V51C8P3 – Last Resort

“He became a Lich!”

Calcus commanded the 4th Legion.

“Destroy the undead thoroughly. Do not let them revive again!”

The appearance of a large-scale undead legion came as a shock to the Hermes Guild. They became very cautious as they witnessed thousands of skeletons summoned through the spell Undead Rise.

“We need to open the way quickly or things will get annoying… d.a.m.n, time is on our side, but this is getting complicated…”

The Hermes Guild members, including Calcus, looked up at the sky resentfully.

‘Myul and his Griffon Knight Legion are roaming the skies, but they barely come down to the ground at all… Why?! What the h.e.l.l, could it be that they still want to focus on catching Weed? That’s not their purpose!’

If the battle was over, obviously he wouldn’t protest. With the help of Myul and his 2nd Legion, Weed would be captured quickly. Calcus did not hide his anger, but the situation was getting better.

“I saw the 3rd Legion.”

“The 6th Legion is here too.”

“The 7th Legion has also arrived.”

The Imperial forces were converging on their position. The 6th Legion had been fighting farmers and elves, while the 7th Legion had been up against a ghost army, which had put them through a lot of trouble. Since the beginning of this battle, about 30 to 40 percent of the Legions had come from all over the Garnav Plains, and they made up a force that could not be ignored.

‘Forget it. We can definitely catch Weed here.’

Calcus sent a message to the legion commanders.

– Calcus: Welcome to the hunt for Weed. You’re just in time.

– Heiller: Nice to meet you here. Which of us should be in command?

– Calcus: Although your rank as the 3rd Legion commander is high, wouldn’t it be better for each legion to work independently?

– Heiller: Well, that’s one way to go about it.

Calcus did not want to lose his authority. If they fought separately, the 3rd legion’s Heiler would be able to conserve his forces, and since he thought he was likely to catch Weed, he agreed.

– Heiller: The 3rd Legion will take care of the North. We will completely destroy the enemy.

– Gross: The 6th Legion will take care of the West.

– Crebulta: We will then take care of the East. Come on, we will be the ones to win this war.

– Calcus: Hehe. The 4th Legion is confident in winning the war too. Capturing Weed will be our achievement.

– Heiller: No, this glory will belong to the 3rd Legion. Let’s start this battle.

The four powerful Imperial Legions began their a.s.sault. They swept through the undead, wiping out nearby northern users along the way. The whole battlefield burned with large-scale flame magic.

Meanwhile, Weed was putting Van Hawk in command of half the skeletons.

“They must be stopped, kill them all.”

“Yes, master.”

The skeletons ran as a group and fought with the 7th Legion. Though their combat power was a little weaker than the soldiers of the Imperial Legion, they fought well as they had a lot of vitality. Moreover, even when the lower part of their bodies were sent flying, the moving skeletons hung on to the enemy soldiers and bit them.

“Uhhuhu, nooooo! I can’t fight corpses!”

“We are going to die.”

The soldiers feared the undead. Knights and Hermes Guild members yelled and calmed down the soldiers.

“Fight, do not run away! We are the Imperial Army!“

“The Haven Empire is invincible!”

It was a big problem for the Imperial Legion that morale declined while fighting the undead. In order to fight with Weed, they held silver weapons and wore blessed armor. Nevertheless, the summoned undead were pretty annoying.

“Show me the sword of h.e.l.l.”

“Go forward with blood.”

30 Doom Knights rushed out and displayed their terrifying might.

Doom Knight Hero Neturus!

He had been summoned to lead the Doom Knights!

Riding on h.e.l.l Horses, which had emerged from the darkness and continuously breathed out poison, the Doom Knights started fighting the Imperial Knights.

*Kwakwa Kw.a.n.g!*

Knights from the Imperial Legion were sent flying dozens of meters. Weed sighed when he saw the scene.

“They would have been even more powerful if I had used Sculptural Destruction to increase my Wisdom.”

