Chapter 190
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 190.
―Guuuuu…….
―Greeeaa…….
Countless undead had gathered in the cavern.
Surrounding a single man at the center, they drooled as if they were about to devour him at any moment.
It was a situation where fear would naturally arise, but the man was utterly at ease.
“Ugh, the stench.”
―Myaaauu…….
If anything, he was just annoyed.
Yoo Baek-jun grimaced at the foul odor assaulting his nose, and Seol-yeong was no different.
The creature was plugging its nose with both hands.
“I guess this is about as many as we can gather?”
The number of undead in the underground holy site was roughly around 500.
Yoo Baek-jun had dominated all of them.
There were still many more undead elsewhere, but they were likely deeper underground.
“Hmm… Well then, shall we go? Hey, lead the way.”
―Guuuuu…….
Yoo Baek-jun sent the 500 undead ahead and trudged along behind them.
Which of the three passages was the right one?
There was no need to worry over that.
“Go, go.”
―Uuuuu…….
He planned to keep going until he found the correct path.
Of course, that was far from a wise decision.
All three passages were filled with traps. Continuously encountering such traps made it an extremely dangerous choice.
But what did it matter?
Squelch!
―Kyaaaaak!
“Nice shot!”
The overflowing undead would take care of it.
Yoo Baek-jun used the undead he had dominated as shields to break through the traps.
Literally a human wave tactic—brute force.
And precisely because of that, it was all the more effective.
‘Good, this must be the right path.’
The first passage ended in a dead end. But the second one did not.
It led to a new area, where multiple passages branched out again.
Passages filled with all sorts of mechanisms and traps.
‘Let’s see who wins—you or me.’
Yoo Baek-jun looked up at the ceiling.
He imagined the monster lurking in the deepest part of this sacred site—probably watching him right now.
* * *
Whoosh!
Flames were burning.
The flames are said to have been left as a gift by the God of Light long ago when he descended to bless his followers.
In the deepest part of the Sanctuary of Purification, the divine flames burned ceaselessly.
However.
―Heh heh heh…….
The color of the flames was far too dark.
An ominous crimson-black—a color so unbelievable that it was hard to accept it had come from the God of Light.
Once, it had burned like a brilliant light, but now it had lost that radiance.
―Heh heh, hahahaha!
All because of the hands of an undead.
In the cavern bathed in sinister light, a massive undead burst into mad laughter.
―I wish that the so-called God of Light could see this. How would he feel watching the flames he bestowed being tainted by darkness?
It was an undead with a unique appearance.
Its skeletal frame resembled that of a monster more than a human.
Particularly draconic—its face was unmistakably that of a dragonkin, and enormous wings sprouted from its back.
Clad in an ornate black robe and wielding a massive staff, its name was—
―He never imagined there’d be someone capable of tainting this divine relic with darkness.
Over Lich.
A monster even higher in rank than an Elder Lich, a being rarely seen in the history of Halpeon.
Originally human, it had strengthened itself using the corpses of various monsters.
―Beautiful, so utterly beautiful.
The Over Lich muttered, mesmerized by the sight of the purification flames being corrupted.
The time when the flames were pure white had been unbearable to look at, but now, stained in crimson-black, they were so beautiful it wanted to gaze at them every day.
―Good, very good… If the divine relic is fully corrupted, then at last…
The Over Lich was the one who had tainted the flame of purification.
It had one goal..
―I shall hold in my hands a power that none dare approach.
Overwhelming power.
It sought to corrupt the Flame of Purification and claim the divine power lingering within.
If it could do that, even a mere undead like itself could attain ‘divinity.’
‘No matter how powerful an undead I am, in the end, I’m still just an undead. I can’t be satisfied with that.’
Driven by greed for power, it had become a Lich and even ascended to the monstrous Over Lich.
A monster’s hunger knew no bounds.
And the day to satisfy that hunger was not far off.
Voooom!
―……!
Until a tremendous tremor shook the cavern.
The sinister flames flickering in the Over Lich’s hollow eye sockets intensified.
It spread its palm, and a screen appeared above it, displaying the underground passages.
―This!
What it saw was shocking.
An enormous horde of undead had gathered and was advancing through the underground passages—
With a human following behind them.
―A necromancer?
A necromancer, was it?
But something was off. The undead led by this necromancer looked familiar.
Yes, they were the ones guarding this underground…
―My legion, stop that human at once!
The Over Lich shook its head and commanded the undead in the passages.
Only a handful responded.
A mere few undead emerged to block the enemy’s path—
―How can this be?!
Even those undead did not attack the human but instead stopped and began following him.
As if they had switched masters.
―Why is my legion obeying that bastard!
The undead were marching.
In a panic, the Over Lich summoned all the undead from the deepest part of the Sanctuary.
Then it ordered them to barricade the entrance where the human and his undead would emerge.
―…….
A moment of silence passed.
The Over Lich prepared the most powerful spell it could muster, waiting for the enemy.
And then—
Kwaaaaang!
―Kill the intruder.
With a deafening crash, the gate shattered.
Debris flew everywhere.
The Over Lich commanded its minions and, without hesitation, unleashed its spell toward the entrance.
But before it could—
“Submit to me.”
A voice rang out.
