The Mage's Tomb

After a full week, I finally left the neighborhood and headed out to a station on the outskirts of Seoul.

"Driver, thank you for this."

"Yes, sir."

Haaaaaah.

I had spent the past several days hammering without a moment's rest. I sank into the chairman's seat, closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them again we had already arrived.

"Art thou well?"

"A little better."

"Thou must have been thoroughly exhausted. Thou even snored."

Ugh.

How tired did I have to be to fall asleep snoring in a car?

Still, saying I felt better wasn't empty talk. The Heavenly Martial Body really was the best.

When I stepped out of the car, the support team friends who had arrived ahead of us came forward to greet me.

"Hyung-nim. Are you all right?"

Huh?

Seongsu, what's that supposed to mean?

"I heard you held a gate that was on the verge of breaking—alone."

"Yeah. I did, more or less."

"You said you were taking a whole week off, so I assumed you were badly hurt."

"Hyung. Are you sure you're okay?"

Mijeong asked in a worried tone as well.

Sir Isra shook her head from side to side and even clicked her tongue.

"Foolish. So long as I, Isra, stand here, my lord is safe."

"Ah. I see."

"Hahahaha! With my lord's First Sword present, what is there to fear!"

"H-haha."

"Hahaha."

Everyone forced a laugh at Sir Isra's booming, carefree roar. Someone please install a soul in these people. I pretended not to notice the subordinate who would be an embarrassment no matter where I put her.

"But didn't you all have schedules?"

"You said you were resting for a week, so we took six days off too."

"On the last day we just had a feeling you'd call, so we stayed on standby."

Whoa.

These people know me way too well. Sharp-eyed team members, the lot of them.

"Seongsu. Could I get a briefing?"

"Yes, sir. The gate we're entering today is a place called the Mage's Tomb."

Just as the name suggested, it was a gate where mage-type undead appeared.

"Whoa."

"Mage types can be pretty tricky, yeah."

No.

It wasn't dread that made the sound slip out of me. It was pure joy welling up from deep in my chest that forced the exclamation free.

I'd been stuck fretting with nothing but Dark Hoods and Skeleton Mages. And now a B-rank gate whose main force was mage-type undead dropped into my lap?

Was it even okay for luck to be this good?

President Baek, who had been brewing coffee, suddenly raised his voice.

"I already put in a request with the Rift Bureau! I told them we'd prioritize contracting B-rank gates that spawn undead!"

Ahh.

So it wasn't pure luck after all. It was thanks to President Baek's consideration.

"Does the Rift Bureau really look after us that much?"

"You're Ranger Number One, aren't you? You ought to enjoy the perks that come with it."

Ohh.

Everyone at the Rift Bureau—I love you.

Fortunately the conditions even allowed the support team to enter. B-rank entry limits were usually strict, so things had worked out well.

While we were listening to the briefing, the hunters dispatched from the Rift Bureau arrived.

"Cha Jong-won, Counter-Abnormal Bureau, Fourth Division."

"Yes. Looking forward to working with you."

Ten hunters in total had been sent as escorts. With the Black Sky Society matter still hanging over everything, they said the security detail would be even more thorough than usual.

President Baek bowed his head.

"The Rift Bureau is a department that suffers from chronic manpower shortages, yet they're showing us this much consideration."

"Hunter Park is a special case."

Ugh.

That was embarrassing.

"Hahaha! The public servants of this nation know how to judge a man!"

Sir, why are you chiming in?

After a small bit of commotion, we entered the gate.

"It's creepy in here."

"Gates with undead always feel like this."

The support team friends rubbed their arms with their hands.

The earth was stained pitch-black. Ownerless tombstones stood alone here and there across the ground. With a dry crack, a white bone suddenly jutted up through the soil.

Large jewels were set into its forehead and both shoulders. Through the tattered robe, hollow bones showed clearly. The mismatch between the jewels and its rags… that thing was probably the gate's main monster.

How dare the living set foot on the land of the dead without fear.

"How dare a dead thing hold its head so high without fear."

