NOVEL NEXT Chapter 179
Chapter 179
“I feel sick just looking at those bones.”
Hork.
A muscular giant spat thick saliva as he grumbled.
He seemed to tower over 2 meters tall.
“Hehe. We’re on the same side, so try to be a bit more forgiving, bro.”
The one saying that was a dwarf who looked about 130 cm tall.
They were notorious murderers known as the Twin Ghosts on the continent.
The elder, Il-gwi, was a master of poison and memorization, while the younger, I-gwi, was an expert with the giant spear.
Each of them was certainly a superhuman of master-level caliber.
However, what truly amplified their infamy was their cooperative training.
Over ten Sword Masters had lost their lives due to the astonishing synergy between them.
Their synergy was a source of terror, even among master-level warriors.
“…Don’t say harsh things to my precious kids…”
A bizarre voice emerged, sounding like it came from a well-fed man.
The source of that voice was a man with pale blue skin and sunken eyes, reminiscent of a corpse.
Around the man, undead creatures swarmed.
Skeletons, Skeleton Mages, Skeleton Knights, Ghouls, Ghosts, Death Knights, Dullahans…
It looked as if he were preparing to wage war all on his own.
The man’s name was Kilmer, known as the Infinite Necromancer.
True to his nickname, Kilmer could summon almost an infinite number of undead.
Having caused numerous calamities in the world with those undead, the Church of Illyria publicly designated him and placed a high bounty on his head.
Yet, he remained unfazed, establishing his own castle in the southern marshlands, reigning like a king.
Despite that, even the lords governing the surrounding territories dared not even think of launching a campaign against him.
“Hmph.”
I-gwi crossed his arms, tilting his head to disregard Kilmer’s words.
As a martial arts enthusiast, he likely had little taste for summoning techniques, especially Undead Summoning.
Il-gwi simply chuckled and laughed.
Kilmer, no longer speaking, stared blankly at the empty air with a poker face.
“Hehe, I don’t dislike this atmosphere.”
Someone murmured.
It was Mangjong, the Great Sage.
Mangjong stretched his hand, tapping his bent waist before continuing.
“That said, Kilmer, your kids aren’t bad, but quality is better than quantity, wouldn’t you agree? Hehe.”
In front of Mangjong stood two golems, roughly the size of an average human.
At first glance, they appeared to be ordinary wood golems, made from wood.
However, they were anything but ordinary.
These golems were made from branches of the World Tree, the only one of its kind on the continent.
They were tougher than orichalcum or adamantium golems, forged from the strongest metal, and possessed astounding magical resistance.
They could withstand even 8-class attack magic.
Truly, they could be called the ultimate golems.
There was an Elven kingdom surrounding the World Tree.
The elves revered the World Tree as the source of all beings, treating it as sacred. Thus, no mere human would dare approach it to break off branches.
How Mangjong managed to acquire the branches from the World Tree still remains a mystery.
Rumor has it that he exchanged medicinal remedies capable of curing a grave epidemic among the elves for those branches.
“…A golem made from the World Tree. That’s certainly impressive…”
Kilmer spoke in his usual eerie voice. Satisfied with his words, Mangjong nodded repeatedly.
“Hehe, with these two World Tree golems, you’d think even the Sword Master would stand a chance.”
“Just scrap metal lacking intelligence. It can’t even compare to the Sword Master, the greatest of the great.”
A cold, middle-aged man, who appeared from nowhere, spoke.
Sharp energy radiated from him, like a finely honed blade.
At his appearance, both the Twin Ghosts and Kilmer instinctively exchanged wary glances.
It was a reflexive action.
In that world, they were individuals who shouldn’t be found in the same place.
Only Mangjong remained unflustered.
“Lord Hurein, calling them scrap is harsh! Even if your words are twisted, call them what they truly are: aged wood, aged wood. Hehehe.”
“Then allow me to correct myself.”
“That’s fine. Regardless, you hold the Sword Master in high regard, it seems.”
“It’s not about holding him high, but objectively analyzing.”
“Hehe, even so, with Lord Hurein present, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Hurein was one of the top ten on the continent and referred to as the Supreme Elementalist of the Four Attributes.
Water, Fire, Wind, Earth.
Spirits are divided into four elemental properties.
Those with the talent for spirits could become Elementalists, mastering one of the elemental spirits.
Rarely, some possess the talent for two properties and could manipulate two spirits, but it was exceedingly rare.
Yet, Hurein could handle all four elemental properties.
Moreover, he could command all of those elements even to the level of Spirit Kings.
To reach the level of summoning a Spirit King, one must dedicate an entire lifetime to mastering just one attribute—a feat harder than threading a needle.
Hurein was truly a divinely bestowed Elementalist.
“….”
Hurein fell silent, not responding to Mangjong’s words.
“Oh, and the Leader is here too.”
Mangjong’s wrinkled lips twisted into a smile.
Following his gaze was a figure wearing a demon-like mask.
He was the Leader of the Black Cross.
He was an enigma in every sense.
His name, identity, and strength—all of it remained undisclosed.
Yet everyone believed that the Leader of the Black Cross possessed formidable power that could cover the heavens.
“…It’s an honor to be regarded so by Mangjong.”
Surprisingly, the voice that flowed from the demon mask sounded distinctly feminine.
Now that I think about it, the silhouette of the Leader did not appear male at all, but rather female.
“Hehe, but to think such powers would gather in one place, the Emperor truly shines. At this point, even the Sword Master’s grandfather wouldn’t stand a chance.”
