Damn Necromancer - Chapter 122

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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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Spendthrift Necromancer (122)
Cursed Land
[All fifty participants have been selected!]
[Transferring to the Cursed Land!]
The landscape shifted.
Above blackened earth that looked as though it had rotted and crumbled, the ruins of a destroyed city sprawled in all directions.
‘Based on the architectural style, it looks like a fantasy setting……’
A message appeared.
[The 2nd Trial begins.]
[You have entered the ‘Cursed Land’.]
[This is a special stage where Experience cannot be obtained.]
[Score will still accumulate. However, if you have not undergone anything extraordinary before now, there will be no change going forward.]
[Rules are being announced.]
[Rules]
[1. Participants are distributed throughout the area.]
[2. Participants cannot leave the Cursed Land.]
[3. You are free to do anything. Survive here for one month.]
[4. If participants share the same nationality, each other’s location will be displayed at the top.]
The objective was simple.
Survive for one month.
Kim Min-woo immediately checked the contents of his inventory.
Food, equipment, consumables—everything was there.
‘There are no restrictions on usage?’
The earth didn’t swallow his feet, and no curses seemed to be cast upon him either.
What’s the catch?
The premise felt too easy.
‘There must be something else.’
He looked at the display overhead.
One red dot and two blue dots appeared.
Red was him.
The blue ones seemed to be his guild members.
‘Finding them will be simple enough.’
Before moving, he summoned Merchen and Cedric first. Merchen, as she scanned the surroundings, narrowed her eyes slightly.
―This place…… is strange.
“It’s called the Cursed Land.”
―Certainly seems that way.
She scooped up some of the pitch-black soil and put it in her mouth. Her eyes narrowed at once.
―……It’s all mixed together?
“Mixed?”
―Yeah. The taste is complex. Like a chimera.
Merchen turned to him and asked.
―What are we supposed to do here?
“Survive for one month.”
―That’s…… not ideal.
“Why?”
―I’m angry.
That was when it happened.
As if an earthquake had struck, the ground began to tremble violently.
―Kuooooh!
A distant, echoing roar reverberated across the entire land.
Cedric’s eyes blazed with fire.
―Something’s coming.
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
Kim Min-woo drew the Spirit Sword.
Bulge!
Bulge!
The rotten earth swelled and puffed like boiling water frothing at the surface.
Splash!
From all directions, the ground burst open like bubbles.
From within, strange masses of tentacles erupted.
Dozens upon dozens of tentacles formed a encircling formation.
Each appendage was roughly three meters long, writhing grotesquely—a sickening sight.
‘There’s quite a lot of them.’
That was when it happened.
―Disgusting. Die.
[Merchen uses Cyclone!]
Whoooosh!
A tremendous wind pressure erupted, yanking every last tentacle from the earth. The writhing mass convulsed, drawn into a single point.
[Merchen uses Great Explosion!]
Boom-crack!
A colossal chain of explosions detonated.
Shattered into thousands of fragments, the tentacle mass rained down like hail across the ground.
‘That’s it?’
Of course, Merchen’s magic being S-Rank had something to do with it, but even accounting for that, the tentacles weren’t particularly strong. They were merely repugnant to look at.
Then it happened.
Some of the severed tentacle fragments suddenly began gathering in one direction. The writhing pieces, which had been moving about like clay in a child’s hands, gradually reformed into the shape of a man.
“Hak—cough!”
The figure gasped desperately for breath.
“Are you all right?”
“W-water…….”
A skeletal blonde man desperately sought water. Despite the alien language, it was somehow comprehensible—apparently, like the 1st Trial, language worked here too.
His physical condition looked dire. Instead of water, I poured a High-tier Potion directly into his mouth.
The man’s entire body trembled as if seized by convulsions, but his complexion improved slightly.
“Ha… ha…….”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Where… is this…….”
“You were that grotesque tentacle mass until moments ago.”
At those words, the man stared blankly at the tentacle fragments.
“Ha…….”
The man exhaled a hollow sigh of disbelief.
Kim Min-woo’s face hardened watching him. Even after administering the High-tier Potion, there was no sign of recovery.
‘Has his life force been completely drained?’
When the fundamental vitality that sustains the body was completely siphoned away, victims typically exhibited this kind of reaction.
Once it reaches that point, no potion can revive them.
Potions only activated existing life force—they couldn’t animate what was already gone.
“Cough!”
As expected.
