Ch.29Leveling Is Dangerous (5)

Whoosh.

“Extraction.”

The ninth page, if counting by pages.

What it contained was the eye of Jack Callista, an assassin from the Frost Tribe.

“Materialization.”

Thud.

Roll.

Eventually, with black haze, a grotesque eyeball fell onto my hand.

This is one of my true original undead, Jack Callista’s medium.

Watching this process, Johan, feeling some kind of anxiety, moved his Bone Breaker urgently while wearing an expression full of questions.

“Stop them at all costs!”

[Guooo!]

Three of them were approaching.

It seems like too many for me to handle in my current state.

“Just block two of them. I only need a moment.”

“Ah! Yes!”

Hearing my instructions, Song Hayeon summoned two Skeleton Mashers with her last bit of mana and sent them charging at the enemy.

“Undead call!”

Whoosh!

Crack.

Creak.

[Grooo!]

Crash!

Crunch!

One Bone Breaker slipped through between the two clashing undead groups.

“M-Master!”

Song Hayeon gasped in shock as it swung its vicious giant hammer, but I remained unfazed. This was exactly the situation I had been aiming for.

“Remember what I told you before?”

“Aaah! What?”

“That your head is empty.”

That comment wasn’t just teasing; it was sincere advice in its own way.

“The head is important.”

While there are certainly exceptions, for most undead, the head is a highly important part both literally and symbolically.

Because of this, if one doesn’t thoroughly concentrate mana to protect it, a skilled necromancer can exploit that gap to work their magic.

Just like now.

“Mist of Erosion.”

Whoosh.

Creep.

As I raised my left hand—the one not holding the eyeball—and released mana, the Bone Breaker that was about to swing its hammer slowed down.

I carefully controlled my mana, gradually eroding its head area.

With this, the Bone Breaker’s command system would be disrupted, causing it to halt its actions momentarily.

[G-roo.]

Now was the time.

Without lowering my hand, I slowly approached the Bone Breaker and placed Jack’s eyeball against its head.

“Activation.”

Twitch.

Whoosh!

The eyeball, which had been motionless as if in hibernation, suddenly began to thrash violently and burrow into the Bone Breaker’s head.

Crunch.

Crunch!

[Guooo!]

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Sensing something wrong, the Bone Breaker regained its senses and swung its hammer, and I quickly pulled my body back.

With this, the preparations were complete.

I focused my mind and slowly organized the mana within me.

Whoosh.

All beings bound to the Book of Death have a close contractual relationship with my soul.

Perhaps because of that, I felt a sensation as if my mind was being elevated and my heart was trembling.

A mental pleasure I hadn’t felt for a full year and six months began to consume my mind.

Hiss.

Containing all those emotions in the mana at my fingertips, I finally uttered the spell to summon the true servant of death.

“Undead call.”

[Guoooo─!]

Whoosh!

The change was intense.

The Bone Breaker let out a death cry and slumped its upper body like an empty doll, and extremely dense mana erupted from its head, which had been eroded by Jack’s eyeball.

Rumble.

After a few seconds passed like that.

At the position where the Bone Breaker’s left eye would have been, a blue eyeball emitting a chilling glow protruded.

Realizing that the ritual had entered its final stage, I spoke the name of my loyal servant.

“Jack Callista.”

At the same time, part of the Bone Breaker’s lower face tore open, and a rough voice was heard.

Crunch!

Rip─!

“You look, quite, different.”

Jack Callista.

It was the magnificent resurrection of the Frost Tribe assassin who once reigned as the terror of the underworld.

#

‘What on earth is happening right now?’

Johan was bewildered.

To be honest, he truly couldn’t understand the current situation.

‘What is that thing…’

A girl with exotic features—silver hair and red eyes.

While her distinctive appearance was impressive, he honestly hadn’t paid much attention to her. The only person he had been keeping an eye on was Song Hayeon.

‘I was told she was just a sidekick.’

A rookie hunter who had just been promoted to C-rank. Most opinions suggested that even that was largely due to Song Hayeon’s help.

