Chapter 84

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 84: Second Trial (10)

‘Did the Death Lord come out from here?’

If there hadn’t been any interference, Merhen would still be enduring torment and continuing her academy life.

And then, she would have naturally participated in the practical exam.

‘Meeting the Death Lord there…’

She might have become undead.

With the appearance of demons and liches, the knights drew their swords. It was a bonus that the magic battalion cast all sorts of spells.

The students also prepared for battle.

The lich was known as a sinister undead, and the Balrog was undoubtedly a demon. It wouldn’t be strange at all if a battle broke out immediately.

A suffocating silence followed.

Like everyone else, Kim Minwoo was equally tense.

‘It’s going to be tough…’

Dealing with that Death Lord.

And now the Legion Commander was mixed in as well.

But what about their allies?

At most, they had a few hundred students and the knight and magic battalions, which were only mid-level within the empire.

Looking at it objectively, it felt like everything could be taken care of by the legion commander, whoever he was.

‘But still… Let’s give it a shot.’

Ideally, they’d pass by without fighting, but it didn’t seem possible.

That was because in Balrog’s eyes, there was already a lot of resentment brewing.

It felt like being looked at by a predator eyeing its prey.

Soon after, Balrog shrugged his shoulders.

—Lord. What should we do?

—…

The Death Lord glanced over everyone.

Just for a moment.

When his gaze met Kim Minwoo’s, he smirked.

—You… What are you? Why do you possess my power?

The Death Lord, with a gaze as if seeing a bizarre hybrid, looked in his direction.

‘Did he sense my skill?’

Death Lord (EX).

He had absorbed that gentleman’s power in an instant.

It was natural for him to be curious.

After all, to his past self, it would have felt like a human suddenly appeared and was using a power similar to his own.

“What are you talking about?”

Kim Minwoo shrugged, asking. The Death Lord appeared downright sinister, even consorting with demons.

Considering the knights, magic battalion, and even the students were all alive and well, it seemed awkward to act like they didn’t know each other.

Then, his previously silent gaze shifted to Merhen.

—…Interesting.

This time, the lich nodded satisfactorily.

Then, he looked at Balrog and spoke.

—Deal with them. But leave those two out of it.

Cairn and Merhen.

In an instant, all eyes were on them. Merhen trembled as if she couldn’t understand a word.

Cairn, on the other hand…

“Let’s kill these wicked demons!”

With sword in hand, he charged straight ahead.

The onlookers, initially stunned, began to regain their senses one by one.

They hadn’t entertained the soft notion of passing by demons and liches without a fight.

Cairn just took a step ahead and charged forward.

“Deal with these guys!”

The knights swarmed like a pack of wolves.

All sorts of magic surged towards Balrog, as if on top of everything else.

—Heh heh. This won’t be boring.

[Balkan summons his favourite, the Flame Demon!]

A giant whip of fire materialized above Balrog’s hand, revealing sharp fangs. He swung the whip with full force towards the first daring human charging at him.

Just one hit would engulf the entire body in flames.

Watching the human scream in agony while burning was one of Balrog’s most delightful pastimes.

He said to kill, so he’ll just turn off the fire when it’s time. With the fiery whip hissing like a serpent’s tongue, it approached Kim Minwoo.

[The ‘Law of Victory’ title is activated!]

[All stats increase by 150%!]

[All damage increases by 150%!]

“Wow.”

Kim Minwoo was secretly amazed.

He had just leveled up to 180 after killing a group of monsters earlier.

And yet, the Law of Victory is triggered like this?

‘At least in the mid-1600s.’

As befitting of a commander, his level was incredibly high.

With a level like this, his stats would be beyond imagination.

The gap was terrifyingly immense.

[Whitey shares water attributes!”]

[Commander Swordsmanship (S) is used!]

[Uses 5,000 mana!]

He generously poured in 5,000 mana.

Hundreds of sword beams rose above the command sword.

The onslaught of sword beams.

