Chapter 83
Turn Undead.
It was a secret spell that could be used by those who possessed divine magic, once they reached a certain level.
Coincidentally, Baek Seol-hwa had acquired high-level divine magic through her contract with Bahamut.
Since she was already the strongest awakened in Pohang, her level prior to the contract had been considerably high, allowing her to learn new spells suitable for her level.
The effect of Turn Undead was extremely simple.
It inflicted devastating damage to undead beings—essentially a one-hit kill.
If the target was not undead, however, nothing would happen.
This could lead to an awkward situation where the spell had no effect, but if the target was undead and susceptible to Turn Undead…
“Kiieeeeek!”
It was like encountering their worst natural enemy.
The banshee, which had been roaming above the sea and terrifying everyone with its shrill screams, let out an agonized wail and disappeared without a trace after being hit by Seol-hwa’s Turn Undead.
The artificial fear and panic that had been overwhelming the Pohang fleet vanished the moment the banshee, which had been the terror of the sea, was obliterated by a single spell.
For the patrol ships, which had been losing control due to fear, this was a golden opportunity.
“To all patrol boats! Block the incoming enemy patrol boats charging toward our fleet!”
“Roger!”
With the disappearance of the unnatural fear and Seol-hwa’s decisive elimination of multiple banshees in one blow, the morale of the marines soared.
The patrol boats, without hesitation, followed Kim Tae-sik’s orders and began effectively countering the attacks of enemy patrol boats aiming to ram the Pohang fleet.
As the banshee’s cries disappeared and courage returned to the marines, they immediately took positions on deck to prepare for close combat or began intercepting approaching patrol boats with magic and cannons.
Some of the Pohang patrol boats even rammed the sides of the enemy boats, initiating close combat themselves.
And then…
“Wow. Just one shot? As expected of the spell passed down by the Dragon God!”
[As I suspected, the opponent really was undead. If Turn Undead works so effectively… Wait, does that mean it would also work on the zombies on land?]
Having turned the tide of the battle with a single spell, Seol-hwa credited everything to Bahamut.
Observing the situation calmly, Bahamut confirmed that the enemy was indeed undead.
Frankly, even Bahamut hadn’t been entirely certain.
He had taught Seol-hwa the Turn Undead spell to test its effectiveness, and it had turned out to be highly effective.
Realizing that these beings were closer to undead than mere zombies, Bahamut considered the possibility that the spell might also work on the zombies entrenched on land.
‘Huh. If that’s the case, it feels like all our past struggles were pointless.’
Though a bit dejected at the thought, Bahamut consoled himself.
‘But Turn Undead is a high-level spell. Only Yuna and Seol-hwa can use it at this point. So, it’s not a complete waste.’
The Turn Undead spell was indeed a top-tier magic. Even within the Balhut Cult, there were only two members capable of using it.
The cult had a considerable number of mages, but the spells they could use and the number of times they could cast them were limited. This made it difficult to exploit weaknesses like Turn Undead on a large scale.
Moreover, rather than relying heavily on magic, the cult often used magic as a secondary tool while focusing on firepower with Bahamut Rounds.
Many mages within the cult also preferred to rely on modern weapons crafted with Bahamut coins rather than their own magic.
“It’s worth testing.”
Still, there was enough value in experimenting.
Knowing that Turn Undead worked effectively was the first step. The rest could be determined through further trials.
In the future, if a powerful undead appeared on the Korean Peninsula, Turn Undead could serve as a trump card against it.
[Alright. For now, let’s deal with the enemies in front of us.]
“Yes, leave it to me.”
For now, the immediate priority was eliminating the ghost fleet in the East Sea.
Agreeing with Seol-hwa’s words, Bahamut ordered her to deal with the enemies at sea, and Seol-hwa promptly returned to the navigation room, where Kim Tae-sik was commanding the naval battle.
“Gather the scattered marines and have them assemble near the patrol ships. Our fleet will charge at the enemy fleet.”
“Understood. Yuna, what was that miracle just now?”
“It was a spell taught by the Dragon God. As you saw, I was able to wipe out that terrifying swarm of banshees in one blow.”
“A-Amazing. So that was a spell passed down by the Dragon God.”
Hearing Bahamut’s name, Kim Tae-sik became certain that this battle was not hopeless after all.
Having already witnessed the miraculous events earlier, Seol-hwa’s words further solidified his confidence in victory.
“To all ships! Form up around the patrol ships! Any patrol boats straying from the battlefield are to assemble near the flagship immediately! I repeat, assemble near the flagship!”
“Roger.”
The marines engaged in close combat on deck quickly boarded the patrol boats and began gathering near the patrol ships.
With the banshees gone, control of the patrol boats was firmly in the hands of the patrol ships.
Thanks to this, the fleet quickly reorganized into formation around the patrol ships, adopting a crane-wing formation.
“Now then, let’s start closing in slowly, shall we? Kim Tae-sik, once the patrol boats are in formation, move toward the ghost fleet at a steady pace.”
“Understood, Seol-hwa.”
The fleet was no longer consumed by fear.
Kim Tae-sik, now fully trusting Seol-hwa’s commands, began executing her orders without hesitation.
As the fleet gradually advanced toward the command ship of the ghost fleet, Seol-hwa stepped out onto the deck once more.
As the Pohang fleet advanced toward the ghost fleet’s command ship, more banshees began emerging from the enemy fleet.
“This is more persistent than expected. That banshee scream is annoying. Turn Undead!”
Though the banshee’s appearance started to disrupt the fleet’s formation, Seol-hwa immediately used Turn Undead to annihilate the banshees as they emerged.
However, the forced fear was effective in slowing down the advance itself, and the fleet’s pace visibly began to decrease.
