18. Awakening: Ian Awakens.
Ian came to. His buffs and abilities sapped the strength from the undead hordes. They crumpled one after another beneath Cheong-ah's and Bella's blades. Watching it unfold, Carol bit her lip until it nearly bled. What the hell is going on here?
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. The guy she'd completely ignored—no, the one she'd figured was as good as dead—snapped awake, and everything flipped on its head.
“...What the fuck is that bastard?”
The death mana that had choked the city. The image flashed in her mind: him slurping it up like a sponge from the heart of Necropolis. No clue how he'd pulled it off, but he'd vacuumed every scrap of death mana nearby, twisted it into some freakish unknown force, and blasted out a beam of light. The women on the verge of death didn't just recover—they started shrugging off attacks like it was nothing with some bizarre power. And then the undead started collapsing. Rolling on the ground like they were dying of agony, shrieking in what looked like pure torment. Undead that were basically just corpses.
Of course, the undead being dead things couldn't feel pain, so Carol chalked it up to her imagination. But no mistaking it—that black light from Ian had done something.
“A wildcard...”
What now? The guild master was gonna rip her a new one if this kept up. Any way to salvage this?
“...Ugh, shit, what do I do?”
She gnawed her nails in a panic. That's when her eyes locked on someone amid the rubble of the shattered lord's castle—a figure clawing her way out. Regina.
“...Ugh.”
Caked in dust and debris. But no visible wounds, nothing broken. Lucky break.
“Nngh... haa...”
The sudden quake. Regina had been high up in the collapsing castle, so dodging the danger wasn't easy. Instinct kicked in; she scrambled for shelter. In that split second, a wall in the corner of the lord's chamber crumbled, exposing a hidden nook. It was a panic room Soboro Baekjak had slapped together after his coup turned sour—once Ian's party joined the fray and started crushing his forces. Still unfinished, no exit carved out, but solid enough to ride out the collapse. Regina bolted inside just in time. The building came down... but as she'd hoped, the spot held. She emerged unscathed. And right on cue, Carol spotted her.
“...Heh heh.”
Carol's lips curled into a sleazy grin.
...That bitch is still kicking?
§
A short while later, the first to smash through the undead and arrive wasn't Bella or Cheong-ah. It was Dina.
“Yeonja! Thou hast awakened!”
“Whoa, Dina...!”
Tap-tap—she hopped up and barreled into me like a cannonball. No time to brace; her pint-sized tackle nearly bowled me over... but didn't. My steadily honed body never lets me down. Hold the line, spine.
“Long time no see, Dina.”
“Indeed, 'tis been far too long! I sensed Yeonja's aura amid the fray! My hunch was spot on!”
“My aura?”
“Aye...! 'Twas thick in the air while battling! Though it vanished as suddenly as it came... I feared 'twas but illusion! Yet I hurried to crush mine foes and behold—Yeonja stirs once more! This one is overjoyed!”
“Yeah, yeah. Good to see you too, Dina. Been a while.”
She chattered on like a waterfall, bubbling with excitement. I stroked her hair as I replied, and she melted into it, eyes half-closed, letting out a blissful “Fufu...” giggle.
“'Tis wonderful, Yeonja. Thy touch after so long fills this one with joy.”
“I'll pat you plenty more from now on.”
“...That might tousle mine hair.”
“Oh, shit—really?”
“Verily. But the others—hast they not arrived? Doth this one claim first place?”
“Uh, yeah...”
I flicked my eyes toward the screen still hovering before me—Cheong-ah and Bella wrapping up their fights, smashing what looked like gravestones to bits. Why the hell are they wrecking those? And the city... it wasn't a damn graveyard before. The transformed landscape hit me hard. I turned to Dina.
“Hey, Dina.”
“What troubles thee, Yeonja?”
“This place—wasn't it a city? What happened? It looks like a fucking cemetery now.”
“Ah, Yeonja slumbered through it all. See here...”
She filled me in on what I'd missed. The necromancer slaughtered the city's folk, fueled Necropolis with their lives and grudges—an evil spirit sorcery that reduced everything to this tomb-riddled ruin.
“Necromancer, huh...”
“Aye. A vile cur, no doubt. To unleash such brutality—we must hunt the wretch down and pummel it to dust!”
Dina fumed. I soothed her with another head pat while my mind raced. Necromancer... Had to be the one behind the undead swarming the sewers the day Regina snatched me. But any hints back then? Then it clicked: undead run on death mana. Necromancers wield death mana. And back in the lord's castle... I'd sensed it. From Jubi. That creepy vibe from the little beastkin girl. No idea what it was then. But now, post-absorbing death mana? Crystal clear. Jubi reeked of it.
Was Jubi the necromancer?
“Hey, Dina.”
“Mmm? What is it?”
“This necromancer. Any tells? Ways to spot 'em?”
“Hmm? Well... Nay, this one knows not.”
“Huh?”
“'Tis obvious, no? Necromancers are human. They look as any mortal. Akin to mages, perchance... But with Yeonja unable to sense mana, spotting one proves tricky.”
“Ah... Right. So no death mana wafting off them or anything?”
“Nay. Even this one must actively probe to detect it.”
“Hmmm...”
“But why inquire?”
“Well...”
I spilled it all—Jubi, the ominous chill she gave off, how it now screamed death mana in hindsight.
Dina heard me out and dropped her verdict.
“An undead, that one.”
“Undead?”
“Verily. A life undead, forged by infusing a soul spirit. A necromancer's art, granting the dead one final wish. Oft used to escort them home to kin. They mimic the living while infused... though emotions dull, empathy fades—as Yeonja described.”
“Got it...”
It cleared up some fog, but bred new questions. Jubi was undead... Why bother reviving her? Other tales from Regina surfaced. Beastkin instincts. They feel fierce parental love for young of their kind—a holdover from ancient scarcity, when extinction loomed.
Hold up. Then maybe... Regina got exiled from the beastman kingdom, instincts raging. No family, no friends—just endless solitude. Snatched as a slave, hawked for top coin in Durumil Kingdom, duped by shady fucks one after another. Loner life.
Enter Soboro Baekjak, dangling Jubi as bait. “Help me claim the countship—I've got a beastkin slave. Do it, and she's yours.” But slave mark ensured betrayal meant her death too if he croaked...
Except if Jubi was undead from jump. Necromancer and count tag-teaming, preying on Regina's homesickness, her isolation. No hope at all. From the start.
The realization slammed home. Bile surged up with a wave of rage.