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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 34: Raising the Divine Rank
Two weeks had passed since the construction of the Necropolis.
A domain of death appeared in the border region.
The monsters, who had unwelcome neighbors, rushed into the fog without hesitation and gave a fierce welcome.
[Level Up!]
[Current level is 49.]
His level had risen explosively.
As expected of the border region overflowing with monsters, the amount of experience gained was tremendous.
Thanks to this, he had acquired one more necromancy spell.
▷ Liquefaction
Category: Magic
Rank: C
Transforms flesh into a sticky substance by imbuing it with spirit power.
A magic that is premised on linking with Flesh Control.
Not very practical in actual combat.
〔Contractor, it seems you've finally lost your mind.〕
'Why?'
〔Why acquire a useless spell?〕
'It's a prerequisite spell to acquire the next spell.'
Inheriting knowledge from the Ring of Darkness was a kind of skill tree.
Even with necromancy knowledge, there were spells that could be acquired immediately without any specific conditions, and there were also spells that could only be inherited after mastering several other spells.
'I can learn that magic if I raise my divine rank.'
A spell that epitomizes the destructive power of necromancy.
Once he acquired that, his monster hunting speed would increase dramatically.
〔But why are you taking it easy when you can acquire more spells?〕
'There are no spells worth learning right now.'
Khehehe.
Yoojin laughed heartily.
【Give orders instead of laughing if you have the time.】
"Look at how you're talking to your master."
【Can you say that while looking at the monsters swarming from beyond the fog?】
Fafnir's reproachful gaze was directed at the monsters invading the Necropolis.
"It's not even a monster coalition, why are there three races mixed together?"
【Isn't this the courage to be disliked?】
"I don't want to be courageous enough to be disliked."
【Well, Master is the type to be disliked anyway.】
That's a bit harsh.
Yoojin once again missed the taciturn Park Haneul.
"I'll leave the vanguard to you as usual."
As soon as Yoojin's order fell, Fafnir's figure disappeared and reached the monsters charging in.
【Huhuhu. Die, all of you!】
[Kenex Combat Art]
[Seventh Stance]
[Ten-Strike Flurry]
Possessing the strength of a 3 Star.
Fafnir, using the thick fog as a veil, continuously hit and ran against the monsters.
The tireless characteristic of the undead and the demon eyes that pierced through the fog.
Despite the monsters having a numerical advantage, they were unilaterally hunted down, having lost the initiative.
"Cough! Cough!"
Even though Fafnir's strength was comparable to a 4 Star, he couldn't block ten hands with one.
Some monsters ignored the fog and instinctively charged.
They were Ironclad Boars, classified as 2 Star.
"Ready?"
"Yes, hyung-nim."
[Movable Fortress]
[Powerful Strike]
Kwaang—!
The Ironclad Boar that was blindly charging forward was thrown back with a squeal.
Colliding mana and strength at the exact timing.
He had crushed the Ironclad Boar's head with destructive power that surpassed the limits of a 1 Star.
Seizing the moment Kang Minho stopped swinging his shield, the Ironclad Boar spun around, aiming its sharp teeth.
[Synchronization]
[Telekinesis]
[Exploit Weakness]
Thud! The arrow shot towards the top of the Ironclad Boar's head pierced the exposed skin in a single blow.
The crossbow was floating 10 meters above the ground.
Hidden in the fog, the crossbow aimed for the monsters' weak points.
"Not enough firepower."
"Fire Arrow!"
Lee Seongmin's spellcasting speed was much faster than before.
With a former 9 Star Necromancer tutoring him exclusively, his skills were improving rapidly.
Thanks to Yoojin's encouragement (?) and effort, he accurately hit the Ironclad Boar that was sprinting.
"Squeal!"
It only scorched the skin as tough as iron.
Compared to the two who would become famous as Mirror Hunters, he was just an ordinary Hunter, unable to overcome the difference in divine rank.
"Sorry. It lacked power."
"No, you did well."
Hitting an Ironclad Boar moving at high speed was a great achievement in itself.
