Chapter 46 : last-ditch effort (3)

Black Magician.

When thinking of a Black Magician, everyone instinctively imagines something dreary and dark-colored.

Among the races, which one is dark, dreary, and above all, the most horror-like?

The man naturally chose the Undead.

A Lich who freely wields black magic.

A villainous race that inevitably appears at least once in any fantasy novel.

From a general perspective, it could be seen as a slightly peculiar taste, but the man quite liked the concept.

Thus, his character’s race became ‘Undead’.

And that lighthearted choice returned to the man as the worst misfortune.

-I should have chosen a different, prettier, cooler race.

Repeating the thought he had recalled more times than he could count, thousands of times over, the man stared blankly at the white ceiling

today as well.

Undead are fundamentally dead corpses.

But paradoxically, one of the characteristics of the Undead in ‘Fantasia Online’ was regeneration.

Even if limbs were cut off, simply reattaching them with bandages or tape would allow recovery within days.

It was already strange enough for a dead corpse to be walking around alive, but it even possessed regenerative powers?

The closest answer to the immortality that humanity had sought so desperately was right here.

Naturally, the not-so-secret secret that various countries were already conducting experiments on Undead users was openly circulating.

The reason no one made a fuss was likely because Undead users were extremely few.

Moreover, Undead users didn’t even have families who would strive to get them back.

The bodies of Undead users were fundamentally almost indistinguishable from ordinary corpses.

Without any treatment, they emitted a foul corpse stench, and some, depending on customization, even had their internal organs exposed or

lacked facial skin.

Unless their families were enthusiasts of haunted houses or horror movies, or had other special hobbies, it was natural that they wouldn’t

want to live with such hideous and smelly corpses.

No matter if it was family, they looked completely different from before.

Therefore, the majority of Undead chose to leave their homes voluntarily.

They didn’t want to be a burden to their families.

Of course, whether the reason for leaving home was voluntary or involuntary differed for each individual.

He stared blankly at the IV pack containing liquid flowing into his arm.

Are they experimenting with poison now?

Undead are fundamentally immune to poison.

Naturally, aside from the strange sensation of something flowing into his body, he felt nothing.

Beyond the thick glass window, he could see the researchers typing away, observing his docile reaction.

They seemed surprised that the poison had no effect.

A few hours later, this time, a blade approaches.

What part do they want this time?

Yesterday it was fingers, the day before yesterday teeth and gums, and before that, he couldn’t remember well.

Undead feel pain too.

However, it felt much duller compared to other races.

But the pain of having body parts cut off or pulled out wasn’t something an ordinary person could endure with sanity, even if it felt dull.

The problem was that no matter how much pained screaming he let out, the rotating blade, originally meant for cutting pork, would not stop

its work.

If only it weren’t an Undead body, he could at least faint, but the man’s mind remained completely clear.

It was because of this damned body.

---

-Cough, cough.

The coughs kept bursting out.

Is there a problem with my respiratory system?

As soon as he opened his eyes amidst the rough coughing, the dark blue night sky filled his vision.

After taking a few breaths of the cool air unique to the early morning, the coughing stopped, and his senses properly returned.

He was definitely inside the building, but for some reason, he could see the sky now.

Getting up, he found the answer.

The ceiling had collapsed.

The surroundings had gone beyond the building collapsing; a huge crater had formed.

The man was literally buried deep underground.

“…Damn it.”

Judging by the smell of gunpowder lingering at the tip of his nose, it seemed the self-destruct explosives he intended to use just in case his

‘trump card’ didn’t work had detonated for some reason.

“Denim… is dead.”

The link connected to its soul was completely severed.

Since the creature was made to survive as long as its skull wasn’t completely shattered, the fact that the opponent had killed it completely was

proof that they were quite skilled.

Shaking off the dust and building debris accumulated all over his body from the explosion’s aftermath, the man stood up and looked around.

Right next to where he had fallen, lay Denim’s corpse, its form barely recognizable.

