Necromancer Survival

Clunk–!

Fortunately, the claws were blocked by another opaque barrier that appeared right in front of our noses. As if he were annoyed, Sung Yi-hwan grumbled–

[You’re truly wrapping up like an onion, aren’t you? Seo Dawon.]

“……”

[I wanted to see a bit of your precious flesh.]

As his shining eyes glanced over the Mage, I felt as if my blood rushed in reverse. I clenched my teeth and shouted to Lackey, “Support Dawon-ie.”

[Clack Clack..!]

[Okay…!]

Just as Lackey’s eyes twinkled purple, the zombie, reeling about behind us, rushed in at a high speed.

Sung Yi-hwan sneered mockingly as he brandished his right arm vigorously–

[Ravage.]

The air seemed to roar; a black wind–or something similar–quickly tumbled towards Lackey and the zombie.

[Graaagh!]

Though Lackey quickly avoided the attack, the zombie’s reaction rate couldn’t keep up, and it was exposed to the black wind.

The zombie’s skin crackled; the smell of rotten blood permeated the air. I stepped back, covering my nose with my sleeve. In the end, the man-turned-zombie collapsed on the spot. However, Lackey continued to bravely step forward.

Clang–!

The rapidly running Lackey swung its sword at Sung Yi-hwan. However, rather than being cleaved in two, I heard the sound of iron colliding against iron.

Even though Lackey had only managed to strike once, the sword’s blade had broken off. Though the quality was exceptional, the weapon had decent durability, and this unexpected event heightened my tension.

Sung Yi-hwan guffawed and said–

[Magic or Sword… Neither can even tickle this body.]

“……”

[I’ll make you feel the difference in power between us.]

With that said, Sung Yi-hwan inhaled deeply–enough to swell his chest.

At that moment, Dawon-ie looked back at me before flicking his finger. Whoosh–! It felt like I was instantly wearing some noise-cancelling headphones.

[——!!!!]

Simultaneously, a vibrating sensation that made my whole body tingle burst forth from Sung Yi-hwan. Lackey, holding his sword handle, came to an abrupt stop; Dawon, perhaps also feeling the same eerie, numbing tension, massaged my hand.

‘W-What is this?’

Even though Sung Yi-hwan slowly reached out to Lackey, Lackey couldn’t move.

It was only then that I realized that Sung Yi-hwan had launched a [Fear] attack. It’s a skill type that suppresses the movements of weaker opponents through things like shouting or glaring, and in Sung Yi-hwan’s case, his skill seemed to involve using vocal cords to create a loud noise, plunging his opponents into a [Fear State].

“Lackey!” I screamed.

At the same time, Seo Dawon moved. When Seo Dawon reached out his hand, a black hole appeared beneath the skeleton’s feet; like a chunk of ice, Lackey simply fell inside. Sung Yi-hwan had stolen Lackey away before we could grab it.

[….Clack Clack Clack!]

The next moment, Lackey appeared on top of my head. The skill must have created a wormhole–[Blink]. The problem, though, was that as soon as Lackey was teleported away, Sung Yi-hwan immediately turned around to attack Dawon.

Thump–! Thump–! Thump–!

Everywhere Sung Yi-hwan stomped his feet, the earth vibrated and shook. Looking for something to hold onto, I stuck close to a thick pillar nearby. The earthquake was severe enough for me to do that–such a formidable force.

‘Damn… Koo Hui-seo is…!’

While Sung Yi-hwan was clashing with Seo Dawon and the ground shook, books and bookshelves began to tumble down everywhere. And, to make matters worse, Koo Hui-seo was motionless before a toppling, huge cabinet.

Initially, I didn’t realize the motionless body was Koo Hui-seo until I saw the tentacle-like mass rising from his back. That was when I knew he was still alive.

However, Koo Hui-seo wouldn’t wake, even with all the noise surrounding; I measured the distance between Sung Yi-hwan and Koo Hui-seo.

At that moment, Dawon and I briefly locked eyes. Dawon-ie seemed to have a lot to say, but upon meeting my gaze, he subtly nodded. It was as if he understood that I was trying to rescue Koo Hui-seo.

And, from then on, Dawon’s attacks became incredibly fierce.

“[Inferno Circus].” Unlike before, he began to actively use his skills.

This time, his skill was reminiscent of a circus fire show. Eight round rings of fire were created; whenever Sung Yi-hwan approached, the rings unraveled and whipped at the werewolf. Moreover, once the fire ignited something, the flames seemed unquenchable, scorching the ground black. The embers didn’t die out.

