The Power of an 8th Circle Black Mage
The dragon that had finished dealing with its opponent let out a mighty roar and turned its attention to the remaining high-level angel still locked in combat with the ghost dragon.
Soon enough, the ghost dragon fell victim to a death-magic spell it had unleashed, its body crumbling into a pile of corpses. Thanks to it, Ron had secured two additional corpses of high-level angels who had reached grand master rank.
With three grand master rank corpses in total now in his possession, Ron smiled with satisfaction, certain that his power would only grow stronger.
At present, the five thousand death angels he had summoned were all powerful warriors of sword expert rank. A few among them were even undead made from the corpses of sword master level angels that had occasionally joined the ranks.
In comparison to the black mages under his command, who maintained a decent number of mid-to-low tier undead, Ron possessed almost no mid-to-low tier undead at all.
Originally a 5th circle black mage, he had been a low-tier black mage during the war. After going into hiding afterward, he had virtually no undead of his own, and the time and opportunity to create them had been nonexistent. That explained everything.
Ever since he met Jae-hyun, while other black mages had expanded their stocks of mid-to-low tier undead, Ron had focused instead on gathering the more formidable undead that possessed greater power than mid-to-low tier. His primary objective, however, remained growing his own strength to carry out his revenge.
He had chosen to strengthen himself rather than rely solely on undead.
With five thousand death angels, fifty elite death knights, fifty elite death mages, the ultimate undead—the ghost dragon and the black dragon—all under his command, every undead he possessed was already at the highest level of elite quality.
In addition, he commanded phantom griffins and various other command-type undead that could be used as mounts whenever necessary.
Of course, because all the undead were exceptionally powerful, the consumption of black magic during summoning was enormous. That was why Ron avoided massing mid-to-low tier undead.
He pursued only the best.
"I used an 8th circle spell, and the consumption of black magic is heavy."
Especially the black dragon and ghost dragon, both of which devoured black magic voraciously, consumed massive amounts of it. For that reason, Ron intended to make full use of them in a way that caused no further drain on his own reserves.
“Flying forward and spitting fire at the enemy!”
As the commander, Ron issued the order to his summons. The black dragon and ghost dragon, having already cleared their opponents and now turning toward the remaining angels, changed direction and belched flames toward the soldiers standing on the city wall.
The black mages on the allied side merely gave a slight jolt from the sheer force of those roars, for they had not been the target. The undead, already dead, felt no effect from the flames. Yet the living soldiers and even the knights trembled in pure terror at the hatred and killing intent contained within the fire.
“Ahhhhh!”
“S-save me!”
The black dragon and ghost dragon did not kill the soldiers directly, but the flames alone were enough to deliver a devastating blow on the battlefield.
The dragon’s fire was the roar of the apex predator in the food chain—the ultimate predator of the intermediate world—pure and unfiltered.
That sound, the roar of the strongest creature, was called the dragon’s fire, or simply the fire of terror, because it filled all who heard it with overwhelming dread.
Yet both the black dragon and ghost dragon had once been created using dragons as raw materials.
Therefore, their roars alone unleashed the fear contained within them, driving the humans into a state of panic and chaos. Ron watched the scene with quiet delight.
Ten thousand angels were locked in fierce combat with countless death angels, their weapons flashing wildly in the air. Nearly a thousand warriors had already fallen. Some of the angels had even attempted to strike back at the undead horde on the ground, but magic refused to take effect.
Thanks to the dispel magic of the death mages, the very casting of spells was canceled out. Even if they managed to cast something, it was instantly dispelled into nothingness.
Thus, the angels made their choice.
“Aaaaah!”
Singing a beautiful song of praise, they released a radiant beam of holy power.
The power of cooperation—the strength that grew stronger with every joint effort—holy power!
The angels used their mutual cooperation to dramatically increase the holy power they possessed. As a result, the nine thousand surviving angels set aside their battle with the death angels and retreated while beginning to sing in unison.
When the nine thousand angels sang with one heart, the light they emitted grew even more intense, transforming into a vast wave of holy power.
This light calmed the hearts of the soldiers who were scrambling in terror on the city wall and slipping into chaos. It also freed them from the grip of fear.
“Oh… this is…”
“Such a sacred light…”
All the soldiers were overcome with admiration for the beauty of that holy light, marveling again and again.
Seeing the holy light the angels poured out, their minds grew peaceful. They felt certain that victory in the war was now inevitable.
Having overcome the terror spread by the black dragon and ghost dragon, they gripped their weapons once more, rekindled their fighting spirit, and prepared to fire mana bombs.
As long as the angels’ blessing remained with them, they could not fail! They truly believed it.
