17. On the Necromancer's Ramparts, the Magic Circle Flashes with Carol's Tolling Bell
On the ramparts above the necromancer, the magic circle flashed in time with the tolling of Carol's bell. In that instant, a tremendous earthquake struck without warning. Buildings and the ground itself shook violently. The quake was so powerful that the earth trembled to its core, and moments later, structures began crumbling and collapsing into ruin. Shattered debris flew in every direction, scattering everywhere.
The strange thing was that the city walls, where Carol stood, showed no damage whatsoever. Only the buildings inside the walls—within the city—had all come crashing down.
"Wh-what the hell…?!"
"What's with the sudden earthquake?!"
The soldiers stumbled and fell helplessly on the quaking ground, thrown into chaos. Seizing the moment, the undead attacked, cutting them down one by one without mercy.
"Gaaahhh…!"
"Grab onto each other! At least pairs—stick together in groups!"
The soldiers clustered together at the urgent command, reducing the casualties from the undead. But that was when it happened.
Rumble rumble rumble—!!
Something began rising from beneath the collapsed buildings.
"C-Captain Karlson…! Look over there!"
"That's…"
A murky, dull gray stone slab, pitch-black and ominous. It was a tombstone.
"What in the world…"
In an instant, the surroundings transformed into a graveyard. Tombstones sprouted everywhere, the ground rotted away, and the atmosphere shifted dramatically. The bright midday sun vanished as if shrouded by clouds, leaving only dark shadows in its wake. An ominous magical energy enveloped the entire city.
By the time the earthquake subsided, the city had become a single vast cemetery.
The city of the dead: Necropolis.
It was one of the most heinous necromantic spells from the annals of evil spirit sorcery. By massacring an entire city's worth of lives and using their collective resentment and grudges as a catalyst, it created the ultimate domain of undeath.
Undead themselves were already an affront to death. Even necromancers had a line they generally didn't cross: contracting with those who died natural deaths, borrowing their will, or resurrecting the tragically departed to return them to their homelands. But evil spirit sorcerers had no such boundaries. Death was for desecration. The dead were mere limbs to command, and others' lives were nothing more than objects.
Among such atrocities, the Necropolis—born from slaughtering a city's inhabitants—was one of the most depraved.
But the terror of Necropolis went beyond merely turning a thriving city into a graveyard. The undead within were utterly unkillable. Normally, there were three ways to destroy undead:
First, reduce them to dust by smashing or incinerating them completely, or strike with holy power. Second, shatter their core—the most common method against composite undead like corpse golems or flesh abominations, which regenerated endlessly around that nucleus. And third, the simplest yet often hardest: kill the necromancer who summoned them. That would return all their minions to lifeless husks.
But the undead bound to Necropolis soil were different. They wouldn't die until the city itself vanished. Burn them, douse them in holy water, shatter and bury them—they would always revive from the tombstones. Even killing the caster changed nothing. The undead drew not from the sorcerer's mana, but from the deathly aura emanating from the city itself.
Like a respawn point in an RPG. An endless city of undead. That was Necropolis: sacrificing the living to bind the land, enslaving them eternally as minions of death until the city fell. And using those deaths to summon even more.
That was its true horror.
-Grrrrr….
-Kyaaaaaa!!!!
Hands of corpses burst from the soil beneath the tombstones. The undead they had just felled began awakening again from the graves, cursed by death.
§
"Fuck, what the hell is going on?! Where the shit are these things coming from?!"
Bella bellowed, and Dina shouted back in kind.
"They've revived! This sight stirs memories. 'Tis Necropolis!"
"The fuck's that, you little brat?!"
"Evil spirit sorcery! A cruel art that slays the living and uses their unjust grudges as sacrifice! Beast, surely thou knowest—these undead were once this city's folk! That bastard slaughtered them and unleashed Necropolis!"
"Goddamn it, this is insane!"
Bella swung her massive sword in irritation, cleaving a charging skeleton in half. The bone shattered from the impact, scattering across the ground. But soon the fragments crumbled to ash and vanished—only to reassemble with creaking sounds from a nearby tombstone, rising once more as a skeleton.
