Damn Necromancer - Chapter 61

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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 Wasteful Necromancer (61)
I leaped down from the horse alongside Seo Ye-rim, watching as the Progress Rate climbed steadily higher.
97. 98.
[Progress Distance: 99%]
Even at 99, the old monsters hadn’t appeared yet.
The decision to charge forward at full speed while buffed had proven sound.
99.1
99.3
99.5
99.7
99.8
99.9
When we finally drew near.
“Haha! Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”
A massive torrent of sword energy poured down from all directions. Without hesitation, I summoned Dol-seoi and the skeleton throng to meet the horrifying aura.
[Dol-seoi activates a defensive stance!]
Dol-seoi planted himself firmly, shield raised to block the assault.
The skeletons did likewise.
Burst!
An explosion tore through the air.
[Skeleton 706 is being unsummoned…….]
[Skeleton 1,032 is being unsummoned…….]
.
.
The skeletons crumbled in droves as the price for blocking the blow. The Death Lord’s passive had already been spent long ago, so resurrection was out of the question.
Dol-seoi too bore the brunt of the impact, his frame shattered in numerous places.
Murim Alliance Lord Yang Jeong-hak.
Heavenly Demon Gu Yang-cheon.
Apostle Leader Baek Hak-seong.
Three old monsters stood before us, blocking the path.
They’d rushed here with such desperation that all three had gone deathly pale.
Gu Yang-cheon clenched his fists.
“Cunning wretch. You nearly slipped through our fingers. How do you manage to flee so infuriatingly?”
Yang Jeong-hak leveled his blade.
“Haha, it’s been quite some time since I’ve exerted myself like this.”
Baek Hak-seong’s eyes turned cold.
“……You are no blood of mine anymore.”
A dreadful presence consumed the entire surroundings.
Seo Ye-rim’s face went rigid. The words Kim Min-woo had spoken the last time came back to her.
He’d said it would be difficult to hold out even for ten minutes.
Back then, she’d inwardly scoffed at him.
Now she found herself grateful for those words instead.
‘……Five minutes will be tough too, won’t it?’
Her body was exhausted, but the three of them were just as formidable.
The destination was within arm’s reach, yet whether we could cut through the path these three blocked remained uncertain.
Then.
Kim Min-woo looked straight at her and spoke.
“I’ll handle the Leader and the Lord.”
“……Will you be all right?”
“I have to be. If we want to survive. We need to break through before more pursuers arrive.”
“……All right.”
The two of them drew their blades.
“Haha. That Baek So-cheon boy—quite bold, I must say. Taking on both myself and the Lord?”
“I thought he’d wet himself in fear, but kids these days have no sense of shame. Haha! Then I’ll take the woman!”
All five of them rushed forward simultaneously.
Explosive sword energy erupted from Seo Ye-rim’s blade. Gu Yang-cheon, smirking, drove his fist forward.
The Apostle Leader and the Alliance Lord charged in.
From our side, Cedric and Dol-seoi rushed forward.
“I’ll handle the lesser rabble! You take the worthless son—his father demands it!”
“Very well.”
Bang!
Baek Hak-seong’s blade collided with mine. The first exchange ended in a draw.
‘He’s worth fighting.’
When wielding a sword, the most crucial ability scores are strength and agility.
Stamina and mana are merely secondary factors. When Baek Hak-seong tested me earlier with his blade energy—
The difference in ability scores between then and now was like night and day.
At least in raw stats alone, I could hold my own against Baek Hak-seong.
We exchanged blows dozens of times in quick succession.
The fact that I wasn’t being pushed back as easily as expected made Baek Hak-seong’s eyes narrow slightly. Mana surged into his blade.
A cold aura bloomed forth.
In an instant, blade energy split into dozens of strands and washed over me. I summoned some skeletons to block the onslaught.
Several waves of blade energy grazed my body, and blood fountained up.
Gasp!
Baek Hak-seong’s blade was already probing for the opening, drilling in.
I twisted the Phantom Sword to receive it.
Clang!
The two blades scraped past each other, sending sparks flying.
I swung down as if to drive the sword deep.
Baek Hak-seong’s form blurred.
‘I saw that coming.’
That’s the thing about footwork users.
They dart at high speed and strike from behind.
I was already braced for it.
I spun around instantly and thrust my blade outward.
Squelch!
His sword completely pierced my shoulder.
In return, half of Baek Hak-seong’s arm was severed.
“What?”
A startled voice came from Gu Yang-cheon. Yang Jeong-hak, who had been pressing the assault against Cedric and Dol-seoi, also froze mid-motion. Looking at the results alone, both of their arms were shredded.
It meant we were evenly matched in combat prowess.
A warning sounded in both their minds. The Apostle’s strength was not inferior to them.
What that meant was—
This bastard Baek Seo-cheon was genuinely a dangerous force. Gu Yang-cheon, his resolve hardened completely, launched a furious assault on Seo Ye-rim.
In seconds, she was overwhelmed on all sides.
