Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Spendthrift Necromancer (91)

Antlion Pit (3)

Shadow knew Demon Castle well. That was why they could guess why Kim Minwoo had chosen this Gate.

A map configuration that was poison to intruding Assassins. On top of that, the seven reception rooms inside the castle each had only one entrance and extremely spacious interiors.‘Perfect for a Necromancer to run wild.’It didn't matter.

They had come prepared to accept this level of penalty.

And so the group began opening the reception rooms one by one and checking inside.

The trainees took turns opening the doors. Everyone else waited a short distance away, prepared for an ambush from within.

The first four were duds.

They merely killed plenty of demon-type monsters.

When the fifth door opened.

“……!”

The trainee's eyes widened.‘Is this it?’The S-rank Awakened waiting nearby sharpened their gazes at the clearly different reaction.

Han Baekgil did the same.

He gripped his weapon tightly.

He had even activated his Skills so he could enter at any moment.

Then.

Whoooosh……!

A tremendous wind began blowing in front of the door. Pressure like a vacuum cleaner sucked everything inward.

Caught completely by surprise, all the Awakened were dragged in.

“W-What?!”

“What the fuck……!”

“M-Magic!”

S-rank Mage Yu Longgang, who had come from China as reinforcement, sharpened his gaze.

A standardized flow of Mana.

This was unquestionably magic.

A Necromancer couldn't possibly use magic like this, so apparently the bastard had obtained an impressive item.‘Arrogant brat.’[Land of Death activates!][Your vitality is continuously drained!]

Another message appeared, but it wasn't immediately important.

Probably just some area Skill.

The damage wasn't even that strong.

What mattered was stopping the wind raging around them.

Yu Longgang was a Mage who had survived countless battles himself.

Naturally, he had magic prepared for situations like this.

Magic activated instantly above his hand.[Weight Amplification(B)

activates!][Earth's Grasp(A)

activates!]

It increased the targets' weight.

Gigantic hands rose from the ground and seized the party members' limbs.

Shadow's members, who'd been violently dragged by the wind, sighed in relief.

Their bodies stopped in midair.

Then.[A Great Mage is observing you!][The source of your magic has been understood!][All magic is dispelled!]Before even 0.1 seconds passed, every spell Yu Longgang had cast vanished with a faint pop as though it had never existed.‘……?’Yu Longgang's eyes bulged at messages he'd never seen in his life.

The source had been understood?

And on top of that, his magic had been dispelled?

What kind of bullshit was this?‘And who the hell is this Great Mage?’Every party member was dragged toward the doorway.

Yu Longgang was no exception.

The party hurriedly activated defensive Skills.

Then a gigantic explosion erupted.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

“Ghk!”

“Aaaagh!”

The trainees' bodies were shredded.

Even the S-rank Awakened suffered injuries.

That was how powerful the explosion had been.

“There he is!”

Inside the reception room.

Kim Minwoo stood among countless undead.

The gigantic Golem and Cedric.

Then the Skeletons.

All the familiar summons were visible. There was a group of Specters too, but they'd already expected that much.

He would've learned a C-rank Skill by now.

There was only one strange thing.‘What's that?’A woman none of them had ever seen stood beside Kim Minwoo.

She wore a pitch-black parasol and looked toward them with a faint smile.

No matter how they looked at her, she seemed foreign…….‘Who the hell is she?’‘Did he secretly bring in reinforcements…….’‘No. Wait.’A warning bell rang inside everyone's head.

A B-rank Gate could hold a maximum of twenty people.

Kim Minwoo had already entered together with nineteen intruders.

In other words, that thing looked human, but wasn't.

“……

Summon! Mage! Be careful!”

Yu Longgang shouted urgently in clumsy Korean.

Cedric, known as the Bone Knight.

The power of that summon was beyond imagination.

That woman had to be the same.‘It's her!’Yu Longgang instinctively realized who the phrase Great Mage referred to. A suffocating pressure flowed from the woman.

It wasn't merely an intimidating aura.

It felt like something fundamental.

As though every individual cell in his body was being dissected and examined. The feeling of being stripped bare and analyzed sent chills racing down Yu Longgang's spine.

“Kill him!”

The Awakened gathered near the door fired every attack Skill they had.

The battle had already begun.

They'd been prepared for some sacrifices.

They had to break through the summons and kill Kim Minwoo.

Now that they'd been dragged to the doorway anyway, they decided to force open a path. Under the fierce barrage of Skills, the approaching summons died in droves.

“Careful! They revive!”

Number One shouted urgently.

Kim Minwoo's undead were bizarre.

Instead of simply being unsummoned, they revived.[You are afflicted with Curse of Aging!][Defense and Movement Speed decrease by 10%…….]

The curse took hold, and the dogfight continued.

“Yu Longgang!”

Yu Longgang nodded.

They wanted him to blast the field with one clean area attack.

He felt that incomprehensible pressure, but he couldn't simply stand there doing nothing.[Yu Longgang casts Great Explosion(S)

…….]

Just as he tried activating his magic again.―Idiot. So simple.

A sudden voice rang out.[Magic Defense(B)

erupts!][Magic Reflection(A)

erupts!][Casting of Great Explosion(S) is canceled!]

“Guhk!”

The Mana he'd moved to activate the spell tangled completely, and he collapsed while coughing blood.

Every defensive spell he'd placed on himself was dismantled at the same time.

“?”

“?”

“?”

Shadow's members tilted their heads.

S-rank Mage Yu Longgang.

He'd collapsed without even accomplishing anything. The impact was apparently severe, because he was frothing at the mouth and trembling.

‘What the hell…….’Yu Longgang wasn't some extraordinary genius even among S-rank Mages.

Even so, he was still an S-rank Mage.

He unquestionably possessed enough power to roast mediocre enemies alive.

