Chapter 78

Swoosh!

Lee Seonah slowly raised her sword.

At that moment, the sheer density of magic pressing down over the area crushed my shoulders.

“……!”

The pressure was incredible.

It felt like if I even twitched, her sword would slice my throat clean off.

Even more impressive was that her aura reached far beyond the walls—to the Ghoul and Specter legions below.

“Grrr?”

“Kiiiii…?”

Those monstrous hordes, surging forward moments ago, began halting one by one.

The ones at the front cowered like rabbits before a tiger, and—

“Grrr! Grrrr!”

Those behind crashed into them, throwing the entire army into chaos.

Rumble!

Dust exploded upward as their formation crumbled.

Ah.

So this was a ranker’s overwhelming presence.

“My control is still lacking.”

Lee Seonah clicked her tongue, as though disappointed.

“I wanted my killing intent to reach only them.”

Then—thud!—she lightly kicked off the ground and leapt into the air.

Even from such a tall fortress wall, her movements showed not the slightest hesitation.

Whoosh!

Her graceful form soared through the air, hair fluttering behind her like a work of art.

“Watch closely, Skeleton Lord.”

She murmured.

“My unique ability is—Black Sword Flight.”

At the same time, she reversed her grip on the blade.

Then—

Swoosh!

Her body shot downward like a projectile, plummeting toward the ground below the wall.

Shaaah!

She fell like a storm of rain.

[Black Sword Flight.]
[Wide-Area Technique.]
[First Form: Thunder Annihilation.]

Her sleek blade slammed into the earth.

And then—

KAAAA-BOOM!

A thunderous explosion ripped through the air.

Countless Ghouls and Specters were blasted upward into the sky.

They hadn’t jumped.

They’d simply been blown away, helpless.

‘That’s… an area crowd control skill?’

I was awestruck.

It was something straight out of a video game.

“Damn, our captain’s incredible!”

The vice captain, Kang Jihoo, shouted in admiration.

And not just him—

Every soldier on the walls stared in shock.

“Who… who is that?”

“Never seen that soldier before!”

“How can a human fight like that?”

But it was still too soon to be impressed.

Her display wasn’t over yet.

Shing!

She drew her blade smoothly from the ground and gripped it upright.

With her left hand extended forward, she leveled the sword in her right hand at the enemies still suspended midair.

“Haaah!”

With a powerful exhale, she unleashed a flurry of strikes.

[Black Sword Flight.]
[Wide-Area Technique.]
[Second Form: Black Wind Blade.]

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Blades of energy poured into the sky.

As the name implied, a black whirlwind swept across the entire field.

“Grrraaah!”

“Kiiiiiii!”

With a single sword, she created a natural disaster.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but whisper in awe.

So this was what rankers could do.

No wonder people called them living cataclysms.

If someone ranked 509th could do ‘this’, how strong were the ones above her?

Rumble!

Outside the walls was a spectacle of pure destruction.

A black storm swallowed the landscape whole, tearing through the horde of Ghouls and Specters as if they were nothing but dust in a blender.

Thunk!

Lee Seonah landed lightly in front of me, as if she hadn’t just obliterated an army.

“Haha, how was that, Skeleton Lord?”

She smiled.

“Well, it’s just a flashy trick that only works on weaklings, but not bad, right?”

“What’s there to say? You call yourself a swordswoman, but that looked more like a mage’s spell.”

“Isn’t every skill like that, really?”

Sure, if “every skill” could wipe out hundreds of enemies at once.

Man, I wanted one like that too.

Of course, my Skeleton Summoning was just as absurd in its own way.

Lee Seonah lowered her sword again.

“Anyway, we’re far from done.”

“Far from done?”

“That was just the first wave. We haven’t even seen the ‘Immortal’ part of the Immortal Legion yet.”

“I see.”

I nodded, finally realizing why she’d chosen to put on that impressive display herself.

The soldiers’ faces below told the story.

They were no longer pale with fear.

“Waaaahhhh!”

“We can do it! The God of War is with us!”

“Then… we can survive, right? Even those immortal bastards can fall!”

Deafening cheers erupted.

Morale had skyrocketed.

The soldiers, once lifeless, were revived in spirit.

“Move quickly! Clear the way so the God of War can fight freely!”

“Bring more fire! Stock the arrows!”

“I’ll carry the heavy stones!”

The soldiers who had cowered in panic were now full of life.

[You have spotted the Ghoul Legion.]
[You have spotted the Specter Legion.]

More undead forces approached from afar, but hope now gleamed in the soldiers’ eyes.

“All right, the captain showed off earlier, so it’s our turn.”

Shing!

The vice captain drew his sword.

Shing! Shing!

The two A-rank members followed suit.

And I—

“I’ll fight too.”

I swung my staff, summoning skeletons.

[Skill ‘Summon Great Skeletons’ (Grade: B) activated.]
[50 Energy consumed.]

Five skeletal figures rose—excluding Dmir.

“Master, shall we simply slay them all?”

“Eradicating evil is a sacred duty of the forest folk.”

Sunny and Eldrin—my ever-reliable summons.

“All right, let’s tear them apart.”

The real battle began.

—

Pchhk!

Sunny’s spear pierced through a Ghoul’s neck.

Whoosh! Thwip-thwip-thwip!

Eldrin’s arrows flew gracefully, piercing four Ghouls squarely in the forehead.

“Grrraaa!”

Even undead screamed pathetically as they fell.

The Specters fared no better.

Fwoosh!

Bone Five’s fiery Fire Field (Lv.4) and Fireball (Lv.Max) incinerated the ghostly wraiths with ease.

