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Chapter 64
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The hunters, though confused, tried their best to remain calm and carefully observed the interior of the boss room.
The floor was covered in cold gray stone slabs.
The walls were filled with eerie patterns, reminiscent of an ancient tomb.
A few chandeliers dimly illuminated the boss room.
The atmosphere resembled that of a medieval royal audience chamber.
And in this space—
“Grrrrr…”
“Keeheehee!”
A horde of undead monsters waited for the hunters.
Many of these monsters were elite-level.
Among them, Yoo Byung-joon and the rescue team from the Blue Forest Guild were also present.
One person was missing from their group.
Hoo-hoo-hoo—
Once again, the ominous and chilling laughter of a woman echoed in the hunters’ ears.
The hunters instinctively looked toward the far end of the room.
At the center of the room stood a tall black marble throne.
Sitting upon it, reigning like a queen of the dead, was a stunningly beautiful woman.
Her body was draped in a jet-black dress that seemed to absorb light, the hem spilling like a shadow onto the stone slabs.
Her pale, lifeless face was framed by piercing blue eyes that coldly scanned the hunters.
Her gaze was like that of a predator eyeing its prey.
As she slowly observed the hunters, her gaze stopped at one specific point.
She furrowed her brow and fixed her glare on a figure at the back.
The veiled individual also looked back at her.
Their gazes met.
“……”
The woman’s expression twisted into a vicious scowl.
Si-hyun, too, frowned deeply beneath her veil.
They were familiar with each other.
“…Oh my, it’s the puppet girl of the Hero’s Party, isn’t it?”
The woman began speaking in a sinister tone.
Her words were in the language of the other world, so none of the hunters understood her.
Except for Si-hyun.
She clenched her teeth as she alone understood the woman’s words.
She had felt a sense of déjà vu.
She hadn’t truly believed it, yet here they were, face to face.
‘No… perhaps I knew all along.’
Perhaps she had been trying to deny it.
Deny that she would once again encounter a connection from her past.
“……”
Si-hyun stared at the woman with a hardened expression.
This was one of the women from the Hero’s Party who had relentlessly tormented her.
A being who had found new powers in death— a Necromancer.
She was the master of this space and the true boss of this dungeon.
“Hmmm…”
Standing right next to Si-hyun, Ji-a turned her head, sensing a burning gaze.
Yoo Byung-joon was staring at her with blazing eyes.
“Noona.”
“……?”
“That’s an undead, isn’t it?”
Nod, nod.
Ji-a sought confirmation by asking Si-hyun, who nodded in response.
She recalled the conversation they had over wine not long ago.
[Simple corpses are weak, so they create things like undead puppets.]
[They bind souls through contracts or something like that.]
[While they retain most of their strength from life, they’re still just corpses.]
Ji-a instinctively knew.
The moment the battle began, that undead puppet would be her opponent.
“…Huh?”
Someone beside her tugged at her sleeve.
Ji-a turned back toward Si-hyun.
Using her fingers, Si-hyun conveyed her intentions.
Having spent the day observing Si-hyun’s gestures, Ji-a immediately understood.
‘2v2, huh.’
It meant not to be afraid because they were in this together.
Heh.
Ji-a let out a small chuckle despite herself.
Looking at the situation, the woman on the throne was clearly the Necromancer.
Yoo Byung-joon, strengthened by the Necromancer’s connection.
Herself, empowered by Si-hyun’s formidable buffs.
It was shaping up to be a proxy battle.
Ji-a resolved that she could not lose.
Hoo-hoo-hoo—
The Necromancer let out a chilling laugh as she stood from the throne.
She grasped an ornate staff that had been leaning against her throne.
As the hunters watched her movements, they immediately took battle stances.
A brief silence.
And then.
Bang!
The Necromancer slammed her staff onto the ground!
“Kraaah!”
“Keh-keh-keh!”
“Keeheehee!”
A large-scale battle began.
