Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Spendthrift Necromancer (85)

Second Arrangement (11)

Merhen reached out toward the Death Lord. The invisible pressure vanished, and Kim Minwoo collapsed onto the ground.

At that moment.

Time stopped, and messages began appearing.[Merhen manifests magic!][You have fulfilled part of the clear conditions! (1/2)][You are given two choices!][1. Escape.][2. Resolve Merhen's ‘grudge.’]‘Part of the conditions…….’From the moment the Balrog and Death Lord appeared, he'd already suspected that manifestation was probably one of the clear conditions.

It made sense. They were simply too strong.

The player's own skill was important, of course, but this wasn't something that could be solved through skill alone.

He looked at the two choices.‘Resolve her grudge, huh.’Seeing what the Death Lord was doing made it obvious. In the past, he'd been a Lich for whom threats and deception were everyday tools.

He'd probably used force when he found Merhen and turned her undead too.

That seemed to be what had remained as her grudge…….‘If she'd become my summon even if I just left, there'd be no reason to give me a choice.’If he escaped without resolving that grudge, it obviously looked like problems would follow.

Merhen hated the Death Lord.

And Minwoo had inherited his power?

Even if he'd scored some points with her in this past…….‘No guarantee she'll really become my summon.’And even if she did, there was a good chance the relationship would be rocky.

He remembered the messages he'd seen when he obtained Cedric.[Perfect Escape Condition!][Cedric has overcome his regret!]

Compared to that, this still felt horribly unresolved.

Conclusion.‘I should resolve it, right?’The question was how.‘Her magical ability should be outstanding.’Merhen's talent was good enough for even the Death Lord to covet.

The power of the magic she'd unleashed upon manifesting had to be considerable too.‘She might actually be able to fight the Death Lord.’Maybe beating the hell out of each other would help her vent some of that grudge?

For now, he wanted to believe so.

Because if he had to join the fight against the Death Lord himself.‘Absolutely impossible.’The Death Lord was on an entirely different plane from Valkan. One gesture had dragged Minwoo over and shattered his entire body.

The difficulty would be literally impossible.

Merhen had to handle him.‘What I need to handle is…….’He looked at Valkan, frozen in place.

Once time started flowing again, Merhen and the Death Lord would clash, and Valkan would join the battle too.‘That bastard.’For now, Minwoo had to buy time somehow and stop that Balrog from joining the fight. That was the best he could do.[You have selected Choice 2!]

Time began flowing again.[Merhen's Hatred: 100%]

A message appeared.

Kim Minwoo immediately began gulping down potions. His shattered body rapidly recovered.

Brilliant light bloomed above Merhen's hand.[Merhen uses Accelerated Casting(SSS)

!][Merhen uses Lightning Strike(SSS)

!][Merhen uses Watery Hell(SSS)

!][Merhen uses Wind Blade(SSS)

!]

“Die!”

Hundreds of spells immediately poured toward the Death Lord.―……

How troublesome.

The Lich clicked his tongue, and a pitch-black barrier formed around his body.

The Mage and Lich rose into the air and began bombarding each other with hundreds of spells.‘They're just on a completely different level.’Merhen was going berserk as though she'd suddenly been pumped full of drugs.

And the Death Lord was blocking everything while counterattacking.

One glance was enough.

If Minwoo got involved there, he'd be flattened into jerky.

He'd leave those two to handle each other.

Minwoo summoned his undead army and charged toward Valkan.―……

Hah.

Valkan sneered incredulously at the charging Kim Minwoo and gripped his whip.―To think you'd dare challenge me again. At least you have some courage!

During their previous fight, Minwoo hadn't known how Valkan fought at all. He'd taken plenty of attacks while learning his patterns.

That was because Valkan wielded his flame whip with extraordinary skill.

The stat gap was already overwhelming, and he was skilled with his weapon too?

Then of course Minwoo had gotten hit.

But now things were different.

His body was fresh after drinking potions.

And after fighting Valkan once, he had a decent grasp of how the demon handled his whip.‘I can buy time.’The wound he'd cut earlier still hadn't healed. If he kept targeting that spot, he might be able to half-cripple one of the demon's legs.‘That's probably as far as I can go, though.’He wasn't going to win.

That was fine.

His goal had never been victory in the first place. So Kim Minwoo and Valkan collided once again.[Merhen's Hatred: 90%]

He dodged the blazing whip and targeted nothing but the leg.

Finally.

Thud!

As the accumulated attacks stacked together, the Necromantic Sword tore through skin and muscle and struck the demon's bone. The blade sank deep.

Valkan's face twisted in pain.

Then.[Necromantic Sword absorbs the blood of an overwhelmingly powerful foe! (5,020/10,000)]‘Huh?’Didn't hunting mean he had to kill the enemy completely?

Maybe this was some special phenomenon triggered because Valkan was simply that strong.

Either way.

It benefited Minwoo.

He dodged the whip, retreated, and thought.‘Two thousand from landing one proper hit on his leg.’He'd killed roughly three thousand monsters during the Wave.

But feeding the sword Valkan's blood once had raised the count by a full two thousand.‘I might actually fill all ten thousand here.’He had to fight anyway.

Might as well power up the Necromantic Sword in the process.―Y-You vermin!

Valkan began rampaging in fury.[Merhen's Hatred: 65%]

Kim Minwoo grinned.

In battle, the side that let emotion take control first was already halfway defeated.

Because unnecessary movements began to multiply.

That was exactly what was happening to Valkan.

