Damn Necromancer - Chapter 139

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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 (139)
Isabella.
No easy opponent.
Her ability scores had risen considerably through titles and accessories, but facing her barehanded would be nothing short of suicide.
You could see it just by looking at her fingers.
‘Quite the display.’
He’d only just managed to acquire two Ancient Grade rings.
Isabella’s hands told a different story.
Nearly every finger wore a ring that looked anything but ordinary.
Some of them were famous items even Kim Min-woo recognized.
The Ring of the Dark Dancer and the Phoenix Ring alone were legendary accessories.
[Ring of the Dark Dancer]
[Grade: Ancient]
[Level Requirement: 800 or higher, Martial Artist class]
[A ring left behind by a legendary dancer who danced in the shadows.]
[Effect 1. Strength, Agility, Stamina +150]
[Effect 2. Critical Hit Chance increased by 30%]
[Effect 3. Critical Damage increased by 100%]
[Effect 4. Nullifies one attack that would deal a fatal blow (Cooldown: 30 days)]
[Phoenix Ring]
[Grade: Ancient]
[Level Requirement: 900 or higher, Martial Artist class]
[A ring imbued with the power of the phoenix, a symbol of endless death and rebirth.]
[Effect 1. Strength, Agility, Stamina +150]
[Effect 2. When HP drops to 30% or below, the phoenix’s blessing envelops the body. For 10 seconds: Attack Power increased by 50%, Movement Speed increased by 30%, Healing Received increased by 50%]
[Effect 3. When defeating an enemy, Flame Energy charges by 1. When Flame Energy reaches 30, the next attack’s damage increases by 150%.]
High level requirements.
Ancient Grade.
All three conditions aligned—class-exclusive accessories—made possible the performance on display.
The rumor was that she’d obtained them by risking her life to clear Hidden Gates.
Isabella was an Awakener who embodied the extreme of gear power, wrapped from head to toe in items of that caliber.
Standing on the Training Ground, Isabella looked at Kim Min-woo and asked.
“Equipment?”
“I’ll use everything.”
“You’ll be at a disadvantage.”
“We use equipment in Gates, don’t we?”
At that, Isabella nodded, apparently satisfied.
The objective after all was to see whether he could perform effectively even inside a Hidden Gate.
What difference would it make if he fought well barehanded?
He wouldn’t be fighting without equipment in an actual Gate.
In the end, an Awakener’s equipment was part of their skill. She’d asked ahead of time in case the matter came up.
‘His mindset is sound.’
Then.
Kim Min-woo smiled slightly and spoke.
“Besides, I’m not necessarily at a disadvantage.”
“…?”
His familiar Summoned Creatures emerged at his side.
Merchen and Cedric.
Isabella knew of both their existence. Kim Min-woo handed them equipment.
All Legendary Grade items swept up from the Auction House.
Cedric received armor and gauntlets.
Merchen got boots and a hat.
“Equip yourselves.”
Cedric, having reviewed the detailed descriptions, nodded with satisfaction.
Ulpaululu’s Forest.
It felt like only yesterday he’d equipped them with tattered gear in that place.
Things were different now.
Grade: Legendary.
With level requirements of 250 and above across the board, their appearance alone was decidedly respectable.
―Finally found something worth using.
“You think Legendary-tier gear just falls into your lap?”
―Right. Cedric doesn’t know the effort Min-woo puts in. Dressing them, feeding them, putting them to bed. Isn’t that right?
“Exactly.”
What a dutiful Summoned Creature that is.
Since they said something nice, I ought to give them a reward.
“Here, put this earring on too.”
―Wow! How pretty!
A Legendary-Grade earring I’d picked up at the Auction House. Merchen’s eyes lit up at the sight of it.
―You worked so hard, Min-woo!
Merchen suddenly threw their arms around me in an embrace.
Cedric glanced over at me and asked quietly.
―……What about me?
“Oh, I’ve got something for you.”
I tossed a ring to the skeleton.
A close-combat class ring.
Catching it with a soft clink, Cedric examined the detailed description, then, looking satisfied, slipped it onto one of those bony fingers.
[Cedric equips Ring of Barbarian Chieftain…….]
[Cedric equips Giant’s Armor…….]
[Cedric equips Black Drake’s Gauntlet…….]
[Merchen equips Elegant Spirit Earring…….]
[Merchen equips Clever Ogre Mage King’s Hat…….]
[Merchen equips Magic Ghost Boots…….]
