Chapter 36
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Necromancer Hunt
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The necromancers' undead included plenty of humanoid types, but there were just as many monster forms.
Out of every ten, maybe only one or two were actually usable.
I sifted through and pulled out the ones worth keeping, while the rejects were devoured wholesale by Muyoung, the shadow phantom wolf who'd followed me, bulking up his power in the process.
In the meantime, I'd quietly peeled away from the main group and taken a different path.
"Big bro, is it really okay for us to be doing this?"
Parel asked with a hint of unease, seeing how leisurely I was farming undead.
"Who knows where those guys might have set up traps."
"That's exactly why we're here."
I lightly rapped my fist against a seemingly blank wall.
A hidden magic circle shimmered into view.
"No way... That's a pressure coefficient adjustment array. Big bro! If we leave it like that, it could cause a massive explosion..."
Ssssh...
Parel clamped his mouth shut as the magic circle lost its glow and fizzled out mid-sentence.
"Just neutralize it."
"Hah... So it can be disarmed that easily. No matter how many times I see it, I can't wrap my head around the principle."
Parel let out a disbelieving chuckle.
With that, every magic effect in the vicinity had been wiped clean.
The necromancers had set up spells to seal off the maze, but I'd already punched right through them.
What was left were nothing special.
Nothing a decent mage or necromancer couldn't handle.
The only thing nagging at me was the razor-sharp death aura rising from below the ground where I stood.
The subjugation force hadn't reached that far yet.
That was when it happened.
"Damn it, they've found us! How the hell did they push this far in?! Are they tracking us?!"
A handful of black-robed necromancers appeared, dragging their undead along.
Judging by the tracking remark, they must've been on the run.
Parel caught on quick.
"Looks like we caught them mid-escape. In that case, I'll handle suppressing them."
The enemies weren't all that strong.
At 4th circle, Parel could manage them.
Of course, they weren't going down without a fight.
"Take them out fast and get out of here! Before the Sword Master catches up!"
"Got it!"
At his command, their skeletons charged us in unison.
"Not on my watch!"
Parel unleashed a barrage of spells, blasting magic their way.
From low-circle to high. With all his dungeon combat experience against groups, he pressured them with a surprising variety of tactics.
Even as a 4th circle mage, overwhelming them solo wasn't simple.
The necromancers dodged his fireballs and spat back black mist, but Parel used the darkness as cover to detonate a hidden spell.
"Aero Boom."
Aero Boom
Small fireballs voraciously suck in oxygen, expand fiercely, and sweep through undead before exploding.
Boooom!!!!
The small fireballs greedily sucked in oxygen, ballooned wildly, engulfed the undead, and detonated.
"Gaaah!"
"Aaaagh! My eyes!"
Now that I watched closely, it was clear.
This guy had some real talent for combat.
"Hup!"
Parel didn't just spam spells.
He knew the weaknesses of mages in battle and covered them by moving his body.
The necromancers had plenty of experience killing people, so they didn't go down easy, but the gap in combat sense and experience turned the tide.
While Parel was steamrolling the necromancers, I approached a twitching undead on the ground.
It was a scrawny humanoid skeleton, bones only.
Decent craftsmanship, but the direction was off.
Like, did they really need to collar it that tightly?
Grrr...
This blind combat tool of an undead was shackled every way possible for easy control.
As far as I knew, there was only one case like this.
When the necromancer lacked the skill to properly command undead.
"Hey, open those eyes nice and wide."
Glow took the place of pupils in its sockets, but it was enough to glimpse the thing's intent and emotions.
I placed my hand on the undead's skull and poured in necromantic mana.
In an instant, I seized total control from the necromancer permeating its body.
The skeleton, which had been glaring at me with hostility, went docile.
"Good."
I immediately extracted its battered soul, trapped and ruined in the body.
Freed from physical constraints, it looked far better than before.
Then I inscribed my own brand of magic directly onto the soul itself.
After that, I dominated and phantomized one fallen undead after another.
Since undead were their specialty, the necromancers kept pulling them out endlessly, like showing off a hard-farmed collection.
Mummies crawling out of the grave non-stop.
I was gleefully pilfering them bit by bit when my eyes met a necromancer's.
