Chapter 111: Dullahan
Dullahan.
Dullahan.
An undead with no head, but a blue flame flickering where its face should be. You could roughly gauge its emotions from the flame's movements.
The pack of Dullahan tilted their heads as they stared at Kim Minwoo.
They instinctively knew that this man was their summoner.
‘An impressive Necromancer.’
The powerful strength surging through their bodies the moment they were summoned.
And on top of that, he'd summoned this many Dullahan at once. He had to be one hell of a Necromancer.
But that was that.
Why was he holding a sword and provocatively beckoning with his finger?
And telling them all to come at him?
Dullahan were once knights. Massive egos with noses held higher than anyone's.
‘Arrogant bastard.’
‘Daring to provoke us with a sword?’
The Dullahan pack's eyes grew fierce.
Soon after.
—I’ll handle this.
The first Dullahan summoned, number one.
He drew his sword and approached Kim Minwoo.
—Milton de Reynolds.
“Too long. From now on, you’re Dui.”
—… Dui?
“You’re number one Dullahan.”
Did he name him Dui just because he was Dullahan number one?
He’d had plenty of masters before, but this was the first time he’d heard such a half-assed name.
—… I am Milton de Reynolds. If it’s hard to say, you can call me Milton.
“Dui.”
—… Milton.
“Dui.”
—You insolent fool!
He’d been compromising this much because the guy seemed like a pretty impressive Necromancer, but even that was refused?
The Dullahan charged in a frenzy, sword drawn.
Soon after.
Slash!
The sound of something being sliced rang out. The Dullahan stared dully at Milton.
‘Is it over?’
‘Already?’
‘Boring.’
‘He didn’t kill him, right?’
If that Necromancer stuck to his role and used other skills, sure.
But this weirdo was wielding a sword out of nowhere.
No traces of skills used, so he must’ve been subdued in one shot.
That much was fine, but killing him was a problem.
There weren’t many Necromancers who could summon high-tier undead like them.
Even fewer who could summon this many.
If he died, they’d have to sleep in a state close to eternal rest until another Necromancer who could summon them appeared.
Milton wouldn’t want that either, so he probably just roughed him up a bit…
—…Huh?
Before the thought could continue, Milton’s body split in two and collapsed.
—…!
Subdued in just one exchange?
It wasn’t just the 179 Dullahan who were shocked.
The number one Dullahan who stepped up first.
Even the revived Milton, his body halved, was aghast.
‘What the hell?’
Never mind coming back to life.
How the hell did he get taken down?
He’d charged with sword raised, and the world went dark.
“Are you with us?”
—… How did you do that.
“Like this.”
This time, Kim Minwoo charged first. Milton hastily raised his sword.
Pointlessly, the smoothly slipping blade sliced his body in half again.
‘A master…!’
Before the thought could continue, Milton was unsummoned. It wasn’t just Milton who was shocked.
This time, everyone watched closely, confirming exactly how Kim Minwoo’s sword bisected Milton.
Just one exchange.
But they instinctively knew.
‘He’s a master!’
A true sword master at that.
“Come on.”
This time, three stepped up.
Unsummoned in harmony.
Five, seven, ten, twenty…
More and more of the Dullahan pack charged. Yet Kim Minwoo’s face remained calm.
The stat gap was insurmountable to begin with. High-tier undead or not, they were fresh level 1s. Their stats averaged around 100 at best.
Compared to him?
Average of 700.
Seven times the difference.
And his swordsmanship was overwhelmingly superior.
Far beyond what mere average knights like these Dullahan could handle.
That’s why.
He’d called them all at once.
Slash after slash.
The Dullahan pack started getting unsummoned en masse in an instant.
* * *
“What’s your name?”
—… Dui.
“And you?”
—… Dubakship.
Kim Minwoo nodded in satisfaction. Fortunately, these guys weren’t as stubborn as Cedric.
Just one day.
That’s how long it took to tame the Dullahan pack.
“The oath?”
—…
The Dullahan pack stared silently before speaking.
—… I, Dui, swear my loyalty to you.
—… I, Dubakship, do the same.
[All Dullahan in the pack swear loyalty!]
[A knight’s oath, firm as rock!]
