[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 39
But he no longer had the strength to move, and even if he did, in his weakened state, there was no way he could deal with the Death Knight and the corpse golem that had beco Goldsun Vider.
The rest of his forces were not even worth considering.
"Stop!! Please, stop!!"
"Keh keh keh!! How amusing it is to see you in such despair. Grief and sorrow are the finest seasonings. Is this one precious to you? Just endure a little longer, and soon, he will experience an ecstasy beyond anything he has ever felt."
"Aaaaargh!!!"
Duke Berli clenched his fists so tightly that they seed about to bleed and let out a desperate scream.
He prayed—prayed for anyone, anyone at all, to put an end to this accursed monster.
It was a sentint far too weak for the commander of a nation's knights, but at this mont, he was more a grieving father watching his son die than a knight commander.
And just as the Lich was about to fully extract Farell’s soul—
Crack!!
A sound of sothing shattering rang out, followed by an eerie noise from the floating black sphere in the air.
"Huh?"
The Lich stopped what he was doing and looked up at the sky.
There, a dark red sword aura glead as it split the sphere in two.
Crack!! Crackle!!
Before long, the dark red light slashed across the sphere multiple tis, creating cracks throughout its surface.
Crash!!!!
Then, in a single explosion, it shattered completely.
And from within it, Leon erged—completely unscathed.
"Wait, why is he fine?"
The Lich muttered in disbelief, montarily forgetting his usual composed deanor.
Leon had been completely unaffected by the large-scale magic circle earlier, and now, again—
The black sphere spell was not sothing a living being could survive if trapped inside.
The Lich, unable to comprehend how Leon had escaped, asked in a hollow voice.
But Leon simply brushed off his clothes and approached Duke Berli.
"Your Grace, are you all right?"
The Duke could not respond.
He lacked the strength even to speak.
As a Swordmaster, he had been powerless in this situation, and expecting anything from the still-young Leon would be a foolish judgnt.
But sotis, in life, there were monts when logic clashed with an overwhelming feeling.
"You… are you all right?"
"As you can see. I was a little late, though."
"Krrk… Huff… Please… save my son…"
With those words, Duke Berli lost consciousness.
Now, in the grand hall, only the Lich and Leon remained standing.
Leon gazed silently at the Duke before giving a small nod and rising to his feet.
"Muyeong, release them."
A deep growl echoed as a massive shadow wraith wolf erged from his own shadow.
And following it, the undead he had seized from this place began to erge, one after another.
"Gather all surviving mbers of the subjugation force in one place. Prioritize the living."
At his command, the undead, now far more agile than before, swiftly moved to gather the survivors into one location.
"No matter how many tis I see it, it’s incredible. How is it that you remain unaffected?"
The Lich finally spoke, regaining so composure.
It was understandable—Farell had collapsed the mont he entered this space.
And the others fared no better.
The only one who had managed to endure was Duke Berli, a Swordmaster, but even he had ultimately fallen under the overwhelming layered debuffs.
Yet, in the midst of all this, Leon remained completely at ease.
"This magic identifies those closest to death and the underworld. Those unworthy suffer imnse overload."
"That’s correct."
"Then how can soone like you—a re child—be completely unaffected?"
This spell was starting to feel increasingly impractical.
It could only be activated within a specific area, its maintenance was incredibly demanding, and it even had the tendency to turn against its own caster.
To Leon, it was nothing more than a failure.
Yet its effects were undeniably terrifying.
"It’s nothing special. I just excluded myself from the target list."
"What?"
"I an, I’m not just any ordinary mage. Of course, I had my defenses up. Must be a bad habit of mages. It was a close call, but honestly, the security on this spell was a complete ss."
Leon grumbled, as if recalling sothing.
Ever since regaining the mories of the Hall of Necromancy, he had been reacting this way without realizing it.
"……"
"If I had known what this spell was, I wouldn’t have let so much damage happen. If you want, I can include myself in the target list now."
With those words, Leon snapped his fingers, and the dark shroud surrounding him materialized before shattering into pieces.
The spell had now begun affecting him as well.
"What kind of trick did you pull? This spell cannot be dodged—it can only be dispelled."
"Dodged? Even the rocks lying around aren’t affected by it."
"……"
"Honestly, I should be the one asking questions. You and the other necromancers—why do you all ignore the fundantals?"
"How dare a re whelp lecture about fundantals!"
Though he wasn’t a high-circle mage, aning he lacked overwhelming firepower or large-scale spellcasting, he could still tamper with and manipulate an active magic circle.
"You insolent brat!!"
Just as the enraged Lich was about to yell—
A strange noise echoed as the magic circle reactivated once more.
Boom!!!
At the sa ti, the Lich staggered, falling to one knee.