Even though Seol-hwa annihilated the banshees as soon as they appeared, the sheer number of them pressed forward, causing the marines to once again succumb to fear upon hearing the banshees’ screams.
[If the status ailment succeeds, it could lead to major confusion among our allies and instill delusional panic. In such a scenario, if an out-of-control patrol boat appears, the danger would be on our side.]
“Can ordinary awakened individuals endure that?”
This was their first encounter with such a monster, and there was no appropriate countermeasure.
While Mutant Zombies could be handled with the physical prowess of awakened individuals, banshees were immune to such tactics.
The only small consolation was that those in the navigation room seemed only slightly affected by the banshee’s screams, indicating that not hearing the sound could weaken its effect.
[Considering that even brave marines are affected, this is likely a matter of magical resistance rather than willpower. I suspect we may need an artifact that can boost magical resistance.]
“We don’t have any such artifact here!”
[Haha. That’s true. For now, we’ll have to endure it with sheer effort. Let’s consider this again later.]
For those who had to fight directly on deck, there was no way to respond effectively.
Bahamut hypothesized that it was a matter of magical resistance rather than willpower, mentioning the need for an artifact to enhance resistance.
Seol-hwa, however, pointed out that they didn’t possess such an artifact at the moment.
“In that case, it’s simple. We’ll snipe them with Turn Undead the moment they emerge from the ghost ship!”
[Can you do it?]
“Yes. When it comes to long-distance sniping, I’m more confident than anyone.”
Seol-hwa ultimately proposed sniping each banshee as they emerged from the command ship.
Bahamut, knowing how difficult this would be, questioned her confidence, but Seol-hwa replied with assurance.
“Turn Undead!”
As soon as a banshee began to emerge from the command ship, Seol-hwa successfully sniped it with precision using Turn Undead.
The wandering soul, which had been lingering miserably over the sea, burned away without even a scream. The ghost command ship tried to release another banshee in retaliation.
“Turn Undead.”
“Kiiieeeeeek!”
This time, the banshee was sniped before it even fully appeared.
Since it couldn’t manifest properly, its scream only echoed within the ghost command ship, having no effect on the Pohang fleet.
[She’s really good at this.]
Even Bahamut, who had been observing, was impressed by how effortlessly Seol-hwa sniped targets in specific locations.
“Turn Undead. Turn Undead. Turn Undead. Turn Undead. And for good measure, boom!”
What’s more, it seemed as though there was no cooldown, as Seol-hwa fired Turn Undead repeatedly like a barrage, leaving the enemy in a frustrating predicament.
From the perspective of those trying to halt the fleet’s approach, the banshees’ screams were their most effective tool. Yet Seol-hwa relentlessly sniped each banshee, one by one, with Turn Undead.
For the undead being targeted, it was enough to make them metaphorically weep tears of blood. Seol-hwa, with gritted teeth, unleashed Turn Undead mercilessly.
Additionally, she employed her specialty, temperature magic, to destroy the keels of fishing boats obstructing their path, sinking them into the sea.
This ensured there was no way to block the patrol ships’ route to the ghost fleet.
“Is that spell simpler than it looks?”
“How could it be?”
Witnessing the scene, Kim Tae-sik asked one of the mages in the navigation room if the spell Seol-hwa was using was actually a simple one. The mage vehemently shook their head and responded with disbelief.
“She’s firing it off repeatedly without tiring. Does she have infinite mana or something?”
Under normal circumstances, a mage would have exhausted all their mana and collapsed from overuse of a spell fired at such frequency.
Yet Seol-hwa, full of energy, continued to bombard the enemy with Turn Undead.
From the mage’s perspective, it was as if her mana reserves were limitless.
Moreover, the mage, who had been serving as crew, recognized that Turn Undead itself was a high-tier spell, further emphasizing how exceptional Seol-hwa’s feat was.
“She was already the strongest awakened in Pohang before, but now it wouldn’t be strange to call her the strongest awakened in the Korean Peninsula.”
“Is she really that extraordinary?”
“Yes. It might seem presumptuous coming from someone like me, but compared to the named awakened individuals known across the Korean community, I can confidently say that very few are her equal.”
“Haha! That’s great! Very reassuring.”
Hearing the mage’s assertion, Captain Kim Tae-sik felt certain that they had found a lifeline they could firmly hold onto.
“Turn Undead. Turn Undead. Turn Undead. …My throat’s starting to hurt from repeating the spell name so much!”
The fleet’s advance was utterly unstoppable.
Led by Seol-hwa on deck, the command ship surged forward, followed by patrol boats flanking it protectively.
Thus, Seol-hwa’s fleet advanced to the ghost fleet’s command ship.
“Th-The enemy fleet… They’re retreating! The ghost fleet is retreating from us!”
“No way! Zombies are retreating? That’s absurd!”
As Seol-hwa’s fleet approached the ghost fleet’s vicinity, the ghost fleet chose to retreat without hesitation, seemingly in fear.
They turned their ships and began moving away from Seol-hwa’s fleet. Watching this, Seol-hwa was shocked by the unbelievable sight of zombies retreating.
Of course, it was known that mutated zombies with intelligence, such as the Spider Mutant, would retreat without hesitation if victory was deemed impossible.
But for a fleet to flee in fear before a proper naval battle had even begun was unprecedented.
[It’s not like there was an overwhelming disparity in power. To retreat from just Turn Undead…]
If there had been an enemy as powerful as Bahamut himself, retreating wouldn’t have been shameful.
However, the ghost fleet had superior numbers, and Seol-hwa’s fleet had to destroy obstructive fishing boats using her own magic to even approach.
The ghost fleet could have maintained distance and forced a war of attrition, but instead, they simply fled, tails between their legs.
[…This is truly strange.]
Watching the scene, Bahamut quietly expressed his bewilderment at this unusual development.
—
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