The Necromancer Who Was Despised

The Red Ogre would be joining them as well.

In reality, it was like everyone except the leader was going out to fight.

“I’ll provide as much support as possible.”

Originally, he was someone who listened to the opinions of the other leaders, but it was different now.

There was a big difference between this and the indecisive look Langtem had shown.

“We need to stop them before they dig deeper into our territory.”

Looking at their abilities so far, their chances of winning were high, but not guaranteed.

However, they couldn’t just sit back and watch.

At least for now, they had a chance of winning, but if they let time pass, they wouldn’t even be able to fight.

Giving up their territory and running away was impossible.

Durk chose to obey the leader’s order, and Rorido couldn’t defy it either.

Although humans who wielded the power of dragons were bound by their own authorities, they couldn’t break the alliance, so they had to pay the price for their evil deeds.

Lorde thought that the price for the humiliation he received would be asked later, and with that in mind, he went to find his nearby subordinates.

****

“It’s convenient.”

Tinus’s words made me and other mages look at each other with tired expressions.

“If we hadn’t known about the dragon from the beginning, we would have been desperate.”

Bert spoke with a tired tone, and Prete nodded in agreement.

“It’s not that we didn’t believe in Lady Yeriya’s words, but we didn’t expect it to be this intense.”

Tinus openly revealed that he was a dragon, but since there was no one else around us, it didn’t matter.

Others would be meaningless in this territory, which was about to be destroyed.

Even with Artina and Kayla, who were in charge of escorting, only those who knew Tinus was a dragon were present.

“How can you be so carefree about this?”

“You may not know, but you can do it too, Do Inha. This is something you can achieve.”

“…Can I really do it?”

“Yes. Your way of handling magic is quite intuitive. You just lack knowledge and experience for now, but with time, you’ll be able to do it.”

“…How long will it take?”

“It’s hard to predict when you’ll take the next step, but even if it’s late, you’ll be able to do it within 100 years.”

100 years.

As a dragon, their sense of time was different.

“For humans, it’s a lifetime.”

Even that was based on Earth’s standards, where living beyond 100 years was rare.

The average lifespan in this world was less than half of that, and even then, one could only live a decent life in a safe city or a moderately sized village.

“You’re not an ordinary human, are you? A human who has reached the pinnacle can’t live like an ordinary human.”

That was true.

Moreover, the fact that even the Dark Elves and Tinus’s slaves, the two Riches, were sending admiring glances, saying they could achieve similar feats in 100 years, was also true.

“Indeed, it seems like you’ll be a commander-in-chief, Tinus-nim.”

Thinking about it, they were Dark Elves who were deeply attached to life, and black mages who had lived for over 100 years or were close to that.

For them, investing 100 years to reach the same pinnacle was a worthwhile gamble.

“I told you, it’s 100 years. The 100 years I mentioned is based on the assumption that you won’t be able to surpass the wall even then. Considering your growth rate, it’ll be much faster.”

I felt the gaze that Tinus had received earlier shift to me.

I shook my head and asked Tinus.

“But won’t they approach us first if we do it like this?”

“That’s right. They won’t be unaware of the situation, so it’s only natural.”

“Even the Red Ogres will be included, right…?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

At that time, Artina opened her mouth.

“If there aren’t too many, I can impose a limit.”

Artina said she was confident in dealing with up to five, but that was only if it was limited to the Red Ogres. If she didn’t receive the dragon’s help, Artina was only an expert who hadn’t reached the level of a master.

“Considering that only one of them appeared at first, it’s unlikely that a large number will come.”

“…I wish it were so.”

“There… no, it’s not. This is not certain, after all.”

Although I asked a few questions, Artina was hesitant to speak, saying it was just speculation and not worth worrying about.

She told me that even if the speculation was wrong, it wouldn’t harm us, so there was no need to worry.

Since she had no reason to harm us, I let it slide and asked Tinus, looking at him.

“If they attack us first….”

“Of course, we’re preparing for that. Honestly, there’s nothing bad about it. We’ve already avoided the worst.”

Tinus lifted the corner of his mouth, saying it was thanks to the foolish red ogre.

“It would be better if they attacked us a little faster….”

His words suddenly stopped.

“…It seems they’re coming right on time.”

Following Tinus, we also sensed the anomaly.

The ground, which had been still until now, began to react slightly.

“Doinha. Fall back.”

At those words, the atmosphere of our group changed.

I immediately retreated and called over the undead from the rear.

Our formation was quickly set up, and the news spread to the back.

Divine power burst forth from the rear, and I saw Nodan and some holy knights rushing towards us.

Just like before, they were coming to support Kayla.

“…Rangtem, the captain of the Black Star, doesn’t have the courage to make decisions, does he?”

-…….

Rangtem shut his mouth at Tinus’ words.

The atmosphere was ominous.

“It seems they’ve brought all their power. At least a few hundred, no, a thousand dark mages.”

It was not a decision a person without courage could make. Tinus judged so.

There were undead, chimeras, and monsters, too.

The scale was enormous.

“…….”

A dragon’s form slowly appeared behind Artina’s back.

