Chapter 537
Now, Let’s Kill That Bastard. (1)
Helgenik advanced, gauging for the right moment.
“This should mean the plan was a success…”
There was no way reinforcements wouldn't arrive after witnessing this massive army of corpses. Thanks to him, the Salvation Church must have had a moment to breathe.
All that remained was to use this opportunity to seize the Kingdom of Grimwell.
With the Salvation Church committing all its forces, the Kingdom of Grimwell wouldn’t be able to hold out.
“The Salvation Church gets what they want… and I get to expand my army of corpses. A win-win.”
Most of all, this Orb of Life had presented him with a new avenue of knowledge. With a bit more research, he felt he could push his mastery to the next level.
“It’s about time to wrap this up.”
The Parsali Kingdom Army had already been pushed to the brink. With nearly all their strongholds lost, they had no choice but to fight to the death.
If the kingdom’s forces were to have even a sliver of hope in minimizing their losses, Jerome would have to reappear once more.
Kwaaaaang!
“There he is.”
As expected, Jerome had returned. He had apparently recovered his mana, unleashing large-scale magic without restraint.
“Hmph, he’s truly impressive. His mana recovery speed is absurdly fast.”
The man had been fighting him non-stop for days. Under normal circumstances, he should have collapsed from exhaustion, yet here he was, already back in battle.
Though he wasn't casting magic with the same force as before, his recovery speed was still astonishing.
“Go. Let’s end this today.”
Graaah!
The two priests, resurrected once more, shot toward Jerome.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
As Jerome continued to wipe out the approaching corpses, his face twisted in frustration at the sight of the two priests.
“Seriously, you guys again? Annoying bastards.”
Kwaang!
Jerome extended his hand and sent the two priests flying. But his expression remained grim.
“Tch.”
Unlike before, they hadn't been destroyed in a single blow. That meant Jerome had weakened.
He had no choice but to strain himself and scrape together more mana.
Kwaaaaang!
The two charging priests had their heads crushed instantly.
Jerome steadied his breathing and thought to himself.
‘It won’t end until I kill that bastard.’
As long as Helgenik, the source of the mana, remained alive, the corpses would continue reviving.
Jerome knew this, but he had stepped forward to buy time for others to prepare.
Right now, there was no way to kill Helgenik.
‘Just hold on a little longer.’
They had lost their strongholds and had been pushed back, but that didn’t mean the entire kingdom had been overrun by the dead.
The survivors were gathering for the final battle. The longer he held out, the more time they would have to prepare.
In truth, the fact that he had managed to hold out this long was already an achievement worthy of history. Even so, Jerome had no intention of stopping.
“Hup!”
Kwaaaaaang!
The corpses that had been approaching him were swept away. Once again, Jerome had expended a significant amount of mana because of the priests, and he was just about to retreat.
His plan was to recover his mana before reducing the number of corpses further.
At the very moment he stepped back with that intention—
Paaaak!
“Ugh!”
The surrounding space twisted, and dozens of Death Knights appeared.
Kakakakakang!
The Death Knights swung their swords down as if to cleave Jerome in half. However, they failed to pierce the shield that had instantly formed around him.
‘That bastard is trying to finish this now!’
He had always known this moment would come. His enemy must have found him to be an intolerable nuisance.
Even so, instead of showing himself, the enemy had sent only the Death Knights first.
It was clear he intended to push Jerome, whose mana was already depleted, even further into a corner. A truly cunning bastard.
‘I don’t have enough mana.’
Unleashing a large-scale area spell was impossible. If he expended more mana, even escaping would become difficult.
Paaat!
Jerome cast Blink in an attempt to escape the battlefield. But the Death Knights riding Phantom Steeds relentlessly pursued him.
Some of them even rode past him, scattering in all directions to block off his retreat.
Helgenik knew exactly what had to be stopped when dealing with a mage.
“Damn it.”
The Death Knights continued their assault while sealing off his escape routes.
If he used Blink consecutively, he might be able to get away, but that was exactly what Helgenik wanted.
‘With my current mana, there’s a limit to how far I can escape.’
