The Name Written Is Death?
We were currently perched in a spot that offered a bird's-eye view of the park. It was the rooftop of a nearby building, and through my binoculars, everything was perfectly visible. To test whether the barrier made entry impossible, I had sent one of my baby beetles inside. The result confirmed that while entering was possible, leaving was not. 'If I decide I can kill him midway... I could just tear through the barrier and dive in...' I was watching the situation unfold from here; if I saw an opening to kill the Ten Kings, I would simply charge in and sever his head.
"Ah, they're coming out."
Soon, corpses began to shamble out of the Ghost Gate. Those were the Ten Kings' army. It was a legion composed of zombies and other undead still clinging to their rotting flesh. The corpses varied in age and gender, and their attire was a chaotic mix from every era imaginable. It was as if the gate was randomly plucking the dead from history. Many of them were even armed, making them look quite dangerous.
'Just how many are there...'
In just one minute, over three hundred of them had poured out of the gate. Soon, the corpses collided with the Awakened standing at the front lines. Perhaps because our side was so numerous and heavily armed, the undead spilling from the gate were being mowed down without accomplishing a thing. In particular, when the mushroom-men slammed their hands down while fully armored, the enemies just burst apart, helpless. It felt like... bringing a monster that shouldn't exist at this level to bully low-level mobs.
"So this is the 'Army of Corpses'... they're no match for us."
"Right? This is actually doable."
It felt a bit like... I had grinded too many side quests, and now the main quest's difficulty had plummeted. Yes, my character had grown in a rather strange direction. The mushroom-men were so strong I wondered if they were the strongest minions at this point. Even the pitch-black beetles were filling their starving bellies in real-time, and as the corpses from the gate fell, the number of parasitic tree hosts increased. Eventually, a situation arose where a hundred American Awakened were just standing there, staring blankly. My god.
"Oh! Look, over there!"
"Hm?"
At that moment, pushed by the slaves' attacks, some corpses had burst out of the barrier. They even walked back in. Looking at this, it seemed those who emerged from the Ghost Gate were unaffected by the barrier. If this continued, they might try to surround us from both inside and out.
'The corpses keep crawling out endlessly, so our side will tire out faster as time passes... Even though the number of parasitic tree hosts keeps growing... this won't do. Where the hell is the Ten Kings?'
If I ripped the boss monster's head off, the fight would be won, but no matter how hard I looked, the Ten Kings was nowhere to be seen. Had he not appeared yet?
-Kuuuuung...!!!
"Th-this is insane..."
As I was searching for the Ten Kings, ten minutes after the gate opened, a massive arm—presumably belonging to him—finally burst out. That giant, unsightly arm of the dead gripped the side of the Ghost Gate.
-Kugugugung...!!
"Kieeeeeee!!!!!"
"Kuheoooo!!!"
The corpses began to run wild. Some of them even molted, evolving into advanced zombie variants. The battle grew even more intense. A few of the Awakened had already died.
The giant undead, standing roughly five to seven meters tall, flared its nostrils and sniffed the scent of the Awakened. 'Pao-Qing-Tian...!?' The Ten Kings that emerged from the gate was a giant zombie wearing an official's cap that an ancient Chinese official might have worn, draped in ornate robes. Its face, shriveled and dried like a mummy, and its blackened, dead hands were incredibly grotesque.
"Hmm... the smell of rot..."
"Jojun... I'm so scared..."
The energy radiating from the Ten Kings was no joke, so Anna clung to me, her body trembling with fear. Seeing this, Mer immediately followed suit and linked her arm with mine. With both of them hanging off my arms, I couldn't even calm them down as I observed the monster. I had to identify the 'Register,' the instant-death item he possessed.
'A large paper book... that must be the Register...'
In the monster's hand were a large book and a fan. That book was likely the Register that allowed him to use his instant-death technique. If a name was written there, resurrection was impossible.
"GO!!! MOVE!! MOVE!!!"
As the Ten Kings appeared, the Awakened began pouring out skills like mad. Since they didn't have high mana like me, they had been forced to save their mana for the decisive moment, and now that the Ten Kings had appeared, they unleashed their skills like a dam breaking.
-Kwa-gwang!!!
-Kuuuung!!!!
Dozens of skills were activated simultaneously. As a result, the upper body of the Ten Kings, who had been posturing, caught fire.
[Kiyaaaaa!!!!]
The Ten Kings' scream echoed through the surroundings. It seemed the damage had definitely landed.
'This... is easier to catch than I thought... wait?'
Suddenly, something floated into the air. It was a flickering blue flame. It looked like a will-o'-the-wisp. What was even more curious was that the flame took the shape of an English letter. M.
"Th-that... that's an M, right?"
"Looks like an M to me..."
