Chapter 226: Reversal (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 226: Reversal (2)
The worst had been averted. Although the famous veterans had stayed behind, the number of troops waiting for us wasn't overwhelming. We only had to face three enemies. Not to mention, as a result of their confidence or something, these guys didn't shoot us point blank as we came up through the portal and took up formation.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Puppet.]
However, things still weren't looking good. Although we were able to fight on par with them right now, we'd be at a disadvantage if the battle dragged on. That was how necromancers worked.
"Gruhhh!"
It was a large-scale battle where the death toll went up rapidly every second. Flesh was torn by the hands of corpse soldiers, and the headless bodies of our comrades rose up again to attack us.
Crunch!
Even at this moment we diligently destroyed zombies' heads, but at this rate, we would be the ones outnumbered.
Ha, what a combination.
I couldn't help groaning. Although there were only three of them, they worked way too well together between the Corpse Collector's troops, Blue Mane's hand-to-hand combat, and Fallen Scholar's wide-range spells and overwhelming ability to create openings. If these veterans were just great fighters, our odds would have been much higher.
Rather, it must be because of this synergy that the rest have all gone upstairs.
I shook off the regret that brushed through my mind. No one in the world was without their flaws, and not everything about this was necessarily bad. Rather, because our opponent was the Corpse Collector, some things about this situation were advantageous for me too.
[You have used Outlaw of the Wilderness.]
I didn't think I would be using the item I had obtained in Doppelganger Forest here.
"Behelaaah!" At the forefront of the frontline, I once again did what I had done countless times today—cleared the way.
Crackkk! Kwaaang!
Each time I swung my mace, corpses wearing various kinds of equipment were swept away like autumn leaves. The reason for this was simple. Outlaw of the Wilderness was a necromancer's kryptonite.
[The Physical damage you deal in close combat temporarily increases in proportion to the number of humanoid monsters present.]
My close-combat damage rose in proportion to the number of troops around me. I was sure I'd reached the maximum buff by now. The max was... what, ten times?
[Current rate of increase: 1000%]
Crunch!
Was this how Lü Bu of the Three Kingdoms felt? I didn't even need to use Swing since they were exploding with each smack of the mace. Well, using it would help some more, but saving my limited MP and investing it in Giantization was the best plan of action.
"Ha, what kind of rank-five adventurer...?"
"A Great Warrior!"
"Follow him!"
Once I started my mindless assault, other adventurers naturally fell into step behind me and took up a siege formation.
Okay, that takes care of anyone attacking me from the rear.
"It's a suicide bomb!"
Corpse Explosion had dealt a lot of damage at first but that was slowly being dealt with. That was because these were veteran explorers and raids were daily occurrences to them. Even without any instructions from me, they naturally worked out how to deal with it.
"Wizard!"
"Dertu Teiran!" That was the rank-eight support spell, Gust.
Bang!
As soon as a suicide soldier's body started to swell up, they got knocked back or pushed away with magic or skills. Of course, even so, damage to our formation occurred from time to time, and I was taking the brunt of it.
Chhhhhh!
The suicide soldiers' acid clung all over my body. However, it didn't sting that badly. It wasn't because I had raised my Poison Tolerance particularly high; it was just that Dungeon and Stone was a team game.
[Arua Raven has cast the rank-seven support spell Neutralization.]
This was a buff spell that reduced poison damage by half.
[Rebecca Eisel has cast Share.]
Share was an active skill that allowed the user to take a third of the target's damage for them.
[Khan Algon has cast Collective Immunity.]
That was an aura-type skill that shared half of the caster's tolerance-related stats with everyone within a fifteen-yard radius, regardless of whether they were friend or foe.
[Folton Cassel has cast Blood Fountain. You will now create a regeneration orb whenever you receive damage.]
Now there were healing tokens that burst out of my body whenever I took damage and replenished the blood of my comrades. With hundreds of adventurers averaging rank five in one place, there was no lack of talent.
Whoom!
Just then, the dozens of light spheres filling the sky above the Goblin Forest disappeared, plunging the surrounding area into darkness. I intuitively sensed what was happening.
"Careful, he's going to make a move soon," said Kyle through the message stone.
Yeah, the Fallen Scholar wouldn't just sit back and watch forever.
Whoosh!
The sky darkened as if a solar eclipse had occurred. On top of that, a red orb appeared and began to rapidly increase in size.
"It is the Orb of Destruction."
This was an attack spell I had never heard of in the game, and rightfully so. This invention was the Fallen Scholar's signature spell, every part of it his, right down to the formula.
He said it was rank two?
