Chapter 150 : The Only Necromancer
The Only Necromancer
* 〈Thrag is lifting the restrictions.〉
Suddenly, Thrag's faith text surfaced in my mind.
What on earth was this? He lifted a restriction?
I thought it was just that lunatic god spouting nonsense as usual. I was about to dismiss it, but the weight I felt from the text was different from before.
Ding.
Just as I was about to ask Thrag what he was thinking, a cheerful notification and the next text appeared.
* 〈The restriction on 1:1 combat is lifted.〉
The moment I read the sentence, it felt like a suffocating shackle pressing on my chest was breaking away.
"Ugh..."
A hot surge arose from deep within my dantian.
It wasn't just a 'restriction' that disappeared. Apparently, the promise Thrag had made with me until now had not simply forbidden 'magic'.
Hundreds of writhing tendons.
Previously, the overwhelming numbers had been purely terrifying, but now, they struck me as clearly as bundles of straw easily set aside.
But that wasn't the end.
* 〈'Minion Command' restriction is lifted.〉
The moment another shackle came undone, I almost screamed at the pain flowing through my bloodstream.
From the backspace of my soul, a black muddy stream flooded in. The forced separation I had to make as Thrag's follower.
The links with those like Dullahan 'Chunsik' and others I had shoved deep into the shadows were violently and intensely restored.
Goosebumps ran all over my body.
Just two.
Just two restrictions were lifted, yet I started to feel the density of mana surging through my blood vessels.
* 〈'Long-range attack prohibition' is nullified.〉
* 〈'Magic power efficiency decrease' restriction is lifted.〉
* 〈'Necromancy power decrease' restriction is lifted.〉
* 〈'Corpse utilization prohibition' restriction is lifted.〉
And still, more texts kept appearing.
By now, what I was feeling as I saw them wasn't simply, "My strength is increasing."
It was something beyond personal affection.
Thrag.
Is this bastard even really a god?
How much has he been blocking me?
I'm your follower too, you jerk.
Like a broken slot machine,
So many message windows poured down like a waterfall, almost obscuring my vision.
Upon seeing all this, I understood what Thrag had wanted to communicate to me.
Use the full power of a 'necromancer' to save the Red Wolf Tribe. That's what he seemed to be saying.
'But isn't coming out like this just because your own followers are in danger a bit shameless?'
Still, it was Thrag.
The one revered by the 'barbarian', and the one who only protects the 'barbarian'.
At the crisis of the Red Wolf Tribe, he was asking me for help.
'But still.'
I am, after all, afraid of the fallout if I reveal I'm a 'necromancer' in front of so many barbarians.
Of course, I can't say my affection for the Red Wolf Tribe is small.
It's just that, given the current situation, I'm trying to make a rational decision.
'Huh.'
Something strange happened.
I thought I was deliberating in order to make a rational decision.
"Brother?"
"D- Dmihtan, brother?"
"Sage, where are you going?!"
When I came to, I was heading toward where the fissure had formed.
Apparently, I had more attachment to the 'Red Wolf Tribe' than I realized.
"Brother Dmihtan! Where are you heading in that condition?!"
Serena urgently tried to grab my cloak, but my steps did not stop.
As if drawn like iron to a magnet. My head said this was madness, but my body was going forward.
"Stop, sage!"
At that moment, a thunderous shout struck the battlefield.
"I know you care for your homeland, but no more."
"That's right, brother! Going there is suicide! I can't send you off like our brother, Darsan!"
Barkal was shaking his head, his face ashen.
To reassure Barkal, I nodded and reached inside my clothes to draw out the 'Blood-Colored Awl'.
No, now that I think about it, I don't think I even need the 'Blood-Colored Awl' right now.
Normally, I would have scattered my own blood to use as a medium, but now, there was no need.
I stopped my hand, which had been reaching inside my clothes. Usually, I would have drawn the 'Blood-Colored Awl' and scattered my blood as a medium. There was no need to do so now.
Because the restrictions were gone.
I looked around.
All around reeked of rotten flesh and the iron tang of blood.
For the barbarians, this place was a hell full of comrades' blood and rampaging monsters.
But to a 'necromancer', this place was no different than a banquet hall.
Life force everywhere.
