Chapter 153

Chapter 153

Spendthrift Necromancer (153)

Far above in the distant sky.

An enormous amount of Mana was converging there. The concentration had grown so dense that merely looking at it made their stomachs churn and their breath catch.

The Apostles were stunned.‘What?’‘Lady Iris's magic was this powerful?’‘Did she reach a new realm?’Witch Iris.

One of the continent's two rulers.

She was certainly a great Mage, powerful enough to be compared with her rival, the Ice Dragon.

But never to this extent. Which left them no choice but to wonder whether the Witch had advanced to a new realm.‘Unless…….’‘Another Witch has appeared…….’How had the Witch appeared on this continent in the first place?

She had arrived through a crack in the sky. And now that same phenomenon had been observed again.

Only this time, it was far larger and more intense than when Iris had appeared.

There was no rule saying another Witch couldn't have appeared on the Caesar Continent.

Perhaps the magic they were witnessing now belonged to another Witch who had arrived that way.

Either way.

They could guess why such tremendous magic was being cast.

Nine times out of ten, it was meant to raise morale.

Didn't armies normally put on grand spectacles before marching to war?

Of course, judging by the shape of the spatial fracture, some other being might have appeared on the Dragon's side too…….

But whatever enemy they faced, as long as they had someone capable of displaying magic of this caliber, the enemy was finished.

The spell soon revealed its shape.

It had been created so high in the sky that the crimson flames looked like a tiny point, almost like the sun.

At that moment, the Apostles became certain.

Their victory was assured.

Even Dragons couldn't withstand a Mage this powerful.

They shouted in voices overflowing with emotion.

“As expected of the great Witch!”

“Waaaah!”―Long live the Witch!

Human and undead alike.

Every race erupted in praise.

The magical power gathering overhead deserved that much adoration.

That was when.

The flames rapidly began growing larger. No, they weren't growing…….‘Huh?’‘It's falling?’‘It's coming this way?’The Meteor plunged downward at terrifying speed. The army of one hundred thousand couldn't even react.

They'd never imagined the spell might be aimed at them in the first place, and by the time it began falling from the sky, it had already accelerated too much for them to do anything.

BOOOOM!

The meteor slammed into the center of the encampment and erupted in a colossal explosion.* * *The Witch's forces had been cheering like die-hard fans watching their favorite idol.

Minwoo could roughly tell what they had misunderstood. So he made very good use of that misunderstanding.

Just like now.The five-stacked Meteor crashed straight into the center.

Overwhelming heat and an explosion.

By the time the smoke cleared.More than two-thirds of the hundred-thousand-strong army had died. Without leaving even a corpse behind.

The surviving troops weren't in good shape either.

They staggered around with their bodies shattered by the shockwave. At that point, death would've been kinder.

“My god…….”

Iris stared blankly at the scene.

The Apostles and the soldiers beneath them.

It wasn't as though she had been particularly attached to them.

Witches were selected from among the greatest magical geniuses born throughout every dimension.

That applied even to Apprentice Witches. Put differently, a certain sense of superiority was naturally ingrained in them.

Creatures from a lowest-tier dimension?

To her, they were nothing more than disposable chess pieces. She barely considered something a real living being unless it came from at least a higher-tier dimension.

Rather.‘How can magic be this beautiful…….’Iris was awestruck by something else entirely. To kill one hundred thousand with a single spell!

The destructive power itself was astonishing, but far more incredible was the control.

A spell of that magnitude had struck the ground. Naturally, the nearby tower should've been affected too. Yet not even the slightest vibration reached them. If not for the noise outside, she might not have realized a meteor had fallen at all.

It was absolute control.

Even if a Great Witch.

Possessed Authority at a level similar to Merhen's and dropped a meteor in that state.

Could they produce the exact same result?

The fact that Iris even wondered said everything. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

“Th-That's incredible…… truly incredible!”―Obviously. It's Merhen's magic.

“How did you control it this delicately?”―Are you stupid? You're an enemy. Why would I teach you?

“…….”

Iris immediately wilted before that unassailable fact.

Ignoring her.

Kim Minwoo looked at the messages.[You hunted more than 70,000 monsters with a single attack!][You acquire title, ‘Feast of Slaughter’…….][Your Level increases…….][Your Level…….]

