Damn Necromancer - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Prodigal Necromancer (10)
Orc honor guards typically reached Level 250.
By stats alone, all their abilities hovered around 250.
True to their love of combat, they fought with brutal efficiency.
‘And yet these ones—’
They were far stronger than the standard guards he’d encountered before.
The reason was obvious enough.
The Orc Hero pressing Sedrick into a corner.
Just as that creature was extraordinarily powerful, these soldiers had clearly received some sort of enhancement.
‘Level 300? I’d wager something close to that.’
He deflected the incoming Glaive with his blade, absorbing the blow with far less force than it carried, then immediately swung his sword in return.
The Orc’s eyes widened in alarm, and it threw an arm up defensively.
Crack!
The blade sank shallowly into the creature’s bone.
Blood sprayed forth.
‘Shallow.’
The stat boost from his enhancements had been considerable.
But the weapon wasn’t good enough.
The blade had split the skin, yet failed to sever the bone.
The Glaive swept down at him in the meanwhile.
He released his grip and rolled across the ground.
The enraged guard’s body stumbled as it brought its leg up to stomp him flat.
‘Not for nothing did I fill that ring with mana.’
Skeletons rise from the earth itself. The bony hands of those that emerged now clamped down hard on the guard’s legs.
Groar!
Annoyed, its eyes burning red, the guard trampled the Skeletons beneath its feet.
The overwhelming gap in Level shattered the skulls effortlessly.
Yet the summoned bones kept rising, ever more numerous.
[Opening Subspace Ring (Intermediate)!]
Equipment poured from the ring, scattering across the ground.
Skeletons armed themselves swiftly, converging from all directions.
With such a vast Level gap, even armed they wouldn’t deal serious damage.
But the pain would still be everywhere.
Puncturing its flesh from every angle.
And those Skeletons gripping the hand that held the Glaive, holding on with grim determination.
By now, Minwoo had drawn a Hammer from his inventory.
‘Let’s see you stop this.’
He brought the Hammer down hard onto the creature’s face.
The Orc threw its arm up instinctively.
A sword was already embedded in that limb.
The Hammer came down cleanly, driving the blade deeper.
Clang!
The sword pierced through, and the Orc’s arm was severed clean.
Shriek!
A normal creature would writhe in agony, cradling the stump. This one-armed Orc was different.
Instead, its eyes blazed crimson as it pressed forward, swinging its Glaive wildly.
He raised the Hammer to block.
Crash!
Sparks flew as his body was driven backward.
‘This is why Orcs are so difficult.’
They don’t stop, no matter how wounded.
‘But in a way, that works for me.’
Their movements are predictable, easy to read.
Behind the creature’s back, Skeletons were already driving their weapons home relentlessly.
Completely exposed, the Orc would be taking considerable damage.
Yet still, true to its nature, the beast’s gaze remained fixed solely on him.
He parried the assault multiple times.
‘Steady.’
In combat, the impatient fall first.
And that Orc was impatient.
The orc charged like a bull and hurled its Glaive.
He twisted his face away.
The Glaive flew past viciously, grazing his cheek.
In that same moment, the orc lunged forward with both arms spread wide.
A sound decision.
It must have thought fighting with weapons would be troublesome. So it was trying to grapple him instead.
‘But here’s the thing…….’
[Using Eye of Fear (F)!]
[Using Haste (F)!]
In the barest instant.
The orc flinched slightly before the Eye of Fear.
And his own speed quickened just a fraction more.
That single hair’s breadth decided the outcome. The orc’s brutal grip missed by a finger’s width.
He drove the Hammer down onto the orc’s panicked face. A strike that carried both the momentum of his charge and the full force of his swing.
The orc’s face caved in completely.
‘I can read you all.’
Did it think he’d only faced orcs once or twice before?
They were common Gate monsters, after all.
And on top of that, Kim Minwoo now was ‘complete.’
That terrible No Talent was gone.
Skeletons swarmed over the whimpering orc. After striking it a few times with their weapons, its body went limp.
[Victory achieved against a monster with an overwhelming Stat difference!]
[Title ‘Slayer of the Strong’ acquired!]
That was the moment.
ROOOAAAAARRR!
[Orc Hero casts Difference in Rank (EX)!]
[Overwhelming presence!]
[Your soul trembles violently!]
Collapse!
The bodies of the Undead nearby crumbled in an instant.
The forms of the Death Knights and Liches grew translucent.
Sedrick’s body, locked in combat with the Orc Hero, swayed dangerously.
The Bone Dragon’s form crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
But it wasn’t only the Undead that felt the impact.
Thump.
Kim Minwoo.
His heart was pounding wildly. His body now understood what it meant for one’s soul to tremble.
‘Insane…….’
