We didn't even need to enter the wall.
Thud.
Thud.
Boom.
Before Duke Roper or anyone else could speak to me, undead monsters were already pouring out from inside the wall.
"Grrrr…"
"Kaaaak!"
The ogre that had just charged at me, agile trolls smaller than ogres, and bearwolves with bear bodies and wolf heads—all the large northern monsters were rushing out in droves.
"The black aura behind those monsters…"
"They were revived by the magic called Dark Resurrection. As expected, the mastermind is a high-ranking warlock. At this level, it's probably at least a lich."
"I thought so."
The mage beside Duke Roper explained the monsters to him.
"Grrrr."
"Kagggg."
"Kiaaak!"
The monsters' flesh was brutally torn away, with sinister black auras burning behind them like evil spirits.
"Kiaaak!"
"Gigigik."
Not only large monsters but also zombies, ghouls, and skeleton soldiers poured out. From the numbers, it looked like they intended to fight with full force here.
"Why aren't they attacking?"
"Because the caster hasn't given the order yet."
"Are they waiting for something?"
"I think…"
The mage's gaze turned to me. He seemed to want to say the warlock was wary because of my ability.
"They're giving us time. That's good for us. Everyone, prepare for battle!"
"Knights to the front! Spearmen right behind the knights!"
"Priests, prepare the net of light! Mages, finish your chants in advance!"
"Understood."
Duke Roper knew exactly what to do first. Instead of asking me questions, he began issuing commands for the upcoming fight.
"Hmm…"
Looking at the monster count, once we broke through here, reclaiming the northern wall would be smooth sailing.
In the original story, a monster called Shabrtra appeared. It was a highly intelligent undead that commanded other undead in place of the summoner. The protagonist had struggled against its strategy.
But this idiot lich was only using the extra time to increase the size and number of monsters.
If there was even one Shabrtra, we would have suffered greatly. Right now, only brainless bones and muscle pigs were here.
Far more monsters than the original story, yet much easier to handle.
"He probably thinks this is just an experiment."
I could clearly imagine what the mastermind was thinking. He was likely consoling himself that this was merely testing a new item.
"Kuaaaaah!"
"Kiiiaaa!"
As proof, he was sending the monsters charging straight in without any strategy.
"Mages!"
"Fire Explosion!"
"Sun Flare!"
"Mega Fireball!"
Magic circles in octagonal shapes formed in the mages' hands, already prepared.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
Kwaaaang!
The blazing orbs of flame, like miniature suns, passed through the net of light, absorbed holy power, and exploded the undead monsters.
"Kuaaaaah!"
"Kiaaak!"
"Mages, one more round! Knights, prepare for battle!"
Even after their comrades died, the undead charged fearlessly. The mages who had used their second spell retreated, and the knights advanced.
Thud!
Kyak!
"Kiaaak!"
Monsters revived by Dark Resurrection followed their living habits. Their fighting style remained almost unchanged.
"Target the legs."
"Understood!"
"Arms removed."
The ducal knights, as they did every year, formed teams to handle the large monsters. Thanks to Dark Resurrection, the monsters' speed and strength had increased, but the blessed knights were the same.
While the ducal knights dealt with large monsters, the supporting knight orders handled regular undead.
Thud!
"Kiik!"
I moved across the battlefield, helping anyone in danger while targeting only ghouls.
"Kuaaaaaah!"
"It's a Double Head Ogre."
"Haa, even that monster got turned…"
A Double Head Ogre was exactly as the name suggested—an ogre with two heads. It had superior strength, agility, and intelligence compared to normal ogres, making it difficult to hunt.
But this one also carried a sinister black aura.
"Kuaaaah!"
Instead of charging at the group, the Double Head Ogre rushed straight toward me, who was catching ghouls on the outskirts.
"Yeah. I must look annoying to you."
Whether by the lich's order through the crystal ball, the Double Head Ogre's burning eyes were fixed solely on me.
"Agnes."
Shuuuk.
I transformed Agnes into a tiny white metal bead the size of a thumbnail. This was the hidden weapon White Light Orb, said to move like a ray of light.
Pang!
I flicked the White Light Orb off my middle finger. It was the Sichuan Tang Clan's hidden technique, One Flash Thunder, similar to Shaolin's Finger Flick Divine Art.
Shuaang!
Thud!
The White Light Orb left a white trail and flew toward the Double Head Ogre. Before the ogre could block with its clubs, the orb had already pierced through its abdomen.
"Kuaaaak!"
Since the White Light Orb naturally contained Evolved Hwagol Mountain, the Double Head Ogre with a hole in its stomach collapsed to the ground and twitched.
"Kuaak…"
Unable to even scream properly, the tyrant of the north, the Double Head Ogre, melted away and disappeared.
If it hadn't been undead, I would have needed various poisons and hidden weapons instead of the White Light Orb to take down such a tough bastard.
"Thanks for turning it into an undead for me."
I felt grateful to the lich for making the ogre undead and looked around.
All regular undead were down. Only one or two large monsters remained, struggling desperately.
It was time to move according to my plan, so I approached the Duke.
"Duke."
"Yuren! You were truly amazing. Thanks to you, things are resolving so easily!"
The Duke smiled widely and gripped both my shoulders.
"Will you head straight to the northern wall like this?"
"Yes. It's best to move while morale is high."
"Then, may I move separately beside you and scout the surroundings? I'll eliminate any dangerous monsters along the way."