Wasting mana like that wasn’t an option. If he depleted his reserves, Helgenik would eventually catch up to him.
Jerome had no choice but to conserve as much mana as possible and take down the Death Knights first.
After all, reviving them would force Helgenik to expend a considerable amount of mana as well.
Ziiing—!
Jerome’s hands became wrapped in mana, glowing with a golden hue.
Kakakakakakang!
Blocking the swords of the dozens of attacking Death Knights, he engaged in close combat. He had no other choice if he wanted to save his mana.
Fortunately, his years of training had elevated his martial skills to a proficient level.
Puhk! Puhk! Puhk!
His fists shattered the Death Knights’ helmets and pierced through their chests. Armor crumpled, limbs twisted and broke apart.
However, the Death Knights quickly regenerated and lunged at him once more.
Kagagak!
Despite taking minor cuts from their swords, Jerome remained calm, systematically disabling them one by one.
At some point, the Death Knights stopped regenerating they simply collapsed once struck down.
As time passed, the remaining Death Knights backed away, forming a circle around him.
“Huff… Huff…”
Jerome, breathing heavily with exhaustion, glanced around at the enemies surrounding him.
Only about ten remained. Even with his mana nearly depleted, he had managed to take down over thirty Death Knights.
‘That bastard really is insidious.’
The very person who had achieved an astonishing feat grit his teeth as he glared at the Death Knights. He could feel the end approaching.
His opponent was deliberately not restoring the Death Knights to conserve mana.
Fwoosh!
The remaining Death Knights lunged at him all at once.
Jerome, his face darkened with exhaustion, let out a faint chuckle.
"I'm still fine."
Thud!
The battle resumed once more. Jerome clenched his teeth and cut down the Death Knights charging at him.
He hadn't rested properly for days. He had barely eaten. The seemingly endless supply of mana had finally run dry.
Though he could recover mana simply by breathing, the consumption far outpaced the recovery, leaving him no choice.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The Death Knights' attacks dug deeper into Jerome's body. Blood spurted from multiple wounds, and his movements slowed.
Thud!
Even so, Jerome gritted his teeth and continued to bring down the Death Knights.
And when he finally crushed the last one's skull—
Rumble!
Strange bones bursted out from beneath the ground.
Jerome sensed them immediately and tried to evade, but his body was too drained to move perfectly.
Shhk!
"Argh!"
He let out a painful scream as bones pierced his thigh and side. Though he barely managed to pull himself free, the bones continued to rise.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Soon, they surrounded him completely, forming an enclosure. Jerome desperately dodged, but with his slowed movements, he couldn't avoid getting injured.
As he struggled to evade the onslaught, he eventually came to a halt.
The bones had stopped rising.
"Bone Prison..."
He was already trapped inside.
Whoosh...
Darkness swirled and took form.
It soon shifted into the figure of Helgenik.
Helgenik smirked as he gazed at Jerome, now caged within the prison of bones.
"Finally caught the rat."
He had meticulously exhausted Jerome's mana over time.
Even if Jerome was recovering little by little, it was too late now. Weakened and grievously wounded, he would never escape Helgenik’s grasp.
Indeed, Jerome let out a hollow laugh and let his body sag.
Dark mana surged between the rising bones. His opponent had even created a small-scale mana field just for him.
There was absolutely no way to escape in this state.
"I never thought it would end like this."
"You should've known when to stop. Because of you, I had to use far too much power."
With a wave of Helgenik’s hand, the bones began closing in on Jerome.
Creak...
There was nowhere to run.
Jerome decided to accept the death that had come for him.
"This is why I hate leaving home. Barely got to have any fun before dying."
Seeing his calm demeanor, Helgenik briefly halted the movement of the bones and asked,
"...Just what are you?"
“Just a magician.”
“Why are you doing something so utterly pointless?”
“Does there always have to be a reason?”
“Then what?”
“I just helped people because I have the power to do so.”
“You help because you have power?”
“Yes. The talent and environment I was born with are blessings the world has given me. So, it’s only natural to use them for the world.”
“Hahaha!”
Helgenik laughed as if he found it amusing. He had never met anyone like this before.
To think someone could be this naïve!
So he asked again.
