Chapter 266
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 266.
When Yoo Baek-jun accepted the proposal, the lizardmen began preparing for battle.
The elves who saw this were taken aback.
"...What are they doing?"
"What are they putting on your face, human?"
"Just leave them be."
The lizardmen treated their faces and bodies as canvases, painting intricate designs.
It was war paint.
This wasn’t a pointless act—it was a shamanistic method to draw out the latent potential of their bodies.
‘It just looks a bit grotesque, that’s all.’
Yoo Baek-jun watched the lizardmen as he pulled out the key to the temple.
A key shaped like a spherical orb.
It was nothing like an ordinary key.
‘The key to the temple’s depths.’
It was the key that could open a firmly sealed door—one that wouldn’t budge no matter what methods were used.
But that wasn’t its only function. It had one more role.
‘It can control the temple…’
In a way, it had a similar effect to the Crystal of Dominion he had obtained in the past.
Inside the temple were various devices, and with this key, he could control them as he pleased.
If only he could reach the deepest part of the temple and insert this key…
‘I could wipe out all the enemies who’ve been chasing me in one fell swoop.’
The problem was that the enemies wouldn’t let them enter the temple.
That’s why he had prepared for this.
He already knew about the event that would take place in this swamp.
“Alright, first things first.”
Yoo Baek-jun moved to an empty spot and raised Grandal.
Anticipating this situation, he had comrades waiting nearby.
Whoooom!
Grandal vibrated intensely, and soon, a teleportation spell activated.
“…Lord Yoo Baek-jun.”
People appeared in an instant.
Noel and the necromancers. They all bowed deeply in unison.
“We’ve brought what you asked for.”
Behind them stood countless undead carrying loads.
The variety was immense.
Death knights, dullahans, skeletons, and most importantly—drowners.
“They look absolutely horrifying, seriously.”
Drowners.
The name meant ‘drowned corpses.‘
They were monsters that had drowned and were then resurrected as undead, which made their appearance utterly gruesome.
“We made them because you ordered us to, but… where exactly do you plan to use these drowners?”
“Why, Noel. Are you curious?”
“Well, I can’t help but wonder…”
It wasn’t as if these drowners possessed any extraordinary power.
They were practically no different from zombies.
Completely unremarkable.
“No abilities, no special traits. Just bloated, waterlogged corpses.”
But that was precisely why they were useful.
“Let’s turn them into time bombs.”
“Huh?”
Yoo Baek-jun grinned.
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun worked with the necromancers to modify the drowners.
It wasn’t a task that took too long. Staying up all night was enough to finish it.
“Ugh, the smell.”
Being near undead for so long made the stench of decay cling to him.
Yoo Baek-jun waved his hand dismissively.
“Lord Yoo Baek-jun, once this work is done, will we be joining the battle as well?”
“No, go back. I’ll send you back using a teleportation circle—return to the World Tree.”
“Will that be alright?”
Noel looked worried, but it was actually the better option.
“I’d be more concerned if you stayed in a place like this. Just go back.”
“Understood.”
It was too dangerous to keep Noel and the necromancers in this swamp.
Necromancers lacked the means to defend themselves.
Moreover, this place was the perfect environment for enemies to launch ambushes.
‘Each of them is far too valuable to let die here.’
Necromancers were precious talents.
Especially since they were individuals carefully nurtured by the Cult of Resurrection.
“Phew.”
Yoo Baek-jun took a few steps back and observed the work site.
Then, from behind him, ‘thud, thud‘—the sound of heavy footsteps approached.
“You’re resorting to foul methods.”
“You’re here?”
The moment the War Chief arrived, he glared at Yoo Baek-jun with clear disapproval.
“The dead should be left to return to the earth. To rouse those who have found eternal rest in this manner…”
“Will I be punished by divine wrath or something?”
“The spirits will be angered.”
Yoo Baek-jun let out a small scoff.
The lizardmen believed in shamanistic faith—ancestors, spirits, and the like.
To them, undead were nothing short of abominations that defiled their beliefs.
‘Huh? Isn’t that the case everywhere?’
Come to think of it, it wasn’t just lizardmen—no race would welcome the undead.
“I get that it’s unpleasant, but it’s necessary. Isn’t this better than letting your kin all die out?”
“……”
The War Chief nodded.
“You’re right. I spoke foolish words unbefitting of the situation.”
“As long as you understand. What about the equipment I prepared?”
“We’ve equipped all of it. Just as you said, we smeared mud on them to make them look filthy.”
The undead that Noel and the necromancers had brought earlier—
The loads they carried were gear meant for the lizardmen.
Items forged from black iron, taken from the warehouse.
“Hey, those are expensi—no, never mind. They’re not expensive, but they’re precious. Use them sparingly.”
“In battle, there’s no such thing as ‘sparingly.’ Lives are more important.”
“Oh, so you do value your lives?”
At least they weren’t throwing their lives away for the sake of tradition or honor.
“Good. Then even if you have to break all the gear, just make sure you don’t die.”
“Rather than worrying about us, shouldn’t you worry about yourself? The role you’ve taken is the most dangerous.”
“I know.”
But he had no doubt he would succeed.
“Let’s go. We have a meeting to attend.”
“Mmm…”
Yoo Baek-jun headed toward the cave where the High Priest was waiting, accompanied by the War Chief.
And the next day—
Once all preparations were complete, Yoo Baek-jun, who had scouted the outside, gathered everyone.
