Relentless Revival
Since the apprentice priests and holy knights hadn't respawned yet, they reached the entrance in a flash. Mu-hyuk immediately activated his Revive skill.
Found 27 wandering monster souls nearby.
How many would you like to revive?
Without a second thought, he revived all 27.
MP (2,700) consumed.
Over 20 percent of his MP vanished in one go, but with his sky-high recovery rate, it was filling back up at a rapid pace.
"Let's move."
"Okay!"
They veered toward the elites' location.
Revive.
Revive
He cast Revive every time they advanced a short distance.
Found 35 wandering monster souls nearby.
How many would you like to revive?
Whenever a soul detection message popped up, he revived them all.
"Holy knights, grab the priests and run!"
At his command, the corrupted apprentice holy knights hoisted the priests like luggage and charged at full speed—their pace was impressively quick.
Using the same method, they kept reviving corrupted apprentice holy knights and priests along the way.
Before long, they'd surpassed 130, and his MP was starting to bottom out.
Of course, with no skeletons summoned, it was regenerating at a blistering rate.
Revive.
Revive
He cast Revive again, bringing back 23 more.
"How many we got now?"
"Roughly 150?"
"Insane. Way too many."
"Gotta be this many."
"True, those elite monsters were no joke."
They kept running without breaking their conversation.
The ones revived at the entrance would vanish after 25 minutes. To minimize time loss, they had to keep pushing forward.
"Still a ways off, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty far."
"Ten minutes?"
"Maybe?"
It had taken about seven minutes to sprint to the entrance on skeleton warhorses. Now, with apprentice holy knights carrying priests, they were naturally slower.
"It's fine, we can handle it."
As long as they arrived before the 30-minute mark, they'd be good.
Plenty doable.
Still, to play it safe, he urged a bit more speed. He kept glancing back to ensure the apprentice holy knights were keeping up.
"Not summoning more?"
"Nah, this should be enough."
"150's plenty."
You couldn't dump all your forces into one fight. Plus, who knew what else might pop up.
The rest were reserves...
For that moment.
A little later, they arrived at the elite priests and holy knights' spot.
19 minutes elapsed.
11 minutes left before the first revived apprentices despawned—more than enough.
MP had mostly recovered en route, too. Catch their breath, then dive in.
"Rested up?"
"This much? Sure."
"I'm good."
"M-me too."
Mu-hyuk nodded and summoned skeletons.
"Skeleton Summon."
Skeleton Summon
He first ordered the mages and archers to attack.
Magic spells and bone arrows filled the air. In that instant, Mu-hyuk unleashed a barrage of debuffs and buffs.
Nearby enemy monsters' abilities reduced (10%).
All abilities of nearby allies and summons increased (5%).
Nearby allies' strength (+10)...
He immediately sent the Armor Cavalry forward.
Charge!
Only then did the magic slam into the elite monsters.
Kwaaang!
The Armor Cavalry thundered through the massive explosions.
Accelerated thrust!
Trailing them were Armor Knights, Bone Swords, various special skeletons, and the revived apprentice holy knights. The apprentice priests hung back.
Heal!
Whenever a holy knight took damage, healing magic flew out.
"Kinda underwhelming?"
"Yeah."
"Had higher hopes, tsk."
The apprentice priests healed only the holy knights.
If they healed skeletons too?
Even Mu-hyuk had to admit it'd shatter the balance. No wonder it was off-limits.
Not that he'd expected otherwise.
Mu-hyuk averted his eyes from the battle.
"Let's take out the elite priests first."
"Got it."
Sung Min-woo shifted left.
Mu-hyuk went right.
Wind Step.
Wind Step
To find an opening, he kept his distance, darting around. Spotting a small chance, he lured in a bunch of apprentice holy knights to exploit it.
Forward, halt, attack!
The apprentice holy knights wedged between the corrupted elite holy knights and priests.
Heal!
Skeletons would've dropped a few by now, but the healing kept the holy knights standing firm.
Armor Knight, charge!
He even split the elite priests from each other.
Their mutual healing was a pain otherwise.
Perfect...
Targeting the two isolated elite priests, his hands flew.
Powerful Arrow Shot, First Form: Pinpoint Shot.
He paired it with Storm.
Bang, pa-pa-pa-pa-bang!
Seamless Second Form: Silent Shot, Third Form: Explosive Shot.
Once more.
Forcing MP expenditure to chain the skill.
Still not dead.
Of course.
He switched to White Tiger Swordsmanship's Third Form: White Tiger Slash. A crescent of power-infused energy sliced through both.
Sslash.
Wind Step to close in.
Storm, Power Dash.
Power Dash
Shield bash one, then cross-slash.
Still...?
White Tiger Fist in quick succession.
Damn!