"You were already helping endangered soldiers and knights from behind earlier. Thank you."
"It's nothing. Just what I should do."
"Good. I'm counting on you."
My humble reply brought a refreshing smile to Duke Roper's lips. His affinity toward me was clearly rising rapidly.
"Yes. Trust me."
After obtaining the Duke's permission, I returned to my group.
"From now on, we'll all stay together and break through the wall. Just follow the Duke."
"You're not coming with us, Sir Yuren?"
Knight Commander Kiron, who was maintaining his sword, asked.
"No. I'll move separately and eliminate dangerous monsters."
"That's something only you can do."
"Commander Kiron, Commander Karox, please take good care of the knights and soldiers."
"Understood. Be careful."
"Young master, good luck."
Receiving Kiron's sincere greeting and Karox's empty one, I went to Arin.
"Arin, keep an eye on Karox and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Young master. Can't I come with you?"
"You're the only one I can trust here. Because you stay behind, I can move alone. Take good care of the others."
"Understood."
Arin looked like she wanted to come, but hearing that I trusted her, she nodded.
**
Inside a dimly lit cave, bones with half-eaten flesh still attached were stacked neatly like a table.
Uuuung.
On the bone table sat a crystal ball the size of a human head. Inside it, countless soldiers and knights were reflected.
"What the—what is this crazy bastard?!"
In front of the crystal ball sat a figure in a purple robe. His right hand, touching the ball, was made entirely of pure white bone.
"The Dullahan died from a single dagger? What kind of bullshit…"
The culprit behind this undead incident, the lich Pomera, nearly fell over backward watching a man kill a Dullahan with one dagger in the crystal.
"I need to see what ability that is again."
Pomera tried to resummon the Dullahan killed by Yuren, but felt no response.
"The contract was erased?"
Dullahan was a high-ranking undead. Summoning it required a contract, yet the contract between him and the Dullahan had vanished.
"Did its soul disappear? What the hell is that dagger?!"
To observe the dagger-throwing human, Pomera sent monsters charging at the humans. Ghouls, skeleton soldiers, undead ogres, even the Double Head Ogre—all vanished from a single dagger.
"What the hell is that guy?!"
Watching the man's performance, Pomera became certain. That human possessed a dangerous ability that could destroy even an undead's soul in one strike.
"I must not meet that bastard…"
As a lich, Pomera could revive anytime as long as his soul orb remained safe. But if hit by that man's dagger, he couldn't predict what would happen even to himself.
"The plan has changed, but it can't be helped. This was just an experiment anyway."
Pomera had planned to toy with the humans until the end before disappearing, but meeting the dagger man was too dangerous. He gathered necessary items and touched the magic circle drawn on the wall.
Wiiing.
The magic circle rotated 180 degrees and instantly teleported Pomera elsewhere.
"I wanted to see the humans' shocked faces…"
The place Pomera moved to was a hidden shelter on the opposite side of the previous dungeon.
His favorite saying was "The darkest place is under the lamp," so he had built and hidden his shelter behind the attention-drawing dungeon.
"I should just watch how they move and leave."
Relaxed, Pomera checked the humans' movements through the crystal ball again—suddenly, the dagger-using man was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did that monster go?"
No matter how he rotated the transparent dragonfly observing the humans, the man who had flustered him was gone.
"What the…"
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Intruder?"
The alarm magic at the shelter entrance was ringing.
"N-no way!"
The entrance had his illusion magic cast on it. As someone confident in illusion magic more than anything, Pomera was shocked to the point of fainting.
"Why is that monster here?!"
Pomera quickly turned the crystal ball to check the intruder. The one entering was the crazy bastard with the dagger who had terrified him.
"How did he…"
Pomera looked around in panic.
"It doesn't matter how he found this place right now…"
More importantly, his lifeline was here. It seemed impossible to grab it and escape before the man arrived.
"Fighting is the worst option. Damn it, no choice…"
As Pomera began chanting, his bones crumbled like sand and his robe fell to the ground.
"Huu, to end up like this."
Pomera's chosen method was to pretend he had already left. He abandoned his bone body and turned himself into a spirit form.
It was a special method only liches—who could revive anytime with their soul orb—could use.
Step.
Only a few seconds after Pomera turned spiritual, the man entered.
"Hah."
The man looked at the purple robe on the ground and the crystal ball on top of it, then smirked.
'What is he doing? D-don't tell me he saw me?'
When the man looked around, Pomera felt for a brief moment that the man had glanced at him.
"Wow, visible to the eye and detectable with internal energy. Nice."
The man muttered to himself, then reached his hand toward the right corner—at the rock wall.
"Ugh!"
Startled, Pomera accidentally made a sound.
The illusion magic on that wall was one level higher than the one outside. Even a grand mage wouldn't easily see through it at a glance.
"Kuk."
Boom.
Smiling at Pomera's groan, the man reached into the illusion-covered wall, pressed a button. A mechanism sounded, and the wall began to open.
"H-how did you know that spot?!"
"I can just see it."
"Ugh!"
Kugugung.
Pomera hurriedly tried to recreate his body, but before he could, three items popped out from the wall.
Thud.
A book bound with human skin, a dark fluctuating orb, and finally a pure white orb.
Yuren, smirking at Pomera, grabbed the white orb and grinned at the lich who had formed his body.
"For a soul orb containing your rotten soul, the color is quite pretty."