Episode 15
Nam Gyuil moved out with his team members.
Naturally, their speed was slow.
Advancing while trudging through the sprawling mud was severely draining their stamina.
Furthermore, the more they walked, the deeper they sank into the mud.
What had been up to their ankles was now nearing their thighs.
As a result, their progress slowed even more.
“Ugh, this is exhausting. What kind of terrain is this? I seriously hate it!!”
I Chanu pouted.
Everyone groaned, but after traveling for a long time, they made it through the mud.
The members of Team 01, having finally stepped onto solid ground, gasped for breath as if their stamina had bottomed out.
“Rest.”
Nam Gyuil gave the order.
Team 01 plopped down on the ground and took a break.
Even as everyone was struggling to death, Nam Gyuil did not shed a single drop of sweat.
His breathing was steady as well.
He was the exact opposite of the exhausted team members.
And the same was true for Han Gangsu.
Nam Gyuil called out to him.
“Han Gangsu.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’ll stand watch with me. Follow me.”
“Understood.”
Nam Gyuil took Han Gangsu and volunteered for guard duty.
If exhausted comrades took watch, mistakes could happen, so it was better he did it himself.
Hong Sinu watched Nam Gyuil’s back.
‘He’s really incredible. We’re this exhausted, but Sergeant Nam Gyuil is perfectly fine.’
Even in these small details, the gap in ability was evident.
Roughly thirty minutes passed. Nam Gyuil led his team members and set off again.
Everyone had recovered a fair amount of stamina.
As they moved forward like that, they suddenly began to sense signs of movement.
— Halt! Take cover.
Nam Gyuil gave the order to his comrades via hand signals.
Everyone stopped in their tracks.
They lowered their stances sharply and quickly hid, using rocks and bushes as cover.
There was only one reason Nam Gyuil had ordered them to take cover.
‘There are zombies nearby.’
Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t been spotted.
The zombies stared blankly into empty space, standing perfectly still.
However, one fact bothered him.
‘Why are the zombies gathered around the cave? Normally, those things are mindless monsters that wander around.’
They didn’t budge from their positions, as if protecting something.
This was completely unlike their usual nature.
‘Gathering in one place and staying still like this isn’t very zombie-like.’
It definitely had something to do with a boss monster.
‘Just what kind of creature is it?’
Nam Gyuil tried to recall the knowledge he had learned from the Akashic Records.
‘If it’s a monster that controls zombies…’
There was exactly one creature that came to mind.
‘A Necromancer? Don’t tell me it’s him?’
A Necromancer is a dark wizard who summons zombies or skeletons.
‘In the world of Arnia, dark wizards were classified as trash that ought to disappear from the world.’
They were human, but because they used dark magic, they were treated as monsters.
Nam Gyuil cocked his head.
‘Wait. Even though they’re treated as monsters, dark wizards are unmistakably human. With what intention did they come to Earth?’
No one had yet uncovered the cause of the Gate disaster.
There were opinions that it happened by chance, and claims that someone had intentionally caused it.
But those were merely vague speculations.
Clues to discover the truth were still insufficient.
Nam Gyuil furrowed his brow.
‘Could it be that the Gate disaster wasn’t something that happened by chance, but an invasion intentionally caused by someone?’
It seemed this wasn’t something to simply dismiss.
Nam Gyuil’s expression hardened.
It was indeed a problem worth worrying over in many ways, but he decided to think about it later.
‘Let’s focus on closing the Gate for now.’
Nam Gyuil looked at the cave. Without a doubt, the Necromancer would be inside.
‘Can I kill him while fighting all the zombies?’
Nam Gyuil shook his head.
‘If the zombies move systematically under the Necromancer’s orders, my odds of winning will become slim.’
He devised a strategy in his head.
Thanks to wearing armor, there was no risk of getting infected by a zombie in the first place.
‘Leave the zombies to my comrades and kill the Necromancer.’
That was the most efficient approach.
Nam Gyuil relayed the order to his comrades via hand signals.
He would enter the cave and kill the boss monster; the zombies were left to them.