‘Hmm.’

They were weak.

Roughly C to D-rank level, maybe.

Once, even facing one of them might’ve been dangerous.

But now—

‘I’ve come a long way.’

There was no sense of crisis at all.

I cut them down like slicing tofu, like chopping radishes.

‘The problem is…’

There were too many.

Even when I slashed, stabbed, and crushed, they kept coming, endlessly produced like they were coming off an assembly line.

Whoosh! Crack!

I grabbed a discarded sword from a fallen soldier and swung it.

‘A master of all arts doesn’t blame his tools.’

The old man had beaten Ki Soyul half to death with nothing but a stick.

A Ghoul or two wouldn’t be an issue with a simple sword.

‘Next—spears.’

I caught a thrown spear from the air, spun my body, and cleaved through two Ghouls’ necks in one sweep.

‘Nice.’

Everything the old man had drilled into me—I was applying it all now.

Slash (B-rank)
Thrust (B-rank)
Shoot (B-rank)
Defend (B-rank)

Strike, stab, shoot, and guard—each technique flowed naturally.

These weren’t opponents in a war; they were training dummies for live practice.

‘Relax your body.’

Strike one at a time, gently but precisely.

Just follow the motion your body leads you to.

“Grrraaah!”

“Yeah, die already.”

Pchhk!

My spear pierced its throat.

Twist!

Then ripped it free.

Swoosh!

Even when a blind Ghoul’s claw grazed me—

[‘Air Shield’ (Lv.Max) activated.]

Bone Five’s shield held firm.

“Hahaha! Impressive, Skeleton Lord!”

The vice captain cut his way beside me.

“As expected of a Necromancer—they really are busted! You fight incredibly well!”

“You’re not bad yourself.”

“Haha, well, I am S-rank. Anyway, we should get ready soon.”

“Ready?”

I turned toward the horizon.

Thousands of Ghouls and Specters kept advancing, but my eyes had been fixed on something else for a while.

‘Something’s there.’

A presence.

My Supreme Azure Mind Method warned me—danger.

“According to intel, the Lich should appear soon. It’s the centerpiece of this dungeon’s mechanic.”

“The one that casts the participant-limit curse?”

“Right. But since we meet the conditions, we just have to kill the Lich and the Death Knights. Then it’s over—simple, right?”

I glanced at Kang Jihoo.

Something about this felt off.

I wanted to say it, but without solid proof, I held my tongue.

Still, with rankers here, we’d be fine… right?

“Anyway, let’s wipe out the rest quickly.”

“Got it. Good luck.”

I nodded and pressed forward.

Even the soldiers who’d been throwing debris from above started climbing down to join the fray.

Ssshhh…

The rain began to fall harder.

“……”

The droplets grew heavier.

For a moment, my gaze drifted to the blood and rot washing off my weapons in the downpour.

It was almost peaceful.

After all, with Sunny and Eldrin holding the front lines, nothing could approach me.

A brief calm amid chaos.

“Whew.”

A few minutes passed.

“L-look!”

“S-something’s coming!”

“Dear god… that’s the true form of the Immortal Legion…!”

The soldiers shrank back again, trembling.

“The Lich has appeared.”

Crack.

Lee Seonah rolled her neck and muttered.

Despite the rain soaking her, she wasn’t even breathing hard.

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[The ‘Lich’ leading the Immortal Legion has appeared.]
[The soldiers fall into fear.]
[All stats decrease by 20%.]

“Hmm.”

I could feel my strength weakening.

Not that I was actually afraid—but the system likely counted me as one of the soldiers.

I swallowed.

Ssshhh…

The Lich’s crimson eyes fixed on me.

That same unease twisted in my gut.

“Has the mechanic started?”

I asked quietly.

The Lich’s eyes grew even redder by the second.

“Yes, this is the curse,” Lee Seonah replied.

“According to the intel, we just wait it out. The curse says that if there’s no Necromancer, everyone dies. If there is one, and more than five Hunters are present, the extras die instantly.”

“That’s… a nasty curse.”

“But we meet the conditions, don’t we?”

She smiled faintly.

[The Lich’s Curse descends.]

Ssshhh!

The rain intensified.

Now it was coming down so hard it could’ve been hail.

So it was time.

[Ding!]
[If no Hunter with ‘Necromancer’-type unique ability is present, all participants will die.]
[If a Hunter with ‘Necromancer’-type unique ability is present, any participants beyond five will die randomly.]

Yep.

Lee Seonah’s intel was accurate.

Now all that was left was to crush the Lich’s skull and clear the dungeon.

“……”

But I couldn’t look away.

The Lich’s lips were moving.

– Necromancer.

It whispered.

– Trials must match one’s level. The potential you hold… is immense.

Then—

Crackle! Crackle!

Static flickered through the system window. The curse messages began to distort.

“What the—?”

The vice captain faltered.

“What is it?”

Lee Seonah frowned.

[Reassessing the Necromancer’s level.]
[Additional curse added.]

BOOOOM!

Lightning crashed from the heavens.

At the same time—

Ssshhh! Shhh!

From all directions, hundreds—no, thousands—of shapes burst from the ground in waves of black energy.

[Dungeon difficulty has been increased.]
[‘Immortal Legion’ level has been increased.]
[1,000 Dullahans (A-rank) have spawned.]
[100 Death Knights (S-rank) have spawned.]
[10 Liches (S-rank) have spawned.]

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I swore aloud.

(T/N: You had to jinx it earlier. You deserve it lol)