Its skin was made from the hides of Wyverns and Ogres, and the monster corpse used in its creation was a high-level High Ogre.

There were almost no individuals capable of wrecking such a creature head-on like this.

At least domestically, as far as he knew, there were only three.

Examining the corpse, there were no signs of magic damage at all.

It wasn’t struck by slashes either.

Solely through simple physical force, the creature that boasted such tough HP had been felled instantly.

‘Well, I know who the opponent up there is.’

GutPunchLover.

One of the despicable users who openly displayed their desires in their nickname, but her skills were not to be underestimated.

That user deserved respect simply for holding the second-highest rank among the top 10 worldwide.

Though he couldn’t understand why a user of that level would side with humans.

“Anyway… I need to prepare to fight.”

Having been cornered this far, trying to flee would only allow the closing encirclement to catch up faster.

The only answer was a frontal assault.

He had to push forward with momentum here.

<Dragon’s twisted cradle>

<Balhala doesn’t exist.>

<The return of the immortal>

High-level spells belonging to the Black Magic category manifested at his fingertips.

Black miasma, which living creatures instinctively recoil from, formed three huge magic circles.

From the first magic circle, a Bone Dragon boasting a body tens of meters long revealed itself.

From the second magic circle, the corpses of legendary knights who should have met honorable ends slowly rose and saluted the Black

Magician man.

From the third magic circle, black skeletons holding staves adorned with red jewels, Liches, appeared and bowed their heads.

Each one boasted the strength of a three-digit level, summons that were literally the man’s entire fighting force.

With their power alone, the man was confident he could overthrow a decent-sized country.

“…Doing something interesting.”

The problem was, the opponent was a monster capable of overthrowing a country and then some.

---

Deflecting and striking back.

This technique, commonly called a Counter, was Yejin’s basic combat style.

She deflected the sword strike with her palm and used the shift in center of gravity from the swung sword to thrust her fist into the knight’s

armor.

With the sound of the inner skeleton shattering, the red glow shining within the knight’s helmet flickered a few times before disappearing.

Various spells were shot from the Liches’ red staves to immobilize Yejin, but— even while bearing the brunt of all the crowd control, Yejin

easily handled the Death Knights.

Dozens of Death Knights were reduced to only three or four in an instant.

The Liches’ mana was also reaching its limit.

The man realized the time had come to make his move.

-Everyone, cast binding magic.

As per his command, the Liches uniformly began casting spells with CC effects all at once.

Following the skills cast with mechanical gestures, reversed gravity bound her feet, sleep magic clouded her mind, and the touch of paralysis

dulled her reaction speed.

And finally, the man, the master of this legion, cast the spell he had prepared in advance.

<Ego Usurpation> was magic that was difficult to take effect unless the opponent was weaker or equal, or under special circumstances.

Yejin immediately began resisting the skill’s effect.

-What on earth is he thinking?

Surely, the inner thought contained in the questioning expression on Yejin’s face would translate to something like this.

Advanced magic was like an important trump card for magicians.

Wasting such a card so futilely was akin to trolling or provocation.

However, the man, whose life was currently on the line, wouldn’t have recklessly spammed advanced magic without reason.

As proof, the man patted the neck of the Bone Dragon he was riding and commanded.

“Now.”

The roughly 1-second interval invested in resisting the skill’s effect.

That amount of time was more than enough to land an effective direct hit.

Deadly energy, glowing with black light, gathered inside the Bone Dragon’s mouth.

The dragon’s purple eye-glow, filling the dark surroundings, flashed brightly once, and the immense dark energy gathered in its mouth swept

over the target and its surroundings.

She was hit directly by the breath of a Bone Dragon, which boasted the most powerful breath among dragons.

At the very least, she must have suffered significant damage.

-All of you, attack that woman with every last shred of mana.

Following his command, the mindless undead all formed sword ki and cast magic.

Skills capable of easily shattering boulders began to rain down on Yejin’s form, obscured by the dust cloud.