Episode 941

Usually, a magician who summoned a powerful being from another dimension would keep perfectly still.

It wasn’t because the magician was lazy. Summoning such an entity, no matter how much one relied on rituals and constraints, placed an enormous burden upon a mortal; doing other things during the process was hardly wise.

But Lee Han—like a rookie who’d just learned summoning magic—was trying to bring out Perkuntra as well.

Though he didn’t have much experience battling Transcendents, Lee Han’s hard-won lesson was this:

Use every means available to overwhelm your enemy right from the start!

Professor Voladi had drilled into him the importance of seizing the initiative in magical combat. The weak man’s tactic was to strike as much as possible while that advantage lasted.

-What a foolish…

As the beast tried to scold the magician’s foolishness, Sharkan began whining again.

The idiot clone’s blubbering inside made the beast snarl in annoyance.

-You’re out now, so stop whining! The fight’s not… wait, did you say it’s okay?

At those unexpected words, the beast was thrown off.

Amazingly, Sharkan was saying the magician was fine, so it should go fight the enemy.

Normally, it would have been thrilled to finally be rid of a useless mortal, but the beast sensed that wasn’t what this was.

Why was he saying it was alright?

-…Very well. Even if the magician’s life burns out like a candle, the beast won’t take responsibility!

Come, then!

The blasphemer challenged the beast with a glare.

The blasphemer, forcing itself out of the dimensional gate, swelled up almost like a balloon, filling the sky.

It appeared as a headless, obese giant, each writhing motion exuding waves of decay and corruption—and from that, more legions were born.

Even now, it looked like it might charge the Death Knights, who had surrounded it with chains and siege weapons, but it remained cautious.

That was because, right in front of it, not only Raging Duke but even a familiar archrival of the undead world, the beast, stood.

-Duke of Rage? Did Gonadaltes summon that? Even so, why set such a monster on mere minions?

“!”

Even while readying another summoning, Lee Han flinched.

‘What did it just say?’

Ru-u-u-rrrage!

Apparently, thinking it was at a disadvantage against two strong foes while surrounded by Death Knights, the blasphemer took the initiative.

Instead of continuing to summon its army, it gathered its power and attacked the Raging Duke head-on.

-It’s moving!

The Death Knights struggled to seal the dimensional gate with chains and stop the army from pouring out over the palace, but they didn’t miss their chance to counterattack against an exposed blasphemer.

Ballistae, inscribed with ancient runes and magic circles, launched projectiles that shredded the blasphemer’s body.

The blasphemer howled in pain yet did not falter. Even as it took damage, its only goal was to finish off the Raging Duke.

The beast swelled up, its body expanding, darkness of night dyeing its flesh until its size seemed fit to consume the moon.

Crunch!

With a single bite, about a quarter of the blasphemer’s body was torn away.

Yet it did not stop, only howling in pain. Instead, its wounded parts regenerated even faster.

-…Prahgal?! Is it using that one’s power!?

Sma-a-a-a-rt!

The beast couldn’t tell if the blasphemer was praising it or boasting of its alliance with Prahgal.

It’d heard rumors about undead consorting with evil god worshippers, but to borrow a god’s power to this extent was another story.

Evil gods, by concept, were beings of intensely concentrated negativity, yet in the grand scheme, were divine entities.

All the emotions and vows offered in such a pact went to nourish the evil god.

No matter how long the blasphemer had reigned over the undead, a contract of this type could turn dangerous at any moment.

-You disgraceful, low-class wretch! You have nothing better to trust than a god, huh?!

Id-i-o-t!

Of course, the blasphemer didn’t admit error or vow to fight fairly.

Instead, it mocked the beast and breathed a solution of decay at the Raging Duke, determined to finish it off.

A single drop of this horrifying fluid that splashed outside would spawn dozens of plague maw monsters.

…A-n-o-th-er i-l-l-u-sion!!!

-??!

The beast, extremely rare for it, was enraged as it realized too late.

That Raging Duke was an illusion!

In retrospect, it wondered how it could have fallen for it, but the beast angrily reassured itself the only reason it believed was because the blasphemer had fallen for it first.

I’ll k-i-i-ll you!

-You rotten, bloated bastard. Worry about yourself!

The beast said this, but still glanced at Lee Han.

The sheer tenacity of the blasphemer made even it uneasy.

---

Down in the palace, Lee Han’s situation wasn’t great either.

It wasn’t that he was hurt from mana drain while summoning Perkuntra…

It was that attackers had appeared.

“…We’re under attack!”

“!”

At Alsicle’s shout, Lee Han abandoned the Perkuntra summon and immediately prepared for battle.

‘How?!’

They shouldn’t be under attack at their current location.

Death Knights had surrounded not only the dimensional gate but the entire area.

It might have looked passive, but this approach was actually textbook strategy for dealing with powerful otherworldly invaders.

Since such beings, having pierced a wall at great cost, weakened the longer they lingered, trapping the summoned spawn and minions nearby was a wise move by the Death Knights.

Lee Han had trusted this—yet now they were being attacked.

“!”

Seeing enemies filling the empty seats and stage, Lee Han understood what had happened.

The blasphemer’s oozing aura and blood (if it was even blood) had spawned new armies.

Just breathing, its flesh replicated armies.

‘Even a slime wouldn’t go this far.’

“Careful!”

Alsicle warned, worried for his less experienced junior, but soon realized there was no need.