Everyone nodded and waited for the charge signal.
Nam Gyuil gave the hand signal.
Thud, thud, thud.
The team members broke cover and charged.
Everyone led with shields and swords.
Shhk-!!
The blades of Team 01’s National Hunters split the zombies’ heads.
Han Gangsu’s performance stood out in particular.
“Tahaap!!”
He cut down the zombies, clearing a path into the cave.
Then he gestured with his eyes toward Nam Gyuil.
— Please go in quickly, Sergeant Nam.
Nam Gyuil smirked.
Han Gangsu had said he would follow orders well, and he truly spearheaded the operation.
It was commendable how he kept his word.
Nam Gyuil passed by Han Gangsu and entered the cave.
Worried there might be traps, he glanced around the interior, but it was cleaner and more spacious than expected.
Thud, thud, thud.
Just as the sound of his running footsteps echoed, he spotted a light in the distance.
Nam Gyuil stopped.
There was someone up ahead.
Someone wearing a black robe and holding a staff!!
Shhring.
Nam Gyuil drew the longsword strapped to his back.
The being before him was no disgusting zombie.
A black robe and a staff.
A snow-white beard.
No matter who looked, it was unmistakably a Necromancer.
‘My guess was right.’
Nam Gyuil narrowed his eyes.
A humanoid monster was unprecedented in Earth’s history.
If conversation was possible, the mystery of the Gates’ appearance might even be solved.
Nam Gyuil threw a question toward the Necromancer.
“It’s you, isn’t it? The boss monster of this place.”
“…….”
The Necromancer did not answer.
Whether he couldn’t speak or simply had a different language was unclear.
But one thing was certain.
The creature’s pupils glowed bluish as it emitted killing intent.
Fwoosh.
The Necromancer cast a spell.
A black fireball.
It was curse-type magic.
Nam Gyuil recognized the nature of that magic at a glance.
‘Flames that never go out.’
Cursed fire that burns eternally as long as the caster doesn’t die.
It was a troublesome dark magic to deal with.
‘If I’m hit even once, I’ll continuously suffer burns. And it’ll be hard to heal.’
So he had to be careful.
He must not get hit under any circumstances.
‘Necromancers are strong.’
Moreover, approaching while facing black flames wouldn’t be easy.
‘In the end, it’s a long-range battle, huh.’
Nam Gyuil took out the staff he had brought and glanced toward the cave entrance.
His comrades were too busy fighting zombies outside the cave to notice.
Even if he used magic, he wouldn’t be found out.
‘A magic duel, huh…’
This was his first time in such a fight, so tension and worry mixed within him.
It was a world where not only National Hunters but also Guild Hunters had failed to learn magic.
Magic combat was a first for Nam Gyuil as well.
Fwoosh.
The Necromancer shot black flames, and Nam Gyuil responded with a boulder.
Pitch-black flames and rock collided.
The outer surface of the rock, wrapped in black flames, fell to the ground.
The Necromancer’s eyes blazed with anger.
On the other hand, Nam Gyuil, having blocked the black flames, smirked.
‘I can definitely hold my own in a magic fight!’
The staff obtained from the Pharaoh had more than done its part.
This time, Nam Gyuil launched a counterattack.
He summoned and hurled a boulder.
The Necromancer hastily used Shield.
It was the most basic defensive spell a mage could use.
However, its thickness was very thin.
Smack!!
Shield and rock collided.
The Necromancer’s pale face contorted as wrinkles formed.
Crack!
Like a mirror breaking, the Shield shattered.
The rock flew straight ahead and struck the Necromancer’s shoulder.
“Keuk!”
The Necromancer tumbled backward.
A smile spread across Nam Gyuil’s face at having landed a solid blow.
He gained confidence in his magic.
He transmuted another boulder and prepared his next attack.
At that moment.
The Necromancer used dark magic.
Purple smoke billowed forth, and from within it, twenty Skeletons swarmed out.
Nam Gyuil felt puzzled.
‘Skeletons? What is he trying to do with such weaklings?’
There was no way he could turn the unfavorable tide like that.