The Sculptural Shapes.h.i.+fting skill allowed one to make use of the skills and characteristics of another race. However, as a Necromancer, he already knew many of the skills he would have obtained through transforming, so he had awoken even more undead characteristics which made the undead he summoned even more powerful.

Weed’s body was sometimes surrounded by flames.

Despite the fact that he was only watching the battle, Weed was surrounded by white flames! The divine fire from the G.o.ddess Hestia caused side-effects now that he had transformed into a Lich.

< Mana decreased by 3.7% >

Weed took damage from time to time, but the health and mana he absorbed from the undead that partic.i.p.ated in the battle made him quickly recover.

*Flas.h.!.+*

The brilliance of his s.h.i.+ning golden skull lit up the darkness.

“Wow, look at Weed!”

“He looks really cool.”

But something else also attracted the attention of the Northern users. The trajectory made it clear that a new attacker was coming to their position. The Northern users were still caught up in an intense fight against the users from the Central Continent, and if another Imperial Legion joined in they would be in trouble.

– Mapan: The 1st Imperial Legion is on its way. I think they will arrive in about 5 minutes.

– Pale: I’m coming. Not only me, but all the users here are running. Hold on for a while whatever happens!

– Cold Wind: The Avians have gathered together. Even the little chickens from Lavias, the Sky Island, have entered the battle. But there was a problem on the way here. It seems like the magicians from the Hermes Guild are causing many troublesome gusts of wind in the sky.

– Seoyoon: Let the Baraags take care of the magic troops, we have to stop them from summoning those gusts. The only problem is that some of the wizards seem to be missing.

– Mibullo: I’m not sure if you still remember me, but I’m an architect. I’m currently preparing to stop this Imperial Legion. I intend to use Ground Collapse to do so, but it can only delay them for ten minutes at most.

According to the whispers that the users were sending, the situation was not good. Weed called out to a nearby user, Rubles, who had been appointed as a Vice-Captain due to her intelligence.

“I need you to deal with something right now.”

“What is it? I’ll do anything. I will give my all till my heart ceases to beat.”

The blonde warrior.

Rubles was an aggressive warrior, and her level was high. Weed entrusted the drunken Emperor Geihar to her

“Please take care of him.”

“Yes?”

“He is very important to the Arpen Kingdom, please keep him safe.”

“…”

As Rubles saw it, this was not an easy task.

Before the battle began, many users made sculptures in preparation of Emperor Geihar’s arrival. If this drunken old man were to die, one of the pillars of the Arpen Kingdom would collapse. It was clear that if this fact was noticed by the Hermes Guild, they would make a strong attack.

“Nevertheless, I’ll keep watch over him.”

Weed decided to leave Emperor Geihar behind, and went to the battlefield alone.

“This battle is going to be my battle.”

Even his trump card was useless. In such a situation, he could only rely on himself.

< 26 Mana has been absorbed >< 31 Mana has been absorbed >< 55 Mana has been absorbed >< 12 Mana has been absorbed >< 7 Mana has been absorbed >< 83 Mana has been absorbed >

…

Health and Mana were absorbed at a high rate from the undead who partic.i.p.ated in the war.

“Create a Life Vessel.”

Weed used a spell which allowed a Lich to store away its health. He took a clump of hard soil and made it into the shape of a bottle.

< Life Vessel. Within lies the powerful health of Lich Clongy. >

A Lich would not die unless its Life Vessel was destroyed. However, if it was, its magic power would be reduced, and the efficiency of Health and Mana absorption would be lowered. The vessel had to be kept safe at all costs! It would not even be enough to bury it deep underground. Weed took the vessel, which was the same shape as a c.o.ke bottle, and gulped it down.

*Gulp!*

The vessel went down his throat and faded into his ribs.

“It’s better to keep it in my body because I cannot give it to anyone.”

He spoke loudly enough that the surrounding users could hear him. It wasn’t a safe place just because there were no enemies nearby. Weed walked with big strides and quickly moved away from the users.

*Sasha Shack!*

Weed wanted to run back and forth and celebrate; he felt as though had had won a prize. His sister had finally appeared, wearing an old robe.

