Necromancer Survival

y, he must have finished his own preparations.

     As soon as we finished preparing, the lake peacefully split into two sides as if it were waiting for us.
I thought we’d see the corpses tied to the pole, submerged underneath the lake, but…the tragedy waiting underneath the water was even more gruesome than that.

     Beneath the lake, there was a nicely built pavilion in the center.
Though it was ominous to see a pavilion sunken deep within and nestled in the lake, the beauty sitting on that small pavilion–eyes closed and still–was truly terrifying.

     Furthermore, she was hugging the corpse of the normal mode boss monster [De Xin], whom Seo Dawon had killed earlier.
It reminded me of common horror movie scenes.
It felt as if she’d suddenly rush at us when she opened her eyes; I felt anxious and out of sorts.

     Above all… her name, above her head, was colored a deep blood-red.

[‘Hardcore route’ boss monster, ‘Daji’ has appeared.] 1

[The hidden side of the Immortal Realm – ‘Sweet Banquet’ scenario has begun.]

     [Daji]’s eyes, which opened alongside the alert we received, were colored a beautifully dangerous red. 2 When I laid my eyes on her, my heart began to beat nervously.
Maybe it was the color…it was as if…I was looking into my servants’ eyes.

     However, Daji didn’t move.
She slowly stroked [De Xin]’s corpse and began to slowly sing–her voice peerlessly beautiful and chilling compared to the earlier immortal fairies. 

[My pitiful king is dead; his body was hung on the castle walls.]

[The victors spoke solemnly.]

[‘This man made a pond out of alcohol to please his lewd slut.’]

[‘He killed innocent children and made meat from their bodies.’]

[‘It’s even said that he held this banquet every day.’]

[They said that he’s curried Heaven’s wrath]

[And that everyone should throw stones at him.]

     After each line, the corpses hanging from their wooden poles screamed.

[‘Daji’s’ ‘The most important rule for a lonely soul in purgatory and the Jiangshi’s has been activated.]

     Following that, another warning appeared; as soon as that warning manifested, Bae Jaemin called forth a huge shield that covered all of us.
Just as the shield spread above our heads, rain slowly fell from the sky.
The droplets were as red as blood.

     “Soon, the poles will break, and the hanging zombies will group up.
Try not to engage them if possible and scatter–after all, they’ll explode as soon as you touch them.
Also, organic matter soaked by rain will decay right away; so move according to the shield’s range or keep the rain from directly touching your skin.”

“…Understood.”

     “Also, Jaemin-ah.
Don’t use consecration(祝聖).
That woman isn’t an evil spirit with lingering grudges; holy attacks won’t impact her much.”

     “Yes.”

     It was my first time coming to this dungeon, but Seo Dawon must have raided this place before.
He quickly briefed us on its strategy and stabbed the end of his staff in the floor.
“[Chronicle].”

     Immediately, strong and cold winds swirled from the staff.
The ground foze quickly; his blue ice attack stretched straight towards the pavilion where [Daji] was sitting.

     However, though the attack seemed likely to connect with its target, a black Imugi (a mythological serpent) appeared at the pavilion’s entrance and blocked the attack with its torso.

     The Imugi was a huge snake–about ten meters in length–and was covered with black scales.
It seemed like Seo Dawon knew that would happen; he backed away neatly, but his expression wasn’t too happy.

     Woo Ragi clicked his tongue and said, frustrated, “Tch.
How is it that the enemy with the highest magic resistance is playing guardian.”

     “Mmm… True.
It’d be much easier if the Martial Arts Jiangshis 3 would just come out of the lake.”

“Yeah.
It does have a poison mist, but it’s not too hard to dodge since it foreshadows that attack with large movements.”

     “Can’t be helped.
We have to attack at a distance–at least as much as possible.”

     Then, after discussing viable tactics, the battle began in earnest.

Footnotes

In history, Daji was De Xin’s favored concubine.
She was said to be a ‘fox spirit,’ unrivaled in beauty and cruelty.
Using the emperor’s affection for her, she indulged in her curiosity through all manners of torture.  The original just says 요요한, which could honestly mean like 11 different things.
However, that’s probably what the novel is going for.
Quick-witted, beautiful, sharp, important, dangerous… Daji is all those things.  Mythological ancient zombies in Chinese and Korean culture.