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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 36
The undead controlled by necromancers came in many forms—some humanoid, others monstrous.
Out of ten, only one or two were actually useful.
I extracted the necessary specters, while the defective ones were devoured by Muyeong, the shadow wraith wolf that followed me, allowing it to grow stronger.
In the meantime, I subtly separated from the main force and took a different path.
"Brother, are we really fine just doing this?"
As I leisurely farmed the undead, Farell asked with some hesitation.
"There could be traps set by those guys anywhere."
"That’s why we’re here."
I lightly knocked my fist against a seemingly empty wall.
At that moment, a hidden magic circle revealed itself.
"My god… That’s a pressure coefficient adjustment magic circle! Brother! If we leave this alone, it could lead to a massive explosion—"
Ssssss…
The moment the magic circle lost its glow and deactivated, he shut his mouth.
"Just erase it."
"Hah… So it can be removed this easily. No matter how much I see it, I still don’t understand the principle behind it."
Farell let out a hollow laugh, seemingly dumbfounded.
With this, all the magic affecting the surrounding area had been neutralized.
They had cast a spell to seal off the dungeon, but I had already dismantled it.
What remained were nothing particularly exceptional—something that even an average mage or necromancer could handle.
The only thing that concerned me was the sinister aura rising from beneath the ground I stood on.
The subjugation force hadn’t reached that area yet.
Then, it happened.
"Damn it, we’ve been discovered! How the hell did they push in this far?! Were we tracked?!"
Several necromancers clad in black robes emerged, accompanied by their undead minions.
Judging by their words, they were in the middle of escaping.
Farell, quick to catch on, immediately understood the situation.
"So, they were on the run. In that case, I’ll handle them."
The enemies weren’t particularly strong.
As a 4th-circle mage, Farell was more than capable of handling them.
Of course, the opponents didn’t intend to go down without a fight.
"Take them down quickly and get out of here before the Sword Master catches up!"
"Yes, sir!"
At that command, their skeletal minions began advancing toward us.
"Not a chance!!"
Farell unleashed his magic, bombarding the enemies with a flurry of spells.
From low-circle to high-circle spells—having experienced numerous battles in dungeons, he utilized a surprisingly diverse range of tactics to suppress the enemy.
Even though he was only a 4th-circle mage, overwhelming multiple opponents at once wasn’t an easy feat.
The necromancers retaliated by spewing black mist to counter his fireballs, but Farell used the darkness as a smokescreen to detonate a hidden spell.
"Aero Boom."
BOOOOOM!!!
The small fireball rapidly absorbed oxygen, expanding and exploding, consuming the surrounding undead.
"Arghhh!"
"Aagh!! My eyes!!"
Watching the battle, I could clearly see it now—this guy had a real talent for combat.
"Hmph!!"
But Farell wasn’t just casting spells.
He understood the weaknesses of mages in battle and actively moved to cover for them.
The necromancers weren’t entirely incompetent—they had experience in harming people—but in the end, the sheer difference in battle sense overturned everything.
While Farell was overpowering the enemy, I approached an undead writhing on the ground.
A thin, skeletal humanoid.
A lot of effort had been put into its construction, but something felt off—like the restrictions placed on it were unnecessarily excessive.
Grrrr…
Undead, nothing more than blind combat tools, were often shackled with various constraints for easier control.
There was only one reason this would happen—
The necromancer controlling them wasn’t skilled enough.
"Hey, quit glaring at me like that."
Its eye sockets glowed with an eerie light instead of pupils, but I could still sense its emotions.
I placed my hand on its skull and poured necromantic mana into it.
At the same time, I stripped away the necromancer’s control embedded within the undead.
The once-hostile skeleton instantly became obedient.
"Good."
I extracted the battered soul trapped within the ruined body.
Freed from its physical constraints, the spirit looked far better than before.
I then inscribed my own magic directly onto its soul.
I continued this process, converting one undead after another into specters under my control.
The necromancers, seemingly specializing in the undead, kept summoning them as if showing off their collection.
It was like watching an endless stream of corpses rise from a graveyard.
With great joy, I kept snatching up their undead, until—
Our eyes met.
"…Huh?"
"You… What the hell are you doing?"
The necromancer looked utterly confused.
And for good reason—by the time I realized it, I had already accumulated over seven wraith skeletons at my side.
As he recognized his own undead among them, his face contorted in shock.
At that point, everyone’s gaze landed on me.
The necromancers, the engaged Farell, all with expressions of disbelief.
"Oh. Guess I got caught."
