

Rumble……!

The entire Temple began shaking violently as though struck by an earthquake.[There are no sacrifices on the sealing formation!][Iphrax grows greatly enraged!][Warning!][If a sacrifice is not placed on the sealing formation within 10 minutes, Iphrax will personally emerge onto the surface!]

The earth had rumbled violently on the first day.

Apparently it had calmed down because another sacrifice had been placed there within ten minutes.

But now they had no intention of doing so. The ground shook harder and harder as time passed.

Craack……!

Craack……!

Before long, the hole where the souls had been sucked away began cracking wider.

It formed an opening like a gigantic well. The shaft extended so deep that the bottom seemed endless.[Warning!][10 minutes have passed!][The true ruler of the ‘Cursed Land,’ Iphrax, appears!]

Something began floating upward from beneath the hole. A monster made of hundreds of eyeballs clustered together like grapes.

The Awakened drank the potions they'd prepared.

Blink.

Iphrax blinked.

The raid began.

Minwoo threw a Light Bomb toward it.

Baaam!

A pure-white explosion erupted across the eyeballs.