Chapter 78
Chapter 78
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Immortal Legion (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shing!
Lee Seon-ah slowly raised her sword.
In that instant, the mana dominating the area pressed down on my shoulders.
“……!”
It was an incredible presence.
The feeling that even the slightest movement would let her sword slice right through my neck?
What was even more impressive.
Was that this overwhelming aura was reaching all the way to the ghouls and specters at the base of the wall.
“Grur?”
“KeeEEE……?”
The horde charging in with tremendous momentum began halting one by one from the front lines.
As the front-runners cowered like rabbits facing a tiger.
“Grur! Gruuur!”
They tangled with the ones rushing from behind, creating total chaos.
Rumble!
The front lines crumbled amid rising clouds of dust.
Ah.
So this was the aura of a ranker?
“My control is still a bit lacking, it seems.”
Lee Seon-ah smacked her lips in disappointment.
“I wanted the killing intent to reach only them.”
With that, she lightly kicked off the ground—thung!—and floated into the air.
Even though it was quite a high wall.
Her steps showed no hesitation.
Whoosh!
She soared through the sky with graceful movements.
Her flowing hair at the same time was like beholding a work of art.
“Watch closely, Skeleton Lord.”
She chanted.
“My unique ability is the Black Sword Flying Art!”
At the same time, she gripped her sword in reverse.
Then.
Vroooom!
Like her body itself was turning into a cannonball, she dove straight toward the ground below the wall.
Swooooosh!
She plummeted like rain.
Black Sword Flying Art.
Area-of-Effect Technique.
First Form.
Thunderclap Annihilation.
Lee Seon-ah’s sleek blade slammed straight into the earth.
At the same time.
KABOOM!
A deafening explosion tore through the sky, rattling eardrums.
And also.
That massive horde of ghouls and specters soared into the air all at once.
Not of their own will.
They simply floated up without any resistance.
‘That’s…… an area CC skill?’
I was in awe.
It was straight out of a game!
“Damn, as expected of our guild master! So freaking cool!”
Assistant Team Leader Kang Ji-hoo let out an exclamation of admiration.
Not just him.
Every soldier guarding the wall turned their gaze to Lee Seon-ah.
“W-Who’s that?”
“Never seen that soldier before?”
“What, a soldier at that insane level?”
But it was too early to be surprised.
Her display wasn’t over yet.
Shing!
She elegantly drew her sword from the ground, then gripped it normally.
She extended her left palm forward and aimed her right-hand sword at the floating enemies.
“Hup!”
With a forceful breath, her sword strikes unfolded in a dazzling display.
Black Sword Flying Art.
Area-of-Effect Technique.
Second Form.
Black Wind Sword.
Pabababat!
Sword strikes poured into the air.
True to its name, a black whirlwind engulfed the entire area.
“Gruaaah!”
“Kieeeek!”
The realm where one sword could unleash a natural disaster.
“Wow.”
I was purely amazed.
So this was actually possible.
I felt once again why rankers were called walking natural disasters.
And this was just 509th place.
How strong were the ones above her?
Rumble rumble!
Outside the wall was a sight to behold.
The black storm devoured everything, turning the area into a wasteland.
The ghoul and specter hordes were shredded like they’d been thrown into a blender.
Plop!
Lee Seon-ah, who had been below the wall, landed lightly in front of me as if nothing had happened.
“Haha, what do you think, Skeleton Lord?”
She grinned.
“It’s just a trash skill that only works on weaklings, but not bad, right?”
“What’s there to say? You called yourself a swordswoman, but you’re practically a mage.”
“Skills are all like that, aren’t they?”
Like hell they all are.
I wish I had skills like that……
Of course, my skeleton summoning was cheat-level compared to most hunters.
Lee Seon-ah lowered her sword again.
“Anyway, I’ve still got a long way to go.”
“Long way to go?”
“That was just the first wave. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the Immortal Legion.”
“Whoa.”
I nodded.
At the same time, I realized why she’d stepped up for such a flashy show.
The expressions on the soldiers’ faces in front of us.
They were completely different from before.
“Wooooah!”
“We can do this! We have a martial god on our side!”
“We…… we might actually survive if we fight well? Even those damn undying bastards have an end?”
Cheers pierced my eardrums.
Morale boosted.
The soldiers who’d been as good as dead mentally had come alive.
“Let’s move fast! Let’s make a better battlefield for the martial god!”
“Bring fire! Stock up more arrows!”
“I’ll carry the heavy stones!”
The cowering, passive soldiers.
Even those in panic.
They’d found their vigor.
[You witness the Ghoul Legion.]
[You witness the Specter Legion.]
Another undead legion was approaching from afar, but.
There was definitely hope in the soldiers’ eyes.
“Alright, the guild master handled it personally just now, so shall we step up this time?”
Shing!
The assistant team leader drew his sword.
Shing! Shring!
The two Black Sword members silently drew theirs as well.
And me too.
“I’ll fight with you.”
I swung my staff to summon bones.
[Using skill, ‘Great Skeleton Summon’ (B-rank).]
[50 stamina used.]
Five sets of bones, excluding Demir.
“My lord, do we just need to take them out?”
“Eradicating evil is the duty of the forest folk.”
My reliable summons, including Taeyangi and Eldrin.
“Yeah, let’s catch ‘em and crush ‘em.”
The real battle was beginning.
* * *
Puk!
Taeyangi’s spear tip pierced a ghoul’s throat.
Swoosh! Puk puk puk!
Four arrows from Eldrin’s bow elegantly flew out, each piercing a ghoul between the eyes.
“Guaaa!”
Undead or not, they screamed in agony.
Specters were no exception.
Roar!
