World-Saving is a Skill

Chapter 84

Chapter 84

The Undying Legion began with a minimum unit of fifty.

There was one captain, four sorcerers, and forty-five warriors. The unworthy couldn’t belong. They were destroyers who lived forever and butchered beings with hot blood.

If humanity had one misconception, it was the hypothesis that the Erosion Cores and Erosion Zones across Northeast Asia were under Gonsalok’s influence, which was why they produced monsters centered on the undead.

It wasn’t influenced. Gonsalok simply didn’t let anything else live. If there was an Erosion Core near Gonsalok that created something other than undead, Gonsalok’s Undying Legion personally eradicated that Core.

That was why the only Cores left were the ones that produced undead.

“Report.”

One of them, a man holding a spear, spoke. He gripped a white spear engraved with a golden dragon motif. He looked so intact you couldn’t have called him an undead at all.

And his voice wasn’t like the other undead either, not that grotesque resonance dredged up from the bottom of the abyss.

Aside from skin that was a touch pale, he was in perfect preservation, as if not a hair of his head or beard had been harmed.

“One of the blood nodes is about to be seized by the living.”

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have left it alone.”

“It must be the Lord’s mercy and benevolence, Seonghong.”

They were cruel to the living, and gentle to those who’d lost their warmth. Harbin was a blood node. But there were already undead settled there.

They were crude, talentless, and weak. Given the value of a blood node, it would’ve been better to sweep away such undead and claim the place at once.

Even so, the Lord they served hadn’t struck Harbin.

“Right. Our Lord is such a one.”

The undead called Seonghong said this, then rose to his feet.

“But not now.”

“Correct. The Lord will understand as well.”

The one who’d been entrenched in Harbin was finished. He’d overcome death and wandered the living world once more, but in the end, he lost and turned to ash.

“Harbin is a crucial strategic point.”

It wasn’t the capital of a Chinese province for nothing. The living couldn’t be allowed to occupy it. If left this way, Jaun Valley would be endangered, and the road to fulfilling the great work the Lord desired would only grow rougher.

Seonghong finished speaking and tapped the ground once with his spear. A dull thud rolled out.

“Then it’s clear what we must do.”

The Lord’s mercy wasn’t granted to the living. Once they died, perhaps they’d obtain that mercy.

“We’ll do what must be done.”

“Move out.”

Fifty undead began to march. Contrary to their slow, heavy voices, their movements were quick.

The aura whipping around them alone made the plants growing nearby yellow and wither.

* * *

They were coming. I didn’t like the feeling.

“I don’t know if I’m getting ready to assault Jaun Valley right now, or to go on a damned space voyage.”

Why were there so many obstacles? The immense auras surging straight at us didn’t even seem to care about hiding what they were anymore.

“That’s insane.”

Even Han Sang-ah sensed the auras approaching. The other Hunters had probably noticed too.

— The threat in question appears to have reached Tiger Park.

Filthy fast huh. If we’d only now tried to run, it would’ve been too late.

“We have to go.”

Otherwise we wouldn’t know where they’d jump next. At my words, Han Sang-ah swept her sword through the air to flick off the clinging slime and rotten scraps, then rose to her feet.

— Should I join too?

It was Jung Oh-hoon’s question.

“Put some distance between you. If you get close, there’s nothing for you to do except get pounded.”

— You don’t have to be so harsh. That hurts my feelings.

Better to be hurt by words. Even as we were talking, the unknown bastards crossed the Songhua River.

— We’re about to make contact.

No sooner had the Seagulls finished their report than the figures appeared before us, the ones who’d been trailing that ominous aura like a tail.

“Ever seen such crazy corpses?”

Muttering that, I studied the monsters in front of us slowly.

“So you’re the one.”

A voice flowed from the mouth of the undead standing at the fore, and Han Sang-ah flinched slightly.

“It sounds like a person is talking.”

“It has to.”

They weren’t like the usual undead. They were undead in the shape of armored, armed men. The armor had basic resistance to magic, and on top of that it looked extremely sturdy.

Every weapon they carried looked worthy of being called a masterpiece. Especially the spear held by the one who looked like their captain.

Since spears were the weapon I mainly handled, I could size it up at a glance. If the guy had been weak, I would’ve been drooling to take it for myself.

Looking at them, I let out a quiet exclamation.

“These bastards, are all fifty of you buried as sacrificial retainers?”

No, that wasn’t the right way to put it.

You couldn’t become that kind of undead by being sacrificed. They’d chosen to bury themselves.

Not from grudges against the living. They had been buried alive, brimming with loyal hearts that vowed to serve their master even after death.

“Impressive. We swore eternal fealty.”

The one who looked like the captain rested the gold-dragon spear on his shoulder and spoke with a hint of surprise.

He looked me up and down, then raised his spear.

“I’m called Seonghong.”

