The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 168
“Hmm. That’s fine. I’ve become curious about you, so I’ll come find you as soon as possible.”
I closed the dimensional fragment and greeted Atina, who had arrived.
“Phew, just in time. If I had been a bit late, I would have been trapped inside the tower. You’re lucky to have noticed quickly.”
“Ravid and Gagar fell, so…”
Atina fell silent at my calm response, and Valdur apologized to me.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect the ones you entrusted to me…”
“There’s no need to apologize. We were in an impossible situation. If we can find any traces, revival isn’t entirely impossible.”
However, the situation looked bleak.
Anelis wore a sorrowful expression.
After all, Kerio, who had been in charge of protecting her, had fallen.
Moreover, since I had been quite far away, reviving them would be extremely difficult.
The faint connection had almost disappeared.
At least Gagar, who was stronger than the other two, still had some magic left, so there was still hope. But for the other two, it was practically a lost cause.
It was sad, but there was nothing we could do in our current situation.
The undead may be immortal, but they’re not absolutely invincible. They’re only conditional.
“It’s fortunate that you’re unharmed.”
Valdur couldn’t lift his head, looking like he had no face to show.
Gorun also mumbled softly.
“I’m sorry, Master. I failed to protect them. I lost all my subordinates too.”
“It’s I who told you to retreat if it’s dangerous. You did well to retreat and even helped defend this place, so it’s praiseworthy. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Gorun seemed to relax a bit at my words, unlike Valdur.
“It’s good to see you getting along with your comrades. It’s reassuring. You’re doing well.”
It was Untinia.
Perhaps she thought that her attitude towards other party members and the undead would also apply to Anelis, as she looked quite pleased.
“Thank you for your help. I’m ashamed to have brought you to this dangerous place and made you fight.”
“No, it’s not like that. Even if I’ve left my family, I can’t just stand by and watch a child of the Dark Elf bloodline suffer. And I’m actually grateful to be here.”
“I didn’t expect your skills to be so exceptional. You have at least two undead, including the Night Banneret I saw in the desert, and even special undead like Mages and Priests. Honestly, I’m impressed.”
In reality, I had already shown my full strength.
It was fortunate that I could hide information about the dimensional fragments, the Dwarf Mutr, and the Dragon’s existence.
“In fact, I should have hidden the Soul Tower too.”
I thought that the Goddess Church was like a mole.
If it weren’t for those guys, Untinia wouldn’t have made it this far.
“Instead, the damage would have been greater.”
Objectively, it was clear that Atina, Anelis, and Untinia joining forces early on had given us a significant advantage.
However, even if I acknowledged that, I wanted to keep the information hidden.
It’s all in the past now.
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, and turned to Untinia.
“I’m sorry to say this, but it seems difficult to return to the mainland for now. Is there any way to contact your country?”
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible. Something’s happened, and communication is completely cut off.”
Then, it’s impossible to inform the situation…
There’s no choice. At least Freina knows that something’s happened here, so I’ll have to rely on her to explain the situation.
Untinia nodded calmly when I told her the situation.
“It can’t be helped. It’s not like the situation is easy to handle. I’m not going to insist on anything. And… even if I could leave, I’d rather stay.”
When I looked puzzled at her words, Untinia smiled and said,
“I want to protect Anelis, and I think Lord Doeinah’s value is higher than I thought.”
In other words, she seemed to be planning to repay her debt to me.
“It’s not bad.”
I don’t like being in debt, but it seemed like Untinia saw her actions as a kind of investment.
It seemed like she had upgraded her evaluation of me from Anelis’s protector to a long-term ally of the Rielyea family.
She seemed to be considering the possibility of deep cooperation, not just superficially.
And in fact, if she’s willing to help, I should be grateful.
When I saw her fight earlier, her skills were exceptional, and even if she’s not the best, if anyone helps me in this situation, I should be thankful.
“Thank you for recognizing my value.”
“Rather, I should blame myself for not seeing it correctly until now.”
“I’ll gratefully accept any help you can offer, even if our current situation isn’t favorable.”
As soon as my conversation with Untinia ended, Atina approached me.
“Ah, Inha. By the way, do you remember that lake?”
“That thing dried up instantly.”
“Dried up instantly?”
“Yeah. It was like the blood had drained out of it, leaving a hole in the ground.”
I maintained a serious expression and asked Orié.
“Orié, was the Soul Tower okay?”
“It was a bit unstable, but it didn’t cause any major issues.”
“So, what about the other buildings?”
“The total amount of magic decreased somewhat.”
The mana disturbance affected the buildings created with magic… At the moment, there were limitations to what we could know.
“I’ll look into it separately.”
Everyone looked exhausted, including me and Kail. We hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep on our way here, which made us all desperate for rest. I suggested we return to the tower and take a break.
After all, the undead wouldn’t be sleeping anyway.
Golrun said she’d take care of the night watch, and Orié promised to wake us up if anything happened.
Since everyone was indeed tired, they all agreed with my suggestion and headed down to the tower’s underground, quickly falling asleep in their respective rooms.
It seemed each of us had our own rooms, courtesy of Orié, who had prepared them in advance.
When everyone was asleep, I called Orié and ordered her to transfer some of the life force she had collected using the Energy Drain to me.
“You look really tired; wouldn’t it be better to just rest?”