My heart squeezed. I knew just how much of a punch top-tier attack magic could pack. Of course, that didn't really mean anything. Even if I didn't know that, I would have been able to guess roughly how dangerous that spell was when I saw their reaction.
"You deranged old man! Are you going to kill me too!?" The wolf bastard shuddered at the orb in the sky and attempted to flee. Even Clown seemed to be in a similar state. He was shouting something in the distance, looking gobsmacked. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it wasn't difficult to infer, because the corpse army located on the outskirts was retreating.
God damn it.
They were the Fallen Scholar's comrades, and they had determined that if that spell fell here, everything would disappear without a trace, friend or foe. But, so what?
"I'll stop it, so you guys keep going!"
I fought through my anxiety and focused on clearing the way for now. "What are you doing?! Don't just stand there and keep moving!"
"Wizard!"
"Dertu Teiran!" That was the rank-eight support spell, Gust.
Bang!
As soon as a suicide soldier's body started to swell up, they got knocked back or pushed away with magic or skills. Of course, even so, damage to our formation occurred from time to time, and I was taking the brunt of it.
Chhhhhh!
The suicide soldiers' acid clung all over my body. However, it didn't sting that badly. It wasn't because I had raised my Poison Tolerance particularly high; it was just that Dungeon and Stone was a team game.
[Arua Raven has cast the rank-seven support spell Neutralization.]
This was a buff spell that reduced poison damage by half.
[Rebecca Eisel has cast Share.]
Share was an active skill that allowed the user to take a third of the target's damage for them.
[Khan Algon has cast Collective Immunity.]
That was an aura-type skill that shared half of the caster's tolerance-related stats with everyone within a fifteen-yard radius, regardless of whether they were friend or foe.
[Folton Cassel has cast Blood Fountain. You will now create a regeneration orb whenever you receive damage.]
Now there were healing tokens that burst out of my body whenever I took damage and replenished the blood of my comrades. With hundreds of adventurers averaging rank five in one place, there was no lack of talent.
Whoom!
Just then, the dozens of light spheres filling the sky above the Goblin Forest disappeared, plunging the surrounding area into darkness. I intuitively sensed what was happening.
"Careful, he's going to make a move soon," said Kyle through the message stone.
Yeah, the Fallen Scholar wouldn't just sit back and watch forever.
Whoosh!
The sky darkened as if a solar eclipse had occurred. On top of that, a red orb appeared and began to rapidly increase in size.
"It is the Orb of Destruction."
This was an attack spell I had never heard of in the game, and rightfully so. This invention was the Fallen Scholar's signature spell, every part of it his, right down to the formula.
He said it was rank two?
My heart squeezed. I knew just how much of a punch top-tier attack magic could pack. Of course, that didn't really mean anything. Even if I didn't know that, I would have been able to guess roughly how dangerous that spell was when I saw their reaction.
"You deranged old man! Are you going to kill me too!?" The wolf bastard shuddered at the orb in the sky and attempted to flee. Even Clown seemed to be in a similar state. He was shouting something in the distance, looking gobsmacked. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it wasn't difficult to infer, because the corpse army located on the outskirts was retreating.
God damn it.
They were the Fallen Scholar's comrades, and they had determined that if that spell fell here, everything would disappear without a trace, friend or foe. But, so what?
"I'll stop it, so you guys keep going!"
I fought through my anxiety and focused on clearing the way for now. "What are you doing?! Don't just stand there and keep moving!"
"B-But if that thing falls...!"
"And where will you run? Fight!"
Now, without even needing me to say anything, the adventurers all encouraged each other and bolstered their fighting spirit.
"It's coming...!"
I raised my head at someone's whimper. Already, the ominous orb that had grown large enough to fill the entire sky was falling vertically toward the ground.
[Kyle Pevrosk has cast the rank-three attack spell Piercing Steel.]
At that moment, Kyle completed the spell needed to mark the Fallen Scholar.
Shaaaaaa!
He must have drawn the magic circle in advance to prepare for this, as an intense gray light burst from behind us.
Flash!
When the momentary flash of light faded, a giant arrow pierced the massive meteorite.
Kabooom! Shaaa!
There was a deafening explosion. A strong gust of wind tore across the earth.
"R-Run!"
Hundreds of large and small flaming rocks poured down like rain. The adventurers fled, scared out of their wits, but not many of the fragments touched the ground. This was also thanks to Kyle.
Bang! BOOM! Bang, bang, bang!
The falling rubble was blocked by a translucent barrier, and upon touching it, the hundreds of shards exploded and disappeared in the air. Even a rank-three wizard could not spread a shield over such a wide area, though.