The flame whip tore through the mass of sword beams, but at the cost of slightly altering its trajectory.

Summoning a stone golem in front of the deflected whip.

[Dolsoe uses Provocation (A) on Balrog!]

[The opponent’s level is overwhelmingly higher! Provocation is ignored!]

[Dolsoe uses Defensive Stance (B)!]

Although the provocation didn’t work, since it was summoned right in front of him, the whip grazed over the golem.

[The Dolsoe is reversed summoned!]

Despite using a defensive stance, Dolsoe was instantly reversed summoned. Meanwhile, Kim Minwoo approached Balrog at close range.

[The Curse of Aging (D)+9 is triggered!]

[The level gap is too vast!]

[The curse does not take effect!]

First, the curse didn’t work.

He fiercely stabbed the command sword into the enemy’s leg.

Thunk!

Sparks flew as if hitting solid steel.

Suddenly, Balrog’s whip was approaching.

It was incredibly fast.

He threw Dolsoe again to block and evade.

Cedric activated a skill.

[Cedric activates Shadow Spear (SS)!]

[Cedric activates Dragon’s Strike (S)!]

The damage doubled with the Shadow Spear.

And with Dragon’s Strike, it was multiplied by seven.

The damage, increased fourteen times, struck Balrog’s body.

Thud!

Yet, not a single scratch appeared on Balrog’s body.

It was expected.

The level difference was overwhelmingly large. He skillfully dodged the enemy’s attacks and struck the same spot repeatedly.

[You have struck the same area! Damage increased by 22%…!]

[The title ‘Single-minded Striker’…!]

The charging knights thrust their mana-infused swords from all directions.

A torrent of magic spells poured down as well.

—Get lost.

[Balrog uses Flame Fist!]

His fist was engulfed in flames.

Upon impact, a massive pillar of fire erupted in front of him.

“Argh”

“Arg, Help me”

The sucked-in knights all turned into charcoal. With just one punch, nearly fifty knights died.

Half of the knights were gone.

From the students to the mages in the rear.

Everyone felt a chilling fear.

The knights’ swords were ineffective.

Magic was no different.

The enemy’s level was overwhelmingly high.

What’s even more terrifying was that the lich in the rear hadn’t moved yet.

Nevertheless.

Kim Minwoo steadfastly kept striking at just one part of the enemy.

[You have struck the same area! Damage increased by 44%…!]

[The title ‘Single-minded Striker’…!]

[You have struck the same area! Damage increased by 55%…!]

[The title ‘Single-minded Striker’…!]

With the attention of the knights and mages drawn to him, he had to somehow deal damage as much as possible.

Finally.

Splurt!

A fountain of blood spurted from Balrog’s leg.

‘That’s it.’

Kim Minwoo’s eyes gleamed.

He pierced through the enemy’s tough exterior.

At least a minimal strategy had emerged.

* * *

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Merhen looked ahead with trembling eyes.

A monster that even the flying knights couldn’t contend with.

Only Cairn was standing up to the monster until the end.

But the situation didn’t seem favorable. His body was already in tatters.

In contrast, Balrog, despite some wounds on his leg, was overpowering him with ease.

‘Again…’

It was the same as before.

Cairn, who had been sent out in front of the wave.

Once again, she was of no help at all.

Even in this situation, magic showed no signs of manifesting.

A pitiful excuse.

She was truly useless.

Then.

The lich approached.

Some mages hastily cast spells, but it was futile.

“Cough!”

With just a gesture from the lich, they fell clutching their hearts. As the terrified mages retreated.

Approaching, the lich spoke.

—Child, Join My ranks.

“…What?”

―Have you never despaired over a talent that’s blocked?

“…How did you…”

The lich’s gaze traced a line.

―Sometimes, talents only reveal themselves in death. Your body is like a prison.

“My… my body is a prison?”

―Yes. Your talent may overflow, but you’ll never fully manifest it in your lifetime. But it’d be different if you joined me.

