“This little bastard!! Doesn’t look like much, but dealing with him is a total pain in the ass!!”
“Judging by appearance alone? That’s just rude. I’m attacking with all my heart here!”
When I first laid eyes on him, I could tell he thought he had the upper hand over me.
But to his surprise, I held my ground in close combat, even causing roots of bones to erupt from the ground and spewing strong acid from my mouth, which left him flustered.
“Wait—! He’s a human up close!! What is this, a summoned creature?!”
“What? No way! Looks exactly like Lee Yeon-hee’s summoned creature! The aura feels different from a human!”
“His eyes are so vivid! This is bullshit!!”
Hwang Tae-wook started distancing himself, blaming Mari as the battle took a turn for the worse.
“I’m telling you, it’s definitely Lee Yeon-hee’s summoned creature! You can even faintly feel the undead energy!”
Mari’s confident shout.
“To detect undead energy from me, who’s in a transformed state? That woman is quite the talent in a certain sense. She’s in a similar line as me.”
[Land of Dreadful Chaos]
“Uugh—! He unleashed something again! This bastard has a crazy amount of invisible weird skills!! Hey, Mari! If it’s undead, just use that thing!! Hurry up!!”
“J-just wait a little! How long has it been since I’ve dropped out of school? It’s not like I can do it fast! For me, just keeping the detection magic while breaking the restraints is already overwhelming!”
As Mari said, the balance of this battle was maintained thanks to her incredible multitasking abilities.
“To handle dispelling magic so skillfully. What in the world is this woman doing with trash like Hwang Tae-wook?”
But then, something white and mist-like started rising from Mari’s body.
“What? That woman? Is she wielding divine power?”
The aura, which I hadn’t sensed at all upon first seeing her, began to leak out awkwardly from her body at some point.
As a being with the essence of skeleton-type undead, I instinctively felt a sense of danger.
I thought she was just a sorceress, but it turned out she was a capable one who had transitioned from priesthood to sorcery. This was information I had never encountered even in my past life.
[Thunderhorn]
Crackling—
“Kuahh!! What the hell!!”
Hwang Tae-wook, having been zapped by lightning, attempted to attack but quickly fell back.
“What the hell, what kind of attributes are this many! Isn’t he a specimen created by an organization handling other evolved creatures? It’s like he doesn’t even consume magic power!”
Some say you see what you want to see. He was starting to use his imagination because he was being outclassed.
“Still, he’s got insane resistance. He’s been hit by magic multiple times already. Did these guys pour all the money they made into equipment?”
Electrified, paralyzed, petrified, slowed, poisoned, just the number of status effects he was enduring was considerable, but it was surprising how he managed to hold out.
However, it wasn’t like he was unaffected by any effects, so Hwang Tae-wook’s combat power was rapidly diminishing.
I was convinced that I had the advantage, and even I was a little surprised by my combat prowess that had suppressed A-rank high hunters.
[Void Slash with Flame Cut]
Whack——!
“Ugh?! Are you insane?!”
I increased my speed and succeeded in cracking Hwang Tae-wook’s black longsword.
At that moment.
[Luminous Enclave]
“Huh…?!”
A blinding light poured into the space where I was.
– A certain radius is being filled with holy territory.
Stagger—
“Ugh, I’m dizzy. The sky is spinning.”
“There’s a reaction! This definitely proves it’s undead! Ugh…?! Lord Flareos recognized that monster as a Being of Darkness! The message has come up!”
That damned Flareos, whom I’ve never heard of, was able to see right through my transformed essence. Seems like a god with significant power.
“This is great!! Hahaha! I’ll kill you, you bastard!!”
“Phew—! Hurry up and finish this! It won’t take long!”
The holy magic, Luminous Enclave, expanded with me at the center.
No matter where I moved, it followed and tormented me, and it was undoubtedly fatal magic for undead that were weak to light attributes.
“Boss!!”
“You bastards! Hurry and join in!!”
Even Hwang Tae-wook’s minions began to join one by one.
Most of them were experts in the B-A class range.
“Hmm…”
But I maintained as much calmness as possible.
I didn’t even think this was an unfavorable situation.
– Achievement [Darkness Similar to Light] is activated.
– You are not affected by the light’s curse.
“Of course, it activates. The explanation was a bit vague, but this works.”
The achievement [Darkness Similar to Light], which doubles the effect received from allies with light attributes.
It was stated to only apply to allies, yet somehow, relating to the God’s of Light and Justice, it seemed to show resistance even to Mari’s holy attacks.
“Actually, I feel a bit lighter? Is it because I’m in human form? It’s such a strange sensation. Speaking of which, I feel Areina’s energy nearby. Is she, perhaps, watching me?”
Since I was even witnessing the recovery of the lightning armor that had shattered from Hwang Tae-wook’s attack, it was understandable to have such foolish thoughts.
“Where are the other intruders?”
“Eh? There hasn’t been an attack in other areas yet!”
“Huh? No way?! This bastard couldn’t have come in alone. I know their forces are considerable?”
“They could be pushing in from the outskirts. Should we try contacting them?”
“Let’s just take care of this bastard first!”
“Yes!!”
Hwang Tae-wook had seven subordinates.
They were certainly elite among the forces waiting in this factory.
“Attack!!”
They rushed at me in a panic without even checking my condition.
It was, of course, the natural course.
An undead trapped in the territory of light? That doesn’t take much thought at all.
His combat power would drop by at least 50%, so why hesitate?
Clang! Clang—!
Hwang Tae-wook retrieved his cracked black longsword and began to relentlessly assault me with another sword pulled from the space of nothingness.
Meanwhile, Mari was still steadily firing detection magic and maintaining the light territory.