Sir Isra. That was a good one.

Insolent whelp. You too shall come to know death.

"I will never have occasion to experience death."

Don't lie. You already died once.

"I was resurrected, so it never happened, did it not?"

Well. If she said so herself, what could I do about it?

Krrrk!

A massive monster made of rotten earth and flesh mixed together—a Brute—glared with bulging eyes. The Rift Bureau hunters standing in the rear flinched.

"Are you all right, Hunter Park?"

"Hm?"

"Brutes are troublesome monsters."

An extremely hard body. Outstanding aggro control, too, which made it hard to push past one and drive deep. The Skeleton Wizard in the back would trust the Brute and free-cast without worry. Each individual was already strong; when they appeared as a combo, bringing them down got that much harder.

"Honestly, I think our whole team would have to move just to handle them."

"Ah, it's fine."

Perfect timing, actually. They were exactly the right enemies for testing the performance of my new undead.

"Haha. Time to show what the new members can do."

Five Abyss Revenants appeared before Sir Isra. No one knew how much I had suffered making those things. In one week I had crafted seventy-five undead. Honestly, test or no test, all I wanted was a nap.

Sigh. I needed to rest properly before heading to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tower of Chaos.

Still, I had to confirm how well the theories I'd come up with while working held up in real combat.

"Number One. Annihilate the enemy."

"As you command."

One Abyss Revenant advanced, scattering an aura of death. Sir Isra stood with her arms folded, watching. I could see the Rift Bureau hunters fidgeting restlessly. I understood their position. They were here as escorts, so of course they were worried—yet all they could do was watch.

Don't worry. My undead are handmade.

"Gweeeeh!"

The Brute let out a retching howl and charged. Boom. Boom. The ground shook hard under the weight of something well over a ton.

"Enemy. Execute."

Wooooom!

"G-good heavens."

"Is that Aura?!"

"Abyss Revenants can use Aura, though imperfectly, right?"

"That is not imperfect."

A longsword that looked like the Obsidian Greatsword of the Fallen Knight enlarged to twice its size left a blue line through the air.

Slash!

A clean motion. The Brute's waist—thicker than a tree trunk—was cut cleanly in two.

"Hahaha! Thou hast learned well!"

Aura. The destructive authority granted only to those who had attained enlightenment. Sir Isra had shared that enlightenment with the Abyss Revenants she received as members of her knight order. Unlike the Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers, the Abyss Revenants could at least clumsily project Aura. The result of that was the sword stroke that cleaved the Brute in a single blow.

"Must be nice."

Some people got Imperial Sword Style at a hundred percent comprehension just by becoming knight order members. I had to swing a sword until I was pouring sweat just to scrape my understanding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠upward a little at a time.

Unfair.

It was unfair!

"Hyung-nim. You're not serious, right?"

"Ah. Just a joke."

"We're the ones who should feel wronged, if we're talking about that."

"Sir Isra calls us dull every single day."

I'm sorry. I am a sinner. Sob sob sob.

"The Brute… in one strike!"

"You. Execute."

"Dead one. Die."

A sphere more than ten times larger than a Fireball shot forth.

"That's Burst Flare—a B-rank spell."

"Taking it head-on is dangerous."

"Without spreading Aura wide, the damage will be severe."

Slash-slash!

The Burst Flare, cut cleanly in half, scattered left and right as it vomited flame. Sizzle! Part of the fire touched an Abyss Revenant's skin, but it evaporated into smoke.

"Well done. Thou hast cut the grain of the magic itself."

"……."

"……."

Stop staring at me with those shocked eyes. I thought slicing magic with a sword was Sir Isra's exclusive specialty. Now the knight order members were pulling the same trick?

Compared to Sir Isra, their finesse lagged far behind—but with the powerful talent called Aura, they had managed to suppress Burst Flare's destructive force as much as possible.

Crunch!

The B-rank monsters—the Brute and the Skeleton ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Wizard—were destroyed without ever getting a proper chance to fight back. Even though Abyss Revenants were only B+ monsters, they had put on a performance that shattered common sense.