“There’s something important I need to do.”
Orié was genuinely worried about me, but I wasn’t concerned about wasting life force.
Orié reluctantly transferred the life force to me, and I felt a refreshing sensation, as if I had just woken up.
Repeating this process wasn’t good, and it was indeed best to get real sleep, but time was precious in our current situation.
“No.”
“I’ll be going inside the fragment of the dimension for a bit.”
“I’ll set up a barrier to conceal the situation inside the room, and if enemies attack, I’ll send one of the Specters under my command. Leave the entrance open; it won’t be difficult.”
Thanks to Orié’s territory being the Soul Tower on the ground, all of this was possible.
“I’ll come too.”
At that moment, the door opened, and Kailra entered.
Orié looked slightly surprised, seemingly unaware of her presence.
Although she didn’t use her assassin skills in real combat anymore, she still maintained exceptional abilities.
It wasn’t strange, considering she was teaching and learning at the same time.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I know my limits, but I have to go.”
She glanced at Oriene and continued speaking.
“Are you going to meet Dragon, then?”
Oriene couldn’t hide her surprise at her words.
It seemed like she judged Oriene to be trustworthy, and her tone implied as much.
At the same time, she seemed to be trying to draw Oriene to her side.
“I won’t let you go alone, anyway.”
As expected, Oriene joined forces with Kaila.
I didn’t particularly like this kind of thing, but it seemed to make her quite anxious.
With one guard attached to us, the argument didn’t last long, and Kaila and I left Oriene in charge and entered the fragment of dimensions.
See you next time.(___)
<163rd Episode﹥ The Unexpected Change
-“You came early. Hmm, the woman beside you came too. Is she your personal guard? She’s using a strangely familiar sword.”
Kaila flinched.
Unlike before, she seemed to be addressing both Kaila and me simultaneously.
“Mutr, or is it Dwarf, where are they?”
-“They’re underground. I asked about you, but you insolently kept quiet.”
“Do you think you’ve been touched?”
-“Not particularly. It was unpleasant, but it wasn’t mine, so I didn’t touch it. He chose to be trapped underground himself.”
The dragon said it was only polite.
Still, I searched for Mutr first, and as the dragon said, I confirmed that he was safe.
I told him about the outside situation, which would be uncomfortable, but he had to live here for the time being.
Mutr’s face turned pale, but he eventually accepted reality, acknowledging my determination.
To be honest, I also wanted to take Mutr outside.
However, I wanted to hide Mutr’s existence from Untinia, so I had to apologize to him, and he had to stay here for the time being.
“This place is safer, after all.”
As soon as my conversation with Mutr ended, I headed to where the dragon’s corpse was stored.
-“Do you really need to come here?”
“I have to see your face.”
-“You’re just curious about my condition, aren’t you? You don’t want to show me your ugly, headless appearance.”
I’d already seen enough, so it seemed pointless to say that now, but the dragon didn’t seem to think so.
-“You saw me when I was asleep, which is unpleasant, and if you show me your ugly appearance when you’re awake, it would be even more unpleasant, wouldn’t it?”
It seemed to be both unpleasant and embarrassing.
However, I had no reason to care about the dragon’s feelings.
“Are you really unable to do anything but talk, even though you’re complaining?”
The dragon didn’t show a hostile attitude, but its tone was forceful, which didn’t seem to match its words at all.
In other words, it might really be unable to do anything but talk.
-“You said that, but you still came.”
The dragon’s corpse looked no different from when it was abandoned.
It didn’t regain consciousness, and its severed head didn’t reattach itself.
-“Yes, I’ve confirmed it’s the same. Are you satisfied?”
“A little.”
I gazed at the hazy eyes and said.
“Is your soul in your heart, or has the light in your eyes disappeared?”
-That’s right. Of course, it’s not like my body can move separately, but…
It was unexpected. If I couldn’t move at all, I wondered why I was still alive in that state.
I asked honestly, and Dragon replied in a tone that seemed annoyed.
-After my neck was cut off, there was no vessel outside to hold my soul. I knew this would happen, but there was no choice.
“Why did you try to survive in that form?”
-I still have things to do. I couldn’t just die like that.
“What things?”
-Yes.
Dragon, who had been silent for a while, slowly opened his mouth.
-Human, can you tell me about the current situation on the continent?
-As I said, I have things to do. That’s why I’m still alive in this pitiful state. As the last guardian dragon, I must fulfill my final duty.
Dragon spoke in a calm yet urgent tone.
“What’s that duty?”
-To protect this dimension and the continent.
“What nonsense is that?”
-I know you don’t understand. A lot of time has passed outside. So, tell me about the situation on the continent.
From noble mtl dot com
It was an incomprehensible conversation, but the other party seemed quite desperate.
Although the external situation wasn’t good and time was limited, we didn’t have zero time to talk, so I steeled myself for a sleepless night and asked him again.
“Don’t just vaguely tell me about the continent’s situation. What do you want to hear?”
-Overall, I want to hear everything, but if I had to pick something important, I’d like to know about the Dragoinian, Elves, the Church of Light, and the Dark Mages.
“The Dragoinian?”
Most of the information was already known, but about the Dragoinian, I…
-Do you know something?
“Ah… um. I’ve only heard rumors, so it’s not accurate…”