Ancient-Grade items wrapping around Isabella like that? Even she was outmatched in quality.
So I’d make up for it with quantity instead.
Kim Min-woo was outfitting himself as well.
[Equipping Plague Lord’s Gauntlet…….]
[Equipping Lamentation of the Dead!]
[Equipping Specter’s Walk…….]
[Equipping Ring of the Cold Heart…….]
Armor: Lamentation of the Dead.
Boots: Specter’s Walk.
Gauntlets: Plague Lord’s Gauntlet.
Ring: Ring of the Cold Heart.
For the helmet and leg armor I couldn’t find, I just patched together with Rare-tier items.
I looked toward Isabella.
“How’s this looking?”
“Your Summoned Creatures are living quite the life. But aren’t you summoning anyone else?”
I shook my head.
Only an idiot would summon small-fry Summoned Creatures for this.
Just looking at the Phoenix Ring made that clear.
It works by charging flame energy whenever enemies are defeated.
If I summoned skeletons and they took a hit even once, explosive damage would come pouring in.
Against a monster like Isabella, ordinary Summoned Creatures had little meaning.
But then again.
―Squawk.
Someone like Dol-swe might actually be worth using.
A pristine white gauntlet materialized above her hand.
Gauntlet of the Martial God—Ancient Grade.
It was a weapon as much a part of her as her own limbs.
The darkness of a moonless night.
Yet the Training Ground was already flooded with bright illumination.
Besides, at this level of Awakener, darkness was hardly a significant obstacle.
“Shall we begin?”
“Then I’m coming.”
[Casting Land of Death (S)!]
[All allied Undead Ability Scores increase by 20%…….]
Isabella’s figure glided forward smoothly.
[Dol-swe uses Provoke (A) on Isabella…….]
[The gap is vast…….]
[Isabella uses Strike of the Giant (S)…….]
Bang!
A fist that crushes the defending golem, shield and all.
One punch and the sturdy Dol-swe simply vanished.
Kim Min-woo’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
‘Those ability scores are no joke.’
The average human gained four ability points per level.
Isabella was over level one thousand, and with her gear, Elixir, and title effects stacked on top, those numbers were inflated even further.
To the eye, all her stats clustered in the late twenty-hundreds.
‘Still, it’s worth trying.’
Even accounting for his titles and Ancient Grade rings, he sat around one thousand in ability score.
The law of victory.
That was more than enough numbers to attempt something, even without his monster-exclusive title activating.
[The Curse of Aging (D)+9 is….]
[Title, ‘Abnormal Glutton’ has activated!]
[Status abnormality — the curse is consumed!]
‘The curse won’t take effect.’
Merchen’s magic erupted outward.
Lightning and flame, wind woven through it all.
Every element assaulted at once.
[Isabella uses Swift Response (S)!]
[Isabella uses Dance of Annihilation (S)!]
[Isabella uses Steel Body (S)+9….]
Through sheer stat superiority, she dodged and shattered everything, closing distance in one fluid motion. The S-rank, 9-Strengthen skill forged by France’s love hardened her flesh beyond diamond.
Even when magic found its mark, only soot brushed her skin.
Knowing this, Isabella charged straight at Merchen without hesitation.
Cedric and Kim Min-woo.
Undead and human locked eyes, nodded, and surged forward.
Isabella’s physical durability exceeded imagination.
Her entire frame was sealed tight in Ancient Grade equipment.
To grapple her?
Each piece had to be neutralized one by one.
‘Break the gear first. Especially the gauntlets.’
The gauntlets she wore were ideal targets in that regard.
Every punch meant bringing those gauntlets to bear.
Since she closed distance of her own accord, landing stacked attacks would be relatively straightforward.
Destroy those, and she’d have to rely on bare fists and feet.
Blade energy poured forth from the Spectral Sword Technique.
Spears imbued with the Spear of Shadows and Dragon’s Strike whirled alongside it.
She ignored the blade energy entirely, plucking one of several spear shadows and reaching out to intercept it.
Cedric twisted the spear, striking her gauntlet.
Clang!
The spear coming down with fourteen-fold damage multiplied.
As the gauntlet flinched for an instant, he brought the Spectral Sword down upon it.
[Struck the same location. Damage increased eleven percent….]
Her remaining fist rocketed toward his face.
[Merchen uses Underwater Adhesive (SS)….]
Splat!
No matter how durable the body.
The adhesive couldn’t help but slow her momentum.
‘As expected.’
Cedric swung his spear once more, delaying her speed further.
