Chapter 733: Chapter 733: Clown (2)
The moment the battle began, Abet Nekrapeto moved to the relatively safe rear.
Though his nature craved attention—bold enough to stand at the vanguard during the invasion of District 9—he wasn’t planning to repeat that mistake.
He was somewhat confident in melee combat, but...
‘How can you stand in front fighting a monster like that?’
His close-combat skills were basically just self-defense techniques, and even those were useless against them—he knew that well.
Of course, skill aside, there’s also the difference in professions—
“Don’t hide, come here! You bastard!!”
A former comrade yelled as she watched him move back.
Of course, such insults didn’t faze him—they were practically compliments to people like us.
“Pssst! What nonsense! Since when is a commander going to the rear considered hiding?”
A natural statement, but the one captured by the enemy, who refused to do the obvious, yelled back in frustration.
“Then why the hell did you do that back then...! If not for that, I... I...!”
“Pssst, but thanks to that, we made a good connection, didn’t we?”
“T-That’s no excuse...!”
Their argument could have lasted for days if time allowed, but the situation was too bad to waste time.
They were in rear positions of opposing sides and far apart.
“Enough chit-chat—use your magic!”
“...Fine!”
“Nekrapeto!”
“Pssst...”
Both participated in battle support from the rear, and the quarrel naturally ended.
That was a relief for him.
「Rianne Vivian cast grade 4 dark magic [Curse of Rotten Land].」
「All enemies within radius suffer greatly reduced defense.」
That stupid woman was just a curse spammer, but he was different.
“Pssst... what a petty move.”
「Abet Nekrapeto cast [Blessing of the Legion].」
「All allies within radius receive 50% reduced harmful effects and a 20% boost to their highest stat.」
He had recently gained a grade 2 AoE buff too.
“...Damn! Leyton’s dead! Nekrapeto!”
“Pssst, leave it to me!”
Unlike the ambiguous dark mage Vivian, the necromancer had skills that made him ridiculously strong even in small battles.
「Abet Nekrapeto cast [Puppet].」
Necros can resurrect dead minions to fight again.
Not as strong as when alive, but with buffs, they’re quite useful.
「Abet Nekrapeto cast [Bloodline].」
「All passive skills possessed by the caster are granted to minions.」
Poison flows through their blood, bones are strengthened, and all attacks apply debuffs.
But that’s not all.
「Abet Nekrapeto cast [Modification].」
「Randomly modifies one minion.」
Orkulis’s elite members summoned here were skilled enough to be called upon.
Those who died were revived with random special traits.
For example...
「Great success.」
「Minion: Coral Leyton gains [Giant Monster] trait.」
Coral Leyton, a melee warrior, transformed upon revival into a giant beast that could hold his own against that barbarian.
“Pssst... Great success right from the start, lucky.”
Kraaaang-!
Stronger than ever, the new summoned beast (Coral Leyton) faced the giant barbarian.
“Psssst... to have strength enough to stop that ignorant barbarian!”
Nekrapeto sincerely hoped his newly created minion would survive.
That level of stat would place it among the top of his pocket dimension collection—
Screech-!
“...Huh?”
Watching the battle from the rear, he rubbed his eyes.
Boom-!
...That thing dies in one sword strike?
‘A-great-success too? With the best base stats?’
He couldn’t understand.
There was a dealer near that barbarian, and hearing how strong he was, seeing Leyton cut down instantly, he thought it best not to approach.
But still!
“...W-what the hell is that knight...!”
Though he spoke for himself, all Orkulis members here thought the same.
It made sense.
Even Nekrapeto, slow to react and unskilled in melee, felt it; those fighting upfront must feel it even more.
Screech-!
That unknown knight was dangerous.
Not just in one way, but every way.
Boom-!
Even more than the barbarian called the “giant.”
Pshh—!
With every sword swing, blood sprayed relentlessly.
Twenty elite troops eagerly waiting.
And hundreds more supporting them.
“...”
“...”
Before long, they began retreating, no longer actively fighting.
They were all protecting themselves.
A common occurrence when defeat is imminent.
They only pretended to fight, playing a game of nerves until retreat orders came.
‘...I must prepare.’
