The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns

Chapter 37

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Chapter 37

"It looks like it's moving?"

Before long, the Death Knight's ominous eyes flickered, and it quickly sheathed its sword before dashing off somewhere.

As I attempted to wrest control over it, I realized once again how my current level—5th Circle—was subtly holding me back.

I hurriedly chased after the creature.

Being an undead, it never tires.

The Death Knight maneuvered through the complex dungeon as if it knew the path by heart.

Of course, perhaps because of its absurd speed—

“Huff… Huff… Huff!”

Farell, who was following behind, was completely exhausted and gasping for air.

“Brother… Just… Just a moment…”

As I slowed my pace, he barely managed to catch up, his vision spinning wildly as he staggered.

“That thing… It won’t stop! And we’re just frail mages… trying to keep up with a Death Knight—”

Mid-sentence, he suddenly seemed to realize something and turned to look directly at me.

“Wait a minute, Brother. Why are you completely fine?”

Currently, my physical abilities were so enhanced that even a Sword Master wouldn’t be able to do much against me.

That meant this guy couldn't keep up, but I had no problem at all.

If I matched my pace to Farell’s, I would be too slow.

Letting that thing go would undoubtedly lead to trouble.

The highest necromantic magic I could wield was at the 5th Circle.

Fortunately, this particular Death Knight was at the peak of the Expert level—something I could still manage.

If I couldn’t catch up to it, the best course of action was to make sure it couldn’t escape.

Necrotic mana began pouring out around me.

“Gasp?!”

Farell flinched beside me, and even the Death Knight ahead of us momentarily stopped in its tracks and turned to look at me.

A mere 5th Circle spellcaster had only a narrow, weak gateway to necrotic power.

However, the amount of necrotic mana flooding through that small gateway was endless.

And the dominance embedded within it affected the undead in a completely different way.

“Huh? The Death Knight is…”

Step by step, it backed away from me.

As the swirling necrotic mana spread out like a thick, dark mist, the creature began to tremble.

And then—

Boom!

As if fleeing from a predator, it suddenly bolted at full speed.

A runaway slave!

The other undead I had obtained so far were disposable, mere sustenance for Muyeong.

But this one was different.

Like prey running from a hunter, it fled with all its might, and I slammed my foot into the ground, launching forward.

The sheer force left a deep indentation in the ground as I pursued at a completely different speed than before.

* * *

The extermination force moved swiftly and efficiently, storming the necromancers’ hideout.

The necromancers were caught off guard when their robust defenses suddenly collapsed without a sound—and even more so when those very barriers turned against them, preventing their escape.

“Damn it!! What’s going on?!”

“The door… The door won’t open! Aaaah!!”

“Why are the damn traps activating?! Ugh!!”

Screams of necromancers filled the air.

They had no idea that the security systems they had set up had been hijacked and repurposed against them.

It was the fate of those who valued secrecy over security.

Dozens of necromancers within the hideout were slaughtered in no time.

In the end, the only one left was the aging necromancer who had orchestrated this operation—Balha, a 5th Circle necromancer.

“Lord Balha…”

“Damn it. With our forces as they are, we can’t possibly stand against a 5th Circle mage and a Sword Master. Open the blocked exit! Quickly!!”

His disheveled beard remained untended as he shouted in frustration.

They had anticipated an attack from the kingdom’s forces.

But they never expected them to breach their defenses this quickly.

The seventh layer of security—the only way into their sanctuary—was protected by powerful enchantments bestowed upon them by their master’s artifact.

Yet, while the magic remained intact, the enemy had still entered.

“Is there a traitor among us?”

“Or is there a flaw in the spell…?”

“Disaster!! The kingdom’s forces have reached the chamber of the final sacrifice— Gahhh!!”

Boom!

The iron doors burst open, and a squad of knights and mages stormed in.

A necromancer collapsed, spewing blood, as the invaders pushed forward.

Leading them was none other than the Duchy of Bata’s sole Sword Master—Duke Berli.

“Hear me, terrorists who conspired to assassinate His Majesty. Today, you will not escape. Surrender now, and at least you won’t have to scream.”

His words, laced with mockery, carried a clear message—there would be no mercy.

“Duke Berli…”

Balha grit his teeth as he watched the forces surround him.

“How… How did they break through the barrier?”

He desperately tried to think of a way to stall for time, but Duke Berli simply drew his sword and took a step forward.

“Wait!! Goldsun! You’re searching for Goldsun Vider, aren’t you?! If you do this, you won’t be able to find him!”

“There will be no negotiations with terrorists who attempted to assassinate the King. Kill them all. I will handle him myself.”

Only one prisoner needed to survive.

Duke Berli’s decisive command made Balha grit his teeth before shouting in desperation.

“Damn it!! Activate the final sacrifice! Dark Swarm!”

