Chapter 282
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: Lich (2)
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'Yeah... I never expected them to come quietly.'
This is what it means to be among living people.
However, before Jun could step in this time, the leader of another group raised his hand and spoke.
"Never mind that—shouldn't we first hear why we have to do such a thing?"
"Why should that be secondary? You don't want to suddenly end up under those guys who popped up out of nowhere either."
"A Level 8 lich that just wiped out Merdaine has appeared. We can't just recklessly defy them."
"What? You call that—"
"Enough."
The saintess's tone, which had been gentle until now, turned firm in an instant.
At that, the two who had been arguing shut their mouths and turned their gazes to the saintess.
"First off, Vice-Captain Jun here is a Level 7 mage. That means a 7th Circle mage, naturally."
"Level 7? What the...?"
"Rumors said he was Level 6, though?"
High-speed growth from Level 1 to 5 isn't common, but it's not unheard of.
But Level 7 was a different story.
Reaching Level 7 required something beyond mere talent, and it meant the mage before them possessed it.
"On top of that, the entire White Whale Mercenary Corps is composed of Level 7s."
Words that sounded utterly absurd were on the tip of everyone's tongues, but no one could easily speak up.
After all, these were the words of the Sun Church's saintess herself.
Not to mention her combat prowess, her divine power was said to rival Level 8.
No one could argue against her words.
They could only stare at Jun with eyes full of disbelief.
"You all know the significance of a 7th Circle mage in a battle of this scale, right?"
"Urgh..."
They still couldn't accept that the entire White Whale Mercenary Corps was Level 7, but at least Jun being Level 7 seemed certain.
There were several Level 7s present, yet none had been able to read Jun's aura since earlier.
This was proof that Jun's skills surpassed theirs.
"The undead will keep swarming us, and no matter how advantageous our matchup is, their overwhelming numbers will inevitably cause casualties."
"My job is to prevent that beforehand."
Only then did Jun speak for the first time, looking each group leader in the eye.
Some faces looked familiar from the game, while many were complete strangers.
"My mission is to act as both scout and vanguard—disrupting enemies ahead of time in unfavorable terrain to make entry easier. And that's just one of many miscellaneous tasks."
Sometimes a strike team, sometimes scouts, other times assassins.
For the record, all these were missions Jun had volunteered for directly to the saintess.
Of course, the compensation was enormous.
'Cloi will handle the digestion.'
In any case, there was a reason Jun had taken on these dangerous missions himself.
"Why take on all these risky missions yourself?"
"Because if I leave you be, you and your men might turn into undead."
"Haha... I'm treating you with the utmost respect. Let's have a smooth conversation. No need to be so prickly."
His words weren't entirely wrong. He had been the one trying to calm the complaints from the other side.
But Jun felt no particular fondness for him.
"First, a correction: I know you've been plotting for days already, and I know you're preparing this good guy-bad guy play to seize command."
"Good guy-bad guy...?"
"One guy picks a fight with me on purpose, the other pretends to rein him in—all to grab even a sliver of command."
"......"
"Eyes and ears aren't exclusive to you. Keep that in mind."
"Ahem... I have no idea what you mean."
"Whatever, that's not important. Now, for the truth. Until yesterday, you were bowing your heads to the church, begging to join the subjugation. So why the sudden vein-popping defiance now?"
Obviously, to seize full authority over this operation and, after subjugating the lich, claim the recovering Merdaine's power.
"Well, from your perspective, it's understandable. You've devoted decades to purifying Merdaine, only for some mercenary corps that rolled in from nowhere to hold far greater power. It'd make your neck stiff."
"Well said. I underestimated you as just a mage, but you're tough like a true mercenary."
At that, the leader who had first questioned trusting Jun—the bad guy—slammed his massive arm on the table with a grin.
"You're right. Sorry to the saintess, but we don't have much devout faith. What's in front of us matters more."
"Honesty is refreshing. Back to the point: if we proceed like this, you'll all die. Or rather, you owe your lives to the Sun Church and only started this mission because of it."
"What nonsense is that? As I said, we may lack faith, but we've contributed here. We even came expecting some reward to subjugate the lich ourselves. Why belittle us like that?"
