Chapter 124: Cursed Land (3)
Kim Minwoo stared intently at the headless corpse. He had already realized something was off.
Merhen subtly tapped his body with mana, sending signals.
In a situation where even the SSS-rank archer was staying still, a mage was the first to signal the enemy's approach?
It was obvious.
He had a rough idea from that moment.
The enemy was approaching using magic.
That wasn't particularly strange.
Transparent spells did exist, after all.
‘Usually, they're pretty low-level, though…’
The transparency spell was far inferior to an assassin's stealth.
At least on Earth, that was the case.
But this dimension seemed different.
This was the first time Kim Minwoo had encountered such a sophisticated transparency spell.
‘Reinforced through black magic? But even so.’
A black mage was still just a mage.
At least in the realm of magic, there weren't many who could surpass Merhen.
That was why.
He had let it approach without resistance.
Merhen seemed to want the same.
As expected.
It suddenly appeared with a triumphant smile, trying to unleash black magic at point-blank range.
But it hadn't anticipated the possibility of the spell being canceled outright.
That was why its head flew straight into the sky in an instant.
If you couldn't predict it, you die.
[You hunted the Sanctuary's Priest, Mortan!]
[50,000 points awarded!]
“Wow. They give a lot of points, huh?”
―Really?
“Yeah. Same as that vampire from before.”
―Hmm… That much?
Merhen tilted her head as she spoke. Seeing that drove home just how important matchups were.
If it had been a physical-type monster instead of a magic one, they wouldn't have taken it down so easily.
‘The legion commanders are earning their keep.’
Kim Minwoo looked ahead.
Far off, a group of black mages buzzed in stunned confusion.
The awakeners trailing behind them were equally shocked.
To sum up the situation simply: in the blink of an eye, a head had been lopped off.
What was astonishing was that none of the awakeners had even noticed the black mage approaching.
By the time they realized, the black mage's hand was already blackened, right in front of Kim Minwoo's nose.
If it had been them?
They would have died without knowing what hit them.
‘S-rank? No. Way above that.’
Against an ordinary S-rank, they could have responded somehow.
This was an overwhelmingly superior foe.
‘And… he suppressed it in one shot?’
Gulp.
The awakeners swallowed as they looked at Kim Minwoo.
The instantly canceled spell.
The black mage's wide-eyed panic. Then its head flying off in a flash.
It all felt like a dream.
Only then did the awakeners accept what they had inwardly suspected.
1.5 million points? Worth it.
Seo Yerim pushed through the murmuring awakeners, closing the distance.
“You okay?”
“As you can see, perfectly fine.”
“… Sorry. I should have spotted it first…”
She bit her lip as she spoke.
With her vision trait, the archer in the party usually handled scouting and sniping.
She seemed a bit pride-wounded.
“No need to take it to heart. This one was impossible to detect.”
It wasn't a 50,000-pointer for nothing.
Its body was far frailer than a vampire's, but it had some annoyingly tricky moves.
It probably had a few more instant-kill skills beyond transparency.
Without Merhen, he would have been in danger too.
In any case.
If the monster sealed underground was the final boss, this black mage priest was probably a mid-boss.
That explained the black mages' panic as they swarmed in.
It was then.
Seo Yerim frowned slightly and spoke.
“There's an awakener over there too?”
“An awakener?”
“Yeah. Those Chinese guys we saw last time.”
“Not prisoners?”
“If they were prisoners, they wouldn't leave them walking around unscathed like that.”
Wow.
Kim Minwoo inwardly marveled.
Liu Wei and his crew were infamous for their trash personalities.
But allying with black mages to backstab fellow awakeners?
The awakeners nearby, hearing her, grew furious.
“With the black mages? And unharmed? No way…”
“If that's true, they're total scum.”
Black mages kidnapping people was one thing. But fellow awakeners stabbing each other in the back?
If it was real, they were the lowest of scum.
“Capture them all. Don't kill them since we need sacrifices.”
The awakener group nodded.
Having witnessed Kim Minwoo's power, victory was assured in their eyes.
* * *
Maybe because the leader got taken out from the start. The black mage group was captured far more easily than expected.
The Chinese awakeners were the same. After a brief struggle, the furious awakener mob overpowered them one by one.
