Swordmaster of the Graveyard
Episode 6
Chapter 2: The First Hidden Piece (3)
The cruel stench of death emanating from the undead eroded the surroundings.
The skeleton soldiers drew their weapons, glowing with an eerie green phosphorescence. Most of them were armed with iron weapons seized from the Radek Vice-Baron’s estate.
“Wh-what!”
“Undead!”
“What class is he!”
The Ronin Guild members were bewildered.
The undead legion appearing from the subspace was enough to instill terror in them. Even in the Otherworld, undead were a rare species that appeared only in certain regions.
Those who merely played around at the starting area had never had a chance to encounter the undead.
“I told you I would kill you.”
Jinhyeok’s voice echoed chillingly through the air. He felt extreme fury at the waste of precious time.
“Uaaaah!”
The dead overwhelmed the living by their very existence.
While everyone was at a loss, Sebastian, who had regained his composure first, shouted at the guild members. He was an officer for a reason.
“Don’t panic! These bastards are just monsters! We can kill them!”
However, there was no conviction in his voice.
“Mages, provide supporting attacks!”
“Yes!”
The only female guild member, who appeared to be a mage, swung her staff. Five fireballs that appeared in the air rushed toward the skeleton soldiers.
The skeleton mages summoned by Jinhyeok did not stand idle either. They summoned and fired ominous green orbs of mana.
The two spells collided mid-air and exploded. The spectacle resembled a magnificent fireworks display.
At the same time as the explosion, Seokgyu plunged toward one of the Ronin Guild members.
“Karsen!”
The Slaughter Spirit possessed him. As he swung the Black Moon Sword, the Ronin Guild member failed to counterattack in time and was bisected along with his armor.
“Kuaaack!”
With his scream as the starting point, the real battle began.
The battle seemed to descend into chaos, but as time passed, the undead army, which had formed a solid defensive formation, gradually pressured the Ronin Guild members.
Though they had one mage, with two skeleton mages opposing her, she could not unleash any significant offensive magic. No, even when she did, it was neutralized every time.
‘Still not enough.’
Jinhyeok, who was observing the situation, thought. While the undead currently appeared to have the upper hand, he worried that they might be pushed back if things went wrong, since they could not yet perform complex maneuvers.
The fact that they were only evenly matched despite the considerable numerical difference lent weight to his concern.
‘What if one more mage joined?’
A Necromancer could sometimes wield excellent offensive magic.
“I will join the magical battle. Cover me.”
“Understood.”
Having heard Seokgyu’s answer, Jinhyeok opened the Book of Death. Several offensive spells were visible. Among them, one stood out.
‘Bone Spear would be good.’
Jinhyeok raised the corner of his mouth and opened the Book of Death.
His proficiency was not yet high, so he could only create one, but it was enough to exploit an opening.
The sword-wielding Ronin Guild members were busy fighting the skeleton soldiers. The female mage was preoccupied with her magical battle against the skeleton mages.
Jinhyeok aimed the Bone Spear at her, but she still failed to notice. Even though it was but a single Bone Spear, it would be fatal if it struck her while she was defenseless.
The moment the female mage threw a fireball at a skeleton mage, Jinhyeok captured the opening.
The Bone Spear, floating in the air imbued with an ominous aura of death, flew and pierced the female mage’s chest.
“Ack!”
The Bone Spear punctured the female mage’s heart in a single strike. Overcome by sudden pain, she collapsed without even letting out a proper scream.
Red blood soaked the cold ground, and the female mage’s breathing ceased.
One of the Ronin Guild members called out the dead female mage’s name and rushed toward her.
But there was nothing he could do.
Under the relentless assault of the undead legion, he could not even retrieve her corpse and was forced to retreat.
Even though Jinhyeok did not particularly command them, and Seokgyu did not actively participate in battle, the Ronin Guild members fell one by one to the blades of the undead legion.
They would not have deployed high-level combatants for simple hunting ground management. If they had faced the main force of the Ronin Guild, it would have been a significantly difficult fight.
“Damn it! Fight properly! Maintain formation!”
Sebastian shouted commands in frustration, but only two could hear his words. The rest were growing cold on the frozen ground, bleeding red blood.
Sebastian was a skilled swordsman befitting his position as an officer, so he had managed to hold out until now, but the other Ronin Guild members were far too weak.