[The probability of this operation being exposed has exceeded 90%.]
Shut up.
This is embarrassing.
Realizing that I had stolen control over their undead, the necromancers scrambled to reclaim them—
"That little rat is stealing our undead?! How the hell is he doing this?!"
"Then from now on, I'll steal them fair and square."
I clapped my hands lightly.
The eight or so undead of various kinds, which had been protecting the necromancers, all flinched simultaneously.
Then, they convulsed and collapsed.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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To be honest, the quality of these undead wasn’t great.
But since their original forms were quite high-quality beings, they made for excellent farming material.
"Your skeletons were amazing, by the way."
"W-What the?!
"This doesn't make any sense! The control has completely transferred?!"
It wasn’t that hard to steal control over undead with such poor security.
They had left some sort of countermeasure to prevent their undead from being taken, but from my perspective, it was no more than child’s play.
Naturally, the security I overlaid onto them was impenetrable by their current knowledge.
"What are you all doing?! Get our undead back!"
"We're trying! Dammit! Why isn't control being restored?!"
They struggled desperately to regain control, but while their undead had no locks, I had securely bolted mine.
And none of them knew how to break that lock.
"This can't be happening. This can't be!"
They couldn’t comprehend how their undead were being snatched away with just a simple gesture.
For a necromancer, the strength of their undead is a source of pride.
Even though it was obvious that these undead weren’t originally theirs, my mocking smile seemed to be an unbearable insult to them.
At the same time, the necromancers exchanged anxious glances.
They had just lost all their undead, which had been their only protection.
At this, Farell conjured a large fireball on his fingertip.
"Thanks to you, brother, this got a lot easier. Necromancers without undead are nothing."
"Damn it! Bring it out!!"
"Bring that out? If they find out later, we’re as good as dead…."
"We're about to die right now! Who cares?! Do it! We've already been caught trying to escape—our fate is sealed!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the desperate necromancers shouted frantically.
An elderly necromancer, trembling, hastily pulled something out from his robes.
"What's that?"
"Heh… heheheh!! You’re all as good as dead now!"
The necromancer, staggering as if intoxicated by the surge of necromantic mana, activated the artifact.
Before us, a presence brimming with overwhelming energy began to take shape.
"You've got to be kidding me…."
Farell, his earlier confidence vanished, took a step back with a hardened expression.
A magnificently engraved black plate armor, a massive greatsword enveloped in dark energy, and ominous, glowing red eyes.
A Death Knight—one of the most difficult undead to create.
Just standing there, it exuded a crushing presence.
But these necromancers were far too weak to summon or control such a high-tier undead.
There was no way they could manage it just because they had called it forth.
"Brother, that’s… a Death Knight, right?"
"Looks like it."
"Then… shouldn’t we be running?"
Farell assessed the situation with cold rationality and voiced his concerns.
A Death Knight is created from an exceptionally strong knight’s corpse.
A completed Death Knight would be at least Expert-tier High Rank, and in some cases, even Master-level.
If someone else had been in my place, this battlefield would have turned into a bloodbath.
I wonder if this is what it feels like to pull a legendary item from a gacha pull.
Even those idiots should know that summoning a Death Knight comes with risks—that they might also become its target.
"Heh heh heh. Now, Death Knight! Rip my enemies to shreds!"
Ah.
So they don’t know.
Well, if Death Knights were common, every nation would be deploying them in battle.
Aside from requiring a powerful corpse, the process of creating one is exceedingly complex.
"C-Come on! Obey me!"
The necromancer shouted at the towering figure of the Death Knight.
The creature slowly raised its massive, black sword.
SHAAAACK!!!
And then—
It cleaved the necromancers who had summoned it in a single stroke.
"Huh?"
Both they and Farell stood frozen, their expressions blank with shock.
At that moment, I swiftly gathered and detonated necromantic mana, triggering a controlled explosion.
BOOOOM!!!
With a deafening blast, Farell—who had been caught by the back of his collar and flung away—looked up at me.
"Brother, what…?"
"I just saved your life again."
At my words, he turned to look at where he had been standing just moments ago.
And fell silent.
A massive sword scar was etched into the ground where he had just been.
An attack so fast that he wouldn’t have even been able to react.
"It’s at least Expert-tier, High Rank… maybe even beyond that."
"Holy crap. I knew Death Knights were strong, but where the hell did they get a monster like that…?"
Farell seemed more fascinated by the existence of the Death Knight than the fact that he had just narrowly avoided death.
This guy… I get the feeling that even if he survives today, he’s bound to die some other way down the road.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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