The Necromancer in The Novel Picks up Bones - Chapter 113
Only Noblemtl
Episode 113
20 minutes later.
The hunters, including Baek Sa-jun, left the written word. There were some uneasy parts as it had only been a short time since they had overcome the monster offensive, but there was nothing they could do.
300 hunters headed towards the portal.
-Whaaaaah!
A field of vision that turns white.
When I closed my eyes and opened them, the group had reached a different area than Seomyeon. A street that was a mess due to erosion. I saw a sign that said ‘Yangjeong Station’.
“… … .”
“… … .”
The group remained silent and looked around cautiously.
I was on guard in case there were monsters. However, there were no monsters left at Yangjeong Station.
Although I felt a very slight movement, I got scared and ran away when I heard the sound.
“Has the light of the World Tree reached here?”
“Maybe it could have reached the vicinity of Busan Metropolitan City Hall. Then things would be easier.”
“I hope so.”
The Sword Emperor looked back while talking to a guild member. Where his eyes met, Han Mina was standing. She sighed and stepped forward.
A monocle made of light appeared on his face.
“Was it a gift called Mapper?”
“Yes. It’s my only talent. Finding my way. It’s the reason I’ve been able to survive in Busan until now.”
Hanmi Na shed Baek Sa Jun’s tears.
“And that’s why I was dragged here. That guy is really good at manipulating people.”
It’s not that I’m dissatisfied.
Whether it was Hanmi or the hunters gathered here, they knew very well how important this time was.
– Gift, activates .
– Destination: Busan Metropolitan City Hall.
Monocle guided Hanmina through the geography.
She made a mental plan of where to go. Then, taking advantage of the gap, the hunters began to use the magic they had prepared in advance.
– Slurp… … .
These were spells like sound blocking and acceleration.
If you use these, you will be able to move quickly and with less risk of being detected by enemies.
When preparations were finished, Hanmina stepped forward.
“Let’s go. Just follow me.”
The group began to move quickly.
The speed at which they were moving was extremely fast.
Although Hanmina showed us the best path, the biggest problem was the disappearance of monsters.
“Hey, it’s easier to move since we don’t have to meet any monsters. This time, over there.”
The monsters hadn’t completely disappeared, but they weren’t enough to block the path.
The group continued on without stopping.
“This is my first time coming to this area.”
One of the hunters looked around.
What was once an ordinary road was now a place filled with monster colonies.
“Was the erosion this severe?”
“Wouldn’t it be worse if we went to Busan Metropolitan City Hall? That’s the base of monsters.”
“Ugh, I’m nervous… … .”
The tension was evident on the hunters’ faces.
300 people. They are the best, but honestly, that’s not a lot. I don’t even know the exact number of enemies.
Everyone here could die.
Still, I had no choice.
“… … .”
As he followed Hanmi Na across the rooftop of the building, Geomhwang recalled a story he had once heard.
What the vampire who died by his hand said.
– Master, you guys… … .
Master of the vampires.
And Woo Seok-kyung, who tried to become a vampire by cooperating with the Apocalypse faction and receiving a special item.
He received an item called and tried to become a vampire more special than anyone else.
‘Jinjo.’
The progenitor of vampires.
A vampire from the beginning. The fundamental cause of the appearance of vampire monsters in Busan.
That’s what the Emperor was guessing.
‘Whoever receives its blood will gain powers incomparable to those of a normal vampire.’
Letum would be an example.
We don’t know how many more such beings there are. We also don’t know how much power Jinjo has among them.
I couldn’t even make a proper plan.
“I guess I have no choice but to rely on improvisation.”
Just like we stopped the monster attack earlier.
The Emperor stomped the ground to hide his frustration. Then, he looked around to be on the lookout for any monsters, and witnessed something interesting.
‘Hmm, those two… … .’
Baek Sa-jun and Lee Hyuk-woon.
To be exact, the sight of Lee Hyuk-woon silently staring at Baek Sa-jun, who was running ahead.
‘It’s an interesting relationship no matter how you look at it.’
They do not trust each other on a human level, and rather, they appear to be hostile to each other.
But we have a relationship where we trust each other’s abilities.
The Emperor smiled faintly.
‘That relationship will help me now.’
Just like the previous monster offensive.
Because we have confidence in each other’s abilities, we have no hesitation in taking action.
That would help in the current situation.
‘The back of my head feels hot.’
While the Emperor was thinking about the two, Baek Sa-jun felt an intense gaze.