There was unanimity in Mangjong’s words and the thoughts of those present.
The forces assembled here were indeed tremendous.
Each one surpassed the typical S-Class level by far.
Adding to that, Cheonbyeon was already infiltrating the detention center.
Though her skills were impressive, her unique techniques made her an even more formidable figure.
Her fame for perfectly disguising herself as the wife of the Great Sorceress and effortlessly killing him was well-known.
“Of course, it would have been nice if the Emperor could accompany us.”
Mangjong added.
“He is not one to move lightly.”
The Leader replied.
“Well… I suppose he wouldn’t.”
Mangjong gave a cryptic smile.
At that moment, Seomjeon, who had been quietly standing behind the Leader, spoke up respectfully.
“Leader, it’s about time.”
Hearing those words, the Leader walked slowly toward the teleportation magic circle.
Then, briefly spoke.
“Let’s set off.”
◈ ◈ ◈
Blood tears flowed from To-ya as she sat on the sofa.
At first, it surprised her, but she had become so used to it that it no longer bothered her.
Every night, before bed, she would use her ability to scout around the detention center.
It was an ability that allowed her to share the vision of animals.
With that ability, she sent a nocturnal owl flying to scout from above.
“See anything?”
Si-hyun, sitting beside her, asked.
“No.”
It was the same response as usual.
Today too seemed like it would pass without incident.
“About the Emperor.”
“Yeah.”
“He’ll probably aim to take out Choi Gang-hyuk in Ward.”
They wouldn’t want to cause a stir in a foreign nation.
Additionally, they believed that the Sword Master was present.
Thus, they were likely to discover Choi Gang-hyuk’s location in advance and attempt a swift extraction.
For them, there was no reason to increase their casualties in a fight against the Sword Master.
As long as they could achieve the goal of unleashing the Predator, that would be enough.
“Well, it seems likely, but honestly, I don’t know much about what kind of person the Emperor is.”
To-ya replied.
While scouting with the owl, she expertly managed to converse with Si-hyun.
“That’s true.”
As Si-hyun pondered, he couldn’t think of a more significant reason to escalate matters in the current situation.
Even obtaining the Predator wouldn’t be worth the losses of other followers.
“Uh? Huh?”
Suddenly, To-ya made a distressed sound.
Si-hyun quickly turned his attention to her.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s appeared! It’s appeared!”
To-ya exclaimed in a flurry.
“Where?”
“The mountain behind the detention center!”
“I’m going immediately! Please relay the news to the knight and guild members at the guild, Sage!”
Just as Si-hyun was racing to put on his clothes and rush outside, To-ya called out to him.
“Wait!”
“What?”
“It’s not just one location!”
“What do you mean?”
“You know the bridge entering Ganghwa Island, right? It’s there too….”
“The Ganghwa Bridge?”
“Yeah, there.”
“Why there…?”
The Ganghwa Bridge had no direct connection to the detention center.
This incident was solely about extracting Choi Gang-hyuk from the Special Detention Center.
So if they had already secured the teleportation route close to the detention center, there would be no reason for them to appear there.
But why had they appeared at the Ganghwa Bridge?
“I don’t know, but there are undead everywhere!”
To-ya shouted loudly.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Huh?”
As the car in front came to a sudden stop, the man slammed on his brakes in shock.
Screeeeetch!
Boom!
Despite his hasty attempt to stop, he couldn’t overcome inertia, and his car collided with the one in front.
Thankfully, he reacted quickly and applied the brakes, averting a severe accident.
The man unbuckled his seatbelt and cursed under his breath.
“Hey, you crazy bastard!”
He opened his car door and angrily approached the driver’s seat of the halted car.
But then—
“…Huh?”
He noticed something strange.
It was a skeleton.
Definitely a skeleton.
A staggering number of skeletons filled the road.
“Ugh… Aaaaah!”
The man gasped, wide-eyed, and screamed.
Undead.
Those were the undead monsters he had only heard about in stories.
…What on earth are monsters doing here?!
Thud!
“AAAAAH!!”
As the man turned his gaze, he saw a woman being pierced through by the skeleton’s sword, screaming in agony.
It wasn’t just one woman.
Red blood and human corpses lay strewn about.
“Huuuuuuuh!!”
Overwhelmed with fear, the man tried to turn to run away.
However, his legs wouldn’t respond well. Instead, he felt his strength drain, stumbling before he could even run a few steps.
The fallen man instinctively turned his head to look back.
In that moment…
A skeleton’s head stared directly at him.
“Huuu…!! Haaah…!!”
No matter how he flailed to survive, the skeletal remains acted first.
Thwack!
The sword lodged deep into his chest.
“Ugh… Ugh….”
The man felt immense pain as his consciousness faded.
He couldn’t even breathe properly.
Moments later…
His head dropped limply to the ground.
◈ ◈ ◈
“…No one shall pass…”
Kilmer muttered as he stood in the middle of Ganghwa Bridge.
Beside him stood two Dullahans guarding vigilantly. And around them swarmed a variety of undead.
Dozens, hundreds… No, it was far beyond that.
Thousands of them.
“…This place is now the Island of Death…”
Kilmer raised his sunken eyes to gaze inward towards Ganghwa Island.
“…Go, my children…”
Kilmer pointed his bony, skeletal finger towards the entrance leading into Ganghwa Island.
Then, over a thousand undead began moving in unison toward the interior.
It resembled soldiers marching off to wage a massive war.
“…Kill, kill, kill…”
Kilmer’s chilling and eerie voice echoed like a haunting refrain.