The lich reached out temptingly.

―You must have felt a lot of anguish. It must have been painful. I’ll grant you the power to overturn all of that. If only you take my hand…

“N-no, I refuse.”

Merhen reflexively shook her head.

―Why?

“Do I need a reason not to want to become undead?”

―Is that so?

The indifferent lich extended his hand. At that moment, a nearby mage collapsed.

―Now, what about you?

Merhen trembled.

Just moments ago, the mage next to her, breathing and alive, had suddenly died.

―Still not enough, it seems.

The lich flicked his hand.

Dozens of mages collapsed, coughing up blood.

“I-I won’t follow you just because you make me your servant like this!”

―You’ll understand when you see.

The Death Lord chuckled.

Converting someone into a servant like this wasn’t a loss either way. Even if the loyalty of the servant diminished, they would gain powerful strength as their grudge piled up.

‘The level of loyalty can be supplemented later.’

“I-I absolutely won’t do it.”

―Even if that human dies?

“…!”

The lich pointed.

There stood Cairn, fighting against Balrog. Merhen’s eyes trembled as she watched.

“P-please don’t…”

The Death Lord reached out his hand.

As if caught tightly by an invisible hand, Cairn’s body was mercilessly dragged in front of him.

―Now, do you think your thoughts might change a bit?

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it, just stop!”

Merhen, seeing Cairn bleeding, spoke frantically.

―You’ve made the right choice. Just grasp this hand. It’s very simple…

Then, with a smirk, the Death Lord reached out somewhere.

―Whack!

A bird caught in mid-flight let out a pitiful cry.

―Hm…

Staring intently at the bird in his hand, a birdcage materialized above it.

The Death Lord, with the white bird trapped, stared intently at Merhen.

―So, what’s your answer?

“I-I’ll, I’ll do it but spare Cairn…”

―Very well. I’ll spare him. I’ll keep my promise.

He’ll spare him.

The Death Lord never intended to kill him in the first place.

He’s a human with the same energy as himself. He must find out why that happened in the first place.

He just said he’ll spare him, but how he goes about doing it completely depends upon him.

Even if he thoroughly dissected his entire body.

Ultimately, as long as he remained alive, wouldn’t that be enough?

It was when Merhen was about to reach out her trembling hand.

“…Don’t do it.”

A small voice came from behind.

Cairn, with clenched teeth, spoke amidst immense pressure.

“You… undead… don’t want… it….”

“You fool! Now is not the time to worry about me!”

“Anyway… that… guy… won’t… keep… his promise….”

―Noisy.

Thud!

The pressure intensified, and the sound of bones breaking resonated throughout the body. Blood gushed from Cairn’s mouth.

Now it should quiet down a bit.

It was when he thought he had silenced the annoying human.

“You can… manifest…”

The Death Lord furrowed his brows.

With such pain, one should have already passed out. Yet he continued to babble on.

But inflicting more pain might just kill him.

Cairn’s body had already been shattered.

Merhen’s eyes trembled mercilessly as she saw this.

She had underestimated the lich.

The mention of not keeping his promise.

She could see it now.

He was someone who would ruthlessly break bodies.

Literally, she didn’t even know if he would truly “spare” Cairn.

‘No, this can’t be happening…’

Without that, it’s meaningless.

What should she do then?

“You… have to… do it…”

Cairn was right.

All she could trust was her own manifestation.

Her heart raced madly.

She remembered every moment she spent with Cairn.

He was the first good person she had ever met in her life.

Like how he had saved her multiple times.

She, too…

‘I have to save him.’

She must.

If not, Cairn would die.

She couldn’t let that happen.

She focused her mind.

She had never been so desperate in her entire life.

‘Please…’

Just once would be enough.

If only she could manifest magic.

So, if she could save Cairn…

She would sacrifice anything for it.

It was in that moment.

Mana coursing through her body began to stir.

Boom!

Light emitted from her hand.

It was magic.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]