As I turned my head, my eyes met with the person who was watching me. It was none other than Lee Hyuk-woon.
“… … .”
“… … .”
He tried to ignore it, but the gaze was too harsh. Baek Sa-jun let out a deep sigh.
“If you have something to say, say it. Don’t glare.”
No answer came back.
Just as emotionless eyes stared, Baek Sa-jun felt frustrated and was about to ask again.
“Why did you choose me?”
“Do I really have to explain that? You know that. If it were you, I think you would have chosen me.”
“… … .”
Lee Hyuk-woon remained silent.
We are already short on personnel. We cannot remove many personnel from the main unit. Instead, we need a small number of people who can definitely achieve the goal.
If it had been Lee Hyuk-woon who had to choose the person instead of Baek Sa-jun, he would have chosen Baek Sa-jun too.
“I think you and I both think the same thing. The soul stealer, he must be killed here.”
He is a guy with extremely dangerous abilities.
If the Emperor’s body had been taken away this time, an absurd disaster would have occurred. And Lee Hyuk-woon knew that future better than anyone else.
“Where is that guy?”
“The Sword Emperor will tell you. While the main force fights the enemies, we will separate and surprise attack the place where the soul stealer is hiding. Simple, right?”
“It’s good because it’s simple.”
Lee Hyuk-woon nodded.
It’s easy to say, but if you actually go there, you never know what might happen. Everyone has to figure out how to respond on their own.
Both of them were more than capable of doing that.
“I can see our destination. Should we get ready?”
Han Mina, who was walking ahead, said.
As we passed through an area that had turned into a snowfield due to erosion, an open street came into view.
A ruined city, with countless tombstones.
“Okay, you have arrived at your destination.”
Yeonje-gu, Busan, Yeonsan-dong.
I noticed a street that had once been home to numerous buildings, but was now in ruins.
The group looked back at Yeonsan-dong from a distance. Geomhwang let out a small sigh.
“I never thought I’d come this far. It brings back memories of a failed expedition I went on in the past.”
The Emperor recalled old memories.
The story before he collapsed. He was planning to lead the hunters on an expedition to the Busan Metropolitan City Hall, the source of the situation.
As expected, the results were not good.
“I couldn’t get through the monsters.”
“Well. If I had forced it, it would have been possible, but I would have had to take a lot of damage. On the other hand, now… … .”
The hunters looked around Yeonsan-dong.
All you could see were traces of monsters living everywhere, but their presence was nowhere to be seen.
The castle was the same. There must have been vampires there, but no sound was heard.
All that was visible were corpses.
“People are dead. I need to look into it, but it looks like they died not too long ago.”
“I don’t see any living people.”
“Yes. All of them… … .”
Hanmi swallowed her words.
There were a huge number of corpses strewn around the castle. At the very least, there were thousands.
What they had in common was that they were all strangely emaciated when they died.
As if someone had sucked all my blood out.
“Hey, old man. Look over there.”
“Hmm? That’s… … .”
Isomin grabbed the hem of Yoon Sanggu’s clothes and pointed to a person buried in the pile of corpses.
He was a familiar person to both of them.
“Seong Jun-young!”
“I was wondering why I couldn’t see it, tsk. In a place like this.”
“Looking closely, I see members of the Thunder Guild. The same goes for people from other guilds and mercenary groups.”
Thunder’s Guild Master, Sung Jun-young.
A hunter who led the Busan liberation operation. He was an arrogant man, but he had the skills to match.
But what does that matter?
‘He must have been summoned from around here.’
When you pass through the fog, you will be summoned at a random point in Busan. Sung Jun-young and his group will be summoned near Yeonsan-dong, the vampires’ main base.
You must have been caught without even having time to figure out the situation.
And then it ended up like that.
“By the way… … .”
The hunters who were looking at the pile of corpses simultaneously raised their heads without anyone saying anything.
All that is visible is the red moon floating in the sky.
The moon that the world tree had pulled down was there.
“It was a red moon. But that was… … .”
Until now, the red moon was so high up in the sky that it was impossible to tell what shape it had.
But now I knew.
What shape does the red moon have?
“Can you call that the moon?”
The red moon was a huge lump of flesh.
The moon’s surface was a hideous, tangled mass of flayed flesh and veins.
Those who saw that image were speechless.
“What the heck is that… … . It can’t be alive, right?”
“Wait a minute. The moon is moving.”
The red moon was wriggling.