The expressions on their faces were filled with relief and joy, having been pushed back to the defensive.
“Die! Die!!”
“Attack with bludgeoning weapons!!”
“I don’t know if it’s a person or just a summoned creature! But anyone who touches mine will be flayed and fed to the pigs! Hahaha!!”
“Clap, clap…”
I could avoid their attacks with various mobility skills, but whenever I tried to counter, Mari’s magic was quite a bother.
“Ah! Seriously. I should’ve taken out that woman, Mari, first.”
[Insect Disruption]
Bang! Bangbang!
Small explosions erupted around me as swarms of insects burst.
It was a trivial attack, and indeed didn’t deal actual damage, but the scattering disruptive substance from their bursting bodies was the issue.
“If I were in skeleton form, it wouldn’t have affected me much.”
Those substances had a subtly irritating effect, causing momentary disruption in the flow of magic.
Bangbangbang!!
“Again! Damn insect bastards! This isn’t any ordinary talent!”
Though rated one level higher than Magic Missile, it was a highly efficient spell that could cancel an opponent’s skill at a low probability if timed correctly.
Since it consumed little magic, it would undoubtedly keep pestering me if left alone.
[Manhwa Portal]
“Die!”
Kiiiiiiiiing——
“What?! What’s going on?!”
“Our attacks aren’t working!”
“Is it entering an [Invincible] state?! What kind of monster is this!!”
Suddenly, my body began to swell, even nullifying damage, shocking them and forcing them to create distance.
“Ugh… It’s growing within its armor!”
“I can tell when I see it, you bastard!”
“Alone, I can only reach this point.”
I had tried to overcome this with my own strength, but there was no getting around facing multiple opponents.
“What’s going on! This is weird! Something’s off! The holy magic is still applying, but the energy isn’t diminishing?!”
“No way? Wasn’t it an undead?!”
“It’s definitely undead! But… It’s not affected at all by light attributes!”
“What the hell kind of nonsense is that!”
“If you think of it as a being that’s not alive, I’m undeniably undead even in this transformed state.”
While I accepted this, Hwang Tae-wook was already getting irritated by Mari’s cryptic comments.
They were veterans who had been through countless battles.
They could easily sense that the energy radiating from me was far from ordinary.
Hwang Tae-wook and Mari started subtly backing away behind their subordinates.
“Jim, provoke.”
[Thudthudthud!!]
“Waaaah?! What the hell is that!”
A gigantic centipede, measuring six meters long, fell from the sky making strange noises.
“Ugh! Kill that monster first!!”
“Kill it! Get that centipede first!”
Jim the Beast’s [Provocation] outperformed the provocation abilities of Lee Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures, Ddak-ddak-i and Dot.
It was sufficient to draw the gazes of the enemies trying to flee, causing them to come charging back at me.
‘Right behind me.’
[Thudthud!]
Now hiding behind me, ‘Jim’ awaited his chance.
From above and beside Jim, Gori and the trace trio appeared to take advantage of the distraction the opponents were causing and charged at them without warning.
Woosh─!
Rustle──!
“Urk!! W-What?!”
“Skeleton soldier?!”
“These bastards are fast!”
They had been completely caught off guard by the trace trio.
Then, as Gori’s squad diverted their gazes, Jim spat out venom, forcing them to devote all their attention to defense right where they stood.
Woosh────
Instantly, thousands of magic bullets erupted from my now ballooning body, launching in all directions.
Pfpfpfpfpfpfpfpf——!!
Hwang Tae-wook’s subordinates, who had come to protect him, started being shredded like paper in that moment.
– You have obtained ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion.’
– You have obtained ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion.’
“Ughhh!!”
“What the hell!!”
Blood gushed from Mari’s eyes and nose, which had been shielded by a thick magical barrier, and she ultimately collapsed onto the ground, unable to defend against the Manhwa Portal.
Thud—
“Th-this can’t be! No! Get up! What are you doing, you idiot?!”
Hiding behind Mari, cowardly preserving his life, Hwang Tae-wook looked at me with an expression of disbelief, but already, three shadows loomed behind him.
Whomp—!!
“My God!! Ugh! What the hell is with these skeleton bastards…!”
Ainz and Zweihander didn’t even bother using their primary weapons, starting to mercilessly chop Hwang Tae-wook with their basic daggers.
Hwang Tae-wook desperately tried to shake off the skeletons, but having been afflicted with the [Petrification Curse] from my attacks while dodging, his body was now rigid and immobile.
“Clapclapclap!!”
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Among the traces, especially Ainz trembled with joy with every scream Hwang Tae-wook let out, giving off a slightly horrifying vibe that made me think, ‘He’s probably twisted from all the struggles in the hidden dungeon.’
“Wuff… Ugh…”
Ultimately, Hwang Tae-wook and Mari were taken by force and dragged before me.
As they stared at the small skeleton coldly glancing down on them, they made their final desperate struggles.
“All my remaining subordinates are dead. This is why I didn’t want to use the Manhwa Portal. Tch…”
While getting rid of them and obtaining the life potion fragments was nice, I sadly wished I could turn the higher-ranked ones into Demon Servants.
“Ughhh…! You’re not letting go? You little shits!!”
“Please spare me! I haven’t done anything! It’s all Hwang Tae-wook’s fault! Lee Yeon-hee! Hey! Is anyone listening? I messed up, so tell this monster to let me go!!”
Hwang Tae-wook was still squirming, while Mari was pleading for mercy, calling for a nonexistent summoner.
[Blood Evolution]
Thud— Thud—!
“GUAAH!!”
“Ahhhhh…”
I pierced them with thorns and drained their blood.
Now it has become a natural process without feeling any kind of rejection.
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