Chapter 50
Episode 50
[Breaking) Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign is going insane in the Floor 3 Hard boss fight right now] (3,201)
[Is it real that the Black and White Impermanence jiangshi are talking??] (5,847)
[Did you see the orc shaman get crushed to death alone because it had no minions left lololol] (8,102)
[Bihallat identity speculation thread collection (female knight + aura user)] (4,556)
[Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign quote compilation.txt (continuously updated)] (12,303)
Park Il-chim scrolled through the list, then immediately clicked the button to write a new post.
He couldn't stand it if he didn't pour out this feeling somewhere.
He tapped at the keyboard with trembling hands.
[Title: Screaminggggggg!]
Intercept-Seize-Thrust is insaaaaane!
Did you see him clapping on the throne while the orc general was charging at him
Is this guy even human, seriously
My hands are shaking so much right now I can't even write properly
The moment he hit submit, comments started appearing.
Park Il-chim watched the sight and smiled with satisfaction.
This is why I watch Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign.
* * *
"Whoa. Thanks for all the donations, everyone."
Even while Krakk was charging at me.
Donations were pouring into my chat like a waterfall.
[RunHani has donated 100 DP!]
Is it real that you're clapping while the boss is charging at you???
[KimchiNoodleSoup has donated 50 DP!]
Your guts aren't just swollen, they've burst lololol I love you, bro
[WantToGoHome has donated 200 DP!]
What kind of mental state thanks people for donations in the middle of this lololol
[PeopleOfOvertime has donated 30 DP!]
Intercept-Seize-Thrust is insane
Even as I lightly acknowledged the donations.
I thought about the exchange from just moments ago.
[Armor of the Vengeful Spirit Horde].
Actually, from the first time I saw this skill, I'd been harboring one thought.
The thought that maybe I could use martial arts with it, even if only in a limited way.
Treating the vengeful spirits as a kind of muscle, or an extension of my own limbs.
Vengeful spirits were beings that could receive Necromantic Mana and directly exert physical force.
They were Vassals suited to both offense and defense, a single body for attack and protection.
In that case.
If I could precisely operate these vengeful spirits according to my will.
Couldn't I unfold the forms of martial arts, as if they were my own hands and feet?
That was my hypothesis.
And.
It worked out just as I thought.
The horde of vengeful spirits moved in perfect unison according to my will.
And began to trace out the forms of martial arts, like an invisible giant hand.
"Satisfying, huh?"
Although I didn't get the feel of striking an enemy directly with my own hands.
This was interesting enough in its own way.
Because I could think of it as performing martial arts using formless qi.
That realm where the Transformation Realm masters of my past life wielded qi like a hand.
I was imitating that with vengeful spirits.
"Alright, guys. Shall we go clear the Dimensional Tower now?"
It was just as I was about to seriously pour my will into the horde of vengeful spirits.
[Cheokcheok Seoksa has donated 1 DP!]
But the person you need to rescue isn't in the boss room there. That person is next to the orc shaman's tower.
"...Huh?"
I stopped moving without meaning to.
"What? Then what's this boss?"
Krakk was clearly one of the three Black and White Impermanence had said they couldn't handle, and the strongest of the three.
Naturally, I'd assumed the hostage would be here too.
[Cheokcheok Seoksa has donated 1 DP!]
Originally this is an infiltration-and-escape quest. It's not about killing everything like you. You can fight the orc shaman, but that's the end of it, and after that, the moment you grab the hostage and run, the boss comes chasing after you. The standard clear is escaping while avoiding fights as much as possible.
"Heh heh."
I let out a hollow laugh without meaning to.
"So that's what it was?"
It was a stealth quest where you infiltrate, extract only the hostage, and quietly slip away.
But without knowing that, I'd slaughtered every monster in the fortress.
Then charged straight into the boss room and was having an honorable, face-to-face brawl with the boss.
I'd cleared a stealth game like Rambo.
"Well. Who cares."
I shrugged once.
"They say all roads lead to Rome. As long as it's cleared, it's cleared. So cheers~"
Standard strategy or not, as long as the result is good, that's all that matters, isn't it?
If anything, clearing it by smashing everything like this fits my style perfectly.
I stored Krakk's corpse in the subdimension, then ordered the still-intact Walking Corpses to store the surrounding corpses in the subdimension as well.
And of course, I repaired Black and White Impermanence too. Their upper and lower bodies had been severed, but they hadn't been destroyed.
The upper bodies moved just fine on their own.
So I brought the pieces together and used a skill to repair them.
Since there were so many corpses, it took quite a while, so I chatted with the viewers in the meantime.
This is that just-chatting thing or whatever? Probably?
While I was doing that, Bihallat stood off to one side, watching me with an odd look.
Had she realized my strength anew?
After finishing the cleanup, I headed to the place where the person I needed to rescue was.
Right next to the orc shaman's tower.
A small detached building came into view.
