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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘Ugh… How did things get so messed up?’
Cardinal Nicholas chuckled, glancing around.
Holy Knights and soldiers had surrounded him, their weapons pointed at him.
Everything had been going so well. He had stumbled upon the cardinal’s corpse and taken control. He had lured a Holy Knight consumed by desire to his side.
With these preparations, he thought he could resurrect Kali without interruption. But where did it all go wrong?
When he assigned Solra to the crazed man who entered the Holy Empire despite being wanted for attempted rape?
When that madman infiltrated the rainwater tunnel, disguising it as a curse user attack? Or when the Saintess, sensing traces of demonic energy, followed him into the tunnel?
He didn’t know where it went wrong, but he knew how to fix it.
‘Kill them all. Then I’ll be the strongest.’
He would amass an army of corpses. Imagine the power he would wield with the bodies of these Holy Knights and mages…
A sinister smile spread across Cardinal Nicholas’s face, or rather, Luna’s.
“Xenon… hee hee… don’t let anyone touch the entrance.”
“What? Xenon? Why are you mentioning Vice-Captain Solra’s brother-?!”
Kaboom!
A deafening explosion shook the ground.
The boy who possessed immense magical talent but was held back by his heart condition, Xenon, revealed his true potential as an explosion magic prodigy the moment his heart was healed.
‘I should have taken him long ago! Hee hee!’
It was such a shame to see talented individuals like Xenon hindered by their physical limitations.
They could become so much stronger under his control! Of course, Xenon had lost his sanity due to the necromancy affecting his heart, but that was a minor issue.
‘Now it’s your turn, Kali. I’ll make you ‘perfect’ soon. Hee hee…’
Luna’s spirit slipped out of Cardinal Nicholas’s body and seeped into the ground.
He was about to enter the tunnel when his eyes widened.
The Saintess, whom he had just kicked down, was being held in a man’s arms. The man was tenderly applying a potion to her head, his gaze filled with affection.
Luna frowned.
|Don’t you dare flirt in front of me!!!|
It was a scream that would make yokai flee and spirits dissipate. But his spectral voice couldn’t reach the living.
Enraged by their display of affection, Luna rushed into the rainwater tunnel.
|I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!!!|
Luna’s will filled the tunnel, and the stiff corpses began to stir.
They couldn’t move naturally, since Luna wasn’t directly controlling them, but they were driven by a single purpose, find and kill.
|Go and kill those lovebirds! I’ll be resurrecting Kali!|
Luna’s spirit was about to enter Kali’s body when…
Thud.
His spirit recoiled as if hitting a wall.
|Huh…?|
He was a spirit, unaffected by physical force.
Why couldn’t he move forward?
Luna waved his hand in confusion and noticed a strange magic surrounding Kali.
Holy Shield.
A barrier that blocked not only physical force, magical power, and demonic energy, but also spirits. A spell developed by the Saintess.
|That damn woman is interfering again!!!|
Luna’s furious scream echoed through the tunnel.
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The moment we entered the rainwater tunnel, the enemy’s identity was revealed.
Necromancer Luna.
The name of a mage who sought immortality long ago.
He wasn’t particularly talented in his youth, but in his old age, he discovered his aptitude for magic and began to study it passionately. But like all humans, his lifespan was limited.
His aging body weakened, and he was plagued by illness, unable to continue his research.
He concluded that magic couldn’t overcome the limitations of mortality and turned to curses.
Just before his death, he completed his final creation, a fusion of magic and curses: 10th circle magic, Resurrection.
A spell to revive the dead.
He cast it upon himself in his final moments, unaware of its flaw.
The flawed spell, instead of reviving him, preserved his soul, trapping him as a disembodied spirit, conscious but without a physical form.
Despite his miserable state, he didn’t give up.
He began to research and develop curses that could be used by spirits, eventually creating necromancy. And that’s when he awakened as the Necromancer and was offered a position among the Four Heavenly Kings.
‘Damn it. The army of the dead is moving.’
A chilling moan echoed through the darkness.
Luna could only possess one body at a time, but he could imbue corpses with a simple will, allowing them to move independently, like zombies.
That was his army of the dead, and the reason he was considered the most troublesome of the Heavenly Kings.
‘Jill’s unconscious, and Undecided isn’t here, so my Guardian Knight trait isn’t active.’
I was currently weakened, my stats reduced to a fifth of their normal value.
I could probably still use Iron Blood Storm Slash, but its power would be greatly reduced, unable to cut through bone. And since the undead felt no pain, slashing their flesh was pointless.
I had to shatter their spines.
Fighting hundreds of undead in this confined space was too risky.
I had no choice.
I had to reveal my identity to Jill and reactivate my Guardian Knight trait.
“Ugh… so painful…”
Jill woke up as the moans of the approaching undead grew louder.
