Chapter 73
“Fire Wall.”
As soon as Leo completed the spell, a wall of fire engulfed the orcs.
Screeech!
Leo withdrew the spell as he watched the orcs turn to ash in an instant.
Lunia and Eiran walked past the orc corpses, now nothing but bones.
“Wait.”
“Hm?”
“Yes?”
Lunia and Eiran stopped in their tracks.
Leo, who had stopped them, stared intently at the orcs.
Groooan—!
The orc skeletons rose into the air, exuding black smoke.
Clack—clack—
Their bones clicked together, forming skeletons.
Lunia and Eiran grew tense.
Until now, all the undead had emerged from underground.
They were pre-summoned undead waiting in ambush.
But this time was different.
Monsters that had just died were rising as undead.
“Is there a necromancer nearby?!”
Lunia’s eyes flashed.
Fwoosh—!
She summoned Phoenix’s magic power and scanned the area.
Eiran also armed herself with the Armor of Animus and readied her sword and shield.
Clatter—clatter—clatter—!
The orc skeletons gripped their weapons and charged.
Lunia sneered and raised her palm.
Fwoosh—!
A small sphere of flame appeared on her hand.
It was Fireball, the most basic fire attack spell.
Simple, but its power greatly varied with the caster’s skill.
Fwoosh—fwoosh—fwoosh—
The Fireball split rapidly into several more.
Leo’s eyes gleamed as he watched.
‘At that age, she can cast multiple spells at that speed?’
A technique that involves chanting the same spell several times at once.
The technique itself isn’t hard, but doing it quickly is difficult even for veteran mages.
‘She’s doing it purely by instinct. Impressive.’
While Leo admired her, Lunia’s Fireballs struck the orc skeletons.
Boom—!
With a fiery explosion, the orc skeletons were blown apart.
“That was easy.”
Curling her lips into a smirk, Lunia glanced around.
“Whoever’s using these cheap skeletons, I took care of all of them! Why don’t you show yourself?”
Lunia’s fierce voice echoed through the winter forest.
But all she got back was her own echo.
“Oh? Not coming out? Then I’ll just blow up the whole area—”
“Stop. There’s no necromancer here.”
Just as Lunia raised her hand to cast a powerful spell, Leo grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“Leo, you saw it too. Orcs turning into skeletons.”
Lunia looked puzzled, but Leo replied calmly.
“That wasn’t necromancy.”
“Then what was it?”
“A curse.”
“A curse?”
Lunia’s eyes went wide.
Eiran also looked confused.
“There’s a curse that can create undead?”
“The Curse of the Dead.”
“The Curse of the Dead? I’ve never heard of that.”
Leo looked puzzled at Lunia’s tilted head.
“Doesn’t Seiren teach about curses?”
“They—they do! We just haven’t gotten that far yet! Even in the same subject, everyone’s at a different point!”
“But it’s a famous curse.”
“Ugh…”
Lunia flinched.
“It’s true elves have a strong resistance to curses and can use blessing magic from star magic to handle them more easily than other races, but curses are one of the demons’ most powerful weapons. Don’t slack off on your studies. Even Luna struggled with curses more than once.”
“Ugh…”
Unable to argue, Lunia looked away.
“If it’s the Curse of the Dead… isn’t that Necroking Hell Kaiser’s curse?”
Eiran asked carefully.
“That’s right. You know your stuff, Eiran.”
“I know it well from all the hero stories about the great heroes.”
Looking bashful, Eiran shrank back, making Lunia shrink further.
“So, what exactly is the Curse of the Dead? If it’s related to a legion commander, it has to be dangerous, right?”
“The Curse of the Dead is a dangerous curse that continuously summons undead in the area.”
“What?”
“Wherever the curse spreads, it literally becomes a land of death.”
Eiran hunched her shoulders, looking terrified. Lunia’s face turned pale.
“So what, does that mean Tartarus is targeting Elsalbekia on a grand scale?”
Endless undead would be an incredible threat.
“No. Not quite. Even with the Curse of the Dead, unless Hell Kaiser casts it himself, you won’t get powerful undead. It’s probably a subordinate of Hell Kaiser who cast this one.”
Leo stared into the woods.
“But if Hell Kaiser is moving, that means there’s definitely something in this forest Tartarus wants.”
“What would a legion commander want?”
“I don’t know. Maybe…”
Leo stroked his chin.
“Something related to a great hero?”
“Something related to the Founder?”
“That’d be huge!”
“We’ll see soon enough. Anyway—”
Leo’s expression suddenly changed.
The two elves, sensing the sudden shift, flinched.
Whooooosh—!
A cold blizzard swept through.
From within the snowstorm, crimson glowing eyes flashed.
“Hehehehe—Welcome, hero cadets.”
Lunia stiffened as she saw a Death Knight radiating an aura fundamentally different from all the undead they’d faced so far.
“Death Knight?”
“That’s right! My name is Kargor! Proud knight serving the great Necroking and the one who’ll guide you to your death!”
Thud—!
Gooooooo—!
When Kargor slammed his greatsword into the ground, the nearby vegetation turned pitch black.
The ground began to ooze deathly energy.
Crackle! Crackle—!
From the earth, a tremendous number of undead began to appear.
Not just skeletons.
Zombies, ghouls, even corpse chimeras.
Every kind of undead imaginable emerged.
“Despair! Tremble in fear! I’ll make you regret coming to this forest! Wahahahaha!”
