World-Saving is a Skill

Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Han Sang-ah and I were in the middle of accomplishing quite a lot together.

The ring on my finger firmly froze the undead that had been weakened by the light emanating from the crown held in my hand.

The corpses weakened by the crown's light could not resist the rapid freezing of the ring on my finger.

Following that, Han Sang-ah swung her sword and shattered the frozen corpses.

“Aren't you going to wear the crown on your head?”

“That’d be embarrassing.”

Wearing a crown around on modern Earth felt a bit foolish. Besides, holding it in my hand was enough anyway.

I used the crown in my hand to smash the head of a corpse that had frozen in the middle of pouncing.

“This is quite sturdy.”

“That is not how you are supposed to use a crown.”

“What does it matter? It is essentially the same as using it on a head anyway.”

Whether I wore the crown on my head or used it to break a frozen corpse's head, the use was ultimately the same.

“You are doing well.”

Han Sang-ah was in the middle of tearing apart the frozen undead while moving at high speed while slightly floating in the air.

Whenever she brushed past, flashes of light flickered several times, and the bones and flesh of the undead were separated.

I wondered if a cook cutting frozen pork belly looked like that.

“There is one more thing that has an effect beyond expectations.”

I felt I understood why this crown had been tucked away instead of being used. It was specifically specialized for destroying the undead.

I had guessed the effect would be great, but I had not imagined it would produce this level of efficiency. Things would have been much harder if I had not used the crown's ability.

“At this rate, we really might be able to sweep away the fortress.”

At that moment, the pieces of corpses rolling on the ground after being smashed trembled and entangled with each other to be granted new life once again.

Of course, they were frozen not long after and were sliced apart by my spear or Han Sang-ah's sword strokes.

“It does not just strengthen them, it even reconstructs them.”

I glanced at the obelisk standing in the center of the fortress.

That was the core of the entire situation. It was strengthening the undead and cobbling together smashed corpse pieces to mold them into new undead.

I had to handle it as a priority. I slowly approached the obelisk while freezing every pouncing corpse without exception.

― Stop.

A moss-colored figure whose appearance repeated blurring and sharpening blocked my path. What was that now? Was it something like a ghost knight?

“Hey, Casper the Friendly Ghost. Have we met before?”

I felt a somewhat familiar sensation from it. At my words, it stared at me quietly.

― It is you.

It seemed the bastard knew me too. However, I had no memory of fighting him. After contemplating for a moment, I let out an "Ah" sound.

“Was it Ballea? The power I feel is similar to that bastard.”

There was a dead hunter who had picked a fight with me before. The name was likely Sohwi. Anyway, it was somewhat similar to Ballea, who had possessed that bastard's body and run wild.

― Do not call my master's name so carelessly.

The cute ghost knight rushed toward me while holding a massive greatsword. He was agile and silent, as a ghost should be.

“Hey, someone like you does not stand a chance.”

I grabbed the swung greatsword with my hand and struck it down with the crown that was radiating white light. With a sharp sound, the greatsword was shattered.

The bastard turned into a thick green mist to retreat, then reached out his hand to the side. Another greatsword was created and gripped in his hand again.

“I know a hunter who is good at that too. Lee Se-eun. She is much stronger than you.”

She also handles a greatsword so well that it is hard to even compare her to the likes of you.

Anyway, the other undead were being frozen by the ring the moment they tried to approach me, and Han Sang-ah was slicing them up nicely. Therefore, I could ignore the riffraff swarming around like maggots.

“Hey, play with me.”

The one I had to focus on was this ghost, who was not freezing under the ring's power despite being weakened by the crown.

― My master, whom you faced, was not complete.

After all, he was in a state of possessing a clumsy body called Sohwi.

― If I may speak with the risk of being impolite, the current me is stronger than the master you faced back then.

I smiled at those words. I remembered that time. I almost died while facing that guy.

But the situation was much different now.

“If I were to fight him again now? I could crush him so hard he would not even be able to breathe.”

And you are no exception.

― You sure know how to speak well.

The bastard's body scattered and turned into mist. Then, ten ghosts popped out of that green mist.

It was not an illusion but self-replication. Exactly ten ghosts with perfectly identical specs and appearances popped out of the mist and aimed their greatswords at me simultaneously.

― If you wish to speak of your own strength before me, prove it.

To put it simply, since one person became ten while maintaining their original abilities, one could calculate it as being ten times stronger. However, there was a huge difference between one person becoming ten times stronger and increasing to ten people in a war.

It meant organized movement was possible.

Furthermore, these bastards did not need to make an effort to move as one. They were originally one body anyway.

Of course, even so, nothing changed.

“Is this ghost crazy? You are talking like a graduate student evaluating a professor.”

There was a limit to acting up. The ghost knights who had increased to ten moved silently but quickly in their blurred forms, gradually trying to surround me.

Simultaneously, the auras they emitted entangled and amplified, slowly pressing down on me.

It was a so-called combined attack formation. I had no intention of watching it be completed. Before they could fully take their positions, I also began to move.

― Just what kind of bastard are you.

I predicted where the opponent was moving and what position they wanted to take, and I moved each step to escape that. The combined attack formation they wanted to finish was never going to be completed.