[The Dullahan pack will now carry out any order of yours to the letter!]
Heartwarming.
“Good. From now on, when newbies come in, you handle their mental training. If they don’t shape up, assemble them immediately. Got it?”
—… Yes.
After finishing the Dullahan pack’s mental training, he summoned Cedric.
—Ugh…
A skeleton appearing out of nowhere.
Normally, at Dullahan level, skeletons were no big deal.
They were the standard meat shields in undead armies.
But…
‘What’s with that skeleton…?’
‘His presence is insane.’
Their instincts made their bodies shrink!
The Dullahan pack’s faces stiffened as they looked at Cedric.
Cedric glanced around before staring at the Dullahan pack.
‘You subdued them all?’
“Yeah. From now on, you command them too. You’re the Supreme Commander. Handle their training yourself.”
Dumping tedious shit on subordinates was the best.
For someone like Cedric, training these guys would be a breeze.
—… Fine.
Cedric nodded and approached the Dullahan pack.
—Pleased to meet you. I’m Cedric. I’ll be commanding you from now on.
The Dullahan pack bowed in assent.
The presence emanating from his body marked him as a different league of undead.
They acknowledged such a being had the right to stand above them. While the Dullahan and Cedric got acquainted.
“Oh, right. One thing I’m curious about.”
—What?
“These Dullahan are roughly commander-tier, right?”
—Usually, yeah.
“Then how do they relate to Hail? He’s a commander too.”
Cedric was the overall commander of the skeleton unit.
Under him were two commander-tier individuals: Hail and Miley.
Miley was magic unit commander anyway, so whatever.
But he was curious about Hail and the Dullahan’s relationship.
Specters flew solo, so they’d operated as an independent unit.
Skeletons and Dullahan, though?
They were directly related summons.
‘Wondering how the hierarchy shakes out?’
“Yeah.”
—In special cases like this… they fight to decide.
“Oh, really?”
—Yes. Undead armies are survival of the fittest, after all.
“So, have them fight, and it’s settled.”
—Pretty much.
He summoned Hail in combat mode.
Hail snapped a vigorous salute the moment he saw him.
“Dui, come here.”
—…
Dui approached slowly.
Among the 180 Dullahan, he was one of the more competent ones.
Number one in numbering and skill—a representative Dullahan, basically.
“This is the skeleton commander. We’re picking a mid-level commander, so fight.”
—… With that skeleton?
“Yeah. Winner takes command.”
Hail slammed his sword on his shield as if provoking him.
—… Having to fight over something this ridiculous is absurd.
But what could he do?
It was an order.
Dui gripped his two-handed sword.
‘Who’ll win?’
Level 1, but Dui had superior experience and skill.
Versus level 101 Hail, a commander with solid combat experience.
From Kim Minwoo’s perspective, it was a clear noob duel.
‘But noob fights are the most fun, right?’
Plus, these were his summons. Of course he was hooked.
The two summons closed the distance.
Clang!
A heavy clash as shield met two-handed sword.
Clang! Clang!
Hail kept blocking the sword with his shield.
The Dullahan’s head-flame flickered in slight surprise.
But his response was seasoned.
Long-reach two-handed sword.
He started pressuring the skull with range advantage.
Hail getting cornered bit by bit.
Hail was going to be devoured unless he landed a decisive blow.
The moment he thought that, Hail charged shield-first.
Dui swung back while retreating.
Thud!
Blocked by the shield.
Then Hail ditched the shield and leaped like Nongae.
—…!
A bold gamble.
Slash!
One bony arm cleanly severed, but Hail’s sword buried in the Dullahan’s neck area.
This strategy looked familiar.
‘Did he learn it from me?’
Unprepared for a skeleton’s mutual destruction play, Dui fell more pathetically than expected.
“Hail wins!”
Raising Hail’s remaining arm in victory, Hail chattered his jaw proudly. He eyed the Dullahan pack with overflowing confidence.
The Dullahan flames flickered in shock.
He resummoned Dui and said.
“You lost?”
—… Yes.
The other Dullahan nodded in agreement. Special skeleton tactics or not.
A loss was a loss.
As former knights, they accepted such matters cleanly.
“From now on, follow his command.”
—… Understood. Then, do we take orders from the other skeletons too?
