Chapter 91

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 91: Ant Hell (3)

The shadows were well aware of the Demon’s Castle. That’s why Kim Minwoo had a hunch as to why he chose this gate.

For the infiltrating assassins, the maze-like layout was like a piece of cake. Plus, the seven reception rooms in the castle had only one entrance and were very spacious inside.

‘Perfect for a necromancer to spread his wings.’

It didn’t matter.

They were prepared to endure this level of penalty.

So, the group began opening the reception rooms one by one and checking inside.

The doors were opened one by one by the trainees. The rest of the group stayed a bit away, ready to react. After all, there could be a surprise attack from inside.

Four of them were empty.

They had only killed demon-type monsters.

When they opened the fifth door,

“…!”

A trainee was seen wide-eyed.

‘Is it here?’

The S-rank awakeneds waiting nearby reacted distinctly differently from before, their eyes shining.

Han Baekgil was no exception.

He tightly gripped his weapon.

Activating his skills to be ready to enter at any moment was just a bonus.

Then.

Swoooosh…!

A tremendous wind began to blow in front of the door, sucking everything in like a vacuum cleaner.

All the awakeneds were sucked in.

“What, what’s this?!”

“This is…!”

“It’s, it’s magic!”

S-rank mage Wi Rungkang, who came from China, shone his eyes.

The flow of standardized mana.

This was definitely magic.

Since there’s no way the necromancer could use this kind of magic, he must have obtained a remarkable item.

‘Cocky bastard.’

[Land of Death is activated!]

[Life is continuously drained!]

Another message popped up, but it wasn’t important right now.

It’s probably an AoE attack.

The damage isn’t that strong either.

What’s important is solving the wind raging right now. He was a mage who had been through thick and thin.

He had some magic prepared for times like this.

In an instant, the spell was activated in his hand.

[Weight Amplification (B) is activated!]

[Earth’s Grasp (A) is activated!]

Amplifying the target’s weight.

A gigantic hand protruded from the ground and grabbed the party members by their arms.

The members of the shadow group, who were being swept away by the wind, let out a sigh of relief.

Their bodies came to a halt in mid-air.

Then.

[The Archmage is watching you!]

[The source of the magic has been detected!]

[All magic is being completely dispelled!]

Before even 0.1 second passed, all of Wi Rungkang’s magic vanished as if it had never existed.

‘…?’

Wi Rungkang’s eyes widened at the sight of the message, something he had never seen before.

The source has been detected?

And on top of that, all magic is dispelled?

What kind of nonsense is this?

‘What’s this talk about ‘The Archmage’ again?’

The party members were all dragged towards the door. The same went for Wi Rungkang. The party members hurriedly used defensive skills, and soon a huge explosion erupted.

Boom!

“Aargh!”

“Ouch!”

The trainees’ bodies turned into rags. Even the S-rank awakeneds suffered damage. It was such a tremendous force.

“It’s him!”

Inside the reception room.

Kim Minwoo was stationed there with numerous undead creatures.

A gigantic golem and Cedric.

And even skeletons.

Familiar summoned creatures were present. Although he expected a group of specters, he had already anticipated that.

He would have learned C-rank skills long ago. The only peculiar thing was…

‘What’s that?’

There was a woman standing next to Kim Minwoo for the first time.

A woman wearing a distant robe, smiling while looking at this place.

She looked foreign no matter how you looked at her…

‘Who’s that again?’

‘Could it be… secretly calling reinforcements…’

‘No, wait a minute.’

A warning echoed in everyone’s mind along with doubts.

The maximum capacity for entry into a B-rank gate is 20 people. But there were already 19 people who had entered with Kim Minwoo.

In other words, it meant that although she looked human, she wasn’t.

“Be careful! Summon! Sorcerer!”

Wi Rungkang urgently shouted in broken Korean.

Cedric, also known as the real knight.

The power of that summon was beyond imagination.

The woman would probably be the same.

“It’s her!”

Instinctively, he realized who the “Archmage” was referring to. A suffocating pressure emanated from the woman, more than just mere momentum.

It wasn’t just a simple display of power.

It was something fundamental.

It felt like every cell was being scrutinized, with Wi Rungkang’s spine chilling as if everything had been laid bare and examined.

“Die!”

The awakened gathered at the door and unleashed all sorts of attack skills.

The battle had begun anyway.

Some sacrifices were inevitable.

They had to pierce through the summons and kill Kim Minwoo.

Since they were already standing in front of the door, they intended to clear a path. The summoned creatures were all killed by the fierce onslaught of skills.

“Watch out! He’s resurrecting!”

One urgently shouted.

Oddly enough, instead of counter-summoning, Kim Minwoo’s undead creatures were resurrecting.

[Cursed with Aging!]

[Defense and movement speed reduced by 10%…]

The brawl continued with curses.

“Rungkang!”

Rungkang nodded.

He must be asking for a large-scale spell to be used. Although he felt the unfamiliar pressure, he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

[Rungkang casts Grand Explosion (S)…]

It was when he tried to cast the spell again.

― Fool. Simple.

Suddenly, with an unexpected voice.

[Magic Defense (B) activated!]

[Magic Reflection (A) activated!]

[Grand Explosion (S) casting canceled!]

“Cough!”

Mana that moved to cast the spell tangled up, and he collapsed, vomiting blood. Having all the defensive spells on his body nullified was just an additional blow.

“?”

“?”

“?”

The members of the shadow side looked puzzled.

S-rank mage Rungkang.

He collapsed without even trying anything. It was evident how devastating the impact was as he lay there, foaming at the mouth.

“What’s this…?”

Rungkang didn’t have extraordinary talent among S-rank mages, but he was still an S-rank mage.

He was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.

But what’s going on here?

