Damn Necromancer - Chapter 85

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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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Wasteful Necromancer (85)
Merhen reached out her hand toward the Death Lord. The shapeless pressure vanished, and Kim Min-woo crumpled to the ground.
It was that moment.
Time froze, and messages began to appear.
[Merhen manifests her magic!]
[You have achieved part of the Clear Condition! (1/2)]
[Two choices are given to you!]
[1. Escape.]
[2. Resolve Merhen’s ‘grudge’.]
‘Partial achievement, then…….’
From the moment Valcan and the Death Lord appeared, he’d suspected the Manifestation would be part of the Clear Condition.
And with good reason—you had to be incredibly strong for that.
The player’s skill mattered, of course, but the structure wasn’t something you could solve through sheer ability alone.
He stared at the two choices.
‘Resolve the grudge, then.’
Looking at what the Death Lord had done, he understood. In his past life, he was a Lich for whom coercion and deception were daily bread.
When he’d sought out Merhen to turn her into an undead, he’d almost certainly used force.
That wound seemed to have lingered as a grudge.
‘If she’s going to be given to me as a Summon just by leaving, there’d be no reason to present a choice.’
If he left without resolving the grudge, problems would definitely arise.
Merhen despised the Death Lord.
But he’d inherited that power from him?
Even if he’d picked up some points in this past…….
‘Whether she’d truly join me as a Summon is anyone’s guess.’
Even if she did, there was a high chance she’d resist at every turn.
He recalled the text he’d seen when he obtained Cedric.
[Perfect Escape Condition!]
[Cedric overcame his regret!]
Compared to that, this felt hopelessly incomplete.
The conclusion.
‘I have to resolve it.’
The question was how to resolve the grudge.
‘Her magical ability must be outstanding.’
Merhen’s power was something even the Death Lord coveted.
The force of the magic she unleashed upon Manifestation had to be considerable.
‘She should be a match for the Death Lord.’
If they fought each other, wouldn’t her grudge ease a little?
At least, that’s what he wanted to believe.
But if it meant he had to jump into the Death Lord’s battle…….
‘I absolutely cannot clear it.’
The Death Lord was on an entirely different level from Valcan. A single gesture dragged him over, and his entire body shattered.
The difficulty was impossible to overcome.
That burden had to fall on Merhen.
‘What I need to handle…….’
He looked at Valcan, who stood motionless.
As time resumed, Merhen and the Death Lord would crash into each other, and Valcan would join the battle as well.
‘That one’s my target.’
For now, he had to find a way to keep that demon from participating in the fight. It was the best he could do.
[You have chosen option 2!]
As time began to flow again.
[Merhen’s Hatred: 100%]
A message appeared.
Kim Min-woo immediately downed several Potions. His battered body began recovering rapidly.
Brilliant light bloomed above Merhen’s palms.
[Merhen uses Accelerated Chanting (SSS)!]
[Merhen uses Lightning Strike (SSS)!]
[Merhen uses Water Hell (SSS)!]
[Merhen uses Wind Blade (SSS)!]
“Die!”
Immediately after, hundreds of spells cascaded toward the Death Lord.
―……This is becoming tiresome.
A shadowy barrier materialized above the Lich’s body, his displeasure evident in the way his tongue clicked.
The mage suspended in midair and the Lich began hurling hundreds of spells at each other in rapid succession.
‘The sheer scale is just different.’
Merhen was rampaging like she’d been doped up, suddenly frenzied beyond measure.
And the Death Lord was blocking her while mounting counterattacks.
It was clear to anyone watching that the gap between them had widened.
Stepping in between them would be suicide.
She’d told him to handle things on his own back there.
Kim Min-woo summoned a horde of undead and charged toward Valcan.
―……Hah.
Watching Kim Min-woo rush at him, Valcan gripped his whip with a look of utter bewilderment, smirking at the absurdity.
―Charging in again? I’ll grant you one thing—you’ve got nerve!
In their previous fight, he’d had no understanding of Valcan’s fighting style. By the time he’d been reading it, he was already taking blow after blow.
Valcan wielded his flame whip with such precision that it seemed almost supernatural.
With ability scores so overwhelmingly different, and weapon mastery on top of it? He was going to take punishment.
But there was no way around it.
Now, however, things were different.
His body was refreshed after drinking a Potion.
Moreover, from their first exchange, he’d gained some understanding of how the enemy wielded his whip.
‘Just buying time.’
The wound he’d carved open before hadn’t healed yet. If he could exploit that spot, he might be able to cripple one of the man’s legs.
‘That’s probably all I’ll manage.’
He wouldn’t win.
But that didn’t matter.
His goal had been to buy time from the start. And so Kim Min-woo and Valcan clashed once more.
[Merhen’s Hatred: 90%]
He sidestepped the glowing whip, targeting nothing but the leg.
Finally.
Thud!
Layered attacks converged as the Death Sword tore through skin and muscle, grazing against bone. The blade drove deep, biting far into his flesh.
Valcan’s face twisted in agony.
And then.
[The Death Sword absorbs the blood of a far mightier being! (5,020/10,000)]
‘What?’
Didn’t hunting require completely defeating an enemy to death?
Perhaps this was an unusual phenomenon born from Valcan being so overwhelmingly strong.
Either way.
It was advantageous.
He retreated, evading the whip as he processed this.
‘One solid hit to the leg netted two thousand.’
The numbers he’d hunted during the Wave had been roughly three thousand total.
But one taste of Valcan’s blood had pushed two thousand at once.
‘If I play this right, I could cap the ten thousand this go-around?’
He was going to have to fight anyway.
Might as well get the Death Sword powered up while he was at it.
―You, worm!
