Book 1 Chapter 73
【73】72.
“Fire Wall.”
As soon as Leo completed the spell, a wall of fire engulfed the orcs.
Kieeeek!
Watching the orcs turn to ash in an instant, Leo retracted his magic.
Lunaria and Eiran moved forward, looking at the orc corpses that were now nothing but bones.
“Wait.”
“Huh?”
“Yes?”
Lunaria and Eiran stopped.
Leo, who had stopped them, stared intently at the orcs.
Go-o-o-o-!
The orcs’ skulls emitted black smoke and floated into the air.
Clack- clack-
Bone fragments fit together one by one, forming skeletons.
Lunaria and Eiran looked tense.
Until now, all undead had emerged from underground.
The undead had been summoned beforehand and lay in ambush.
But now it was different.
Monsters that had just died rose as undead.
“Is there a necromancer nearby?!”
Lunaria’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Whoosh!
She stirred up the Phoenix's magic, guarding the surroundings.
Eiran also armed herself with Animus armor and re-gripped her sword and shield.
Tatata-ta-tak!
The orc skeletons re-gripped their weapons and charged.
Lunaria scoffed and raised her palm.
Whoosh!
A small orb of flame generated above her palm.
It was Fireball, the most basic flame attack magic.
It was a simple spell, but its power varied greatly depending on the user's skill.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The Fireball instantly multiplied into several.
Seeing that, Leo's eyes gleamed.
‘Layered incantation at such high speed at that age?’
The technique of casting the same spell multiple times simultaneously.
The technique itself isn't difficult, but doing it at high speed is tough even for veteran mages.
‘To achieve that purely by instinct. Impressive, isn't it?’
While Leo was purely amazed.
Lunaria’s Fireballs struck the orc skeletons.
Kwagagagwang-!
Causing an explosion of flames, they instantly shattered the orc skeletons.
“Simple.”
Lunaria curled up the corners of her mouth and looked around.
“I've taken care of all those low-grade skeletons you're using! Why don't you show yourself now!”
Lunaria's fierce voice echoed throughout the entire winter forest.
But what came back was only Lunaria's voice as an echo.
“Oh? So you're not coming out? Then I'll just blow up this whole area…”
“Stop. There’s no necromancer nearby.”
Seeing Lunaria raise her hand to cast a powerful spell, Leo grabbed her wrist to stop the attack.
“Leo, you just saw it. The orcs becoming skeletons.”
Leo said calmly, looking at Lunaria, who had a bewildered expression.
“That wasn't undead transformation by a necromancer.”
“Then what was it?”
“A curse.”
“A curse?”
Lunaria's eyes widened.
Eiran also looked puzzled.
“Are there curses that generate undead?”
“Curse of the Dead.”
“Curse of the Dead? I’ve never heard of that curse.”
Leo looked puzzled, seeing Lunaria cock her head.
“Don’t they teach you about curses at Seirun?”
“I, I do learn! It’s just that we haven’t gotten that far yet! Even with the same subject, the progress is different!”
“Even so, it’s a famous curse, isn’t it?”
“Ugh?”
Lunaria flinched.
“It's true that elves have strong resistance to curses and can deal with them more easily than other races due to the blessing magic of Star Magic, but curses are one of the demonic race's most powerful offensive tools. You shouldn't neglect your studies. Even Luna herself has suffered from curses more than once or twice.”
“Ugh?”
Unable to refute, Lunaria rolled her eyes back and forth.
“The Curse of the Dead… Isn't that the curse of the Lich King Hel Kaiser?”
Just then, Eiran asked cautiously.
“That’s right. Eiran, you know it well.”
“I know it well because it often appeared in the heroic tales of the Great Heroes.”
Seeing Eiran look embarrassed, Lunaria became even more intimidated.
“So, what’s the Curse of the Dead? If it's a curse related to a Legion Commander, it must be dangerous, right?”
“The Curse of the Dead is a dangerous curse that continuously summons undead in the surrounding area.”
“What?”
