The Necromancer Who Was Despised

It was a very mature answer, and indirectly, it showed how much she cared about Atna.

“I see.”

“Of course, I don’t think I’ll just be caught. Talent isn’t everything in this world. Even if I’m surpassed, I won’t just sit still.”

At the same time, her competitive spirit wasn’t hidden either.

“I see.”

With a satisfied expression, Tinus decided to open up the path ahead and left.

He didn’t forget to say, “Call me if anything happens.”

Although they had annihilated the main force, the black star’s leader still remained.

They had to break through to get there, and Tinus had been doing that job until now.

“The red ogres are also left.”

After the black star disappears, they will be the ones left.

We had annihilated the messenger sent by the Black Star, and with the dragon by our side, we had no choice but to fight them.

“I need to check these out too.”

The corpses of the red ogres. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to investigate immediately.

The leader of the Black Star. Dealing with him was the priority.

Artina maintained the same appearance for a day.

The mana storm raging around her seemed to be subsiding, and there were no significant abnormalities in her body, so we focused on investigating the creature summoned by Rochis.

We collected the remaining tentacles and thoroughly examined the surrounding area.

“…A creature from the demon realm…”

“It absorbs the magical power of humans, monsters, and undead alike…”

However, there was a limit to what we could discover.

We couldn’t create Rich immediately, so we asked Sold and Langthem, who had become Tinos’ slaves, but they seemed to know little about it. The dark elf mages were also unaware.

We even asked the priests who were wary of the black mages, but they claimed to have no information.

Kailra remained by Artina’s side throughout, never leaving her.

Later, Valduer joined us as well, and it seemed like he was keeping his promise, having trained with us before.

Meanwhile, Tinos quickly cleared a path, but the surrounding area was severely damaged, allegedly due to the influence of the demon realm’s creatures.

On the second day, the storm raging around Artina finally subsided.

We placed the exhausted Artina in a comfortable spot and examined her condition. Tinos said,

“She’ll wake up when the time comes. There’s no major issue with her body… By the way, she’s incredible. It’s hard to believe she’s the same person.”

Not only was her physical strength impressive, but her abilities were also superior to Kailra’s.

Only her right leg might still be inferior to Kailra’s, but in every other aspect, Artina would surpass her, Tinos said.

“Adaptation is the problem. The battle is imminent…”

“It won’t take as long as you think.”

“Hmm?”

Tinos replied when I looked at him.

“You didn’t handle your body well when you fought the red ogre.”

“That was thanks to the dragon’s help…”

“Once you’ve experienced it, you can’t do it again.”

Tinos said it was shallow to think that way.

“…You’ll see when she wakes up. Anyway, what about the path ahead?”

“It’s okay to proceed. It’s getting more chaotic, and now even those who aren’t me can easily break through the realm.”

The closer we got, the more chaotic the realm became. In other words, it meant they had used even more power…

“In reality, the Black Star is finished.”

The realm they had established and maintained over a long period of time was completely destroyed.

It would take at least twenty years to restore it, but the quick-witted high-rankers and monsters wouldn’t let that happen.

“No, is it already over since the black mages were all wiped out?”

Excluding the leader, all the leaders and their followers had been annihilated this time.

If they could absorb everything up to this point, there would be no black mages left in the Black Star.

Even if it wasn’t the realm, the foundation itself had crumbled.

Considering that… even if we were given a hundred years, it was questionable whether the Black Star could revive.

“Don’t be complacent. The creature we summoned might be strong enough to consider all the sacrifices. Look at the range of its influence.”

Here is the translated excerpt:

“…Is that so?”

“It’s not an ordinary guy. There’s… it’s not just a simple absorption through contact.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I confirmed that the realm is in chaos, and then I found their hideout.”

Although it was a bit far away, I could still get close and see the situation with my own eyes.

And what I saw was terrible.

“At first glance, it looked like the black tower was surrounded by strange plants. But… that’s not it.”

It was part of the summoned creature.

“The surface was covered with a hard, rock-like substance, and there were several Nepenthes-like pouches attached to it.”

Inside, there were monsters and demons galore.

“It seemed to be absorbing power as well.”

“…What kind of creature is it that it can absorb so much power?”

“As I said, I don’t know. We have to go and see.”

“…There’s no time to wait for Athena to wake up.”

We would have gotten a big boost if we had crossed the wall, but… we needed to move as fast as possible.

So Athena decided to hide the undead and the orc in the dimensional fragment and attach them to the internal pouches.

After preparing, we headed towards the black star’s hideout that Tinos had confirmed.

As he said, we could see that the huge black tower had strange plant-like tendrils wrapped around it.

We could also see the Nepenthes-like pouches, and when we tore them open, we found the bodies of monsters that had been digested.

“…It’s still alive.”

Some of them were still alive, even though they were half-rotten.

