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Chapter 250: Descent
The fundamental reason why the guilds were entangled was that the mediocre acorns were all squabbling, each claiming to be the best.
What was needed to solve this? Overwhelming prestige.
Forming a raid team so powerful that no one could utter a single word of complaint.
That's why.
He had asked the four elders for help.
At least in Korea, there was no one who could ignore the names of Sword Saint, Divine Spear, Fist King, and Poison Demon.
'Originally, I was planning to include only one or two of the four.'
Even that would have been more than enough in terms of reputation. But as soon as he asked, they all immediately agreed to go.
It seemed they had plenty of free time since they were all retired.
Even if he said it was okay and all of them are not required, they responded with disappointment, asking if he was leaving them out.
What could he do?
In the end, he had no choice but to include all four elders in the raid team.
Plus, there was the Japanese Sword Demon as an added bonus.
'I heard he was defeated by the Sword Saint.'
It was like a Korea-Japan match.
Sword Saint would have had the advantage originally, but now he had even gained the bizarre enlightenment of the Heart Sword.
The outcome was already decided.
He thought the Sword Demon would have gone back after that, but it seemed he was still staying in Korea.
"50 billion won in total. That's quite cheap for a recruitment fee."
"50 billion won is cheap?"
"It is. If we couldn't recruit the elders, it would have been difficult to settle things cleanly like this, and the hiring fees for other Awakened would have been higher. Considering that, it's cheap."
"...Is that so?"
"It is. It's an S-rank gate, and the first clear at that. The difficulty is high, so everyone would have asked for at least 10 billion won each."
"That's true."
Park Siwoo nodded.
Come to think of it, that was right.
If the elders weren't there?
Since Kim Minwoo intended to monopolize the rewards, he would have had to hire other Awakened as mercenaries.
Mercenaries who could clear the gate in his place when he returned to the Demon World, if necessary.
But would their lives be cheap?
'They would be expensive, probably.'
Considering the value of an S-rank Awakened's life, 10 billion won per person might not even be enough. It was an amount they could easily earn in just one or two years of work.
In that sense, it could be said that the cost of hiring Korea's top Awakened was quite reasonable.
"They adamantly refused to accept it. I felt bad."
"Well, the enlightenment you gave Master was truly amazing. You can't buy something like that with money. But every time I think about it, it's absurd."
"Huh?"
"I mean, how can someone with enough skill to give Master enlightenment have zero talent?"
"You're right. Maybe you'll understand if you play games for about 15 years and reach the top."
"Huh? Games?"
Why was he suddenly talking about games?
While Park Siwoo tilted his head in confusion, Kim Minwoo chuckled and shook his head.
"Well, it was a joke. Anyway, get ready. We'll be going to clear the gate soon."
"Okay. You included Siah too. We're going together, right?"
"Probably? The training shouldn't take too long."
Skeletons learned skills at a remarkably fast pace. This was mainly due to their sheer numbers.
He had summoned enough to fill the guild house's basement to the brim...
As long as Han Siah wasn't the worst teacher, she would teach them something.
He had allotted a total of one week until they went to the Dragon's Castle.
* * *
[Skeleton Intermediate 202 is learning divine arts from 'Han Siah'...]
[Skeleton Intermediate 1,101 is learning divine arts from 'Han Siah'...]
[The power of collective intelligence!]
[A group of Skeleton Intermediates grasp the principles of theology!]
[Skeletons can now use 'Undead Divine Arts (F)'!]
[Possesses fanatical faith! Undead Divine Arts greatly improves...]
[The sixth job change class, 'Skeleton Intermediate Priest', is created!]
"Oh, it's here?!"
Exactly two days after waiting.
A welcome message appeared.
Finally, the skeletons had conquered the realm of priests!
'But, Undead Divine Arts?'
It sounded like something similar to kimchi pizza, sweet and sour pork.
He checked the skill window.
[Summon Skeleton Intermediate (D)+9]
[Consumes 10 mana to summon 2 (1+1) desired Skeleton Intermediates of LV201.]
[* Currently summonable list (6/10)]
.
.
[6. Skeleton Intermediate Priest]
[A skeleton imbued with fanatical faith. Receives additional buffs.]
[* Summoned with Undead Divine Arts (C).]
[* Undead Divine Arts (C) - Divine arts activated through fanatical faith in Kim Minwoo, the summoner and the sole god of the undead creatures. Effective on Kim Minwoo and his undead.]
"Huh?"
Kim Minwoo, the sole god of the creatures?
"Me? Is that so?"
Well,
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense for the skeletons to think that way.
Who summoned the skeletons?
It was Kim Minwoo.
To them, he was no different from a creator.
Of course, high-ranking undead with developed minds would think of betraying him as soon as they were summoned.
But skeletons were still fresh recruits with undeveloped minds.
Moreover, they had witnessed Legion Commanders, who were far superior to them, pledging their loyalty.
"Well, good things are good things."
It was already a success that the object of their loyalty was him, not the Death Lord.
Come to think of it.
What had the Death Lord done?
He had only given them a 50% reduction in summoning mana, a 50% increase in stats, one resurrection when an undead died, and the ability to learn.
The one who actually lived and grew with the skeletons was him.
"This is an undeniable fact."
He felt proud that it seemed to have paid off.
He summoned ten skeletons, including Hail.
[Skeleton Intermediate Priest has been summoned!]
Skeleton Priest.
It was wearing a jet-black robe, and on it's only exposed head, a bone crown was placed.
In its hand, it held a small book made of bone, which looked like some kind of bible.