Enhanced undead summons rapidly appeared in the corridors, blocking the way.

Hybrid skeleton golems made from several skeleton warriors, skeleton warriors reinforced with dark and blood elements—

And dragonfang golems…?

‘Am I seeing right?’

Alsicle blinked in confusion.

Based on appearance, it was clearly one of those skeleton golems summoned using dragon teeth, as described in books—but that didn’t make sense.

Where would anyone get untainted dragon teeth these days?

It must be a new spell from the Einrogard necromancy school.

Either a golem with almost no dragon tooth, or a new method that produced something similar…

-■■■ ■■■!

‘Left, right, below.’

Lee Han worked to rapidly assess the entire situation and deployed his undead.

Alsicle was a better magician than Lee Han, but unfortunately he wasn’t a specialized combat wizard. When close quarters broke out and chaos erupted, anything could happen.

He had to block their advance and face them head-on.

‘Plague maws, huh? That one in back looks like a rot zombie. The stronger one… never seen that before.’

Named undead and those he didn’t recognize.

Still, Lee Han could instantly judge their strength. The knight armored in out-of-fashion gear was emitting a horribly foul aura from every helmet slit and gap.

“In the name of Pengerine, you shall not pass!”

While Alsicle bought time, he finished his first spell.

A great sphere of frigid air formed overhead, unleashing a wild blizzard upon the enemy. The decayed undead melting across the stage and seats began to freeze solid.

“Perku… damn!”

Lee Han blocked the incoming attack with telekinesis. Ropy plague mucus and arrows vanished against the telekinetic shield.

‘They’re after ME, not Alsicle!’

Lee Han realized all the undead here were targeting him.

He thought they’d be distracted handling the summons, but as soon as it seemed Lee Han might unleash powerful magic, they focused on stopping him.

But why not attack more aggressively?

‘…Trying to drag things into a long fight?’

Dozens of undead summons had been torn apart by the foes he’d called up just to cover him.

Especially, the dragonfang golem, summoned thanks to the tooth Joulin gave him, left terrifying wounds across enemy ranks with every charge.

If the enemy tried to punch through by force, they might take heavy losses. It seemed they were trying to hold down the greatest threat, Lee Han, while steadily increasing their numbers.

‘No matter.’

Lee Han was just as confident in a prolonged engagement. He reinforced the defenses around him with telekinesis and began chanting quick spells.

Another attack hit, but this much he could block and endure.

‘Verdus!’

Lee Han called, not for Professor Verdus, but for the ancestor Verdus, the undead magician he had contracted with.

But there was no reply from the mark. Verdus couldn’t come out now.

Thud!

Amid blows rained against his telekinetic barrier, Lee Han moved again. When Alsicle tried to shield his junior with ice, Lee Han shook his head.

“They’re too many! Don’t waste your mana!”

For now, he set aside Perkuntra and Verdus and summoned elementals. The lower-rank spirits came out with just a short gesture.

At times like this, he felt anew how much he missed Sharkan. Lee Han regretted not having called Sharkan and began prepping another spell.

‘Lightning Storm… if I use that, I might collapse, too…’

For now, with these summons, he could play support just fine.

He maintained telekinetic barriers, targeted the enemy, and supported his own skeleton summons against the onslaught. He wasn’t sure, but the enemy’s curses and shouts seemed to grow even louder.

-■■■■■!

-■■■!

‘Just my imagination, surely.’

The enemy ranks seemed to believe they could overpower the two magicians in a siege, but as time passed, it became evident they’d misjudged.

Lee Han’s undead summons, even when melted, rotted, or corroded, quickly regenerated.

But the blasphemer’s legions kept dwindling. Reinforcements from above weren’t enough to offset those being lost.

Like troops ground down against a fortified fortress.

-…I. I will handle this.

The knight Lee Han didn’t recognize stepped forward. Lee Han eyed him warily.

-You. You once interfered with my master’s plans.

“What? When did I—”

Suddenly, Lee Han felt the familiar taint of fanatical Prahgal worship radiating from the knight’s soul.

‘Wasn’t he undead?!’

Undead could certainly worship Prahgal, but Lee Han hadn’t expected the blasphemer’s subordinate would.

The blasphemy knight vanished and reappeared behind Lee Han in a lethal ambush.

Klang!

But with short-term divination, body enhancement, and rampant mana use to boost his abilities, Lee Han was unfazed. He instantly drew back, blades clashing.

The blasphemy knight sensed their blade was being drained by the black magnetite sword and retreated. From behind the helmet slits, an evil glint poured out.

‘What…’

A moment later, Lee Han glimpsed the future: the blasphemy knight offering up its own soul in suicide explosion.

Even with telekinesis and a lightning burst, he wasn’t sure he could shield Alsicle as well. A dozen thoughts flashed through his mind.

Did Alsicle have enough protection artifacts? What was the blast radius? Just who was this guy to self-destruct so casually? What other spells…?

In that instant, a demonic voice whispered into Lee Han’s ear—a voice dormant for some time from the Bracelet of Ten Thousand Demons.

-The stench of undead corruption awakens me.

“!”

-Rot, corruption, and plague call me! Fear me. I am Mahuda. Demon of undead hunting! If you do not give me a chance, I refuse to return within…

“Fine, just sweep them away!”

-…Th-thank you!

Mahuda, far more gratified by a magician’s generosity than Amphursas had been, burst forth from the bracelet!