The Corrupted Sage

"Quiet. It's so quiet it's giving me the creeps," Alma muttered.

Just as Alma said, the dungeon was completely silent. The fungal creatures were silent by nature, so that was no surprise, but there wasn't even a single bat cry to be heard. The fungal infection must have swallowed the entire dungeon.

"I wonder how things are up top."

We had burned the underground orchard and finished mopping up the remaining walking fungus. With the underground business wrapped up, we set off once more toward the Spriggan village. I moved with the most ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thorough scouting I could manage. Without a Dungeon Seeker in the party, a surprise attack in the middle of the route could lead to something irreversible.

Roa was handling the scouting duties, but she had overused her stealth skill and was clearly exhausted.

"Well. We won't go down that easily. That guardian wolf. It looked insanely strong."

A flash of greed crossed Alma's eyes. No doubt about it—this woman wanted to take down the Sage of the Boulder with her own two hands. Must be the typical Slayer's fighting instinct.

"Probably," I agreed with Alma's sentiment. The fungal creatures were monsters, true, but the Spriggans were no pushovers either. They weren't the kind that would collapse immediately without us. With some luck, the Spriggans might actually win. In that case, this mission would be free real estate.

Ah. Free real estate. Just thinking about it made me happy.

At that moment, Roa, who had been walking at the rear, suddenly stopped.

"Hold on. There's something."

Roa's eyes glowed with a golden light. She had definitely glimpsed some future. She tilted her head with an odd expression.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just... I think I saw Mr. Noman..."

"Noman?"

The look on her face said she had no idea what it meant. Roa's level was still low, so precise future sight was impossible for her. She had seen something, but she couldn't tell what it was.

And that was exactly when it happened.

"U-uwAAAAAAAAAH!"

A scream echoed from somewhere in the distance. Alma and I reacted almost simultaneously.

"That sound just now!"

"It sounds like Mr. Noman."

We drew our weapons and rushed toward the source of the scream.

"Uwaaaaaaaaah! Get away from me! You monsters!"

"..."

I hadn't heard wrong. The one screaming was Noman. He was sprinting desperately with one hand clamped on his hat while a pack of walking fungus chased him close behind.

"Noman!"

"Ah, Miss Alma! Mr. Hajun!"

Noman spotted us. His face crumpled like he was about to burst into tears at any second. We needed to save him before he actually died.

"Haaht!"

Alma and I drew our blades at nearly the same instant and began carving through the walking fungus. As the greatsword and saw-blade danced, severed mushrooms piled up on the ground in heaps. These mushrooms were fast enough to keep up with Noman, which also meant their bodies were light. In a dungeon crawling with every kind of monster, weight class always mattered. The fucking heavy, bulky ones could kill people with sheer size alone. Thin walking fungus like these enoki-like bastards were easy to clean up.

"Haa... haa..."

"How did you get down here? What about the village?" I asked Noman.

His ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very presence felt ominous. A bad premonition settled over me.

"Right now... it's a disaster. The walking fungus are attacking the village. The Sage of the Boulder has fallen. We're on the verge of being overrun!"

Noman's voice was frantic. I couldn't even imagine what he had witnessed or gone through back at the village. One thing was certain, though—something about Noman had changed.

"We have to help the Spriggans. We need to hurry!" Alma said, sliding her greatsword back into its sheath on her back.

"From what I'm hearing, it sounds like the Spriggans are already losing. Do we really need to go?"

"Alma!"

"I'm just saying we'll only add to the corpse count. We came because we took a contract. There's no reason to throw in extra loyalty beyond that."

Alma glanced at me as she spoke. Roa, who had been listening quietly, finally opened her mouth.

"But... the Spriggans trusted us enough to give us the request. Running away before we even fight because the odds look bad is just cowardly."

Both of them had fair points. This hadn't been an official exploration team request to begin with. It had shifted from a guild commission to a personal request after Yuri got scammed midway. I had accepted the job hoping for better personal rewards, and even if we ran away now, there wouldn't be any major consequences. Still, once I decided to take the payment, I couldn't just quit. If I started something, I had to see it through.