In that sliver of space, Kim Min-woo barely dodged and brought his blade down on the opposite gauntlet.
[Struck the same location. Damage increased eleven percent….]
He struck the exact same point Cedric had, applying the stacked attack multiplier in one blow.
As Cedric’s level climbed, his spearcraft had grown ever more refined.
Their coordination had reached the point where this degree of synchronization came naturally.
Then.
Isabella leaped back and furrowed her brow.
“…What exactly are you doing?”
“Can’t you tell by watching?”
“Hah.”
Isabella’s eyes narrowed, her pride visibly stung.
There was nothing strange about it.
Stacked attacks?
The judgment was so strict that merely twisting the point of impact would cancel the stack entirely.
So it was standard practice not to attempt them unless there was a significant gap in ability.
Yet here he was, attempting it against her?
And with a summoned creature at that, making it three against one?
Anyone’s temper would rise.
She exhaled as if in disbelief, though only for a moment.
“Very well. From now on, I’ll use both hands only. So come—if you can.”
[Isabella activates High-Speed Offense-Defense (S)!]
Isabella pressed forward with redoubled speed.
I raised my sword quickly to parry the gauntlet strike.
Boom!
[You have struck the same location! Damage increased by 22%….]
[The title ‘Digging into One Spot’ is….]
As I received her blow against the gauntlet with my blade, another stack accumulated.
Cedric’s spear, the Spectral Sword Technique, and my Gauntlet of the Martial God clashed at blinding speed, sending sparks flying.
Merchen did not remain idle either.
[Underwater Prison (SS) is….]
[Binding Earth (SS) is….]
As if to justify the value of the earring received, she was layering all manner of spells, hampering Isabella at every turn.
In the intervals where she slowed her pace, the attack pattern was extraordinarily troublesome.
As time passed, damage accumulated on both gauntlets.
Isabella’s eyes narrowed as though she had witnessed something she could not comprehend.
The stat gap was catastrophic.
Yet two summoned creatures were precisely compensating for that disparity.
Whenever gaps inevitably opened, magic and spear assisted in turn, delaying her momentum.
And he dodged the attacks with such razor-thin margins that it seemed almost intentional.
‘He’s reading my movements.’
Otherwise, even with the aid of summoned creatures, such performance would have been impossible.
This was already the sixth strike from both sides.
The blade followed like a leech even as she continually shifted her attack angles to throw him off.
‘This is absolutely ridiculous….’
She bit her lip.
What’s more, as time wore on, he was executing stacked attacks with increasing ease.
Isabella found herself flustered, facing a situation she had never encountered before.
Desperation was beginning to tangle her movements.
Seven times.
Eight times.
Nine times.
As the damage mounted higher still, she gasped in alarm and retreated hastily.
“Wait, hold on.”
Isabella held the gauntlet, her lips pressing together hesitantly.
She seemed to want to say something, but her pride made it difficult to voice.
I decided to ease her burden.
“Were you thinking of using your feet as well, not just your hands?”
Heat flushed across her face.
Though only for a moment.
Isabella nodded.
If we continued, the gauntlet would be in danger.
Her pride took a small hit, but there was no helping it.
Jaw clenched, she spoke.
“…I apologize for going back on my word. But it seems I can’t manage with just my hands.”
“It’s fine. In the first place, it makes no sense for a martial artist to rely on hands alone.”
“…Thank you for understanding. From now on, I’ll fight at full strength.”
…Full strength?
That was the moment.
[Isabella activates Genius’s Time (SS)!]
[Your perception of time slows dramatically!]
[Isabella activates Master of Martial Arts!]
[For 10 minutes, all martial techniques receive an exceptionally powerful bonus!]
[Gauntlet of the Martial God activates! Descent of Martial God unleashes…….]
[Ruthless Hermit’s Necklace activates…… Feast of Slaughter…….]
[Empress’s Armor activates…….]
[Dance of the Wind activates…….]
[Wrath of the Judge…….]
[Elegy of Darkness…….]
.
.
Several skills that had recently grown from S-rank to SS-rank.
Added to that, all manner of abilities embedded in her Ancient Grade gear activated with dazzling brilliance.
In a heartbeat.
Boom!
Cedric burst apart and was unsummoned.
Next came Merchen.
Apparently tired of the mage constantly hurling spells to interfere, the moment Cedric shattered Isabella surged forward toward Merchen.
Merchen frantically cast defensive magic.
But a single kick compressed with staggering ability scores unsummoned him in an instant.