Boneau’s flashy ‘Fire Field’ (Lv.4) and ‘Fireball’ (Lv.Max) easily incinerated the ethereal ghosts.
‘Hmm.’
These guys were weak.
Roughly C-rank to D-rank?
Back in the day, even encountering one among thousands would’ve been dicey.
‘I’ve grown a lot.’
No sense of crisis at all.
Slicing through them was like cutting tofu or swinging at weeds.
‘The problem is.’
Their numbers were insane.
Cut, stab, kill.
And still, they kept pouring in like they were being churned out from a factory.
Whoosh! Crack!
I swung my sword too.
It was a random sword dropped by one of the soldiers, but no issue.
‘A true master doesn’t blame his gear.’
The elder had beaten up Gi So-yul with just a tree branch.
I could slice ghouls with a junk sword no problem.
‘Next, spear.’
I snatched a flying javelin from above the wall.
Twisting my waist, I lopped off two ghouls’ necks.
‘Nice.’
Putting into practice what I’d trained with the Thousand Techniques Elder.
‘Slash’ (B-rank)
‘Thrust’ (B-rank)
‘Shoot’ (B-rank)
‘Block’ (B-rank)
Skills for cutting, stabbing, shooting, defending.
To me, these weren’t war foes—they were live training dummies.
‘Relax the body.’
One at a time, swing smoothly.
Just follow the flow my body leads, handle them comfortably.
“Gruaaah!”
“Yeah, die.”
Puk!
My spear stabbed its throat.
Spurt!
Twisted and pulled out.
Swipe!
Even when a blind ghoul’s claw grazed me.
[‘Air Shield’ (Lv.Max) activates.]
With Boneau’s shield, no problem.
“Hahaha! As expected, Skeleton Lord!”
The assistant team leader chimed in from the side.
“Is this why necromancers are called cheats? You fight amazingly!”
“You’re no slouch either?”
“Haha, well, I’m S-rank. Anyway, we should prepare soon.”
“Prepare?”
I glared at the distant horizon.
Countless ghouls and specters were incoming, but I’d been eyeing that spot for a while.
‘Something’s there.’
An unpleasant presence.
My Pure Blue Heart Technique warning me to beware.
“According to intel, a lich will show up soon. It’s the main gimmick boss of this dungeon.”
“That personnel-limit curse guy?”
“Yeah, we’ve already met the conditions, so once we take out the lich, death knights, and such, the dungeon’s done. Simple, right?”
I stared at Assistant Team Leader Kang Ji-hoo.
Something felt off.
I wanted to warn him, but I didn’t have solid info.
Well, with a ranker here, it should be fine?
“Anyway, let’s clear these trash mobs quick.”
“Yeah, fight on.”
I nodded and advanced.
The soldiers who’d only been tossing obstacles from above started coming down to the wall base one by one.
We fought together.
Splash!
The drizzling rain started picking up around then.
“…….”
The raindrops thickened too.
For a moment, my eyes were drawn to the rainwater.
Watching the filthy ghoul flesh on my sword and spear wash away.
Anyway.
Any trash mobs getting close to me fell helplessly before Taeyangi and Eldrin.
That’s why I could enjoy a brief respite amid the war.
“Whew.”
How many minutes passed like that?
“O-Over there!”
“S-Something’s coming!”
“Gods…… that’s the true face of the Immortal Legion……!”
The soldiers started cowering again.
Backing away.
“The lich has appeared.”
Crack.
Lee Seon-ah muttered while loosening her neck.
She looked utterly fresh, soaked only in rain, not a drop of sweat.
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[The ‘Lich’ leading the Immortal Legion has appeared.]
[The soldiers fall into fear.]
[All stats decrease by 20%.]
“Hmm.”
I felt my strength drain.
Not particularly scary, but probably the system sees me as a soldier too.
I swallowed hard.
Swipe.
The ‘Lich’s’ red eyes turned to me.
Something still felt off.
“Has the gimmick started?”
I asked quietly.
The lich’s eyes were growing even redder over time.
“Yes, the curse.”
Lee Seon-ah answered.
“Intel says just wait it out. The curse is: instant death if no necromancer, and if there is one but six or more hunters participated, the excess randomly die…….”
“Vicious curse.”
“But we met the conditions, didn’t we?”
She grinned.
That’s when.
[The Lich’s curse descends.]
Splash!
The downpour intensified.
Now it was hailing hard enough to believe.
Was it finally here?
[Ding!]
[If no hunter with ‘Necromancer’-related unique ability exists, all hunters in the dungeon die.]
[If a hunter with ‘Necromancer’-related unique ability exists, six or more participating hunters in the dungeon will randomly die.]
Spot on.
Lee Seon-ah’s intel was correct.
Now we just smash the lich’s head with a smile.
“…….”
But I kept staring at the lich.
Because its mouth had been muttering nonstop since earlier.
—Necromancer.
The lich whispered.
—A trial must be set to match one’s level. The potential you hold is truly tremendous.
That’s when.
Static! Static!
Amid the noise, the curse messages started glitching.
“W-What?”
The assistant team leader panicked.
“What?”
Lee Seon-ah furrowed her brow.
[Reassessing Necromancer’s level.]
[Curse is updated.]
KABOOM!
Lightning struck from the sky.
At the same time.
Shooo! Shh!
Hundreds—no, thousands—of somethings began rising from all directions amid black energy.
[The dungeon’s level is upgraded.]
[The ‘Immortal Legion’s’ level is upgraded.]
[Dullahan (A-rank) × 1,000 generated.]
[Death Knight (S-rank) × 100 generated.]
[Lich (S-rank) × 10 generated.]
“What the fuck?”
I spat out a curse.