After Sung Yi-wan was struck by the whip and observed his blackened chest, he refrained from approaching further. It was evident that Dawon’s invoked skill inflicted some damage this time. Simultaneously, the two gradually moved away from where I and Koo Hui-seo were located.

‘Is Dawon-ie leading him away?’

Though Dawon-ie stopped Sung Yi-hwan’s attacks and gradually widened the distance between us, it didn’t seem as if the Mage was overwhelmingly superior in this fight.

Whenever Sung Yi-hwan would punch forward with his skills, Dawon would step back and stop casting his own skills. It seemed that the Mage didn’t have enough time to activate his own skills.

‘First, I need to rescue Koo Hui-seo.’

Still, thanks to Dawon-ie’s efforts to widen the gap, Lackey and I were able to approach Koo Hui-seo safely.

I was a little worried for him, because the guild leader had his neck held in a grasp earlier, but fortunately, as I got closer, I could see the mass of tentacles wriggling and writhing. It didn’t seem like his life was in danger.

I shouted, “Hui-seo-ssi! Are you conscious?”

“Unnngh…” Koo Hui-seo opened his eyes, cold sweat running down his back, when I gripped and shook his tentacles. It seems that he had fainted while being strangled. “Lee-kyung-ssi… Hnngh.”

Koo Hui-seo hugged me while he shed a few tears. Lackey tried to pull him off by tugging on the tentacles, but that was in vain.

With the ex-chimera in my arms, I tried to get out of there. “Wow… Hey, Koo Hui-seo-ssi. You’re incredibly heavy!”

Unlike usual, Koo Hui-seo was so heavy that I could barely budge him one inch. He smirked and rubbed my face with his tentacles, “That’s… because I was so surprised, and my tentacles all spilled out…”

“Then quickly put them back in!”

I hoisted Koo Hui-seo up, intending to quickly escape.

However… At that moment–

“It’s been a long while, Choi Lee-kyung.”

A familiar voice could be heard from behind the pillar beyond Koo Hui-seo. Then, I heard the sound of footsteps–sharp clacks against the floor.

When I raised my head, I felt a fear that strangled and suffocated me alongside an anger that burst forward, surging to my head.

* * *

“[Double Shot]!” Bang Eunji moved first. She shot two consecutive shots at the Holy Mother Statue’s heads, but both statues escaped the attacks and immediately rushed towards the grenadier.

Boom–!

Then, with their incredible weight, the statues jumped over Bang Eunji’s head. Eunji, of course, had already lifted her gun blade to block the way to her head; however, another statue was rushing in while her arms were preoccupied.

“[Chest Slash].”

Of course, Jung Garam didn’t simply stand by and observe. Bewilderingly, though, the statue ‘ignored’ Jung Garam’s attack and only went after Bang Eunji.

After penetrating through the statues’ ‘heart,’ Jung Garam felt a bit of regret. ‘These bastards aren’t human, right?’

In other words, unless the attack was powerful enough to immediately kill them, the Holy mother statues would continue to attack Bang Eunji with their intact and mobile hands.

Because Jung Garam and Bang Eunji were piloting [Dummies], they didn’t feel pain; the issue, though, was where the hands were directed. The Goddess Statue was precisely targeting the grenadier’s eyes.

Because the head was an important part of a Dummy, they’d be in trouble if it were to receive a strong impact. Bang Eunji pulled her body back as far as she could, preparing for the subsequent attack, but she couldn’t help but clench her teeth as she anticipated a debilitating blow.

Slice–! ¹

However, when Bang Eunji opened her eyes again, she could see a fluttering string wrapped around the statue’s body.

It was an Echo Blade. ²

The statue continued to try and run towards Bang Eunji despite the razor-thin wound dripping blood…but it continued to be dragged backwards.

Unable to endure any longer, the Goddess Statue opened its mouth wide. It seemed to be gearing up to spray more sulfuric acid, and Bang Eunji was unable to move due to the weight of another statue atop her.

When the black mouth opened, and the bubbling liquid threatened to spurt out…

“Shut up.” Jung Garam drove his dagger into the chin of the statue from underneath.

The statue’s jaw closed; the acid that could not be spat out began to burn the statue’s throat. The white eyes began turning black as the statue twitched.

Only then was Bang Eunji able to smile and cut off the head of the statue that was weighing her down.

Become a member!

TL: 3 guesses as to who the newcomer is, the first two guesses don’t count.

Also, my god, “I got so surprised all my tentacles spilled out” is such… a thing to say….

Only in NS, only in NS…

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