"Huh?"
"Y-You bastard, what are you...?"
He looked utterly baffled by the situation.
And no wonder— I'd already gathered over seven phantom skeletons around me from their scraps.
Realization dawned on the necromancer's face, twisted in dismay.
By then, every eye was on me— necromancers and Parel alike, all wearing stunned expressions.
"Ah. Busted."
[The probability of this operation being discovered exceeds 90%.]
Quiet, it's embarrassing.
The necromancers finally realized I'd stolen control of their undead and frantically tried reclaiming it, but...
"This... this rat stole my undead?! How?!"
"Guess I'll have to steal them fair and square from now on."
I clapped lightly.
The eight or so varied undead guarding the necromancers twitched, convulsed, and collapsed.
Honestly, the quality wasn't great.
But the originals were top-notch, so it was prime farming material.
"Your skeletons pack a punch."
"W-What the...?!"
"Impossible! Control's completely gone?!"
Stealing poorly secured undead control wasn't rocket science.
They'd left some measures to protect their holds on the undead, but to my eyes, it was child's play.
Naturally, the security I'd layered on top was beyond their conventional wisdom.
"What are you doing?! Reclaim those undead!"
"Trying! Damn it! Why won't control come back?!"
They struggled to wrest it back, but their side had no lock while mine was bolted tight. No one there knew how to crack it.
"This can't be happening. It can't!"
They couldn't fathom their undead being snatched with a gesture.
To necromancers, the power of their minions was a point of pride.
Even if they hadn't crafted them personally, my mockery felt like an unbearable insult.
They exchanged uneasy glances.
All their protective undead were gone.
Parel conjured a massive fireball atop his finger.
"Thanks to you, big bro, this wrapped up easy. Necromancers without undead are pushovers."
"Damn you! Pull it out!"
"Pull that out? If we're caught later, we're all dead..."
"We're dead now anyway! Do it! Once they know we're fleeing, we're goners regardless!"
Cornered, the necromancers grasped the gravity and screamed desperately.
The eldest fumbled an artifact from his robes.
"What's that?"
"Heh heh heh! You're all dead meat now!"
The necromancer, swaying like he was drunk on death aura, activated the artifact. A massive presence brimming with necromantic mana began manifesting before us.
"Insane..."
Parel's earlier composure vanished; he backed away with a stiff face.
Sleek black plate armor, a greatsword shrouded in sharp black currents, and finally, fierce red glowing eyes.
A Death Knight— one of the notoriously hardest undead to create.
Its mere presence dominated the area.
But at their level, summoning or controlling such a high-tier undead was impossible.
Obviously, calling it out didn't mean they could handle it.
"Big bro, that's a Death Knight... right?"
"Sure looks like one."
"Shouldn't we bail then?"
Parel coolly assessed our forces and voiced his opinion.
Death Knights were made from exceptionally strong knightly wraiths.
A finished one was at least upper Expert tier, potentially Master class if well-made.
If it weren't me here, it'd be a bloodbath.
Feels like unboxing a legendary item mid-gacha.
They're not idiots, so they had to know summoning a Death Knight risked it turning on them too.
"Heh heh heh. Now! Death Knight! Rip my enemies to shreds!"
Guess not.
Then again, if Death Knights were common, every nation would field armies of them.
Beyond needing powerful source material, crafting one was notoriously finicky.
"N-Now! Hurry!"
The necromancer bellowed at the massively imposing Death Knight, which promptly raised its black blade high.
Slash!!!
And cleaved the command-giving necromancers in one stroke.
"Huh?"
They and Parel alike stared in dumbfounded shock, unable to process it.
I compressed my necromantic mana and detonated it like an explosion.
Boom!!!
Amid the deafening blast, Parel— whom I'd grabbed by the scruff and flung aside— looked up at me.
"Big bro, what...?"
"Saved your ass again."
He glanced at where he'd stood moments ago and fell silent.
A massive sword gouge scarred the spot.
A strike too fast for him to react.
"Looks like peak Sword Expert at least..."
"I heard Death Knights were strong, but where the hell did they make a monster like that...?"
Parel seemed more curious about the Death Knight itself than his near-death experience.
This guy's got death wish written all over him, whenever and wherever.