He couldn’t put strength into his body.
It was truly a Skill that deserved the name Difference in Rank.
‘After the Dragon Lord, this is the second time.’
A being that wielded an EX-rank Skill.
Was there some connection between them?
* * *
Sedrick.
Swaying, he looked at the Orc Hero before him.
The Eternal Battlefield repeating endlessly in regret. He’d lost count of how many times he’d battled that monster.
The result was always the same.
He lost.
The spear in his hand trembled.
He had once been a knight.
A common story.
Betrayed. Dead.
Risen as Undead for revenge.
Death Lord.
One of his four Legion Commanders, he had ranged across the continent.
He’d had no equal in all his years.
Until they appeared.
Even Death Lord himself proved no match for them.
Each of the four Legion Commanders was thoroughly defeated one by one.
Sedrick was no different.
An Orc Hero.
It toyed with him as one might with a plaything, letting him live only to strike him down again.
Over and over.
Being Undead did not mean he lacked emotion.
Only that it had dimmed to a shadow.
‘When did it start?’
His fighting spirit—transformed into fear.
He was overwhelmed by that creature.
The Hruluniph Battlefield.
Here, he had met his end.
He regretted it even as his eyes closed for the last time.
What did it matter that he was a knight, a legion commander?
He was nothing but a coward, scrambling only to flee.
Yet in one corner of his heart, he had felt a bitter relief—at least he would no longer be hunted by that thing.
Unfortunately, his wish remained unfulfilled.
At some point, he woke again.
After that, time repeated endlessly.
Stretching on like an eternity.
‘Lord, why…….’
Only when the first participant arrived did he understand.
That this hell where rest would not come was the Death Lord’s design.
Afterward, participants continued to enter this Eternal Battlefield in intervals.
The results were almost always the same.
They failed to endure and fell.
Then their souls were trapped in ordinary Skeletons.
Forever swept up in this Eternal Battlefield.
Very rarely, a participant managed to survive the ordeal.
Then came the choice.
Remain on this stage, or escape.
Even if they chose to flee, the battlefield continued its cycle.
But if they stayed…….
‘They die.’
Inevitably.
And their souls are trapped again.
This time too, he would fall to the Orc Hero.
And at some point, he would find himself back in the repeating battlefield.
There was no way to overcome it alone.
Everything repeated as if the outcome were already decided.
For Sedrick, this place was no different from hell itself.
The Orc Hero drew near.
Its Glaive rose as if to carry out an execution.
An ending already written.
Sedrick stared blankly at the Orc’s weapon.
Then it happened.
“Don’t give up! You bastard!”
A human rushed in.
Crash!
The descending Glaive scraped past Sedrick’s head by the narrowest margin.
His eyes flew wide.
* * *
Regret.
Now he finally understood what Sedrick’s regret truly was.
EX-rank skills were certainly formidable.
But not so overwhelming that a being like Sedrick could not resist at all.
Yet he felt so utterly powerless.
As though crushed beneath fear itself.
‘No wonder he regrets it.’
Sedrick is a strong knight.
His sense of self must be quite fierce.
I’d figured it out from the start of our conversation.
Given how many Undead he commanded, he must have done reasonably well for himself.
But to die like this—so pathetically?
Even in death, regret would linger.
How could I prevent that regret?
One thing was certain.
The Orc Hero bent on executing Sedrick.
I had to stop him first.
After all, you can’t overcome regret if you’re already dead!
‘Move. Please, just move!’
Even through the nauseating vertigo, I clawed my consciousness back with stubborn desperation.
I threw everything I had into moving a body that lay frozen like a comatose husk.
Just barely.
My lips trembled.
I bit the inside of my lip with my teeth.
The pressure built steadily.
Blood burst from inside my lip, and the salt taste jolted my mind awake a fraction more.
The coldness that had gripped my body began to fade.
Sensation was creeping back into my fingers.
‘I can do this.’
The No Talent that had shackled my body had vanished long ago.
I focused my mind.
One thousandth of a second.
One ten-thousandth of a moment.
Those fractional instants.
Because I’d concentrated with every ounce of my being in the game, I could excel even here—though this was reality now, not a game.
‘None of that matters.’
In any situation, I’d always clear it.
That was Kim Minwoo the gamer.
[Inexplicable Willpower!]
[Your soul begins to transcend rank!]
I took one step.
The second step came easier.
And finally…….
My body launched forward.
Toward the Orc Hero’s Glaive!
[Your soul never yielded in any moment!]
[You obtain the Title: Indomitable Spirit!]
The Glaive descended slowly, as though savoring this execution.
And for that, I was grateful.
Clang!
[Weapon destroyed!]
Even if my blade shattered, I could save Sedrick.
“Don’t you dare give up! You bastard!”