A voice that felt like it was being drilled directly into its skull.
The Over Lich’s movements froze mid-spell.
It struggled desperately to move, but its body wouldn’t budge.
―W-what is this……?
As the dust settled, a man came into view beyond it.
Yoo Baek-jun.
With a spear slung over one shoulder, he stood in an utterly casual posture and spoke.
“What’re you looking at, punk? Kneel.”
―……!
Thud!
The Over Lich knelt.
Not by its own will. There was no way it would willingly do such a thing.
―W-what is this? Just who… are you……?
The Over Lich tried to recall the last time it had knelt before anyone.
A distant past, back when it was still human.
Since then, it had never knelt before anyone—yet now it was kneeling before a mere human.
“Who am I, you ask? Tch, how cliché.”
―Just what are you?!
“What do you think, you bastard?”
Yoo Baek-jun grinned savagely.
“I’m your new master.”
* * *
The situation in the deepest part of the Sanctuary of Purification was resolved in an instant.
A significant portion of the undead guarding the area fell under Yoo Baek-jun’s dominion, and those that didn’t were all slaughtered.
As for the Over Lich—
―Kgh, ugh… Grrrrr!
It knelt before Yoo Baek-jun, grinding its teeth in frustration.
Seol-yeong perched atop its head, started tapping its skull with its front paws.
“What’s got you so worked up, huh? You’re already nothing but bones—no need to look so pissed.”
―You… Just what are you? How can a mere human wield such absurd dominance?
“Good question.”
Yoo Baek-jun slung an arm over the Over Lich’s head.
“I’ll tell you later. For now, answer my questions.”
―…….
There were a few things he wanted to ask.
Yoo Baek-jun questioned the Over Lich about what had happened here.
The answer was simple.
―I heard rumors of a divine relic left behind by the God of Light and came to steal it. I killed everyone here.
“Hmm… How’d you find out about it?”
His memory was a bit fuzzy, but this Sanctuary of purification was located in one of the most remote corners of Halpeon.
Not to mention, the existence of the divine relic was supposed to be a tightly guarded secret. How had this bastard learned of it?
―A voice told me.
“A voice?”
―Yes. A voice saying there was a divine relic here, urging me to take it for myself.
“Hmm.”
Something clicked in his mind.
‘Was it Thanatos?’
Thanatos had been defeated in the war against the gods and banished along with his realm.
Wasn’t the God of Light the one who led that battle?
If so, Thanatos would hold a deep grudge and would want revenge sooner or later.
“Pathetic bastard.”
This must’ve happened long before the Summoning ritual.
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue and continued his interrogation.
After satisfying his curiosity, he finally asked the most crucial question.
“So, how did you corrupt that divine relic?”
―T-that…….
“How did you taint it? Something of that caliber wouldn’t be corrupted by ordinary means.”
The Over Lich clenched its teeth.
It clearly didn’t want to answer.
Seeing this, Yoo Baek-jun amplified his dominance.
The crushing pressure intensified.
―Ghk! Do I have to say it?
This humiliation.
It was a feeling it had never experienced since attaining immortality.
But now, it had no choice but to endure.
‘A human necromancer’s dominance has limits. No matter what trick he used, there must be a limit to how long he can control me.’
It would pretend to obey until the human reached his limit and hold out as long as possible.
And when the opportunity came—
‘I will repay this humiliation without fail.’
The Over Lich slowly opened its mouth.
―I… used my Life Vessel.
Hiding its true intentions, it continued.
―And with the preparations I’ve made over a long time, I corrupted the Flame of Purification.
“Should’ve said that sooner.”
Yoo Baek-jun observed the crimson-black flames.
Upon closer inspection, he could see a magic circle on the ground, surrounded by artifacts.
And above the flames floated a massive sphere.
‘That’s it.’
He glanced at the Over Lich.
There was nothing else he needed to ask.
Now that he knew the cause, finding a solution would be trivial.
‘Even with the Death King’s dominance… keeping this thing under control for long is impossible.’
It was too powerful of a monster.
At best, he could maintain control for a few hours. By then, the Death King’s dominance would wear off.
What needed to be done was clear.
“Well then……”
Only one thing remained.
“Time to die.”
―Wai……!
Killing the now-useless Over Lich.
Yoo Baek-jun gripped his spear and unleashed a fluid barrage of strikes.
Thunder Dragon, followed by Meteor Shower.
Amid the rain of thunderbolts, he charged forward, sword in hand, continuing his assault with the Heavenly Destruction Sword Technique.
―Ghk, keugh! Graaaah!
The Over Lich couldn’t even resist. Yoo Baek-jun’s dominance suppressed it completely.
But it was no ordinary monster.
It endured attacks that would’ve killed lesser creatures long ago.
‘Then I’ll just keep hitting it until it dies.’
Yoo Baek-jun faithfully followed through.
— T-This can’t be… To fall like this…
After what felt like an eternity, the Over Lich collapsed under Yoo Baek-jun’s final strike—Heavenly Destruction.
This was likely a death it had never imagined. How could it have foreseen this?
Yoo Baek-jun watched as the Over Lich faded away.
“This was a total freebie.”
The dungeon’s intricate mechanisms and traps, along with a monstrous boss—
His gloomy mood had lightened considerably.