Having lived a life of highs and lows, Nekrapeto sensed the atmosphere faster than anyone and pictured the situation to flee.
But of course, running now was impossible.
No retreat orders had been given yet.
‘I’ll pretend to help a bit...’
Once the opportunity comes, I’ll run without looking back.
Ah, just to be safe, let me fall back a bit more.
「Abet Nekrapeto cast [Puppet].」
He didn’t spare support skills.
Doing at least his share would give him something to say after retreating, and without this, the frontline might collapse.
But...
‘...Huh?’
His judgment was rational, but also a huge mistake.
The moment the new puppet rose.
The knight’s gaze turned to Nekrapeto.
Mechanical yet hunter-like glowing eyes.
‘Why is he looking at me...!’
He screamed inside, uneasy, but he actually knew why.
Because he could tell at a glance.
The thought the knight had when looking at him.
‘Ah, I have to kill this one quickly.’
The knight’s eyes showed no hatred or irritation.
That alone gave him goosebumps.
So...
Thunk.
He took an involuntary step back.
Tat-tat!
As if the signal had been given, the knight leapt high.
“What the—?”
“Hold on a sec.”
The knight lightly stepped on the shoulder of the giant barbarian, using the leap to launch himself at Nekrapeto in one bound.
“...”
It was a very strange sensation.
Like time was flowing slowly.
Even as the knight rapidly approached, his mind raced faster than ever.
Searching for a way to survive.
‘Momentary immortality.’
At first, it didn’t seem like a good idea.
Sure, it would make him invincible for a minute...
But could he really survive after that?
‘...I wasn’t supposed to face this! Why does this always happen when it’s that barbarian?’
Frustrated and resentful, he quickly cleared his mind.
Such thoughts don’t help survival.
So...
‘...Damn it!’
He immediately put into action the most likely way to live that he thought of in that instant.
「Abet Nekrapeto used [Staff of the Underworld].」
Staff of the Underworld.
A legendary item ranked No. 17 among Double Numbers and considered the definitive graduation weapon of necromancers.
It carried risks in many ways...
‘Call of the Underworld.’
Without hesitation, Nekrapeto activated the staff’s effect “Call of the Underworld.”
Among the four options, of course, he picked the easiest and most annoying one—
‘Rianne Vivian!’
With a sharp focus, having completed target designation, the aura disappeared, replaced by swirling green light.
「Character and designated target receive the Call of the Underworld.」
A realm of the dead where no outsider may interfere.
‘Pssst... Even I think that was a smart move.’
Now, all he had to do was endure here.
The process might be dull, but... as long as Rianne Vivian didn’t die, he could tease and soothe her.
...Or so he thought.
“Wow... the scenery here is something else.”
Until he saw a barbarian calmly looking around.
「Character used [Aegis Barrier].」
「Receives designated target’s effects instead.」
Three green moons hang split across the sky.
They look so clear and close it’s like being in space.
Look closely, and you can see the moons are made of writhing corpses.
[Gurrrr...]
Zombie-like sounds echo around as background music.
Oh, and only above—below is a bleak dry plain stretching endlessly—
Boom!
Green magma bursts up from cracks in the earth.
‘If you get hit by that, debuffs stack, right? Need to be careful.’
So this is what it feels like.
Different from the game visuals.
Maybe because the light shining from above is green, it really feels like another world.
‘Anyway, sightseeing ends here.’
Even the best views come after a meal—no time to admire scenery; there’s work to do.
So...
Sweep.
After scanning the surroundings, I looked straight ahead, and the guy I met flinched at the eye contact.
“B-Bjorn Yandel! Why a-are you here...!”
Using the active skill [Aegis Barrier] lets you take hits meant for an otherwise unblockable “targeted” instant skill.
This was the first time I used it in real combat.
“Well?”
No reason to explain it to him—
“I—I clearly targeted Vivian...!”
Ah... I didn’t mean to target Raven.
I thought so and just used my shield without question.
‘Well, they were both in similar spots.’
Though it started as a misunderstanding, it wasn’t a bad situation.
Corpse Collector, Abet Nekrapeto.
I wanted to kill this bastard myself.
Grinning, I raised my hammer.