The Archisus-Style Undead Legion

While Kim Tae-hyun harbored the dark design of breezing through a series of linked quests by piggybacking on someone else's preparation, Lee Se-yeon was utterly bewildered. Why is he being so cooperative?Is he planning to hear me out, tease me tomorrow, and then bail? It felt like paranoia, but with him, paranoia was a survival instinct!

"What are you doing? Spill it. You're not trying to cook up a lie right now, are you?"

"N-no, I'm not!"

But she had no choice but to explain. After all, one of the quest requirements was "Participation of the Pope of the Archisus Church"! Upon hearing Se-yeon's explanation, Tae-hyun grimaced.

Really?

Carbanog's words were highly persuasive. Honestly, if you just beat up everyone you see, some of them are bound to be villains trying to destroy the world.

Sometimes I feel like they're subtly rewriting history just because the Archisus Church's historical records were wiped out.

Yet, completely ignoring the suspicions of Tae-hyun and Carbanog, the quest window continued to scroll.

...We already use any and all means necessary.

What other church in the world was as unscrupulous as the Archisus Church? Honestly, even demons probably had more standards than Archisus...

!

Once Lee Se-yeon shared the information, a new quest popped up for Tae-hyun as well. He had already guessed the quest grade would be Legendary ever since Se-yeon made such a fuss about it...

Seeing that a Title was listed separately as a reward suggested it would be something incredible. Fitting for a church-related quest, the objective was to win the support of other major factions.

Hmm...

Tae-hyun groaned. In a way, obtaining the support of a living dragon was the most difficult condition. Excluding Tae-hyun, there wasn't a single player known to have even spoken to a dragon yet!

Fortunately, however, Tae-hyun had a dragon he could turn to for support. The Red Dragon, Nitinger!

Good thing I didn't kill him.

Shh.

One of the churches of the Central Continent was the easiest condition. Of course, the Archisus Church was a lonely, friendless sect, but obtaining their support—whether through threats or pleas—was well within his capabilities.

The problem is the next two...

A king of the Central Continent... Lee Se-yeon of the Asbian Empire wouldn't count. He wasn't on good terms with the Espa Kingdom either.

My dad wouldn't count, right?

Kim Tae-san was a Great Chieftain, but that wasn't a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kingly title...

Seriously, why did he have to become a Great Chieftain instead of a king...

Tae-hyun brushed the thought aside, knowing his father would fly into a rage if he ever heard it.

The Erangs Kingdom, the Auston Kingdom... Hmm.

Surprisingly, the most viable option seemed to be Su Ning. Even if he tried to meet the King of the Erangs Kingdom right now, it would be difficult, and he'd have to jump through hoops to gain his support... but Su Ning was a player!

Besides, he must be pretty desperate right now.

Since Su Ning was currently getting beaten down by both Smith and the Erangs Kingdom, he would be in an excellent position to negotiate. That left only the final, seemingly impossible condition!

...Isn't this a bit too much?

It really felt like a quest that wasn't meant to be cleared!

In truth, the Archisus Church actually had quite a few connections to the Demon Realm. It was just that every single one of them was an ill-fated relationship!

I'll have to worry about this one later.

A Demon Duke wasn't something he could deal with just by worrying about it now.

"Did you check everything?"

"More or less."

Tae-hyun didn't bother mentioning the conditions that had appeared in his new quest.

Judging by the atmosphere, Lee Se-yeon must have received a similar quest.

She had undoubtedly received a quest to gain the support of major continental powers or legendary heroes. It seemed the archbishops of the churches were included in that... though, of course, Tae-hyun had no idea that he himself was one of those targets.

"So, they're invading soon, right?"

"Yes. That's why we need to gather players, call in reinforcements, and build fortresses to bolster our defenses."

Although her main fortress was an incredibly overpowered stronghold, several other strongholds were being constructed nearby to prepare for every possible scenario!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Furthermore, it had a fatal flaw. Specifically... it was difficult for the undead to remain there.

Lee Se-yeon, who had to fight alongside a massive army of the undead, had to build a separate fortress elsewhere to hold the line. If she fought in the main fortress, half of her undead would melt away before the battle even began.

"Shouldn't we do something about the southern desert? It's completely empty."

Simply waiting around would leave them at the enemy's mercy. They needed to at least send scouts to assess the situation, harass the enemy as they advanced, delay them, set traps...

Ah. Now that I say it out loud, that sounds exactly like the Archisus Church's specialty.

"That's true, but... there aren't many people who can survive out there right now. Even I have to transform into a Lich when I go."

Heading further south led to a desert where survival was nearly impossible. It wasn't called the Death Desert for nothing!