Before the words even ended, his spear shot for my throat. I flicked the tip away, and his body spun wide as he chained follow-ups.

Damn, he could handle a spear. He knew when it should be heavy and when it should be light. Even as he drew it back, the tip stayed fierce and locked on me.

For about three seconds, we traded nearly fifty exchanges. Then, just as the underlings behind the undead who’d named himself Seonghong started to move, he raised a hand and stopped them.

“No, wait a moment. This one’s got something.”

At Seonghong’s order, the ones who’d been readying to attack halted. I spoke right away.

“Sang-ah, you stay put too. And tell Jung Oh-hoon not to interfere.”

At my words, the one called Seonghong let out a booming laugh.

“You’ll die anyway, but you’ve got spirit.”

“How about a bet with me, corpse.”

He answered me.

“No. I know what you’re about to say. And it won’t happen.”

He cut me off with a razor refusal before I could even make an offer.

“I’ll admit you piqued my interest a little. But how could I jeopardize the Lord’s great work over a warrior’s petty competitiveness. It’s only a brief amusement. Every living thing that touched Harbin will become a corpse.”

So this wouldn’t work huh. Still, it meant he understood what mattered.

“What, are you not confident?”

I threw out a light taunt, but Seonghong snorted. For a corpse.

“I, Seonghong, am not so shallow as to be swayed by words like that.”

Good for him. Even so, if I could keep this guy tied up here, we could at least buy a little more time for the Hunters pulling back right now.

“Creature shackled to flesh and walking toward mortality. Show me your accomplishments. I’ve never seen anyone in this world who handles a spear as well as you.”

As he finished, mana poured off Seonghong’s body even more fiercely. Right, he’d met a stronger opponent than he’d expected and wanted to play.

“Let’s see then.”

I’d never in my life heard that I couldn’t use a spear. Either way, I needed to stall here, and since the opponent wanted to play it this way, I had no reason to refuse.

We fought for thirty minutes. Between me and Seonghong, there was nothing to see but the flashing light of spears moving too fast to follow. There wasn’t a single intact patch of ground left where we stood.

Our spears wrapped each other like a storm and shredded the whole area. I landed several blows on the bastard who called himself Seonghong. In contrast, none of Seonghong’s attacks touched me.

“Impressive. Your mastery of the spear is far beyond mine.”

“Of course, you bastard.”

He spoke while staring at the Paradoxical Flame clinging to his armor and burning fiercely. First, I was burning away the armor’s magic resistance at full power.

But to burn it all, I’d need at least another hour.

“And you’ve got a curious quality besides that.”

He looked at the Paradoxical Flame eating his armor, then leveled his spear to the side.

“So you’ve had your fun, is that it?”

“I’ll make one last offer. This is rare from me.”

What, you’ll give me more time? If so, then thanks. I had no reason to refuse.

“Let’s hear it.”

He nodded at my words.

“The Lord cherishes those with talent. Yet he shows no mercy to anything that lives.”

I could guess what he wanted to propose. Keep talking.

“Die here. I’ll preserve your body as completely as possible and send it to Beijing, where the Lord abides. There, you’ll cast off the shackle of mortal flesh and become complete.”

Seonghong went on with a rather fervent expression.

“I see talent in you. The Lord will make great use of you. You’re worthy. I judge that you have the quality to command at least fifty thousand troops.”

“Wow, so I’d be your boss then?”

He nodded.

“At that time I’d observe proper respect for a superior and treat you with courtesy.”

So they’d keep my body intact and ship it to Beijing. I finally understood what these bastards were.

“So you’re the famed Undying Legion of Beijing, huh.”

So these were the monsters that crawled out of one of the Great Eight. And the punk standing in front of me was a bottom-tier officer among them.

I’d heard that even within First Class there were levels, but meeting him in person, saying there was a difference felt laughably insufficient. Those fridge slimes? One of the flunkies standing back there looked like he could take on five of them.

And Beijing was crawling with nasty corpses like these, the way Harbin had been packed with crude undead. Maybe we’d need to drop a nuke. No, they might even be able to stop that.

“What a long road ahead.”

Another scrap of knowledge gained. Of course, if I died here, all that would mean was one corpse with a lot of knowledge.

“The answer?”

“Eat shit. You corpse bastard.”

The guy wasn’t even my kin, and I should climb in happily and die alive? They weren’t just insane, they were spectacularly insane. Pulling the others back had been the right call. Any more deaths here and we wouldn’t have been able to assault Jaun Valley.

Then we would’ve failed and gone back to Korea… and people weren’t kind to failures.

Hearing my answer, Seonghong clicked his tongue.

“What a shame.”

His mana, which had dipped for a moment, surged out again. As if it were a signal, the other undead waiting behind him drew their weapons and took their stances.

At the same time, Han Sang-ah drew her sword. Now there was nothing left but to fight until one side was completely finished.