Not long after, the man began coughing up blood violently.
“I’m sorry, but you don’t have much time left.”
“……I suspected as much. But you—how did you end up in this lair……?”
“……Lair?”
“You don’t…… know where this is……?”
“I don’t. Is there something you know about it?”
“This is…… a prison…… a prison for confining…… terrible monsters…….”
“Tell me more.”
I poured another High-tier Potion into the man’s mouth. The information he could provide was worth that much.
The man’s eyes brightened.
“There’s a monster…… underground. If we don’t offer it…… sacrifices, it awakens. The Black Mages…… they’ve…… occupied this place…….”
“The Black Mages?”
“……As long as we don’t wake the monster…… this place is…… perfect for their training. So they…… kidnap people…… and make periodic sacrifices…….”
So this was the Cursed Land.
It seemed to be a natural haven for the Black Mages.
“How often must sacrifices be made?”
“……Once…… a…… day…… The stronger the sacrifice…… the stronger the curse…… The Black Mages have…… no reason to refuse…….”
I see.
The man didn’t seem to have much life left. I poured another potion into his mouth, but it was useless.
I watched his lips carefully, trying to gather whatever information remained.
“Be…… careful…… Here, as long as you…… stay…… the Black Mages will…… target you…… hak.”
With those words, the man’s breathing ceased.
Kim Min-woo gently closed his eyes.
‘I’ve grasped the situation well enough.’
From the Black Mages’ perspective, this place was a treasure trove so long as they kept offering sacrifices.
‘The participants can’t escape from here.’
Then inevitably, they would clash with the Black Mages who controlled this land.
And since the Black Mages needed to offer sacrifices anyway, it was as if a stream of ready-made victims had suddenly flooded in.
‘From another angle, though.’
This wasn’t entirely unfavorable for the participants either.
If the Black Mages hadn’t existed, the Awakeners here would almost certainly have turned on one another.
Some would decide it was better to offer a sacrifice and buy time than to fight an unknown monster.
‘Its cry sounded fairly fierce, though.’
That monster down in the depths seemed far stronger than Duke Timorn…….
‘Still, they probably handled the tentacles on their own.’
They weren’t particularly strong.
Any Awakener participating in the 2nd Trial would have dispatched a horde of tentacles without much trouble.
Just as he’d heard from this Blonde Man, the other Awakeners would have figured out roughly how things were progressing by now.
‘I should find my guild members first.’
Their location was marked on the map at the top. If he moved in that direction, he’d encounter the Black Mages, and get a sense of their strength in the process.
He advanced forward with the two legion commanders.
* * *
Long ago, the Black Mages discovered a land that was like a blessing to them.
A land where a monster slumbered.
They destroyed the city on the surface and, over long years, nourished the monster’s growth through sacrifices.
The power of curses spread across the land.
They erected a barrier to prevent that power from escaping.
Thus the Cursed Land became, over the passing centuries, a Sacred Ground for the Black Mages.
So long as they observed a single rule, the Black Mages of this Sacred Ground could enjoy eternal glory.
Offer a sacrifice once each day.
But to this Sacred Ground.
“……There are intruders, you say?”
“Reports are coming in from various locations.”
Mortan, the high priest of the Sacred Ground, tilted his head.
“The barrier hasn’t shown any signs of being breached, has it?”
“No, sir. It remains intact. Which is precisely why it’s so strange. How did they even enter the Sacred Ground…….”
“What’s their caliber?”
“Several of our followers have apparently been struck down already.”
Strong enough to overwhelm some of his followers.
A glimmer of interest flickered across Mortan’s eyes.
They seemed like they would make quite acceptable sacrifices.
“How many?”
“From what we can determine so far, at least twenty or more.”
“We needed quality sacrifices. This is fortuitous.”
“Indeed. It must be his blessing.”
“……You. You seem to be forgetting yourself lately. We don’t serve a god. We merely deal with a monster.”
“……Ah, yes. Forgive me.”
“Go.”
Mortan rose to his feet.
He left the temple with the Black Mages under his command. About two hours had passed since they began using the Crystal Orb to stay in contact and track the intruders’ movements.
Then his head snapped up.
His pupils had gone pitch black.
His vision had expanded dramatically.
Three figures appeared in the distance.
‘Found you.’
His form glided forward like liquid shadow. The first to react was Liu Wei, an Awakener clad in equipment that resembled some kind of beast.
“Snarl!”
