novelraw Chapter 167
Chapter 167
Ch.167 If You’re Coming Out, Just Show Yourself Already—Stop Dragging This Out.
—Clang!
“G-gosh! You scared me!”
I was lounging on the sofa when someone flung the door open violently.
“Hans, it’s an emergency!”
Icira’s ashen face made me frown.
“What?”
“The King of the Dead is marching his army toward the Seal Stone—already within range.”
I couldn’t help but be shocked by the news.
“What?!”
I asked urgently, stunned by her unexpected report.
“How many? All of them?”
—Nod.
The fact that he brought tens of thousands of troops made my head spin.
What should I do? Wipe them out with Equality?
In theory, I could annihilate them all at once using Equality’s glitch-like ability—but the problem was…
What if the Seal Stone gets destroyed in the aftermath?
I knew now that shattering the last Seal Stone wouldn’t instantly revive the God of Death—but Hell opening would bring nothing good.
Especially…
If the Demon King inside Hell crawls out.
That would be horrifying.
Though I didn’t know the exact reason, I could guess the situation—and I had to protect the Seal Stone at all costs.
“Where are the enemy forces now?”
“About 2 km from the Seal Stone Dungeon.”
Two kilometers meant they were practically here.
I hastily pulled out my armor and asked,
“What about the others?”
“They’re preparing and will gather here soon.”
By the time I finished suiting up,
“The King’s already here?!”
People began arriving one by one.
“Yes. And not just a few—he’s leading the Imperial Capital’s entire army.”
Fending off tens of thousands of soldiers with just us would be impossible.
Excluding Nephert—who’s too young and vulnerable—we only had seven fighters: me, Icira, Nekhuf, and the four members of the Hero Party.
“What?! Then what do we do?!”
“Th-this is bad! Can we really hold them off alone?!”
“Hehe… Is it finally time I unleash my Meteor?!”
Scarlet and Cecilia were visibly panicked.
In contrast, Leah, Mia, and Icira appeared relatively calm.
“Their numbers are large, but not unbeatable. We have the Spirit King and me.”
With Icira capable of spamming high-tier spells, the Spirit King able to unleash catastrophic destruction, and Leah excelling against large groups, we just might pull this off.
I didn’t think we’d lose to their forces.
“But if Roy ambushes us, it’ll be chaos…”
If I were Roy, I’d stay hidden and pick off anyone who steps forward.
The only ones truly effective against large groups are Icira, Leah, and Mia—
yet all three are weak against Roy himself.
Those who do have good counters to Roy are Scarlet and Nekhuf.
Honestly, I’m not weak against him—but it’s not that I have favorable matchups; I just don’t take damage thanks to my gear.
And if any of those on the frontlines get ambushed and die or are gravely injured…
Could I even handle that?
If even one of them dies following my plan…
They’ll instantly become undead servants of Roy—and our enemies.
“Master? Why aren’t you moving?”
At Leah’s voice, I looked around.
Everyone was watching me with worried expressions.
“Are you hesitating?”
At Mia’s question, I hesitated briefly.
“I’m deciding where to intercept—inside the dungeon or outside. Should we take position deep within, or block the entrance?”
Holding position in the dungeon’s inner chamber—near the old golems and guardians—would let a small team efficiently deal with large numbers.
We couldn’t cast large-scale magic there, but with me, Nekhuf, and Scarlet holding the narrow entrance, it’d be manageable.
Ambush risk would also be low.
But if we fight outside?
We could handle the army—but what comes after is the real problem.
What if Roy strikes while we’re occupied?
The battle could spiral out of control.
It’s a grim assumption, but losing Leah or Mia would be somewhat recoverable.
But if Icira gets ambushed and dies…
That would be a true disaster.
So—let’s engage outside first, then fall back strategically.
“Icira, teleport us outside the dungeon.”
“Understood. Teleport.”
Her incantation shimmered with blue light, enveloping us.
As the glow faded, the view revealed—
An ocean of enemy troops gathered below the mountain ridge.
“Leah! Mia! I’m counting on you!”
“Yes! Leave it to us! Meteor!”
Leah’s Meteor descended from the sky.
—Kwaaaang!
Dozens of meteors crashed down.
“O Spirit King of Fire! Remember your oath to our bloodline!”
At Mia’s cry, a massive fire erupted in the air.
—It’s been a while, Mia.
“Your Majesty, remember your vow to the high elves.”
As Mia spoke, the flames roared higher.
—I’ve never once forgotten my oath to the high elves. Are those your enemies?
Mia nodded.
“Yes. The dead who returned from Death are my foes.”
—I shall annihilate them utterly, as far as your power reaches.
The ground split open, spewing lava.
Enemies melted in the crimson pillars of fire.
Just then—
—Stella Frost!
Ice meteors rained from the sky, slamming into the gushing lava.
—Chijijik!
The ground froze instantly with a chilling hiss, solidifying the molten rock.
“A lich? I wish Auros were here.”
Stella Frost—
The pinnacle of ice magic.
As the lava cooled, the Spirit King roared in fury.
