Chapter 534
There’s a Monster. (3)
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Jerome furrowed his brows as he cast spells, piercing through the magical field that had seized control of the space.
'This is harder than I thought.'
The resistance from the enemy mages was formidable. A significant number of them seemed to be pouring out their mana with all their might.
Even though Jerome was breaking through their defenses with overwhelming power, it was inevitable that his magic's potency weakened and its range diminished.
Moreover, there were simply too many enemies. While he had gained the initial advantage with his magic, a considerable number had already scaled the fortress walls.
"Hold the line!"
"Get over there now!"
"Knights, carve a path!"
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
The enemy knights swiftly leaped onto the fortress walls. The allied soldiers clung to them desperately, struggling to fend them off.
As the battle turned into a close-quarters melee, the intensity of the fight escalated. Screams echoed from all directions, and bodies fell one after another onto the bloodstained ground.
Jerome stretched both arms out to his sides.
"Hrrngh!"
The moment he took a deep breath, something astonishing occurred.
Paaaah!
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
The knights who had just leaped upward were suddenly yanked backward, as if seized by an invisible force, and hurled through the air.
Not just the knights every single enemy soldier clinging to the fortress was forcibly torn away.
It was as if a massive tree had been shaken, flinging off all the insects clinging to its bark in an instant.
"Waaahhh! What the hell is this?!"
They screamed as they flailed helplessly in midair, only to crash to the ground moments later, sustaining severe injuries.
"M-Madness…"
"That was magic?"
"Is that even possible?"
Both the attacking and defending forces were so shocked that they momentarily ceased fighting.
Only those who had been clinging to the fortress walls were swept away, making the phenomenon seem all the more bizarre.
The fortress mages were so stunned that their mana momentarily faltered.
But for the fortress soldiers, who had just witnessed a miracle, confidence surged through them. With a mage like this on their side, victory felt within reach.
However, Jerome was far from optimistic about the situation.
'Ugh, this is so hard…'
Inwardly, he wore a miserable expression. With the situation so dire, he was practically fighting an army of 200,000 all by himself.
Honestly, his allies were of little help. If anything, they were a hindrance.
Yet, he couldn't retreat. If he withdrew, the fortress would be overrun in an instant.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Flames and hurricanes erupted across the battlefield as Jerome's spells detonated one after another.
Due to the magical field suppressing his power, he could only exert force at about the level of a 6th-circle mage (only?), but even that was enough to sweep away scores of unprepared enemies.
Still, the sheer number of foes was overwhelming. Before long, they were scaling the fortress walls once again.
'Ugh…'
Jerome groaned internally.
His mana consumption was rapidly increasing. Fighting while simultaneously protecting his allies was exhausting to an unbearable degree.
The tense stalemate was finally shattered by the arrival of new superhumans.
Paaaah!
Two priests unleashed a rain of black energy from the sky. They had expended all their energy from the start, aiming to inflict massive damage in an instant.
"Damn!"
Thousands of strands of black energy shot down. The allied mages were too preoccupied with maintaining the magic field to block it. No, they didn’t even have the skill to stop it.
In the end, Jerome abandoned his offensive and deployed a large-scale shield.
Paak!
Kwakwakwakwakwa—!
The black energy crashed against Jerome's shield and dissipated. Despite his magic being restricted, Jerome had successfully blocked an attack from two transcendents.
The two priests wore expressions of utter disbelief.
"What the hell is that guy?"
"A mage completely unaffected by the magic field?!"
In reality, he was simply strong enough to brute-force his way through the magic field, but the priests, unaware of Jerome’s capabilities, couldn’t comprehend it.
Of course, the rebel mages who had come here were of a lower caliber. A 7th-circle mage could still cast a decent array of spells.
However, even a 7th-circle mage couldn’t fight like Jerome.
While they were momentarily stunned by shock, Jerome extended his hand.
"Ice Spear."
Drdrdrduk!
Moisture in the air rapidly froze, forming two ice spears.
Before the priests could even regain their senses, the two spears shot forward like streaks of light.
The priests exuded energy to block them. There was no time to dodge they had no choice but to defend first and counterattack later.
Kwoooom!
"Urgh!"
The priests barely managed to withstand Jerome’s attack and immediately attempted a counteroffensive.
However, since they had not trained their bodies to become transcendents, they lacked the ability to attack and defend simultaneously.
The priests, poised to strike Jerome, widened their eyes.
“What?”
"Where did he—"
Their target was gone.
Sensing a presence behind them, the two priests hastily turned around.
Sslash!
