The Necromancer Who Was Despised

‘I used the heat too inefficiently.’

I had no intention of providing any more support. Therefore, I had to use the five additional support units as efficiently as possible.

In particular, I had sent the ‘Chieftain’ this time.

I focus on the link with them.

Thump.

Perhaps it was because of the space being filled with divine power and the fact that I was strengthening the connection with the undead, something I wasn’t very good at, but the circle began to resonate strongly.

As my will reached the zombie Minotaurs, their movements began to change noticeably.

The Minotaurs, who had not been able to block a single attack properly until now, succeeded in deflecting the attacks properly.

Of course, it was possible because it was a ‘Chieftain’ unit.

However, retaliation was impossible.

The Living Armor quickly stepped in and targeted the gaps.

Clang!

For the first time, the Guardian took a half step back.

‘It’s harder than I thought.’

A look of surprise appeared on the faces of Cereo’s party.

Anelise’s gaze turned to me, and she let out a gasp of admiration at the sight of me sweating profusely.

However, I didn’t have time to care about such gazes.

It was harder and more tiring than I had thought.

It wasn’t for anything that the circle was reacting.

Just as our counterattack was about to begin.

Whoosh!

Crack, crack, crack!

Kayla’s pained groan and Athena’s urgent voice echoed throughout the central hall.

My emotions, which had not wavered even when the dazzling beam of light fell before my eyes, wavered for a moment.

As I rolled my eyes to assess the situation, I could see Kayla falling away from the Guardian with Athena’s help.

‘Whats that?’

A golden aura was flowing out of the Guardian’s body.

‘Is it… ‘an aura?’

It looked like the divine aura unique to paladins was flowing out of its entire body.

‘This is crazy.’

Both its speed and power were on a different level than before.

In addition, it was showing a slightly more active and aggressive appearance than before.

‘Did it go berserk or something?’

I didn’t know it had such a function.

In the past, when a guardian was in danger, another guardian would come to their aid… .

‘Wait. Then… .’

The two are twins, like the same model. Then that means that the one I’m facing now could also go berserk in a moment of crisis.

‘… Damn it.’

No, even if it’s not a crisis, if one of them is in danger, and the guardian tries to save the other guardian… .

I’ve only been thinking about my own interests, about revenge.

No, I should say that I moved too quickly without having enough information.

Of course I was careful.

So even though I was taken aback, it wasn’t irreversible.

‘It’s not like Kaila was a hit.’

Athena had stepped in at the right time, and it didn’t seem like she was seriously injured.

However, the state of her shield wasn’t very good. It seemed like it had been smashed.

‘Even though Muhtur made it himself… .’

There was a large gash in her armor as well, but thanks to that, she seemed unharmed, so I think it did its job as armor.

What I had to do now was clear.

‘Take down the guardian.’

I needed to intervene a little more actively in the situation.

“Help Kaila.”

He’s not as skilled as Athena. However, he was Kaila’s disciple and had sparred with Athena often, so he should be able to assist her.

“Tell Kaila not to worry about the situation here, and to take it down as quickly as possible.”

While I was figuring out the situation and giving orders, the living armors were struggling.

I focus on the Minotaur chieftain again.

‘Its role is like a shield warrior.’

It blocks the opponent’s attacks, and draws their aggro.

It’s supposed to play a sturdy vanguard role, but unfortunately it seemed like it would be difficult to attack.

I indirectly controlled the other Minotaurs, and also sent Skeletons 1 and 2 into the fray.

When I placed those two into the front lines as well, it seemed like Anelace and Tildie were a little taken aback.

‘This is the right thing to do.’

If the one we’re facing goes berserk too, the front lines won’t stand a chance against the beam, let alone anything else.

‘I have to prevent that.’

That’s why I sent my last line of defense, the skeletons, to the front as well.

Those two were cards that could be useful even if I didn’t control them.

As soon as they joined, the front lines began to stabilize completely.

The five Minotaurs that I control, the Cereo party, the two skeletons, and even the Specter.

When this much power began to hold it back, now I was able to hold it in place without using up all my energy.

“Tildie! Arahad!”

“Flayna. Support me.”

“I’m on it, leader!”

Kaila was able to hold her own, but this was the least we could do to tie down a single guardian.

We weren’t even able to deal any real damage to it.

At this point, the Guardians were no longer able to use their beams of light to target me.

Moreover, the beams of light that were being used were unable to reduce the number of zombie Minotaurs as effectively as before due to Specter’s interference.

Attacking was the best form of defense, but I couldn’t let my guard down.

I had to concentrate on maintaining the status quo as much as possible, as they could go berserk at any moment.

Thud, boom!

But even as I maintained this balance, problems still arose from all sides.

The Guardians’ attacks, imbued with divine aura, were unable to cleave through the Minotaurs’ shields in one blow.

However, the damage was gradually accumulating, and eventually, some of the shields began to shatter.

‘This can’t go on for long.’

Some of the shields from those already slain remained, allowing them to hold out by switching them out, but to be honest, I hadn’t expected the battle to drag on this long, so the situation wasn’t good.

Thanks to this, my concentration had to become even sharper.