I quickly explained the situation.
“If you’re awake, don’t answer, don’t move, don’t use magic, just listen. Make a sound, and you die.”
Despite my childish act, she was smart. She quickly grasped the gravity of the situation and responded quietly.
I could count on her cooperation for now.
Of course, I didn’t know how she would react once the danger passed, but… I planned to leave Cologne before she could imprison me.
[Stats]
[Strength: 19 (x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Stamina: 44 (x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Magic Power: 50 (x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Agility: 25 (x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
[Luck: 10 (x5) *Guardian Knight effect active]
‘Finally.’
My Guardian Knight trait was active.
I drew the Demonic Sword and assumed the starting stance for the Dakia Style Zero’th Form.
|You’re finally drawing me. I feel the power surging through me again. Who is the enemy?|
‘The army of the dead.’
|Oh… um… good luck.|
The Demonic Sword, which had been chattering non-stop, suddenly went silent.
It must have realized we were facing Luna.
It was understandable.
If captured, it would have its consciousness torn apart.
“Dakia Style Secret Technique.”
I whispered, and the moans of the undead grew closer. A clawed hand reached out for me.
Just before it touched my forehead…
“Iron Blood Storm Slash!”
Whoosh!
A white blade of energy flashed through the darkness. I heard the sound of undead shattering, their bodies scattering.
Jill, trembling, cast illumination magic. The tunnel floor was covered in dismembered corpses.
Thankfully, they had been dead for a while, so there was no blood. It would have been even more disgusting otherwise.
“May you all rest in peace…”
Jill, instead of recoiling in horror, approached the corpses with tears streaming down her face.
She knelt and prayed. I knew her act well enough to recognize that this was genuine.
She was truly grieving.
‘I fell for that act…’
I remembered.
I had fallen for her saintly demeanor.
Despite her complaints, her low pain tolerance, and her unsuitability for the priesthood, I had been captivated by her unwavering dedication to goodness, her noble spirit.
“Step back, Jill. Something dangerous is coming.”
“…”
But this wasn’t the time for sentimentality.
A tremor echoed through the tunnel.
We couldn’t sense it, but the spirits were leaving the corpses and converging on Kali’s body.
Those gathered spirits would be used to cast a single spell.
10th circle magic. Resurrection.
A spell to revive the dead, not just create mindless puppets.
“That’s…”
“Run, Jill.”
A massive figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
I shuddered, recognizing the silhouette.
A beautiful woman’s torso appeared first, followed by a grotesque, giant spider’s body.
Kali had returned.
I glanced back.
Jill was already climbing the ladder, not looking back. Good. If she had tried to stay and fight, I would have had a stroke from the stress.
“Long time no see, Kali.”
|That’s not the Kali you know.|
The Demonic Sword hummed ominously.
Not the Kali I knew?
I looked closer.
Kali’s eyes were lifeless, empty.
Yet, she approached me, her gaze fixed on me, just like when she was alive.
Unlike the mindless, aggressive corpses, she seemed almost… sentient. But not quite.
|It seems the Resurrection isn’t perfect yet.|
“Blood ghoul brat! Where’s the blood ghoul brat?!”
Kali’s scream echoed through the sewers. She seemed to be fixated on her final moments.
I couldn’t let her meet Undecided.
Absolutely not.
“Give me the blood ghoul brat!!!”
“Ugh?!”
Kali’s leg shot out with blinding speed. My body reacted instinctively, dodging before my mind could even process the attack.
I rolled forward, barely avoiding her strike, ending up beneath her abdomen.
‘She’s much faster.’
She was much faster than when she was alive. Back then, I had the speed advantage, but now it was reversed.
How was I supposed to defeat her?
“Blood ghoul brat! I have to catch the blood ghoul brat…!”
“Oh, crap.”
Kali, completely ignoring me, ran towards the ladder.
I stabbed her abdomen with the Demonic Sword, creating a deep gash, but she didn’t even flinch.
She felt no pain.
‘This isn’t good. Undecided is in danger.’
If she got out, it would be a disaster. Even I could barely handle her. The Holy Knights and mages stood no chance.
She would destroy everything in her path until she found Undecided.
She was completely fixated on finding her, as if Undecided was her sworn enemy.
Had Undecided insulted her before she died?
There was no other way. I had to become a bigger threat than Undecided.
“Kali!”
Jill had reached the top of the ladder and was opening the entrance. I threw a rock at the back of Kali’s head as she climbed after her.
“Look at this!”
Kali turned around.
Her eyes widened as she saw what I was holding.
“You bastard!!!”
Her expression turned to pure rage.
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[Your Text Here]
Almost shocked Luna didn’t tell them to explode for acting like normies, but then I remember xenon having explosion magic so I imagine that will play out soon enough.