If you did not know the intent of the movement, you would have no choice but to be caught. However, I knew what his movements were intending.

“I have more than enough experience.”

If a bastard like you wanted to complete a combined attack formation against me, you would need a hundred people. You bottom-feeder.

Ultimately, they stopped trying to complete the formation, and the ten ghosts with swords attacked me all at once. Their scheme was to stop my movement through the attack and complete the formation in the meantime.

The swung greatswords contained an aura of decay.

“I really don’t know what you think you can achieve with something like this.”

Blue trajectories were created following the spear that was swung dozens of times in an instant. I did not even need to block them myself. Some of the blue trajectories floating in the air defended against all the attacks of the ten ghosts.

While the spear was drawing a trajectory, it suddenly stretched out and targeted one of the ten ghost knights. Although he succeeded in raising his greatsword to block it in a hurry, the greatsword, unable to withstand the attack, was shattered, and the bastard was sent flying far away.

“....”

Where they were moving, and what they were targeting. Where the next attack would go, and what they were aiming for with this attack.

I found and neutralized them one by one. There was no need to be flustered just because the number of opponents increased.

I had a body that could follow the movements I wanted. And I had the ability to control the movements of my body.

I moved to the places I had to avoid and blocked the attacks I had to block. Slowly, gradually. However, I pushed the opponent back like a firmly built iron wall.

I reduced the options the opponent could take and increased my own. In the middle of the exchange, that ghost knight struggled desperately to seize the chance for victory.

“You are not calm, you are not experienced, and you are not delicate.”

However, rather, such movements created openings for the opponent. Every choice he attempted to overcome the situation was instead pushing him toward the cliff of defeat.

The battle would be decided before long. There was no reason to drag it into a war of attrition. In the first place, I was pushing him like this without even using Paradoxical Flame.

― Kgh... Ha!

One by one, the ten ghosts suffered fatal wounds from my spear.

“It is a pity that poison does not work.”

Poison does not work on ghosts. That was only natural. I spun the spear around and looked at the opponent.

“Anyway, it was nice to meet you. Thanks to you, I have come to think about many things. Goodbye, Casper.”

It was not even a long fight. It took about five minutes to suppress this bastard. The spear tip, moving like a snake, created a cute hole in the chests of each of the ten ghosts.

“Well, if there is no result after fighting that long, one is bound to try a new strategy.”

I watched the scattering ghosts and then turned my gaze back toward the obelisk.

Among the monsters we face, there are those with intelligence.

Unlike other regions, Korea has been holding out for a fairly long time. Of course, it is gradually collapsing, but Korea has the potential to hold out for a lot longer.

In other words, the method of Erosion Cores and Erosion Zones that those bastards are using has now reached its limit.

“Contracts, huh. From here to there, the thoughts that scheming bastards would have are all about the same.”

It became certain thanks to the bastard I faced just now. He was Ballea's underling and a monster that popped out of an Erosion Core.

In other words... Kim Ji-hyun, Sohwi, and the incidents that occurred in the foreign residential area are not separate from Erosion Cores or Erosion Zones.

The monsters are devising alternatives to replace the current stagnant war of attrition. At the very least, some of the monsters from the Erosion Zones we have to face have found a bypass.

They pretend to grant what is wanted in the form of a contract, then hijack and possess the body of the person who made the contract.

To use a metaphor, it is a method of dropping paratroopers in the rear to cause chaos while maintaining the current front lines.

The problem was that the Korean government believed they could utilize this in the meantime. If that were not the case, such a thing could not have happened in the foreign residential area.

“I can understand the sentiment, but....”

Thud. I let out a small sigh while smashing the frozen undead. It could be called an extension of the project being carried out by the Descendants of Dangun.

The Descendants of Dangun want to rule over the Erosion Cores. They want the Korean government to control the Erosion Cores threatening the Earth at their will and use that to wield hegemony.

The experiment the Korean government conducted in the foreign residential area would be on the same track.

“They are overestimating their own abilities too much.”

I might have to clash head-on with the Korean government soon. After finally arriving at the obelisk in question while smashing undead with Han Sang-ah, we demolished it.

“I heard that suddenly talking to yourself is a symptom of mental illness. Do you want to receive counseling?”

Han Sang-ah, who was standing beside me, spoke to me. To think she would turn a perfectly fine person into a crazy one.

“Shouldn't you be the one receiving psychiatric counseling? I just have a lot on my mind.”

“I was cleared as normal.”

I wondered if the doctor had accepted a bribe.

“Anyway, what thoughts?”

I told Han Sang-ah the things I was thinking.

“If they succeed in controlling them, it would be a jackpot.”

“Do you know one of the reasons why people get scammed?”

It is because they get scammed because they do not know better. To put it more simply....

“It is not about making a contract with a devil. There are guys who believe they are smart in their own way and act as if they can extract what they want and escape even if they make a contract with a devil.”

While acting up like that, they end up falling into hellfire and burning brightly.

“Let's finish the cleanup.”

We succeeded in blowing up the obelisk. With this, the undead of this fortress would no longer be strengthened.

The corpses that had been running wild to the best of their ability withered like orchids struck by a frost. The cleanup was not difficult.