He had smashed several skeleton soldiers, but Jinhyeok repaired them using mana.
“Everyone is dead! There’s only us left!”
“Mr. Sebastian! We have to run! There’s no end to them!”
The two surviving Ronin Guild members shouted with pale faces. The wave of undead was endless. They were growing exhausted from the continuous battle.
“There’s nowhere to run! You fools!”
Sebastian shouted, swinging his sword. Jinhyeok’s undead had already surrounded Sebastian and the surviving Ronin Guild members.
“Keuack!”
With the female mage dead, a skeleton mage that now had room to spare cast Bone Spear, and one of the Ronin Guild members let out a scream as he collapsed.
The other one lost his life as well, pierced by a skeleton soldier’s spear.
“Damn it!”
Sebastian spat out a curse and stepped back. Of the eleven Ronin Guild members, only he, the guild officer, remained alive.
However, he was not unharmed. His armor was severely damaged, and he was bleeding red blood from all over his body.
The two skeleton mages glowed with green phosphorescence as they prepared their magic, and the skeleton soldiers surrounded Sebastian in a circle, weapons aimed at him.
At Jinhyeok’s command, they would deliver death immediately.
“W-wait! Please wait a moment!”
Having sensed the situation he was in, Sebastian changed his attitude. He had judged that further resistance was meaningless. However, he did not discard his sword until the very end.
“I-I was wrong. Please, just spare my life…! I’ll do anything!”
Sebastian fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground.
The Otherworld is not a game world.
You have only one life.
As the situation turned unfavorable, Sebastian’s initial arrogance disappeared and he showed a servile appearance. But Jinhyeok’s gaze upon him was cold.
No matter how desperately Sebastian pleaded, Jinhyeok had no intention of sparing him.
One of the things he had realized while living under the name of the Sword Demon in the Otherworld was that an enemy who begged for his life had to be killed.
Right now, he bowed his head out of a desperate desire to live, but if he survived, this memory would become a seed of hatred and vengeance.
“What should we do?”
Seokgyu gauged Jinhyeok’s mood. He seemed to have softened at the sight of Sebastian begging for his life.
Jinhyeok sheathed the White Sun Sword. Hope appeared on Sebastian’s face at that sight.
Seokgyu also thought that Jinhyeok intended to forgive Sebastian. The moment he was about to sheathe the Black Moon Sword, Jinhyeok opened his mouth.
“Ji Seokgyu, kill him.”
Sebastian’s face turned deathly pale. Seokgyu, on the other hand, looked as though he could not understand.
“Weren’t you going to spare him?”
“In the Otherworld, mercy is a luxury. Kill him quickly.”
“But…! He doesn’t seem to have any will to fight….”
Seokgyu clearly showed signs of hesitation. He had not yet been fully dyed in the colors of the Otherworld. He was not accustomed to the ways of surviving in this cruel world.
“Sigh, listen well.”
While the skeleton soldiers maintained their encirclement, Jinhyeok began to explain.
“If we spare him now, do you think he’ll say ‘Oh, thank you’ and consider us his saviors?”
Seokgyu had no answer. Jinhyeok opened his mouth to finish his explanation.
“On the contrary. He’ll remember us as enemies who tried to kill him, and someday he’ll seek revenge.”
Seokgyu still had no answer. He understood to some extent in his head, but he still could not fully accept it.
“Kill him quickly.”
At Jinhyeok’s urging, Seokgyu nodded. And he moved his steps toward Sebastian. The skeleton soldiers stepped aside.
‘Get used to killing people, Ji Seokgyu.’
Watching Seokgyu’s retreating figure as he walked with heavy steps, Jinhyeok thought.
Seokgyu’s swordsmanship was growing at a rapid pace, but he was still not accustomed to killing people.
During the battle with the vampire, he had fought aggressively because being a monster served as an indulgence, but moments ago, there had been several chances to step forward aggressively, yet he had shown a passive attitude.
To get accustomed to the Otherworld, there were times when hard-line measures had to be used.
“Huu!”
Although the skeleton soldiers were still around, Sebastian, who thought it was a one-on-one duel, hardened his gaze.
He used the sword he had been holding as a cane to stand up and took his stance.
‘He’s just a beginner anyway. Even in this condition, there’s a chance I can win.’