A massive mana blade extended from Jerome’s hand, slicing through both of their necks simultaneously. Just like that, the two priests died in vain.
Yet, Jerome’s expression remained dark.
It was now widely known that the transcendents of the Salvation Church were only half-complete. Exploiting that weakness, he had slain them with ease.
His battle techniques, honed over long years of training in his mental world, far surpassed those of the priests.
But even a half-baked transcendent was still a transcendent. Exploiting their weaknesses had required an enormous amount of mana.
Had he not done so, the battle would have dragged on.
‘My mana… only half remains now.’
Looking down at the fortress after slaying the priests, Jerome bit his lip.
‘There are too many.’
While he was dealing with the priests, more enemies had swarmed up the fortress like an army of ants. As the battle raged on, allied casualties were mounting.
"Hmph!"
Jerome unleashed another surge of mana, pulling the enemy troops on the fortress toward him. He aimed to minimize the damage to his allies as much as possible.
Kwooooom!
At the same time, he extended his other hand, creating multiple massive pits in front of the fortress. The enemy soldiers fell into them, struggling desperately to escape.
Even as he fought, Jerome couldn’t understand the enemy’s actions.
‘Why…….’
A rational opponent would have withdrawn by now. They should have regrouped their remaining forces and devised a more efficient strategy.
With him present, recklessly charging in like this would only lead to massive losses, even if they managed to take the fortress.
Yet, the enemy did not retreat. They simply threw themselves forward, gripped by terror.
‘Is their commander insane?’
It was clear that this person wasn’t even considering military achievements. This went beyond incompetence this was outright madness.
Waaaaaah!
To shake off their fear, the enemy let out loud war cries and continued their assault. At this point, it was no different from sheer lunacy.
If this continued, his side would inevitably suffer heavy losses as well. Even with the advantage of fighting from within the fortress, their casualties were steadily accumulating.
So, Jerome made his decision. To minimize the damage, he would take on greater risk.
‘I’ll kill the commander first.’
He no longer assisted his allies and instead slowly lifted himself into the air.
Ziiing—!
A golden magic circle appeared in Jerome’s vision. As he focused forward, his field of view began to expand.
It was as if he were looking through a telescope, capturing distant sights with crystal clarity.
Deep within the enemy lines, someone sat leisurely with their chin resting on their hand. They wore an old, tattered gray robe, their faces shrouded in darkness.
Seeing the rows of people stationed around that figure, Jerome immediately understood.
That was the one. The commander behind this insane strategy.
At that moment, the one in the gray robe lifted their head and gazed into the air.
Their eyes met. Jerome twisted his lips into a smirk.
‘He can sense my mana?’
He had thought the man was a lunatic, but it turned out he was quite formidable.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
Locking onto the coordinates, Jerome activated a teleportation spell. It would consume a massive amount of mana, but he intended to eliminate the enemy as quickly as possible.
Space twisted behind his back, and in an instant, his body was sucked into the distortion.
Fwaaaak!
At the same time, Jerome appeared right in front of Helgenik. He had crossed that vast distance in a single step through teleportation.
This very magic had once allowed him to serve as an exceptional assassin in Ghislain’s previous life.
Kwaaaaang!
As he warped through space, Jerome unleashed a surge of mana, creating a powerful shockwave. The enemy officers nearby didn’t even have time to scream before they were obliterated.
But there was one exception.
Only Helgenik had managed to retreat backward in time.
“Oh my, oh my… I didn’t expect this level of skill. Impressive. Just which magic tower did you come from?”
The magic Jerome had used was completely different from a short-distance blink spell.
Using an extensive vision-enhancing spell to lock onto coordinates and teleport was not a feat just anyone could achieve. In fact, there were barely any mages who even knew of such a technique.
At this level, it was no exaggeration to call it the magic of legendary dragons.
Without answering, Jerome reached out his hand. His mana reserves had depleted significantly. He needed to eliminate the enemy quickly.
Fwaaash!
It was a simple energy bolt, but when he cast it, it was different. A massive surge of intense magical energy shot toward Helgenik.
Kwaaaang!
Helgenik deployed a shield to block it. At the same time, dozens of dark voids materialized around him, filled with thick shadows.
Through those voids, knights clad in black armor emerged, mounted on steeds wreathed in dark energy.
“Death Knights?”
Jerome recoiled in shock. Dozens of Death Knights swung their swords at him.
Kwaaaang!
As Jerome unleashed his mana, the Death Knights and Phantom Steeds were torn apart and sent flying backward.
However…
Drrrk!
