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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The Specter, though a powerful undead, was vulnerable to holy power.
All undead had a weakness to holy power, but those in spectral form were particularly susceptible due to their lack of a physical body.
Therefore, instead of using the Specter to protect the Bone Golem, I had it assist Athena.
“Kyaaak!”
And in the meantime, Athena succeeded in taking out the second mage.
‘The moment they allowed her to approach, the outcome was inevitable.’
While the Specter distracted the escorts, Athena eliminated the two mages and smoothly slipped past the remaining guards.
The Specter, once Athena had escaped, turned ethereal and returned to her side.
Athena, after lightly mocking the escorts, glanced at the priests with a hungry look.
The paladin, who had rushed to aid the mages but arrived too late, hardened his expression as he saw her.
He quickly returned to the priests’ side.
‘A deterrent.’
She had managed to deal with the mages, but the priests would be difficult.
‘The paladin is strong.’
I could tell from the holy power he displayed earlier.
It was true that Athena excelled at surprise attacks.
However, the paladin was on a different level.
‘Kayla will have to step in if it comes to a direct confrontation.’
If the two priests started supporting him, Athena wouldn’t stand a chance against the paladin.
And while the Specter had been helpful so far, it was a liability against priests.
Therefore, Athena’s current display was nothing more than a bluff.
That didn’t mean it was a meaningless action.
‘She’s tied down the paladin.’
As long as Athena remained hidden and didn’t move, the paladin’s movements would be restricted.
Having eliminated the mages and now tying down the paladin, Athena had exceeded my expectations.
‘I should pray that Kayla doesn’t kill Perseus.’
It was to the point where I might have to let her kill him as she wished.
With the mages gone, the Bone Golem regained its freedom.
The dozens of mercenaries couldn’t easily break through my undead and Baldur.
Most of the high-level forces capable of handling them individually were tied up with Kayla, and the paladin was occupied with Athena.
And with me providing occasional support…
“Damn it!”
Finally, the Protection barrier shattered, and the mercenaries were exposed.
Whoosh!
The Bone Golem began to slaughter the mercenaries in earnest.
One by one, corpses began to pile up.
And I personally raised them.
The priests, who had fallen to their knees after the Protection barrier broke, hastily tried to counter me with the appearance of more undead, but my undead weren’t weak enough to be defeated by such low-level spells.
‘In the first place, pure demonic energy doesn’t take much damage from holy power.’
It would be a different story if it were a mixture of mana and demonic energy, but pure demonic energy was practically a battle of pure power.
While it was true that undead were relatively weak to holy power and fire, they were created with pure demonic energy, and the priests’ holy magic was far below my level, so their desperate attempts were futile.
And I used the newly created undead as expendable tools.
A loud explosion echoed, causing significant damage to the surrounding mercenaries.
And in the midst of the battle…
Rumble.
The giant statues began to crumble one by one.
“Why, why won’t they fall?!”
Perseus shouted in desperation.
“How can a human withstand so many attacks, move so much, and still be as strong as before? Is she a Master?!”
He couldn’t hide his anxiety, unable to comprehend the situation with his common sense.
But nothing would change.
The mages were all dead, and the mercenaries couldn’t break through my undead.
They had tried to minimize casualties, but even that was no longer possible.
Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the bones rose as skeletons, attacking the surviving mercenaries.
Curses were no longer necessary.
Corpse Explosion was no longer meaningful.
More than half of the mercenaries had already become Skeleton Warriors, wielding their swords in reverse, and I strengthened them one by one.
They were even recycling the equipment of the original mercenaries, causing the remaining mercenaries to lose their will to fight.
Eventually, they huddled around the paladin and priests, trying to avoid the Bone Golem.
I ordered my undead not to chase them.
“Follow me.”
I then led Annelise and moved to where the mages’ bodies lay, avoiding the area where Kayla was fighting.
Athena still hadn’t revealed herself, forcing the paladin to watch me move helplessly.
‘What should I do with these…?’
I thought, looking at the mages’ corpses.
‘Turning them into permanent undead would take up too much space, but it’s a waste to just use them temporarily…’
It was a shame to give up the Bone Golem, which occupied the most space in my inscription.
It was made from the bones of a Minotaur, bones that had been exposed to holy power for a long time, so if I continued to strengthen it, it could potentially develop a strong resistance to holy power in the future.
I couldn’t give up such a valuable golem for just two mage corpses.
‘But giving up on the mages…’
It would be difficult to obtain mage corpses for a while after this.
Their usefulness was high, as they could use magic, so I was tempted.
“Inha!”
At that moment, I heard Athena’s voice, followed by the sound of clashing metal.