Liu Wei, bound head to toe, cried out in injustice.
“We really had no choice! They carved something weird into our hearts!”
He had pieced together the situation.
From the start, they met the priest, got subdued immediately, and forced into servitude.
“So, you captured awakeners and handed them to the black mages?”
“W-We had no choice! Disobey the orders, and we could've died!”
“The brand's still there?”
“… Yes. We didn't want to fight. But we couldn't resist those damned bastards' commands.”
Liu Wei glared at the black mages, fuming.
Kim Minwoo smirked.
“If that priest had killed me, you would've jumped in joyfully.”
“N-No way! Betraying comrades we share rice with? We truly had no choice.”
“So, the awakeners you handed over—are they still alive?”
“… I-I don't kn—“
He smashed his fist into the guy's face.
Bloodied teeth flew through the air.
“Kuheok!”
“Don't roll your eyes. How many have you caught so far?”
“Ab-About ten…”
“And they're alive?”
“Th-They said five per day as sacrifices. That's all I know! I swear!”
Kim Minwoo and the awakeners fell silent.
‘Come to think of it…’
When they first arrived, the monster wailed and tentacles burst out. But on the second day, nothing like that.
Had the monster calmed because of the sacrifices?
That meant five were already gone.
They had to rescue the remaining five.
From the location of the black mages' base, the 'sanctuary,' to their troop composition.
They extracted every bit of info from the captives.
Fortunately, the black mages weren't that numerous.
At most three hundred?
‘No more like Mortan.’
That many could be swept away in one go.
“Let's move.”
Soon, the furious awakener mob razed the sanctuary. Normally, the enemy numbers might have caused more struggle.
But not now.
No mage could resist before Merhen.
Even Priest Mortan couldn't hold out—what chance did ordinary cultists have?
The black mages mid-cast collapsed one after another.
Some were killed, some captured.
[You hunted black mage 'Edon.']
[2,000 points…]
Roughly 2,000 per head.
Officers who put up a fight gave about 10,000.
Nearly a hundred slaughtered.
Over 300,000 points gained.
Guided by the captured black mages, they pressed on.
Deep underground in the sanctuary.
They found the captive awakeners too.
“Fuck! Disgusting.”
The burly American awakener, Thompson, spat.
Awakeners lay unconscious in the center of some pentagram magic circle. Shackled at the limbs with spikes.
“Why the hell the spikes?”
“To restrain movement…”
Thompson smashed the black mage's head in frustration. As he moved to free the captives, ignoring the fainted black mage—
The black mages behind cried out in panic.
“D-Don't just release them! Sacrifices must keep coming!”
“… Then what?”
“We need substitutes for the sealing circle. Otherwise, He'll rage and kill us all!”
Thompson flinched.
Their desperation was that palpable.
He stared at Kim Minwoo.
“Boss?”
“What they said?”
“Who else would I call boss? You heard them. Need substitutes.”
“Yeah.”
“Who?”
Thompson asked.
The Chinese awakeners.
It was practically about how to deal with them.
“Five, right? Three of them and two black mages as subs.”
“Ugh!”
Kim Minwoo's finger pointed squarely at the Chinese awakeners.
Liu Wei and the other two began freaking out.
“Whoa, bold move.”
Thompson whistled.
He had hoped for that deep down.
‘Filthy dogs.’
Process aside, they betrayed fellow awakeners in the end. Five were already in the monster's gut because of them.
In a life-or-death game, such actions demanded accountability.
The brand, no choice—pure excuses and bullshit.
‘And they still have the brand in their hearts.’
Leaving them alive risked variables.
Thompson wasn't alone in thinking that.
“Everyone agree?”
Nods.
All the awakeners consented.
‘No reason to keep them alive.’
If Kim Minwoo had fallen, they'd be in that spot.
Liu Wei? With his rep, he'd be laughing subserviently to the black mages.
Just reversed.
Thompson freed a few black mages and said.
“Use them as substitutes.”
“…”
Mmph!
Ugh!
The Chinese awakeners, fully bound, were dragged to the pentagram's center.
Two black mages added to balance it out.
“W-We will begin the sacrifice ritual.”
Clang, clang!