– Yurin: Good job. Then…

Yurin’s mission was to escape with the life vessel… Non-combat users were not priority targets to the Hermes Guild, and they also had some ways of escaping, including shadow moving. During her time playing Royal Road, Yurin had never been killed. She had strong survival skills and even Weed felt ashamed of his inferiority.

“All of you, down!”

“Keke kell”

Weed climbed on top of a mountain of skeletons, his h.e.l.l Cloak fluttering in the wind. Although the skeletons wiggled a little bit, this mountain had reached a height of about 30 meters. At its top, he now stood as a golden Lich, looking down at them. Weed was also currently absorbing their Health and Mana.

< The Power of the Dead has increased by 3. >

Although there was a penalty due to the Power of the Dead, in the short term it also increased his magic power.

“I’ll think about it later… For now let’s just keep doing it.”

He would deal with the aftermath when he got there. For the moment, Weed decided to only live in the present. Holding the Fallen Saint’s Staff, Weed shouted.

“Darkness that cannot be scattered by light, descend and nurture those who wake from death. Death Aura!”

One of the three great magics of Bar Khan, Death Aura was activated to strengthen the undead!

Weed thrust the Fallen Saint’s Staff into the mountain of skeletons.

Then the black aura spread out in all directions and changed the undead. Wherever it went, skeletons became pure white in color. Their bones became thick and sharp, and their bodies became bigger.

“Ku aak”

“This is overwhelming power! It is the proof that we can overcome even death!”

Among the undead, the skeletons and zombies belonged to the lowest level. As they changed, they became mid-level boss skeleton commanders. The flying ghosts emitted a plaintive cry in the sky and became evil spirits. These evil spirits used dark magic, took lives and cursed the land and people. The change in the Doom Knights, however, was even more dramatic.

“Our power has recovered. It is likely that we can even win against the gatekeeper of h.e.l.l.”

“A powerful necromancer has summoned us. We absolutely must obey!”

The 30 Doom Knights lowered their heads to Weed. After they saluted, they cut off the heads of the Hermes Guild users who until now had held the upper hand. The Doom Knights also became stronger as they fought. They had several inherent characteristics such as short-range flight. All of these traits were awakened by the power of Death Aura, which allowed them to display their original fighting capacity.

Van Hawk was also affected, and it was as though he had slipped out of his skin. He had the authority to act as the chief commander of the dark legion and, as all of the other Death Knights had backed away from the position, he was also promoted to their team leader.

As to Vampire Lord Torido, he blended into the darkness. He had lost a lot of his abilities as a vampire when he had become Weed’s subordinate. After that he hadn’t had that many opportunities to fight against enemies, but it now seemed that all of his seals had finally been released.

“It is a pity to end with this.”

Weed absorbed more mana to use another great magic.

“Foolish humans, what futile resistance. This land is governed by my rule of darkness. The power of eternal immortality shall thrive. Dark Rule!”

A magic that changed the rules of a region!

All corpses were awoken and forced to become undead. Weed’s Dark Rule spilled down into the depths of the ground. The ground shook, cracking as many skeletons, zombies, death knights, dullahans, and ghosts began to fly. The bodies of the Hermes Guild users who failed to kill Weed became a good sacrifice. The number of Doom Knights increased to 35, and some of the high-level corpses spread darkness like sludge.

*Ku a a a a ak!*

Bones began to melt and unite, changing shape bizarrely. The sounds of breaking and cracking could be heard. Long vertebrae formed and wings sprang up. Something immense was being created.

*Ku aaaaa!*

Then two Bone Dragons let out long cries as they flew up into the sky! In the past, even if a prestigious guild poured out all of their power, it was difficult to hunt even one dragon. Now it would not be as difficult; as long as top-level users joined forces, they could even hunt them in the sky.

The dragons’ birth did not slow the spell down. The ground kept shaking, and the dead bodies kept rising up to form a legion composed of tens of thousands of undead.

(Continued on next part… )