It was a building that radiated a "something's hidden here" atmosphere at a glance.
"Hm. Is this the place?"
I slowly opened the door of the detached building and stepped inside.
And.
"...Oh?"
Inside the detached building.
There was a woman.
Dressed in a splendid gown.
Both wrists were bound to the wall with heavy shackles, and a gag was fastened in her mouth.
She was a beauty whose status was clearly far from ordinary at a glance.
So this woman was the hostage I needed to rescue.
It was while I was quietly observing her.
[Cheokcheok Seoksa has donated 1 DP!]
That one's not a woman. He's got one.
Wha?
At Cheokcheok Seoksa's words, I hesitated for a moment.
A man...?
Only then did I examine the bone structure closely, and I could see that Cheokcheok Seoksa's words were true.
The bone structure wasn't entirely male, but the traces were there!
Especially the Adam's apple!
No!! What is this!
A crossdressing man!? Why in the world would the orcs do something like this!?
-???????
-Why is this real? Why is this actually real?
-Wait, a man? He's got one? So what?
-AAAAAAAH!
-I thought our bro was rescuing a beauty, but it's not even a pretty boy, it's a crossdressing man
I could see the chat descend into utter chaos in an instant.
Everyone had expected a beautiful female hostage, and the twist of a crossdressing man had apparently broken their minds.
Well, I'd been fairly flustered myself after seeing the Adam's apple just now.
"Hm. Well, whatever the circumstances."
I slowly approached the hostage.
Crossdresser or not, the fact that this was the person I needed to rescue didn't change.
I first removed the gag from his mouth.
Swish.
The moment the gag came off, he glared at me fiercely and opened his mouth.
"Necromancer! You bastard, have you colluded with the orcs!"
But.
"...Whoa."
I raised an eyebrow without meaning to.
And, annoyingly, his voice was pleasant too.
Neither high nor low, a mysteriously clear yet smooth tone.
Not a woman's voice, but not entirely a man's voice either.
It was a beautiful voice from somewhere right in between.
-No but what is that voice??
-Why is that voice so good just now?
-He's a crossdressing man but his voice is insane
-Isn't this a voice actor?
I could see the viewers reacting to that voice instantly as well.
This guy, for sure.
Visuals aside, that voice alone was truly an art form.
That strange, beautiful voice resonating from somewhere on the boundary between woman and man.
A fragment of a memory from my past life suddenly flashed through my mind.
"Is this that castrato thing or whatever?"
I muttered aloud without realizing it.
If my memory was right.
In some ancient civilization, the voices of men who had been castrated in childhood were said to be that fine and beautiful.
So they specially raised such boys and made them into singers.
And those were called castrati, or something.
Was there a famous one called Farinelli?
I'd seen it once on GodTube.
Could this guy be one of those too?
[Cheokcheok Seoksa has donated 1 DP!]
That guy's packing.
"...No, Cheokcheok Seoksa. How in the world do you know that?"
Could this guy be someone famous?
Was he a hostage already known to the Dimensional Tower Community?
That Cheokcheok Seoksa, there's nothing they don't know.
It was while I was feeling puzzled.
"What are you doing, filthy Necromancer!"
The crossdressing man rattled his shackles and shouted fiercely.
"If you mean to toy with me, then kill me instead!"
That's some impressive spirit.
Bound in shackles, yet that resolve to not even fear death.
-There it is! Ghk. Kill me! But he's a guy, right?
-Ugh. A man... ugh... So it wasn't a princess knight, it was a prince knight...
-The voice is a beauty but the reality is a prince, what is going on
I could see the viewers making a racket once again.
Everyone seemed unable to accept the reality of "but he's a guy, right?" attached to the "Ghk, kill me!" cliché.
Well, I let the viewers' reactions go in one ear and out the other for now.
I calmly spoke to the hostage.
"Calm down. There seems to be a misunderstanding."
I lightly raised a hand and continued.
"It's true that I'm a Necromancer. But I'm absolutely not in league with the orcs. I came to rescue you—the one they captured as a hostage, a sacrifice, or whatever you are."
At my words, the crossdressing man narrowed his eyes as if puzzled.
"Those words... are they true?"
"They're true."
I answered with a shrug.
"For the record, I've already killed every enemy in this fortress. Every last one."
Orcs, goblins, kobolds.
Even all three bosses had been dealt with.
There was now not a single living, moving enemy left in this fortress.
"...."
Hearing that, the prisoner stared at me blankly with a face that said he simply couldn't believe it.
A monster legion that had occupied an entire fortress.
Wiped out by a single necromancer, alone.
It seemed hard for him to take those words at face value.
Honestly, whether he believed it or not didn't matter.
"Bihallat."
"You called."
"Sling him over your shoulder."
"Understood."
"What? Let go of me!"
The guy thrashed. But I didn't untie him. Rescuing this guy would end the quest anyway, and if I bothered persuading him or untying him, it would only make things more troublesome.