"Master, look there!! The Register has opened!!"
"Wh-when!?"
The monster's Register had opened before I knew it. It seemed he had opened it while putting out the fire on his head. If that was the case, it was surely the name of one of the slaves currently in battle. Since they were all Americans, it would be written in English. Perhaps this was his way of signaling that a name was being written in the Register.
Whether that 'M' stood for Mike, Max, or Matthew, I didn't know, but those whose names started with M must have been feeling the heat right now.
"Fuck!!! Fuck that shit!!!"
"Max!! Your name!!"
"Fuck you, John!"
It was absolute chaos.
"This..."
"It's being written again..."
M I. The second letter was written. The speed at which the names were being written was faster than I thought. Several Awakened were screaming and attacking the Ten Kings like lunatics. They were probably losing their minds because the first letter of their own names was manifesting in the air.
M I L
"Mil... Milo?"
"Is a guy named Milo the target?"
What would happen if there were people with the same name? 'Do they write the full surname? What if the surnames are the same too...'
In the meantime, the name was completed.
M I L O
"What the. Nothing is happening."
"Huh? Look there..."
M I L O M
"Don't tell me..."
They said if a Grim Reaper calls your name three times, you get dragged away... was this the same principle? If so, this might be more manageable than I thought. It meant that as long as I could cancel the Register while the name was being written three times, they wouldn't die.
"For now... let's keep watching to see what happens."
"Understood, Master."
"Yes..."
Soon, the name 'Milo' was written twice. That was when the reaction began to appear.
"Kyaaaaa!!!!!!"
The black Wizard-class Awakened who was in the middle of the fight suddenly shuddered and let out a scream. So that was how it clarified the designated target. Suddenly, all the corpses that were about to attack him backed away, and Milo's body, which had been trembling, caught fire, and something began to be pulled out from his mouth.
'Soul....!?'
His soul was being ripped out through his mouth. It would end the moment the third and final name was written.
'I roughly know why that guy was chosen...'
That black guy named Milo was someone I had been keeping an eye on for a while. Because he had been pinpointing the Ten Kings' face with fireballs. His accuracy was quite high.
'Maybe it targets the opponent who dealt the most damage or the one who drew the most aggro?'
I understood why he was targeted. Now I had to figure out how to break that instant-death skill.
'Hmm... how to stop that...'
Striking the Register directly didn't cancel the technique, and even when I landed skills on the Ten Kings' body, the name continued to be written. What on earth could cancel that technique...
"Master."
"Yes...?"
"I think I can stop that."
"What?"
"With my Scythe of the Reaper... I can sever the soul being pulled out. Then he won't die."
"Really? Mer, you're amazing..."
Mer, who had transcended the limits of the system. Having awakened her power as a Fallen Angel, she said she had a way to cut off the Ten Kings' instant-death skill. She couldn't cancel the technique itself, but she could at least prevent the instant death.
At that moment, Anna, who had been carefully watching the situation from the side, spoke up.
"Th-that... about that name..."
"Yes."
"Why is it being written outside the barrier?"
"Huh? Oh?"
Looking closely... that name 'Milo' made of blue flames... it was strangely manifesting across the outside of the barrier. The fact that the name was generated outside the combat zone meant...
'Ah...!'
I understood. How to cancel that technique.
"Mer, scatter those flames."
Those trapped inside the barrier couldn't get out. Therefore, the person whose name had started to be written couldn't destroy their own name made of those flames. Striking the Ten Kings or the Register was meaningless. I had to destroy those flames floating in the air.
'This requires splitting the team into inside and outside the barrier... If there aren't people left outside to destroy the names made of flames... they'll die helplessly...'
Furthermore, it required personnel who could perform long-range attacks up to ten stories high, or people like Mer or me who possessed wings to remain outside. If all the conditions weren't met... it would be difficult to clear.
'Still, I've figured out the method to clear it for now...'
If I could have turned that guy Michael into a slave... I could have figured out the strategy faster. Regardless, Mer, who had flown off flapping her black wings, slashed through the flames that spelled 'Milo' with her scythe.
"Huk!!! Kahak... cough..."
Milo, whose soul was being pulled out, vomited blood and slumped to the ground. The soul that was on the verge of being extracted returned to him. This confirmed it.
"I'll be back, so wait here."
"Be careful..."
"Yeah."
I told Anna to wait on the rooftop for a moment, then spread my imperfect membrane and flew into the barrier. From what I had observed so far, the Ten Kings himself had low attack power and sluggish movements. He was truly just a piece of trash with an absurdly large health pool. So, I felt I could easily beat him to death on my own.
'If it doesn't work, I'll just call Einax and Kysiria.'
Mer would remain outside to scatter the names written in the air, and I would beat the Ten Kings to death. It was a perfect plan.