Spikes pierced their limbs, freeing the previous captives in exchange. Potions and priest heals poured in.
“Ungh…”
“You okay?”
The awakeners opened their eyes and checked their bodies.
Tears welled up soon after.
“Th-Thank you! Truly, thank you!”
They thought they were done for…
It really felt like a dream.
They expressed heartfelt gratitude.
Then they glared at the ones bound in the sealing circle.
“Those bastards…”
Memories of being captured by them and dragged to the sanctuary were still vivid.
Everything after—the hellish events too.
“I-It's time. Today's sacrifices will be offered.”
With the black mage's words, a mass of massive tentacles erupted from a hole in the sealing circle's center. They wrapped around the five and sucked them into the hole in an instant.
Mmph!
Uuuugh!
Screams like death throes echoed as the sacrifices vanished from the circle.
“What the hell is that…”
One black mage shuddered as he spoke.
“He considers flesh and souls delicacies. Five a day guarantees safety.”
“What a shithole.”
Someone scowled.
It was exactly that.
Kim Minwoo looked at the awakeners.
“We won't fight that monster right away. Not enough info, and we haven't synced up yet.”
“We should merge with the remaining awakeners too. How long to prep?”
“About a week—sound good?”
“Then we've got plenty of time before the second trial ends…”
“Might earn bonus points too.”
The goal was surviving a month via sacrifices.
But beating the boss early?
Huge bonuses possible. Use black mages as sacrifices, kill extras before hunting.
The awakeners nodded in agreement.
* * *
The sanctuary's priest chamber.
Thousands of books lined the shelves. Plenty on the monster said to be sealed underground. He pulled out one particularly eye-catching volume.
Seo Yerim tilted her head at it.
“Tome of Truth?”
“Fanciest cover, so I grabbed it. Let's read.”
He opened it on the desk.
The first page revealed itself.
A picture appeared first.
Merhen's words suddenly came to mind.
‘Said the taste was complex. Like a chimera.’
As she described, the monster's form was…
‘A real hybrid.’
Like grapes.
But enormous, with eyeballs as the grapes.
And not uniform size.
Mixed from all sorts of creatures—tiny to huge, a diverse bunch.
“… Really gross.”
“Hate scary stuff?”
“Not scary. Just gross.”
He nodded and turned the page. It detailed someone's life.
[1st Priest, Camillon]
―Discovered a dream city for us persecuted black mages. I sense energy. Something's definitely underground. Something greatly beneficial to us.
―The rotting underground cursed with malediction. Training here was like a heavenly opportunity. While exploring, confronted the curse's source.
―We named the underground lifeform 'Iphrax.'
―Iphrax seems parasitic. Rooted like a tree underground. Tried moving it, but impossible.
―In just 10 years, my comrades and I stagnated a level! Iphrax's growth via feed helped immensely. Can't abandon it…
―… The surface city annoys me. Time passes, they'll notice Iphrax. War inevitable.
―40 years! Achieved our wish! Black mages have a sanctuary to breathe in!
―Iphrax's potential is infinite. Light for black mages' future!
[5th Priest, Irmus]
―As time goes, Iphrax grows stronger. Developed a proper ego. First demand: 'tasty' food.
―It showed rage. Wanderer mercenaries no longer satisfy.
―Mind blurred momentarily. Iphrax has mental abilities. Extremely dangerous. Set up sealing circle…
[15th Priest, Amarjan]
―Still just outliers, but more praising the 'god.' Future priests beware: We do not serve a god.
[25th Priest, Mortan]
―Endless vigilance, yet even I waver. Sometimes terrified. Sealing circle and still this influence. If even priests praise it as god—what then?
“Mental abilities?”
Seo Yerim tilted her head.
Such monsters existed, but were exceedingly rare.
‘Troublesome.’
Kim Minwoo narrowed his eyes too. The sealing circle seemed to restrain Iphrax's power.
Break it, and its abilities would peak. Weak minds couldn't resist.
‘Probably curses too.’
Circumstantially, far above Duke Timorn.
Time to prepare.
He stood.
“Yerim, handle awakener searches and training. I'll assign legion commanders. Got something to do.”
“What…?”
“Prep for mental attacks.”
Time to use the skeletons' alchemy.