In an instant, transformed into something leopard-like, Liu Wei lunged at him.
Swift, graceful movements.
But to Mortan, it was merely meaningless resistance.
The high priest of a Sacred Ground that had ruled for decades.
The power he had accumulated was far beyond what rank-and-file Awakeners could withstand.
With a single gesture, Black Thorns erupted from all around him.
Liu Wei transformed into a bear and crouched low. The thorns tore through his thick fur in an instant and lodged deep in his flesh.
“Grrrraaah!”
The massive bear lurched forward, muscles straining.
“At least the creature has some strength worth acknowledging.”
Mortan spoke with a cold smile.
The two remaining Chinese Awakeners flinched visibly.
They’d been fortunate enough to be close to each other, allowing them to regroup quickly.
The man who had appeared while disposing of the tentacle mass—through him, they’d already anticipated that the Black Mages would find their way here.
The problem was.
‘How on earth are we supposed to beat this thing?!’
Liu Wei ranked within the top five among all participants in this trial. Yet he’d been subdued without putting up a real fight.
And the Black Mages weren’t done. Figures in dark robes were swarming in from behind.
“Vermin who have desecrated the Sacred Ground. Your sin is…….”
Just then.
Liu Wei, who had somehow returned to human form, cried out urgently.
“Wait, please!”
“……?”
“We will help you! Or rather—let us help you!”
“Help us?”
“We’re not the only ones here. You’ll need to capture all of them, won’t you? We can assist with that!”
“……Aren’t you allies with those men?”
“Allies? Hardly! Don’t you have nations in this place as well?”
“We do.”
“These are simply people from different nations! Complete strangers to us!”
The way he protested with such apparent sincerity suggested he wasn’t lying.
‘Hmm…….’
Mortan paused to consider.
The Sacred Ground was vast, and these people were reasonably capable.
If left to his own devices, he would have to continue wandering to hunt down scattered enemies.
But if he made use of these men?
Cleansing the Sacred Ground would proceed far more efficiently.
‘To use poison against poison…….’
Not a bad idea.
“What is it you want?”
“Spare us. That’s all.”
“Fine. Prove your loyalty.”
“……How would we prove it…….”
“Accept the Mark.”
Liu Wei swallowed hard.
‘Damn it. There’s no getting out of this easily.’
He sensed Mortan was planning something unpleasant.
But there was no real choice.
“……Very well. Though I confess my curiosity.”
“It’s simple. I’ll carve a seal upon your hearts.”
“…….”
The Chinese Awakeners’ faces twisted as if they’d bitten into something foul.
Carving something into their hearts.
That sounded anything but simple.
“……Yes. We accept.”
Liu Wei was the first to nod his assent.
If there was no escape, one might as well embrace it.
‘It’s not entirely hopeless.’
From what he could tell, this place was an entirely different dimension—like the inside of a Gate.
Different races, different languages, different appearances—everything was foreign.
‘I just need to make it back to Earth.’
Whatever was carved into his heart seemed unlikely to have any effect across dimensional boundaries.
One month. He just had to endure for one month.
Then the trial would be over.
‘And in truth, this might even be the better option.’
He’d achieved fifth place in the 1st Trial, and even he had been subdued in the span of a single breath.
It would have been far safer to side with these creatures and capture an Awakener to offer as a sacrifice.
The only variable was the first-place finisher who’d reached fifteen million points.
‘It can’t be raw power. They must have found some loophole.’
He chose to believe that.
If he refused out of fear, he’d be dead on the spot.
“And you two? Will you refuse?”
“How could we possibly refuse, sir?”
“We’ll be marked! We’ll prove our loyalty!”
Only then did Mortan smile.
His hand plunged deep into Liu Wei’s chest, pinning him in place.
“Gasp!”
“The pain is only momentary.”
A Mark was carved into the chests of the Chinese Awakeners.
His hand withdrew.
“Hah!”
The group of Awakeners exhaled sharply.
Then they shuddered.
Because a strange, overwhelming vitality surged through their bodies.
Mortan laughed coldly at the sight.
Did they understand?
That this Mark worked by draining and burning life force itself?
He’d never intended to let live those who had trampled the Sacred Ground beneath their heels.
Use them adequately, and when they became waste, offer them as sacrifices — perfect.
He spoke as if giving an order.
“Find them. And bring them before me.”
“Understood.”
The group of Chinese Awakeners began to move.

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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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