Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Corpses and the Truth of Death (1)
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01.
Stupid.
As I took a step forward, the thought crossed my mind. I'd never considered myself particularly bright on a normal day, but even so, the Graveyard Guild was utterly idiotic, lowbrow, and horrifying.
— Selverion, by now our guild member disguised as a civilian should have taken care of you.
"……."
Did they seriously believe a stage boss couldn't tell one player apart from the crowd?
— So just give up and die quietly.
"Hoo…"
I let out a breath, mulling over their increasingly ridiculous lines. Cold mist escaped with it, and frost formed with every step I took.
My red eyes, stained with Selverion's blood, gleamed as I headed toward the Graveyard Guild's turf, where Kim Arin and Lee Minjun were locked in battle.
Did they really think I'd meekly scamper out of the tower? Charitably, it was pure innocence; uncharitably, it was moronic folly.
"……."
Selverion, the girl of the snowflower guarding the world's end. Wherever she was, even the hottest summer day carried a chill.
"Huh…?"
The woman who seemed to be the Graveyard Guild's leader noticed the drop in temperature and turned, spotting me approaching.
"Selverion…?"
She frowned the moment she saw me. Spotting someone who shouldn't be here wouldn't exactly brighten her day.
"……."
I kept walking, using Piercing Frost to peek at her info. Holographic text began forming above her disheveled black hair.
⚔ STATUS ⚔
👤 Name: Kang Doohyun (Evangel)
⭐ Level: 2500
💼 Class: Necromancer
🌑 Attribute: Dark
🏛️ Guild: Graveyard
⚠️ Status Ailment: None
'Kang Doohyun…?'
The name rang a bell. Racking my brain for a moment, I recalled she was none other than the Graveyard Guild's vice master.
Finally, a proper executive had shown her face.
"Lady Selverion!"
Behind Evangel—Kang Doohyun—Kim Arin, who had drawn her pirate cutlass, lit up at the sight of me. Far off, a grin bloomed on Lee Minjun's face too.
'The numbers are heavily stacked against them…'
From the looks of it, they were in combat. What guts did Kim Arin and Lee Minjun have to charge a half-dozen max-level necromancers?
No matter how rare her pirate class was, facing overwhelming odds like this was a tall order.
Especially indoors, where she couldn't even summon her pirate ship ultimate.
"Heh, hehehe…"
"……."
Meanwhile, Evangel, now aware of me, started letting out an unpleasant chuckle. I stopped and tilted my head, unable to grasp what was so funny.
"Kekeke, pffahahahaha!"
Suddenly, she burst into mad laughter. An incomprehensible madness gleamed in her eyes.
"Whoa, if it isn't Selverion?"
She flashed a grotesque smile that evoked the Red Mask's torn grin. Then again, finding anyone sane in this freakshow guild might be the real challenge.
"Honored to meet you!"
"……."
Was it because they'd never joined a single stage boss raid? Or just a few screws loose?
Only the Graveyard Guild would chirp greetings so fearlessly at Frost of Ruin, Selverion, right in front of them.
If I had to pick another, it'd be Kim Arin.
"…You know me, huh."
I matched her vibe with a curt reply. She flushed red, as if she'd been waiting for it.
"You bet! Know you plenty well!"
Right, that's why they sent a lackey to lure me out. A laughably pathetic attempt, but still.
"That's why we sent one of our guildmates after you, right? What happened to him? You come alone?"
Evangel brought it up too, asking like a kid where her guild member—the one who'd tried to trick me outside—was.
I just nodded toward the side.
"Froze him."
"Froze him…?"
"Yeah. If you lick it real hard, he might thaw."
It sounded like a joke, but half of it was serious.
Though she'd probably freeze her tongue solid first, in theory, if she endured that, melting a huge block of ice with her tongue wasn't impossible.
"You're fun, Selverion."
Evangel snickered at my words, then smacked her lips while eyeing me.
"Y'know, I was wondering just a bit."
"……."
"What a stage boss's corpse would taste like."
"Oh."
I looked at her with intrigued eyes. Her words sounded like she wanted to devour me whole.
"Me too, Vice Master! Me too!"
"I'm curious too!"
The Graveyard guildmates behind her bounced around innocently, all chanting "Selverion meat" in unison.
Yep, every last one a lunatic.
"Stage boss meat… worth risking our lives for."
"……."
Gloomy energy poured from the grimoire in Evangel's hand. At the same time, its pages flipped open as if stirred by a sudden wind.
"Tasting every corpse—that's my aesthetic."
Black magic circles bloomed around me, above, below, left, right—every direction.
"Me too!"
"Keh, as expected of the vice master!"
Her guildmates drew grimoires and staves, aiming them at me.
In an instant, they readied for battle—a stage boss raid. Their eyes burned with nothing but the desire to eat me.
"This is a new one."
I scratched my chin at the unfamiliar gaze.
Eyes wanting me dead? I'd seen those from Ace's Yoon Sol.
Fearful eyes? Lee Minjun had them.
Adoring eyes? Kim Arin.
Inspired eyes? Feroln.
But eyes hungry to devour me, like a cannibal psycho? First time.
"…If you're risking your lives, I'll give you my all too."
Dozens of magic circles unfolded around me.
If they were wagering their lives to eat me, I'd meet them with full effort. My bare minimum courtesy in this game.
"Haa…"
Pure white mist billowed from my mouth, a blue formation spreading at my feet. Not just any magic circle—it came with a bone-chilling cold that could freeze flesh solid.
At the same time, despite being indoors, storm clouds gathered over the enemies' heads. The kind ready to unleash thunder, rain, or a snowstorm any second.
"Ehehe…"
Evangel gazed at it all in fascination. As far as I knew, Graveyard had never joined a stage boss fight, so this was her first time seeing Selverion's passives up close.
"Is this that Ashen Snowstorm? Dangerous…"
She seemed to know the passives at least, muttering while staring at the clouds. Then she conjured another circle over her head, like an umbrella to shield from the ashen snowstorm.
"M-Me too!"
"That stuff kills on contact! Hurry!"
Her underlings scrambled to follow suit. Even psychos and nutjobs knew basic precautions, huh.
"Too bad."
I shook my head. In a way, they were pitiful—devoured by their rampaging desires, losing even their true selves.
But that didn't mean I'd go easy on them.
The weight of their sins was far too heavy.
The mountain of corpses they'd trampled was far too vast.
— Groooaaar…
— Kyaaaaaaa!!
Undead began crawling from their magic circles, one by one. Hideous, twisted hands reached for me, driven by pure slaughter instinct.
— Uuu, grrr…?
— Kee, kieeeee!!
"Ha…."
But before they could touch me, the cold radiating from my body froze them solid.
Even in midsummer, a brutal cold snap whipped up around me, centered on this restaurant district.
A blizzard howled from somewhere, blanketing the restaurant, the fourth floor, and Tower A's Jamsil in winter.
"L-Lady Selverion…?"
Kim Arin panicked at the unfamiliar vibe. But I had no intention of stopping the blizzard.
I'd just finely tune the skills to keep her out of the fray and the cold—she could spectate from the front row.
…I lifted slightly off the ground.
Then unleashed an even fiercer blizzard,
not as a "human wearing Selverion's skin,"
but as the "pure stage boss Selverion,"
preparing to face them.
I had just one thing to say to them.
"I told you I'd give my all."
……May they not regret their choice.
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