Baek Hak-seong also unleashed every technique he possessed. Dol-seoi and Cedric couldn’t endure and were forcibly unsummoned.
I was caught in a similar brawl myself.
‘It’s a shame I don’t have skills.’
I deliberately hadn’t used curses.
They’d probably take dozens of attempts to land, and even then the stat reduction would be less than five percent.
‘I need to conserve mana.’
Baek Hak-seong was a master.
He wouldn’t give me a chance to drink Potions.
Even if I managed to, getting poisoned mid-combat would be fatal.
I had to save most of my mana for summoning Cedric and Dol-seoi.
Then—
[Cedric is being unsummoned.]
[Dol-seoi is being unsummoned.]
All my summons vanished.
Right after, the master Yang Jeong-hak joined the fray. I hastily resummoned them, but they were already grappling at close range.
The exchange became far more chaotic.
‘This is rough.’
And Seo Ye-rim’s body was becoming a mangled mess.
It was obvious she was in dire straits.
She could hold on for maybe thirty seconds at most.
After that, she might well be killed by the Celestial Demon’s assault. Kim Min-woo deliberated dozens of times in an instant.
There were roughly two options.
First: abandon Seo Ye-rim.
She wouldn’t last long.
The Celestial Demon would join in soon enough.
In that case, I’d have almost no chance of surviving.
But if I abandon them…….
‘At least I’d make it out.’
It seemed possible to carve out an opening, some way to slip free.
Second option: save them.
Baek Hak-seong and Yang Jeong-hak are no lightweights. To get them out, I’d have to give up something major.
‘There might be a way to keep them alive, somehow.’
The problem was that the odds of me dying shot up drastically.
Then.
Seo Ye-rim, still blocking the Heavenly Demon’s palm strike, suddenly coughed blood from her mouth.
‘Damn…….’
Kim Min-woo’s grip tightened on his blade.
The reason we’d come this far without major incident—it was all because of her.
She’d shot down Jeon Seo-gu and the scouts with her bow, captured them all.
And that was just the beginning.
She’d fought alongside him against countless search parties. Without her, cutting through would have eaten up far more time.
‘And this isn’t a game.’
It’s reality.
Even accounting for that, he was the type to kill without hesitation when deserved.
But conversely, that meant those who needed saving had to be saved, period.
Otherwise it would gnaw at him.
A moment’s deliberation.
The choice came fast.
‘I’m saving them.’
And I’m getting out alive too.
Even if the odds were slim, they weren’t zero.
In other words, there was a way to clear this.
‘Then I’ll do it.’
When had he ever taken the easy road?
“Cedric!”
In that instant, Cedric unleashed a Breath, scorching flame erupting forward. The tremendous heat drove Baek Hak-seong back a step.
Kim Min-woo bolted through the gap.
Both masters reflexively drew their blades.
[Dol-seoi uses Taunt on Yang Jeong-hak!]
[The opponent’s level is too high!]
[Taunt lands for an extremely brief duration!]
Yang Jeong-hak flinched for just an instant.
Baek Hak-seong’s blade slipped past by inches.
The deadly arcs meant for heart and throat veered off course.
He raised his already shredded arm to block one strike.
The second blade, thrusting up from behind, he met head-on—and Yang Jeong-hak’s sword punched through below his stomach, the tip erupting from his back.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
He ran, his mangled arm hanging useless at his side.
A fraction of a second.
What he pulled from his inventory wasn’t a Potion—it was Ascension’s Clue.
“Cough! This is what you bastards wanted!”
“……!”
All three pairs of eyes snapped to the clue.
A brief opening.
He reached the stumbling Seo Ye-rim. Gu Yang-cheon, suddenly snapping back to awareness, drove his fist forward.
Fist shadows rained down like stars.
Chest, face, forearm.
Three burning impacts hammered home.
In exchange, he closed the distance to Seo Ye-rim.
He seized her at the waist.
“Go!”
He pivoted and hurled with all his strength.
Even as she flew toward the Clear Zone, no one pursued. All their greed was fixed on the clue.
He turned, blade in hand.
Three masters were already charging, their feet planted firm.
‘Can I live through this?’
The old monsters’ obsession ran far deeper than he’d imagined.
He took far more hits than expected.
His body was trembling—badly.
Then.
Whip!
A tiny sound reached his ears from behind. For Kim Min-woo, it was a sound he knew all too well.
Precision Snipe.
He’d heard it countless times standing beside her when she used the skill.
A single arrow.
From the sound alone, he knew where it was headed.
‘Baek Hak-seong.’
The Apostle Lord.
It would reach the one charging in now. An arrow carrying Precision Snipe with it.
The calculation was complete.
In that same instant, from the three rushing forward, he thrust his blade at Baek Hak-seong alone.
The arrow that had been flying from behind suddenly twisted its trajectory, grazing past Kim Min-woo’s face.
Baek Hak-seong, startled by the arrow that suddenly erupted before him, raised his sword to block.
