Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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Feeling threatened by the unusual attack, the Great Octopus began to unleash its tentacles with all the strength it had been saving.

Whoosh!

Splat!

Splat!

– “It seems it lacks the ability to learn.”

However, that didn’t mean it could breach Selania’s defenses. The tentacles, bursting with fierce energy, were all blocked by a curtain of water, unable to reach Selania.

‘Given the circumstances, it’s an expected outcome.’

Although this was the Great Octopus’s home ground, Selania was a water spirit at heart. In an ocean brimming with water, she could unleash her full potential more than anyone else.

The octopus, bewildered that its surprise attack was thwarted, began to spray a large amount of ink as it tried to escape.

Seeing this, Selania smiled sweetly and raised her hand.

– “How cute. You think you can escape from me?”

Whoosh.

Shwoosh!

What followed was a spectacular sight indeed.

The ocean’s surface split wide open, and the octopus was lifted along with it, blinking its enormous eyes as if it had no clue what was happening.

– “No need to stall.”

Whoosh.

Slash!

As Selania summoned her power, the entire body of the octopus trapped in a sphere of water began to be sliced apart.

The octopus writhed in silent screams, but unfortunately, there was no way for it to escape.

───!

The Great Octopus, with its monstrous regenerative abilities comparable to that of a troll, found itself in a situation where even that was meaningless.

In the end, the octopus’s eyes lost their light as it sagged completely.

– “It’s over.”

Splash!

Roar!

Whoosh.

Having dropped the corpse of the Great Octopus into the sea, Selania rained down the sphere she had floated in the air as droplets of water.

As always, her work was impressively clean and precise.

– “Now then, how shall we receive our payment? Hehe.”

“…Ah, there’s still work to do.”

There was still the true boss of the dungeon left, and the navy forces were struggling against the monsters floating on the sea.

However, Selania glanced toward Seo Ha, smiled mischievously, and said to me,

– “It seems they won’t need any help over there?”

“…That may be true.”

In the brief moment I’d taken my eyes off, the fight over there had practically been decided.

Compared to the dungeon boss howling with large wounds on its body, Seo Ha showed no signs of fatigue.

Splatt!

Finally, Seo Ha dashed over the water and thrust her spear into the boss’s head with the use of her skill.

Both sides had secured victory.

– “Should I really help with the cleanup of the minions? If they’ve fallen that far, it’s a bit disappointing.”

“…….”

At this point, it felt like we had overcome all immediate obstacles.

With Selania’s help, I rescued all the scattered Awakened Ones, and then joined forces with the troops on the beach to start dispatching the remaining monsters according to our original plan.

“Over there! Push them that way!”

“When I signal, everyone fires at once!”

As the sun began to set completely, we finally succeeded in stopping the Dungeon Break.

#

After the battle ended, as I returned to the beach, Song Ha Yeon rushed over to me.

“Master! Are you okay?”

“What’s there not to be okay about?”

I was tired from running around, but I wasn’t seriously injured. Song Ha Yeon sighed in relief and continued speaking.

“I was so worried watching you fight precariously on that narrow platform. I thought I was going to die from anxiety!”

“Who do you think I am? I don’t make such mistakes.”

– “Didn’t you fall quite pathetically underneath the walls while fighting a undead wyvern before?”

“Shut up. Just go inside.”

Whoosh.

Snap.

I was about to casually reverse summon Selania as usual, but for some reason, I was blocked from doing so. I hadn’t paid the price yet.

– “You really can’t seem to break that habit. Unfortunately, it seems that’s not possible right now.”

“…….”

Seeing Selania’s cryptic smile, I averted my gaze, feeling an impending sense of doom.

If that’s the case, I’d have to pay the price to Kwak Min Ji……

– “Just to be clear, I won’t tolerate any foolishness.”

In the end, I had no choice but to surrender and prepare to pay Selania her dues.

Leaving Seo Ha, who was busy tidying up the aftermath, I chose a secluded spot to settle the payment.

“So, what do I have to do?”

Although it was about time, I realized I had never actually paid the price for summoning Selania until now.

Because of that, I was honestly feeling a bit tense.

– “What would you like, I wonder~?”

Selania finally seemed to be eagerly awaiting this moment as she twirled around me, unable to hide her delight.

Then she suddenly changed her expression and said to me,

– “First, try kneeling.”