However.

‘She’s dangerous. That one.’

Johan was a man with excellent intuition. It was that unique instinct combined with his high talent that had allowed him to rise to his current position.

And that instinct was telling him now.

That he was currently falling into an irreversible situation.

Bang!

Whoosh!

When Baek Eunha took out the Book of Death, his anxiety reached its peak. Because of this, Johan moved urgently.

“Stop them!”

But he failed.

Baek Eunha performed a mysterious undead summoning ritual, using his own Bone Breaker as a sacrifice, and soon something emanating an ominous feeling appeared.

“You look, quite, different.”

Surprisingly, it manipulated its own body to speak.

And that wasn’t all.

Johan was truly shocked by the incredible actions of the undead that followed.

“Ah.”

Crunch.

Crunch.

“Ugh. Ah.”

Crack!

“Ah… That’s better.”

At first, its vocal cords only produced unpleasant, rough sounds, but now it was emitting remarkably clean vocals.

It had autonomously completed adjustments in that brief moment.

‘Such an undead cannot possibly exist.’

Cold sweat was now flowing from Johan’s body.

As a necromancer with promising talent himself, he could tell.

That thing before his eyes was truly of a different caliber.

“Did you struggle against such meager opponents?”

“…I-I didn’t struggle.”

The mechanical undead from earlier was gone.

Its calm demeanor as it conversed made it seem almost like a real human.

‘It’s a high-level undead!’

Like a lich, a being with power and intelligence beyond human capacity.

This was certainly not a situation to be dazed in any longer.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Johan brought out all his hidden cards.

“Fake Resurrection!”

Whoosh!

[Kieeek!]

[Grrrr.]

Two Bone Breakers. One Zombie Lizard. And even a specially crafted Banshee.

He had used all the materials he had prepared, but with this much force, he could instantly kill even a decent B-rank hunter.

And now, he would use the Mother Tree, which was in poor condition due to the corpse explosion, as a sacrifice to strengthen them further.

“Cry of the Dead.”

[Guoooo─!]

Crackle!

Crackle!

The Mother Tree let out a pitiful scream and oxidized on the spot. At the same time, the mana generated from it infused the other undead with power.

With this, the preparations were perfect.

“Attack all at once.”

[Kuaak!]

There was no carelessness.

He himself participated in the battle, supporting the undead with spells.

‘I can win.’

He hadn’t come this far just to fall here. He had to kill these two before him, and someday even surpass the detestable Helena.

[Grrrk!]

Whoosh!

However, the moment the Bone Breaker, which had reached the opposing side first, began to swing its arm.

“…Severely inadequate.”

Whoosh!

Literally, everything ended before he could even gather his wits.

Twitch.

Twitch twitch.

[Grrrr!]

The undead called Jack had vanished from sight.

At the same time, all the undead that had clearly been attempting to attack were now twitching, unable to move as if bound by something.

‘W-what on earth!’

Looking closely, he could see several black lines connecting between the shadows of the undead.

And from those black lines, mana that felt suffocating was flowing out.

“I’ve already taken all of them from behind.”

“Huk!”

Startled by the voice from above his head, Johan stepped back in shock.

There was an undead standing upside down, with both feet attached to the uneven ceiling of the dungeon.

‘This can’t be…’

He hadn’t sensed its presence at all.

The undead called Jack detached his feet lightly and landed in front of Johan.

Thud.

Then he suddenly voiced a complaint.

“My Lord. My body feels duller than usual. Did you summon me properly?”

“Sh-shut up. There are deep circumstances…”

“Hmm.”

After fidgeting with his body for a moment, Jack turned his head again to meet Johan’s eyes.

“So, should I just kill this one as is?”

“Kill him.”

At the verdict uttered without hesitation, Johan felt a suffocating sensation and attempted one last act of defiance.

“Ra-Rampage…”

“It’s useless.”

Hiss.

Slash!

As Jack infused mana into his fingertips and cut through his own shadow, a single line appeared on the necks of all the bound undead at that moment.

Sizzle.

