Murim Login - Chapter 381
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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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Chapter 381
Whoooosh.
I cannot see it. Yet I feel it—a viscous aura flowing from the Skeleton Warlord that exists within the inventory, that pocket dimension centered on me, spreading outward in all directions.
The transformation happened in an instant.
– Krrk?
– Gwuh?
The ferocious monsters’ movements came to an abrupt halt.
Orcs, trolls, goblins, lycanthropes—every conceivable type of monster from a bestiary, and even fallen hunters.
They shared one commonality: they had all died once before and been resurrected as undead.
Gulp.
I swallowed hard and murmured.
“This actually works.”
– Wow, this really works.
“…?”
– …?
Wait, what did you just say?
My mind stuttered for a moment, and I whispered softly.
“What kind of nonsense is that? I did it because it obviously works, didn’t I?”
The Skeleton Warlord answered hesitantly.
– Well, the truth is… even this commander didn’t expect it to work so easily.
“You said your control was much stronger, didn’t you?”
– Ah, I just said that on impulse.
“What?”
– My pride was wounded from standing idle….
“….”
This guy is completely insane.
Though exasperated, the results were undeniable.
As the undead monsters within a radius of several dozen meters simultaneously ceased their movements, the fierce battle raging nearby also fell into a momentary lull.
「T-The monsters have stopped moving!」
「What on earth is happening?」
「Don’t let your guard down! There are still ones moving!」
As someone’s cry warned, it was premature to relax.
Only some of the nearby undead monsters had come under the Skeleton Warlord’s control; those at a distance or ordinary monsters that weren’t undead were exceptions.
– Uuuaaaagh!
– Shrieeeek!
“Hrraaagh!”
Crash! Thud thud!
Bewildered by their kin’s sudden transformation, the uncontrolled monsters soon resumed their rampage, and battle erupted anew.
A fight where we were vastly outnumbered. But from this moment forward, everything would change.
I shouted with a voice held in check.
“Go, Skeleton Warlord!”
The agitated Skeleton Warlord cried out.
– You wretched human! Do not address me in such a manner!
“So you’re desperate to be annihilated, Skeleton Warlord?”
– …Damn it.
Despite being a skeleton incapable of breathing, it released a heavy sigh before chanting a magical incantation.
– Fight, skeletons.
That creature had clearly grown fond of the word “skeletons” as well. The incantation was hardly amusing, yet its effect was undeniable.
– Screech?
At the Skeleton Warlord’s command, ferocity kindled in the eyes of the undead monsters that had been standing vacant. And in the next instant.
Crack!
Beginning with an undead ogre’s iron club shattering a troll’s skull, the undead monsters now serving a new master charged toward their own kind.
– Roooaaarrr!
– Screech, screech?
Snap! Crunch! Splatter!
An unexpected ambush from our allies erupted behind us. One flank of the monster army encircling the Chinese hunters crumbled without resistance.
– Screeeeech!
「What, what is this!」
「Why are those creatures suddenly…?」
It wasn’t only the monsters betrayed by their own kind who were bewildered.
The Chinese hunters, caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, looked to their vanguard. I called out to the young hunter who had been wielding his spear with unrestrained prowess.
“Shao Shen!”
「M, Master Jin?」
His eyes widened as he looked toward me.
「H, how do you know my name?」
I’d learned it just now by checking the level window with [Sense Aura], but that wasn’t important at the moment.
“What are you doing! Switch to aggressive offense!”
「But this situation is…」
“Are you really that curious right now? Do you want to grab an undead monster and hear an explanation following the five W’s and one H about why they’re helping us?”
「N, no, sir!」
“Then what should we do now?”
Shao Shen snapped to attention, raising his spear high.
「Attack formation! All Public Security Armed Force members, from this moment forward, strike everything except the undead monsters!」
「Yes, sir!」
A textbook example of excellent judgment.
With a unified cry, the momentum of the five hundred hunters who had been cornered shifted.
「Kill them!」
「Avenge our fallen comrades!」
Whoosh whoosh whoosh, crunch!
– Aaaahhhhh!
A Lycanthrope charged at the hunter who had just severed an orc’s neck.
A massive fist crashed against the creature’s jaws as it lunged to tear at the hunter’s throat with yellowed fangs.
Crack!
– Grraaahhh!