"Not belittling—just stating reality. Example: if even one of your groups got dropped in the middle of that undead horde, would any survive?"
Silence fell at Jun's question. Some Level 7s flinched, but Jun knew what they wanted to say.
"Sure, sure, you fine Level 7s would make it out. But your groups? Your subordinates? Levels 4, 5—maybe even 6—do you have confidence they'd escape unharmed?"
"That's too much."
The good guy leader spoke, but Jun shook his head.
"No, it's not. Recently, you were ambushed by mysterious enemies, desperate for gains, and delved deep into Merdaine."
Then, hearing the saintess's covert rumor, they rushed over thinking it was their chance.
"If the Sun Church had done nothing, you'd have waited until you were sandwiched between the undead, arm in arm with them."
"......"
"......"
No one could call it wrong.
A Level 7's pride wouldn't allow such a lie.
"Sigh... So, what do you want from us?"
"Just one thing: everyone gets out alive."
"So, obey orders and do as told?"
"Yes."
"Fine. We're not here to die. But only if you deliver results. Or if subjugation looks like failure, we'll pull out anytime."
"Understood. Seems we're all on the same page. Let's proceed."
With that, Jun scanned the now-silent room and looked back at the saintess.
She hadn't expected Jun to wrap it up so quickly and cleared her throat before continuing the meeting.
The inevitable push-and-pull ended at this primary stage, and their advance resumed the next day.
Three days had passed since the lich's resurrection.
In that time, battles had grown fiercer as the undead's levels rose.
'As planned.'
Initially, they couldn't use their power against the saintess's divine force, but now they wielded nearly all of it.
Naturally, fights intensified, and injured numbers visibly increased.
In that situation, the saintess finally played her White Whale Mercenary Corps card.
"Hey, this isn't gonna go tits up, is it?"
And now. Jun and his comrades moved as a small elite unit per the original plan.
However, they couldn't shoulder all the burden alone, so she asked the group leaders for volunteers. The man who just questioned Jun was one.
"Preg. If you're that anxious, why not head back?"
Surprisingly, the volunteer was the bad guy from before.
"A man's got pride. Can't go back like this. Answer my question first?"
"I've said it a million times: no problem."
"Damn. Shouldn't have tagged along?"
"Where'd that mouth go that was mumbling about men's pride?"
"Seeing that makes me say it. Even a normal guy like me gets dizzy watching."
Preg, leader of the Ballam Mercenary Corps, pointed to a bell tower leaning like the Tower of Pisa in the distance.
"What're we doing in a spot swarming with undead like that?"
"Setting up a magic circle and leaving."
"There're already tons there. Make that racket, and it'll spread everywhere, right?"
Preg was Level 7, but he had no hobby of rampaging where tens of thousands of undead gathered.
Undead morale seeped in the longer you fought, draining the living's vitality.
Plus, deeper in, Death Knights were plentiful.
"Like your corps name, all you do is talk cancer."
"What'd you say?"
"They're strong undead, but still undead. Priests' divine power will neuter them, and the circle goes up quick."
"Oh, your priest as good as the saintess back there? Sounds like the pope's coming."
Preg mocked, pointing at Jun again.
"And you're not like mages I've heard of. Precise strike circle takes half a day at least, right? That's what I've seen."
Not wrong.
Even Jun at 6th Circle needed other mages for large-scale spells.
But that was past.
With [Demon God Body] and [Advanced Magic Talent], Jun was more refined than most Level 7s.
Plus ancient magic, enchantment, and reincarnator memories meant no wasted time on circles.
But he couldn't blab details.
Jun ignored Preg and looked at his comrades.
"Everyone, can you hold?"
"30 minutes? Piece of cake."
"Hmph! Time to show my sword dance properly."
"Hahaha. Don't worry. With me here, not one undead gets past you."
"Leave it to us,前辈."
Amid their solid assurances.
Preg glanced back, glaring at his vice-captain.
"Ah, why that look again?"
"Damn it, be as reliable as them."
"Won't we be that solid at Level 7?"
"Shut your trap. Damn."