Even Lee Se-yeon only traveled there by transforming into an undead and leading her undead minions. Those who couldn't do such things could barely even set foot in the region.

"Fufu. Don't you worry."

"...?"

"Because I will lead the players there myself."

"I can't let you shoulder such a difficult task alone... Wait. Something's fishy."

Lee Se-yeon was about to be touched, but she froze.

"Why are you going so far...?"

"Geez. I'm working hard so we can clear this quest together, and this is the thanks I get?"

"N-no, of course I believe you! I do!"

Watching Lee Se-yeon squirm, Lee Da-bi felt a pang of pity. She's normally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠such an incredible player, but why does she turn into this whenever she's around Kim Tae-hyun?

"You're really going to do it?"

"O-of course."

"You can lend me your guild members too, right?"

"That's possible, but... Wait. Are you dating Hyun-ah???"

Lee Se-yeon, who had been listening to her guild members' chat, asked in sudden shock. Beside them, Lee Da-bi choked on her own spit and began coughing.

"Who's that?"

"...The younger sister who always hangs around me."

"Ah. Her? We're not dating."

Tae-hyun didn't waver in the slightest. One hundred percent innocent!

Answering so instantly actually makes it even more suspicious.

To Se-yeon, it felt like a rehearsed response. Are they really dating in secret? Come to think of it, Hyun-ah always gets so angry whenever Kim Tae-hyun's name is brought up...

"Anyway, just lend me your guild members."

"I don't think this is something you can just brush off with an 'anyway'... but fine, I get it."

Lee Se-yeon also agreed with Tae-hyun's point. They definitely had to do something about the desert!

"Oh, right. Can you lend me some undead too?"

"I have plenty of undead, but you can't control them, can you?"

Lee Se-yeon could summon thousands of undead in the blink of an eye if she wanted to, but whether someone else could control them was a different story. If an unskilled Necromancer tried to command them, the undead would instantly go berserk or flee.

"I have a way to control them, so don't worry."

"...?!"

Seriously, how does this guy have such a ridiculous variety of skills?!

"Death to the living... Wait, what?"

"Sink into the sand... Huh?"

The undead were utterly bewildered by their sudden return to sanity. Having wandered aimlessly without their minds for so long, the shock was immense! It was all due to Tae-hyun's skill—an absurdly powerful ability that restored the minds of nearby undead and buffed them!

Thanks to this, Tae-hyun didn't need to summon them himself and waste his MP. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He could simply grab any passing undead, persuade them, and make them his subordinates. Of course, summoning them directly would make it much easier to apply buffs and control them, but...

Setting aside the fact that my MP would bottom out, it would take way too long.

If Tae-hyun had to go out of his way to learn and master the summoning aspects of black magic now, he would have to abandon everything else and focus solely on that. It was a relief he could command the undead this way instead!

...Of course, the fact that the undead were semi-forcibly regaining their sanity was a bit of a penalty...

"Why are you here?"

"I know, right? We should head back quickly."

Once they regained their senses, the undead prepared to leave. Naturally, Tae-hyun wasn't about to just let them walk away.

"Now, now. At least hear me out before you go."

"???"

"Who are you? You don't seem to be the one who summoned us..."

"With eyes that fierce and terrifying, you have the aura of a hero. You must be a remarkably strong warrior."

Tae-hyun received high praise from the desert undead. He was a hero with not only a high Reputation stat but also a high Infamy stat! Desert warriors naturally tended to respect those with high Infamy. A true warrior had to be fierce and ruthless!

"But no matter how strong a warrior you are, we do not follow the orders of others."

"Indeed. We are the fierce warriors of the desert. Though we were summoned by the underhanded tricks of a black mage, now that we are free and have regained our sanity, we shall go our own way..."

"Aki-sus's Divine Territory!"

"Aaaaargh!"

"Aaaaah!"

Sometimes, a good beating was far more persuasive than words. Case in point: right now! These undead were scattered in disarray without any support from a black mage. Before Tae-hyun, armed with divine power, they practically melted!

"Argh! Gyaaa!"

"Will you follow my orders? Or would you rather go to the Hell of Archisus?"

"By the way, does the Hell of Archisus actually exist?"

"I don't really know either, but it's probably a terrible place, right?"

Combining two terrible things was bound to make it even worse! The undead scrambled frantically within the divine territory.

"W-we surrender! We surrender!"

"We will obey!"

"Good, good. How commendable of you."

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed entirely related to his eloquence, but gathering the undead had somehow slightly increased his Magic skill. Since all his magic had been converted into Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic, he had to raise it however he could!

Thus, a classic, dysfunctional army with rock-bottom morale but sky-high fear was born. An undead legion, Archisus-style!