Chapter 164

Chapter 164

Spendthrift Necromancer (164)

DespairBy the time he arrived at the airport with Han Sia, chaos had already broken out.

Government Awakened stood in the way with gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, the Griff forces were using magic to clear a path as though none of that mattered.‘Yeah, I get the picture.’Would they have acted like this if American Awakened had been blocking them?

Probably not.

From Griff's perspective, Korea was probably just some weak Awakened nation in East Asia. That was why they could act this recklessly without concern.

Should he at least praise them for not using offensive magic?

Either way.

It was obvious they were rampaging without caring in the slightest about public attention. There were probably already hundreds of videos being recorded.

“Merhen. Handle it.”

Against Mages, send the magic specialist. Merhen nodded.[Merhen uses Dragon Authority Stage 1, Hatchling Dragon Wings.]

Flutter!

Adorable wings sprang from Merhen's back. She flew into the sky and extended one hand.

In an instant, every spell the Griff forces had deployed vanished.

A staggering gulf revealed through one simple gesture.

“It's Kim Minwoo!”

“Waaaah!”

The government Awakened who had been getting pushed backward by the wind lit up.

The Awakened gathered here had all lived as Awakened far longer than Kim Minwoo.

Kim Minwoo, on the other hand?

He was a newbie who had Awakened barely over five months ago.

Even so.

He was different.

He was already Korea's hero.

His mere presence was enough to send morale soaring. And hadn't they just been suffering under German tyranny? There was every reason to cheer. Kim Minwoo then approached Han Younggil.

Back when the Blue House had summoned him to explain the Super Rookie Selection Tournament.

Han Younggil had been the one assigned to deliver the information.

“Team Leader Han. Been a while. Have you been well?”

“Yes. I'm especially glad to see you today, Minwoo. We almost ended up humiliating ourselves and accomplishing nothing.”

“Sorry. You're suffering because of me.”

“Not at all. Isn't this for Korea's sake? Of course we should help this much.”

Han Younggil answered with a warm smile. He didn't know the full situation.

He only knew stopping Kim Haeun from leaving the country benefited Korea.

That was why he had followed his orders.

Because that was the role of a government Awakened. Han Younggil then asked.

“What are you planning to do now?”

“What would you like to do, Team Leader?”

“If it were up to me, I'd arrest every last one of them. What the hell are they doing in someone else's country……?”

“Then let's do that.”

“……

You really intend to arrest them?”

“Why not? They're casting magic and causing a scene in another country's airport.”

“That's true, but it might be difficult to arrest all of them for just that…….”

“Then I'll go create justification.”

Kim Minwoo stepped forward.

His gaze met Jonas's.

Jonas stared at him warily. Kim Minwoo knew him well too. One of Griff's dogs.

A fairly loyal hound.

He'd made something of a name for himself as a Magic Swordsman.‘His Level's way higher than I remember?’Kim Minwoo tilted his head after seeing Jonas's equipment. At this point in time, he should've barely passed Level 1,000.

But judging by his setup, he looked well over 1,500.

Abnormally rapid Level growth.

He'd seen something like that before.

Shadow.

Those bastards had done the same.

They'd abused an EXP duplication bug.

Looking at Jonas, Minwoo could roughly guess what had happened.

Birds of a feather really did flock together.

Looks like the villains had gone and joined hands on their own.

An alliance between Griff and Shadow.

Just thinking about it made his chest swell.

Either way.

“You're complete lunatics. Causing this kind of scene in someone else's country.”

“So it was you. You're the one who played tricks on Han Sia.”

“You're the ones playing tricks right now.”

Kim Minwoo shrugged.

Jonas's eyes gleamed.

Their original objective had been to get Kim Haeun out of Korea. Han Sia could be dealt with afterward.

But…….

Han Sia was right in front of him.

And they were already at the airport.

The government Awakened weren't much of a problem. In other words, if they subdued Kim Minwoo, they could take Han Sia back too. Then they could put her on the plane with her mother and send them somewhere far away.

All they had to do was get them aboard and out of the country.

The Korean government wasn't insane enough to launch missiles at the plane.

It was an opportunity worth its weight in gold.

“Han Sia. I'm warning you now. Stop thinking foolish thoughts and return. Before the family head comes here personally.”

Han Sia's body trembled at Jonas's words.

The family head was coming personally?

That demon?

Conditioned fear began taking control of her body.

Even so.

She didn't want to go back.

She'd rather die.

“……

I'm not going back.”

“Do you truly think someone like you has the right to voice an opinion?”

