Damn Necromancer - Chapter 82

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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 (82)
Slaughter, and more slaughter.
It was a feast of carnage.
In barely half a day, Kern had cut down nearly three hundred monsters. Yet he wasn’t even breathing hard.
‘Good grief.’
Merhen knew he was skilled with a blade.
But fighting people and hunting monsters were entirely different disciplines.
Even the brightest knight cadets at the Academy often failed to perform when it came to real combat. She’d worried about that, given the circumstances.
‘……Extraordinary.’
Just—extraordinary.
It was as though he were toying with the monsters.
Lightning-fast advances.
Before she knew it, they’d already passed the midpoint of the Devil’s Forest.
Kern spotted a suitable cave and turned to Merhen.
“This will do for camp.”
“Sure.”
She gathered branches and lit a fire with a tool she carried.
Crack.
Crack.
The food they’d prepared cooked through the flames.
“Eat.”
Kern handed her a thick slice of meat. As they ate,
Merhen, scanning the surroundings, tilted her head.
“Has it always been this thick?”
“What is?”
“The Demonic Aura. It seems denser than it was a year ago.”
“That so?”
“Yeah. Look over there.”
The tree she pointed to was twisted grotesquely by Demonic Aura.
It looked almost like a corkscrew.
“I’ve read that phenomena like that only appear deeper in the forest.”
The Demonic Aura had grown denser.
He recalled what he’d read in texts about the Devil’s Forest.
According to the sources, there was something like a Dimensional Passage through which influence from the Demon Realm flowed, causing the forest to become corrupted. However, they’d left it alone because the severity wasn’t too extreme.
‘The accumulated monsters……’
The Practical Exam the Academy conducted every year. It amounted to a form of regular culling.
‘From the Academy’s perspective, it’s not a bad arrangement.’
It gave the students solid real-world experience.
Moreover, through the culling, they received a certain level of compensation from the Empire.
This forest wasn’t maintained on a whim, despite the danger posed by the Demonic Aura.
“If the Demonic Aura is thickening, doesn’t that mean the Passage is widening?”
“Huh? You know about Passages too?”
“I’ve read about it.”
At that, Merhen nodded.
“Usually, yes. The wider the Passage becomes……”
“The higher the chance of a Monster Wave appearing. Right?”
“Right. More things could emerge from the Demon Realm. And when that happens, the monsters gather together and form a Wave. So, that said……”
Merhen glanced sideways at him as she spoke.
“……Shouldn’t we go back and tell the professors?”
“About a Wave coming?”
“Yeah. I’m a bit worried.”
“One twisted tree—can we really call that conclusive?”
“No, not really. It’s just that the risk isn’t zero……”
Merhen muttered, scratching her head.
“……Think they won’t believe me?”
“Who knows. Whether they halt the exam or not. But why report it?”
“Huh?”
“We can just handle it ourselves.”
“……What?”
“It’d be a waste. Those are all points waiting to be earned.”
A Monster Wave? Isn’t that some kind of experience duplication event?
‘Besides, I need to feed the Death Sword some blood anyway.’
If I ran back to report this right now, the Knight Order and Mage Corps waiting at the perimeter might mobilize. I’d heard they were about mid-tier by Empire standards.
They could probably handle a Monster Wave on their own. Which meant we’d lose the experience and forfeit all the points.
But why would we do that?
“……Well, you’ve got a pretty unique way of thinking, Kern.”
“Someone’s going to report it anyway whether we say anything or not. Right?”
We’d gotten inside earlier than they had, but given a little more time, the top-ranked students would naturally reach this line themselves.
After all, the whole scoring system was built on hunting monsters.
Of course there were more monsters deeper in the forest.
“……Hmm. I don’t know. Even if they find out, would they really turn back during the exam? And if the test keeps going while we do, we’re guaranteed last place.”
“That applies to us too, doesn’t it?”
“Oh…… right? I guess since I’ve already racked up some points, I probably won’t end up dead last…….”
“You’re satisfied with just that score? When you were already in last place?”
“…….”