And along with him, the Death Knight and the corpse golem of Goldsun, which had been under his control, also began to stumble and collapse.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
"What… is happening…?"
"Your spell works by bestowing debuffs and curses upon those farther from death and the underworld. That’s its fundantal principle. At my current circle level, I can’t completely dispel it, but I can manipulate it enough to cause so mischief."
Leon took a step forward.
"The magic is functioning as intended…"
"……"
"But the fact that this is happening to you ans the roles have reversed."
The Lich was not so incompetent as to fail to understand what that ant.
"That's ridiculous… A human who hasn't even experienced death… No, a re brat who looks like he hasn't even lived for twenty years—how could you possibly say such a thing?!"
"Twenty years, huh… Want to see for yourself?"
The boy standing before him had the body of a young human.
But what he carried within him, what he had experienced, was completely different from his outward appearance.
The necromantic mana flowing from Leon's entire being held a history within it.
A dreadful remnant of mories and traces of ti that reduced the centuries Lich had lived into re insignificance.
The dominion embedded in his necromantic mana was none other than death itself.
The sheer magnitude of it was beyond anything Lich could hope to contend with.
It was only then that Lich truly took in Leon’s mana with his own eyes.
His jaw dropped as if it might dislocate.
He was the only being in this world who had glimpsed into the depths of Leon’s essence, and with a face twisted in terror, he gasped out a question.
"You… What in the world are you…? What are you, ugh?! Krrrk… This is impossible. How can a living being beco death itself?!"
Despite his anguished cry, Leon remained composed as he picked up a discarded sword from the ground.
At the sa ti, a crimson aura of sword energy began to surge.
* * *
"Guh… Krrrk…"
For an ancient being like Lich, his greatest advantage lay in his vast reserves of necromantic mana and his long-standing expertise in deceit itself.
Words might dress things up nicely, but in the end, a battle of attrition was always won by the one who had lived longer and mastered necromancy to a greater degree.
In that regard, I might only be a re 5th-circle necromancer right now, but the fact that all the necromantic mana I had accumulated in the Labrynthos had returned to ant I was already overwhelming him.
My mind had already beheld the very essence of death, had peered into the abyss of the underworld.
The dominion and death embedded in my necromantic mana were filled with traces of my arduous journey along the path of the Death Lord.
And yet, a lich who had barely broken past the 7th-circle?
At least make a proper comparison.
I refuse to accept such an unfair match-up out of sheer indignation.
Exposed to his own spell, Lich was collapsing in real ti.
Even though he stood at the lofty level of a 7th-circle necromancer, and even though I had barely restored myself to the 5th circle, I had no need to lift a finger.
His own magic was tightening the noose around his life.
Furthermore, due to his very nature, he was especially vulnerable to dominion imbued with necromantic energy.
"K-kill him!!"
In desperation, Lich barked an order at his undead golem, Goldsun Vider.
The creature, writhing in pain, imdiately charged at with ferocity.
In response, I spun my sword with a flourish and strode forward without hesitation.
And then—
—GRAAAARGH!!!
Just before the undead golem’s massive fist could turn into pulp, I accelerated in an instant.
SLASH!
What blood from my blade was a pseudo-sword aura.
Since forcing it would damage my weapon, I opted not to use my usual Blacknight No. 1.
As I watched the golem crumble into two clean halves under my sword strike, Lich reeled in shock.
"Sword aura?! Sword aura?! But you—weren't you a mage?!"
Whether it was true sword aura or not, he didn’t seem to have the knowledge to distinguish the difference.
Originally, the undead golem should have regenerated almost imdiately.
However, with Lich’s power being suppressed to an extre due to his own magic, even its regeneration was failing.
Realizing this, Lich had to make a critical decision.
"Damn it… I have to retreat."
Falling victim to his own spell, even he couldn’t undo the magic in such a short ti.
But his attempt to flee was cut short by my next words.
"Trying to run? You do realize whose hands the safety barriers along the escape route have fallen into, don’t you?"
Hearing my question, he grit his teeth so hard it sounded like they might shatter.
At that mont, he stretched out his hand.
From him, a surge of black mist erupted, and an enormous number of undead began pouring out.
Each of them was at least at the level of an Aura User or higher.
While many of them crumbled under his diminishing control, so still managed to endure.
"You… What have you done to the barrier?!"
The Lich, now panicked, shouted in disbelief.
The situation had completely reversed from before, where Lich had held the upper hand.
"I just… made a few adjustnts."
"Impossible! There's no way that’s possible… Even if it were, there's no way soone of your level—"
"Co on now."
I let out a chilling laugh and manifested necromantic mana in both hands.
Then, with a light flick, I scattered it into the air.
In an instant, the undead army halted in place.
Hmm… Even at the 5th circle, strengthened by the lingering effects of the magic circle, this seems to be my limit.
[Translator - Night]
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