The ogre that had shattered the Lycanthrope’s skull let out a ferocious roar. Above it, a griffin’s sharp talons gleamed as it dove, their edges catching the light.
– Shrieeeek!
A piercing cry. In that instant, the A-rank monster’s mana-infused claws were about to rake across the ogre’s eyes.
「Ice Ball!」
「Lightning Bolt!」
The griffin convulsed in mid-air, electrocuted by the spells of the waiting ranged hunters.
At that moment, a figure leaped from atop a troll’s shoulder and swung a weapon toward the griffin.
“Specially forged by J Company, renowned as Germany’s finest weapon craftsman…!”
Slice!
A clean, decisive strike cleaved the griffin’s head in two.
Choi Team Leader landed gracefully, gazing at the pristine blade unmarred by a single drop of blood, and smiled with satisfaction.
“A longsword that sold at auction for 5.2 billion won. It certainly lives up to its price.”
“….”
Ridiculous yet cool. Cool yet ridiculous.
The Skeleton Warlord observing the scene spoke in a disgruntled tone.
– Cunning human, did you say that human is your superior?
“Well, technically speaking, yes, in terms of guild hierarchy….”
– For a human, he seemed quite intelligent, yet I have never seen such a peculiar one. Truly, he is worthy of being your superior.
“Want to get obliterated for wagging your tongue wrong, Skeleton Warlord?”
The Skeleton Warlord fell silent for a moment, then answered with an incantation instead.
– Rise and multiply, bones of bone!
As the saying goes, a dog at a cram school for three years will recite poetry—now it performed flawlessly without instruction.
Thump, thump-thump-thump.
The griffin felled by Choi Team Leader, the monsters brought down by the combined assault of hunters and undead, rose again with new life, their corpses standing upright.
The number reached two hundred. The range had expanded compared to the first attempt, and even the undead monsters in the distance now fell under the Skeleton Warlord’s control, beginning their assault on our forces.
“Wow. You were capable of this?”
– Wow. Was this commander capable of this?
“….”
– …In truth, I was not capable of this much. But for some reason, upon arriving here, an enormous surge of mana wells up within me!
“Yeah, I see.”
I gave up trying to understand this bizarre named monster.
Besides, as long as the results were good, questioning it now would only give me a headache.
– Grant me many, far more legions!
Though hidden in my inventory and invisible, the skull with nothing but bone remaining was surely trembling with excitement.
I sighed and gripped my spear tightly.
“I was already planning to do just that.”
– Is there a way?
“There is.”
A method to create more undead? Simple.
“Kill them all.”
– Krahaha! You truly are a cunning and ignorant human!
Arrogant wretch. Yet even I cannot help but agree with part of what you say this time.
As the Skeleton Warlord’s maniacal laughter echoed through my mind, I took a step forward.
‘Inferno Path’
Whoooosh!
With each footfall, a trail of flames blazed open before me.
* * *
A pitch-black robe and a staff adorned with dangling skulls. Where eye sockets should have been lay only emptiness, and strips of undecayed flesh still clung to their forms.
The Three Entities, nightmarish in appearance, transmitted their doubts to one another through telepathic communion.
– A problem has arisen.
– The undead monsters are slipping beyond our control. They’re attacking our legion alongside the humans.
– Why?
The question was not about the method by which control had been lost—the Three Entities already knew the answer to that.
– A superior undead. More powerful than us.
All monsters possess hierarchy, but among them, the undead are especially bound by absolute dominion of strength.
If control had been wrested away as it now was, it could only be the work of a superior entity.
– But….
– How is this possible?
None of the Three Entities could answer that question.
How could a being more powerful than themselves exist in this place, seizing control of the undead to aid the humans?
– Could it be That Person?
– Nonsense. Have you forgotten the command That Person gave us when sending us here?
– Kill the humans. Create more undead and legions, and kill ever more humans.
As the Three Entities recalled the command anew, confusion seized them.
If not That Person, the Arch Lich, then who could possibly surpass their control?
– Was there a necromancer among the humans?
– We sensed nothing.
– Humans reject and abhor death. It’s impossible. Even if one existed, they would be nothing compared to us.
The unmistakable hostility that permeated their telepathic exchange stemmed from the fact that they themselves had once been necromancers, subjected to rejection and contempt by humanity.
But that was an ancient past, an occurrence in another dimension.