“Yeah. She does. This isn't the old Han Sia anymore. She's Enlightened Han Sia now.”

Jonas's eyes turned murderous.

The old Han Sia would never have dared say something like that.

She was probably trusting Kim Minwoo.‘Then I'll crush that trust.’If that made Han Sia easier to handle, he'd do it gladly.

“Boy. The forces here aren't even one-tenth of the family's strength. Do you truly intend to make us your enemy over one little girl?”

“Who exactly is doing all this over one little girl?”

Kim Minwoo answered with a snort, and Jonas's eyes grew vicious.

As expected, conversation was the most exhausting method. Kim Minwoo himself made that obvious.

Give him words and he kept running his mouth without understanding his place.

“Boy. You should choose your opponents before picking fights.”

“You planning to do anything besides talk?”

“Deploy.”

The Mages nodded and moved into position.[Gale Magic Formation(SS)

is cast…….][Blazing Heat Magic Formation(SS)

activates…….]

They knew about Merhen.

A summon who canceled magic as casually as breathing.

Objectively, even Griff's elite Mages couldn't defeat her one-on-one. The scene moments ago had proven that.

She'd canceled every spell the Mages had used. It wasn't even disruption. It was closer to creating a magical dead zone.

She was unquestionably an extraordinary summon.

However.

They still had a method they hadn't shown.

If one-on-one didn't work.

Then why not one against many? Magic formations deployed through the combined effort of dozens of Mages.

Naturally, the power of each spell increased tremendously.

And the more powerful and violent a spell became, the harder it was to cancel. These formations had been created by fifty elite Mages, each over Level 600.

The Magic Knight Order's true weapon.

That was when.

Kim Minwoo snorted.

Magic formations.

He understood why they'd created them.

And he understood how they viewed Merhen too.

High magical aptitude.

Low everything else.

Apparently they believed they could overwhelm her by dumping sheer quantity onto her.

First, he should correct one misconception.

“Merhen. Handle it.”―Yeah.[Rampage activates!][For 10 minutes, the power of all magic increases by 30%!][Magic can be stacked up to five times!]

In an instant.

The Griff Mages shuddered at the sight of Merhen.

An aura that chilled their spines swept across their bodies.

Merhen, using Rampage, extended one hand.

That was when.[Magic Formation canceled…….][Magic Formation canceled…….]

“Cough!”

The Griff Mages vomited blood.

They stared in horror.‘What the fuck!’‘What is that?’‘She unraveled the entire formation with one gesture?’A summon couldn't exceed its master's Level.

That was an absolute law.

Kim Minwoo's Level?

Even being generous, it had to be below 500.

Meaning that summon should be around the same Level. Yet she dismantled this with one wave of her hand?‘Impossible!’That would make a mere summon a Mage comparable to the family head.

The scene made no sense whatsoever.

That was when.

Kim Minwoo smiled.

Sometimes there was a qualitative gap that sheer numbers couldn't overcome.

Merhen's magic belonged to that category.

And besides.

“If this is enough to shock you, what are you going to do now?”

He was a Necromancer.

And Necromancers had lots of summons.

A whole lot.

Cedric was summoned.

Then came the Dullahan unit.[The Dullahan unit summons Dragonblood Steeds…….]―Neiiigh!

The Dullahans mounted scarlet horses.

Dolsoe, the Specters, and the Skeleton unit appeared.

The Mages' eyes rolled at the sight of thousands of summons.

Their Magic Formations had been canceled.

Meaning any magic they tried would be blocked.

Mages unable to use magic?

Of course, as members of a Magic Knight Order, they'd learned swordsmanship too. And their skill with it was respectable. But that was with support magic enhancing their bodies.

Bare-bodied, as Mage Classes, fighting thousands of summons with swords?

Not a particularly pretty picture.

Especially…….

Now that Minwoo had acquired a new Skill to support his entire legion.

Heart of the Legion.

A Bound Skill he'd obtained from the Skill Book dropped by Full Witch Lruye last time.[Heart of the Legion(SS)][Level Requirement: 300 or higher][Consumes 1,000 Mana to mentally connect with your summons.][Effect 1. Connects the master and summons mentally. The master's thoughts can be transmitted.]

A very simple Skill with only one effect. But the contents weren't simple at all. He could mentally connect with every single summon.

Cedric and Merhen already gave orders as Commanders-in-Chief, but verbal communication had its limits.

Heart of the Legion was one of the best Skills possible for supporting that command structure.

He'd already tested the effect.

Now it was time to use it in actual combat.[Heart of the Legion(SS)

activates!]

The moment the Skill activated.