Level-up messages continued without end.―Minwoo. Did you gain a lot of Levels?

“Yeah. Thirty Levels.”―Really? Congratulations! That's a lot!

“I know. More than I expected.”

Kim Minwoo nodded with satisfaction. He'd killed seventy thousand, but most of those monsters had already been lower-Level than him.

The majority were creatures like the Chimeras and Wraith Knights he'd first encountered at the Fortress, and those had been around the mid-Level 200s.‘I was Level 330, though.’Normally, experience dropped sharply when there was a significant Level gap.

And when you considered how rapidly the required experience increased as your Level rose.‘That's a lot of Levels.’For doing little more than moving a finger once, this was an extremely satisfying amount of experience.

And the harvest wasn't even over. Merhen had exhausted all her Mana by stacking Meteor five times, but.[Merhen is unsummoned!][Summoning Merhen…….]

He could call her back by spending only 50 Mana.

And she'd return completely refreshed.‘This is why Legion Commander summons are broken.’Even without the Death Lord's discount, summoning her only cost 100 Mana. The Mana cost itself was fundamentally absurd.

“Take care of the rest too.”―Yeah! Leave it to me.

Apparently realizing only now that something had gone horribly wrong, the surviving army began resisting desperately.

Some charged toward the tower, while others fled in terror. Their reactions differed, but the result was the same.[Merhen uses Great Tempest(SSS)

…….]

A massive wind suddenly erupted.

Just like the final moments of the Necromantic Knight Order they'd seen before, every remaining soldier was swept away.[Merhen uses Hellfire(SSS)

…….]

Flames were sucked violently into the storm. Even the Apostles who had luckily survived on the outskirts couldn't endure the attack.

Bellitas had died after taking two Mini Breaths from Cedric.

And this possessed dozens of times the firepower of those Mini Breaths.

It would've been stranger if they survived.

The remaining army was annihilated.

The number of Levels gained afterward was another 1

0.

With forty Levels gained in total, Minwoo shot all the way to Level 370.

The handful of small fry lucky enough to survive were handled by the Orcs and Elves.

Once everything was cleaned up, they harvested the items. Almost all of it was junk, but one thing was different.The Ring of the Four Apostles.

The Unique fragment item he'd obtained after killing Bellitas in the past.[You acquire Ring of the First Apostle…….][Ring of the Second Apostle…….][Ring of the Third Apostle…….]

The remaining Apostles had all guaranteed a ring drop as well. The moment he took out all four and gathered them together.[All Apostle Rings combine!][They are reborn as the Complete Ring of the Apostles!]

The four fused into a pale-green ring.

He examined the completed item's performance.[Complete Ring of the Apostles][Rank: Legendary+][Requirement: Level 300 or higher, Mage-exclusive][The rings of the Apostles who pledged loyalty to the Witch have been combined into one. This is their truly complete form.][Effect 1. Magic +200][Effect 2. Performance of all Magic Skills +20%][Effect 3. Casting time -20%][Effect 4. Magic Defense +20%]

“Merhen. You wear this.”―Wow! You're really giving it to me?

“Of course. You worked hard. You deserve at least this much.”

He was a caster, not a Mage, so he couldn't equip it anyway.―Hehe. Thanks, Minwoo! I'll work hard!

Merhen bounced once and accepted the ring.

Then she removed the Magic-rank ring from her left hand and equipped the new one in its place.‘That wraps up the first stage.’He thought about what absolutely needed to be finished on the continent before the investigation teams from the Witch Society and Dragon Legion arrived.

Feed Snowy the Fragments.

It had already eaten the ones from the center and north.

Once they visited the remaining three locations and fed it those Fragments, the Ice attribute should definitely reach 100%.

And…….

He looked at Witch Iris.

“Iris.”

“Yes.”

“Are there any other races on this continent besides Elves and Dwarves?”

“There are. The main ones are Barbarians and Gnomes.”

“They probably have their own techniques too, right?”

“Techniques?”

“Yeah. Dwarves are Blacksmiths and Elves are Alchemists. Things like that.”

Only then did Iris seem to understand, and she nodded.

“They have similar things. Gnomes can craft Runes, and Barbarians…… um…… I don't know if you can call it crafting, but they inscribe tattoos.”

“Runes and tattoos?”

