Necromancer Survival

[The ‘daytime’ status has been applied, reducing the attack power of all your skills by 20%.]

[Your enemy has now declared their territory: All skills with the evil attribute will now be affected by a maximum of 20% reduced effectiveness.]

[Still, you haven’t run away… Your foolishness is now certainly admirable.]

[It’s a shame we can’t see more of Choi Lee-kyung’s interesting (laughter) story… But.]

[If luck befalls on you again, try to distance yourself from Iora, who is out of control… Well, that is, if your corpse remains intact at that point.]

 

 

     In the brightly lit living room–as if the ceiling had been blown straight off–gray system messages materialized before my eyes and spoke to me in a mocking tone.

     When I tried to swipe the last message away with my pained hand to read the next message box, the messages remained as they were, unchanging, as if to say, “I’ve said everything I need to say.” As if the system was washing its hands of me.
I screamed inwardly as I read that enraging, irresponsible script, ‘Just what on earth are you talking about?!!’

     As I vented my anger, I suddenly looked at Kim Sangyoon standing by himself a little distance away.
Now, covered in black smoke, the only things visible were his red pupils.

     The burning red eyes were shaped oddly–eerily…as if they were enflaming the man’s soul.
However, the presence of the ‘God’ within Bae Jaemin’s body was still overwhelming us.

     ‘Damn…’

     Although I couldn’t clearly grasp the power gap between those two since my level wasn’t high enough, I could guess that the entity in the Priest’s body was stronger–by the distance from heaven to earth–than the Warrior.

     If things continued this way, Kim Sangyoon would surely die.
However, I couldn’t leave him behind and run away, nor could I die with him.
So, I continued to chew on my lips and wrack my brain, over and over again.

     ‘I think it called Kim Sangyoon, ‘Iora’….
And, what did it say about a ‘weapon’….?’

     Then, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t see [Berserker], the weapon Kim Sangyoon had been using.

     “Don’t tell me…”

     As a groan-like gasp burst out of my mouth, Kim Sangyoon turned his head towards me.
Even though his face was covered in ash, his desperate emotions were clearly evident in his red eyes.
Kim Sangyoon slowly closed and opened his bloodshot eyes, imploring–

[Please, run away.
Honestly, I don’t think I can last long.]

    “……”

   However, how could I turn my back on that face when his expression detailed so clearly that he was prepared to die?

[Haah…]

    Kim Sangyoon sighed when he saw me quietly shaking my head; the area around his eyes reddened when he heard my sobs.

    Kim Sangyoon wiped away his tears with his thick fists and cursed under his breath–

[…Damn it, just go already…]

“”

    “……”

[You won’t be of any help by staying.]

    However, even as he said that, Kim Sangyoon drew his fist back as if he were notching and pulling the drawstring of a bow.
The ‘God’ had observed our ‘skit’ with arms folded across his chest and one eyebrow arched.

     At that moment, a fierce, unusual air current began to swirl like a red whirlpool around Kim Sangyoon’s fist.
The god clicked its tongue, shook its finger gracefully with its arms still crossed, and said–

[Iora, Iora… You’re acting like an ignorant agent of destruction.]

[Fucker, the hell are you saying?]

[You’re not capable of wielding so much power.
You’ll crumble before you reach me.]

[Stop making excuses and die!!]

     Kim Sangyoon, who was visibly nervous, took the initiative and rushed at his opponent.
The god avoided his attack by simply leaning its head to the side.

 

Crash–!

 

     Where the god had avoided, the red air current shot out from Kim Sangyoon’s fist and smashed into the wall, shattering it with a loud crash.

     I had thought another User living nearby would notice us from behind the exposed wall, but… I was soon astonished to note that only a white void–a blank space–spread out from behind the confines of my wall.

     No other buildings or people could be seen–it was like the white backdrop at a photo studio.  This isolation of our space was probably due to a boundary skill.

     Come to think of it, even though Bae Jaemin had recklessly smashed the house as he entered, no neighbors noticed the strange noises or made a fuss.

     ‘Bae Jaemin… He prepared in advance.’