Everyone was bewildered.

The original plan was to sweep away various summoned creatures through Wi Rungkang’s magic and approach Kim Minwoo. But that plan fell apart from the start.

“Stick to the original plan!”

Han Baekgil shouted loudly.

Unexpected variables kept popping up. But wavering now would only make them vulnerable.

They had to push forward with determination.

“There’s still one step left.”

Han Baekgil’s eyes gleamed.

The initial blows they took, and even if Wi Rungkang collapsed, it wasn’t fatal. There were still nine S-rank awakeneds left.

Wi Rungkang could recover to some extent with potions.

He had brought treasures from the treasure vault, preparing for the worst-case scenario. Naturally, he also brought several artifacts to destroy the necromancer.

The S-rank awakeneds nodded resolutely.

As the path gradually cleared, they drew closer to Kim Minwoo.

“Now’s the time!”

From One to Seven, and even Han Baekgil.

They all activated the artifacts they wore on their bodies.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

[Rain of Light (S) activated!

[Angel’s Smile (S) activated!]

[Sacred Flame (S) activated!]

[Divine Protection (S) activated!…]

Undead creatures have always been vulnerable to light. Just a blast of light would double the damage.

Especially with specters swarming around. Ghost-type undead would receive triple the damage, allowing them to quickly defeat the summoned creatures.

A sparkling rain of light descended.

Divine energy circulated around the members, including Han Baekgil.

It was a radiant light mass so intense that even lowly skeletons would melt away before they could get close.

‘Clear the way in an instant…’

‘We’ll kill them!’

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

Even if it’s a special summon like Cedric, he wouldn’t withstand the S-rank light onslaught.

It was when a satisfied smile appeared on their lips.

The skeletons stared at the awakeneds with vacant eyes.

The specters were the same.

Even the golem.

And Cedric.

And the mysterious woman.

They all looked at the sparkling group as if unaffected by the rain of light.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Why didn’t it work?’

‘Why aren’t they dying?’

Even for a Death Knight, it was a huge amount of light storms that would make them disappear in an instant.

If it were an ordinary necromancer, they would already be scrambling to flee with their ranks breached.

But why?

Silence ensued for a moment.

The first to regain their composure were Kim Minwoo’s undead side. Undead beings launched attacks from all directions.

“Cough!”

“Argh!”

Casualties emerged from the unforeseen situation.

Han Baekgil was equally stunned.

* * *

‘It’s easy.’

He had gained momentum from the beginning.

He pushed forward and unleashed explosions.

Although S-rank awakeneds began to resist, his undead army alone had managed to stall for more time than he expected.

‘They’re not as strong as I thought.’

The average level of the original shadow members was close to 500.

Doubling the experience points wouldn’t make them 1,000 levels. As the level increased, the required experience points also increased significantly.

‘Maybe around 700.’

Average stats of 700.

Of course, there were other factors to consider, so their actual abilities would be much higher, but his summoned creatures were not to be underestimated.

Numbers were their strength for now.

They played their role in stalling for time perfectly.

And on top of that, Merhen played a major role.

‘Just a counter to the mages.’

Among the ten mages in this world, nine were just fakes.

They learned magic from spellbooks like an automatic casting system. In other words, their method of casting spells was fixed.

But Merhen…

‘She’s a real mage.’

She manipulated mana to create magic freely. For her, the fake mages were just delicious prey.

Just by looking at them, she could discern how to bypass their magic. Even blocking the flow of mana a little would cause the fake mages to collapse, vomiting blood.

Like that Wi Rungkang guy up there.

‘It’s similar to swordsmanship too.’

Like when some amateur swings a sword, you figure out what to do next and put a knife to his throat.

Magic was similar.

A true master would easily dismantle the amateurs.

‘And I’ve roughly understood their skills too.’

There was a reason he summoned the undeads first.

At the 6th stage, there were many variables.

It was to see if their skills had changed, if they were using any unique skills, and so on.

Eventually, Han Baekgil tried to pull out his trump card.

‘Sorry, it didn’t work.’

Light magic?

His skill is at a level where even the SSS Holy Sword Light doesn’t work. With just S-rank light magic, there wasn’t much they could do.

Thanks to that, the bewildered shadow members were taking a beating.

‘I need to take out a few before they escape.’

That’s when Hidden Piece would activate.

He looked at Merhen.

She nodded.

Kim Minwoo drew his command sword and charged.

Cedric did the same.

The closest one was Six.

As he approached the assassin, he glared.

The assassin swiftly thrust his dagger.

‘Not a skill.’

Cedric’s spear intercepted the dagger.

A gap was created as the trajectory was deflected.

As the dagger pierced, he urgently tried to use a skill. His body surged like smoke. It was one of the assassin’s S-rank skills, Emergency Escape.

Then…

[Merhen uses Sticky Submerge (S)!]

Splat!

A sticky liquid adhered to Six’s legs. Six, whose Emergency Escape was canceled, widened his eyes.

Terrified, Six bent his waist. The sword struck down, cleaving his body in two.

[Your Level increased by 3!]

Even though it was S-rank, the level was just so-so. In terms of skill itself, it was well-executed, but it was at the same level as the First Young Lord he met at the Wuxia Gate.

‘Well, then, you die.’

He probably saw his fight with Cho Pilwook and thought that was all there is to his hand-to-hand skill, so he tried to figure it out on his own.

Unfortunately, Kim Minwoo’s swordsmanship didn’t amount to that.

Two commanders.

Plus Kim Minwoo.

With the combined attack of these three masters, the S-rank awakeneds fell without even trying to resist.

‘Now there are three left.’

The shadow members, led by Han Baekgil, began to tremble at the overwhelming skill that transcended imagination.

[Translator – Prøks]

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