The Necromancer Department Head (3)
The [Han River View Apartment, you son of a bitch!]
Thud!
The first time Junil stabbed the Necromancer Department Head.
“This?!”
Flap flap~!
Ram fluttered her wings in delight.
“You pulled a lame joke like that, so of course you deserve to die!”
“R-Ram?!”
“Ah, no… that’s not what I… ugh… what do we do now?!”
Ram, who had unconsciously started cheering for Julian, snapped back to her senses.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to kill everyone here!? Huh? This has nothing to do with the elf quest! Why are you killing them?! Is making a lame joke a crime?!”
From her perspective, she couldn’t understand why Julian had suddenly gone berserk.
Weren’t they supposed to pretend to be porters, just figure out the source of the magi, and leave?
“If it goes like this, the whole story will get messed up…”
There was no real benefit for Julian in killing the necromancer.
Most of the Constellations weren’t even aware this was happening.
But it put them in a difficult position.
The events they had prepared for Kang Hae-il were now at serious risk of being ruined.
That was when Sam said something unexpected.
“No. This is actually good.”
“What?”
“The probability that Julian won’t be able to escape from here is very high.”
“Why?”
“He’s going to die. Based on my combat power analysis and tactical assessment, the odds are extremely high this time.”
“!”
Beep—
Sam is analyzing the battle with his monocle.
“This is a disadvantageous fight for Julian. And he started it himself.”
“Oh!”
Ram’s eyes sparkled.
“For real?!”
The possibility of killing the thorn in her side named Julian filled Ram with hope.
“Yes. He entered the necromancer’s den and killed a necromancer? That’s the same as poking a hornet’s nest.”
He had revealed himself as an enemy right in the middle of enemy territory.
No matter how strong Julian was, surviving after pulling something like this would be nearly impossible.
“Julian made a mistake. He must think these guys are just goblins. But every single one of them is a thinking human being.”
That was right.
These necromancers were all human.
And not just any humans—they were all necromancers with B-rank potential.
They knew the geography of this cave like the back of their hands, and they outnumbered him by a huge margin.
And that number would only keep growing.
“Once they start pressuring him with their thralls inside this cave, it will be extremely unfavorable for Julian’s combat style.”
If they swarmed him with that overwhelming number in such a narrow space?
Julian would eventually be overwhelmed.
“Kiriri! You dug your own grave!? Getting cocky was your downfall.”
“Correct.”
Stab!
Thud!
Even as Julian diligently sliced through the necromancers, Sam was already predicting victory.
“Julian’s fighting style is very ineffective against large groups. He’ll have to fight in an incredibly exhausting way.”
Boom!
Even when he used gravity magic in the middle of the fight to wipe out an entire group of thralls.
“There are corpses everywhere, and there’s still plenty of mana left. They can just keep raising more. In fact, using the gravity magic now is actually a good thing for us.”
“Kiriri! Good! Just raise more! Overwhelm him! You idiots!”
Sam’s words weren’t wrong.
This was objectively a much more advantageous fight for the necromancers.
The difficulty here couldn’t even be compared to the Champion Goblin dungeon.
But there was one thing Sam had completely misunderstood.
Just as he said, these were all intelligent human beings.
[Crazy… he can even use magic?]
[He’s way too strong? Who the hell is this guy?]
[We can’t win… he’s a monster.]
Even though they had been corrupted by dark magic, until just recently they had been ordinary modern people.
They had no problem killing others, but the moment their own lives were on the line, their judgment became clouded.
Or perhaps this cowardly, petty survival instinct was the true nature of dark mages.
“What the… what are you all doing!? Why are you all scared and not doing anything?!”
Ram was dumbfounded.
There were corpses lying all over the place.
Why weren’t they raising more?
[Everyone here, listen up!]
The moment Julian shouted.
“Have they lost the will to fight?”
The status messages floating above the necromancers’ heads gave the answer.
[Fear]
[Fear]
[Fear]
.
.
.
They were trembling in fear.
Even though they had an overwhelming geographical advantage and overwhelming numbers against a single enemy.
