The Necromancer
Elena glanced sideways at the wound on Lee Jungmin’s shoulder.
…It’s already been invaded by the Necromancer’s power. Without divinity, there’s no way to push it out.
Her own strength could not heal that wound right now. So the priority was dealing with the Necromancer.
She watched the two members of Team A charging toward her. The remaining three were aiming guns at her from behind.
“Keira, get Jungmin back quickly! I’ll handle them.”
Boom!
When Elena slammed her shield into the floor, the fog within ten meters in front of it parted left and right. Keira supported Lee Jungmin and followed that path, taking cover near the stairs that led down to the first floor.
Ting, ting, ting.
Elena blocked Team A’s bullets with her shield. At the same time, other bullets flew in and struck the Association personnel.
“You fucking bastards! Snap out of it!”
It was Park Sena. Space opened behind her and several firearms emerged, spitting fire. The bullets precisely pierced both knees of every Team A member.
Suits were normally blade- and bullet-resistant, making them hard to penetrate, but Park Sena’s skill was a firearm-enhancement type. Ordinary suit defenses were powerless before her guns.
Thud, thud.
All five with pierced knees collapsed as their stances crumbled.
“Oh ho? But will that be enough?”
As a pale voice drifted out, the five rose again as if the collapse had never happened. Pop, pop, pop, pop. The bullets slid out of their knees on their own.
“What the hell is that!”
“They’re already dead! They’ll keep coming back! Focus on the main body instead!”
Elena first sent sword energy toward the enemies’ firearms. From her position of having to protect everyone, guns were a troublesome weapon—anyone below a certain level could be killed instantly. When the guns shattered, Team A each drew their own weapons. Black fog clung to every blade.
“Avoid the fog as much as possible! It’s dangerous!”
Saying so, Elena left her shield where it stood and stepped onto the fog-covered floor herself. She felt her energy draining, but it was bearable.
Quick and decisive!
Dodging Team A’s attacks, she charged the man in the center of the living room and swung Ru’s thirteenth sword, Trau Falga. White light clung to the blade.
Crackling.
Black sparks flew between the barrier and the sword.
“Ugh…”
The black sparks were a power similar to the fog. Elena felt her energy stolen by them as well, yet she had no intention of withdrawing the blade. This was not her full power yet.
Whoosh.
The light on the sword grew even brighter. Watching the dazzling radiance, the man spoke.
“A Holy Knight? A Holy Knight without divinity… meaningless.”
Team A attacked from behind her. Elena read their movements but did not pull her sword free. She trusted Park Sena.
“No—you guys just stay down already!”
Bang, bang, bang-bang!
Muzzles spat fire and Team A hit the floor again. They would rise soon enough, but it bought Elena the time she needed. She gathered the surrounding mana and forged another blade atop her own—Aura Sword, or Sword Aura. The dazzling sword of light that was the manifestation of Elena’s will clashed with the barrier once more.
“Hyaaaah!”
Crackling.
With stronger sparks, the sword began to push the barrier back little by little. Yet the man’s expression remained indifferent.
“A Holy Knight who’s also a Sword Master—impressive. But the result is the same.”
He lifted Mjolnir slightly. As the yellow light clinging to the hammer grew denser, the barrier instantly became a perfect sphere and flung Elena’s sword away.
“Guh.”
Elena flew all the way to the wall and slammed into it hard.
“Pathetic, Holy Knight. Your god is not here. Therefore neither is your faith.”
“Guh—I am still Ru’s servant even here!”
Elena took her stance again, this time with her shield. She raised it high and hid behind it. The man turned his head at her sudden defensive posture. Dozens of gun muzzles were aimed at him. The number was smaller than before, but the caliber was far larger.
“My turn this time!”
Ratatatatat!
Boom-boom-boom!
Twelve-point-seven-millimeter rounds and assorted grenades hammered the barrier. Explosions overlapped; second-floor windows shattered and exercise equipment flew outside. The entire building shook. Elena blocked the blast wave so it would not reach the first-floor stairs where Keira, Lee Jungmin, and Woo Suyeon waited.
