Actually, Dad Was a Hero

Chapter 25: Ring of Necromancy

‘His intentions are obvious.’

Jin Beom-Min thought as he parried Kuen’s sword and dodged the bone spear flying towards his chest.

Several exchanges had already taken place, but the Necromancer persistently aimed for one specific area. His chest.

‘He’s trying to kill me without damaging my body so he can use me as an undead.’

If the head or neck was damaged, resurrection as an undead would be impossible.

Therefore, the Necromancer was aiming for Jin Beom-Min’s heart to kill him instantly and then resurrect his corpse as his subordinate.

He was probably planning to make him a new Necromancer Guardian to replace Kuen.

Jin Beom-Min cautiously read the greed in the Necromancer’s eyes as he meticulously created and threw bone spears with magic.

However, revealing one’s intentions in battle was foolish.

Don’t let your opponent predict what you’re going to do.

It was one of the lessons he learned at the Hero Academy.

That was why Jin Beom-Min hadn’t revealed all of his skills yet.

But now it was time to counterattack.

Because the voices of the Ghost Squad members coming through the communicator became even more urgent.

[Don’t let them come up to the roof!]

[They’re climbing up the west wall too! They’re swarming everywhere!]

[Armed personnel spotted! Zombies with guns in the southwest building!]

He had to defeat the Necromancer before the Ghost Squad members were wiped out. Because it was obvious that the fight would be much harder and more troublesome without their help.

Of course, there was also the camaraderie they had built up.

Anyway, Jin Beom-Min decided to counterattack and swung his sword. With both hands relaxed.

Clang!

Jin Beom-Min’s sword bounced high into the air.

The sword, which had struck the top of Kuen’s shield, bounced off and shot up into the sky.

“…I’m sorry…”

Kuen tilted his head in puzzlement for a moment. But as an experienced warrior, he wouldn’t miss this golden opportunity.

“Got you!”

As Kuen’s sword thrust towards his chest, the Necromancer also cheered and threw a bone spear.

Just as expected.

Jin Beom-Min lifted his foot and powerfully kicked Kuen in the lower abdomen.

Kwang!

With a loud crash as if there had been a traffic accident, Kuen was instantly slammed against the opposite wall.

The energy accumulated in ‘Giant’s Footsteps’ had been released all at once.

At the same time, Jin Beom-Min stretched out his left hand.

“Devouring Wolf!”

The flying bone spear disappeared as if sucked into his left hand.

Jin Beom-Min then pointed his right hand at the Necromancer and recited the name of the weapon.

“Spitting Snake!”

Bang!

The bone spear that had just flown towards him flew straight back at the Necromancer.

“Wall of Pain!”

The Necromancer was startled and quickly surrounded himself with a bone shield.

The flying bone spear hit the shield head-on and shattered into pieces.

But Jin Beom-Min’s real attack was something else.

Fwoosh!

He squeezed out all the remaining energy in ‘Giant’s Footsteps’ and kicked off the ground.

And he caught his sword, which he had precisely calculated and bounced into the air, mid-air.

Kiiiiiiiii―

Crackle!

The magic on Jin Beom-Min’s sword changed its form from a blue shimmer to a bluish-white spark.

The bluish-white flames, crackling and flowing in all directions, illuminated his face with a pale light.

Magic Conversion.

A technique to convert highly concentrated magic power into a different form.

The form of Magic Conversion is determined by innate physical and magical characteristics.

In Jin Beom-Min’s case, he could convert magic power into a powerful thunderbolt, like lightning, and he was the only one in the entire continent who could do this.

And its power was several times stronger than naturally occurring lightning.

Crackle! Crackle!

The lightning-clad sword emitted a tearing roar. The surrounding air ionized, and a sour smell of ozone tickled his nose.

“Thunder Strike!”

Boom!

A bluish-white lightning bolt split the sky and the earth.

The sturdy bone shield that the Necromancer had deployed instantly evaporated and turned into black ash.

Rumble!

The delayed shockwave spread in all directions, hitting the building and returning, echoing like thunder.

“Whew…”

A drop of sweat trickled down Jin Beom-Min’s forehead as he landed, absorbing the impact with ‘Giant’s Footsteps’.

“I used quite a bit of power after a long time.”

Jin Beom-Min waved his hand to clear the rising smoke and approached the Necromancer.

But the Necromancer wasn’t there. Only a black pillar of ash in the shape of a human remained.

“Oh dear… Did I use too much power…?”

Jin Beom-Min panicked and tried to search the Necromancer’s belongings, but as his hand touched the ash pile that was once the Necromancer, it crumbled.

“Ugh! He must have had scrolls…!”

Jin Beom-Min frantically rummaged through the ashes, but only a few burnt bone fragments caught his hand.

“Did it all burn up…?”

Just then, something caught Jin Beom-Min’s fingertips.

He quickly picked it up and saw a white ring hanging on a burnt finger bone.

A red glow flowed from the two eyes of the skull pattern meticulously engraved on the ring.

“…Ring of Necromancy…?”

Jin Beom-Min looked at Kuen, who had just been slammed against the building wall.

Kuen, who had shakily gotten up from the debris of the broken concrete wall, saw the ring in Jin Beom-Min’s hand and opened his mouth.

“…Excellent. Can I rest now…?”

Thud.

The finger bone hanging on the ring fell off, and the red glow of the skull pattern disappeared.

At the same time, Kuen also crumbled as if melting.

Not only Kuen’s body but also his armor, shield, and sword all melted like candle wax and were absorbed into the ground, disappearing.

Watching the scene, Jin Beom-Min put the ring in his pocket and replied quietly.

