Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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The place where I finally managed to meet Chae Hwa In again was the cliff on the coast, almost 100 km away from the banquet hall.

“I finally found you.”

“……”

No matter how quickly she hid, I, connected to her through the Soul Path, could vaguely detect her trace.

I glared at Chae Hwa In with a face full of complaints.

“What the hell are you doing? You’ve really gone off the deep end now, haven’t you?”

“…It was a situation I couldn’t back down from.”

“Shut up! I barely held back from wanting to beat Ivan or whatever his name is, and it’s all ruined because of you.”

Now, I had become a public enemy in the American Hunter world.

Honestly, I was boiling with anger, but past events were past events. I needed to get to the bottom of this to find a clue for resolving the situation, so I asked Chae Hwa In for her reason.

“So, why exactly did you do that?”

Realizing that she was implicated in the incident, Chae Hwa In didn’t hide anything and told me everything related to it.

To summarize, American hunters, wary of Chae Hwa In’s powers in the past, had ambushed her in an S Rank Dungeon and killed her.

After hearing all of that, I couldn’t help but understand Chae Hwa In’s actions.

“What the hell, they had it coming.”

If I had been in her place, I would have outright gone on a rampage, hunting down anyone involved in revenge and smashing up the higher-ups.

Wait, but thinking back on it, I’m getting angry.

“So, are those idiots making a fuss saying their hunters were killed?”

There’s a limit to hypocrisy. I thought it was all our fault, but honestly, they had no ground to stand on.

“This is ridiculous. Just go and kill the other three quickly.”

“…Is it okay to say that?”

“I don’t like their attitude.”

Since they had already branded me definitively as the culprit, I’d much rather deal with the angry ones than be falsely accused and chased.

“In the first place, such a problem can’t be solved with words.”

Even if I tried to prove the American misdeeds, I had no evidence, and even if I had, that would be a problem.

The hunter superpower of a nation like the U.S. would rather silence us and bury the truth than admit its own flaws.

So, it was practically inevitable that we would clash.

After hearing my thoughts, Chae Hwa In, seeming surprised, nodded her head.

“…You think things through more than I expected.”

“I’m smart by nature.”

“……”

“Well, it’s just that I didn’t have to worry about most things until now.”

Anyway, if we couldn’t avoid a clash, we had to change the way we thought about it.

“We should instill a sense of crisis in the upper echelons over there until they feel that a clash is disadvantageous for them.”

As happened in Thebes, those who stand above others don’t change their minds until they take a hit.

Chae Hwa In couldn’t easily respond to my opinion.

“…It will be tough.”

“Well, you couldn’t move at all when more than three were on you back then.”

Just then, looking a bit offended, Chae Hwa In frowned and continued.

“The ones there were just a part of it. Besides, everyone was just biding their time and didn’t actively move.”

In reality, most of the ones who blocked Chae Hwa In at the banquet hall were hunters belonging to the U.S.

The high-rank hunters who had come to support from other countries had no intent to step in and create a reason to be caught up in it, as they didn’t know the exact circumstances.

Chae Hwa In had more to say.

“…And among them, there are definitely some powerful ones.”

“Oh, I certainly noticed a few.”

There was Beatrice from Italy, and Yesiel, known as the Saint of France.

Lastly, there was someone with an oddly suppressed aura.

Those three were certainly notably stronger than the other S Rank hunters present.

‘…She’s more aware of the situation than I thought.’

I had thought she was acting out of pure vengeance after regaining her memories, but it seemed there was more to it.

I intuitively realized her intent and spoke up.

“You dragged me into this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“……”

“You assessed the situation, and since it didn’t seem you could do it alone, am I right?”

Chae Hwa In hesitantly nodded, her face showing a bit of guilt.

Then she replied to me.

“…The moment I was revived, I could feel it.”

“What?”

“The immense power lying within you.”

Within Chae Hwa In’s gaze, there was a hint of fear alongside admiration.

