Ch.28Leveling Is Dangerous (4)

“Ugh.”

Having known my master for several months now, I could tell. In that state, I couldn’t expect any help from her for a while.

In the end, I had no choice but to resolve the situation with my own strength.

“So, you finally feel like fighting?”

“…Say whatever you want.”

*Swoosh.*

As Johan entered his combat stance, Song Hayeon also summoned her magical energy to the fullest.

Whatever happened, she was still a B-rank hunter. Not an opponent to be taken lightly. Song Hayeon immediately moved her skeletons without giving him an opening.

“Attack in formation number 2!”

The opponent was a collection of enlarged Mother Trees, so she used tactics similar to those for fighting large monsters.

[Grrrk.]

*Whoosh.*

*Boom!*

The Skeleton Mages, who naturally had good compatibility against Mother Trees, launched fireballs that hit hard, preventing the Mother Trees from advancing properly.

Taking advantage of that opening, the Warriors and Mashers began attacking the lower parts of the Mother Trees.

*Whoosh!*

*Crash!*

*Crack!*

The Skeleton Mashers were especially impressive. Enhanced by necromancy, each of their attacks produced deafening sounds.

“You certainly have skill. Much better than those fools back home who boasted without even being able to properly create undead.”

“You’re not much yourself, you know?”

Song Hayeon had gained quite a bit of confidence from the battle so far. Her attacks were definitely effective against her opponent. This seemed winnable.

However, Johan soon clicked his tongue with a mocking smile.

“You fail too.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You don’t understand the essence of being a necromancer at all. You’re not qualified to handle death.”

Song Hayeon’s body trembled at those words. And finally, Johan began to move.

“Cut off your arms.”

[Groooo.]

At the sudden command, the Mother Trees severed several branches growing from their bodies.

*Thud!*

*Boom!*

Then, Johan cast a spell while projecting intense magical energy.

“Corpse explosion.”

*BOOM—!*

*Crack!*

*Crunch!*

A self-destructive attack that didn’t care about damaging his own undead—the damage was truly immense.

*Grk.*

*Kikikik.*

With just that one explosion, several Warriors engaged in close combat were taken out, and even the Skeleton Masher suffered damage with parts of its body breaking.

“H-how could you do this.”

Song Hayeon couldn’t hide her shock at this unexpected tactic. And Johan didn’t stop there, pulling something out from inside his coat.

“I heard you mainly use skeletons. So I brought this.”

It was some kind of medium. Song Hayeon noticed and tried to interfere by summoning Skeleton Archers, but unfortunately, the distance was too great.

“Fake Resurrection.”

*Crunch.*

*Crack!*

What appeared was a massive knight that looked as if it were wearing armor made of bones.

“Bone Breaker.”

In its large hands was a massive hammer covered in sharp spikes.

Song Hayeon could tell just by looking at it once. That thing had bad compatibility with her undead.

“…Ugh.”

The outcome of the ensuing battle was devastating.

*Crack!*

*Crunch!*

*CRASH—!*

Under the attacks of the giant Mother Tree and the Bone Breaker, Song Hayeon’s undead began to be utterly demolished.

“Return Undead! Undead Call!”

Unable to watch any longer, Song Hayeon reorganized her forces and summoned numerous Warriors and Mashers skilled in close combat, but the tide of battle didn’t change.

Simply put, Johan’s undead were stronger than Song Hayeon’s.

That was all there was to it.

“W-what rank are you even…?”

“The same as you. But I hear my promotion will be completed soon.”

“Ah….”

That meant he was essentially at the threshold of A-rank hunter.

As Song Hayeon fell into a state of despair, Johan said with a chuckle:

“What do you think necromancy is?”

“……”

“We are rulers. We can thoroughly place the bodies and souls of the dead beneath our feet and use them as tools.”

“What are you saying?”

“Life is trivial. Under death, everything is worthless and inferior, existing only to be used by us. But I don’t see any of that ruler’s dignity in you at all.”

