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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: I Know Everything
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We didn't even need to go inside the wall.
Thud.
Thud.
Thump.
Before Duke Loper and the others could even speak to me, undead monsters were already pouring out from within the wall.
"Grrrr..."
"Kaaack!"
The ogre that had just charged at me, trolls smaller but more agile than the ogre, and even bearwolves with the bodies of bears and the heads of wolves—large monsters from the north were swarming out from beyond the wall.
"That black aura behind those monsters is..."
"They are creatures revived by a spell called Dark Resurrection. As expected, the culprit behind this incident seems to be a high-ranking black magician. At this level, it must be a Lich or something more powerful."
"So it is."
A mage standing next to Duke Loper was explaining the monsters to him.
"Grrrr."
"Kagggg."
"Kiaaak!"
The monsters' flesh was mercilessly torn, and from their backs, a black aura blazed like malevolent spirits.
"Kiaaak!"
"Gigigik."
Not only large monsters, but zombies, ghouls, and skeleton soldiers were also emerging. Judging by their numbers, it seemed they intended to wage an all-out war right here.
"Why aren't they attacking?"
"The caster has not yet given the command."
"Are they waiting for something?"
"In my opinion..."
The mage speaking with the Duke glanced at me. He seemed to want to say that the black magician was being cautious because of the abilities I possessed.
"Giving us time works in our favor. Everyone, prepare for battle!"
"All knights to the front! Spearmen, position yourselves directly behind the knights!"
"Priests, prepare the Net of Light! Mages, complete your incantations in advance!"
"Understood."
The Duke was a man who knew what needed to be done first. Rather than questioning me, he began issuing commands for the impending battle.
"Hmm..."
Looking at the number of monsters, it seemed that if we could just break through this point, we could retake the Northern Wall in one fell swoop.
In the original story, a monster called a Shabtra appears. A Shabtra is an undead monster with high intelligence that acts as a commander for the undead in place of the summoner, a very useful creature.
Thanks to it, even the protagonist had a tough time with its strategies. But this foolish Lich had spent his abundant time merely increasing the size and number of his monsters.
Even one Shabtra would have given us considerable trouble, but the monsters here were nothing more than mindless boneheads and muscle-bound pigs.
Although far more monsters had appeared than in the original story, it seemed they would be much easier to deal with.
"He's probably thinking this is just an experiment."
It was obvious what the mastermind behind this was thinking. He would be consoling his own stupidity by telling himself it was just a test for a new item he had acquired.
"Kraaaah!"
"Kieeeah!"
As proof, he was sending the monsters charging forward with no strategy whatsoever.
"Mages!"
"Fire Explosion!"
"Sun Flare!"
"Megalo Fireball!"
From the hands of the mages, who had already finished their incantations and were ready to cast, octagonal magic circles materialized.
BOOM!
CRASH!
The spheres of flame, blazing like miniature suns, passed through the Net of Light, becoming imbued with holy power, and blew the undead monsters to pieces.
"Kraaaah!"
"Kiaaak!"
"Mages, one more time! Knights, prepare for combat!"
Despite the deaths of their comrades, the undead, knowing no fear, continued their charge. After casting a second round of spells, the mages fell back, and the knights moved forward.
Smack!
Clang!
"Kiaaak!"
Monsters revived through Dark Resurrection follow the habits they had in life. In other words, their fighting style was not much different from when they were alive.
"Take the legs."
"Understood!"
"Arm has been severed."
The Duke's knights, as they had done every year, formed teams to deal with the large monsters. Thanks to Dark Resurrection, the monsters' speed and strength had increased, but the same was true for the blessed knights.
While the Duke's knights handled the large monsters, the supporting knight orders took care of the common undead.
Thwack!
"Kek!"
I moved through the battlefield, helping anyone who seemed to be in danger, focusing my attacks only on the ghouls.
"Kuaaaaaah!"
"It's a Double-Headed Ogre."
"Hah, to think even that monstrosity was taken down..."
A Double-Headed Ogre, as its name suggests, is an ogre with two heads. It is stronger, more agile, and more intelligent than a regular ogre, making it a difficult monster to hunt.
