Chapter 158

<-- Necromancer -->

158 – Necromancer #1

“Iprite…”

Elpride, gripping a short staff, began to chant a spell.

Then a football-sized ball of fire appeared in front of her face, and soon it swiftly darted towards the huddled thieves.

It was Elpride’s specialty in offensive magic, the third-tier Fireball.

Whoosh, Bang!

“Ma, there’s a mage! A fire-using mage! She’s casting spells without a long chant!”

“sh*t! This was supposed to be a secret spot! How did she find out?”

The thieves narrowly avoided the fireball and scattered, shouting.

“Boss! What should we do?”

Some of them were even looking to me for advice. At that moment, Delphina, who had drawn her needle-like, long sword, swiftly accelerated towards me.

“So you’re the boss! Lately, I’ve been encountering a lot of big-headed guys with swords!”

Whiiii!

The sharp tip of the sword tore through the air and flew towards my neck at an alarming speed.

There was no hesitation in her action—she was truly a naturally gifted killer worthy of the Silver Tier.

“sh*t!”

I barely managed to dodge her attack by bending down.

Shweeek!

Delphina’s sword blade, whooshing past my head, left a faint heat on my hair. If I were to be pierced by such a sword strike, it’s certain I wouldn’t even have time to scream.

“Hmm? Dodged my quick slash? Not bad, thief boss!”

Sssh, Sshh.

Delphina kept lunging at me with her sword.

“Don’t play around, Delphina. I want to finish this quickly and rest. – Fairy Lantern -.”

And Elpride, setting fires here and there.

“Then, it’s my turn to chant a spell.”

A strange incantation began from the blue-robed female nun.

Finally, there was the silent female Fighter engaging in fierce combat with the thieves.

I didn’t know what exactly was happening, but it was clearly a life-or-d*ath situation.

If I got captured by these people, I would likely be apprehended as the boss of the Thief Guild with no way out.

And would an excuse like ‘this was part of an undercover investigation’ even work? No, in this world where laws are poorly enforced, there would be no consideration for my side.

“Disperse! Disperse as per the command! The Thief Guild Hydra will now be completely disbanded as of today!”

At that moment, Big Joe, who was engaging the fighter, shouted loudly. The thieves scattered.

“Run!”

“But my barrier spell…?!”

“Once my enhanced Silence Totem is set up, barriers mean nothing!”

Luna’s Silence Totem, which had been upgraded with Onyx in the recent renovations, became a truly excellent tool resembling a goblin’s club.

Indeed, once placed, it could immobilize anything.

“… Now! Escape!”

The thieves quickly fled through the broken barrier.

“d*mn it, they’re all escaping! I must catch at least one of them!”

Delphina continued to lunge at me with her sword. Though I was narrowly dodging her attacks, it was clear that with this continuation, the probability of getting stabbed in the heart and dying was quite high.

Swish.

Her sword pierced through a pillar like a b*llet. It was easy to imagine what it would do to my soft body.

d*mn, so this is what “life-and-d*ath situation” truly means.

At that very moment, I was considering confessing that I was Hassan.

Keeaaak!

Something sharp flew from somewhere and collided with Delphina. She stopped attacking me and raised her sword to block it.

“Ugh! What is this!?”

Clang, Clang!

The sharp sound of metal clashing was heard, followed by the sound of something exploding on the ground with a ‘Boom’.

“d*mn… It’s a sword technique!”

Delphina stared in disbelief at what had flown towards her. Then, through the flames, Hipolyte appeared, clad in a red cape fluttering from her armored body.

The golden necklace around her neck gleamed brightly against the fire.

“Cutting in line is forbidden. The Thief Guild is mine. You country bumpkins from Kolkata.”

Hipolyte, smirking confidently, was followed by Paranoi, who shouted bravely from behind her.

“Terrifying Gold Tier adventurer! I feel safer having you on our side…! I, I’ll support from here…!”

At this, Delphina growled in frustration.

“Elpi! Do something about that guy! Here of all places!”

“Cutting in line?! We were heading here right after being thrown…!”

“Iprite!”

While Delphina and Hipolyte argued, Elpride began her short incantation, and soon a large fireball formed near her face and shot towards Hipolyte.

Whoosh!

Surely getting hit by this would cause one’s body water to evaporate instantly.

“Using a short incantation to produce such high-level fire magic. Impressive.”

However, Hipolyte simply split the incoming fireball with her sword as if cutting a watermelon.

Whoosh, Whoosh, Bang! Bang!

The accurately bisected fireballs bounced to Hipolyte’s left and right, exploding in great bursts and heating the surrounding area even more intensely.

Flames burning everywhere, people screaming all around—it was truly hellish.

“d*mn…”

Elpride cursed lightly and began preparing another incantation. Hipolyte spoke to her.

“Quite a strong mage you are. But you should stop. Fire mages cannot defeat me. They only make my bl**d boil hotter.”

Then the previously silent Chinese dress-wearing fighter charged forward.

Pa-bam!

Clean right and left jabs.

Hipolyte dodged them effortlessly in fluid motions and responded.

“Fist combat, huh? Fine, I’ll counter with the same.”

Hipolyte sheathed her sword and faced the fighter hand-to-hand. The silent moment was broken as the fighter’s swift roundhouse kick came flying.

“Sharp. Good form.”

Avoiding the incoming kick aimed at her face by merely tilting her head back, Hipolyte grinned, showing her sharp canine teeth.