The horrific sight made everyone, human and dark elf alike, frown, and the priests looked sorrowful despite being monsters.

We quickly got rid of the external plant-like tendrils and Nepenthes-like pouches.

Surprisingly, they weren’t that tough.

It seemed like they were just roots that absorbed nutrients.

That’s why there was no counterattack.

We just couldn’t destroy the tower.

“It’s isolated. We can’t destroy it from the outside at our current level.”

The other realms were completely destroyed, but this place was still intact.

By the way, the tendrils were all connected to the inside of the tower.

“In the end, we have to go in….”

Even though we had removed all the external pouches, considering that the creature had attacked us from afar, it was likely still absorbing energy from somewhere else.

So we had no choice.

Of course, the first ones we sent in were the undead.

And immediately, our connection with them was cut off.

It wasn’t because we were in a different space; if that were the case, we wouldn’t have been able to use the dimensional fragment either.

This was just a case of being attacked and destroyed.

It was so thorough that recovery was impossible.

Or maybe, considering the creature’s characteristics, it might have just been absorbed instantly.

But we couldn’t just send in high-level forces right away.

I pushed a large number of mid-tier undead and low-tier undead into the mass.

Some of them were destroyed immediately, but soon, they managed to take formation inside.

Although we suffered many losses, it was impossible to operate many undead within the tower anyway. Most of them were low-tier undead, so there was no need to be sentimental.

Once the space was secured, Entin’s undead knight squad emerged, followed by Golrun, who entered the interior directly.

It was a close call, but Golrun was able to enter as well.

I wasn’t sure if we could continue to use the space inside, though.

Next, Tinus, Kayla, and Death Knight entered the interior, followed by me and the dark elf mages and priests, who were the last to enter the tower.

And at that moment…

Thud.

The emblem, symbolizing my contract with the demon world, and Elloset’s staff reacted strongly.

◈ Black Star

“Danger!”

The instantaneous reaction was a bit slow.

However, since some of our people had entered earlier, it wasn’t actually dangerous.

Kayla quickly flew towards me, deflecting an attack.

At a glance, it was an arrow with a black glow.

‘Magic.’

I thought it was dark magic, but it was a bit different.

“What is this…?”

Turning my head late, I saw the situation inside the tower.

“…Demon tribe?”

It wasn’t just one or two. Hundreds of demon tribe members were packed inside the tower’s space.

We had taken control of the entrance to the halfway point, but our losses were immense.

The remnants of all sorts of undead lay scattered on the floor.

Of course, the demon tribe members weren’t unscathed either.

Their remnants were visible, and it was a fact that we had secured part of the space.

“There are some on the ceiling too.”

As Kayla said.

“What in the world is that…?”

It was a demon tribe, but it was a bit, no, very strange.

Their appearance was similar to what I had heard in records or stories about demon tribes.

However, they all had a vacant gaze, and their bodies had pipes stuck in them like prosthetics.

Those creatures were fiercely battling Tinus.

It was a very emotional and intense fight, and even from a glance, I could tell that Tinus’s mood was awful.

I wondered what kind of summoning had brought this about.

‘I heard it was a demon beast….’

Looking at those pipe-like prosthetics, it was clear that the demon beast was involved, but the idea that a demon beast could control demon tribes was unimaginable.

Furthermore, the connected demon tribe members all had distinct personalities.

They were all like dolls in some way, but each had different physical characteristics and abilities, and their fighting styles were all unique.

The magic arrow that had flown towards me was definitely shot by one of them.

But they didn’t mesh at all.

It felt like each of them was fighting their own battle, rather than cooperating.

They seemed to be bound to a single entity, which was quite unexpected.

However, thanks to that, there were many opportunities to take advantage of.

If they had worked together and sealed off the entrance, it would have been even more threatening.

But from our perspective, this was more convenient.

As I started directly supporting the undead, the battle became much easier.

And at the same time, the gaze of all the demon tribe members turned to me.

“What the…?”

The sudden unified movement was chilling, even though many people were protecting me.

“Stop!”

And in that instant, the demon tribe members rushed towards me all at once.

Tinus’s urgent cry echoed within, and numerous undead and our allies desperately protected me.

As I mentioned earlier, I was receiving protection from many people.

Moreover, I was still near the entrance, and the distance between us was considerable.

Yet, they ignored everything else and only focused on me, rushing towards me with an uncanny intensity.

It was breathtaking.

“Are they crazy?”

The demon tribe members, with their doll-like, emotionless faces, stared at me alone and charged, sending shivers down my spine.

It was as if they were driven by madness.

Kaila stood in front of me with a serious expression, and Death Knight jumped into the fray.

-Protect the Master!

-Don’t let them pass!

Entin and Golun also desperately blocked the demon tribe, and the undead formed a wall to defend me.

“What the…?”

The dark elf elders and Yeri looked bewildered, and the priestesses were blocking the demon tribe’s advance without interfering.