Reverse Time

One hundred twelve revived elite holy knights.

Thirty-eight elite priests.

One hundred ninety-nine existing skeletons.

A total of 349 summons obeyed Mu-hyuk's commands without question. Not a single one deviated from his orders.

Boom! Kwagwagwang!

Yet the seven holy warriors and three high priests they faced were monsters who transcended mere numbers.

Just when it seemed the skeletons were pushing back the holy warriors a bit, a high priest would unleash area magic to melt them away or cast healing spells that rendered all prior attacks meaningless.

Target a high priest out of frustration, and the holy warriors would rampage, slaughtering the summons.

Ignoring the dying summons and focusing fire on one high priest had driven it to the brink of death, but the cost in losses was steep.

"Hoo…"

Six or more Armor Knights and five Armor Cavalry had been reverse-summoned. The basic Bone Swords and Cavalry had vanished long ago.

At least the elite holy knights, bolstered by the elite priests' healing, were holding the line—that was something.

Occasionally, they'd land serious damage on a holy warrior, but a high priest's timely heal always nullified it.

Focus.

He cleared his mind of distractions and closed in on the high priest before him.

Storm, Cross Slash!

After a flurry of attacks, he finally took it down.

A fleeting thought crossed his mind.

Should I use Revive?

He decided in an instant.

Not yet.

It wasn't a holy warrior, just a high priest—and reviving even one wouldn't turn the tide here.

Better to leave it be.

Rest up fully, return, kill another, repeat. Eventually, he'd wipe them all out.

Use it then.

Reviving ten at once would be most effective for the next fight.

Whoooong.

Then, a surge of powerful energy erupted from a high priest at the rear, drawn into the one on the verge of vanishing.

Slrrk.

Incredibly, the dying high priest rose again.

"Huh?"

Some skill like Revive? But a magic attack from it confirmed otherwise.

It's fully revived.

No drop in attack power.

"Hmm."

Mu-hyuk's expression hardened for the first time.

What skill is that? Resurrection?

Most likely.

If real…

Dealing with the holy warriors and high priests would be nearly impossible.

"Hey, what's that?"

Sung Min-woo sidled up.

"Resurrection?"

"Not sure. But it came back at full power."

"Whoa, that's insane. What kind of bullshit monsters are these?"

"Let's take down one more first."

"Huh? Why? It'll just revive again."

"Gonna try Revive before it does."

"Ah, got it. Okay."

They'd use the remaining skeletons to kill one more and see.

That way, they could identify the skill.

Go all out.

Until now, he'd held back; from here on, full aggression.

He closed on a high priest, blocking its surroundings with summons. Ignoring defense, pure offense.

The high priest's spells had wide range and power, but he trusted his defense, HP, and skills to endure.

Solid damage landed.

But Mu-hyuk took hits too, HP dropping sharply. Checking remaining MP, he activated a skill.

Ex Change.

With summons dwindling, MP burden had eased.

But only once or twice more.

Any further would strain him even now.

Clang! Kagak!

Attack landed, but situation worsened.

Die already…!

He could barely hold on.

HP hitting bottom again.

No choice—pull out the skill he'd saved.

Latent Power Burst!

Strength surged through his body.

Treating it as his last shot, he unleashed skills relentlessly.

White Tiger Swordsmanship First Form: White Tiger's Fang.

Followed by Second Form: White Tiger Wave.

In slowed time, he bombarded the high priest, shook its balance with Power Dash, then distanced for Third Form: White Tiger Slash and Sky Piercing Archery Forms 1, 2, 3.

Boom! Kwagwagwang!

A nonstop barrage of massive damage!

Armor Mage, magic attack!

Not enough—he called in Armor Mage support.

Finally, it fell. Before another high priest could revive it, Mu-hyuk cast Revive.

He hurriedly opened the status window to check its skills.

He checked each skill.

Holy Orb: offensive magic.

Absolute Heal: top-tier healing.

Mu-hyuk's eyes widened at the third.

An absurd skill.

Rewind time to the past?

Now he understood the high priest's "revival." Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mere resurrection—it rewound from death to pre-death.

Even debuffs…!

Reverting undid them too.

Wait, then…!

A dark thought flashed.

What about Revive?

Right on cue, light burst from a rear high priest, sucked into the one Mu-hyuk had revived.

Reverse Time activated.

His grim hunch was right.

Revive undone.

Damn it!

Mu-hyuk scowled, retreating.

"No good. Pull back."

"Okay."

They had no choice. Most summons reverse-summoned, while all ten holy warriors and high priests remained.

He'd killed two high priests, but revivals meant zero net gain.

Overwhelming defeat.

No appetite for retry.

Not now, anyway.

But he wouldn't quit.

Just wait.

He vowed to conquer them.

*

Clear of the combat zone, Mu-hyuk turned to his companions.

"Used Revive to check its skills…"

"Yeah? What're they?"

"One's called Reverse Time. Rewinds a target's time to the past."

"Holy shit…!"

"Yeah, that's why it undid my Revive."

"Exactly."

"That's straight-up broken."

Morale plummeted.

Yerin tried brightly: "Oppa, you guys tired? Rest here?"

But Mu-hyuk shook his head.

"Nah, let's check the entrance."

"Entrance?"

"Yeah. Can't hunt holy warriors or high priests. Hunt apprentices at the entrance."

"Respawned yet?"

"Dunno."

"If not?"

"Then bail."

"If no re-entry…"

"We're screwed."

Sung Min-woo clicked his tongue.

"Crazy. Pray for respawn, then."

Silence fell, thoughts heavy.

Then Kim Ji-yeon piped up.

"Uh, um…"

"Yeah?"

"Question."

"Sure, problem?"

"Respawn… changes anything?"

Mu-hyuk smiled at her.

"If they respawn, grind apprentices to level 205."

"Why?"

"Summons are five levels below main char, right?"

"Yeah."

"When Min-woo and I hit 105, summons evolved."

"Evolved?"

"Yep. Hoping for another at 205. If so, high priests and holy warriors become doable."

"Ah…!"

Sung Min-woo and Yerin nodded too.

"Grind to 205. Evolve, challenge. No evolve, bail."

"Got it. Thanks."

"No prob."

Mu-hyuk eyed Sung Min-woo and Yerin.

"Alright, to the entrance."

"Sweet!"

"Okay. Man, hope skeletons or spirits evolve for real."

Mu-hyuk chuckled at Sung Min-woo's grumble.

Of course it will.

He knew, but couldn't guarantee. Still, viable hope brightened his face versus frantic flight earlier.

"Pick up speed."

They hurried past elite zones into apprentice territory.

"Oh?"

Yerin gasped softly.

"They're there…!"

Not far off.

Groups of corrupted apprentice holy knights and priests wandered.

They halted, backed up, rested fully, summoned, and massacred apprentices.

XP filled rapidly.

Bone fragments from dissection.

Using the Book of Creation, swap into skeletons.

Big win.

One more.

Unfortunately, this swapped stamina for wisdom.

Net loss, but total stats rose. Steady growth, step by step.

*

Four days passed.

Mu-hyuk finally hit level 205.

"Skeleton Summon."

Summoning Armor Knights, Cavalry, Archers, Mages triggered messages.

Skull-swapped ones transformed fully. Heights over 2 meters shrank slightly.

About 190 cm?

Thick bones compressed.

Kwaduk, kwaduduk.

Shedding bulk, lighter feel.

Then, faint red aura seeped into white bones, gleaming like compressed crimson steel.

Unshakable fortress walls.

Indomitable towers.

That aura from the skeletons.

Presence leaped tiers.

Changes went beyond looks.

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