Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Starving Mansion (4)
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[Remote Detection]
I activated the wide-area detection spell.
Even sitting in the car, I could sense the surroundings over a broad range.
Five minutes left to the destination.
Trivial stray spirits were charging in from every direction—front, back, left, right—but they couldn't break through the [Shell of Tindalos] and [Beacon of the Even Branch] I'd activated in advance.
The real threats were the nine wild dogs chasing after the car.
They looked like dogs at a glance, but their true nature was corpses possessed by wraiths.
[Corpse Golems].
'These guys were supposed to show up inside the mansion...'
Why had they all crawled out here?
"Ah, whatever. That's not important right now."
The beasts' hides would provide at least minimal resistance to magic.
- Kur-eung!
Sure enough, one Corpse Golem with unusual tenacity leaped forward ahead of the others.
Pajijijik!!
The [Shell of Tindalos] scorched its hide black...
- Kkieeeek!!!!
It screeched as it broke through!
The claws of a monster that was neither human, beast, nor wraith clung to the car.
Before I could react, Jang Hyun-deok suddenly shouted.
"That much... I can handle!"
Kkiiiiiik!!
Jang Hyun-deok slammed on the brakes.
Kwaaang!
The Corpse Golem smashed its head—not its claws—into the slowing car's rear.
- Kur-eung!!!
It hadn't stopped completely, just slowed suddenly.
The Corpse Golem bounced off and slammed into the road.
Dal-kuk, dul-kuk!
Jang Hyun-deok shifted gears in an instant.
Buaaaaang!!!
He floored it again, shaking it off.
"Nice! Good job!"
But there was more than one enemy.
The remaining eight accelerated furiously, inspired by their comrade's reckless charge.
- Kuaaaak!
- Kyaeeeek!
The mansion was almost in sight.
My detection caught something waiting in front of it.
'Something's waiting at the mansion too.'
If we arrived with these dog pups in tow, we'd be surrounded.
"Get lost, you little shits!"
I'd drop these ones here.
I grabbed the Butcher's Hook from under the seat and activated my magic.
[S-Grade Weapon 'Butcher's Hook' unique function, 'Proof of Slaughter' activated.
// Proof of Slaughter: Necromancy-type magic power increases by 100%.]
[Turbid Flow]
A large-scale attack spell fusing water and necromancy attributes.
Hard to cast without water, but right now, there was plenty!
Pung!!!
The sound of groundwater bursting forth.
Kwa-gugugugugu!!
And this was the rain-turned-river surging backward.
Nether mana tangled into powerful, pitch-black torrents erupting from all sides, forming massive waves around the car.
The waves, mixed with earth and trees, turned into a landslide that swept away the wraiths.
- Kuaaaak!
- Stop, stop!
"Even the ghosts are getting swept up in the waves!?"
"That's how the spell works!"
It wasn't just physical damage.
The necromancy attribute damaged their ethereal forms directly.
And thanks to the Butcher's Hook, the effect was doubled!
'This'll sweep away these minor wraiths.'
Kwa-gugugugugu!!!
The waves engulfed the swarming wraiths and Corpse Golems before rushing down the mountainside and vanishing.
As the obscuring waves cleared, the mansion came into view ahead.
We were almost right in front of it now.
That instant.
[System: Penalty trait 'Feast's Sacrifice' effect intensifies.]
Kwaaaang!!
Trees ahead exploded like bombs as something massive burst out.
Jang Hyun-deok screamed first.
"A bear!?"
A horrific monster covered in grotesque masks sprouting from its body.
Dozens of wraiths tangled in bear hide.
It barely resembled a bear anymore, composed of hundreds of faces.
[The wraiths trapped in the mansion owner's taxidermy collections begin to awaken.]
At the same time, a system message spat out bizarre info.
[These taxidermies were no mere decorations. The stuffed beasts growl as they approach you.]
This was the message meant for the dogs' appearance.
[Your wraiths with eyeballs surprisingly attached will shock /Null
Repairing...
Repair complete...
The souls of sacrifices imprisoned in the massive bear taxidermy begin to awaken.
Dozens of souls forcibly injected into one body struggle for control. The souls trapped in the bear's flesh swell into horrific masks. This is no longer a mere 'Corpse Golem.'
The pinnacle of necromancy, a 'Necro Golem,' blocks your path.
Their madness, pain, and despair inflict horrific wounds on nearby minds.]
[System: Mental strength stat resists fear. Mental check... failed.]
[System: Exclusive trait 'Abyssal Madness' activates. Fear effect removed.]
"Ha, what a joke!"
A mid-boss?
Damn it, why did the mid-boss keep coming out to greet us at the entrance!
"What, what do we do about that thing!"
Luckily, Jang Hyun-deok seemed to pass his mental check too.
No problem then!
"Just go! Crush it flat!"
"Huh? Huuuuh??!"
"Run it over!!"
The car sped up.
The massive Necro Golem's body swelled.
It was beyond calling a bear now.
A 5-meter monstrosity of dozens of huge faces and filthy fur tangled together.
- Kryaaa!!!
- Kweeeee!!
- Kkieeeek!!
Dozens of maws on its body bellowed different shrieks in unison.
I gathered the Even Branch Beacons floating around the car to the front.
Kiiiiiii...
