The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 180
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 180
180
Two oversized undead slipped through the gaps between the undead hordes.
While the Division Commander trembled above, muttering to himself.
The members of Assassination Unit 3 quickly regained their senses.
The first few suffered casualties from the surprise attack.
Afterward, they attempted to fight back, but the disparity in power left them dying in vain.
By the time they finally formed a proper formation to face the creatures, more than half of the unit’s members had already fallen.
Fifteen of them tried to confront the creatures as one group.
But it was already too late.
The oversized undead, having already achieved their objective.
Vanished through a teal-colored portal.
The other undead did likewise.
“This… what is this…?”
“This is maddening.”
“Over half of us are dead.”
Only thirty members remained.
Over thirty had died in an instant.
Such a hit-and-run strategy.
Yet they could not call it cowardly.
This was strategy. This was war.
They clenched their teeth, muttering with frustration.
“It’s infuriating, but things will change when the Commander arrives.”
“That’s right…”
“We just wait for the Commander.”
“They know they’ll be defeated when the Commander comes, so they seized this opening.”
“We’ll hide again.”
Following the orders given by the Assassination Unit 3 Commander, the remaining thirty concealed themselves once more.
Though they had lost comrades, they responded with as much composure as possible.
Yet there was a part that clearly revealed their lack of experience.
The corpses of the comrades they had just been fighting with had vanished without a trace.
Unaware of this, they hid again and waited for their moment.
If the undead legion came again.
They would wait as long as possible, and when those oversized creatures appeared, they would emerge once more.
With such resolve, they remained hidden.
Yet neither the oversized undead nor even the regular undead army appeared for quite some time.
Unable to understand what was happening, they could only wait in silence.
Beyond a small teal-colored portal, two undead observed them.
Barphor and Leonik, whose eyes gleamed with teal and navy blue light respectively, muttered as they watched.
-Barphor, the Master says the operation was successful.
-Heh heh, that sounds good. Shall we join in as well?
-That would be best.
Leonik and Barphor muttered such words before closing the portal and vanishing from that place.
It was a portal I had deliberately left behind.
As the commanders of the Death Legion, the two of them could control it to a certain degree.
And the place where they reappeared was none other than a vast plain far removed from the Basilica.
A plain scattered throughout the unremarkable Labyrinth Gap.
Yet what existed there was far from ordinary.
A Bat Humanoid resembling a vampire with traces of human features still clinging to its visage.
It was unmistakably the Assassination Unit 3 Commander.
And there, he gnashed his teeth and glared as though he would slay the one before him.
“Sibren!!! You wretch!!! How dare you betray us!!!”
With that cry, battle erupted.
He was certainly the Assassination Unit 3 Commander who had been heading to report to The King.
How had this come to pass?
That traces back to before Yoo Sung-hyun launched his assault with the Undead Legion.
8.
Nuartein, the Assassination Unit 3 Commander, had arrived at the City Wall and was heading to the Royal Palace to make his report.
He was a high-blooded Bat Humanoid.
Though he retained some semblance of human form, it was precisely because of this that he was regarded as considerably formidable.
Not long since his appointment as an assassin, his emotions had not yet been entirely stripped away.
Yet with his swift intellect and keen intuition, he was a highly promising talent recognized for his thorough mission completion.
Thus he proceeded without the slightest suspicion to report to The King.
Spreading his membrane wings across the rooftops, his speed as he flew was faster than one might expect.
Yet why was it?
‘I feel rushed.’
For some reason, a sense of urgency gripped him.
There was certainly no reason to feel anxious or rushed.
And yet he felt rushed nonetheless.
This surely meant something had caught his intuition.
Was it because he was about to reach The King and report the presence of a spy?
Perhaps. But then, who could the spy be?
There was one particularly likely suspect.
‘Assassination Unit 2, Commander Sibren.’
Sibren, the Assassination Unit 2 Commander who had recently returned.
Though Assassination Unit 2 conducted many assassination missions, they were the unit most skilled in intelligence gathering.
Sibren in particular possessed tremendous ability.
He could be said to specialize in intelligence work.
What if he had become a double agent and was transmitting information from this place?
‘That makes no sense.’
Sibren had no reason to betray me, nor could he.
What reason would an emotionless Sibren have to betray me?
In that moment, one hypothesis emerged from the various clues.
What if Sibren was already dead, and they had created an undead from his corpse to use as a spy?
The enemy I faced now certainly wielded undead.
Perhaps there were multiple entities involved.
Had Sibren already died and become undead?
No.
Just today, when The King declared war, Nuartein was present at that very moment.
Yet no stench of death emanated from Sibren’s body.
Moreover, that distinctive aura I had always sensed from Sibren remained unchanged.
‘Could someone who creates undead truly craft such a high-tier undead?’
I had no idea.
I knew little about undead.
Then was he not a spy, but rather observing from above in the sky?
With that thought, I unconsciously spoke Nuartein’s name and lifted my gaze upward.
The sky was filled with dark clouds.
Between the gloomy clouds, the crimson light of the moon flickered faintly.
But that hardly mattered.
Ignoring it, I continued toward the Royal Palace.
Then a familiar face appeared on a rooftop.
‘Sibren?’
What was he doing here?
Puzzled, I stopped my flight and approached Sibren.
Sibren noticed me and turned his head.
“What is it, Nuartein?”
His voice carried no inflection—the voice of one stripped of emotion.
That alone confirmed it was truly Sibren.
