Ch. 32 - The Necromancer’s Attack (4)

Chapter 32: The Necromancer’s Attack (4)

“… Where did you get that from?”

Crackle!

The skeleton general in my hand violently shook its spine and bared its teeth. However, with not a single limb left, its resistance was futile.

“I’m suddenly craving for some bone broth.”

“You’re amazing."

Not wanting to admit he had been sitting and waiting where the skeleton general was supposed to appear, Baek Yu-Seol made a vague excuse, and they didn’t press further.

“For now, let’s get out of here quickly. If the necromancer disregards the skeleton general and starts controlling the skeletons directly, it’ll be a headache again.”

The boys and girls carrying the wounded followed Baek Yu-Seol.

"Hey, freshman. Your name was... Baek Yu-Seol, right? Got any sort of plan?"

"I do."

Ma Yu-Seong would have already slaughtered the skeletons and taken down the necromancer, but Baek Yu-Seol couldn't do that.

He needed a more efficient and strategic approach that players would have used in the game.

“I checked the way, and the necromancer has already taken control of the base camp. It’s virtually impossible to get out of this encirclement.” 

"Darn it."

“There’s only one way left.”

"And that is...?"

"To take down the main body."

“Wait, what?” 

“Are you crazy?!”

Everyone was shocked by Baek Yu-Seol's proposal. How could they possibly confront the necromancer if they were already struggling with the skeletons?

“Didn't you learn it in school? Necromancers use the strongest ability in history called command, but their main bodies are vulnerable.”

If they had mastered the art above a certain level, it would be a different story, but the enemy they were currently facing was estimated to be at most Class 5.

‘If we join forces, it’s not impossible to deal with him.’ 

Ma Yu-Seong also defeated the necromancer alone at the level of Class 4.

"That may be true, but if that necromancer has any sense, he would have stationed guards around his body."

"Of course."

In fact, Baek Yu-Seol knew exactly how many guards the necromancer had.

There was one skeleton general, six elite skeletons, and 50 regular skeleton soldiers.

That number would grow more and more as time went on. The opportunity was limited. The necromancer was at his weakest right now, as he hadn’t grown in power yet.

But Baek Yu-Seol pretended not to know that and spoke.

"The area controlled by the necromancer is already quite vast. To cover that area, he can’t afford to assign many troops to his own guard."

“You have a point, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to win, right?”

‘We can win.’

Having secured one of the three skeleton generals in this event, if all of them combined their efforts, they could surely achieve victory unless something unexpected happened.

The problem was how to convince them. Regardless of Baek Yu-Seol's certainty, they were facing an uncertain battle.

"That..."

“It’s possible.”

The answer came from Flame, not Baek Yu-Seol. Supporting Hae Won-Ryang, she spoke with difficulty.

"He might seem a bit off, but he has way more experience in combat and strategy than us. He might even have more experience than you seniors."

“But… Can a freshman do that?”

Of course not.

'No, what nonsense is she talking about?'

The idea that Baek Yu-Seol was proficient in combat was absurd. She was probably lying because of the situation, but who would believe her?

But surprisingly, Hong Bi-Yeon agreed.

“Indeed, I think it might work out. Honestly, I don’t think we’ll be able to break through this vast siege at all. The strategy to strike the heart... Even a necromancer wouldn't expect it. I think it's okay.”

She had the biggest say in this place.

When Flame and Hong Bi-Yeon, the people with the most influence, affirmed, everyone else followed suit.

"Whoa... I don't know how you have such faith, but there's no way for us to get out alone, so we might as well cooperate."

“Haha, I liked fighting from the beginning.”

Whack!

“You’re noisy.”

Ban Di-Yeon calmly organized the situation while scolding Deok Cheol-Gwang.

"Quickly brief us on the plan. Even though the skeleton general you’re holding disrupts the nearby skeletons, if the necromancer notices something’s wrong, we’ll be in trouble."

"Understood."

Baek Yu-Seol looked into the eyes of each person present.

It was burdensome for them to trust and follow him into battle, but he had learned one painful truth from his experience on the frozen cliff.

If the enemy is trying to kill you, you must be prepared to kill them in return. No matter how terrifying or strong the opponent is, if you don’t fight back, you won’t survive.

Sa Bae-Hyuk was a Class 5 necromancer of the Dark Mage Tower and a dark mage belonging to the Dark Mage Alliance.

In fact, most necromancers couldn't live in the magic world, so becoming a black magician was unavoidable. Even within the Dark Mage Alliance, the necromancers were not well respected.