“The enemies are moving as predicted.”
He had already explained the course of action during last night’s meeting.
All that remained was to execute the plan.
“Let’s go. Move as planned.”
The lizardmen nodded.
* * *
Fellia claimed she had found a way to destroy the temple.
She immediately began preparing the means, and the Black Shadow also started mobilizing in full force.
“They’re our kin, so there’s no way they wouldn’t know! Find out where they are!”
“Track down every last one of them! Their War Chief, their High Priest—everyone!”
“Hiiisss…!”
Their first move was to hunt down the lizardmen who had evaded domination.
They were far too valuable.
“Even if we have plenty of troops, there’s no such thing as too many. Especially since the lizardmen here have exceptional genes.”
“If we can just get them to breed properly…”
The lizardmen of this swamp were far stronger than ordinary lizardmen.
The same went for the Naga.
The Black Shadow possessed a special device—with it, they could farm these monsters for their purposes.
“Damn it, they were easy to find before—why are they hiding now?”
The problem was that the lizardmen in hiding weren’t showing themselves.
A Black Shadow member clicked his tongue in frustration.
“Ugh, I’m sick of this damned swamp already.”
“Those wretched lizards…!”
The Black Shadow member gnashed his teeth as he watched the lizardmen scurrying about.
They seemed utterly fed up with life in the swamp.
“Is this temple really that important? We’ve been here for over a year.”
“Well, you know…”
Another Black Shadow member glanced toward the temple.
“It’s where equipment imbued with dragon-slaying power is kept. You know how many dragonkin are in our Black Shadow, right?”
“Yeah, but still.”
The Black Shadow member clicked his tongue again.
“This is irritating. Other teams are racking up achievements left and right.”
“Don’t be impatient. Our chance to ascend will come too.”
“I hope so, but…”
They divided their forces into multiple groups and set out with their dominated monsters to search for the enemy.
But they found nothing. Naturally, their frustration grew.
Rustle!
“Huh?”
Then—a sound.
One Black Shadow member with sharp ears picked up on a noise nearby.
Just as he turned his head toward the source—
Whoosh!
“Guhk?!”
Spears came flying from all directions.
A barrage of spearheads in straight lines. The Black Shadow members hurriedly blocked the attacks.
Though the ambush was sudden, given their skills, avoiding it wasn’t too difficult.
But—
“Fire!”
“Gyaaah!”
The volley of arrows that followed was impossible to evade.
Their stance was already broken.
The Black Shadow members used their bodies—or their slave monsters as shields—to block the arrows.
“You bastards!”
“It’s the lizardmen! Get them all!”
“No, wait!”
The Black Shadow members simultaneously looked in the direction the spears and arrows had come from.
A densely wooded area.
There, dark figures began emerging one by one.
“Those are…!”
The Black Shadow members assumed the figures were lizardmen.
But they were wrong.
Bodies stripped of flesh—only bones remained. The clattering of bones.
“Undead?!”
They were undead.
Skeletons armed with bows were advancing toward them.
“Were there undead monsters in this swamp? No, there weren’t!”
“There aren’t! Don’t panic. They’re just skeletons—nothing we can’t handle…”
“Wh-what the hell is that?!”
One Black Shadow member looked around in horror.
And for good reason.
From the bushes all around them, an overwhelming number of undead had revealed themselves.
“Wh-where did all these…?!”
“Warriors!”
Then came a roar.
From behind the undead, lizardmen emerged in unison.
Lizardmen armed with equipment they had never seen before.
“Warriors, rise! Take up your arms! Look forward!”
The War Chief bellowed.
A powerful war cry spread, emboldening his kin.
A rallying cry to uplift allies and crush enemy morale.
“We will save our dominated brethren and slaughter these despicable humans!”
“Graah!”
The War Chief suddenly hurled the axe in his hand.
Whirl!
The axe flew in an odd trajectory and struck a Black Shadow member’s head.
“I will lead the charge! Use the undead as shields and follow me!”
The lizardmen roared in response.
* * *
All across the swamp, lizardmen and undead worked together to ambush the Black Shadow.
“Guh, guhk?! You bastards…!”
“Where did these undead come from?!”
“Damn it—gahhk!”
The Black Shadow, following Fellia’s orders, had spread out to search for hidden lizardmen.
It was the perfect condition for an ambush.
The High Priest, observing from afar, was amazed.
“Did he already know how they would move?”
Everything was unfolding exactly as Yoo Baek-jun had predicted during last night’s meeting.
The enemies would focus on hunting down the lizardmen who had escaped domination.
‘To think it would play out exactly like this.’
He had wondered what would happen if things didn’t go as planned, but his worries were unfounded.
And there was one more thing.
“We’re surrounded! Requesting backup!”
“The lizardmen are all coming out! What about the temple’s defenses? Just leave it—it’ll be fine!”
In a panic, the Black Shadow sent out distress calls to those stationed at the temple.
‘This too—just as predicted.’
No one could enter the temple. The only option was to destroy it.
Thus, the Black Shadow prioritized dealing with the undominated lizardmen over the temple.
After all, the temple had the Dragonkin.
They trusted she would handle it. Normally, they wouldn’t be wrong—but.
“This time, it’s different.”
Hidden in the shadows, Yoo Baek-jun smirked darkly.
He gestured to the drowners.
“Move.”
It was time for fireworks.