The whole thing had happened in barely a second.
Before the legion commanders could even be resummoned, Isabella was already right in front of Kim Min-woo.
‘What the hell.’
Wasn’t this cheating?
At the cost of two commanders’ sacrifice, he’d barely managed to unsheathe his blade and respond.
But even that response barely mattered.
Crash!
The moment her fist connected with his sword, his body flew back and crashed hard into the wall.
Block and deflect?
That speed was simply impossible to deal with.
“Cough!”
Kim Min-woo coughed blood.
The blow had been damnably painful.
Isabella, who had closed the distance with her fist raised before him, looked down at him intently.
“GG. I lost.”
Kim Min-woo spoke with both hands raised.
Already those vicious ability scores had been bolstered by gear power.
To actually defeat her, he’d probably need something like a Bone Dragon Rider—golden skeleton Cedric.
Yet even after hearing those words that decided the match, Isabella’s expression remained clouded.
As if something troubled her greatly.
“…… Your level?”
“270.”
“Your ability scores?”
“Just over a thousand.”
Two Ancient Grade rings provided 200 to every stat, combined with two percent-scaling titles to achieve visible ability scores.
“But how did you manage that?”
“I did my best with what I had.”
She looked at Kim Min-woo as if baffled.
“So then, what’s your assessment?”
“…… Your use of summoned creatures was impressive. If you raise your level…… you might be acceptable.”
Kim Min-woo nodded.
It had been five months now.
Meanwhile, Isabella was a World-Class Ranker with over ten years of experience under her belt.
The gap now?
It was only natural.
“Then raise your level and join up. Seo-pan, we’ll consolidate later, yes?”
She, who had been staring intently at him, nodded.
If he were trying to force his way in without proper qualifications, that would be one thing.
But having witnessed it directly, Kim Min-woo was already a thoroughly skilled practitioner.
Only.
“I hope the timeframe won’t be too long.”
“About four months should do it. Levels are easy to raise anyway.”
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave.”
Isabella turned toward the gate without hesitation.
She was truly a direct person.
“Wait a moment. Are you really that busy?”
“Why do you ask?”
“If you’re not truly busy, how about doing a promotional appearance before you go?”
“A promotional appearance?”
“We’ll pay you well for it.”
Every company connected to Isabella carried the perception of being world-class.
In reality, that was accurate.
So if she appeared in an Ilseong product, what then?
The world’s perception could flip in an instant. Since she was already here on Korean soil, why not have her do some work before she leaves? How fortunate that would be.
“Money doesn’t really mean much to me.”
“Even five thousand won is precious money. Haven’t you learned that lesson?”
Isabella’s brows knit together, as if some painful memory had surfaced.
It passed quickly.
She asked in return.
“Putting money aside—does Ilseong have any product that could be called world-class?”
“One will come out soon enough. Something like that.”
Perhaps it was the insight he’d given her.
Dr. Kim’s battery development had caught fire, or so he’d heard. He’d even been told that a prototype would be ready in just days.
The plan was to launch that product with a grand promotional campaign across the entire world.
And here Isabella was, right beside him.
She’d be perfect as a promotional ambassador.
Isabella fell silent at the proposal, considering.
She already had more offers coming in than she could count.
If anything, the real problem was that her schedule was so packed she had no time to train.
Wasn’t she scraping together these meager hours just to make this visit happen tonight?
She was well aware that showing up unexpectedly like this in the middle of the night was rude. It was simply that there was no other way for her to find time to visit Korea at all.
Isabella was that busy.
And so her answer was already decided.
“I’m sorry, but I’m also busy…….”
“You love to fight, don’t you? Would you perhaps be interested in meeting the first-generation Awakeners of Korea?”
“First-generation?”
“Yes. The Awakeners who already made their names and retired when you were just beginning to clear Gates. For example, people like Geom-seon.”
“……!”
Isabella’s eyes lit up at those words. Korea’s first-generation Awakeners were those legendary masters who had once been regarded as the finest among all Awakeners across the world.
And Geom-seon was foremost among them.
As the saying goes, skill in old age is eternal.
At eighty years old, still setting new records.
The fact that no swordmaster today dared claim they could surpass his blade spoke volumes.
Of course she was interested.
“You’ll really arrange a match for me?”
“Of course. I have those connections. Why not stay the night and rest? I’ll introduce you.”
There was also Sin Chang and Dok-ma, those who’d been given numbers as a set, as well as Gwon Wang.

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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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