Did he contain them all?
Reading the trajectory of all the shards, he had successfully blocked each one with minimal mana. That would be the most logical explanation. Raven was watching the sight with her mouth wide open.
"Is that... possible...?" As a wizard herself, she was likely even more acutely aware of just how high-level the technique she had just seen in action was. But unfortunately, the opposing wizard was not an ordinary one, either. No, rather, the Fallen Scholar was a Great Sorcerer considered even more powerful than Kyle.
"Damn old man."
The falling meteorites broke off and adjusted their orbits, avoiding the barrier and hitting the ground.
Boom!
The meteorites did not discriminate between friend and foe. Whether at the center of the zombie army Clown had unleashed or behind and to the side of me after crushing my comrades, they then took the shapes of golems and stood up.
The rank-five summon spell, Fire Giant.
"Mr. Pevrosk!" Raven shouted incredulously. "How did this happen? There wasn't any kind of summoning circle...!"
"He used his remaining mana to create and bestow a new formula on the boulders that remained."
"A rank-five spell, in that short moment... and dozens of them...?" Raven murmured with a mix of shock and admiration.
However, Kyle didn't appear to have the luxury of kindly answering her questions. "Yandel! I need to prepare for the next attack, so take care of the rest!" The transmission abruptly cut off.
Whew, he said he'll take care of the Fallen Scholar, but I guess clean-up is my job. Well, even that guy can't possibly take on a monster like that by himself.
"B-But if that thing falls...!"
"And where will you run? Fight!"
Now, without even needing me to say anything, the adventurers all encouraged each other and bolstered their fighting spirit.
"It's coming...!"
I raised my head at someone's whimper. Already, the ominous orb that had grown large enough to fill the entire sky was falling vertically toward the ground.
[Kyle Pevrosk has cast the rank-three attack spell Piercing Steel.]
At that moment, Kyle completed the spell needed to mark the Fallen Scholar.
Shaaaaaa!
He must have drawn the magic circle in advance to prepare for this, as an intense gray light burst from behind us.
Flash!
When the momentary flash of light faded, a giant arrow pierced the massive meteorite.
Kabooom! Shaaa!
There was a deafening explosion. A strong gust of wind tore across the earth.
"R-Run!"
Hundreds of large and small flaming rocks poured down like rain. The adventurers fled, scared out of their wits, but not many of the fragments touched the ground. This was also thanks to Kyle.
Bang! BOOM! Bang, bang, bang!
The falling rubble was blocked by a translucent barrier, and upon touching it, the hundreds of shards exploded and disappeared in the air. Even a rank-three wizard could not spread a shield over such a wide area, though.
Did he contain them all?
Reading the trajectory of all the shards, he had successfully blocked each one with minimal mana. That would be the most logical explanation. Raven was watching the sight with her mouth wide open.
"Is that... possible...?" As a wizard herself, she was likely even more acutely aware of just how high-level the technique she had just seen in action was. But unfortunately, the opposing wizard was not an ordinary one, either. No, rather, the Fallen Scholar was a Great Sorcerer considered even more powerful than Kyle.
"Damn old man."
The falling meteorites broke off and adjusted their orbits, avoiding the barrier and hitting the ground.
Boom!
The meteorites did not discriminate between friend and foe. Whether at the center of the zombie army Clown had unleashed or behind and to the side of me after crushing my comrades, they then took the shapes of golems and stood up.
The rank-five summon spell, Fire Giant.
"Mr. Pevrosk!" Raven shouted incredulously. "How did this happen? There wasn't any kind of summoning circle...!"
"He used his remaining mana to create and bestow a new formula on the boulders that remained."
"A rank-five spell, in that short moment... and dozens of them...?" Raven murmured with a mix of shock and admiration.
However, Kyle didn't appear to have the luxury of kindly answering her questions. "Yandel! I need to prepare for the next attack, so take care of the rest!" The transmission abruptly cut off.
Whew, he said he'll take care of the Fallen Scholar, but I guess clean-up is my job. Well, even that guy can't possibly take on a monster like that by himself.
Not to mention Kyle had used Mass Teleport on the first floor and was low on mana. I was beginning to realize we were still at a disadvantage.
Melter Fend was in charge of Blue Mane, Kyle had volunteered to take on the Fallen Scholar, and I was leading hundreds of adventurers in an assault against Corpse Collector. The moment one of these three sides lost, it was game over. Our precarious balance would collapse and everyone would be annihilated in an instant. But, in other words, the same went for our opponents.
Slide.