Yoojin nodded, and one of the Cursed Fang hanging from his waist soared up.
[Using Bone Spear.]
The magic weapon dug into the spot where the Fire Arrow had scorched.
"Squeeeeal!"
The Ironclad Boar twisted its body, trying to prevent the foreign object from penetrating, but the already weakened area quickly tore.
"Hyung-nim. The Ironclad Boars are ignoring me and charging straight ahead."
At Kang Minho's words, Yoojin snapped his fingers.
"Grooowl, groooowl."
"Groooowl. It is Master's command."
Skeletons clad in dark armor.
Armored Skeletons, created by applying [Bone Armor] and [Bone Control], blocked the advance of the remaining Ironclad Boars.
[Armored Skeleton]
Race: Undead
Rank: ★★
◎ Stats
Strength: 101 (+43) / Agility: 114 (+45) / Health: 100 (+31) / Endurance: 83 (+56) / Mana: 40 (+24)
◎ Traits
▷ Undying Existence [C+] / Cut Resistance [C+]
◎ Skills
▷ Basic Weapon Skills [D] / Dirty Blow [D] / Powerful Strike [D]
More agile than zombies, but lower in strength and endurance.
'It can't be helped. If you use bones as a medium for transmitting spiritual power, the efficiency is lower than with flesh.'
Armored Skeletons had a different strengthening method than zombies.
Small bones, replacing magic circuits, were connected between the armor woven from bones.
The crafting difficulty was several times higher than that of Armored Zombies.
Even Yoojin, with his current skills, had to concentrate for more than 5 minutes to create one.
〔You're doing something that's both inefficient and bothersome.〕
'Skeletons have good durability.'
Even salted corpses couldn't completely prevent decay.
Armored Zombies were more susceptible to decay because the flesh was closely attached to the bones to strengthen the circuits.
On the other hand, Armored Skeletons, with their magic circuits reinforced with bones, were far superior in durability.
Since he had declared a Necropolis, he needed subordinates that could be used for a long time.
【Even though we tried to block them here, quite a few slipped through.】
Fafnir, who had freely roamed through the fog and dealt with the monsters, attacked from behind.
The monster group was dealt with in an instant.
[Level Up!]
[Current level is 50.]
[Breaking through the limit, you advance to a new realm.]
Suddenly, a full power filled him, invigorating his whole body.
Power boiling like lava.
By reaching the maximum level, he had obtained the qualification to move on to the next divine rank, advancing to a realm beyond.
[+20% bonus to all stats.]
[Experience required for level up increased by 4 times.]
His level returned to 1.
It wasn't a loss since the stats he had invested so far didn't disappear.
Rather, it was a much greater gain since all his stats received an additional 20% bonus.
The additional bonus increased as the divine rank increased.
'This is why the difference in divine rank is absolute.'
〔Khahahaha! It doesn't seem like something the Contractor should say.〕
'I should be an exception.'
More than 100 subordinates at the 2 Star level.
Fafnir, whose strength rivaled that of a 4 Star monster.
He even had magic weapons made with necromancer-exclusive equipment.
'An ordinary Hunter couldn't even dream of this.'
〔Is there no such word as humility in the Contractor's head?〕
'I'm just stating facts.'
〔Huh. It's truly lamentable that you have the skills to match that arrogance.〕
‘Come on, stop grumbling, incompetent constellation.’
Yoojin poured spirit power into the Ring of Darkness.
[Using the Library of Knowledge.]
[You can access the knowledge left by the previous Masters of Death.]
[Darkness / Curse / Alchemy / ... You can access one of the other fields.]
〔There are quite a few options. Which one are you going to choose?〕
'In my previous life, I chose the Curse field.'
Curses were like a minor for necromancers.
Techniques to control spirits by twisting them with various debuffs.
[Union], the undead strengthening technique that Yoojin developed himself, also required knowledge of both necromancy and curses.
〔Then there's no need to worry.〕
'This time it's different.'
Tap- Tap—
A dark mask covering his face.
He had the [Shadow Mask], a curse medium obtained from the Masked Beast.