Due to the nature of necromancers, who couldn’t demonstrate their power properly unless they raised the dead to build their army, they had not been able to show much strength in modern times, where the custom of purifying all corpses had arisen.

Sa Bae-Hyuk, as a necromancer, had lived in contempt for his entire life without even owning a few skeletons of his own.

'I'm tired now. I can't live like this forever.’

‘If I don't want to be ignored, I have to become powerful.’

'Force Vessel.'

It had been seven years. The precious mana vessel he had collected for seven years was still limited to summoning 700 skeletons because he hadn't mastered the territory properly, but if he gradually expanded the range, he would be able to summon more than a thousand skeletons.

‘Moreover, encountering Stella’s fledglings was a stroke of luck.’

Creating a high-potential skeleton mage was really difficult.

Moreover, the students present were all attractive, making them a prized collection for any necromancer who could resurrect them while maintaining their appearance.

'Catch those guys first! It doesn't matter if you kill them!'

Even in the magical world, if he could summon a legendary knight, a death knight, a rare being who was proficient with swords, it would be a noteworthy achievement.

The most powerful being he could summon was only a skeleton general.

And even then, he could only summon three so far. Of course, three generals were enough to control 700 skeletons.

But…

‘What’s this? My senses are suddenly cut off.’

Thanks to the necromancer's ability to share the skeleton's sight, he was able to watch Stella's students collapse in real-time.

But that view was suddenly obscured. It was no longer possible to locate them, hear sounds, or observe their situation.

… As if the antenna had been taken away.

'No way!'

So far, he had not exerted his power in direct control because he had been focusing on expanding the territory, but if someone had seized the skeleton general, the story would be different.

After temporarily stopping the expansion of his territory and spreading out his senses, the skeleton's sight returned.

‘Where are they?! Where are they?!’

If he could not see through the skeleton general, he would have to go through the manual work of examining the sights of 700 skeletons one by one. It was very cumbersome and took a long time.

'Shit!’

After some time, he found traces of the Stella students. They seemed to have paused for a break, as there were signs they had stayed in one place for a while.

‘This isn’t good.’

All Stella students were monsters. He had to drive them crazy without giving them a chance to rest.

‘This time, I’ll send out the elite skeleton army.’

The skeleton troops dealing with the mercenaries would be pushed back in a power struggle for a while, but securing Stella’s students was more important than expanding the territory.

‘I’ve found you!’

After chasing around the trail, he finally found a few of the students heading somewhere.

A cute girl with fluttering ebony hair, a tall girl, and a handsome boy with a cold look.

'However... Why only three?'

‘Where are the rest of them?’

The moment he had such a thought, Sa Bae-Hyuk’s senses raised an alarm in all directions and automatically activated magic.

Creak! Thud!

A sharp icicle awl flew in from somewhere and tried to pierce Sa Bae-Hyuk’s forehead, but it was blocked by a bone shield that was erected in an instant.

“Damn it!”

Despite being a 4th-class spell, the bone shield was severely cracked. He couldn’t even detect the caster’s location due to the distance, yet the power was incredible!

He immediately directed his skeletons' vision toward the source and saw a girl with flowing light blue hair sprinting away.

"You think I'll let you get away?!"

After canceling the summoning of several skeletons, the skeletons were re-summoned at the spot where the girl was standing. 

There was no other way because the maximum number of skeletons he could currently handle was 700.

Seeing the girl with light blue hair hesitating while facing the skeleton, he was about to send more elite skeletons there.

Roar!

From the sky, a giant sphere of flame shot down!

‘This, this...!'

It contained destructive power that could never be achieved at Class 3. Sa Bae-Hyuk was momentarily taken aback by the attack because of its similarities with the spells of the Adolevit royal family—a family said to stand at the peak of flame magic—and the seemingly endless mana of Hong Bi-Yeon. However, he quickly raised the bone shield high into the sky.

Kwakk!

An enormous shockwave struck the area.

'Damn it, you were aiming for this moment!'

It was time to expand the territory. Currently, there were only minimal troops left here, so it became difficult to defend when invaded.

‘I should have built a better defense...!'

It was a mistake to leave his defenses lax and conclude that the enemy would still be in a state of confusion.

Even the escorts sent to deal with the students were being pushed back. If it went on like this, he would surely die.

'This is bad. Really bad!'

He bit his lip and pondered for a moment, but there was nothing else he could do.

Crack! Sa Bae-Hyuk bit off his finger, spattering blood on the ground, and poured strength into his eyes.