Adrift upon the boundless sea of death, they had encountered the Arch Lich as their ferryman, and now they sought to ascend to the rank of Lich with the new power they had gained.
Yet….
– How unfortunate.
– Had the transformation been complete. Had there been more death upon this land.
– Then we would not have lost control.
The Three Entities could not suppress their regret.
In their former lives, they had been great necromancers, yet they had not yet fully transformed into Liches.
Though they had been reborn by borrowing the bodies of dead mages, a mere week was far too short to absorb the death essence needed to undergo the transformation into Liches.
– That is precisely why That Person sent us three.
– If this mission fails, That Person will be disappointed.
– That Person might even reclaim the power granted to us.
This was what the Three Entities feared most.
To earn the Arch Lich’s favor, they had to overcome this obstacle by any means necessary, even if it meant expending tremendous power.
– There is no choice.
– You suggest we combine our strength?
– Yes. If we three unite our power, even this mysterious superior undead will no longer be able to wrest control from us.
– Hmm. Very well.
– You agree?
– I do.
The Three Entities, who had been competing for the Arch Lich’s favor, finally reached an accord.
Without hesitation, they began chanting the incantation of necromancy.
– Valencia. Madrid.
– Bavaria. Munich.
– Stockholm. Syria.
The aura of death flowing from the Three Entities spread through the air.
The verdant grass turned pitch black, and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army within the range collapsed, clutching their throats.
“Gack!”
“Kugh!”
Whoooosh.
The death essence flowing from the bodies of the humans whose breath had ceased permeated the entire forms of the monsters.
– Kyaaaaah!
– Gwoooah!
The air trembled with the formidable magical power carried in their ferocious cries. That power was incomparable to ordinary monsters.
Sensing their enhanced control and the strength of their subordinate monsters, the Three Entities finally ceased their chanting.
– Kekekekekek.
– Success.
– We expended tremendous power, but… this is more than sufficient.
It was then that the Three Entities gazed upon their greatly strengthened legion with satisfaction.
Boom!
In the distance, a monster’s limbs flew through the air with a thunderous crash.
The Three Entities exchanged words as they watched the rising flames.
– There appears to be a fire mage. Quite skilled, too.
– Humans are humans regardless. Let us deploy the Skeleton Mages in force.
– A sound strategy.
And moments later, once again
As flames surged upward, the Three Entities regarded one another.
– What was that just now?
– Control was severed. It wasn’t stolen.
– Annihilated it? Impressive.
– But is that really a mage? The movements seem far too fast….
– Mm. Let’s deploy the Ogre battalion.
– Ogres received, and Dullahan as well.
– Even a Dullahan? Then who will guard us?
– His point is valid. A Dullahan is excessive. Enhanced Ogres will suffice.
– That’s true.
And three minutes later.
A grave atmosphere hung over the skulls of the Three Entities.
– The connection’s cut.
– Again?
– That’s why I said we should send the Dullahan.
– What the hell is that thing? Doesn’t seem like a mage at all.
– Ah, just send the Dullahan already!
– Y-yes, let’s do that.
Watching roughly twenty Dullahans vanish as their guard unit, the Three Entities quietly began searching for another consensus.
– Mm. It probably won’t come to that, but just in case….
– I had a similar thought.
– Should we create a Death Knight?
– We’ve already consumed far too much power. A Death Knight on top of that? We don’t have suitable materials, and it would take considerable time.
– We can just select the most useful one available and create it. If the three of us combine our strength, it’s possible.
– W-well then, shall we attempt it?
But the Three Entities’ Death Knight creation plan shattered into pieces in less than ten minutes.
Whoosh, BOOM!
Extreme heat that could be felt even in a body made of nothing but bone.
“Damn bastards. There are so many of them.”
Crack!
Witnessing the existence wielding a spear engulfed in karmic flames, obliterating the monster legion, the Three Entities hurriedly chanted their incantations.
The sluggish voices had accelerated like rap.
– Omneshayou!
– Yenweigajike!
But before the incantations could be completed, the young human—whether a flame mage or warrior remained unclear—was already right before them.
“Hey, nice to meet you.”
– O-omneshayou!
– Y-yenweigajike!
The Young Man, Jin Tae-kyung, tilted his head askew.
“Hello. Entertainment broadcast? You idiots.”
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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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