“How’s that—keck.”
Before the dust even settled, a fist struck Park Sena’s abdomen—a fist with all flesh gone, only bone remaining.
“Ugh, get lost!”
Park Sena spun and kicked the skeleton-only Team A member away. But that was not the end. Another skeleton was already attacking her.
“These disgusting bastards!”
The skeletons not only moved; flesh was reattaching. Black fog clung to every bony fist without fail.
“You cannot pierce my barrier with second-dimensional techniques.”
With the man’s pale voice the explosion dust settled. The living room was a wreck, yet the barrier remained intact. The black fog on the floor was still there. What had changed was Team A reduced to skeletons—new flesh was already sprouting like computer graphics.
“Now, try piercing this barrier. Break it and everything ends. I, Necromancer Becancho, swear it on my name.”
Inside the barrier the man spread both hands and closed his eyes.
“Die!”
“By Ru’s will!”
Elena and Park Sena began attacking Becancho again.
“This won’t do…”
More than the pain in my left shoulder, the urgency in Keira’s voice hit harder. Without a left arm, all I could manage was moving the unconscious Suyeon toward the stairs.
“…Jungmin, you at least run. I’ll try to help Elena as much as I can.”
“Ugh, what are you talking about!”
“There’s no way. That demon is stronger than us.”
“Even so—”
“Sorry. We’re out of time.”
Keira closed her eyes and clasped her hands. Blue flames bloomed between her palms. She thrust them forward at once.
Whoosh.
The flames advanced slowly, burning the black fog that tried to spill down to the first floor. The more fog they consumed, the denser the blue became and the larger the flames grew.
“Keira? Keira?”
Like at Shinyongsan, her eyes were unfocused. She would not return until those flames had burned everything. But could they swallow that barrier? I didn’t know. What was certain was that I needed a third option ready in case they failed.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Suyeon moaned. I had moved her to the stairs so she wouldn’t touch the fog, but it seemed useless. Black haze rose from her body and drifted toward the Necromancer—just like from me. The same haze rose from my shoulder. It drifted a little toward the barrier then vanished, yet I could faintly feel the line connecting me to the Necromancer.
Was it because the power was similar to lust? Lust—the demonic power Succubi used. The man was clearly using demonic power as well. Mjolnir’s reaction proved it. That power was what let him leisurely block Elena and Park Sena’s attacks.
The key was Mjolnir and the amplification it provided. From the moment he barged through the front door he had looked confident, but not like this. If he had been able to overwhelm us this thoroughly from the start, he would never have space-jumped the instant Suyeon appeared holding Mjolnir. He would simply have walked over with the barrier the way he was doing now.
If I could just snatch Mjolnir, there might be a chance… but how was I supposed to snatch it when I couldn’t even pierce the barrier?
Ah!
Only then did I remember the Ttanttani rod in the underground lab. The third alternative was waiting there.
“Ugh… ugh…”
“Hoo… hoo…”
Suyeon moaning, Keira locked in deep concentration—both completely defenseless. I had no idea what danger might strike the moment I left. Fortunately a helping hand arrived.
“Mr. Lee Jungmin? What’s going on right now?”
Another Association team—ten of them.
“Don’t get involved in the second-floor fight. Protect these two no matter what. I’ll be right back.”
I entrusted the two to them and ran for the underground lab.
“Did I misjudge? Your side should clearly be stronger. Strange.”
Becancho found it odd as he looked at the exhausted Elena. Park Sena and Elena, who had been launching only maximum-power attacks without rest, were already spent. Of the two, Elena was struggling more.
…Jungmin’s mana is completely gone…
Elena bit her lip hard. Normally this never happened. Her mana stayed charged well over one hundred percent, and she rarely needed to exert great force. But once she began fully using S-class power, the mana and mana she had stockpiled plummeted. On top of that the black fog was stealing her energy.
Elena could move this world’s mana by using Jungmin’s mana as a lever. Without his mana she could not wield power, and she would soon vanish. That was the essence of the Otherworld Residence Contract.