But this Double-Headed Ogre also had a sinister black aura trailing behind it.
"Kuaah!"
The Double-Headed Ogre didn't charge toward the main group of people, but straight at me, who was on the outskirts picking off ghouls.
"Right. You wouldn't like me."
Whether it was an order from the one watching through a crystal ball, or its own volition, the Double-Headed Ogre's eyes, burning with hostility, were fixed solely on me.
"Agnes."
Shhhk.
I transformed Agnes into a white metal bead, about the size of my thumbnail. It was the hidden weapon Baekgwanghwan, said to move like a ray of light.
Pang!
I floated the Baekgwanghwan on my middle finger and flicked it. It was Ilseomroe, a hidden weapon technique of the Sichuan Tang Clan, similar to the Shaolin's Finger Flicking Divine Skill.
Shwaaang!
Thwump!
The Baekgwanghwan flew toward the Double-Headed Ogre, leaving a white trajectory in its wake. Before the ogre could block it with the clubs in its hands, the Baekgwanghwan had already pierced through its abdomen.
"Kuaaak!"
The Baekgwanghwan was, of course, laced with Bone Melting Powder. The Double-Headed Ogre, with a hole in its stomach, collapsed to the ground, twitching.
"Kuak..."
Unable to even scream properly, the Double-Headed Ogre, once a tyrant of the north, melted away and disappeared.
If the Double-Headed Ogre hadn't been undead, I would have had to use various poisons and hidden weapons to take down such a tough creature, not just a single Baekgwanghwan.
"Thanks for turning it into an undead, really."
Feeling a sense of gratitude toward the Lich who had made the ogre undead, I looked around.
The common undead had all been defeated, and only one or two large monsters remained, thrashing about in their death throes.
Thinking it was time to move according to my plan, I went to find the Duke.
"Your Grace."
"Yuren! That was truly magnificent. Thanks to you, things are going so much more smoothly!"
The Duke placed both hands on my shoulders, a broad smile on his face.
"Are you planning to head to the Northern Wall now?"
"Yes. I think it's best to move while morale is high."
"In that case, may I move separately alongside you and scout the surroundings? I will eliminate any dangerous monsters I find along the way."
"You were just helping the soldiers and knights in danger from behind. I'm truly grateful."
"Not at all. I'm only doing what must be done."
"Alright. I'm counting on you."
At my humble response, a cool smile spread across Duke Loper's lips. I could see his favorability towards me rising with gusto.
"Yes. You can trust me."
After receiving the Duke's permission, I went to where our group was gathered.
"From now on, we will all advance together to break through the wall. You just need to follow the Duke."
"Sir Yuren, are you not coming with us?"
The commander of the Kiron Knights, who was maintaining his sword, asked.
"No. I plan to move separately and eliminate any dangerous monsters."
"That is certainly a task only you are capable of, Sir Yuren."
"Commander Kiron, Commander Karox. Please take good care of the knights and soldiers."
"Understood. Please be careful."
"Good luck, Grand Prince."
After hearing Kiron's sincere farewell and Karox's empty one, I went to Arin.
"Arin, keep a close eye on Karox and make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
"My lord. Can't I go with you?"
"You're the only one I can trust here. It's because you're staying that I can move alone. Please take care of the others."
"I understand."
Arin seemed to want to come along, but my words about trusting her must have resonated, as she nodded her head.
**
Inside a gloomy cave, bones with bits of flesh still clinging to them, as if they had been gnawed on, were stacked in a balanced pile.
Woooong.
On top of the bones, which were arranged like a table, sat a crystal ball the size of a human head. Reflected within the sphere were countless soldiers and knights.
"What... what is this crazy bastard!"
In front of the crystal ball sat a figure in a purple robe. His right hand, which was touching the ball, was made of nothing but pure white bone.
"A Dullahan killed by a dagger? What kind of bullshit is this..."
The culprit of the undead incident, the Lich Pomera, nearly fainted when he saw a man kill a Dullahan with a single dagger in the crystal ball.
"I need to see just what kind of ability that is."