"Well done, Number One."

Even Number One, the first one I'd made and the one with the weakest specs, was this strong. How strong were the rest going to be? Seeing them in real combat made my shoulders swell with pride all over again.

"Shall we pick up the pace a little?"

"Gladly."

How much shorter could we cut the time compared to the troll hunt? I was looking forward to finding out.

The Abyss Revenants who had joined the Tempest Knight Order displayed movement on the level of an A-rank hunter.

Incomplete Aura had been refined ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when Sir Isra shared her enlightenment. Imperial Sword Style and Lion Heart Method had both been added as skills through training. She was the type who could casually invent an Imperial Body Method just so I could use Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers—so training undead once they joined the knight order was quick work.

The problem of large monsters' typically sluggish agility was also solved by skillful application of Mana Release. How?

"These retainers all share my lord's talent, so it is a simple matter."

Damn it.

Couldn't you remotely pilot me or hand down a few instructions too? Or just stick me in the knight order!

"Hmmm."

What was that lukewarm reaction supposed to mean.

Hoo. This wouldn't do.

"Draco. Show them your power."

"Keong!"

The fully evolved Draco kicked off the ground and sprinted. A powerful undead that the system itself had rated A+. It tore a Brute—slightly smaller than itself—apart with both arms.

"Krrrrrr!"

With a breath of fire it burned away both the magic flying toward it and the Skeleton Wizard behind it. It was even faster than the Abyss Revenants.

"Krrrng!"

Draco came up beside me and shoved its head under my hand, demanding to be petted.

"You little…"

"Krrrng?"

"You have to preserve the Skeleton Wizard's original form!"

For heaven's sake. If I was going to analyze it through corpse processing, I needed the bones left intact.

"Kiiing."

Maybe because its intelligence had increased, the way it whined when I scolded it was the spitting image of Happy from my hometown.

"You have to bring the bones back. Got it?"

"Krrrng!"

"That's right. Good boy."

With the Abyss Revenant pack and Draco leading the way, the clear speed became so fast that simply walking couldn't keep up.

"We'll handle recovery as we go, hyung-nim."

"Ah. Thanks."

Even if we slowed down a little, an SSS-rank clear was already in the bag. Still—I wanted to go faster, not slower. I was starting to understand a little why gamers put their lives on the line for time attacks.

Big Boss. Why aren't you bringing out the cavalry?

"The goal of this clear is a full power check."

Tigris's breakthrough power had already been confirmed through several real battles. The evolved Draco and the Abyss Revenants, on the other hand, were seeing their first combat after being created. Confirming information through a status window and watching a real fight with your own eyes were completely different things.

"All that work paid off."

Making the Abyss Revenants had nearly made my eyeballs fall out. I had been crushingly exhausted. The crafting process itself had felt like a full test of a Necrosmith's capabilities. It was a relief that the sweat-drenched labor had been worth it.

Seen in real combat, they looked more than twice as strong as the Abyss Revenants I had faced in the Abyss of Grudges. Sharing the Heavenly Martial Body. Sir Isra's techniques. With those two factors added, even with similar specs the difference in combat power was overwhelming.

And so, without resting even once, we raced through the gate.

"Death to the living!"

"Dead one. Return to the place from which thou came."

Slash!

Sir Isra cut down the enhanced boss version of the wizard, and with that, every monster in the Mage's Tomb was wiped out.

"Hunter Park. What do you say to registering this clear record with the World Hunter Association?"

"Clear record?"

"Yes. Forty-two minutes and fifteen seconds. That should be the best record for a B-rank gate."

"The previous best was an hour and forty-five minutes, I believe."

Whoa.

Forty-two minutes?

Insane.

When we cleared the troll gate, we had struggled just to finish under three hours. The main monsters were different, but it was still a B-rank gate—and we had slashed the time dramatically. All thanks to the evolved Draco and the Abyss Revenants.

"Sure. Register it."

A world-best record?

I could never pass up achievement farming.