“The place where the curse is unleashed literally turns into a land of death.”
Lunaria's face turned pale as she saw Eiran shiver and look terrified.
“Then what? Are they saying Tartaros is targeting Elsalvekia on a large scale right now?”
If undead were summoned endlessly, it was no ordinary danger.
“No. It’s not like that. Even if it’s the Curse of the Dead, powerful undead aren't created unless Hel Kaiser casts it himself. It's probably a curse cast by one of Hel Kaiser's subordinates.”
Leo glared at the forest.
“However, if Hel Kaiser has moved, it's certain that there's something Tartaros wants in this forest.”
“What would a Legion Commander want?”
“Well. For example…”
Leo stroked his chin.
“An item related to the Great Hero?”
“A-an item related to the Progenitor, you mean?”
“Then that’s a huge jackpot!”
“You can't know that. Anyway, we’ll find out when we go…”
Leo’s expression changed abruptly.
The two elves, who had looked puzzled by Leo’s sudden change in demeanor, also flinched and trembled.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
A cold blizzard raged.
Piercing through the blizzard, dark red eyes gleamed.
“Hee hee hee hee- Welcome. Hero candidates.”
Lunaria’s face hardened, seeing the Death Knight emanating a fundamentally different aura from the undead they had faced until now.
“Death Knight?”
“That’s right! My name is Kargor! A proud knight who serves the great Lich King, and the messenger who will lead you to death!”
Slam-!
Go-o-o-o-o!
As Kargor plunged his greatsword into the ground, the surrounding plants began to turn pitch black.
The aura of death began to flow from the ground.
Flash! Flash-flash-flash-!
Breaking through the ground, an enormous number of undead began to appear.
It wasn't just skeletons.
Zombies and ghouls.
Even corpse chimeras.
All sorts of undead types revealed themselves.
“Despair! Tremble in fear! I will make you regret coming to this forest! Hahahahahaha!”
Grrr-o-o-o-r!
Along with Kargor’s wild laugh, the roars of the undead echoed.
Kargor looked at Leo, letting out a chilling laugh.
“You won’t be able to escape today.”
“I’ll take on that Death Knight. Eiran, you handle the undead. And Lunaria, cast the strongest spell you can.”
“Yes!”
“Got it.”
“Oh? This time, you've chosen to fight me?”
“I’ll face you.”
“Hmph!”
Kargor let out a low laugh at Leo’s words.
Dark aura flowed from Kargor’s body as he re-gripped his greatsword.
Leo lowered his sword and ignited Zerdinger’s aura.
Whoosh-!
The Phoenix's flames blazed fiercely.
As they stood facing each other.
Swoosh-!
Leo’s body vanished as if it had extinguished.
“Clumsy!”
Kargor swung his greatsword behind him.
Clang-!
The greatsword, swung at tremendous speed, was blocked by Leo’s longsword.
Kargor’s dark red eyes twitched.
He expected Leo to be flung back, but Leo held his ground.
Slam-!
As Leo put force into his sword, veins bulged on his hand.
Leo’s sword pushed back Kargor’s greatsword.
As soon as he created an opening, Leo unhesitatingly dove into Kargor’s embrace.
“Haha! Foolish one! Did you think I was just an ordinary human knight?”
Seeing Leo, Kargor scoffed and unleashed dark aura.
Go-o-o-o-o-!
The dark aura engulfed Leo.
“Hahahahaha!”
Swoosh!
But his expression hardened as he saw Leo pierce through the dark aura.
As if he had expected it, flames blazed fiercely on Leo's sword, which was wrapped in a fiery aura all over his body.
‘Zerdinger’s secret swordsmanship. Prominence.’
Leo’s sword traced a crimson line towards Kargor.
Clang-!
Kargor barely blocked Leo’s attack by swinging his greatsword.
But the crimson flames, seemingly capable of devouring everything, raged fiercely.
“You’re no ordinary greenhorn!”
Leo and Kargor’s pure knightly abilities were on par.