The other undead were the same. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls… Every one revived from a tombstone the moment it fell, lunging anew.
"Hey, brat, how the hell do you even know this?"
"I told thee—'tis evil spirit sorcery. In ages past, this was among the vilest acts of those who pact with the Demon King: evil spirit sorcerers and death sorcerers."
"…Fuck, so it's some ancient magic from thousands of years ago?"
"Aye. We thought it eradicated after slaying the Demon King and exterminating the sorcerers, yet here it is. Even I know not how they rediscovered it."
"Tch, then maybe we should just bail. Gather the kids and head for the entrance…"
"Nay. Once Necropolis unfolds, we cannot leave until the caster is slain or the Necropolis destroyed utterly."
"What? Where's that written?"
"Holy shit…"
Bella clicked her tongue at Dina's words and asked,
"So how the fuck do we fix this? You know a way, right?"
"Hmm, well…"
"Spit it out already, don't drag it—!"
Boom!!
Bella slammed her mana-charged greatsword into the ground. The earth shattered completely, the blade's tip striking a tombstone. The seemingly indestructible slab exploded into fragments, scattering everywhere.
"We need to get outta here, don't we?"
And in that moment—
-Grrrrrk……!!
The undead spawned from that tombstone all howled in unison, crumbling to ash and dispersing.
"What the—?"
"That be the way."
"Like this? You don't mean…"
"Aye. Shatter every tombstone here."
Bella's face twisted at Dina's words. And small wonder.
"Fuck… How long would that take?!"
Even a rough count showed thousands of them.
"First, let us rejoin the main force. The others must know."
"Yeah. No point smashing more undead—they'll just revive. Reducing tombstones comes first."
Now that they knew the solution, Bella and Dina prioritized linking up with the main group. Slaughtering undead wouldn't clear a path anymore; this was the optimal move.
By the time they rejoined, the main force was being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of reviving undead, vastly outnumbered and steadily pushed back. The soldiers' ranks had visibly thinned. Worse still, the fallen soldiers rose as undead, turning on their former comrades.
Bella's eyes shook fiercely. The situation was graver than imagined.
"…Damn it all."
"I shall aid them first."
"Please do."
"Worry not."
Dina rushed to support the soldiers amid the dire straits, while Bella, now with the main group, sought out Karlson immediately.
"Karlson!!"
"Yes, my queen!"
Karlson, who had been guarding Behena while directing the troops, handed off command and hurried to her side. Bella scanned the surroundings before grilling him.
"How bad are the losses? Looks like we're down a lot of men. The quake didn't hurt too many, did it?"
"Well…"
Karlson hesitated. Bella pressed sharply.
"Spit it out—the damage report. Why the fuck are you hemming and hawing? Think I can't tell? It's obvious. Just answer."
"No, forgive me. Three mercenaries dead, five wounded. Over half the remaining soldiers have fallen."
"…Fuck. Worse than I thought."
The losses exceeded expectations. Cursing under her breath, Bella suddenly recalled something.
"Where's Ju Cheong-ah?"
"Pardon?"
"Didn't she step up? And we still took this many casualties?"
"Ah… Well…"
Karlson hesitated again. Bella's brow furrowed.
"Karlson."
"My apologies, my queen. Lady Ju Cheong-ah has been guarding Lord Ian the whole time… holding her position."
"Ian?"
"Yes."
"Ha…"
Bella sighed, raking back her sweat-matted hair.
"Listen up—this is how we deal with these shitty undead."
"Yes, my queen."
Karlson nodded, and Bella relayed what Dina had told her.
"These dogshit undead keep reviving because of the tombstones. As long as they're there, they come back no matter what. Smash a tombstone, and the undead it spawned vanish for good. But we can't leave until every last one is destroyed."
With the explanation complete, Bella ordered Karlson,
"So, prioritize smashing the tombstones. No rushing—focus on nearby ones, and make sure no one else dies."
"Understood. And you, my queen…?"
"…I'll talk to Ju Cheong-ah and handle things separately. Don't worry."
"Very well."