Then, a strange phenomenon occurred. Blue energy flowed out from the corpses scattered around the castle and was drawn to the red moon.
And the moment the blue energy touched.
– Kurrururur!
The red moon vibrated violently and its huge body began to glow blood red.
After a while, the thing spewed out red fog. The fog soon appeared on the ground of Yeonsan-dong.
– Grrrrr… … .
– Kwak! Kkeu, keuaaaah!
Created countless monsters.
Monsters that roared as soon as they were created. They glared at hunters from afar.
They became aware of their existence.
“I see you noticed.”
“The distance is this far… It seems like we were caught the moment we entered Yeonsan-dong.”
A fact that was already expected.
The Sword Emperor nodded indifferently. The hunters were astonished as they looked at the monsters.
To be exact, looking at the red moon that created them.
“Monsters… … .”
“I thought the red moon was the cause of the monsters appearing, but I didn’t expect it to be like that.”
“What did you just absorb?”
“I don’t know.”
Baek Sa-jun answered Han Mi-na’s question calmly.
“Either the soul or the life force.”
The red moon is a living ‘altar’.
Absorbs the lives and souls of the dead throughout Busan and transforms them into special energy.
Monsters are a byproduct of the process.
‘The real purpose is… … .’
Baek Sa-jun looked at the castle.
To be exact, the monster inside me.
‘To make the fallen Jinjo complete.’
The Red Moon rises fully when it has gathered all the necessary energy, and the Jinjo becomes complete.
If that happens, a disaster of unbearable proportions will occur throughout Busan.
The end is literally coming.
‘I hope that won’t happen this time.’
Because I blocked it before.
Jinjo may not be perfect, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a monster.
Baek Sa-jun looked at Geom-hwang. He stared at the castle for a long time without saying anything.
“Baek Sa-jun, Lee Hyuk-woon.”
“yes.”
The Sword Emperor opened his palm. Magical power flowed into his palm, and a small dagger was created.
“Follow this dagger. It will lead you to where the soul reaver is.”
Baek Sa-jun quietly watched Geom-hwang.
His physical condition did not look good even from the outside. He had been lying in bed for a long time, and had been fighting off monster attacks without even recovering properly.
The damage sustained during that time was not recovered.
‘Can the Emperor hold out alone?’
It was at that moment that Baek Sa-jun thought that. Suddenly, a message appeared before his eyes.
– You have come close enough to the Red Moon. The limited effect of ‘Friend of the World Tree’ will activate.
A message that a passive skill has been activated.
Before he could figure out what it was, Han Mi-na poked Baek Sa-jun in the ribs with her finger.
“Hey, your heart is glowing.”
“What? What the… … .”
Baek Sa-jun looked down at his chest.
As he said, a turquoise magical power flowed out from his chest, from where his heart was.
And then the magic power gathered.
– The limited effect of ‘World Tree Friend’ is activated. A World Tree sapling has been created.
– After some time, the seedlings will fully grow and be of great help to everyone.
It turned into a tiny sapling.
Baek Sa-jun stared blankly at the sapling in his hand. Those around him were the same.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know either. It’s a World Tree sapling that was created because of my skill… They say that after a certain amount of time, it will fully grow and be of great help.”
Baek Sa-jun’s .
That skill activates when you get close to the red moon. But I never thought it would activate in this form.
“Huh? Wait a minute. Let me try this.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I get it.”
Baek Sa-jun handed the sapling over to Geom Hwang.
The Emperor grabs the sapling. Baek Sa-jun opened up enough distance between himself and the Emperor.
The sapling did not return to Baek Sa-jun.
“What were you testing?”
“I tested to see if the sapling could fall from me or not. It seems that it can. Your Majesty the Sword Emperor can take it instead.”
“Hmm, a sapling of the World Tree… … .”
The Emperor looked down at the sapling.
It’s so tiny that it fits perfectly in your bosom. I don’t know if this will help.
“Maybe you’ll get lucky with the World Water. I’ll keep it for you with a grateful heart.”
“yes.”
Geomhwang looked back at Baek Sa-jun and Lee Hyeok-un.
The soul stealer must be killed. They didn’t want to leave even the possibility of letting him go. All three of them had the same thought.
These two should be possible.
“I’ll finish up soon and come back.”
“Okay, don’t worry.”
Jinjo will be stopped by Geomhwang.
But it won’t last long. Baek Sa-jun and Lee Hyuk-woon have to finish their work quickly and come back.
The Emperor smiled as he generated magical power.
“I won’t die before you come.”