Johan could somehow imagine what would follow next.

Slash─!

Whoosh!

Thud!

Thud!

Roll.

First, the heads of the two Bone Breakers flew into the air.

Next, the head of the Zombie Lizard fell to the ground with a splashing sound.

[Kieeek─!]

Finally, in the case of the Banshee, it let out a scream like a death cry and vanished on the spot.

The enhanced undead were annihilated in an instant. Even the Rampage, his last resort, no longer had any meaning.

Finally, Johan completely lost his will to fight.

“Y-you monster.”

“…Monster, is it.”

Jack paused for a moment as if recalling something, then quickly swung his hand while continuing to speak.

Slash!

“That’s a rather shabby word to describe that terrifying being.”

Whoosh─!

Thud!

That was the futile death of Johan Scarlet, currently a top B-rank hunter.

One of Styx’s most promising talents.

#

Johan was dead, and the undead who called himself Jack returned to the form of an eyeball, leaving only the corpse of the Bone Breaker behind.

What on earth had she just witnessed?

Song Hayeon honestly didn’t know. The battle just now had been on a completely different level.

However, one thing was certain.

“I’ll follow you for life…”

Her master was indeed the real deal. Song Hayeon felt this with sincere conviction today.

“…”

Baek Eunha gave Song Hayeon a disgruntled look and then silently went over to Johan’s corpse and cast a spell.

“Undead call.”

Whoosh,

Rustle.

Rustle.

[Grrrr.]

Then Johan’s corpse rose, emitting a gleaming light from its eyes. Seeing this, Song Hayeon asked.

“A-are you making him your subordinate?”

However, after carefully examining Johan’s corpse, Baek Eunha shook her head and touched its forehead with her fingertip.

Tap,

Thud.

Crumble.

Crumble!

Johan’s corpse lost control and collapsed. At the same time, it slowly turned to dust and crumbled away.

Watching this, Baek Eunha said.

“…No matter how much I nurture this one, it won’t even become a lich.”

That detached face was truly the embodiment of the fundamental necromancer that her master always talked about.

Song Hayeon, who had been properly impressed by the earlier performance, felt a sense of respect welling up from within her heart.

‘So cool.’

Could this really be the same pathetic, shabby master she knew?

Just as she was about to be completely starstruck, Baek Eunha’s demeanor suddenly changed.

The lordly bearing that had been as steady as a mountain was nowhere to be seen as her body began to tremble, and her jewel-like eyes wandered aimlessly in all directions.

What followed was, in a way, predictable. Baek Eunha clutched her stomach with both hands and collapsed face-down on the floor.

Thud.

“Ughhhh.”

Judging by the cold sweat pouring down her face, she seemed to be in considerable pain.

She had seen her master go limp from ring timeouts before, but this was the first time she’d seen something like this.

“Ugh. M-muscle pain. I can’t move my body…”

True to her words, Baek Eunha was making a pitiful face and couldn’t get up from her spot.

Alarmed, Song Hayeon urgently asked.

“A-are you okay?”

“H-help me up…”

When Song Hayeon approached and placed her hand on Baek Eunha’s waist, Baek Eunha flinched in surprise and curled up her body.

“Eek! D-don’t touch me…”

“Then how am I supposed to help you up?”

As Song Hayeon stood there at a loss, Baek Eunha covered her mouth with both hands and issued a new command.

“Urp. Ten meters…”

“…This is driving me crazy.”

Song Hayeon hurriedly distanced herself from her master. Then, looking around, she carefully collected the remains of the Skeleton Masher and cast a spell.

“Undead call.”

Whoosh!

Crack.

Creak.

And so, a little while later.

The sight of Baek Eunha dangling from the shoulder of a Skeleton Masher as they progressed through the dungeon was, honestly speaking, impossible to imagine as the master of that powerful undead from earlier.

“My body aches. It hurts…”

“Please bear with it a little longer.”

While accommodating Baek Eunha’s incessant whining, Song Hayeon carefully thought.

Looking at her again, she really was her pathetic master after all.