“Even if the result of that foolishness is death?”
“Of course, I don’t want to die. I’m already regretting stepping out of my house.”
“Hahaha! You really are an interesting one.”
Jerome turned to the laughing Helgenik and asked,
“What about you? Why do you do this when you have that kind of power?”
“Because I have power.”
It was the same answer, but the meaning was vastly different. Helgenik continued leisurely,
“Because I have power, I can do things like this. A blessing of the world? Do you think a lion expends its strength for a rabbit?”
“……”
Jerome didn’t answer. There was no point in arguing with someone whose beliefs were fundamentally different.
Helgenik waved his hand. The bones that had momentarily stopped began to move again.
His voice echoed eerily.
“A lion and a rabbit are different from birth. To a lion, a rabbit is nothing more than prey. You are a fool who threw away a lion’s life for the sake of rabbits. No, perhaps you’re a lion with the soul of a rabbit?”
Creak…
Large and small bones began to dig into Jerome’s body.
“Urgh…!”
He tried to endure by pouring out what little mana he had left, but it wasn’t easy.
“Arghhh!”
Jerome's body convulsed in pain, unable to bear it any longer. His mind couldn’t focus, and his entire body was drenched in blood.
Helgenik smiled as he watched.
“I’ve found an excellent material. I’ll make him suffer more. Until that worthless belief and mind of his shatter.”
The deeper the pain and resentment, the stronger the undead would become.
That was the reason he didn’t take his life in an instant. Materials of this quality weren’t easy to find even if one scoured the entire continent. No, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it impossible.
Helgenik waited in excitement but suddenly lifted his head.
“Hmm?”
Flash!
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and struck down.
Boom!
Helgenik had already moved his body out of the way. But he could feel it.
The immense power surging toward this place.
Swish!
Helgenik’s body shifted backward once more.
Slash!
Dozens of blue daggers slashed through the spot where he had just stood.
Helgenik swiftly dodged and raised his hand.
A woman had appeared beside him in an instant, thrusting a dagger toward him.
Clang!
Divine energy surged from the dagger, and the hand that blocked the attack began to smolder slightly.
In a low voice, Helgenik asked,
“Who are you?”
Belinda smirked and answered,
“You don’t need to know.”
“How dare you….”
Helgenik gathered his energy. Even now, countless corpses were marching forward just ahead.
Yet, this woman had slipped past the undead army unnoticed. He himself hadn't even realized she was near until she was right in front of him.
Regardless of her raw strength, this meant her skill was exceptional.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Helgenik could counterattack, lightning rained down from the sky, shattering the prison of bones and obliterating the surrounding corpses.
Judging by the flow of mana, the spell had been cast from quite a distance.
“Who in the world…?”
The level of mana control was remarkable. The lightning had destroyed only the surroundings, leaving Jerome unharmed. That meant the caster was at least a 7th-Circle superhuman.
Jerome, already unconscious, collapsed to the ground.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
A series of deafening explosions made Helgenik look forward. A group of people was cutting through the undead, advancing toward him.
“So it was them?”
Realizing that multiple high-level superhumans had appeared, Helgenik ignored Belinda and moved.
“The specimen…”
His first priority was retrieving Jerome.
No matter how strong the newcomers were, the battlefield was still filled with corpses. It would take them time to break through.
Belinda quickly moved to intercept, but Helgenik was slightly faster.
Flash!
Using magic to leap through space, he reached Jerome and bent down to grab him.
Then, without warning, a sharp killing intent carved into his body.
Slash!
He jerked back in an instant, but this time, he failed to evade completely.
A thin wound had already been carved across his chest.
‘I need to retreat.’
The moment he felt the slash, he quickly abandoned Jerome.
A necromancer didn’t fight head-on. He needed to step back and mobilize the undead. In fact, he was already reacting a bit too late.
Just as he resolved to retreat—
Rumble! Rumble!
A spear fell from the sky.
Wrapped in a crimson aura, it tore through the air at terrifying speed.
“…!!”
Helgenik had no time to react to the perfectly timed follow-up attack.
BOOM!
The spear pierced straight through his chest, slamming into the ground with immense force.