Not down? White Tiger Swordsmanship Second Form: White Tiger Wave for relentless combos.
Clang, ka-ka-ka-gak, sslash.
Only when his blade pierced its skull.
Experience gained.
One elite priest down.
*
The fierce melee dragged on.
Bone Sword 11 unsummoned.
Corrupted apprentice holy knight despawned.
Cavalry 3 unsummoned...
As countless summons vanished...
Cool-downs reset.
"Min-woo!"
He bellowed for Sung Min-woo, who nodded and fell back. Only then did Mu-hyuk direct his summons.
Burtan, Ki Wave!
The elite holy knight froze under the Ki Wave.
Retreat.
He left a few summons and pulled the rest back.
Armor Mage, magic attack.
Armor Archer, Power Shot.
As spells and bone arrows rained down...
Poison Ogre, mist.
Yetis, left: Ice Space.
Yetis, right: Ice Hold.
Chaining Giant Cyclops' stomp Ki Waves bought time.
Finally, Mu-hyuk used his earthquake skill as backup for any breakouts.
Sure enough, many holy knights twitched free—then the ground quaked, toppling them.
Boom, kwaaang!
Magic and arrows struck true, piercing elite holy knights and priests.
Experience gained.
Experience gained...
More kills than expected.
"Nice!"
They plunged into the fray.
Armor Cavalry, charge!
He worked hard to scatter the priests.
It paid off—the elite priests dispersed. Mu-hyuk delegated command authority to his summons and focused on his own moves.
Processing them one by one, concise and destructive.
*
Mu-hyuk's sword impaled an elite holy knight's throat.
Pshuk.
As he lowered his blade...
Experience gained.
Finally hit 204.
One more to go.
He clenched a fist slightly and bent at the waist.
"Hoo..."
Long exhale, then Corpse Dissection.
He claimed its bones, then straightened.
"Let's rest."
No reply.
Thud.
Just the sound of someone collapsing.
Mu-hyuk joined Yerin on the ground.
Over 10 minutes of tightrope-walking combat had drained his mental stamina. Rest was non-negotiable.
"Whoa, insane. Only 40 summons left?"
"Yeah."
Sung Min-woo's spirits: 2. Yerin's squirrels: 3. Mu-hyuk's skeletons: 17.
Revived corrupted apprentice holy knights: 13. Apprentice priests: 5.
"Without Revive, we'd be toast."
"No doubt."
"What's next? Keep reviving apprentices?"
Mu-hyuk grinned at Sung Min-woo's question.
"Nah."
"Then?"
"Revive the elite holy knights and priests we kill here. Way stronger than apprentices—huge boost. Though I'll skip when MP's tight. Need at least 150 souls banked for paladins or high priests."
"Ah...!"
"Rest up, then push on."
"Hell yeah!"
During the break, Yerin chimed in.
"Hey, oppa. Congrats on the level."
"Thanks."
Sung Min-woo jumped in, wide-eyed.
"Whoa, you leveled?"
"Yeah, just now."
"Sick! 204?"
Yerin pouted at his delayed hype.
"Min-woo oppa doesn't check the party window?"
"Why bother?"
"Ugh..."
"Rankings still the same, though. Second place."
"But now just one level behind."
He'd closed the gap on Dark user from 2 to 1 level.
"Catching that last one'll be the trick."
"Fair."
"XP here's nuts anyway. Gotta chase hard."
Confident he'd hit 205 inside a week.
Then...!
Evolved summons would make farming smoother.
XP gains would skyrocket.
Overtaking Dark? Totally doable soon.
"Y'know, you started Illusion late."
"Yeah."
"Dark's been at it from day one, right? You'd be first if you had."
Mu-hyuk shrugged instead of answering.
Too guilty to argue.
Without prior knowledge, he'd never reach this point.
A bit later.
Revived the corrupted elite holy knights and priests with Revive, then advanced.
"There."
Spotted a group after five minutes.
"Twenty-five?"
"About."
Good odds. Straight to battle.
"Ho."
Situation looking solid.
Same patterns meant more leeway to scout. Revived elites were game-changers.
Leagues above apprentices.
Even at 60 percent power, with Mu-hyuk nearby and coordinated skeletons, defeat was unlikely.
Plenty of shots at corrupted elite priests.
Gaps galore.
He seized them ruthlessly.
Storm, Powerful Arrow Shot.
Downed two elite priests. Mages' cooldown reset.
"Min-woo!"
"Gotcha!"
Falling back, Ki Wave at the clustered elites.
---------!
Magic hammered the immobilized foes.
Kwaaang!
Drew them into chaos, splitting them up.
Cooldowns back.
"Again!"
Another magic barrage.
Experience gained.
Experience gained...
Much smoother takedown of the corrupted elite priest and holy knight pack.