Johan stopped laughing and continued as if passing judgment:

“Someone like you isn’t qualified to become a true ruler of death.”

“Ugh.”

Normally she could have brushed it off, but for Song Hayeon right now, those words pierced her to the core.

Song Hayeon unconsciously fell into negative thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, Master also…’

She often said I lacked fundamentals. Somehow, those memories overlapped with Johan’s words.

‘Do I… lack talent?’

Indeed, Song Hayeon didn’t have the confidence to act with the same ideology and philosophy as the Johan before her.

As he said, if asked whether she had the optimal talent as a necromancer, Song Hayeon couldn’t answer.

Suddenly, everything about herself started to feel pathetic.

As she hung her head, small footsteps echoed from behind her.

*Step.*

*Step.*

Slowly turning around, she saw Baek Eunha approaching, caressing a ring that emitted a clear light.

*Step.*

*Step.*

*Thud.*

Stopping just a bit ahead of Song Hayeon, Baek Eunha turned her gaze and gave a look of contempt.

As Song Hayeon was about to hang her head in dejection, Baek Eunha looked back at Johan and spoke in her usual monotone voice.

“…No fundamentals.”

Johan’s face, which had been triumphant until then, suddenly froze.

‘Ah.’

That phrase, which had always been annoying to hear, somehow felt incredibly reassuring now.

#

The ring’s mental stabilization period was 10 minutes total.

Everything had to be finished within that time.

After shooting a glare at the blonde man, Johan, I turned around and spoke to Song Hayeon.

“…From today, you’re banned from using skeletons.”

“What? Why!”

“You always use just that one type, so you lost in the compatibility battle. Against someone like him.”

At those words, Song Hayeon lost her words and looked away. She had been completely defeated, so there was no way she could argue.

“But they’re the cutest ones…”

“……”

So that’s why she kept using skeletons all the time. I turned away with a disgruntled expression at Song Hayeon’s unexpected preference.

Johan, who seemed somewhat offended, addressed me.

“No fundamentals? Are you saying that to me?”

“To be precise, to both of you.”

But from my perspective, Johan had even fewer redeeming qualities than Song Hayeon. He was the very model of a necromancer without fundamentals.

Johan, trying to suppress his anger, forced a laugh and continued.

“What right do you have to judge me? It seems someone else doesn’t know their place.”

To such a Johan, I said:

“What is necromancy?”

It was the same question Johan had thrown at Song Hayeon earlier.

And the answer Johan had given to his own question was exactly the kind of thing a third-rate necromancer would spout.

Honestly, it was so irritating that it was hard to listen to, so I’ve said all I needed to say.

“You don’t understand even a fraction of the essence of necromancy.”

In Thebes where I was from, necromancers were treated as public enemies by priests and the world at large.

Why was that?

Because the act of necromancy itself was too great a violation of God’s will and the laws of the world.

“Life is sacred.”

That applies to any being. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone anywhere in the world who doesn’t value their own life.

Therefore, the blemish etched into that sacred light of life carries even greater significance.

“Spilled water cannot be gathered again.”

And life is meant to return to nothingness once it meets death.

For others, it might just be the disappearance of one small existence in a vast world, but for the individual, it means the end of the world, the apocalypse.

“To reverse that incomprehensible domain by the will of a mere individual.”

That was the weight carried by the act of necromancy. A shortcut that breaks down a very enormous and natural principle. A contradiction that should not have existed.

That’s why necromancy holds unlimited power and possibilities.

“It seems you don’t even have the vision to recognize that yet.”

And yet you’re going on about being a true ruler of death—how ridiculous.

“Book of Death.”

*Whoosh!*

At my command, a bizarre-looking book wrapped in ominous energy appeared in mid-air.

My current level is 18. It had only increased by one from before.

But without hesitation, I placed my hand on the book with will and conviction.

I was certain I could open this.

And.

*Rustle.*

*Flutter!*

*Whoosh—!*

With overflowing magical energy, a page of the Book of Death finally revealed itself.