So what was this?

Everyone was shaken.

The original plan was to have Yu Longgang's magic sweep away the disposable summons, then approach Kim Minwoo.

That plan had fallen apart from the very beginning.

“Stick to the original plan!”

Han Baekgil shouted.

Unexpected variables kept appearing.

But if they panicked now, they would be the ones devoured instead.

They had to push forward stubbornly.‘We still have one shot left.’Han Baekgil's eyes gleamed.

The initial damage.

Even with Yu Longgang down, they hadn't suffered a fatal blow yet. There were still nine S-rank Awakened remaining.

Yu Longgang could also recover somewhat after drinking potions.

Han Baekgil had practically emptied the Treasure Hall in preparation for the worst.

Naturally, he'd brought several artifacts specifically meant to destroy Necromancers.

The S-rank Awakened nodded resolutely.

The path gradually opened, and the distance to Kim Minwoo shrank.

“Now!”

Numbers One through Seven.

And Han Baekgil.

All of them activated the artifacts equipped on their bodies.[Rain of Light(S)

activates!][Angel's Smile(S)

activates!][Sacred Flame(S)

activates!][Holy Protection(S)

activates…….]

Light had always been the natural enemy of undead.

Whenever Light struck, damage usually doubled at minimum.

And this place was even crawling with Specters.

Ghost-type undead could take triple damage, so this should wipe out the summons in one stroke.

A glittering rain of light fell.

Sacred energy swirled around Han Baekgil and the others.

It was radiance intense enough to melt lowly Skeletons before they could even approach.‘We'll break through in one shot…….’‘And kill him!’Everyone's eyes gleamed.

Even a special summon like Cedric couldn't possibly endure a barrage of S-rank Light.

Their lips curled into thick smiles.

Then.

The Skeletons stared blankly at them.

So did the Specters.

The Golem.

Cedric.

The strange woman.

Every one of them stood beneath the rain of light and stared at the glittering party as though nothing whatsoever had happened.‘What?’‘It activated.’‘Why aren't they dying?’This was a storm of Light powerful enough to erase even a Death Knight instantly.

An ordinary Necromancer would've already had their formation shattered and been running around in panic.

Then why?

The silence lasted only briefly.

Kim Minwoo's undead recovered first.

Attacks poured in from every direction.

“Ghk!”

“Argh!”

Injuries spread among Shadow's members, who hadn't anticipated this at all.

Han Baekgil was equally dumbfounded.* * *‘Easy.’Minwoo had seized the initiative from the beginning.

He'd concentrated the explosion on them.

The S-rank Awakened began fighting back, but his summons alone were buying more time than expected.‘They're not that strong.’Shadow's original members had averaged close to Level 500.

Double experience didn't mean they simply became Level 1,000.

The required experience rose sharply with every level too.‘Maybe around 700.’Average stats around 7

0

0.

Of course, other factors would push their stats much higher than that, but his own summons weren't exactly weak.

First of all, numbers were power.

They were more than enough for stalling.

And as if that weren't enough, Merhen was putting in enormous work.‘She's basically a Mage counter.’Nine out of ten Mages in this world were basically fakes.

They learned magic through Skill Books as though Skills were automatically cast, then used the magic according to that preset structure.

In other words, the way their spells activated was fixed.

Merhen, on the other hand.‘She's a real Mage.’She manipulated Mana and freely created magic.

To someone like her, fake Mages were nothing more than delicious prey.

One glance was enough for her to understand how to dismantle their magic. Block the Mana flow in only a few places, and those fake Mages coughed blood and collapsed.

Just like that Yu Longgang or whatever his name was.‘Similar to swordsmanship.’When amateurs swung swords, Minwoo could read their next movement and put a blade against their throat.

Magic was the same.

A true master devoured novices.‘I've roughly figured out their Skills too.’There was a reason he'd sent his summons first.Stage 6 meant plenty of variables.

He wanted to see whether their Skills had changed or whether they possessed unusual abilities.

Apparently Han Baekgil eventually decided normal methods weren't working and pulled out their supposed trump card.‘Sorry. Doesn't work.’Light magic?

Even the SSS-rank Holy Sword's Light couldn't affect Minwoo's undead.

What was mere S-rank radiance supposed to accomplish?

Thanks to that, Shadow's baffled members were getting beaten bloody.‘Need to kill a few before they run.’Only then would the hidden piece activate.

He looked at Merhen.

She nodded.

Kim Minwoo drew the Necromantic Sword and charged.

Cedric did the same.

The closest target was Number Six.

An Assassin.

The man sharpened his gaze as Minwoo approached.

He thrust his dagger out instantly.‘Not a Skill.’Cedric's spear darted in and caught the dagger.

The trajectory was knocked aside, creating an opening.

When Minwoo thrust his sword, the man hurriedly tried using a Skill. His body began fading like smoke.

Emergency Escape.

One of an Assassin's S-rank Skills.

Then.[Merhen uses Underwater Adhesive(S)

!]

Splat!

Some sticky liquid instantly wrapped around his legs. Number Six's Emergency Escape was canceled, and his eyes bulged.

He desperately bent backward.

The descending sword still split his body in two.[Level increases by 3!]For an S-rank, his actual ability was nothing special. At best, his skill level resembled the promising young martial artists Minwoo had met in the Murim Gate.‘Then you die.’Apparently he'd seen Minwoo defeat Jo Pilwook, assumed that was everything, and tried showing off alone.

Unfortunately, Kim Minwoo's swordsmanship went far beyond that.

Two Legion Commanders.

And Kim Minwoo himself.

Under the combined assault of three supreme experts, the S-rank Awakened died without accomplishing anything.‘Three more.’Han Baekgil and Shadow's remaining members began trembling at the incomprehensible display of skill.