Even so… just a little longer…
Behind her was Keira. Behind her was the blue flame Keira had sent—a flame that had grown to forearm size while devouring the surrounding fog. Perhaps it could still pierce the barrier. Elena wanted to buy it more time to grow.
“Your eyes are still alive. Good. Very good. That’s what living is. Beautiful—to burn like that on a single small hope.”
“Shut up! Does one who mocks life have any right to speak of it!”
Elena leaped at Becancho and brought her sword down. No aura clung to the blade, no sword energy. All she could still exert was raw physical force.
“There’s a misunderstanding. I might mock death, but I have never mocked life. I love life more than anyone—this burning life, and the life that has grown endlessly cold.”
Snap.
Becancho flicked his fingers. The dead of Team A who had been restrained by Park Sena’s firearms flung the guns aside and charged the blue flame.
Whoosh.
The flame burned the dead and swallowed them. At the same time the dead regenerated and covered the blue flame with their bodies. The black fog blanketing the second floor poured over them as well.
Whoosh!
The flame itself was no longer visible, but the sound told of its resistance. Only for a moment—then the sound of coughing blood replaced the roar of fire.
“Cough… keck…”
Keira collapsed, vomiting a handful of blood. Association Keepers caught the unconscious woman. She was alive, but she was out of the fight.
“No…”
Elena let out a sigh that was almost a lament. Her hope had withered. She had no methods left.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you right away—not until I’ve eaten every last scrap of your lives.”
Becancho savored the heavy despair pressing down on everyone present. Park Sena, who had lost her subordinates and even their corpses. Association Keepers who could neither advance into the battle of the strong nor retreat. Elena, forced to accept a result that still had not changed no matter how much power she poured out.
Paradoxically, Becancho felt rich life in that despair. They despaired because they had wanted to live, because they still wanted to live. He was one who took the scream of that life as his driving force. This place was a top-class buffet to him.
“Now, how about this.”
Snap.
Becancho flicked his fingers once more. The black fog that had swallowed the flame began to wriggle and swell.
“What! Fuck—what now!”
Boom-boom, ratatatat!
Park Sena drew firearms and opened fire on the black fog. Like the barrier, her attacks had no effect. The fog grew to roughly three meters and only stopped when it touched the ceiling.
“Kraaa!”
A giant burst from the fog. It looked as if he had kneaded the five dead into dough and shaped a flesh-colored giant from the mixture. Blinking, ownerless eyeballs dotted the arms and legs—grotesque beyond words.
“…You demon!”
Park Sena raged. Killing her subordinates had been bad enough; turning them into zombie-like things that kept coming back was infuriating. And now this monster that treated human beings as a joke?
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Die!”
Park Sena fully deployed her skill Comrades’ Guns. Hundreds of muzzles appeared in the air, all aimed at Becancho and the giant.
“…Everyone take cover!”
Elena ordered the Association Keepers downstairs, then raised her shield on the stairs. Even if she died, she had to protect Keira. She also had to buy Lee Jungmin time to escape.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The explosion was three times larger and longer than before. The blasts and bullets that burned, shattered, and shook everything on the second floor finally brought the floor down.
Crash!
The second-floor floor broke and collapsed onto the first. The stairs held thanks to Elena’s shield. Park Sena floated in midair, standing on gun muzzles.
“Kraaa!”
“Damn…”
The giant’s roar and Park Sena’s sigh came at the same time. The giant only bled a little; it was otherwise fine. The barrier, still hidden by dust, would be fine as well.
“…Is it over now? Then I can start cutting off your flesh and eating it piece by piece, yes?”
Pale voice, eerie smile. Not a flicker of emotion crossed Becancho’s face. Instead, the first glimpse of his black teeth made every heart in the room drop.
Then a hot voice shattered the fear.
“Shut up!”
The silver rod shone blood-red. Its tip was sharp enough to pierce anything. Lee Jungmin dashed across the first floor and drove the blood-red Adamantium spear straight into the barrier.
Crackling!
Red and black sparks exploded outward across the entire first floor.