Valcan erupted in rage, thrashing about in fury.
[Merhen’s Hatred: 65%]
Kim Min-woo let out a low chuckle.
In combat, whoever lost to emotion first was half-defeated.
Needless, sloppy movements would only multiply from there.
That was exactly what Valcan was doing now.
Instead of precise strikes, he’d begun unleashing area attacks that swept wildly around him.
Just keeping his distance and blocking the onslaught was eating up time nicely.
He even had plenty of breathing room to drink more Potions.
Of course.
[Warning!]
[You have consumed too many Potions in a short span of time! Overload is beginning!]
But there was no avoiding an Overload state at this rate.
He threw his summon forward to block the path, then slipped between strikes, watching for openings.
The whip had long range, but slow recovery.
If he dodged enough times.
‘One more shot.’
Thwack!
There—the opening appeared.
This time the sword bit deep enough to shatter part of the skeletal structure.
[Merhen’s Hatred: 41%]
[Death Sword absorbs the blood of a distant mighty one! (7,020/10,000)]
The human flicked back with infuriating grace, evading the whip even as bone splintered beneath the blade.
―…….
Valcan’s face grew slowly grave. The man’s physical ability was clearly inferior to his own.
He had thought it would end quickly.
‘Before the Lord dragged things out, it was supposed to be easy…….’
Until now, it had been exactly that.
When he swung the whip five times, at least one strike would land without fail.
Each time that wretch had coughed blood, rolled away, and gulped down a potion.
But things were different now.
As if reading his movements, the human dodged each attack with uncanny precision. Even swinging ten times, he could barely land one. It was becoming impossibly hard.
And with each exchange, the pattern grew starker.
His movements had been completely read.
‘Damn it.’
His legs were already badly wounded.
He could afford no more carelessness.
To think he’d have to go all-out against this worthless insect!
His pride stung, but what choice did he have.
The whip alone wouldn’t cut it.
So then.
Bang!
Valcan stomped his foot.
[Valcan uses Hellfire Ground (EX)!]
The terrain twisted violently, and between the cracks, lava poured forth—thick with terrible heat.
The human hastily summoned a golem and climbed atop it.
A pathetic stalling tactic. This heat was beyond even a golem’s endurance.
With a cruel smile, Valcan swung the whip once more.
* * *
The surrounding area filled entirely with lava.
There was nowhere to stand.
[Dol-soe is melting!]
The terrible heat ravaged the summoned golem’s body, melting it steadily. What would happen if his feet touched the ground was all too clear.
[Flame Resistance Potion (Supreme Grade) is consumed!]
Before he could be roasted alive by the searing heat, he drained another potion.
This would buy him at least a little time.
‘I need to take it to the air.’
[Skeleton Mage is summoned!]
A squad of mages materialized on Dol-soe’s shoulders.
[Mile gives an order!]
[Skeleton Mage 2 casts Bone Shield…….]
[Skeleton Mage 3 casts Bone Shield…….]
.
.
Bone shields materialized in midair. He leapt upward and summoned Cedric.
Cedric appeared atop the shield, unleashing skill after skill as he rocketed toward the whip.
Buying time.
Already, more Skeleton Mages were rising to their feet upon the shields.
Bone Shields spread everywhere at once, as if infection itself were blooming.
Using the shields as stepping stones, he closed in on the creature.
Valcan looked taken aback—clearly he hadn’t expected this approach. He flailed with the whip in panic.
[Merhen’s Hatred: 21%]
Yet the distance closed steadily. His half-severed legs would be screaming soon enough.
[Activating Death Sword Technique (S)!]
[Consuming 6,000 mana…….]
I pulled sword energy in a relentless stream and charged at him.
A whip descended in an arc, its trajectory skewed entirely downward as if shielding his legs.
His full attention was locked on his legs. That was the whole reason I’d been hacking at them relentlessly from the start.
‘I won’t be able to cut through them.’
He was already braced, hypervigilant.
If I went for them now, he’d snap me up instead.
Merhen’s hatred was bottoming out fast.
Before retreating, I had to land one solid blow.
Mid-charge toward his legs,
I planted one foot on a Bone Shield that had materialized and wrenched my trajectory sharply sideways.
―……!
Valcan’s eyes snapped wide.
A reckless human was bearing down directly at his face.
He thrashed his whip in desperation.
But I was already a step ahead.
Thunk!
The eye that had never once mounted a defense.
The Death Sword sank deep into it.
[The Death Sword blossoms!]
[A new effect unlocks!]
[It now channels the blood of a transcendent power!]
[The effect is greatly amplified!]
The moment I took Valcan’s eye,
a torrent of messages cascaded across my vision.
No time to read them.
Valcan was blazing with light, the sword lodged deep in his eye socket.
His whip lashed past me, and searing agony consumed my whole body.
I flew backward, hard.
‘Paltry compensation.’
For blinding a creature like Valcan, the price felt cheap.
A freshly conjured Bone Shield caught my body.
My Indomitable Spirit hadn’t even shattered.
Then the messages came.
[Perfect escape condition achieved!]
[Merhen has overcome her regret!]
[Merhen unlocks her potential!]
[She can now wield far more than death magic alone!]
[You have won the heart of Death Lord’s legion commander, the one called Banshee Queen!]
[Merhen will now fight for you!]
[Death Lord’s Authority, Merhen Summon (SSS), activates!]
[You obtain the Title: Banshee Queen’s Master!]
[You obtain the Title: He Who Stole Valcan’s Eye!]
[You obtain the Title: He Who Ceased the Grudge!]
[New entries added to the Title: The Beginning of Legend― Part One…….]
[You escape the past!]
The world around me blurred as countless messages flooded my awareness.

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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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