I could sense the unique energy of the red ogre. There were at least ten of them.

“It’s like a war.”

It was indeed a war. A large-scale, head-on collision between different forces.

“…We were really lucky. If we had to face an enemy of this scale in their territory….”

I agreed with Bert’s words.

Of course, I didn’t think we could just fight them.

I had many thoughts, but it was clear that the current situation was not as good as it could be.

I quickly opened a dimensional fragment and set up a temporary base.

It was different from before. Without any interference, the temporary base was completed in an instant.

At that moment.

Quaaduk.

The territory that Tinos had been touching until a little while ago began to distort.

In the distance, the figure of a black magician wielding a staff appeared.

At the same time, Tinos’ form transformed into that of a Dragorian.

Kwaang!

He punched the distorted space.

It looked clumsy, but the result was neat.

It was as if nothing had happened, and the space returned to its original state.

“Do you dare block my path in front of me?”

It was different from before.

Just before entering the territory, Tinos’ feet were bound, but now they were not.

Tinos regarded the situation as humiliating, and his face wore a ferocious expression.

“…There’s no need to say much.”

As I watched Tinos’ expression, I gave an order to the undead.

“Eliminate them all.”

At my command, the undead responded greatly.

◈ Black Star

With my order, our response began.

The vanguard, our undead army, and the various scoundrels from the Black Star side clashed.

In the first collision, neither side showed a significant advantage.

And that was a very favorable story for us.

Although their numbers were greater, that was all.

They also had necromancers and undead, but their level was clearly inferior to mine, and their monsters were ferocious but lacked unity.

The Chimeras were a variable, but they seemed to be using powerful monsters or demon beasts, and it didn’t seem like they needed the assistance of black magicians like before.

However, they still couldn’t penetrate our mid-sized undead.

And in the meantime, Entin’s knight squad, Valdur’s team, and the demon beast hunters who had snuck in took action, making it difficult for the Chimeras to exert their power.

Rather than killing them one by one, it was enough to just restrict their movements.

It wasn’t easy to move constantly, but since some of them were undead and humans who had undergone rigorous training, they could endure.

“Is this their territory, after all?”

In reality, Tinos had already taken over the surrounding area, and I had inherited that power after setting up a temporary base.

However, since it wasn’t a place I had created and the foundation wasn’t pure magic, it didn’t provide much help to us now, but it was meaningful that they couldn’t use it.

Even so, their Chimeras were receiving magical power from the center of the area we couldn’t penetrate, which meant they could still bind us.

If we had more time, we would have taken control of the territory and even used it, but they wouldn’t give us that much time.

“Even in this state, if time passes, we’ll have the advantage.”

It wasn’t that I thought our side would have a great effect just because the collision between the two vanguards didn’t have a significant impact.

The Chimeras would use the remaining territory to hold on, but the other monsters wouldn’t.

Originally, the ones receiving the help of the vast territory should have had the advantage, but Tinos’ actions made that impossible.

Therefore, the black magicians tried to eliminate our undead as much as possible, but the undead priest squad led by Volledi and our skeleton mages were not just watching.

The only thing that was overwhelmingly in their favor was the number of dark mages.

What filled that gap was my temporary base and the priest group at the rear.

“Get as far away as possible! Get out of Do In-ha’s domain and scatter your holy power as far away as possible!”

The priest group really risked their lives.

There were people who didn’t do that among those who came here, but their determination was different.

Giving up half of my protection and distancing themselves a bit, they were defending themselves with their own strength and supporting us.

The holy knights were fighting against the undead and monsters that were swarming in, while the priests were protecting the holy knights and weakening the attacks of the dark mages.

“…Damn those pesky priests.”

Some dark mages targeted the priest group, but since they were selected priests with strong holy power, they didn’t budge for now.

We decided to help them later when they needed it, and for now, we would receive their help.

“It seems that the sacred artifact is precious, after all.”

I didn’t know that the Daechi Mogyo would respect me this much in a place like this.

“…Bastards!”

As the largest-scale battlefield unfolded, the crucial battles between key forces began to take place one by one.

The first to start was the duel between our mages and the opposing leaders.

They kept a distance from each other, eyeing each other, but our side had a slightly more advantageous situation.

“You losers!”

The leader of the Black Star had four people.

On the other hand, our mages, excluding me and Tinue, numbered five.

There were two Liches, formerly leaders but now Tinue’s slaves, and a Dark Elf.

Although they were using the unoccupied territory to hold on, they couldn’t block the five of us with just four.

The only good thing was that the two Liches, as Tinue’s slaves, received magic from me, but since they were receiving support through the temporary base, it didn’t have much significance for now.

However, it wasn’t like we had the upper hand on all battlefields.

There was one place where we were being pushed back, and that was the battlefield where Atina was.

Naturally, the opponents were the Red Ogres.

Atina had said she could handle five alone, but the opposing numbers were more than that.

So, Kayla went to support Atina with Death Knight, but even so, we were being pushed back.

“…As you said, Lord Rordo. Humans who smell like dragons…”

“Don’t be careless. Don’t get too close and take care of the other guys first.”

Even so, we were being pushed back.