I constantly maintained the buffs, assisting and controlling the movements of the Minotaur zombies.

Honestly, after supporting Baldur, I hadn’t had a chance to check on how Kyla’s side of the battle was going.

The explosions continued to ring out, but I didn’t have time to check like before.

Like that, the shields were gradually depleted, and finally, one of the zombie Minotaurs collapsed.

It had managed to inflict a few minor wounds on the Guardian’s body, but that was all.

The Skeleton Warrior’s attacks were ineffective, unable to inflict any real damage, and the same went for the Living Armor’s mace.

As the battle continued, fatigue began to set in and become a problem.

My stamina was already draining rapidly.

In the current situation, I couldn’t receive any energy from Specter, so I had no choice but to rely on my stamina.

Anelace and Tilde beside me were also far from their normal states.

If the rearguard was in this state, what could be said of the front lines? Their movements were gradually becoming sluggish, and after the first Minotaur fell, a second and third Minotaur began to perish.

In the end, the balance I had barely managed to maintain by attacking as defense was only temporary.

As the situation worsened, my hands began to get busy.

As the number of Minotaurs decreased, I had more leeway with my magic, and with that, I was able to spare some to provide magical support.

Of course, it was just because I had more leeway with my magic, but having risen to Class 6 in the previous round, I was able to show off my ability to provide magical support even in this chaotic situation.

It was also possible because I had minimized the influence of the surrounding divine energy using the aura of death.

Bang!

Occasionally, the aggro would shift to me, but I still had three Minotaurs left to protect me, and thanks to Specter’s constant interference, the situation was still manageable.

However, it was true that the burden on me was constantly increasing.

And finally.

“Rabid!”

The first casualty appeared.

His limbs completely crushed, the Guardian trampled over the fallen shield warrior Rabid’s body.

He was three times the size of the Living Armor, so when he was trampled, his body burst apart, and Rabid died instantly.

At the first death of their comrade, Cereo’s group panicked and were filled with indignation.

But that was their limit.

Neither Anelace nor Tilde could ask me for help anymore.

I was the one bearing the greatest burden among us.

There was nothing more I could do here.

In fact, I had invested most of my chips into the front line.

If it had gone according to plan, I should have been happy that Cereo and his party had died, but now the situation was different.

The berserk guardian’s force was more than I could have imagined, and its roar was still echoing.

“What… what should we do… .”

Anelise was trembling as if she didn’t know what to do and was shooting arrows, and Tilde was desperately squeezing out his divine power to save as many more of his comrades as he could.

However, there was nothing he could do with his meager divine power, and in the end, even Tilde’s divine power ran out.

When Arahard, another shield warrior, was crushed by the guardian’s shield and Flyna, the spearman, had half of her body torn off, even Anelise’s arrows ran out.

Cereo wielded his sword with a roar, but it was meaningless.

Still, there was nothing he could do.

I was barely able to hold off the guardian’s attacks using only the Minotaur chieftain.

Before I knew it, all four of the Living Armors had reached the point where they were recovering on the ground, and only Skeleton 1 and 2, and the specters were fulfilling their roles.

“Pull yourself together! Cereo! Cereo! Do something!”

At one point, even Cereo’s movements slowed down.

Anelise called out to him anxiously as if he had given up… .

But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

‘… Enlightenment? ‘At this moment?’

At the moment when he was about to give up after losing his comrades, Cereo suddenly began to draw his aura as if he had grasped some kind of clue.

Even though it was only a low level, the fact that he had such an awakening at a critical moment was a great thing in itself.

“I’ll… “Kill you.”

“Cereo!”

For a moment, joy filled Anelise’s voice.

But Tilde’s face was still filled with despair.

In the gap that I had momentarily created, Cereo stepped in.

At the same time, he succeeded in inflicting a wound on the bastard, and with the help of my skeletons, he dodged the guardian’s counterattack.

Then he circled around the bastard and inflicted another wound on its ankle, and as the guardian tried to turn its body, the Minotaur under my control intervened and diverted its gaze.

Support magic followed.

However, the guardian blocked the Dark Ball with its shield as if it were nothing and fired a beam of light at Cereo.

If the specter hadn’t intervened as soon as it turned its head, Cereo would have died on the spot.

However, as if he knew that the specter would help him, Cereo charged at the guardian again and swung his sword in succession.

Clang, clang, clang!

It was a haphazard attack, but it was clear that the wounds were increasing.

Thud, thud, thud.

At this point, the guardian’s movements began to change.

‘… It’s going berserk.’

I can’t let it do any more damage.

“… Fall back!”

It was unlikely that he would listen, but I shouted anyway.

However, Cereo still didn’t back down, and in the end, the guardian went into a berserk state.

A golden aura flared from its entire body, and the guardian’s movements changed in an instant.

As if I had been waiting for this, I withdrew the Living Armors, specters, and skeletons that had recovered, and it was a wise choice.

In an instant, Cereo’s body was split in two.

Next, the patriarch minotaur resisted, but…

BAM!

It ended with him being split in two within three exchanges.

With the annihilation of their entire force, Aneris showed a blank expression before turning around and starting to flee as if she had made up her mind.