Gwooooar!
With Kargor’s mad laughter, the undead roared as well.
As Kargor stared at Leo, he sneered with a chilling laugh.
“You won’t escape today.”
“I’ll take the Death Knight. Eiran, handle the undead. Lunia, prepare your strongest spell.”
“Yes!”
“Got it.”
“Oh? You’re choosing to fight me head-on this time?”
“I’ll take you on.”
“Heh!”
At Leo’s words, Kargor laughed low.
Dark Aura poured from Kargor as he gripped his greatsword.
Leo drew his sword, channeling the Zerdinger Aura.
Fwoosh—!
Phoenix flames roared fiercely.
As the two faced off—
Whoosh—!
Leo’s body vanished like a shadow.
“Sloppy!”
Kargor swung his greatsword behind him.
Crash—!
The blade, swung at incredible speed, met Leo’s longsword.
Kargor’s eyes flickered.
He expected Leo to be knocked back, but Leo held firm.
Clench—!
As Leo tightened his grip, veins bulged on his hand.
Leo’s sword pushed back Kargor’s greatsword.
With the opening created, Leo wasted no time and closed in.
“Ha! Did you think I was just an ordinary human knight?”
Kargor scoffed, unleashing his dark Aura.
Goooooo—!
The darkness enveloped Leo.
“Hahaha!”
Fwoosh!
But as Leo pushed through the dark Aura, Kargor’s face hardened.
As if he’d anticipated it, Leo’s sword was wrapped in fierce flaming Aura.
‘Zerdinger’s secret sword art. Prominence.’
Leo’s sword drew a crimson arc at Kargor.
Boom—!
Kargor barely managed to block Leo’s attack with his greatsword.
But the blazing crimson flames raged, threatening to consume everything.
“You’re no ordinary brat!”
Leo and Kargor were equals in pure swordsmanship.
The deciding factor was experience.
And Kargor prided himself on having more than Leo.
After countless battlefields as a Death Knight, he didn’t believe a first-year hero cadet could surpass him.
But he was wrong.
‘He sees through all my moves!’
Leo’s experience, forged through countless battles, was on a different level than Kargor’s.
Seeing Leo’s emotionless eyes, Kargor felt a chill.
The crimson flames dug into Kargor’s sword.
Sizzle—!
The intense heat began to melt Kargor’s blade.
Fwoosh—!
In that moment, Kargor’s body scattered.
‘Spectral Form.’
Using a Death Knight’s ability, Kargor quickly retreated.
‘I’ll have to wear them down with my undead army!’
Fwoosh—!
In Kargor’s eyes, a tiny sun appeared.
A blinding light melted the snow all around.
Lunia, who had cast Blaze, shouted at Kargor.
“Die! You bag of bones!”
The massive fireball rushed at Kargor.
Undead caught in the blaze turned to ash without a trace.
‘There’s nowhere to run!’
Rumble! Fwoooosh—! Boom—!
Flames rampaged in every direction.
Leo and Eiran ducked low to avoid the blast.
When the flames finally faded, the area was scorched.
“That’s what happens if you mess with me!”
Lunia puffed out her chest, beaming with pride.
“The… forest…!”
Eiran covered her face, pale with shock.
[Is she really an elf? Why’s she so violent?]
Chirp—chirp—!
Kirran clicked his tongue, while Fiora flapped her wings in approval.
Staring at where Kargor had been, Leo muttered,
“He’s stubborn.”
“What?”
Lunia paused.
Goooooo—!
“Hehehehe.”
“Oh? Still alive?”
Lunia cracked her knuckles.
“In that case, I’ll burn you until you’re dead.”
[She really doesn’t seem like an elf.]
Kirran whispered.
“Heh—Did you think you could destroy Kargor so easily?”
“Confident, huh? Let’s see how long you can last.”
As Lunia’s aggressive smile widened, Kargor burst out laughing.
“When this mission is over, I’ll bring you all death.”
With those words, Kargor vanished.
“Such bravado for someone running away.”
Lunia sneered.
“What are you waiting for! Hurry and chase down that damned skeleton and get rid of the curse on this forest!”
—
Fwoosh—!
Having escaped the battle, Kargor appeared before Rauta, who was drawing a summoning circle.
“Did you take care of everything?”
“They’ll be here soon. Hurry.”
“What?”
Rauta’s face twisted.
“Don’t make me laugh! Useless undead! You couldn’t even handle a few first-years?!”
“Hahaha. Yes, these first-years did this to me.”
Kargor laughed darkly.
“What’s so funny!”
“Isn’t it delightful? The chance to eliminate future heroes! Necroking will be most pleased.”
Kargor shouted, voice full of ecstasy, making Rauta scowl.
“Future heroes…?”
“When I first saw you, I thought the Hero Academy was finished… but clearly not.”
“Watch your mouth. I’m your master now.”
“You, weaker than me, claiming to be my master?”
“That’s what your Necroking decided!”
Rauta shouted irritably, showing his black ring.
“I could destroy you right now!”
“Hahaha. Go ahead. If you can handle the three first-years heading this way.”
At Kargor’s sneer, Rauta flinched.
“Grr…”
“Hurry up and finish that summoning circle, you worthless master.”
Grinding his teeth, Rauta kept drawing the circle.
‘As soon as I obtain the Founder’s power… you’ll be the first I get rid of!’