He was an officer of a guild. Even if there was no chance of winning, he had no intention of giving up his life easily.
But in Seokgyu’s eyes, Sebastian looked like a candle in the wind.
Standing before Sebastian, Seokgyu was lost in various thoughts, but Jinhyeok’s words were not wrong either.
“Karsen!”
Seokgyu summoned the Slaughter Spirit into the Black Moon Sword. He held the Black Moon Sword imbued with the Slaughter Spirit and charged at Sebastian.
Sebastian tried to raise his sword to block, but the skeleton soldiers bound his arms.
He became like a prisoner awaiting execution.
“Y-you cowardly—!”
“I never said it was a one-on-one duel.”
Jinhyeok coldly replied to Sebastian’s cry.
Stab.
The Black Moon Sword imbued with the Slaughter Spirit Karsen pierced Sebastian’s chest.
“Kuhack!”
Sebastian felt the pain and his vision blurring at the same time. And before long, he collapsed.
Seokgyu’s hand trembled slightly as he dispelled the summoning of the Slaughter Spirit and sheathed the Black Moon Sword. Jinhyeok passed by Seokgyu’s side and silently patted his shoulder in encouragement.
“Rest.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
While Seokgyu sat on a rock to collect his thoughts, Jinhyeok began to clean up.
“Raise Dead.”
He used the spell Raise Dead to raise the eleven corpses. Then he opened the subspace.
“Enter.”
At Jinhyeok’s quiet command, the eleven temporarily revived corpses slowly walked into the subspace.
Jinhyeok sent even the undead that had been guarding the surroundings back into the subspace, then returned to Lawrence with Seokgyu.
Even on the way to Lawrence, Seokgyu’s expression was not bright.
Having returned to Lawrence, Jinhyeok discreetly disposed of some of the items the Ronin Guild members had been equipped with.
After disposing of the items, the money he had gained was 5 gold. Combined with the gold plundered from the Radek Vice-Baron’s estate, it was 25 gold.
It was by no means a small amount. While 25 gold would be difficult in Lawrence, one could buy a decent house in a small village.
“Master, what’s the next plan?”
Jinhyeok looked up at the sky. The sky was dyed black, and a white moon illuminated the ground in place of the sun.
“It’s late enough for today, so let’s rest at a nearby inn.”
“I was tired, so that’s good.”
Seokgyu’s face brightened.
The two moved their feet to find an inn. They went out onto the street, and after walking for a while, they found a decent inn and entered.
“Welcome.”
The innkeeper, who had a kindly impression, welcomed them.
“Do you have a double room?”
“We have a room for 15 silver and one for 12 silver.”
“We’ll take the room for 15 silver.”
Since there was only a difference of 3 silver, and they were tired from continuous battles, they took the slightly better room.
“Please go to room 204.”
The innkeeper handed over the key. Jinhyeok went up the stairs first, and Seokgyu followed.
The two entered the room and threw themselves onto the beds in light clothing.
Seokgyu seemed considerably tired in many ways and fell asleep in an instant, while Jinhyeok surveyed the surrounding mana reactions.
‘There’s a mage in the next room. I should avoid opening the subspace.’
Jinhyeok frowned. The moment the subspace opened, death mana would flow out, so the mage in the next room would notice.
In the worst case, he might think it was an ambush and launch a preemptive attack, so it was best to be careful.
He had been told by Necromancer Ji Seokgyu to check the Book of Death once every day, but even that was impossible now.
‘Opening the subspace for the first time will be quite difficult due to the attention around you. Death mana is an unwelcome existence. It’s easy to be mistaken for an attack. That’s why a base is necessary.’
Jinhyeok complained inwardly as he lay on the bed.
He had done many things that his past self had not done. Because of this, the future would surely change. But what was already past could not be undone.
While continuing to think about his future plans, Ji Seokgyu’s advice suddenly came to Jinhyeok’s mind.
‘I recommend becoming the grave keeper in the slums of Lawrence. You can secure both a base and corpses at the same time. And you will remember. Arthur Lawrence, the eldest son of Count Lorenzia’s family, is ambushed at the graveyard while patrolling the slums. And at that time, I was there.’
It was the incident that triggered the Lawrence Civil War in which Necromancer Ji Seokgyu played an active part.
‘You, too, must be there.’