Merhen fell silent.
Kim Min-woo spoke gently.
“Still, if you want to go back, I’ll go back.”
The second priority.
The most crucial thing here was the relationship with Merhen.
Nothing else could take precedence over that.
Legion Commander acquisition.
Wasn’t that the whole reason I’d come here to arrange things in the first place?
So I couldn’t let her accept it as if I were forcing my desires on her.
That would be trading the greater good for petty gain.
‘I’ll just let her understand the situation on her own.’
Someone would tell her anyway, wouldn’t they?
Nobody’s going to step up?
Then why should we?
I put it in roundabout terms.
She’d catch the meaning.
Of course, if she insisted on going back even after this, Kim Min-woo had no intention of hesitating—he’d turn back without question.
Leveling up and feeding blood to the Death Sword?
Those were things he could do anytime once they left.
But building a bond with Merhen.
‘That can only happen here.’
Every stage has its reason.
If the structure were simply about preventing her from becoming undead,
‘There’d be no need to show her past like this.’
It would be enough to start from a scene where she’s before the cruel Death Lord, shrieking and recoiling.
Then they’d collide head-on with the Death Lord right away.
But it didn’t happen that way.
Instead, a considerable grace period was given.
Why?
[This place is a Fragment of the Past, constructed from the regrets of Merhen’s human days!]
[The player participates.]
‘To resolve Merhen’s regrets…….’
A certain amount of time was absolutely necessary for the player.
Kim Min-woo saw this time as a period needed to deepen his bond with Merhen.
‘Relationship building.’
Nothing else came to mind. It surely wasn’t time meant to request reinforcements.
‘We couldn’t win with them anyway.’
The Emperor of the Empire himself couldn’t bring enough troops, let alone some duke’s son.
If a Death Lord could be handled by reinforcements alone, it wouldn’t have dominated the continent in the first place.
Conclusion.
We needed to grow closer to Merhen.
Then there had to be some advantage to it.
That’s how Kim Min-woo saw it.
“What do you want to do?”
“……Well, um, should we sleep for now…… and maybe go deeper tomorrow? Since we still aren’t sure about anything…….”
“If that’s what you want.”
* * *
Merhen and Kern ventured deeper into the forest. Monsters twisted into ever more grotesque shapes appeared sporadically, alongside trees warped in sickening spirals.
There were several close calls along the way.
None of them, of course, involved Kern.
Merhen.
She narrowly escaped danger multiple times. The worst was when a Saber Tiger that had been hiding in the trees dropped down to ambush her.
Crash!
Claws extended, the monster bore down on her in an instant.
Merhen’s heart hammered in her chest.
She felt as though it might burst.
‘Please……!’
For all her desperation, neither Manifestation nor Magic stirred within her.
Slash!
“You alright?”
Fortunately, Kern’s intervention kept her alive.
She could see his arm bleeding where the claws had raked across it.
‘……Because of me. He’s wounded because of me…….’
Merhen shifted her weight anxiously as she stared at the wound on Kern’s body.
“I’m s-sorry. This is my fault…….”
“It’s fine. It’s just this much. Doesn’t even tickle.”
He smiled as if it were nothing, pouring Potion over the wound.
Something felt off.
The Saber Tiger had definitely gone down.
Thump.
Her racing heart showed no signs of settling.
Especially not when she looked at Kern.
She hastily turned her head away.
Kim Min-woo, potion bottle still in hand, studied Merhen’s face.
‘This looks pretty serious.’
That close call just now.
He’d already known about the Saber Tiger hiding there—Ha-yang had told him.
He’d deliberately provoked the ambush.
Not to get her killed, of course.
But he’d heard that Manifestation often occurs when one’s life is in genuine danger.
Despite engineering several such critical moments, he saw no sign of Manifestation—not even the stirring of Mana.
‘This approach won’t work.’
A realization crystallized.
It seemed that mere mortal danger wouldn’t be enough to trigger Magic Manifestation.
‘Then again, if it were that easy, she’d have manifested long ago.’