“Hahaha! What do you think you’re doing, you undead scum?”
“Hmph…!”
Countless undead swarmed toward Kang Chul-min and the tank from the Dawn Guild, who had stepped forward.
The hunters calmly began handling the monsters.
And, as Ji-a had predicted—
Tat-tat-tat!
“Kyaaaah?!”
The undead Yoo Byung-joon charged at Ji-a at high speed.
Startled, Ga-eul let out a piercing scream.
‘Fighting here would be dangerous.’
Ji-a quickly came to a decision.
To ensure the safety of the rearguard, she created distance from the other hunters.
As she dashed forward, power surged through her body.
It was the result of Si-hyun’s buffs stacking.
Although it wasn’t her first time experiencing Si-hyun’s buffs, today’s were stronger than ever.
She could feel how seriously Si-hyun regarded this battle between Yoo Byung-joon and herself.
“Thank you!”
Ji-a shouted energetically and immediately clashed with Yoo Byung-joon.
Ssshhh—, clang!
Each time their spear blades collided, sparks scattered like bursts of fire.
The sharp clanging of metal striking metal cut through the air.
Both were hunters who excelled in speed.
They moved at such rapid speeds that ordinary people wouldn’t even be able to see them, exchanging attacks evenly.
Clang! Clang! Claaang!
The friction of metal repeated rhythmically, like a melody of battle.
‘…As expected, he’s strong!’
Ji-a felt her heartbeat quicken as she frowned.
From the start, she was an A-rank, and her opponent was an S-rank.
It was natural for a disparity to exist.
But. She absolutely, absolutely could not lose.
This was not just her fight.
This was also a battle tied to Si-hyun’s pride.
Ji-a sharpened her gaze and cooled her head.
She pushed her concentration to its very limits.
“Kyaaaah!”
With a sharp roar, Yoo Byung-joon thrust his spear blade, imbued with the energy of death.
Bang—!
Ji-a countered by activating a skill of her own.
A loud crash echoed, and the shockwave pushed Ji-a’s body back.
‘I can’t lose!’
Ji-a pushed forward again.
She swung her spear with rapid precision.
The frost-laden blade of her spear traced a blue arc as it aimed for Yoo Byung-joon’s neck.
But Yoo Byung-joon was faster.
With a swift rotation of his spear, he blocked Ji-a’s attack.
From there, he smoothly transitioned into a counterattack.
Ji-a twisted her body just in time to narrowly avoid it.
“Keh-heh.”
The undead Yoo Byung-joon smirked as he looked at Ji-a.
He was confident that he was stronger.
His speed, his strength—there wasn’t a single aspect in which he felt he was lacking.
Even as an undead who had mostly lost his rationality, he felt a powerful thrill deep in his instincts.
Driven by that thrill, he continued his relentless assault.
Clang! Ka-clang!
At one moment, Yoo Byung-joon’s spear tip grazed Ji-a’s shoulder.
A long wound opened, spilling blood, but the injury quickly healed with Si-hyun’s help.
Yoo Byung-joon pressed on, using his momentum to intensify his attacks on Ji-a.
In their relentless exchange of blows, both combatants accumulated more and more wounds.
Yoo Byung-joon’s injuries were regenerated by the mana of the connected Necromancer.
Ji-a’s wounds were healed by Si-hyun’s blessing.
Two opposing forces created similar effects.
As a result, their battle turned into a literal bloodbath.
“Grrrgh…!”
“Kehahaha!”
Hearing Yoo Byung-joon’s laughter, Ji-a clenched her teeth.
It was clear that she was being pushed back.
But she had no intention of giving up.
With unwavering eyes, she sought an opportunity to counterattack.
Swwish—!
Drip, drip.
Another wound appeared on Ji-a’s arm, scattering blood.
But Ji-a did not stop moving.
She returned the favour, delivering a wound to Yoo Byung-joon in turn.
Ji-a did not retreat; instead, she took another step forward.