Instead of sharp, precise attacks, he began firing wide-area attacks as though trying to sweep the entire surroundings clean.

Every moment he spent preventing Minwoo from approaching was still time lost.

Thanks to that, Minwoo even had plenty of time to drink potions.

Of course.[Warning!][You have consumed too many potions in a short period! Overload begins!]

That didn't mean he could avoid Overload.

He threw summons in front to block, dodged around, and waited for openings.

A whip had tremendous reach, but recovering it was slow.

If he kept dodging patiently.‘One more shot.’Thud!

An opening appeared like this.

This time the blade sank deep enough to shatter part of the solid bone.[Merhen's Hatred: 41%][Necromantic Sword absorbs the blood of an overwhelmingly powerful foe! (7,020/10,000)]

The human immediately cut the bone, slipped backward in an infuriating retreat, and dodged the whip.―…….

Valkan's expression gradually became serious. The human's physical capabilities were clearly pathetic compared to his own.

So he'd thought this would be easy.‘Before the Lord dragged him away, it definitely was…….’Their previous battle had been exactly that.

Swing the whip five times, and at least one would always connect.

Every time it did, the bastard would spit blood, roll across the ground, and gulp down potions.

But now things were different.

He dodged with uncanny precision, almost as if he were reading Valkan's movements. Even ten swings struggled to land once.

And the number of consecutive misses kept increasing.

His movements had been completely read.‘Damn it.’His leg had already suffered a severe injury.

He could no longer afford carelessness.

To think he would have to fight seriously against a worthless human like this!

It wounded his pride, but what choice did he have?

Simple whip strikes weren't working.

Then.

Boom!

Valkan stomped his foot.[Valkan uses Hellfire Earth(EX)

!]

The surrounding terrain warped violently. Lava radiating horrific heat began flowing through the cracks.

The human hurriedly summoned a Golem and climbed onto it.

At best, that would buy only a little time. This heat wasn't something even a Golem could withstand.

Smiling cruelly, Valkan swung his whip once more.* * *The surroundings filled completely with lava.

There was nowhere to stand.[Dolsoe begins melting!]

The horrifying heat rapidly melted Dolsoe's summoned body. It was obvious what would happen if Minwoo's feet touched the ground.[You consume Fire Resistance Potion(Highest-Grade)

!]

Before the heat could roast him alive, Minwoo drank another potion.

That should buy him the bare minimum of time.‘Looks like I'm fighting in the air.’[Summoning ‘Skeleton Mages’!]

A group of Mages appeared on Dolsoe's shoulders.[‘Mail’ issues orders!][Skeleton Mage 2 uses Bone Shield…….][Skeleton Mage 3 uses Bone Shield…….] ..

Bone shields appeared in midair. Minwoo leaped upward and summoned Cedric.

Cedric appeared atop one of the shields, activated various Skills, and shot toward the whip.

A brief distraction.

Skeleton Mages had already begun appearing atop the Bone Shields.

Like a virus spreading from host to host, Bone Shields multiplied everywhere.

Minwoo stepped across them and approached the demon.

Valkan looked startled, apparently never imagining Minwoo would approach like this. He hurriedly swung his whip.[Merhen's Hatred: 21%]

Even so, the distance kept closing. That half-severed leg had to be aching badly by now.[Using Necromantic Sword Art(S)

!][Consuming 6,000 Mana…….]

He continuously released streams of sword energy and charged.

The whip's trajectory had shifted entirely downward, as though Valkan were protecting his leg.

All of the demon's attention was focused there. Minwoo had spent the entire fight hacking at nothing but that leg precisely to create this situation.‘Can't cut the leg off.’Valkan was already far too wary.

If Minwoo went for the leg now, he'd be the one getting eaten instead.

Merhen's hatred was almost at rock bottom.

Before leaving, common courtesy demanded that he land one big hit.

As he charged toward Valkan's leg.

Minwoo stepped on a newly summoned Bone Shield and abruptly changed direction.―……!

Valkan's eyes widened.

The insolent human was now flying straight toward his face.

He hurriedly swung his whip.

But he was already one step too late.

Stab!

The eye Minwoo had never once tried to attack.

The Necromantic Sword plunged straight into it.[Necromantic Sword blooms!][A new effect is unlocked!][It has absorbed the blood of an overwhelmingly powerful foe!][The effect is greatly enhanced!]

The moment Valkan became one-eyed.

Countless messages appeared.

Minwoo had no time to read them.

Valkan was thrashing violently with a sword buried in his pupil.

The whip grazed Minwoo, and burning agony swallowed his entire body.

His body went flying into the distance.‘A small price.’Considering he'd taken an eye from a being like Valkan.

A Bone Shield materialized and caught his body.

Even Indomitable Soul hadn't activated.

Then messages appeared.[Perfect Escape Condition!][Merhen has overcome her regret!][Merhen awakens her potential!][She can now use many more types of magic beyond Death Magic!][You have won the heart of the one who served as the Death Lord's Legion Commander and was known as the Banshee Queen!][Merhen will now fight for you!][Death Lord's Authority, Summon Merhen(SSS)

is activated!][You have acquired the title, ‘Master of the Banshee Queen’!][You have acquired the title, ‘One Who Took Valkan's Eye’!][You have acquired the title, ‘One Who Ended the Grudge’!][A new entry is added to ‘Beginning of a Legend – Part One’…….][Leaving the past!]

Along with the flood of messages, the scenery around him blurred.