     I furrowed my brows at his insidiousness.

     Meanwhile, the fierce battle between Kim Sangyoon and the ‘God’ continued.
Rather, I should call it a one-sidedly fierce battle.
Kim Sangyoon began to breathe heavily, and black powder spewed out of the Warrior’s gaping mouth.
But, there was no change in Bae Jaemin’s expression.

     Rather, the ‘God’ looked a bit bored with Kim Sangyoon’s attacks as he avoided them with tremendous speed.

     Goosebumps raised on my skin as I followed the movements of Bae Jaemin’s eyes, tracing each attack; Kim Sangyoon shook his head with despair as if he could feel the widening gap.

[Well, wild boars would make a better opponent.]

     At the same time, the ‘God’ struck Kim Sangyoon’s stomach by suddenly increasing the length of his staff.

 

Slam–!

 

[Cough….!]

     When Kim Sangyoon couldn’t defend against the undoubtedly faster attack and suffered a hit, the ‘God’ didn’t stop there and continued to plunge the staff through the Warrior’s spine.

     I screamed as I saw the end of the staff poking out of Kim Sangyoon’s back like a blade of a knife.
“No!!!”

     Then, at that moment, I heard a frosty, cold voice.

[Iora, what’s wrong with you?]

     Bae Jaemin slowly stirred the staff with a bored expression, and Kim Sangyoon tried to endure the pain with mouth wide open.
The Warrior tried to block the Priest’s languid movements by holding onto the end of the staff, trying to break the staff, or using it as a tool to continue their power struggle.

     However…

Slice–!

     As soon as Kim Sangyoon’s hand reached the staff, it dug deep into the finger with a sharp energy, nearly amputating it.
Though blood did not flow from the Warrior’s hand, the dust had suddenly and unusually scattered from the area like an exploding firecracker.

     Eventually, Kim Sangyoon stumbled back.
Then, like a person whose excitement had drained out of them, Bae Jaemin stopped and quietly watched the Warrior stagger around.
Squinting his eyes, he mumbled–

[You’ve gotten rusty.]

[That’s right… This disgrace suits you.]

     With that said, Bae Jaemin raised the staff high above his head.
Soon, dozens of concentric magic circles began to overlap and spread out above Bae Jaemin’s head.

     I felt suffocated and overwhelmed as I watched the golden tidal wave spreading out before my eyes, blinding my vision.

     ‘That’s…He’ll actually die from that…’

     At that moment, I forgot about my own injuries, jumped to my feet, and ran between Kim Sangyoon and Bae Jaemin.

     Bae Jaemin merely looked at me as if he saw a moth jumping into the light and didn’t try to stop me.
As if I were something annoying but didn’t require any overt countermeasures.
He snorted, content to crush me and Kim Sangyoon both.

     But, just then…

 

Clap–!

 

     I heard a clapping noise from somewhere.

[What…!]

     The house, which had been as bright as day, quickly plunged into the darkness of night.

     Now, it was so dark that it was hard to see what was right in front of my eyes.
However, I continued to run forward–I knew where Kim Sangyoon had been.
“Sangyoon-ssi…!”

     My fingertips gripped soft cloth and a firm chest.

     I tried to step back, startled, but the stranger pulled me into his embrace and hugged me.
And when I pressed my nose against his chest, I remembered smelling that distinctive, paralyzing scent somewhere before.

     “Don’t make a noise, Choi Lee-kyung-ssi.”

     “Moon…Issak?”

     “I said, shut up.” Moon Issak gently covered my mouth.

     This man’s appearance was truly unexpected, so I was completely unnerved.
For some reason, I felt like he wasn’t here to harm me… It was like he had come to rescue me.

     But, at that moment, I felt someone’s presence behind Moon Issak.
I flinched in surprise, but Moon Issak simply lowered his voice and gave dry instructions to the approaching silver-haired woman.
“Please move him.”

     Silently listening to the investigator’s instruction, the woman immediately crouched down and easily lifted up a person–that must be Kim Sangyoon.
He was easily double her size, but there was no change in her expression.