Pomera tried to resummon the Dullahan that Yuren had killed, but he felt no response at all.
"The contract has been erased?"
The Dullahan was a high-level undead monster. A contract was necessary to summon it, but the contract he had made with the Dullahan had vanished.
"Did the Dullahan's soul disappear? What in the world is that dagger!"
To observe the human who threw the dagger, Pomera sent his monsters charging at the humans. Ghouls, skeleton soldiers, undead ogres, and even the Double-Headed Ogre—all of his undead monsters vanished before that one dagger.
"What the hell is that guy!"
Watching the man's exploits, Pomera was certain. That human possessed a dangerous ability that could even obliterate the soul of an undead in a single strike.
"I must not meet that man..."
As a Lich, Pomera could be resurrected at any time as long as his soul phylactery was safe. But if he were hit by that man's dagger, even he couldn't predict what would happen.
"This is different from the plan, but it can't be helped. This is just an experiment, after all."
Pomera had intended to toy with the humans until the very end before disappearing, but he thought that encountering the man with the dagger was far too risky. He gathered his necessary items and touched a magic circle drawn on the wall.
Vweeeeng.
The magic circle rotated 180 degrees, and in an instant, it teleported Pomera to another location.
"I wanted to see the look on the humans' faces..."
The place Pomera had teleported to was a hideout on the opposite side of the dungeon he had just been in.
His favorite saying was 'it's darkest under the lamp,' so he had built and hidden his own sanctuary behind the dungeon meant to draw attention.
"I should just watch how they move and then leave."
Feeling more relaxed, Pomera once again observed the humans' movements through the crystal ball, but suddenly, the man with the dagger was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did that monster go?"
No matter how much he maneuvered the invisible dragonfly he was using for observation, the human who had flustered him was nowhere to be found.
"What in the..."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"An intruder?"
The alarm magic he had placed at the entrance of his hideout was going off.
"N-no way!"
The entrance to this hideout was protected by his illusion magic. Pomera, who was more confident in his illusion magic than anything else, was so shocked he could have fainted.
"Why is that monster here!"
Pomera quickly turned the crystal ball to get a look at the intruder. The one entering this place was the same crazy bastard with the dagger who had terrified him.
"How did he..."
Pomera looked around, not knowing what to do.
"What's important right now isn't how he found this place..."
He could deal with other things, but his lifeline was here. It seemed impossible to grab his lifeline and leave before that man arrived.
"Fighting is the worst option. Dammit, I have no choice..."
As Pomera began to chant, his bones crumbled like sand, and his robe fell to the ground.
"Hmph, to be reduced to this."
The method Pomera chose was to pretend he had already left. He abandoned his skeletal body and transformed himself into a spirit form.
It was a special method only a Lich, who could be resurrected at any time as long as his soul phylactery was intact, could use.
Thump.
Not even a few seconds after Pomera turned into a spirit, the man entered.
"Ha."
The man saw the purple robe on the ground and the crystal ball on top of it and let out a smirk.
'What is he doing? D-don't tell me he saw me?'
Pomera felt that when the man looked around, he had glanced at him for a brief moment.
"Wow, I can see it with my eyes and feel it with my inner energy. This is great."
The man muttered to himself, then extended his hand toward the rocky wall in the right corner.
"Gah!"
Pomera was so startled by the scene that he let out a sound without realizing it.
The illusion magic cast on that wall was a level higher than the one on the outside. Even a great archmage would have difficulty seeing through it at a glance.
"Hmph."
Rumble.
The man smirked at Pomera's gasp, then put his hand through the illusion-covered wall and pressed a button. The sound of a mechanism activating was heard as the wall began to open.
"H-how did you know about that place!"
"I can just see it."
"Krrgh!"
Rumble.
Pomera hastily tried to regenerate his body, but before he could, three objects emerged from the wall.
Thud.
A book with a cover made of human skin, a sphere shimmering with darkness, and finally, a pure white sphere.
The man, Yuren, who was sneering at Pomera, snatched the pure white sphere among them, then looked at the re-forming Pomera and grinned.
"For an orb containing your rotten soul, its color is quite beautiful."