Merhen must have tried on her own. For now, it seemed he’d have to abandon the idea of fear-induced Manifestation.
After pushing another day deeper into the forest, he began to notice certain patterns.
The Demonic Aura grew thicker and more oppressive.
The scattered footprints of monsters were converging toward a single point.
Merhen’s expression hardened as she observed this.
Until now, while she could sense the Demonic Aura intensifying, she couldn’t have been certain about the possibility of a Monster Wave.
Now, everything had changed.
Monsters gathering in one place?
This was an unmistakable sign of a Monster Wave.
“Kern. We shouldn’t go any further.”
“Yeah. The Wave’s about to break loose.”
“We need to go. We have to warn them.”
“Merhen.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll send Cedric with you. You go first.”
“……What?”
He turned to face her with sudden gravity, his expression serious.
“The monsters are going to converge here soon. The students are scattered all through the forest—if we don’t do something, many of them will die.”
“So-so we need to escape quickly!”
“Someone has to hold the line.”
“B-but…….”
It didn’t have to be you.
Merhen barely swallowed back the rest.
‘Did I… did I burden Kern with this?’
The thought flickered across her mind unbidden.
Now that she thought about it, yes—she had.
It was she who had insisted they needed to report the Monster Wave.
What about Kern?
He’d been skeptical of the idea.
His stance was more like: if you absolutely insist on doing it, I won’t stop you, but… is it necessary?
That was the feeling she got.
Ambition for points.
Since no concrete evidence had emerged until now, Merhen had merely followed Kern’s lead with halfhearted conviction, content to let the argument hang in the air without pushing too hard.
But the moment solid proof of the Monster Wave surfaced, his demeanor shifted abruptly.
Toward protecting people instead.
It wasn’t as if he meant to solo the entire Monster Wave and claim all the points for himself.
When she looked at it objectively, the only reason that stood out was her own attitude.
Merhen spoke urgently.
“If this is because of me, don’t. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine—everyone’s selfish anyway.”
If the other students had reported this anomaly?
Even if just two or three teams had noticed it, rescue squads would have been dispatched already.
Magic Fireworks would be bursting everywhere.
Then at least they could have confirmed something, even if they’d ventured deeper into the forest.
But not a single Magic Firework had detonated.
The top-ranked and mid-ranked teams.
None of the frontrunners had gone to report the anomaly.
Of course, since she and Kern hadn’t done so either, she had no right to blame them.
Just…
She was simply relearning something she already knew: people live for themselves. So there was no reason for Kern to sacrifice himself.
Why should he bear responsibility for an unforeseen accident? Kern didn’t even create the Monster Wave.
Merhen grabbed Kern’s sleeve desperately.
“L-let’s go together. It’s not too late yet. If we just run away…….”
That moment.
The ground began to tremble as if thousands upon thousands were stampeding forth.
Merhen’s eyes went slack.
A violent tremor.
The Monster Wave was already beginning.
“Over here.”
“Ah…….”
Kern reached out his hand.
Toward the summoned Cedric, he spoke.
“Take her.”
―Will do.
Cedric seized Merhen’s arm.
“No! Let go! Kern! I should stay with you…….”
―Come along quietly.
Cedric hoisted Merhen onto his shoulder and bolted away.
Merhen thrashing wildly, skull clutched in her grip, shaking it back and forth.
‘……Troublesome.’
Cedric sighed inwardly.
This woman understood nothing of her master’s true capabilities.
Which was precisely why she was making such a fuss over a mere Monster Wave.
He wanted to snap at her, ask why she was overreacting so.
But doing so might earn him weeks of beatings from his master.
Kim Min-woo was a meticulous man.
There had to be a reason he hadn’t revealed his true nature.
Looking at his former comrade thrashing on his shoulder, he could guess the reason well enough.
Nine times out of ten.
‘He’s doing it for the points.’
“Put me down!”
―Wait a moment.
Cedric withdrew his finger from where it had burrowed deep into the skull, exhaling a quiet sigh.
Was this really her—that cold, aloof Banshee Queen?
A wave of disbelief washed over him.

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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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