"We're going back to the village."

When I made the call, Roa gave a slow nod. Alma grumbled with clear dissatisfaction.

"You'll have to sweeten the pay to match how much we fight."

"If we actually save the village, do you think the money will be pocket change? Just think of it as hitting one huge jackpot."

Noman had said the situation was turning heavily against the Spriggans. Their trump card, the Sage of the Boulder, had even fallen. From their perspective, it was a nightmare scenario. But when I looked at the larger picture, it wasn't quite that hopeless. I could see far more possibilities than the Spriggans could. I was confident I could wipe out the mushrooms and protect the village. With overflowing potions and plenty of corpses... I could win any fight.

"Let's go."

I led the party toward the Spriggan village.

The Spriggans' stone-throwing attacks were effectively holding back the walking fungus advance. Any fungus that took a rock to the head collapsed while spewing spores. The ground around the barrier was littered with their corpses.

"The enemy is pulling back."

At the warrior's report, Yuri breathed a sigh of relief. The walking fungus had launched several assaults but couldn't break through the barrier. Unless they brought in proper siege weapons—Giant Walking Fungus or Earth Worms, for example—breaching the wall looked difficult.

Watching the retreating fungal horde, Yuri felt the faintest spark of hope. They had paid a heavy price, but the warriors and the Sage of the Boulder had taken down every Giant Walking Fungus. The Earth Worms, already suffering from terrible fungal infection, had gone berserk and died shortly after surfacing.

"They're just repeating the same attack over and over."

"Means they don't have any better options. We can hold them off." The warriors' morale was rising. If Suri brought the explorers now, the Spriggans' victory would be all but guaranteed.

"Chief Yuri! Look over there!"

A warrior watching beyond the barrier shouted urgently. Yuri followed his pointing finger. The rest of the warriors turned to look as well. They all froze in horror at the same moment.

"Th-that's..."

"Oh gods..."

Yuri covered her mouth and sank to the ground. The Sage of the Boulder, whom they had believed dead, slowly straightened his knees and rose to his feet.

"Sage!"

Yuri leaned over the barrier and screamed with all her strength. Her frail voice could never have reached him. Yet her desperate, aching heart definitely did.

Yellow clumps of spores dribbled from the Sage's mouth like drool.

"Sage...?"

The Sage of the Boulder shook violently. The convulsions wouldn't stop. He thrashed nonstop in agony and terror.

The ground shook as if struck by an earthquake.

A pitiful whine escaped the Sage. Yuri, unable to watch any longer, shouted at the Spriggan warriors.

"Bring the high priest right now!"

"But the high priest..."

"Are we just going to stand here and watch? There has to be something we can do!"

The earth split open. From the cracks in the broken ground, an evil ancient being emerged. Its entire body sprouted with small tentacles. It was... a colossal mass of fungus.

Yuri instinctively understood what it was.

"Fungus Queen..."

The Spriggans staggered, clutching their ears. An indescribable whisper slithered into their minds. The sensitive Spriggans could feel the psychic waves pouring from the Fungus Queen.

Mushrooms exploded across the Sage of the Boulder's body, resonating with the Queen's power. In seconds his entire form was covered in fungus. The light vanished from his eyes. He had been completely overtaken. Until the mushrooms drained the last of his nutrients and stopped his breath, he would obey the Fungus Queen's commands in unspeakable agony.

"The Sage..."

The Spriggans could not find words for the horrific sight. The mushroom-covered Sage of the Boulder slowly turned toward the village. Then it began to pick up speed.

"Stop it."

"..."

"What are you waiting for! Weapons up!"

Yuri ground her teeth and stared forward. The Sage's intention was obvious. He was charging to smash through the barrier gate. As much as she didn't want to believe it, this was reality. The Spriggans had to stop the Sage of the Boulder.

BOOM!

"No!"

The solidly closed gate shuddered. The sturdy door endured the first impact. But the Sage was already preparing a second charge.

'Please... there has to be some way...!'

That was when it happened.

Grrrrr...

The Sage of the Boulder suddenly paused. He looked down at his ankle. A single Spriggan was clinging desperately to it. The Sage shook the warrior off irritably.