“Yes. As far as I know, Runes are special-effect items crafted separately and socketed into equipment. Tattoos are said to grant mysterious power when inscribed on the body. I tried obtaining both myself, but…… they're stubborn.”

Fair enough.

Even the Dwarves had been stubborn enough to choose death rather than supply equipment to the Witch.

Gnomes and Barbarians probably weren't much different.

Still.

“You didn't kill all of them, did you? I'd be really pissed if you did.”

“……

N-No! I didn't kill them all! Plenty are still alive! Seriously!”

The moment he casually said it, Iris hurriedly waved both hands in denial.

It wasn't because she'd intentionally spared them.

The races he'd mentioned had resisted fiercely, and subjugating them was simply taking time. Which turned out to be fortunate.

If she'd killed them all?

She might've experienced Kim Minwoo's wrath. No, Merhen's wrath would've been the more accurate description.

The terror of having your entire body frozen stiff, unable even to breathe properly.

It was close to a nightmare she never wanted to experience again.

Kim Minwoo nodded in satisfaction.

Knowing they were alive put his mind at ease.

Rune Crafting or tattoos.

He'd already learned Alchemy and Dwarven Crafting Techniques, so why wouldn't he be able to learn these?

Skeletons were omnivorous learners.

“Where are those two races most concentrated?”

“Here and here.”

Iris pointed to two locations on the map. Around the south and east.‘Perfect.’They could stop by, let Snowy eat the Fragments and warm the weather, then approach the groups of survivors.

He'd saved the continent and captured the Witch, so he could probably begin with a decent amount of goodwill.

“Let's go.”

Kim Minwoo stood.

It was time to move diligently.* * *Great Witch Ananke.

One of the seven absolute rulers of the Eastern Witch Society and head of the Raven School.

She was also one of only two Great Witches who had survived the ‘Calamity.’

That made her fundamentally different from the other five Great Witches.

The previous generation had died and those five were replacements chosen afterward, while Ananke had continued living all along.

As usual, Ananke was meditating beneath a pitch-black tree when she opened her eyes.

The countless ravens perched throughout the tree opened theirs as well.―Caw! Dead!―Caw! Cute child!―Caw! Three heads!

The flock began shrieking madly.

Their pupils trembled in terror, and some pissed themselves.

Several even rolled their eyes back.―Caw! Saw it!―Caw! At last!―Caw! He has returned!―Caw! Stench of rot!

The ravens spat out ill omens.

Ananke smiled and asked.

“Really?”―Caw! Yes!―Caw! She has returned as well!―Caw! Idiot! Idiot!―Caw! Your nightmare!

In an instant.

Ananke's brow furrowed violently. The moment she clenched her hand, the ravens that had cried idiot and nightmare exploded.

“Wrong. Not anymore.”

Every raven immediately shut its beak. Ananke didn't particularly care.

She'd already heard everything she needed.

Her figure vanished.

In the next instant, she arrived at the ‘Life-Orb Chamber.’It was a facility used to confirm the life and death of Witches through the life-sign magic placed on their bodies.

The ones monitoring it were Senior Witches. Capable Witches who had reached the Witch Society's middle ranks.

Those Witches quickly bowed their heads.

“We greet the exalted Great Witch.”

“Three heads. Who died?”

“……

Lruye. A Full Witch. We were planning to assemble an investigation team.”

“No need. I'll go myself.”

“If that is what the Exalted One wishes, then certainly.”

The command of a Great Witch was absolute.

If she said that was what would happen.

Then that was what would happen.

For mere Senior Witches, even displaying curiosity would have been disrespectful.

“Where?”

“Lruye was headed toward Sector 9.”

“That's enough.”

Ananke smiled.

Her figure then vanished completely from the First City.

Only several minutes later did the Senior Witches finally manage to raise their heads.‘……

She's gone.’Only then did they escape the suffocating pressure and sigh in relief.

Either way.

Several things had become certain.

Since a Great Witch was personally moving, there was no need for them to send a separate investigation team.

And Lruye's death.

Wasn't an incident that would end as something as ordinary as the death of one Full Witch.‘What's tangled up in this?’‘Something serious enough for the Great Witch herself to move…….’The Senior Witches pushed their complicated thoughts aside and continued monitoring the life-orbs.