They were crushed by the thought that they might be the first ones to die.
The hunters had finally become the hunted.
[You guys can’t beat me anyway.]
Julian knew their nature all too well.
[From now on, first come first served! I’ll spare the first five who cooperate!]
He opened the path for them to abandon their comrades and save themselves.
“Kiriri!? Who would possibly—”
Whoosh!
In an instant, necromancers began crawling forward.
“…What?”
“!”
Ram and Sam’s eyes met.
“Hey.”
And Ram’s hand slowly began reaching for her golf club.
Sam quickly racked his brain.
“Uh, um… this must be part of the necromancers’ strategy.”
“Strategy?”
The hand heading for the golf club paused.
“Yes. Well… five of them survive first, then when Julian lets his guard down, they stab him from behind. That would cause less damage than an all-out fight, right? Since Julian is so strong.”
“……”
“As expected of necromancers, they’re smart. This is a much safer approach.”
Ram thought about it carefully.
It did sound somewhat plausible.
“I guess? But only sparing five seems too few. They’re choosing that already?”
“Once five are decided. If they all stab Julian together? The basics of war are deception, aren’t they?”
“…Huh?”
Ram clapped her hands together.
“That makes sense!?”
Then she tilted her head.
“But what do they call this kind of thing in Blue Zone dimension terms? Four letters…”
“Zhuge Liang?”
“It’s called wishful thinking, you idiot!”
Whoosh!
Today, Ram’s golf club once again bent like a bow.
“Huuueeeeng!”
“Are you kidding me!? Look at their condition! Can’t you see the fear status!? You think they’re actually going to stab him!?”
Thwack! Thud!
“K-Kueh! N-No! Ram-nim! C-Calm down!”
In truth, Ram’s fists were soft as cotton, and even the golf club was just a balloon that only looked hard.
But Sam flailed his hands and begged, trying to appease her.
“B-But at least five will survive, right!?”
“……”
“They can plan for the future! The boss isn’t even here yet! At this rate, the story can still develop properly!?”
“……”
Sigh.
Ram finally lowered her golf club.
‘Haa… five, huh.’
Five would be spared.
That was at least a variable.
If that happened, the necromancers could still plan for later.
Because their boss wasn’t here, and as long as the boss was alive, they would regroup.
“But… do you think he’ll actually spare them?”
The problem was whether Julian would really let them live.
“Come on. A hero who doesn’t keep his promises isn’t a hero.”
“…I-Is that so?”
“Of course.”
* * *
“Alright, next question.”
Junil glanced sideways while asking the quiz.
Current Constellation Viewers: 847
The number of Constellations, which had dropped into the 700s, was slowly starting to rise again.
The Constellations who had been wandering nearby poked their heads in at the interesting music, then settled down because the situation was so bizarre.
They found it hilarious that the necromancers were all gathered together, raising their hands to answer Junil’s questions.
However, quite a few of the regular Constellations were clearly displeased.
They were furious that Junil had said he would spare five.
“You, answer.”
“Yes! The sacrifices are procured from the nearby village!”
It was the answer to the question of where they got the sacrifices offered at the altar.
“What? Kids are disappearing from the village and no one finds it strange?”
‘H-How did he know they were kids?’
The necromancer was flustered.
“That’s…”
Clack!
In the meantime, other hands shot up.
“If you don’t answer, the opportunity goes to someone else?”
“The residents! Think the kids went missing because of monsters! Because of our thralls! So it’s technically true!”
The quick, precise answer.
After hearing the answer, Junil nodded in understanding.
‘Public authority is basically nonexistent. There probably isn’t even a proper investigation.’
Society was barely holding together, but it was very different from before.
A few missing kids weren’t even considered a big incident anymore.
In an era like this, the weak couldn’t be protected, and scum like these filled the gaps and thrived.
“Good. Pass.”
“Thank youuu!”
Clack!
The private-first-class necromancer joined the survivor group with perfectly disciplined steps.
They exchanged glances and shook hands.
“Good work.”
“Yes, senior.”
“Well done, kid.”