He kneeled and plunged his staff into the ground.

'Soldiers, come to me!'

Six elite skeletons that had been out elsewhere suddenly rose in front of him.

"Ugh...!"

Due to the forced summoning of the elite, his internal injuries were severe. Sa Bae-Hyuk gave the order with difficulty and vomited blood while feeling as if his internal organs were being twisted.

"Stop them...!"

Two elite-class entities were first to head for Deok Cheol-Gwang, who seemed to be in charge of one skeletal general.

“Damn it...!”

"Hey! Retreat for a second! The elite class has been summoned!”

Originally, the role of Deok Cheol-Gwang and Ban Di-Yeon was to keep the skeleton general busy but another two elites appeared out of nowhere.

When they appeared, both of them had no choice but to retreat in an instant.

‘Good, we can’t afford to lose the general.’

Sa Bae-Hyuk correctly grasped the battlefield.

Magic attacks were flying everywhere, but offensive magic strong enough to pierce the bone shield no longer reached his side.

The elite skeletons who joined the battle made them wary, hindering the casting of Stella’s students.

‘Five there, one here, three over there... two on the opposite side. Good. Now I can relax.’

Although he sent out his entire escort to deal with each of them, leaving himself defenseless, there was no one who could pose a threat to him any longer.

‘I'll take advantage of this gap and hurry up to seize the territory!'

If he expanded his territory a little more, the ability of the skeletons would be greatly strengthened. If that happened, the territory would be devoured without any problems and the students would be his.

The skeleton troops that were dealing with the mercenaries were wiped out. However, that level of troops could be restored without any problems in the future.

'Just a little more, a little more...!’

That moment when he concentrated all his energy to gather as much mana as he could and strengthen the power of the force vessel.

Thunk!

Like a falling leaf, someone landed in front of him with a light sound.

Bae-Hyuk was frightened and took a step back.

".... What! Where did you come from again!”

This couldn’t be happening.

He was certain he had accounted for the locations of all the Stella students. A total of twelve. Even now, their positions were clear through the shared vision of the skeletons.

However, he had no idea there would be one more.

The boy with jet-black hair and eyes tapped him on the shoulder with something and revealed a very relaxed smile.

It was the skull of one of the three general-level skeletons he had summoned with all his might.

“You, you son of a bitch…!”

He was wondering why his neural network had gone wrong, and now he had finally found the culprit.

The boy dropped the useless Skeleton General to the ground and shattered its skull with a wave of his colorless, shining sword.

“Argh!”

When the skeleton general was reverse summoned, a light internal injury wreaked havoc in Sa Bae-Hyuk’s insides. If he were at his peak, he would have recovered quickly, but now the situation was not good.

Baek Yu-Seol took a leisurely look around him. As he thought, the escorts protecting Sa Bae-Hyuk were handled by Stella's boys and girls, and his attention was successfully attracted and scattered.

Now, there was only one person left in this place—the necromancer.

'This bastard, why is he so confident...?'

Sa Bae-Hyuk took a step backward and gulped dryly. Although it was true that the necromancer's body was weak, he was still a Class 5 mage.

The fact that he was so nonchalant even in front of him signified that he was confident in his own strength.

It could only be interpreted as meaning, “No matter how young you are, Stella’s student is Stella’s student regardless!”

At that time, Sa Bae Hyuk's thoughts were full of fear and his entire body was drowned in tension.

While Baek Yu-Seol was breaking out in a cold sweat.

'Wait a minute, this isn't my plan...?'

He looked around.

According to the original plan, Deok Cheol-Gwang and Ban Di-Yeon would quickly deal with the skeleton general and were supposed to help him.

However, since Sa Bae-Hyuk vomited blood and gathered more elites, they were now focused on holding out against the skeleton generals.

That meant he was alone.

'Could it be that I have to fight alone?'

If one wondered about who the weakest among the thirteen Stella Academy students gathered here was, Baek Yu-Seol would raise his hand without hesitation. To think that the weakest would take on the strongest boss all by himself.

Feeling this wasn’t right, he prepared to retreat.

Sa Bae-Hyuk suddenly coughed up blood.

"Cough... Kugh!"

Only then did Baek Yu-Seol notice Sa Bae-Hyuk’s condition. Forcibly summoning the six elites, his internal organs were already in jeopardy.

“You guys… I’ll kill you all…” Sa Bae Hyuk said with terrifying eyes, but there was no power in those gloomy eyes.

‘... I think it’s worth a try?'

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