The skeletons raised their heads.
Without making a single clattering sound, they began to stare at him with a calmness like a still lake.
Thud!
Hail and the other nine skeletons knelt without hesitation.
Kim Minwoo's face was filled with bewilderment.
"What are you doing?"
Clatter!
"I'll give you a pen, write down what you're doing."
Hail, who received the pen, scribbled on the paper.
〈Obey through faith.〉
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Then, it began to pray with an utmost solemn expression.
"Are you doing that to me?"
Nod.
"Huh... You're not going to do this every time I summon you, are you?"
At his words, Hail stared at him blankly.
"This won't do."
He quickly unsummoned the ten skeletons and then summoned them again.
Once again, they stared at him blankly...
"No, wait. Don't kneel. Stop doing that."
Clatter.
"Who told you to do that? Was it Siah?"
Shake of the head.
"Anyway, kneeling is prohibited. I don't want you doing that every time I summon you. Okay?"
...Nod.
Hail nodded with a somewhat disappointed expression.
"You tell the other skeletons too. Not to do that."
〈Understood.〉
"So, what can you do?"
〈I can heal and buff you, Master.〉
"No offensive skills?"
〈There is one.〉
"What is it?"
〈I can punish heretics.〉
"...Heretics? Are you talking about those who believe in a god other than me?"
〈Yes.〉
He would look into that later.
He took out a dagger.
He slashed his arm, and blood flowed out along with the wound.
...!
Hail and the other skeletons were horrified.
"What are you doing? Why are you not healing? Don’t you see your master hurt?"
At that moment.
[A group of Skeleton Intermediate Priests use 'Light of Madness'!]
[Target of Faith!]
[Special effect activated!]
[Self-healing ability increased threefold for 30 minutes!]
Along with the message, a jet-black energy gathered like clouds over his arm.
He could see the wound healing in an instant.
"Oh?"
Kim Minwoo was inwardly impressed.
There were many types of healing that simply restored wounds or increased health.
But the method of healing that increased self-healing ability was quite rare. And that's exactly what the skeletons were using.
"...This is good."
At his words, the group of skeletons scratched their heads as if embarrassed.
'Come to think of it, increased self-healing ability is much better.'
For a human with nothing, increasing their healing ability wouldn't have much effect, but Kim Minwoo was different.
He had the Vampire Baron's healing ability. It was like having a constant effect of a high-rank healing potion.
And that healing ability tripled?
This was almost like drinking a highest-rank potion.
It was very attractive.
Potions could cause addiction if you drank too many, but there was no such thing as addiction to healing abilities.
"What about buffs?"
[A group of Skeleton Intermediate Priests use 'Faith of Obedience'!]
[Target of Faith!]
[Special effect activated!]
[Mana recovery speed increased by 30% for 30 minutes!]
"Oh."
Increased mana recovery speed was a very valuable option. Even more so because it meant he could move further away from potion addiction.
The experiment continued.
This time, it was a healing and buff experiment on an undead, not Kim Minwoo. He summoned a skeleton and chopped off one of its arms.
As an undead, it wouldn't feel any pain.
The priests focused their healing power on the skeleton that had become one-armed.
Soon, small roots began to grow from the severed arm.
It was the root part of the bone arm.
Like a rapidly growing tree, the roots grew and filled the arm.
"Can you move it properly?"
Clatter!
The skeleton, which had transformed from 'one-armed' back to 'two-armed', nodded vigorously.
'The healing ability is decent.'
With the concentration of ten Skeleton Priests, they could regenerate a limb of an undead in an instant.
What if he focused this healing power on the Legion Commanders?
If hundreds or thousands of Skeleton Priests healed the Legion Commanders?
'Wouldn't they become virtually immortal?'
Unless the priests ran out of mana or were all wiped out, he wondered if there was any way to defeat the Legion Commanders.
"...Wait a minute."
He looked at the Skeleton Priests.
"There are ten of you now, right?"
〈Yes.〉
"What do you think would happen if I summoned a hundred, a thousand, and had them focus their buffs on me?"
〈...Wouldn't their faith become concentrated in one place?〉
He called Han Siah.
—Yes, Minwoo.
"Are you training the skeletons?"
—Yes. There are still many skeletons left, so I'm continuing the training... Why do you ask?
"I have something to experiment with. Can I call the skeletons?"
—Of course. As many as you like.
"Alright."
After hanging up the phone.
He immediately moved to the training ground.
He unsummoned all the skeletons that were being trained by Han Siah in the distance.
[Summoning Skeleton Priest!]
He used up all his mana to summon all the Skeleton Priests.
The necklace that increased all stats by 150.
The highest-rank potion and Baal's Spirit Orb.
And all the titles that assisted him.
Kim Minwoo's mana currently exceeded 20,000.
And the skeletons?
A whopping four were summoned with just 10 mana.
As a result.
Nearly 8,000 skeletons filled the training ground.
And all of them were priests!
"Will you pray for me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, over 8,000 skeletons knelt down.
[A group of Skeleton Intermediate Priests use 'Light of Madness'!]
[Target of Faith!]
[The amount of faith has exceeded the limit!]
[You have descended.]
At that moment.
Something covered his body.
It was like armor.
A full plate armor covering his entire body. A jet-black full plate armor had been clad over his entire body.
Soon, a message appeared.
[Descent state.]
[From now on, all damage will be taken by your followers.]
...Huh?
So, the Skeleton Priests who were praying were going to take the damage for him?
"This is crazy."
Oh my god.
What on earth had he unleashed?
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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