I charged at the Fire Giant, who had fully stood up and was looking down at me, a gigantic mace in its hand.
Dash.
I Leaped high and used some of my precious MP as I brought down my mace. One strike was enough to destroy the core of a rank-five Fire Giant summon.
Kwaaang!
The Fire Giant turned into mana particles and drifted away. I turned my attention to what was beyond that. In the distance, I could see Clown.
Still laughing, that bastard.
If I could just kill him, I'd have the advantage. Step by step, I walked forward slowly, crushing, stomping, and at times shoving corpses away with my shield.
Crunch!
I was paving the way for our survival.
Shaaaaaa!
From the sky, a rain of fire summoned by the Fallen Scholar was falling nonstop.
Kablam!
Kyle diligently applied defense magic and fought back fiercely, but it wasn't enough to block all of it.
"Aaaaaah!" Screams sounded from everywhere. Bodies that had chased survival desperately enough to get all the way here collapsed on the damp ground, as charred as charcoal.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Puppet.]
Then, in that state, they stood up and swung their weapons at us. At the sight, I couldn't help but think if there was a hell somewhere in this mortal realm, perhaps it was right here.
Bang!
A pile of corpses shot out like a cannonball from somewhere in the distance and broke our formation. This was a change that had occurred a few minutes ago. Corpse Collector had started pulling out more summons from the sub-space.
Damn it, I thought we were almost there too. Just how many has he stocked up?
Curses filled my mind, but even still, my feet did not stop moving. Although I was already far removed from the main forces and surrounded by the corpse army, I kept moving forward. I didn't know how many people were left. Many had likely died.
"Behelaaah!" But despite that, when Ainar cut down a corpse and cried out, echoing chants sounded from all directions.
"Yes, Behelaaah!" That wasn't a barbarian. Humans, dwarves, and even beastpeople shouted along. Yes, there was a certain addictiveness to it.
Boom!
A pile of five conjoined corpses flew in and got to their feet in front of me. Frowning at their grotesque appearance for a moment, I quickly located a familiar face in the pile.
Hansen Calders.
This was a man I had met while wandering the passageway on the first day. That was before I even ran into Clown, when I didn't realize what had happened yet. At that time, he had offered to join forces and I had declined because I couldn't trust him.
"It's the careful man who lives the longest. I hope to meet again someday."
Even though he had been rejected, the man had smiled as he left.
"Gruhhh..."
This is how we meet again... So he really was on our side.
Hansu Lee would have thrown up everything in his stomach just from laying eyes on this gruesome sight. Swinging my mace toward it, I thought to myself, What if I had trusted him back then? And what if we did travel together... Would he be fighting on our side instead of the enemy's?
Crunch!
Yeah, possibly. Only one thing was for sure. I had been wrong back then. The decision I had made wasn't even the best option there was. I hadn't made an effort to figure out if he was trustworthy, making the excuse that he was a stranger. If I had put more work in, I might've found reliable evidence that I could.
"I'm sorry." Stepping on the pile of corpses, I sprinted forward. As I did, another thought struck me. I wonder what kind of person he was. If he was alive, what could he have done?
There was no way of knowing anymore. He might have possessed an extraordinary potential that could have been of great help to me. Even Dwalkie's first impression had just been so-so. At first, I thought he was a weirdo. But in reality, he had been the kindest one of all of us and the greatest wizard of any I have ever seen.
I shook off those thoughts at the sound of Kyle's voice. "Yandel, how much farther?"
"Not long now."
It truly wasn't long. Just a little farther and I would reach Clown, although he was an Agile Poison Necromancer so close combat wouldn't be all that easy. Even so, necromancers had an obvious weakness. Besides, after summoning an opposing army of this size, the amount of MP he'd burned through would be no joke. As long as Kyle kept the Fallen Scholar in check and Fend held down that wolf bastard, this shouldn't go off the rails.
"Please move a little faster. Something doesn't feel right."
Doesn't feel right? Is this another case of wizard's intuition?
With that thought in mind, I was about to swing my mace again.
"Gruhhh...!" From between the corpses with rotten breath, a group of strange adventurers appeared. One team, two teams, three teams... Too many to count.
"We came to see what the fuss was all about, but what is this...?"
"We'll help too!"
"Survivors from Rafdonia! Kill them!"
"Woahhh!"
They were adventurers from Noark who had been hunting on the second floor.
Not to mention Kyle had used Mass Teleport on the first floor and was low on mana. I was beginning to realize we were still at a disadvantage.