“Nah, no need.”
Hail was a favored skeleton with superior learning ability compared to others.
Meaning the rest couldn’t pull off that performance.
“Hail’s mid-level commander. You guys are just commanders. Give orders to regular skeletons, done.”
—Yes.
[Melee unit command structure complete!]
[Unit Level: Veteran Undead Unit]
[Supreme Commander: Cedric]
[Mid-level Commander: Hail]
[Regular Commanders: Dui, Du-two, Du-three… Dubakship]
[Commander-tier entities greatly increased!]
[The unit’s movements become far more professional!]
But this wasn’t the only unit. With Merhen added, there was a separate magic and support unit. For reference, Merhen was its Supreme Commander.
‘Hierarchy sorted.’
[Achievement Shop unlocked!]
[Rank: Silver (Total Points Earned: 1,630)]
[Current Achievement Points: 600]
He looked at the Achievement Shop.
600 points from smashing Baekgil last time.
He hadn’t spent them since.
The reason was simple.
‘No rush to spend.’
Achievement points weren’t easy to get.
First, major villain subjugation.
He’d taken out Korea’s big bad, Han Baekgil.
To get another of that caliber, he’d need to go overseas.
Taking down other countries’ Awakeners abroad wouldn’t be easy.
If that was tough right now, he needed to encounter a main character and shake things up.
‘Fulfill a wish, change their class for a twist…’
Gotta do something to earn points.
But that structure wasn’t easy either.
Second character, Han Sia.
And fourth, Namgung Min.
Both had issues.
‘Han Sia’s already a mage.’
Unlike Park Siwoo, she’d awakened. Not like Seo Yerim with different talents and class.
Plus.
‘The moment I contact her, shit gets complicated.’
Han Sia had one hell of a complex backstory.
She was half Korean and half German.
Her paternal side in Germany was tied up in.
‘The Griff Family…’
In short, the Griff Family was packed with true mages who dominated Germany’s magical world.
Naturally tight with Germany’s political and financial worlds.
Contact her, and the Griff Family starts watching him.
‘Hard to fulfill her wish too.’
Seo Yerim wanted Sword Sage recognition.
Han Sia? Revenge.
‘Her talent stolen by the family head, then discarded.’
Griff Family.
Shady as fuck.
Human experiments baseline, they did all sorts of shit.
From birth, the family head spotted her talent and sucked most of it dry.
She kept some because it was innately too massive.
How massive?
‘Even the scraps left make her a magic genius.’
After gorging, they shipped her to her maternal side.
Not out of kindness.
More like aging process.
To suck again, the head needed to expand capacity.
One more reason.
‘Fatten her up again.’
Like biting a fish, getting full, tossing it in the stream.
Fatten up, bite again.
Creation economy at its finest.
Anyway.
Contact Han Sia, and the Griff Family takes hot interest.
Problem is, that’s tricky.
‘Grunts are whatever…’
The family head was seriously strong. If Han Baekgil was a domestic major villain, this guy was international tier.
And another variable.
Shadow was a world-class group.
Bad guys team up easy.
If he’d contacted Shadow?
‘He’d have the exp copy event.’
Pull his attention now, and it gets super annoying.
That’s why.
He had no immediate way to contact Han Sia.
‘Namgung Min…’
Don’t even start.
Same complicated mess.
That’s why he’d prioritized Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo quickly.
Clear solutions for them, unlike the messy other two. Saving points for that reason too.
‘Skillbooks and gear are fine for now.’
With his level jumped.
He could scrounge those elsewhere.
Priority: buy what can’t be sourced.
[Purchasing 3 Limit Break Elixirs!]
Bought three Limit Break Elixirs first.
Now he could reach 500. Safe for a while.
300 points left.
His gaze drifted somewhere.
[Revenant Cocktail]
[Grade: Special]
[A cocktail undead can drink. Grants special effects upon consumption.]
[Effect 1: Consumable only by undead.]
[Effect 2: All stats of consuming undead +10%.]
[Effect 3: Low chance to grant a skill to undead.]
[Effect 4: Slightly activates consuming undead’s senses.]
‘Revenant Cocktail, huh…’
Kim Minwoo stared intently at the item.