Chapter 48
Episode 48
He looked like a textbook orc shaman.
Right then, a donation came in with perfect timing.
[Night Patrol donated 30 DP!]
GuldinisapainintheassorcshamanthatonlyshowsuponFloor10specializinginfiresorceryandcursesandhesummonsorcwarriorsgoblinwarriorsandotherminions
"Oh. Thanks, donor. That's some solid info."
I wish they'd used some spaces, but the intel itself is spot on.
Flame sorcery, curse specialization, and even minion summoning.
In other words, a textbook summoner-type Wizard boss.
"Snort! A human? And a filthy corpse-tosser at that? Die!"
Guldin swung his staff.
Whoosh!
A massive fireball shot toward me.
But.
Boom!!
One of my undead threw itself in front of me and blocked the fireball.
One undead was reduced to ashes, but whatever, they're expendable anyway.
"Snort! Filthy undead! My children! Kill that bastard!"
Guldin shouted triumphantly, calling for his minions.
But.
"...."
It was quiet.
No one came out.
The laboratory was simply still.
"My children? Snort! What! Why is no one here! Snooort!"
Guldin looked around in confusion and shouted again.
But still, silence.
Not a single minion, not even a shadow, appeared.
-?? Why aren't the minions coming out
-It's a summoner boss but the summon isn't working lololol
-Is it real that Guldin's just standing there all awkward by himself
Just as the viewers were posting baffled chat messages.
Someone figured out the answer.
-Oh wait, no way...
-Corpse-Spirit bro killed all the fortress monsters earlier lololol
-The minions he was gonna summon are all already corpses lolololol
"Pfft."
A laugh burst out of me before I knew it.
Yeah.
That's exactly it.
The orc warriors and goblin warriors Guldin was trying to summon.
Those bastards had already had their necks snapped by Black and White Impermanence earlier and become my undead.
There wasn't a single minion left to summon.
Wasn't this exactly the situation of a boss left all alone after every employee quit?
-Wow this is insane lolololol he took out all the minions in advance
-What kind of buildup is this, he neutralized a summoner boss lolol
-Isn't Corpse-Spirit bro seriously a genius
-Worst day of Guldin's life, of the worst days
[Moonlit Gymnastics donated 500 DP!]
The buildup of killing off all the summoner boss's minions in advance is insane for real lolololol
[LetGoblinsClockOut donated 100 DP!]
Boss Guldin goes bankrupt despite being in the black after every employee quits lolol
Donations poured in like a waterfall once again.
Everyone seemed thoroughly hooked on this absurd situation.
"Haha. Well, Guldin. Sorry, but all your subordinates are on my side now."
I smirked and raised my hand.
"Kids. Give Guldin a proper funeral."
At my command, the undead legion began charging at Guldin all at once.
"Snort! Y-you bastards! Stay away!"
Guldin frantically unleashed curses and flame sorcery in rapid succession.
Whoosh! Crunch!
As expected of a Floor 10 boss, his firepower was considerable.
He burned the charging undead with flames and broke them with curses.
Like that, he smashed about twenty-five of them.
But.
That was as far as it went.
With over a hundred undead endlessly swarming in, what did taking out twenty-five even matter?
"Snooort!"
In the end, Guldin was buried under the endless tide of undead.
And a moment later.
No more sound came from beneath the pile of undead.
"Well... Floor 10 or whatever."
I leaned back against the throne and smirked.
"Guess you can't beat the numbers game. Right?"
-So this is what they mean by nothing beats sheer numbers
-A Floor 10 boss got crushed to death by sheer numbers lololol
-Corpse-Spirit bro's got the ultimate tactics
-No but he actually uses his head well?
"Alright. Shall we go catch the next boss, then?"
I lightly turned the throne palanquin around and exited the tower.
Then I headed straight to the opposite side, the left tower.
What kind of bastard would this boss be?
Leading the palanquin procession, I entered the second boss room.
[You have entered the mid-boss room.]
This time, a massive shadow greeted me.
Thud. Thud.
What revealed itself with heavy footsteps was a single troll.
"Fwood? Food! Eat!"
The troll drooled and smacked its lips at me.
Compared to that troll I'd met at the end of the tutorial back then.
He was even larger than the others.
It wasn't just a lump of flesh—it had a decent amount of muscle packed onto its body, and its arms were as thick as logs.
"Ugh. What. A troll?"
But the sight of it instantly deflated me.
A slightly bigger troll, huh.
The visual's decent, but honestly, kind of disappointing?
Trolls are just the simple, brainless, strong type in the end.
No need to even mobilize the legion for this.
"Black and White Impermanence. Go."
I flicked my finger lightly.
Flash!
Black Impermanence cut through the darkness and slipped right into the troll's guard.
And then.
Crunch!
The moment Black Impermanence's palm landed lightly on the troll's head.
Internal School Heavy-Hand Method.