Grrrr…….
The Hero’s eyes narrowed with thwarted pleasure.
“Even a weakling beneath you moves spry as this, and you’re going to surrender?”
―…….
Sedrick said nothing.
The Orc Hero advanced.
‘Damn.’
How many seconds could I hold out?
‘Just avoid the instant kill.’
The Hero swung his Glaive again.
I saw it clearly.
I thought I’d dodged.
Whoosh!
A fountain of blood erupted from my chest.
Visible doesn’t mean avoidable—not at that speed.
A searing pain blazed through me.
[Armor shattered!]
The breastbone split clean away.
Thank the gods the heart went unscathed.
Somehow, I stayed on my feet.
The hero cocked his head, watching.
A pitiful creature.
He’d meant to kill it.
But it didn’t die.
Clatter!
Tickling softness all around.
Skeletons clung to my body, holding fast.
Thud.
One stomp and they crumbled to dust.
In that fraction of time, Kim Minwoo rushed forward and drenched my chest with Potion.
The bleeding stopped, barely.
Our eyes met.
His gaze sharpened slightly.
―You.
The creature spoke.
Somehow, I understood what he said.
―Warrior.
One of the orc guards hurled his weapon to the ground.
―Take it.
This bastard.
A magnanimous one, after all.
I gripped the Glaive instead of the shattered blade. The Level requirement wouldn’t match, so I’d lose any bonus effects.
Still, being able to wield a weapon at all was something to be grateful for.
―Here I come.
The Glaive crossed the distance in an instant.
The arc would cleave my body neatly in two.
‘I give.’
I twisted my body with all my strength.
Screech!
The arm without the sword came clean off.
In exchange, I’d carved into his forearm—
Clang!
The Glaive shrieked against his forearm as though striking solid steel.
Damn.
The plan was to trade bone for flesh.
The Stat disparity must be so vast I couldn’t even scratch the skin.
“…….”
Our eyes locked.
Mercifully, he asked a question instead of attacking.
―Why?
The orc gazed down with confusion, as if wondering why I struggled so desperately.
A kind one, he was.
I decided to repay his kindness a little.
“Protect. Reason. Need?”
Grin.
The hero smiled, as though he’d understood well enough.
His yellow teeth gleamed.
Then—
Boom!
His kick sent my body hurtling through the air.
[Orc Hero Mutatka uses Destructive Strike!]
[Massive damage sustained!]
[All equipment destroyed!]
I summoned Skeletons in a frenzy at the landing point.
Crack!
Still, my body slammed hard into the ground, shaking with the tremendous impact.
*Cough*…!”
His chest caved in where the kick had landed, and blood streamed freely from where his arm had been severed.
His body wouldn’t move—not even a twitch.
‘Potion….’
His eyes were slipping shut.
[Warning!]
[You have sustained a fatal wound!]
[The effect of Indomitable Spirit activates!]
[Your soul endures the death of your body!]
[Your Soul stat begins to decline!]
[Soul (46/50)]
[Soul (42/50)]
[Soul (38/50)]
‘Am I dying right now?’
It certainly felt that way.
When that number hit zero, things would get messy—that much was obvious.
Each second crawled by.
Time moved in a slow, agonizing trickle.
The hero drew near and pressed the Glaive against his throat, speaking in halting syllables.
―Good. Warrior. I. Mutatka. You. Name.
[Soul (34/50)]
He worked his mouth, barely managing sound.
Jo-kka.
[Soul (30/50)]
―Jo-kka. Remember.
[Soul (26/50)]
Well, thanks for that.
The Glaive drew closer.
Inch by inch.
Inch by inch.
[Soul (22/50)]
Just before it could touch.
Bang!
A familiar spear flashed out, knocking the Glaive aside.
‘This damn bastard….’
[Soul (18/50)]
Sedrick.
The lazy fool had finally gotten off his ass.
―…Do not lay another hand on him.
[Soul (14/50)]
The world bleached to grey.
A message bloomed in the frozen moment.
[Perfect Escape Condition Achieved!]
[Sedrick has overcome his regret!]
[You have won the heart of the Death Lord’s Legion Commander, the one known as the Dragon Knight!]
[Sedrick will now fight for you!]
[The Death Lord’s Authority—Sedrick Summon (SSS-rank)—activates!]
[Title acquired: ‘Master of the Dragon Knight’]
[Title acquired: ‘One Acknowledged by Mutatka’]
[Title acquired: ‘He Who Halted Eternity’]
[The Eternal Battlefield begins to fade.]
[You withdraw from the battlefield.]
Hell, you sure know how to drag a person through the wringer.
I was only planning to use you sparingly.
This won’t do.
‘You get summoned again, you’re finished. Seriously.’
He made his resolve crystal clear.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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