—Dare a mere lich quench my wrath?!
His bellow reignited the cooling lava.
“Meteor!”
But even Leah’s meteor barrage ran into trouble—
Multiple layered barriers weakened the meteors drastically.
“So many liches? I didn’t expect their barriers to reduce Meteor this much.”
At that moment—
A meteor from the clouds veered straight toward us.
“Huh? That’s not yours, right?”
“You’re insane?!”
Getting hit by that would be catastrophic.
“Leah! Cast Fly on me, now!”
“What?! You’re going to block it with your body?! Master, you can’t stop a sky-falling meteor barehanded!”
“Just do it! No time to explain!”
“F-fly!”
Leah’s spell lifted me into the air.
“Launch me toward the meteor!”
“Ugh! It’s pointless!”
She protested—but my body was already soaring toward the meteor.
The massive rock loomed closer, about to collide.
A house-sized meteor? My body would just get pierced through.
More accurately, I’d be swept up by its momentum and smashed into the ground along with it.
I drew Levi’s Dagger and cursed myself.
“Curse of First Strike!”
This curse converts the first hit taken into True Damage.
“Curse of Transference!”
Since AoE spells deal low damage per target, I layered another curse to concentrate all damage onto a single point.
Then—my body slammed into the meteor…
—Kwaaaaang!
The meteor exploded on impact, shattering like it had crashed into the earth.
“Master!”
As I was thrown back by the blast, I waved to my worried party.
“Don’t worry! I’m fine.”
Honestly, the impact was unimaginably huge—but my body felt no harm.
It should’ve been enough force to kill me instantly without even feeling pain.
But of course—the Arbiter’s Armor is broken as hell.
“Stay focused! Icira, fall back. Nekhuf and Scarlet, cover our party!”
Roy might strike from the shadows at any moment.
Where the hell is he?
“Master! M-meteor again!”
“Damn it! Launch me now!”
—Kwaaaaang!
—Kwaaaaang!
After blocking multiple meteors with my body…
I almost started enjoying the explosions.
It felt like riding a rollercoaster or an intense amusement ride.
Kind of fun, actually?
After deflecting several more…
“Huh? No more meteors?”
The party, including Leah, stared at me in disbelief.
“How is this possible?! Why does Meteor explode the moment it touches you?!”
Leah gaped as the giant boulder detonated on contact.
“It’s simple,” I said casually. “I stacked Curse of First Strike and Curse of Transference on myself.”
“What’s that? Sounds like dark magic.”
“First Strike converts incoming spell damage into True Damage. Transference prevents damage from spreading—forcing all of it onto one target.”
Normally, these are raid damage-amplification curses—but with the Arbiter’s Armor preventing HP loss, I can pull off insane stunts like this.
“What’s True Damage?”
“Well…”
How do I explain game mechanics?
The reason I convert spell damage to True Damage is simple:
True Damage ignores armor and resistance—but penalizes AoE by minimizing shockwave spread.
It’s to prevent massive attacks like Meteor from causing collateral damage.
“It’s a game mechanic—too long to explain now.”
We’re in the middle of a fight, after all.
“Goodness… I never thought I’d see someone charge into a Meteor.”
Leah sounded exhausted.
I shrugged.
“At least we’re all safe now.”
“True… but ugh… this is humanity’s last stand? Really?”
“Hey! Show some respect to your master.”
She shot me a sideways glare.
“For someone who barely acts like a master… Meteor!”
Leah unleashed another Meteor barrage at the enemies.
Weaker, yes—but still damaging.
—It seems… your strength ends here.
“Haah… haah…”
While Leah and I chatted, Mia’s face had gone pale.
She was exhausted from keeping the Spirit King summoned too long.
Truthfully, the Spirit King had slain more enemies than Leah’s magic.
And summoning him drained the summoner’s magic massively—Mia was completely dry.
—I shall withdraw now.
“Understood.”
The giant fireball in the sky dimmed and vanished.
—Thud.
Mia collapsed from fatigue.
Cecilia rushed over and healed her with Divine Light.
“Are you alright?”
“Haah… I think I’m dying.”
Her voice hoarse, I scanned the frontlines.
“But… Roy’s still not showing himself.”
—Bang!
I finally unloaded Equality on the enemy after a long while.
—Bang! Bang!
Shouldn’t he have appeared by now?
Is he waiting to see how things play out after the Spirit King left?
Or is he targeting Mia?
Liches and enemy troops slowly advanced toward us.
Without the Spirit King, our firepower was clearly limited.
“Icira, let’s hold here for a bit—then fall back inside if it gets tough.”
“Agreed.”
Icira’s voice came from behind.
“How long until Cecilia and Mia recover?”
“About ten minutes?”
Our enemy forces had thinned by roughly 20% since the start.
Are they just planning to overwhelm us?
As I cut down approaching foes, I still couldn’t read Roy’s intent.
—Bang!
—Bang!
With Cecilia here, we can hold—given time.
But not knowing Roy’s plan is maddening.
If you’re coming out, just show yourself already—stop dragging this out.
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