With that, he summoned every last undead under his control, unleashing a massive black mist.

Slice!

But despite Balha’s efforts, Duke Berli’s power was beyond imagination.

“Guhah!! Aaaagh!!”

In an instant, both of Balha’s arms were severed, and he collapsed pitifully to the ground.

Meanwhile, the knights and mages quickly disposed of the remaining undead and executed the necromancers.

The eradication team’s mission had been accomplished.

Goldsun Vider’s whereabouts were still being tracked by the pursuit team, but it was only a matter of time before they found him.

The speed of their assault had been the key to their success.

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Not only had they seized control of the enemy’s magic in an instant, but they had also cut off all routes of escape.

It was all thanks to Leon.

—To be honest, the way he manipulates magic is entirely different from what we know of necromancy. It’s as if… the fundamental truths he understands are completely different from ours.

And he hadn’t even used that much power.

Yet, he eroded magic in a way that ordinary necromancers could not comprehend, stripping everything away.

“Ugh… Gah!!”

He let out a painful groan, pinned underfoot as the man aimed his sword at him.

To think that the king was nearly assassinated by the likes of these men.

Frankly, considering the level of the mages here, it was doubtful whether they could even use the curse-bound servitors, let alone the protective magic of this place.

That meant there had to be someone behind them.

That was something he could find out once he took this one in for questioning.

“We have successfully eliminated all targets.”

A knight slowly approached, preparing to bind the subdued man on the ground.

Watching the scene unfold, Duke Berli felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

Then, it happened.

Wuuuuuung!! Wuuung!!

The surrounding space began to resonate.

A chilling unease struck his mind like a lightning bolt, and before he could even process it, Duke Berli instinctively unleashed his aura to its maximum, scattering it in all directions.

BOOOOOOM!!!!

The overwhelming shock sent his mind reeling for a moment, making him stagger.

What just happened to him?

Through his hazy vision, the first thing he noticed was the black mist blanketing the area.

Assessing his condition quickly, the duke could not help but be shocked.

His aura had been completely nullified and dispersed in an instant.

It wasn’t completely drained, but the amount consumed was far too great to have vanished so suddenly.

In other words, had he been even a fraction slower to react, he—and everyone else in the vicinity—would have been killed instantly.

Whatever that spell was, it was by no means trivial.

Necromantic magic?

He had never heard of necromantic magic like this before.

No—was it even possible for necromantic magic to break through the natural defenses of a Sword Master, a being considered a strategic weapon?

Using his sword as a support, he steadied himself and surveyed the area.

The entire subjugation force had already collapsed, unconscious.

Clatter… Clatter. Srrrrrk!

Squelch… Squelch…

Then, from the opposite corridor of the hideout, two sets of footsteps approached.

Duke Berli’s eyes widened at the sight emerging from the darkness.

Glowing, icy-blue eyes.

Jet-black bones.

A black robe.

At a glance, it seemed to be just a mere mage skeleton.

But his instincts screamed otherwise—this was no ordinary undead.

Black bones.

To his knowledge, only one kind of being possessed such blackened bones.

A lich.

An Archmage who had forsaken their own lifespan in pursuit of magic, breaking the ultimate taboo—a being of at least the 6th Circle.

In its grasp was a man, drenched in blood and unconscious, being dragged along.

‘Marquis Vider…’

The figure was none other than Marquis Vider, the Royal Mage, who had been tracking down his missing son.

A battle against a lich, a high-ranking mage—no matter how powerful the Royal Mage was, he stood no chance.

And then, when the second set of footsteps revealed its owner, Duke Berli nearly dropped his sword.

-Kill… me…

The figure was a grotesque, monstrous lump of flesh.

It looked as if an oversized human body had been grotesquely inflated and stitched together from various pieces.

Its head was covered with dozens of small human faces.

And in the center of them was a face that even Duke Berli recognized.

Goldsun Vider.

The very person whom Marquis Vider had been desperately searching for since the noble house was attacked and he was abducted.

His hollow eye sockets wept endless streams of blackened tears as he begged for death.

“Oh ho… Quite the well-crafted trap, and yet you survived. Impressive.”

The chilling voice dripped with amusement.

“You must be a Sword Master… You would make a fine second-in-command Death Knight.”

As the eerie voice filled the air, Duke Berli gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand, pointing his sword at the lich.

“You… What are you?”

“My, my. Quite bold, aren’t you? Even for a Sword Master, you’ve only just barely stepped past the threshold. And yet, you don’t tremble in fear?”

The lich’s eyes gleamed ominously as it leisurely approached, as if Duke Berli posed no threat at all.

“Well, since you destroyed my offering, I suppose I have no choice but to claim you as a replacement.”

With those words, the lich gestured into the air.

Black mist stretched out, coiling around the body of the fallen necromancer, Bala.

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