An item engraved with up to 5 curses.
He could add the necessary techniques by manipulating the circuits whenever needed, so it could be postponed in priority.
〔Then?〕
'I will inherit the Alchemy field.'
[Knowledge of the Alchemy field is engraved into the user's soul.]
[The rank of the soul is low. Part of the spell is inherited.]
'What I need right now is...'
The number of spells that could be inherited at once was two.
Yoojin recalled the alchemy spells he had in mind beforehand.
Golem Creation
Category: Alchemy
Rank: B
Creates a golem. The properties of the golem are affected by the medium, mana core, etc.
Reinforcement Circuit
Category: Alchemy
Rank: D
A technique to strengthen magic circuits.
〔Why aren't you screaming like before?〕
'I'm a 2 Star now. It doesn't hurt like before.'
〔That's a shame. Your struggles were quite amusing.〕
'Shut up, incompetent constellation.'
Yoojin grumbled and organized the knowledge that had entered his mind.
＊ ＊ ＊
The Black Obelisk.
The structure located at the center of the Necropolis absorbed the souls of the monsters that perished within the territory.
Black magic circuits wriggled like blood vessels.
The spirit power, strengthened by absorbing many souls, moved violently.
'At this rate, the territory size will increase to 2 soon.'
Yoojin checked the Necropolis information.
[Territory Size - 1]
[Necromancy Amplification Range - 1km]
[Capacity for Undead - 100/100]
[Spiritual Energy Concentration – 3]
[Structures - Black Obelisk, Unholy Graveyard]
[Unholy Graveyard]
▷ Rank - 1
▷ Area - Small
▷ Durability - 500/500
Prevents the decay of stored corpses and automatically imbues them with spirit power. The longer they are aged, the more suitable they become for undead creation.
▷ Corpses Stored 10/10
The black tomb erected at the bottom of the hill.
The first resident was the corpse of Jo Seung-chul, the promising rookie of the Red Spider.
〔You're so devoted to him.〕
'I've become a 2 Star, so I should make him an undead soon.'
Magic-type undead like Skeleton Mage or Dark Hood could only be created after reaching 2 Star.
〔You're pretending to be weak even though you managed to create a high-ranking undead like an Eldritch Dragon.〕
'That was an anomaly. It's not proper necromancy.'
Alchemy, necromancy, and curses.
He was able to create it by mobilizing all the means he could use and with the help of Shin Joonseok, the great alchemist of the future.
The Draconian corpse, which possessed the full power of the dragon race, also played a part.
Even so.
It was still incomplete.
〔Didn't you say that he also had quite useful talent?〕
'He was a 3 Star at the time of his death.'
Even Yoojin couldn't create an undead by drawing out the future potential of a corpse.
Like Fafnir before his return.
Or rather, like Park Haneul, if it was an upgrade, it might be possible.
"Fafnir, I'll be going to Paju for a while."
【What? Master, are you telling me to find a house here or something?】
"Good guess. Guard the Necropolis for a bit."
【Huhuhu. Leave it to me.】
Kang Minho glanced at Fafnir, who shouted confidently.
"Hyung-nim. Should we stay and guard this place too?"
"What are your levels?"
"48."
"47."
"45."
The Little Runts team was also leveling up at a rapid pace.
Although it was relatively slower compared to Yoojin, who received experience points from his subordinate undead, their growth rate was much faster than that of ordinary 1 Star Hunters.
"That's good. You guys should go somewhere for a while too."
"Is it okay to completely empty the Necropolis?"
"If we can't protect it, we have to give up."
As long as he had the Life Force Vessel, Fafnir could be revived even if his body was destroyed.
Considering the dangers of the border region, it wouldn't be strange if the Necropolis was captured while Yoojin and his party were away.
"I won't revive you as undead even if you die."
"Normally, that's called desecrating the dead, hyung-nim."
Oh, you're getting cheeky now, huh?
"You might change your mind when you're really about to die."
"Somehow, it sounds like you're saying you'll kill us yourself, hyung-nim."
Yoojin just chuckled without answering.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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