“Yes.”
They were even encouraging each other.
Now there were three survivors in total.
“Next. Question. Where is the altar located?”
Everyone raised their hands.
When he pointed at one, the necromancer answered excitedly.
After hearing the location and asking a few follow-up questions, Junil nodded.
“Okay. Pass.”
“Waaaaah!”
The survivors cheered together.
“Good job, kid!”
“You’re alive!”
“The strong are the ones who survive, right? Hahaha!”
Now there were four, with only one spot left.
The survivors were getting more and more excited.
But there was no way this sight looked good in Junil’s eyes.
“Hey. You there.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“You think this is a field trip?”
Whiiiir…
The air froze.
Moon Junil was a veteran who had fought in war for thirty years.
Leading a hero party wasn’t as romantic as the media made it seem.
Since each member essentially had battalion-level combat power, the leader naturally had to instill basic military discipline.
In the first round he treated them as friends, in the second as comrades.
But from the third round onward, to Julian the hero party was nothing more than soldiers, and that was when the party’s efficiency skyrocketed.
In other words, military discipline was Junil’s specialty.
“You think this is a field trip? What are you so happy about that you’re cheering each other on?”
To him, their behavior was the perfect excuse.
“…S-Sorry!”
The apology came out so naturally it was almost impressive.
Anger?
No.
It was literally just him seizing an opportunity.
“If you’re going to act like it’s a field trip, I’ll treat it like one.”
“Yes…?”
Junil pointed at the four who were supposed to survive.
“Those four over there. And all of you here. I’ll give you all a chance to change everything.”
The majority of necromancers who hadn’t survived lifted their heads.
Whispers spread.
“N-No way.”
“Crazy… please…”
“T-Thank you!”
On the other hand, the survivors’ faces turned deathly pale.
They looked almost like the corpses lying next to them.
‘Change it now?’
‘What the hell is this?’
‘Damn field trip meta!’
‘I told you not to make noise, you fuckers!’
Regardless, Junil continued.
“From now on, I’m going to ask one very important question. You don’t need to raise your hands. Just shout the answer. Understood?”
“…Yes!”
“If you answer this properly, every single one who answers survives. If you can’t answer or are even a little slow…”
Swipe.
Junil drew a line across his throat with his hand.
“You die immediately.”
“!”
Gulp.
Everyone stared only at Junil’s mouth.
“Alright. There’s only one question. Answer first and you live. Those who answer at the same time also live. Answer late and you die.”
Nod nod.
Amid the sound of everyone’s heartbeats echoing.
The Constellations complained.
It was literally the field trip meta.
They thought at least all these disgusting necromancer bastards except the minimum number of survivors would die.
But wasn’t this basically the same as saying he’d spare them all?
They couldn’t understand it.
However, what happened the very next moment was even more incomprehensible to them.
“Where is your boss?”
The moment he asked that question.
Junil played the BGM.
Badass BGM
The music that symbolized his exploits.
[Playback]
From that moment, time seemed to flow in slow motion.
“…!”
The necromancers jumped up, spitting saliva as they shouted something.
Twisting their bodies to survive, veins bulging in their necks.
Contracted pupils, bloodshot eyes—it looked like a scene from a racetrack slowed down.
Even one second late meant death.
That thought drove them insane.
Whoosh!
“!”
Flames erupted across everyone’s bodies, and in an instant the inferno swallowed them whole.
Not just one or two—every single necromancer began burning at the same time.
“U-Uaaahhhhhhh!”
Instead of answering the question, they screamed.
“Huh? I was going to keep my promise. Why are you all burning like that?”
The necromancers knew very well that was bullshit.
Because—
Junil struck a pose while looking at the burning landscape.
Clack!
The Sagosul pose.
‘You…?’
‘S-Sagosul?’
‘You son of a—’
Every necromancer’s eyes widened in rage when they saw it, but
it was already too late.
Their eyeballs were melting from the intense heat.
The inside of the cave grew as hot as an oven, and everyone burned until they turned to ash.
.
.
.
Hidden Quest Completed!