Melter Fend was in charge of Blue Mane, Kyle had volunteered to take on the Fallen Scholar, and I was leading hundreds of adventurers in an assault against Corpse Collector. The moment one of these three sides lost, it was game over. Our precarious balance would collapse and everyone would be annihilated in an instant. But, in other words, the same went for our opponents.
Slide.
I charged at the Fire Giant, who had fully stood up and was looking down at me, a gigantic mace in its hand.
Dash.
I Leaped high and used some of my precious MP as I brought down my mace. One strike was enough to destroy the core of a rank-five Fire Giant summon.
Kwaaang!
The Fire Giant turned into mana particles and drifted away. I turned my attention to what was beyond that. In the distance, I could see Clown.
Still laughing, that bastard.
If I could just kill him, I'd have the advantage. Step by step, I walked forward slowly, crushing, stomping, and at times shoving corpses away with my shield.
Crunch!
I was paving the way for our survival.
Shaaaaaa!
From the sky, a rain of fire summoned by the Fallen Scholar was falling nonstop.
Kablam!
Kyle diligently applied defense magic and fought back fiercely, but it wasn't enough to block all of it.
"Aaaaaah!" Screams sounded from everywhere. Bodies that had chased survival desperately enough to get all the way here collapsed on the damp ground, as charred as charcoal.
[Abed Necrapeto has cast Puppet.]
Then, in that state, they stood up and swung their weapons at us. At the sight, I couldn't help but think if there was a hell somewhere in this mortal realm, perhaps it was right here.
Bang!
A pile of corpses shot out like a cannonball from somewhere in the distance and broke our formation. This was a change that had occurred a few minutes ago. Corpse Collector had started pulling out more summons from the sub-space.
Damn it, I thought we were almost there too. Just how many has he stocked up?
Curses filled my mind, but even still, my feet did not stop moving. Although I was already far removed from the main forces and surrounded by the corpse army, I kept moving forward. I didn't know how many people were left. Many had likely died.
"Behelaaah!" But despite that, when Ainar cut down a corpse and cried out, echoing chants sounded from all directions.
"Yes, Behelaaah!" That wasn't a barbarian. Humans, dwarves, and even beastpeople shouted along. Yes, there was a certain addictiveness to it.
Boom!
A pile of five conjoined corpses flew in and got to their feet in front of me. Frowning at their grotesque appearance for a moment, I quickly located a familiar face in the pile.
Hansen Calders.
This was a man I had met while wandering the passageway on the first day. That was before I even ran into Clown, when I didn't realize what had happened yet. At that time, he had offered to join forces and I had declined because I couldn't trust him.
"It's the careful man who lives the longest. I hope to meet again someday."
Even though he had been rejected, the man had smiled as he left.
"Gruhhh..."
This is how we meet again... So he really was on our side.
Hansu Lee would have thrown up everything in his stomach just from laying eyes on this gruesome sight. Swinging my mace toward it, I thought to myself, What if I had trusted him back then? And what if we did travel together... Would he be fighting on our side instead of the enemy's?
Crunch!
Yeah, possibly. Only one thing was for sure. I had been wrong back then. The decision I had made wasn't even the best option there was. I hadn't made an effort to figure out if he was trustworthy, making the excuse that he was a stranger. If I had put more work in, I might've found reliable evidence that I could.
"I'm sorry." Stepping on the pile of corpses, I sprinted forward. As I did, another thought struck me. I wonder what kind of person he was. If he was alive, what could he have done?
There was no way of knowing anymore. He might have possessed an extraordinary potential that could have been of great help to me. Even Dwalkie's first impression had just been so-so. At first, I thought he was a weirdo. But in reality, he had been the kindest one of all of us and the greatest wizard of any I have ever seen.
I shook off those thoughts at the sound of Kyle's voice. "Yandel, how much farther?"
"Not long now."
It truly wasn't long. Just a little farther and I would reach Clown, although he was an Agile Poison Necromancer so close combat wouldn't be all that easy. Even so, necromancers had an obvious weakness. Besides, after summoning an opposing army of this size, the amount of MP he'd burned through would be no joke. As long as Kyle kept the Fallen Scholar in check and Fend held down that wolf bastard, this shouldn't go off the rails.
"Please move a little faster. Something doesn't feel right."
Doesn't feel right? Is this another case of wizard's intuition?
With that thought in mind, I was about to swing my mace again.
"Gruhhh...!" From between the corpses with rotten breath, a group of strange adventurers appeared. One team, two teams, three teams... Too many to count.
"We came to see what the fuss was all about, but what is this...?"
"We'll help too!"
"Survivors from Rafdonia! Kill them!"
"Woahhh!"
They were adventurers from Noark who had been hunting on the second floor.