“I’m sorry, senior. But you’ll have to postpone your retirement for a bit longer.”

******

“Ugh…!”

“Stay still! Don’t move!”

‘Wraith’ struggled to check ‘Imp’s wounds as he writhed in pain.

However, it was difficult to even see the wound because of the blood gushing out with each heartbeat.

“Reload!”

“Keep firing!”

“We’re out of ammo!”

Ghost Squad was positioned with their backs to the rooftop entrance, surrounding the injured ‘Imp’ and ‘Wraith’, who was acting as a medic.

Because ‘Imp’ was injured, they couldn’t block all the zombies crawling up to the rooftop.

They narrowed their defensive line, protecting the bloodied ‘Imp’ and ‘Wraith’ with their backs to the rooftop entrance.

“Zombie… soldier… on the next… building…!”

“I know! ‘Reaper’ took care of it, so don’t worry and stay still!”

‘Wraith’ gritted his teeth as he removed ‘Imp’s bulletproof vest.

The gushing blood warmed his face and neck.

“Oh, shit…!”

‘Wraith’ cursed as he lifted the uniform and examined ‘Imp’s wound.

The bullets fired by the zombie soldier had unfortunately grazed the bulletproof vest and lodged in ‘Imp’s armpit, tearing his axillary artery.

A skilled surgeon might be able to do something, but ‘Wraith’, who had only received basic medical training, had no way to treat it.

‘Imp’ let out a sigh, grimacing as he watched ‘Wraith’s expression.

“…Doesn’t look good…”

“…N-No! It’s okay!”

‘Wraith’, finally regaining his composure, rummaged through the emergency kit, injected morphine, and stuffed gauze into the wound.

“Ugh…!”

Despite the powerful painkiller injection, ‘Imp’ twisted his body and writhed in pain.

“Just hold on a little longer…!”

“Will… holding on… be enough…?”

‘Imp’ pointed weakly behind ‘Wraith’ with his chin. Looking back, the horde of zombies was already upon them.

“Uwaaaaah!”

Crack!

Thud!

Having run out of ammunition, the Ghost Squad members were now engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

‘Sandman’ was smashing the zombies’ heads with the butt of his rifle, and ‘Reaper’ was plunging his broadsword into their necks.

Everyone was exhibiting superhuman combat abilities to protect their comrades.

But it was a hopeless situation for anyone to see. They couldn’t possibly block all the zombies flooding onto the rooftop with their bare hands.

“…It was an honor fighting alongside you.”

‘Wraith’ said to ‘Imp’ with tears welling up in his eyes.

‘Imp’ made a complicated expression, as if he didn’t know what to say, and then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Heh… I think… I should be the one… leaving the last words…”

“…What?”

“Behind you…”

‘Wraith’ turned his head again with tears streaming down his face.

The zombies that had been swarming towards them were all lying on the ground, motionless.

“Uh… uh?”

“’Jin’… succeeded…”

‘Imp’ said with a satisfied smile.

“Uwaaaaah! Come at me!”

‘Ogre’, who had grabbed a limp zombie by the collar and broken its neck with his bare hands, let out a passionate roar.

Then, as if realizing the situation belatedly, he made a surprised sound.

“Huh? What the?”

“Looks like the Necromancer is down.”

‘Sandman’ also lowered his rifle and let out a sigh of relief. The butt of the rifle he was holding was broken in several places and covered in blood and brains.

“’Imp’, how are you doing?”

‘Reaper’ threw his broadsword aside and ran to ‘Imp’, asking.

“…I think I’m okay…”

‘Imp’ forced a smile and gave a thumbs up. But ‘Wraith’ just shook his head slightly when he met ‘Reaper’s gaze.

“…I’ll request emergency assistance from the French military.”

‘Sandman’, who had grasped the situation at a glance, hurriedly operated the radio and spoke.

But everyone knew. Even if the rescue team arrived now, it was already too late.

With this much blood loss, it was clear that ‘Imp’ would lose his life within minutes.

“…What the, you owe me so much money… You can’t die before paying it back.”

‘Imp’ gave a bitter smile to ‘Ogre’, who was clutching his hand with a tearful face, and replied.

“J-Just consider it… a condolence gift…”

“Don’t joke around! Just hold on a little longer! The French guys are coming soon!”

“I…”

Just as ‘Imp’ was about to leave his last words with a serious expression, a nonchalant voice came from somewhere.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Huh?”

“Wh-When…?”

Jin Beom-Min was standing behind them before they knew it.

“R-Right now, ‘Imp’ is…!”

“I know, so just for a moment…!”

Jin Beom-Min cut off ‘Wraith’ and took off his bulletproof vest. Then he unbuckled and took off his armor.

The legendary magic item ‘Iron Troll Breastplate’ that instantly heals the wearer’s wounds.

Only then did the Ghost Squad members, who had grasped the situation, hurriedly make way.

Jin Beom-Min carefully lifted ‘Imp’ and put his armor on him.

Soon, color returned to ‘Imp’s face, and the gushing blood stopped.

“Oh!”

“Wow…!”

“Alright!”

The Ghost Squad members cheered in unison at the sight.

“Wow… It really doesn’t hurt anymore…”

‘Imp’ muttered in amazement.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood, so don’t move too suddenly. Make sure to eat a hearty meal when we get back.”

Jin Beom-Min advised with a light smile.

The Iron Troll Breastplate accelerates metabolism to heal wounds, so adequate nutrition was necessary after healing.

‘Imp’ nodded and then grinned, saying to ‘Ogre’.

“Looks like I’ll have to pay you back now.”