“Dodge.”

As Hipolyte extended her right hand forward, a fast straight punch was unleashed. It was as if the punch was genuinely launched.

“…!”

It was so fast that the Silver Tier fighter likely thought it was impossible to dodge and raised her hands in a guard position to protect her face.

Pa-poom! Tan, Teng, Boom!

Even though the fighter guarded herself, she was sent flying back after bouncing off the ground and slammed into the wall, falling unconscious.

“Next time, just dodge as I told you.”

“Hack…!”

“Ri, Ri! Cast a healing spell for me!”

Seeing the fighter spitting bl**d, the blue-robed priestess hurriedly shouted.

However, before she could act, Hipolyte stomped the ground and swiftly approached, striking the priestess’s neck with a blade-like hand.

Pfft.

“—”

The priestess didn’t even have time to scream. Her eyes rolled back, and she foamed at the mouth, collapsing.

“Edwin!”

Seeing this, Delphina turned away from me and prepared to charge at Hipolyte.

“d*mn it, I never expected you’d be this strong! There should be no such gap between us Silvers and Golds!”

At this, Hipolyte laughed leisurely amid the flames.

“Are you not underestimating the word ‘hero’ too much? You can’t even defeat someone as stupid as Actaeon.”

“d*mn—!”

I was also shocked.

Hipolyte is ridiculously strong.

I’ve been underestimating the word hero too.

So this is the level of a Gold Tier adventurer.

My goal seems to be getting further away somehow.

Still, she seems much stronger in the day. There must be some reason, as she doesn’t appear to be affected by level reduction.

Fortunately, interest in me decreased. I quickly grabbed my cherished bat called ‘Fear Smasher’ from the ground.

But at that moment, a sensation like a bee sting tingled at my neck.

Turning my head, I saw Luna in the distance, swinging a large mace at fleeing thieves.

“Thief-catching voodoo—!!”

“What’s she saying?! Someone drive her off!”

“Be quiet!”

Though wearing a bone helmet, I could tell her condition wasn’t normal.

Probably because of the fire, Luna’s inherent madness was triggered.

“Hassan, Hassan! Where are you, you bad thieves!”

Whoosh, Whoosh—!

Continuously swinging her huge mace left and right. Just as one of the thief guild leaders was about to get hit by her terrifying attack,

“Huh, someone help me up!”

“Heehee! Silence Voodoo—!”

Whoosh, Thud.

At that exact moment when Luna raised her large mace, a flying stone from nowhere hit the back of her helmeted head.

“Oof!”

“Run now!”

It was another leader of the thief guild who hadn’t fled yet. Trying to save his comrade, he threw a stone at the back of Luna’s head.

“Hhhee…”

Upon being hit, Luna fell to the ground, trembling.

“Hheeuu…”

Seeing Luna seemingly unconscious was troubling. Pushing aside various complicated thoughts, I decided to check for signs of concussion by slapping her cheeks.

To me, Luna’s health and safety are the most important.

“Luna! Luna! Get up! Pull yourself together! Luna, wake up! Don’t pass out here!”

But no matter how much I shook her, there were no signs of Luna waking up. She must have fainted from an unexpected attack.

Should I check her pulse? Maybe give her a massage to wake her up? That’s when—

Ssshhh.

A cold wind blew and extinguished the flames burning all around.

The chilly sensation made my bl**d run cold, sending shivers down my spine and bristling my hair.

“The fire’s out?”

The first to react was Hipolyte, who had been battling Delphina. Looking at the dying flames around, she clicked her tongue.

“Tch.”

The second to notice was Elpride, who had been tending to her unconscious comrades.

“My eternal flames… they’re going out?”

Elpride couldn’t believe her flames were being extinguished.

After all, normally there was almost no way to put them out. I know that better than anyone.

That’s why Elpride’s magic had always been so frightening.

But even her flames are gradually losing their strength and dimming.

Not only that—this large, dark space is filled with an eerie chill, and the air is growing colder.

Crack, Crackles.

It seems even ice is forming, which isn’t an ordinary situation.

Could Lord Nox be appearing?

Checking Luna’s face after removing her helmet, there’s no sign of that. So what is it? What’s happening? Just as I was bewildered,

Swoosh.

Something that had lain motionless in this chaotic scene began to rise.

Creak, Creak.

It contorted its body strangely, making sounds like broken joints and bones being forced into place.

—Grrrrraaah…

It was none other than Ismail.

The leader of the thieves, Ismail.

Surely, I carved him up with a dagger. I even performed the final blow, confirming his pulse had disappeared entirely.

Yet, he’s now rising from his position.

—Grrraaaah…

Drip, Drip.

Seeing the corpse rise, drenched in bl**d, none of us could say a word—frozen in shock.

d*mn, how is this kid getting up?

—————————== Author’s Notes ————————

Today there’s an announcement!

Soon, our dark underground story will come to an end! I wish we could accelerate it due to popular demand, but alas, my ultimate skill is still on cooldown… No cool-down reduction…

It was a long story in terms of pacing, and I thank everyone who followed it daily!

In appreciation,

This time, for chapter 158, we’ll be picking 24 commenters and giving out 24 stickers each!

A big thanks event for our readers—a 24-24 event!

By the way, the event deadline is 8 PM on the 13th. Don’t forget to leave comments! We’ll randomly pick and give out 24 stickers each!

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