“What?”

– “Stand here in front of me, so I can see that humiliating look on your face.”

No way, is she out of her mind?

When I looked at her in disbelief, Selania continued with a smile.

– “Are you perhaps annoyed?”

“…….”

– “Well then, you shouldn’t have called for me no matter what happened. I don’t know the details, but isn’t this the natural order of things you often mention?”

I had expected this, but it seemed she had quite a lot of built-up frustration. Selania watched me in astonishment with an expression of anticipation.

“I-I only need to kneel, right?”

– “No, that’s just the beginning. This summoning alone has accumulated quite a price.”

No wonder Selania had been putting everything she had into this glorious battle today; all of it had been buildup for now.

Realizing that, I felt a shiver of anger as Selania taunted me.

– “If you really dislike it, I can always assign you different tasks. Hehe.”

“This is unreal……”

At this moment, it hurt to admit I was powerless.

However, even for a moment, an incredible idea struck me, and I began to draw on my magical energy and “Death Energy” to radiate into the air.

– “What are you doing all of a sudden?”

Regardless, I didn’t stop and continued working for several minutes. Finally, Selania’s body began to fade slowly.

– “I can’t believe this. How is it happening?”

There was one thing Selania had overlooked. While I could no longer ignore the payment for summoning due to being weakened, conversely, the duration of the summoning had also significantly shortened.

Originally, it wouldn’t have been possible to mitigate the artifact risk this way, but the situation was special. I had summoned Selania through what could be called a double summoning.

By taking the artifact out of the Book of Death and then summoning Selania through it.

In other words, if I exhausted my strength to the point where I couldn’t maintain the Book of Death, the artifact would naturally reverse summon themselves, and Selania would follow suit.

“Too bad. If you’re upset, just come up with a better plan next time.”

– “You’ll regret this. There’s no way you can skip the price…”

Swish.

Whoosh.

In the end, Selania couldn’t finish what she had intended to say and was sucked into the Book of Death.

This relentless determination to keep thinking until the end had resulted in a remarkable achievement. Truly, it was a perfect victory of wisdom.

“How pathetic.”

And then, an hour later.

Plop.

Patter.

Whoosh.

“…Master? What on earth do you have hanging over your head?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Having forcibly canceled the payment, I had to endure a rain shower of confusion on my own.

#

Knock.

Knock.

In a shabby underground structure full of mold, a man was bound where droplets with a disgusting smell trickled down the walls.

“…This is a disaster.”

The man’s name was Joseph Howard.

An Awakened One who operated as an information broker and freelancer throughout Europe.

‘Who would have thought such a monster existed?’

As usual, while investigating a secret organization on behalf of an employer, he encountered an unmanageable opponent and was captured.

Though Joseph considered himself a high-rank Awakened One, he was entirely unable to move in the face of the foe.

To make matters worse, he was bound by a special artifact and skill, rendering escape impossible. He was genuinely at a dead end.

Joseph glanced at the slightly closed door, and then focused his mind to gather a handful of power.

Whoosh.

‘This is my last chance.’

The opponent believed they had completely incapacitated Joseph, but in truth, he possessed a rather special ability.

Because of that, even in this dire situation, there were still things he could do.

Focusing his mind, Joseph began to send out a rescue signal using the power he had gathered, despite the restraints of the binding artifact.

He was sending it to the S Rank Hunter from the United Kingdom who had hired him early on.

Whoosh.

Buzz.

Using his special abilities and skills, Joseph could influence the network world.

With that, it was possible to send a rescue signal containing all the necessary information to the target without being detected.

‘This is kind of risky.’

If he failed this time, he wouldn’t be able to gather this much power again due to the effects of the binding artifact.

So Joseph poured all his energy into activating his skill.

However, because the artifact interfered, his focus wavered at the last possible moment.

Flash.

“D-Damn it!”

Miraculously, the skill was completed. By now, Joseph’s rescue request message should have been sent through the surrounding waves.

However, the problem was with the destination.

‘I sent it to the wrong person…’

The message sent was not to the intended employer but to someone completely unrelated.

The recipient was a girl from Korea who he occasionally played games with as a hobby.

“Ha, haha…”

The last glimmer of hope flickered out.

Joseph lowered his head in despair, instinctively sensing his own death.

Where the light of hope had vanished, only endless silence remained.