Fwoosh.
The Necromancer showed a combination attack he hadn’t expected.
The Skeletons were wreathed in black flames.
“What?!”
Nam Gyuil’s eyes went wide.
Good heavens.
He hadn’t imagined it even in his wildest dreams.
Skeletons were moving bones.
Therefore, even if black flames clung to their bodies, they could move as long as their heads were intact.
This was bad.
If he allowed close combat like this, things would get troublesome.
The black flames burn forever as long as the caster doesn’t die.
If the Skeletons rushed in and the flames spread to him, he would practically have to consider it a defeat.
Nam Gyuil hurriedly used magic.
Boulders flew toward the Skeletons.
Smack!!
The Skeletons began to fall after being hit by the rocks.
But it wasn’t easy to hit all of them as they charged randomly.
Nam Gyuil took a deep breath.
The more dire the situation, the more he couldn’t panic.
Composure was crucial.
‘Calm down and utilize the knowledge I saw in the Akashic Records.’
Nam Gyuil calmly rummaged through his memories.
Knowledge that would be helpful.
Books related to monsters he had seen in the Akashic Records.
And magic.
In an instant, Nam Gyuil’s mind flashed.
‘If I blind the Necromancer for a moment, wouldn’t there be a chance to turn the tables?!’
Luckily, the cave was dim.
If he suddenly emitted a bright light like a flashbang, he could catch the Necromancer off guard.
‘Light-related magic is quite difficult, but I have the Pharaoh’s staff.’
The possibility was more than sufficient.
Nam Gyuil closed his eyes and cast a spell.
Intense light illuminating the pitch-black cave struck the Necromancer’s pupils.
“Kuaaack.”
The creature’s vision went completely white.
For a brief moment, he had cut off its sight.
Nam Gyuil opened his eyes.
The Skeletons were still approaching him, but the Necromancer was defenseless.
And if he killed the creature, both the zombies and skeletons would disappear entirely.
Whoosh.
Nam Gyuil created and fired a boulder.
He even used wind magic to accelerate the attack.
Smack.
The Necromancer’s head, struck by the attack, was flattened instantly.
“Keuk!!”
The Necromancer let out a final death scream as his neck snapped in a grotesque direction, cutting off his breath.
Thud.
The Necromancer’s body collapsed powerlessly.
The black flames clinging to the Skeletons’ torsos also vanished.
Click.
The Skeletons approaching Nam Gyuil made sounds of bones fitting together and flopped onto the floor, returning to ordinary corpses.
Nam Gyuil tucked the staff back into his waistband and walked over to the Necromancer’s side.
He examined the creature’s staff.
‘It’s a low-grade staff.’
It was an item two grades lower than what he possessed.
‘Still, I should take it for now.’
Nam Gyuil took the Necromancer’s low-grade staff.
And as he was about to move deeper into the cave to destroy the Core… he saw something sparkling from within the Necromancer’s chest.
‘What is it?’
Nam Gyuil discovered an amulet hanging from the creature’s neck.
“This is……”
Nam Gyuil touched the amulet.
It was an item he had seen when reading magic-related books in the Akashic Records.
‘An item that summons Kobolds.’
Nam Gyuil infused mana into the amulet.
“Summon.”
As soon as he spoke, sparks flew from the amulet and Kobolds appeared.
They were dwarves notable for their stubby legs and hooked noses.
Moreover, they possessed one interesting trait: they were extremely skilled at handling metal.
The Kobolds looked at Nam Gyuil.
Though they were monsters, when summoned in this manner, they only followed Nam Gyuil’s orders.
“Move to the right.”
As soon as Nam Gyuil gave the order, the Kobolds moved to the right.
He also tried giving other orders.
Sitting down and standing up.
Bending and stretching their arms.
Jumping in place.
They obeyed unconditionally no matter what he demanded.
“Dismiss.”
As Nam Gyuil spoke, the Kobolds disappeared along with a spark.
He looked at the amulet.
‘Oh, I’ve got free labor to push around? This’ll come in handy for making money later.’