[S-Grade Accessory 'Ring of Corrupted Flames' unique functions, 'Crimson Element Focus' and 'Flame Knowledge Inheritance' activated.
// Crimson Element Focus: All fire-type magic effects increase by 50%.
// Flame Knowledge Inheritance: Understanding of 'fire-type magic' increases.]
Vicious fire concentrated to a single point.
Amplified into a searing plasma mass.
Raindrop vaporized into steam on contact—immense firepower.
Not stopping there, I channeled it through the [Butcher's Hook] to forcibly infuse necromancy.
[Roaring Infernal Flames]
Ultra-condensed mana released at one point.
Aaaaaaaa!!!!
Shrieking like death throes, tearing rain and air.
Kwajijijik! Kwadddduduk!!
The hyper-compressed mana beam pierced the Necro Golem.
A massive hole through its body.
Wraiths trapped inside poured out through the gap.
- Kueeeuk!
- Freedom, freedom!
- I hate you!! Die!!!
- Kkieeeek!
Some scattered in freedom, but those bound by necromancy moved the broken body to attack us!
"Eua, eua! Euaaaak!"
Jang Hyun-deok reflexively hit the brakes—but.
"Don't stop! Floor it!"
"Euaaaaa!!"
Right in front! Collision!
Over the [Shell of Tindalos], [Protective Ward], [Distortion Field], and [Guardian Prayer] enveloping the car, I cast another spell.
[Flames of Hatred]
Converts incoming impact into fire damage and reflects it.
Target: the entire car.
"Eat this!"
It absorbed the car's weight, speed, quadruple protections, and the Necro Golem's attack!
Kwaaaaaang!!!!
[Flames of Hatred] erupted in a massive explosion.
Flames and blinding flash poised to engulf the world.
The Necro Golem at the epicenter disintegrated without a trace.
Bear hide and corpse chunks scattered everywhere.
Burning wraith souls.
And the mansion now right in front of us.
Ugh, too much gas!
"Hey, stop! Stop!"
"I know!"
Kkiiiiiik!!
Jang Hyun-deok slammed the brakes.
The car skidded far beyond stopping distance.
It halted inches from the mansion wall.
Less than 5cm gap.
If Jang Hyun-deok hadn't swerved perfectly at the last second, we'd have crashed straight in.
"Huu..."
Jang Hyun-deok buried his face in the wheel, sighing.
"......"
Jang Hyun-deok lifted his head silently.
His face was deathly pale.
Tears welled in his eyes, lips twitching unnaturally.
His expression was a sight...
But hey, praise where due?
"Excellent. Pro driver for sure."
"...Thank you."
The sky stayed dark, torrential rain pouring.
First, [Distortion Field] activated.
With rain evasion prepped, I grabbed the duffel bag from the back seat and got out.
'A bit heavy.'
My strength had risen some, but still low.
The packed duffel felt hefty.
Anyway, we made it?
[Starving Mansion].
A large two-story building looming in the darkness.
Now that I was here, it was basically my house.
I eyed the exterior, gauging renovations.
"Um... Mr. Wizard?"
"Yeah?"
Jang Hyun-deok, out of the car, approached on shaky legs.
"This the place you mentioned?"
"Yep."
"What the hell is this place?"
"Hmm... Jangmyeongsan... pension?"
"A haunted house like that is a pension?"
No exaggeration.
An old Western-style mansion ill-suited to a remote Korean forest.
Surrounded by unidentified weird weeds.
Less maintained, more abandoned.
After glancing up several times, Jang Hyun-deok crept close, whispering in horror.
"Second floor, something's on the second floor!"
"Obviously. Dealing with what's inside is the job."
"It's not over?"
"Now it starts."
Jang Hyun-deok glared at one second-floor window.
Less for light, more like surveillance—eerie vibe.
"Stuff worse than before will come out, right...?"
"Pretty much."
"Heh... I see... I see..."
Jang Hyun-deok nodded with a meaningful smile, then continued.
"I-I'll head back now..."
"Hm. Yeah, go."
"...You're not stopping me?"
"Why would I?"
"You're pretty useful, Jang Hyun-deok!"
What did this guy want?
"Go already, man."
Jang Hyun-deok waffled and babbled more.
Scared to go alone, but entering together was riskier.
And he had one task.
"Take this on your way."
"What's this?"
"A job for useful Jang Hyun-deok."
"Can't I just go home?"
"Stop somewhere on the way, just once."
I pulled him closer, explaining precautions and tasks.
"What if ghosts show up again?"
"I cleared the big ones; talismans will handle the rest."
"It's really fine?"
"Don't get out of the car, and you'll make it."
Jang Hyun-deok whined more but finally croaked agreement and drove off.
"Hmm... Can I trust that guy?"
Hard to take on faith.
But his car was already out of sight.
"Ah, whatever."
Too late now.
I turned to the mansion.
"Alright. Time to get to work properly?"
The steps to the entrance were mossy and slick.
'No maintenance at all.'
Biiiing-.
The rusty doorbell by the door blared a creepy electronic tone.
"Need to replace that bell too..."
No answer, so I rang again several times.
Finally, footsteps from inside.
Kkiiik...
A young man with a sinister look.
The Starving Mansion's owner.
Heo Sang-hyun greeted me.
"You've finally arrived."