The fact that he’d reacted in that split second proved he truly was a master of the highest order.
But.
Could he possibly block the thrust he’d already anticipated and unleashed?
Thud!
“……!”
In the middle of that frozen moment as he blocked the arrow mid-air, a single blade pierced straight through his heart.
A clean kill.
[Apostle Lord Baek Hak-seong has fallen!]
[Level rises by 6!]
[You have succeeded in a hunt that was nearly impossible!]
[You obtain the Title ‘Dawn of Legend’!]
[Title ‘Slayer of the Strong’ changes to ‘Law of Victory’!]
[Ascension’s Clue blooms, drinking in the blood of the mighty!]
[Reaching Level 151, you have satisfied the conditions of Death Lord’s Second Trial!]
[You may now be summoned, should you will it!]
He’d killed one.
And the price for it.
Thud!
His heart pierced in turn.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
He was sent flying, his entire body beaten by the Heavenly Demon’s fists.
Even in that final moment, he didn’t release the Clue from his grip.
[Warning!]
[You have sustained a critical wound!]
[‘Indomitable Spirit’ effect activates!]
[Your soul endures the death of your flesh!]
[Your Soul Points begin to decline!]
[Soul Points (56/60)]
When had his Soul Points increased from 50 to 60?
He didn’t know.
That wasn’t what mattered now.
He couldn’t move a single finger, but it didn’t matter.
Inventory.
That miracle worked even for those in a vegetative state.
[Soul Points (52/60)]
While his body hung suspended in mid-air.
He placed the Clue into his Inventory.
[Soul Points (48/60)]
His body flew backward.
The Heavenly Demon and the Lord of the Sect came rushing after immediately. Two figures chasing with fire in their eyes. His body—already in tatters—had taken a pierced heart and a beating across his entire form.
By any measure, he should be dead.
By now they must think him dead, waiting to see who gets the Clue, watching each other warily.
[Soul Points (44/60)]
But he still hadn’t died.
And thanks to Baek Hak-seong’s sacrifice, the two of them could attack with far greater force than expected. Particularly, the Heavenly Demon’s strike—delivered while thrashing wildly in panic—was something to behold.
The speed at which it came flying was considerable.
And from behind, no less.
Twang!
An arrow flew, blocking Yang Jeong-hak’s advance at the last moment.
He twisted his head slightly to evade it. The dodge cost him precious speed,
which meant I just barely reached the Clear Zone first.
That instant.
[Soul Points (40/60)]
Everything inside the Gate froze, as if time itself had stopped.
‘Ugh. Well, I’m taking this with me.’
[Clear objective achieved.]
[Gate cleared via special route!]
[Gate Clear reward granted!]
[The Title “Beginning of Legend” has been upgraded to “Beginning of Legend – Part One”!]
[The “Ascension’s Clue” has evolved into “Ascension’s Ring”!]
[Would you like to exit?]
“W-what do I do!”
Seo Ye-rim rushed toward me through the frozen time, frantic.
Probably because we shared the same Clear condition, she seemed able to move even within the frozen state.
To be precise, though—
‘it’s not completely frozen.’
After clearing, time flows at a drastically reduced rate for a brief moment.
To the point where a single second feels like dozens.
Seo Ye-rim must have experienced this state first. And instead of escaping immediately, she’d waited for me.
Being in party status and having cleared ahead of me, she’d shared in this second time dilation with me.
She grabbed my body urgently, speaking rapidly.
“A-are you okay? You’re not dead, are you? You’re alive, right? When we exit, you won’t die right away, will you?”
She stared at me with trembling eyes.
I hadn’t died yet, though…….
I focused my will.
My eyelids began to flutter ever so slightly.
Seo Ye-rim’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Y-you’re alive! There’ll be priests waiting outside. Just hang on a little longer—don’t worry!”
It was something I’d already guessed.
In raids on high-tier Gates, priests and healing-class Awakeners typically stationed themselves at the entrance.
People came out battered and broken far too often otherwise.
And this Gate had already drawn massive attention before becoming A-rank.
The whole nation was in an uproar, and no doubt the entrance was crowded with healing-class Awakeners standing by.
When Sword Seal emerged, they’d want to treat him, wouldn’t they?
‘Might as well benefit from it myself.’
High-rank priests could resurrect the dead—if they poured healing onto me, I’d surely recover.
Indomitable Spirit was holding out longer than I’d anticipated.
At roughly four points lost per second, I could last about nine seconds after exiting.
That should be enough time for them to cast their healing skills.
And so we exited the Gate.
“Q-quickly, heal Kim Min-woo right now! Immediately!”
At Seo Ye-rim’s cry, all the healing Awakeners waiting in front of the entrance rushed over.
“Good heavens…… his entire body is in tatters!”
“Heal him, fast!”
Overwhelming healing poured down.
It was like bathing in pure healing magic—every wound on my body began to seal. Only then did the tension finally drain from me.
Sleep crashed down on me in an instant.

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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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