He felt intimately connected to every summon.

As though invisible transparent threads had been tied one by one to thousands of undead.

“Capture them.”

At Kim Minwoo's words, the summons charged.[Curse of Frailty activates…….][Curse of Aging activates…….][Ring of Ascension activates…….][Gloves of the Contagion Lord activates…….]

The curses activated.

The Ring of Ascension amplified them by 50%.

Then the Gloves of the Contagion Lord triggered, and the curses began endlessly multiplying through the Mages recognized as ‘enemies.’

Maximum Health dropped, along with defense and movement speed.‘This is what gear advantage looks like.’Jonas was cursed too.

His high Level reduced the effects somewhat, but couldn't negate them completely.

Slash!

Jonas cut down the charging Skeletons, his expression stiffening.

The Magic Formations had been canceled, leaving the elite Mages reeling.

His own situation wasn't good either.

The Magic Swordsman's specialty was support magic.

The Class was closer to a knight who fought with magic cast on his body. It also fired off spells between sword attacks to add versatility.

But he couldn't activate magic.

Because of that fucking summon.

Mages who instinctively tried casting spells were collapsing one after another.

Not using magic at all was actually more advantageous now.‘What the hell…….’He'd miscalculated.

Merhen's magical ability exceeded imagination.

Surely she can't be this ridiculous?

Yeah, she's worse.

That was the feeling.

“Don't panic! Fight exactly as we trained! Form ranks!”

At Jonas's shout, the Mages grouped into teams of five and formed lines.

The battle began.―Grooo!

Thud, thud!

The Golem charged.

The Dullahan unit advanced beside him as though supporting the rush.

Bam!

Massive red horses.

And the Golem too.

An enormous mass no human body could easily stop.

Mages began flying in every direction. Skeletons spread like ants through the broken formations.

Thomas, one of Griff's elite Mages, had been thrown aside.

He quickly rose and swung his sword at the Skeletons.

Aside from looking slightly unusual and carrying blood-red weapons, they were just skeletons.

The lowest-tier summons.

Meanwhile, him?

Over Level 600 with nearly a lifetime of training.

His equipment was excellent too.

The Skeletons wore gear, but it was obviously low-Level equipment.

No matter how many there were, they couldn't possibly match him. That was why he charged confidently.

Trash summons like these should naturally die in one hit…….

Clang!

Sparks flew.‘……?’What?

Thomas blinked.

Spear, shield, mace, sword, axe.

Five Skeletons precisely held their own red weapons and blocked his attack.‘Huh?’Did Skeletons just block my sword?

How dare they?

Then the five Skeletons surrounded Thomas. Almost as though they'd formed a coordinated encirclement formation.

“Hah. You insects…….”

Thomas ground his teeth and swung.

Attacks came from five directions at once. Every strike precisely targeted a vital point.‘……!’A formation more precise than one made by humans sent a chill down Thomas's spine.

Instinctively, he understood.

If he maintained his attack, he might kill one or two Skeletons, but he'd be wounded too.

Trading damage with Skeletons?

Unthinkable.

He hurriedly pulled back his sword and focused on defense.

Ten exchanges.

Twenty.

“Y-You bastards…….”

Like slowly drowning in steadily rising water.

Thomas's room to move kept shrinking.

His eyes trembled wildly.

What the hell was this?

He was losing to only five Skeletons?

Even without magic, he was one of Griff's elite Mages.

Impossible.

Yet that nightmare was unfolding before his eyes. Wounds slowly multiplied across his body.

“Damn it! Help me!”

Eventually, he abandoned his pride and desperately shouted.

Only then did he see what was happening around him.

His comrades had already all fallen. Meanwhile, the undead kept surging like an endless tide.

Skeletons approached from every direction, pupils blazing.

“Ah…….”

Thomas groaned.

A moment later, the wave of Skeletons swallowed him too.‘Easy.’Kim Minwoo watched the flailing Mages.

Skeletons?

They'd certainly grown stronger through Bone Replacement, equipment support, Dragonblood Tools, and more, but of course they weren't naturally this powerful.

The reason they'd become dramatically stronger was that Minwoo himself was correcting their decisions.

Orders delivered through Heart of the Legion.‘Stab now.’‘From four directions.’‘Bend your leg slightly and dodge.’Thoughts and strategies were shared fluidly from moment to moment.

Of course, there were clear limits to how well Skeleton bodies could execute his commands. If he gave an instruction worth 100, managing even 20 was fortunate.

But even that alone was enough to make Griff's elite Mages collapse helplessly.

The difference in combat power was overwhelmingly one-sided.