Mediums scattering underfoot.
* 〈Mortis lends you her power.〉
So, with just a wave of my hand.
I could wield all of this negative energy as my own.
"The time has come."
At my quiet order, a chill swept over my entire body.
* 【Using Skeleton Summon.】
Until now, it was a spell to create a 'skeleton exoskeleton'.
But as I redirected the spell purely for 'minion' use, grotesque cracking sounds began erupting all around.
The tendons and barbarians who had died attacking us. From within them, sharp 'bones' shredded through flesh and burst forth.
"W-What is this all of a sudden...?!"
With the chieftain's shocked voice, the skeletons became soldiers.
The pooled blood on the ground served as their crimson joints.
And there weren't just one or two.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Armies of death surged from all around.
"D-Disgusting magic!"
At the sight, one barbarian screamed in horror.
"Undead have appeared!"
"There's a necromancer! There's a necromancer nearby!"
As if contagious, the other barbarians began to scream as well.
Panic-stricken cries rang out in all directions.
A natural reaction.
To barbarians, necromancers were cursed beings. Mages who defiled the dead.
For one to appear in the chaos, was it any wonder they were terrified?
'This is insane.'
Honestly, even I was surprised.
Even with lots of mediums and the restrictions lifted, could 'Skeleton Summon' really raise almost thirty at once?
Ah.
Perhaps it was thanks to Mortis lending her power.
Still, this number was staggering.
For the first time,
I truly understood, down to the bone, why the necromancer used by players was considered broken.
I told them to nerf it.
* * *
"Vile necromancer, have you come to target our village?!"
"Reveal yourself at once!"
The barbarians' horrified shouts rang out, but frankly, I didn't have the time to care.
The line was already crossed; all that filled my mind was the urgent need to close the Abyss as soon as possible.
'Let's do this.'
I gave the skeletons their orders.
The target: the fissure.
I had to block that black gap.
Clatter.
At my command, the skeletons moved as one. The sound of bone clashing filled the battlefield.
Just then, a tendon that had shot out of the fissure snapped like a whip around the foremost skeleton.
Slaaash!
The tendon wormed its way between the skeleton's ribs. If it had been a living person, they would have been possessed on the spot.
Just like Darsan.
Just like the barbarians in the healinghut.
But.
The tendon just fumbled uselessly between the bones.
There was no flesh to pierce.
No nerves to control.
No mind to dominate.
A skeleton is already dead.
How could one kill what is already dead?
— Clatter.
Instead, the skeleton smashed its own rib and grabbed the tendon. As the bony fingers dug into the creature's flesh, it writhed in pain.
A second skeleton leapt in and tore at the writhing tendon.
Undead could not be controlled.
To the tendons, skeletons were the worst possible foe. The only option was to physically destroy them.
'That fissure.'
At my order, the skeletons charged towards the fissure.
Boom!
In the process, a tendon slammed down on one skeleton's skull, shattering it.
That was all.
* 【Using Skeleton Summon.】
A new skeleton rose from the spot where the last one fell.
The tendons, perhaps having learned, began destroying my soldiers by different means instead of controlling them.
Ribs were crushed.
Spines snapped.
Limbs were torn off.
* 【Using Skeleton Summon.】
* 【Using Skeleton Summon.】
If one fell, I summoned more.
If they broke, I filled the gap.
The legion of skeletons advanced without fear.
Without pain or hesitation.
"Advance."
Following only my command, obediently.
With that single word, the skeletons pierced the forest of tendons.
As the skeletons drew closer to the 'fissure,' the 'Shard of Vespers' began to shudder, as if to signal its turn had come.
However, it didn't look like I'd have to use the 'Shard of Vespers' just yet.
"Tsk."
The corpses of barbarians buried with the collapsed healinghut rose up and began to attack the skeletons.
'So, I can't break through with numbers alone.'
Though the skeletons were endlessly revived, their advance was stalled.
At this rate, it would devolve into a war of attrition. Not only would I fail to buy time to close the fissure, I'd tire myself out first.
That's when it happened.
From the depths of my soul came a deep, resonant voice.
― Master."
An unfamiliar but familiar echo. It was Chunsik, who had vanished foaming at the mouth earlier.