“I believed that if you used that power, you could crush even a massive force with overwhelming force.”

“Oh, it looks like you have a good eye.”

I hid a slight smile and immediately changed my expression, waving my finger.

“Still, your attitude is wrong. You should properly ask me for help.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Chae Hwa In bowed her head deeply to me, but I wasn’t satisfied with that.

“Not just sorry, but ‘I apologize.’ And kneeling down and bowing would be better. How dare you in front of the great Lord of Death…”

“…I really don’t want to do that.”

Seriously, are we still at this?

I fought back my twitching eyes and changed the subject.

“Anyway, a direct clash is going to be tough. I can’t just unleash my power whenever I want.”

While I could use necromancy to release my strength in a short battle, it would be quicker to face the backlash of the seals than to find and subdue all the pursuers.

‘Reverting my power is a card I can only use in the final showdown.’

Thus, until then, I had to shake off the pursuers by other means.

To be honest, we were lacking in both strength and firepower.

‘If my level was just a bit higher, it would’ve been much easier.’

I do shine in large-scale battles, but soberly assessing the situation, even subduing one S Rank hunter head-on feels tough like this.

After pondering deeply, I quickly assessed and spoke to Chae Hwa In again.

“Let’s change our thinking.”

“…How?”

“There’s no reason for the other side to fight on their favorable terms.”

No matter how you look at it, this American land was way too disadvantageous for us.

It was overly vast, and the number of hunters affiliated with the state was accordingly high.

Realizing what I was getting at, Chae Hwa In’s expression turned strangely colored for the first time.

“…Do you think that’s possible?”

“What’s impossible about it? It’s actually the optimal location!”

That’s right.

Whatever happens, I’m a Necromancer.

And the place where a Necromancer can shine the most is at the center of a battlefield littered with corpses.

“We can enter the dungeon first.”

Then, we can level up and build our forces as we wait for the Strategy Team to arrive.

It would be then that the American hunters would truly experience the fear of the Lord of Death.

#

“What do you mean by that?”

Current Vice President of the American Hunter Association, Joshua, received news that was utterly ridiculous.

“As I mentioned, the two who killed Austin have just now breached the guards of the S Rank Large Dungeon located in Iowa and entered inside.”

“…Is that confirmed information?”

“Yes. All the circumstances are recorded on video. You can check it for yourself.”

At those words, he hurriedly replayed the prepared footage, and it was indeed Chae Hwa In and Baek Eun Ha.

Joshua fell into confusion and began to think frantically.

‘Why would they enter the dungeon…?’

It was an absurd thought even from a common sense perspective. An S Rank Large Dungeon was the kind of place where even top-level hunters couldn’t guarantee survival; it was basically a realm beyond human comprehension.

It was clear enough from the fact that two people had just walked into that hell without needing direct confirmation.

‘But, that can’t be right.’

Who would willingly walk into a death trap?

If you think from the enemy’s perspective, you could deduce that they must possess some sort of means to survive even within.

Watching Joshua fall into silence, the subordinate who delivered the news cautiously spoke up.

“Um, I heard that one of the suspects, Baek Eun Ha, is a Necromancer. So, could she be plotting something with her powers?”

“…That is definitely a possibility.”

Of course, any ordinary Necromancer wouldn’t be able to pull off such a feat. But Baek Eun Ha had the skills to resurrect the first S Rank Hunter, Chae Hwa In, who was thought to be deceased.

She might be at a level similar to the infamous goddess of hell, Helena.

‘…Top-level necromancy is a realm of the unknown. I can’t even predict what they might do in there.’

What was clear was that if we gave them time, the repercussions could return as an immense storm.

Therefore, Joshua reported to the upper echelons and immediately disbanded the pursuers while summoning the hunters belonging to the Strategy Team.

If they were planning something, it was better to smash it before it materialized.

Now was the moment for them to also risk their own gamble.