She pushed her strength to its absolute limit, continuing to fight.
‘I can’t lose!’
Even through the pain, her thoughts burned with determination.
She needed to move faster.
She needed to swing her spear harder.
The desire to grow stronger and the firm resolve to protect those around her drove Ji-a forward.
And then.
‘I have Si-hyun by my side!’
Hadn’t Si-hyun said it while exploring the dungeon together?
Don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive.
Si-hyun had never once lied.
“Hoo!”
Ji-a made up her mind.
As long as the injury wasn’t fatal, it didn’t matter.
Si-hyun would heal her right away, no matter what wound she received.
It wasn’t dependency. It was trust.
‘…Let’s go!’
Ji-a began to change her fighting style.
***
The Necromancer observed Ji-a and Yoo Byung-joon’s battle.
She could sense the intense desire emanating from Yoo Byung-joon, her newly created undead.
A fierce yearning to personally deal with that girl.
Moreover, his target seemed close to the Hero’s puppet girl.
For that reason, she chose not to interfere.
She deliberately allowed the proxy battle to unfold.
She even kept other undead from approaching them.
The result was an intense duel between spearmen.
As Yoo Byung-joon began to overwhelm his opponent, she felt a sense of vicarious satisfaction.
An enormous thrill coursed down her spine.
But.
‘…He was clearly dominant at first.’
Even without her interference or the Hero’s puppet girl’s involvement.
It was clear that, in pure skill, Yoo Byung-joon was superior.
He clearly was.
“Huff…!”
“Kyaaah…!”
At some point, the situation began to shift.
It was hard to tell which of them was the actual undead.
The female spearman ignored her injuries and kept trading blows.
Even if she was cut two or three times, she made sure to land a decisive counterattack.
Moreover, it was as if she was growing during the battle—the balance was gradually changing.
The Necromancer furrowed her brow.
Refusing to let her subordinate lose, she poured massive amounts of mana into the link with Yoo Byung-joon.
This act neglected the other battles taking place.
But it was only temporary.
Slash—!
Another long scar was added to Yoo Byung-joon’s arm.
In the end, Yoo Byung-joon was caught up to and began to lose ground again.
‘…How useless.’
She had intended to use this proxy duel to trample the Hero’s puppet girl.
But being countered so thoroughly was a heavy blow to her pride.
The Necromancer severed the flow of mana she had been supplying to Yoo Byung-joon.
As a result, the tightly contested battle finally came to an end.
Crunch!
“Graaah…!”
“Hoo!”
Abandoned by the Necromancer, Yoo Byung-joon’s body fell as Ji-a’s spear slashed him deeply.
His body, no longer regenerating, crumbled to the ground.
The Necromancer cast a vile spell on his corpse.
Yoo Byung-joon’s body, now a medium for her magic, grotesquely swelled—
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the body burst apart.
“Hmph…”
Fragments of the exploded body scattered in all directions.
The blast was so powerful that it cracked the stone floor.
However, it had been anticipated.
The female spearman on the opposing side had shielded herself with a strong barrier, evading the explosion’s harm.
The Necromancer turned her gaze from the aftermath to glare at the barrier’s caster.
The Saintess she remembered wasn’t at this level.
How much had she grown in just a few years?
But so far, it had only been personal enhancement.
What she truly excelled at was overwhelming with numbers.
‘…I’ll show them the true terror of a Necromancer.’
Her eyes shone menacingly, brimming with confidence.
The ornate staff in her hand slowly rose.
Boom!
As the staff struck the ground, a massive ripple spread, and mana exploded outward.
Whooosh——!
Like a tidal wave, a surge of pitch-black mana spread from the Necromancer’s body, engulfing the area.
The mana was so intense that merely brushing against it seemed enough to drain the life force of any living being.
The atmosphere of the boss room grew suffocatingly heavy.
“Let’s put an end to this.”
The Necromancer’s voice resonated low and ominous.
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