With a mere wave of Helgenik's hand, their bodies instantly regenerated.
“…Damn. He’s stronger than I thought.”
Jerome let out a wry chuckle.
Each Death Knight possessed power on par with an elite knight. Even wide-area magic wouldn’t be enough to easily erase them.
And even if he did manage to annihilate them, that necromancer would just keep reviving them.
His opponent was no ordinary superhuman. Even if he fought at full strength, it would take a considerable amount of time to win.
And with the amount of mana he had already expended, he couldn’t take him down in a single strike.
Even if he chose to fight to the end, his opponent wouldn’t engage directly. A necromancer wouldn’t be foolish enough for such a battle.
Guooooooo…
The shredded corpses around them started merging into grotesque forms and rising again.
“Kill the enemy!”
Knights and soldiers from the rear surged forward.
No matter how powerful Jerome was, he couldn’t face all of them alone.
‘This is a failure.’
Killing the enemy commander now was impossible.
But at least he had learned his opponent’s intentions Helgenik truly didn’t care if all his forces perished.
After all, they would simply be reborn as an immortal army.
Of course, no matter how vast Helgenik’s mana reserves were, he was still human. He couldn’t possibly revive an entire force of 200,000 as undead.
‘Even so, the fact that he’s using this tactic means he has some way to make it happen.’
This was the most troublesome kind of enemy to face in war.
Before retreating, Jerome fixed his gaze on Helgenik and asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Helgenik. And yours?”
“Jerome. We’ll meet again. It’s a pain, but I’m going to have to kill you.”
“I’ll be waiting with excitement.”
Both men knew they couldn’t kill each other here and now. So neither saw any reason to force the fight.
Originally, in Ghislain’s past life, it had been Parniel who stood against Helgenik. But since Ghislain had changed the future, the two had met earlier than intended.
Fwoosh!
Jerome’s body was sucked into space and vanished.
Watching this, Helgenik chuckled.
“There really are some interesting people in this world.”
Jerome felt a similar sentiment. He never expected to encounter such a powerful opponent as soon as he stepped into the world.
Of course, unlike Helgenik, he did not find this situation enjoyable.
Unlike a necromancer who thrived on death, Jerome was someone who saved lives.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
While he had been momentarily absent, the fortress had already been swept into a fierce battle. Without hesitation, he sought out the fortress commander and spoke.
"Retreat."
"What are you saying?! We must defend this place!"
"You can't hold out. There's a lunatic monster on their side. You won’t last even half a day."
"If, if you help us, Master Mage, wouldn’t we be able to hold out for a few days at least? No, if you use your magic like before, we could even—"
Before the fortress commander could finish his sentence, Jerome pointed outside the fortress.
Grrrrr...
Corpses were rising. The fallen enemies on the fortress walls were staggering back to their feet.
Soon, terrified voices of the soldiers filled the air.
"T-The corpses are getting up!"
"Dark magic! It's dark magic!"
"The ones who died are coming back to life!"
GRAAAAAH!
As Helgenik unleashed his full power, countless corpses rose and began attacking the soldiers again.
Terror gripped the defenders. This was no longer a battle against the living.
No matter if they severed heads or pierced hearts, the undead kept moving.
Jerome turned to the fortress commander, whose face had turned pale.
"Hurry and flee. You won’t be able to hold out with these numbers. You’ll need a much larger army and priests."
"B-But we have to hold out until the kingdom’s forces gather—"
"It’s meaningless! You’re better off retreating and joining the rest of the army as fast as possible."
Yet, the fortress commander still hesitated. No, more accurately, he was too stunned by the sheer absurdity of the situation to make a decision.
Jerome shouted urgently.
"Move! I’ll buy as much time as I can, so get out of here now!"
Only then did the fortress commander nod.
"I-I understand. I leave it to you."
Bwooooo!
The retreat horn blared, and the soldiers hurriedly withdrew from the fortress.
GRAAAAAH!
The undead scattered in all directions, mindlessly hunting the living.
Left alone, Jerome let out a deep sigh.
"Sigh… I shouldn’t have come out. The world outside my bed is too dangerous."
Life was exhausting. Already, he missed the days of lounging in the magic tower eating good food, reading entertaining books, and lazing about.
But what could he do?
Those with power had to bear the responsibility that came with it. That was what he had been taught, and how he had been raised.
"Alright, I’m going to run too… but not without having a little fun first."
Clenching his teeth, golden light flared in Jerome’s eyes.
At the same time, an immense surge of mana erupted from his body, engulfing the undeads.
KWA-AAAAAAANG!