“Ugh!”
I looked over to see what was happening and saw Athena blocking the paladin’s attack before retreating a considerable distance.
I immediately sent the Living Armors to support her and called Cereo and No. 2 back to my side.
“Running away? You’re running away with the paladin and priests, even though a warlock you despise is right in front of you?”
“…Are you mocking us?”
The paladin, perhaps misinterpreting my surprised expression, spoke to me as if I had insulted him.
“No, that’s not it. I’m just surprised because it’s so different from what I’ve heard. I heard that paladins of the Goddess Religion would kill a warlock they oppose, even if it meant their own death.”
“We are not part of the Goddess Religion.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
I asked incredulously.
“Then who are you affiliated with? Which god do you serve?”
The paladin didn’t answer.
I suddenly realized that their attire bore no resemblance to that of the Goddess Religion.
“…I see. So the Goddess Religion’s involvement is a secret.”
I could roughly guess why the paladin was trying to escape with the two priests.
‘This information must be kept hidden.’
And the two priests must be quite important figures.
‘High-level priests aren’t that common.’
Their status aside, their individual value seemed high.
“Which means… I can kill you.”
In other words, they couldn’t openly retaliate against me.
Conversely, we couldn’t use this as leverage either.
The paladin’s face contorted at my words.
“…If you oppose us, you will face the consequences.”
The paladin realized I was convinced they were affiliated with the Goddess Religion.
Therefore, he chose to threaten me indirectly without mentioning the Goddess Religion directly.
However, it had no effect on me.
“You already deny the very existence of warlocks, don’t you? Whether I oppose you or not, you’ll try to kill me anyway.”
“You will attract our attention. And our wrath. Are you confident you can handle it?”
“As if I care. I’m not going to personally enter the Holy Empire’s territory.”
They couldn’t kill me through indirect means.
‘The Six-Kingdom Alliance wouldn’t allow the Holy Empire to run rampant within their territory.’
Therefore, their options were limited, and I could handle that level of threat.
The paladin’s gaze wavered as his threat failed.
“Hmm… paladins and priests are quite useful. This is making me reconsider.”
I could make good use of their corpses at my current level.
However, the inscription space was the issue once again.
‘I can’t keep them with me all the time.’
It would be a different story once I had fully established myself, but I wasn’t there yet.
The paladin’s face contorted in humiliation as he realized I was already seeing them as corpses, and the two priests behind him looked terrified.
Kyaaak!
Someone screamed.
I glanced over and saw Kayla finally breaking through the encirclement and successfully slaughtering Perseus and the elite mercenaries.
The last death throes belonged to Perseus.
‘Athena will be disappointed.’
She wanted to kill him personally, but it seemed that wouldn’t happen.
It seemed Kayla had heard Athena’s words, and she probably disliked Perseus as well.
Then…
“I, I surrender.”
Clang.
One of the mercenaries dropped his weapon and said.
“I’ll do anything. Please spare me.”
“A-Are you crazy? We’re facing a warlock!”
“We’re all going to die anyway! At least…”
The mercenary who had surrendered knelt down and shouted.
“Testimony! I’ll give you testimony! It will be useful!”
“Testimony?”
“Yes! Doriem and Jutus…”
“Shut up!”
At that moment, the paladin shouted and charged towards the mercenary.
However, No. 2 and Cereo intervened, blocking the paladin’s attack.
“You’re going to betray us?!”
“You abandoned us first. You were going to run away and leave us behind, weren’t you? I didn’t expect that from a paladin.”
The mercenary I had aided continued.
“I can testify that Jutus and Doriem have formed an alliance, and that there’s another faction involved. It will definitely be helpful.”
It didn’t seem like a bad idea, but…
“I don’t think it will be necessary.”
“What…?”
I was connected to the royal family, and I was acquainted with Colmail, the branch manager of the Doriem Mercenary Guild.
If I told them about this incident, they would likely believe me, even without a witness.
We had that level of trust, and this had happened during a request. Their corpses and mercenary badges would be enough evidence.
Therefore, I didn’t need a prisoner.
Despair filled the mercenary’s face at my words.
Kayla, who had slaughtered Perseus and the elite mercenaries, approached me.
“Are you going to kill them all?”
“I think that would be best.”
“Then I’ll take care of it. I’ll finish quickly. There’s something you need to see.”
“Something I need to see?”
“Yes. The altar in the center has been acting strange since the statues collapsed.”
“The altar is acting strange?”
I turned my head to look at the altar.
And I couldn’t help but stiffen.
‘Why… why now?’
The central altar.
The space above it was slightly distorted.
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