In a fight against such an opponent, the deciding factor was experience.
And Kargor prided himself on surpassing Leo in experience.
He thought it was absurd that a first-year student from a hero academy could overwhelm him, who had traversed countless battlefields as a Death Knight, with experience.
But that was Kargor's misconception.
‘He sees through all my moves!’
Leo's experience, having overcome countless battlefields, was of a different caliber than Kargor's.
Looking at Leo's emotionless eyes, Kargor felt a chill run down his spine.
The crimson flames bit into Kargor's greatsword.
Hiss-!
Kargor’s sword began to melt from the intense heat.
Swoosh-!
In an instant, Kargor’s body dispersed.
‘Wraith Form.’
Kargor, using Wraith Form, one of the Death Knight’s techniques, hastily retreated.
‘I’ll have to fight a war of attrition using the undead army!’
Whoosh-!
Suddenly, a small sun appeared in Kargor’s dark red eyes.
With a blinding bright light, the surrounding snow melted rapidly.
Lunaria, who had cast Conflagration, shouted at Kargor.
“Die! You bony bastard!”
A giant orb of flame flew towards Kargor.
The undead caught in the flames oxidized instantly, leaving no ash behind.
‘No escape!’
Boom-boom-boom! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Kwagagagwang-!
The flames spread everywhere, raging madly.
Leo and Eiran crouched down to avoid being caught in the aftermath.
A moment later, the flames receded, and the surrounding area was scorched earth.
“This is what happens when you mess with me!”
Lunaria puffed out her chest, looking triumphant.
“Th-the forest…!”
Eiran covered her face, looking pale.
[Is she really an elf? Why is she so aggressive?]
Chirp- chirp-!
Kiran clicked his tongue, and Fiona flapped her wings, seemingly pleased.
Leo, who had been looking where Kargor was, muttered.
“Persistent.”
“What?”
Lunaria paused.
Go-o-o-o-!
“Hehehehe.”
“Oh? Not dead yet?”
Lunaria cracked her knuckles.
“Then I’ll just have to burn you until you die.”
[No matter how I look at her, she doesn’t seem like an elf.]
Kiran whispered.
“Heh- did you think you could easily destroy me, Kargor?”
“You're confident in your toughness, are you? Let's see how long you last.”
Kargor, who had been laughing at Lunaria's belligerent smile, spoke.
“Once this mission is complete, I will bestow death upon you all.”
With those words, Kargor vanished.
“Boasting when you’re running away.”
Lunaria scoffed.
“What are you doing! Hurry up and chase him to get rid of that damn bonehead and the curse on this forest!”
***
Swoosh-!
Kargor, who had disengaged from combat, appeared before Lauta, who was drawing a summoning circle.
“Did you take care of everything?”
“They’ll be here soon. Hurry up.”
“What?”
Lauta’s face contorted.
“Don’t make me laugh! You incompetent undead! You can’t even properly handle some first-year brats?”
“Hehehe. Yes. This body was dealt with by mere first-year brats.”
Kargor let out a low laugh.
“What’s so good that you’re grinning like that!”
“How can I not be happy! I have a chance to eliminate a sprout who will become a hero in the future! The Lich King will be very pleased with this.”
Lauta's face contorted as he watched Kargor shout in ecstasy.
“A hero’s… sprout?”
“Yes, when I first saw you, I thought the Hero Academy was over… but he was no ordinary one after all.”
“Don’t speak carelessly. I am your master now.”
“You, who are weaker than I, claim to be my master?”
“Because the Lich King you serve decided it!”
Lauta, shouting irritably, showed a black ring.
“I could extinguish you right now!”
“Hehehehe. Go ahead. If you can handle the three first-years coming alone, that is.”
Lauta flinched at Kargor’s scoff.
“Grr!”
“Hurry up and complete the summoning circle, you worm-like master.”
Lauta gritted his teeth and continued to draw the summoning circle.
‘The moment I get my hands on the Progenitor's power… I'll take care of you first!’
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