That heavy strike, which touched softly and then exploded from within.
Crushed the troll's entire skull.
Pop!
"Fwood...."
Without even finishing the word "food."
The massive troll collapsed backward with a thud.
A single blow.
Truly a one-punch!
-?!?!?!
-Wow, one-shotting a troll lolololol
-Black and White Impermanence are seriously strong... holy crap
-Corpse-Spirit bro's bosses are total punching bags for real
-One-Punch Black and White Impermanence lolololol
The viewers cheered and flooded the chat once again.
"Well, this is... easy, right?"
I leaned back against the throne and smiled with satisfaction.
Throwing out a line in my best Bob Ross voice—nothing beat that.
"Looks like there's one left now."
I'd dealt with two of the three bosses, so only the last one remained.
And where that last boss was.
In all likelihood, the hostage—the rescue target—would be there too.
"Alright. Shall we go see the last boss, then?"
I turned the throne palanquin and headed toward the deepest part of the fortress.
* * *
I drove the throne palanquin into the deepest part of the fortress, the final boss room.
[You have entered the boss room.]
It was a massive stone hall.
Eerie torches blazed in rows along the high ceiling.
And at the very back, upon a throne.
A colossal being sat with its eyes closed.
So that's Krakk, the orc general who's the boss of this fortress, the one the viewers mentioned?
As I entered, he slowly opened his eyes.
"...Another puppet of the tower has entered."
"...?"
For a moment, I was a little startled.
Did this guy just say "puppet"?
"That's unusual. You know what kind of situation you're in."
Normally, boss monsters are nothing more than NPCs run by the Dimensional Tower.
It's standard for them to have no awareness that they're beings bound to the system.
But among them, very rarely.
Special individuals are said to realize that they've been forcibly bound to the Dimensional Tower.
This was common knowledge to anyone who'd spent a long time browsing the Dimensional Tower Community.
"Of course I know."
Krakk laughed grimly and spoke.
"Heh heh. I, too, am a puppet like you. Bound by the great hand called the Dimensional Tower, endlessly repeating the same acts."
Swish.
Krakk slowly rose from his throne.
And then.
"...Whoa. He's big."
His frame reached a full three meters.
He was so huge he looked more like a giant than an orc.
Of course, the troll I'd met earlier was bigger than him, but this guy had that.
The aura of a big shot.
The charisma of a boss.
This was a pressure on a completely different level from that troll earlier.
"But just because I'm a puppet doesn't mean I can neglect my duty."
Krakk stared straight at me and spoke.
"Come, necromancer. I am the master of this fortress, Krakk."
For a monster, he's got some proper manners.
If he's coming at me like this, I should show some courtesy too.
"Earth successor of the Corpse-Spirit Sect and Necron Emperor. I am Lee Mu-seon."
Calling myself the Sect Leader felt a bit off. And saying it was my original sect, the One Extremity Martial Origin Sect, wouldn't fit since I only use Corpse-Spirit Sect martial arts and jiangshi arts here.
So I declared my name boldly while seated on the throne.
"Heh heh heh. A human who knows his manners, I see."
Krakk laughed as if pleased.
"Then let us fight! Defeat me, and prove yourself!"
Whoosh!
Krakk drew two massive axes from his waist.
Dual axes.
A vicious armament befitting that huge frame.
"Good. Then shall I warm up a little too?"
I immediately sent my will to the undead legion.
"One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation. Open formation."
Shaolin Temple's secret grand formation.
That massive formation deployed by one hundred eight arhats.
Began to unfold through my undead legion.
Tssssss!
Over a hundred undead formed ranks with perfect coordination and surrounded Krakk.
That was the moment.
Whoooosh!
From Krakk's dual axes.
Dazzling flame-like energy began to blaze fiercely.
That brilliant force rippling along the axe blades.
-Whoa, isn't that an Aura Blade???
-It's an Aura Blade!
-The axes caught fire, this is insane
-A Floor 3 boss uses aura???
The viewers simply cheered at how flashy it was.
But I was quite surprised by the sight.
"...Gang Qi?"
Gang Qi.
That wasn't mere flame.
It was the energy that blooms only when a martial artist attains enlightenment and their control over energy reaches its absolute limit.
A stage beyond sword qi—Gang Qi.
"No, wait. Why is Gang Qi showing up on Floor 3 already?"
This is kind of ridiculous.
Gang Qi is a realm that, even by my past life's standards, only absolute masters who reached the Transformation Realm could wield.
And that's coming from a mere Floor 3 boss?
While I was puzzling over it.
Krakk swung his dual axes and leaped straight into the heart of the One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation.
Crunch! Crack!
Breaking through the defense of the One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation, which was infused with Necromantic Mana.
Krakk's twin axes came crashing down with explosive force.
With a single swing.
Ten undead were smashed to pieces and scattered.