The fact that he knew my name was further confirmation.
“An undead legion has appeared near the East Wall. Something feels wrong, so I’m heading to report it to The King.”
“East, you say. That’s the direction where Ninyaru lies.”
“Surely you’re not suggesting those cats control undead? Or did you see something when you went to Ninyaru?”
At the sudden information, I quickly pressed for details.
Sibren nodded.
“Yes, I saw something.”
In that moment, something flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning.
He had seen someone controlling undead there?
Then why hadn’t he reported it to The King?
The instant I realized this.
I understood that Sibren was a spy and immediately tried to escape from this place.
In terms of pure strength, Sibren surpassed me.
But the moment I realized this and spread my wings to take flight—
An abyss opened beneath my feet, and grasping hands erupted from it, seizing me.
Unable to move, another abyss appeared where the first had been, and a chasm swallowed me whole.
When I regained consciousness—
Just moments before, I had been atop a roof near the Royal Palace.
Now the landscape was utterly transformed.
Vast plains stretched before me, and in the distant haze, the silhouette of the Basilica.
As I stood there, bewildered—
A teal-hued portal opened before me, and Sibren emerged from it.
The sight ignited my fury.
“Sibren!!! You wretch!!! How dare you betray us!!!”
Consumed by rage, I lunged toward Sibren—
-Kuhahahaha!!! A battle, is it!!!-
“For the Lord, I would walk through hellfire itself.”
“Mmm~ A vampire, perhaps~?”
-L-Lord ordered us to k-keep you as intact as p-possible before d-death, so… w-would you mind dying quietly~?-
-Is this the one to offer to our Master?-
-Don’t worry, he’ll become like us soon enough anyway.-
-Screeeeeeeee——!!!-
-Cawwwwwww——!!!-
“Ahahahaha, don’t be scared, you lot. I’ll finish this as quickly as I can.”
All of Yoo Sung-hyun’s retainers appeared.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, I began to retreat—
But from behind, Yoo Sung-hyun blocked my path, holding a tome wreathed in destructive magic born of pure mana.
“It’s been a day, so Helena’s resurrection skill should be available now, right?”
At those words, the retainers’ eyes gleamed with new intent.
Moments before, they had hunted with the goal of minimizing injury.
Now their purpose shifted to killing by any means necessary.
It was as though permission had been granted to slaughter indiscriminately.
With that understanding, the retainers descended upon me.
The first to unleash a skill was Yoo Sung-hyun himself.
Destructive magic erupted from the Tome of Ruin—
Space twisted and warped as if torn asunder, and my right shoulder contorted before—
Crack!
“Gaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!”
Unbearable agony flooded through me as my entire right shoulder was wrenched away.
As though space itself had been torn.
Normally, severe body damage in this game required substantial harm to inflict, yet this magic disregarded such limitations and simply tore my arm clean off.
Yoo Sung-hyun marveled at the magic’s power and stepped back, allowing his retainers to surge forward.
The moment Nuartein lost his right arm, his combat prowess plummeted dramatically, leaving him utterly defenseless against my minions’ onslaught.
Still, even as a hidden raid boss-tier monster, he was treated as such.
It took several minutes.
Even after his second phase transformation, my minions relentlessly overwhelmed him with ease.
Ultimately, he had no choice but to fall swiftly.
Sibren had weakened upon resurrection, so it was inevitable.
Afterward, I and my minions healed the missing parts of Nuartein’s corpse using Helena’s power.
Even as a corpse, it was restored.
Then I used Death’s Creation to prevent the corpse from decaying, summoned a common undead, merged them together with Death’s Creation, and transformed them into a living undead like Sibren.
But the most crucial task lay elsewhere.
-I, I should have been dead…?!
Nuartein’s soul, bewildered and confused.
I absorbed his memories.
[‘Unknown Power’ has demonstrated abilities beyond your current stats.]
[Strength +3, Agility +2, Stamina +2 permanently increased.]
The stat increases came through.
-Ah! Ahhh! So that’s why you betrayed us, Sibren!!! Kehehehe!!! I too shall serve the noble one!
Nuartein cried out with delight.
Well, it was only natural.
I infused his soul as well.
He became perfectly the Nuartein he had been in life.
The Assassination Unit 2 Commander and the Assassination Unit 3 Commander, both now my spies, I sent back to the Basilica with a smile, using Helena’s Abyss skill.
Now it seemed I could simply wait and see.
But still.
‘When exactly will they arrive?’
Thinking of the White Knight Order that had yet to arrive, I scratched my head in frustration.
If they don’t come soon, perhaps I should try a bit more?
‘Let me send the common Death Legion as a quick jab.’
Yet for them, it was no mere jab—a heavy straight punch was already manifesting once more at the East Wall of the Basilica.
Several hours later.
The White Knight Order finally arrived near the Basilica.
And Silberion, gazing at the Basilica’s walls, swallowed her ragged breaths and asked.
“Huff, huff, w-why is it already falling before we’ve even attacked yet, huff?”
The Basilica’s walls seemed to have far too much happening before our arrival.
As she continued to gasp for breath.
I approached her and spoke.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
The word “finally” might have stung, but.
Silberion, lacking the strength to react, simply nodded weakly.
Then.
“Shall we begin a proper assault now?”
“…???”
That wasn’t a proper attack?
Then what would happen if we unleashed a genuine assault?
But more than that.
‘A-are we even necessary?’
Even such doubts crept into my mind.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————