“Prepare the arrows! Bring down the undead with arrows!”
“Uwo!”
The soldiers roared and raised their bows, firing arrows straight into the undead horde. At the same time, the holy light that had blessed the soldiers now surged beyond a mere wave and enveloped the entire undead army.
The arrows flew toward the countless undead.
The undead were about to receive a fatal blow. It was only natural—the holy power used by nine thousand angels acting as one was strong enough to surpass 9th circle magic.
Everyone believed it, and none realized the mistake.
Then, when the light faded…
The undead stood unharmed, not a scratch on their bodies.
“What… what?!”
“H-how…?”
“W-why…?”
Angels and humans alike were left stunned. What in the world had just happened? Why had those countless undead received no damage at all?
Even the undead without a single scorch mark sent the angels and humans into panic. They stood frozen, their minds blank. On a battlefield, that was a death sentence.
“Kill them!”
“Slaughter the enemy!”
The black mages, thrilled, commanded the undead to kill the enemies. The holy power wave moments ago had been truly spectacular. The unified might of nine thousand heavenly beings was truly terrifying.
Yet the choice had been disastrous.
Pure holy power could deliver no damage whatsoever to those protected by the holy sword.
If the priests had been the ones shouting first, they would have realized immediately. But the angels had been the ones casting it, and they believed that to wield pure holy power was no different from a magician recklessly venting mana—extreme consumption, a mad act.
Therefore, they had refined the holy power and used it in countless ways, as warriors and as mages alike.
Because of that, their attacks had worked on undead like the death angels. They never imagined that holy power would fail entirely against them.
Although they took less damage, the angels could not sense any difference. They had never even fought undead before!
In this very case, they had never fought undead summoned by black mages. All they had ever done was lightly eliminate the few that Jae-hyun had sent to the continent to create the proper tension as a demon king.
That was why they had assumed these undead were merely stronger thanks to their summoners.
“What the hell was that?”
One of the humans on the wall voiced the thought that was now running through every angel and soldier’s mind.
Undead that holy power could not touch! How was that even possible? None could understand it.
Yet one undeniable truth remained.
The nine thousand angels now present had exhausted themselves of holy power in the brief battle moments ago. In other words, they had wasted their strength while the enemies stood before them, weakened by their own reckless choice.
“We should present the women as gifts to the demon lords. Capture them alive if possible. But the men—they say the demon lords don’t need them, so kill them! Turn them into death angels!”
Following Ron’s command, the undead, including the death angels, launched a full-scale assault on the angels. On the city wall, the humans fell into confusion and panic. Only then did the soldiers and knights realize there was no hope left.
Humans who had lost all hope made two choices.
One was to quietly accept death. The other was to…
“Aaaah! It’s over—run!”
“If you want to live, run!”
“There’s no hope here!”
They fled desperately, fighting for survival. That was the only choice humans could make.
Ron, however, paid them no mind. He rushed toward the city wall instead.
His true goal was not to conquer this fortress at the heart of the Gray Barony. He needed to capture the Gray baronet and his family, the lords of the Gray Barony. Among them, especially, he needed to find Andrew, his parents’ mortal enemy, and take his revenge.
If the Gray baronet family fled now, he had no time to lose.
“Hurry!”
Ron flew toward them as fast as he could. From the air, he could see the entire scene below.
The city was slowly descending into chaos. Countless people were already running in blind panic, overwhelmed by terror. The Gray baronet family—the very lord and ruler of the city—had abandoned all responsibility and were frantically loading up carts with their treasures to flee.
They had been packing since the moment they heard the war was coming. Ron had told them to prepare the carts at once. If they won, they would unload them later. If defeat seemed imminent, they would take the packed carts and escape.
“Trash.”
Ron spat the word with contempt, his eyes cold with fury as he raced straight for his mortal enemy.
At that exact moment.
Black holes opened in every direction in the sky. Countless demons erupted from them, their forms fully revealed.
The sight of thousands of devils appearing in the sky only deepened the despair of the humans and angels. The angels, already exhausted, fell helplessly to the ground.
Some tried to escape, but the demons targeted them with even greater focus, making flight nearly impossible. Then the sheer number of demons only added to the confusion.
“Why…?”
Yet the confusion was not limited to the humans. Ron and the other black mages were equally stunned. Where in the world had they come from?
“O dark race that follows the great demon king! Feast your eyes on these humans!”
“Uwooo!”
The demons cheered as if they had just arrived at a festival. Ron glared at them with cold eyes and muttered,
“Well, since they’re not interrupting my revenge, I suppose it’s fine.”
Ron, who cared about no one outside the Gray baronet family, ignored the demons’ arrival and focused solely on his target.