Then something bizarre occurred.

Crunch!

The Spriggan's arm snapped like rotten wood, and its body flew away like a broken marionette. No normal living creature could be that fragile.

"Wh-what the hell?"

The Spriggan warriors were thrown into confusion. Strange phenomena were unfolding across the battlefield. The Spriggans who had just died were slowly rising again.

"Uuuuuuuu..."

"Uooooooo..."

The dead were resurrecting everywhere. They clung to the infected Sage, trying to hold him back no matter what. The dead rising. Even Yuri couldn't process the absurd, revolting scene.

"The corpses have come back to life..."

"Is this... the Goddess's blessing?"

"What kind of horrible blessing looks like that?!"

A light flashed in the distance. It was the glow of explorer Noman's Seeker Lantern.

"The explorers are here!"

For a brief moment, the face of explorer Hajun flashed through Yuri's mind.

'I am the Necromancer Hajun.'

'...It's merely a technique to summon souls...'

'...You're a necromancer, aren't you?'

Yuri's legs gave out and she collapsed where she stood.

A necromancer. An evil mage who commanded souls and raised the dead.

"It's him."

"What?"

"This is that man's doing..."

The necromancer who had descended from the surface had begun to dominate the bodies of the fallen.

I focused my mind and cast the spell. An eerie chill crawled across the ground. The instinctive fear of death that any living human would feel. Chaotic, swirling mana. Dark power flowed through my entire body.

The Spriggan corpses rose. Warriors returned from death seized the Sage of the Boulder. My party members stared in stunned silence as the dead came back to life.

"Alma! Now!"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Go give the Sage of the Boulder a peaceful rest."

The magic I had chosen was Animate Dead. It was the upgraded version of Animate Skeleton, a skill that had evolved automatically as I leveled up.

"I get it."

Alma drew her greatsword and charged. A Slayer's specialty was dealing massive damage to huge enemies, so finishing off the infection-weakened Sage of the Boulder wouldn't be difficult.

"Going in!"

Alma leaped onto the Sage's body like she was flying. The Sage, busy fighting the Spriggan zombies, couldn't react properly to her attack. The razor-sharp edge of her greatsword sank deep into the center of his forehead.

Kiiiing, kiiiiing!

The Sage of the Boulder collapsed with a pitiful groan. For the briefest moment, a clear light returned to his eyes.

「Humans... thank you for stopping me...」

When Alma pulled her blade free, brain matter mixed with fungus poured out. She offered a short ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prayer for the fallen Sage.

"May you find peace."

Alma wishing the Sage rest...

...But what now? I had no intention of letting him go just yet. The Sage still had work to do. Though he had died, he left behind a massive corpse as a resource. In roguelikes, anything usable is a resource. A dead wolf's corpse is a precious asset.

I prepared the next spell.

"Hajun oppa. Necromancy to this extent..."

"More people will die anyway. A corpse is a tool. If it can be used to save lives, isn't that enough?"

"...Understood."

Roa stepped back with a murmur. People in this world called necromancy evil magic and despised it. I could understand the feeling to some degree. It was desecration of the dead. But what if using those corpses let you cast powerful magic? Should you stop because of shallow morality? Absolutely not. Efficiency came first. I was a Necromancer. This wasn't a class that could walk past corpses on the ground without using them. I had to find ways to utilize every resource to defeat the enemy. If his own corpse could help, I'm sure the Sage would be glad in the afterlife. Definitely.

I was certain of it.

I recited the next incantation.

Flesh began crawling out of the corpses scattered across the battlefield. From the dead Spriggans. From the dead Sage of the Boulder. Bright red chunks of meat wriggled and crawled forward as if alive, empowered by death magic. Countless pieces of flesh gathered before me. Disgusting, horrible undead. They rubbed and twisted around one another, forming a colossal shape. The flesh merged and unified. A giant sculpted from meat. A Flesh Golem. The cursed monster returned from death roared at the sky.

The best way to fight the fungus—one of the three major hated races in Dungeon Overseer—was to summon undead, another hated race, and make them fight each other.