Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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Crash!

Crisp.

Crackle.

“Come on, do it right!”

“Even if you tell me to do better here…”

I was just so incredibly unlucky. Of all monsters, a Divine Power-based one popping up in an S Rank Dungeon? Honestly, I never expected anything like that to show up out of nowhere.

Even if I hastily summoned the Undead, the Paladin Statues would just need to shine their Divine Power down once, and they’d crumble like cookies.

I clicked my tongue and hid behind Yesiel. And regretted it.

“Heaven’s Holy Light!”

“Ow, hot! Hot!”

Thinking back, these guys also fought by spewing out Divine Power. In an instant, I found myself in a predicament and started running around the battlefield aimlessly.

“Don’t you have the Undead you used back then? One with resistance to Divine Power…?”

“Well, that requires enough time to create, so that won’t work.”

It was a sudden trip, and I had no clue this dungeon would be like this, so of course I hadn’t prepared ahead of time.

After just barely finishing one battle, I stopped advancing and began to think calmly.

“There’s nothing I can’t catch, but…”

Charging ahead aimlessly would drain me too much. Eventually, I would face a situation where I couldn’t avoid unleashing seals during the boss fight.

“Of all times, I don’t have Chae Hwa In available.”

I had entered the dungeon while I was supposed to visit Chae Hwa Ryu before Xavier arrived.

I could have signaled early to join up, but I thought it might be unnecessary and didn’t call for her.

Now I really regretted that.

“…If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to find our Master first and regroup?”

Yesiel cautiously suggested, but I shook my head again.

“Look at this mana concentration; ordinary folks can’t last long.”

While joining Xavier would make clearing the dungeon much easier, wasting too much time searching could lead to a disaster.

Anyway, if Xavier faced no major issues, he would probably be heading toward the Boss Room, so going that way might increase our chances of meeting him.

“Can’t use scouting Undead in this environment either.”

Eventually, we reached a conclusion and calmly started making our way deeper into the dungeon.

When I sensed another monster’s presence, I quickly summoned the Book of Death and prepared the summoning ritual.

Bwoosh!

Swish!

“Extraction.”

Come on, there’s no way I’ll just let myself get defeated by weak enemies like these.

After all, I had come across Divine Power-using foes countless times even in Thebes. Currently, I lacked the power to handle them effectively, but as I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t like I had no method at all.

“Materialization.”

Whoosh.

Bwoosh!

Three eyeballs in the palm of my hand, I scattered them on the ground while chanting the spell, and immediately, a large Undead with three heads burst up from the ground.

[Cough. The land warrior Grik greets you, Lord.]

A three-headed, three-personality mutant cyclops.

I looked at the one head in the middle with its eyes opened and spoke to it.

“Sorry, but you’re out. Hurry up and call Hakim.”

[…I will do that.]

Each of them had special abilities with their individual personalities, but the youngest, Hakim, despite being Undead, possessed immense resistance to Divine Power.

Furthermore, it emitted a corrupting aura that drained enemies’ strength, making it quite the nemesis for Paladins.

[Cough. Did you call for me, my Lord? Your humble servant Hakim stands before you.]

Hakim, being the most intelligent of the three, spoke fluently, unlike his brothers.

I issued a command to Hakim, who glanced briefly at the surrounding statues and, without hesitation, charged forward.

Thud.

Thud thud.

Boom!

[Anyone blocking my Lord’s path shall be killed.]

Smash!

Crash!

As the chaotic battle began, Yesiel also exerted her skills, shattering the statues one by one.

With the distractions, it seemed much easier to move around compared to earlier.

Clank.

Clank.

Boom.

The Paladin statues continuously attacked Hakim with their Divine Power, but such a simple-minded approach couldn’t possibly deal damage.

In the end, the second battle was resolved astonishingly easily compared to the first.

After the fight, Yesiel checked her weapons and approached me with an astonished expression.

“I can’t believe such an Undead exists… But why earlier?”

“I didn’t want to use it much. This guy consumes a lot since he’s worth three souls.”

Summoning those cyclops triplets effectively meant I intended to clear the dungeon promptly.

“We don’t have time to rest. Keep moving.”

“Yes. We can’t dawdle while citizens are in danger.”

What I meant was slightly different, but it wasn’t wrong either.

We continued to smash through the encountered statues, steadily making our way deeper into the dungeon.

And finally, we could spot the passage leading deeper into the dungeon.

“We haven’t sensed any unusual presences so far,”

“Everything must be inside.”

“I’ll take the lead.”

The passage was reasonably dark, so Yesiel emitted Divine Power to illuminate the area, and we quickly entered within.

Not long after, we discovered traces of Xavier ahead.

“He handled it cleanly.”

“Yes. That must be Master’s mark. He may have already reached the Boss Room.”

Just by looking at the remains of the statues, I could roughly guess Xavier’s skills had reached tremendous heights.

Most of them seemed to have been dealt with in a short amount of time.

‘…Not bad at all.’

Considering he was burdened with civilians, this would have been quite the arduous task, but it was undoubtedly impressive.

I checked the direction of the traces and led Yesiel as we moved forward in the dungeon once more.

“According to the pre-measured size, the Boss Room shouldn’t be far.”

“That makes sense.”

However, there was one thing lingering in my mind.

What was the core subject of this dungeon?

‘So, what exactly is this all about?’

It was fine that the statues of Paladins appeared.

From that, I could gather that this dungeon was themed around the priests’ temples.

However, once we stepped into this dungeon, we hadn’t faced any meaningful enemies other than the Paladin statues.

Wasn’t the structure a bit odd for a simple temple?

Considering that those statues were slightly questionable to classify as monsters at all, something significant might still be hidden in this dungeon that we hadn’t realized.

‘Statues, statues…’

Among the many sects in Thebes, there were indeed some that used magic to imbue life into inanimate objects as guardians. They referred to those guardians as Guardians.

I’m not entirely certain, but the statues I was seeing now likely belonged to a similar category.

From what I know, they claimed to follow the name of their sect, but in reality, they were much closer to a sorcerer’s group.

As I continued battling and moving, I gradually gained confidence that my predictions were correct, given the changing scenery around me.

‘Indeed, wherever people live, it’s all quite similar.’

Buildings retaining a shape similar to the entrance of the dungeon, yet, when inspected closely, they clearly exhibited different architectural styles.

Now, this place was turning into a location closer to an altar than a temple.

“…The signs of battle have stopped.”

If so, Xavier and his group should also be nearby.

Judging by the look of things, there seemed to be no more Paladin statues around, so I gathered my strength and released some scouting insects to check the surroundings.

Finally, I spotted them.

‘As expected.’

Their expressions were all tense, and for some reason, they appeared to be anxiously watching each other.

After taking a closer look around, I quickly realized the reason for their anxiety.

‘If they don’t offer a sacrifice, they won’t be able to pass through here.’

For civilians, this was nothing short of a thunderclap.

Excluding Xavier, it essentially meant someone among the seemingly expendable ranks had to sacrifice themselves for the dungeon to be cleared.

“Did you discover something?”

“I did. Let’s go.”

However, after confirming this, I boldly strode towards that direction without hesitation.

What kind of prank was this, I never knew, but I am a Necromancer.

‘…How cheeky.’

Unfortunately for the dungeon’s boss, this area was truly my specialty.