Chapter 508
Ta-at!
Simon stomped the ground and dashed forward, wielding the Greatsword of Destruction.
“But you know, Milord.”
Nirti picked up a syringe stuck in her belt and jabbed it straight into her own neck.
At the same time, she raised her left hand. No magic circle was drawn on her palm.
‘!’
A white straight line suddenly reached right before Simon’s nose.
‘What the—!’
With animal-like reflexes, he twisted his head aside. Ka-ga-gak! Sparks flew off Feer’s helmet as the white line grazed past his eye.
“You thought just because you sent the dungeon master, you’d take me down so easily?”
Simon halted abruptly and glanced at what had just passed him.
‘Bone?’
From her palm, pure white bone protruded, stretching outward like a pole.
But that wasn’t the end. Small bones sprouted from it like branches on a tree.
‘Bone Creation magic!’
[Be careful, boy!]
White bones spread out across the air, writhing like pipes of a water system, surging at Simon. He twisted his body desperately to evade, slashing them apart with the Greatsword of Destruction.
Ta-ak.
Nirti kicked off her shoes and pressed her bare feet against the ground.
“Undying soldiers, chimeras, dungeon master—it doesn’t matter.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“In this Tarados, the strongest one is me!”
At the same time, Feer’s voice rang out.
[Below you!]
Kwa-de-de-de-de-deuk!
From the dungeon floor, white bones shot up like spikes. Simon gasped and jumped back, barely evading as spikes rose endlessly where he had just stood.
‘She used her leg bones…!’
This time, Nirti thrust both arms forward. Bones split into two streams, spreading midair before cascading down onto the ground.
‘Bone Creation magic is this versatile?!’
Simon sprinted frantically, swinging his greatsword.
No matter how many bones he cut down, Nirti herself showed no pain nor damage—only mild surprise. She seemed puzzled that the severed bones didn’t regrow where they’d been sliced by the Greatsword of Destruction.
[Hmph!]
Simon twisted his waist and slashed in a circular arc. The jungle of bones filling the air split diagonally, cleanly severed.
But piercing through the shockwave, more bones erupted and rushed him.
Ka-ga-gak!
Ka-gak!
Feer shifted the Bone Armor, deflecting Nirti’s bones rushing in straight lines.
‘Thank you, Feer!’
Barely avoiding serious injury, Simon sprinted again.
“It’s useless.”
Kwa-kwa-kwa-k!
Bones burst up from the ground like fences, blocking his charge. Simon was forced to change course and circle around.
‘She’s strong, as expected.’
The Blood Heaven Cult incident.
The Ice Dragon Kraisa incident.
The Tarados incident.
She was the one closest to the heart of all these events.
Her strength was only natural. Even against Simon, wielding the power of a Legion Commander, she wasn’t being pushed back.
Most of all—she wasn’t a student. She was a seasoned, battle-hardened professional necromancer.
Woo-woong!
While fighting Simon with Bone Creation magic, she began expanding its variations. Scarlet eyeballs floated out of her subspace, orbiting around her.
Kiiiing!
Kiing!
When the eyeballs locked their gaze on Simon, he felt his movements slow down.
‘A curse—triggered just by being seen?!’
And at the same time—
Fwoooosh!
Fwoosh!
Cornering Simon to the wall with Bone Creation magic, Nirti fired ten rounds of Darkness-flame magic.
Black flames engulfed Simon.
Kwa-kwakwa-kwak!
Dozens of bones shot into the explosion, piercing through. Nirti finally lowered her arms.
“So that’s it? Strong power, but lacking experience.”
Then she stroked her chin.
‘Not an agent sent by Keyzen… Must be Simon Follentia or Kajan Edvalt.’
Chwaaaaak!
At that moment, a straight crack split through the explosion. Nirti quickly raised bones to shield herself, but all five of the floating eyeballs burst apart.
Thud!
Through the smoke burst Simon, charging once again.
“No matter how many times you try, it’s the same.”
Nirti’s Bone Creation magic spread out, consuming the space.
But Simon’s rush was different this time. He stopped suddenly mid-sprint, creating an opening, and swung the Greatsword of Destruction with precise, minimal movements.
‘Sword path, habits, patterns.’
The writhing bones surged toward him. But now, he recognized their movements.
‘In the end, bones are still controlled by a human! Analyze, adapt!’
Like dodging white rain, Simon weaved through the storm of bones with godlike agility.
Thud!
He launched himself, sprinting across the laboratory ceiling. The bones rising from below couldn’t reach him.
“Tch!”
More bones were needed. A hole tore open in Nirti’s clothing at her abdomen, and ribs jutted outward.
‘Darkness and—’
Simon calmly spread his left arm.
‘Mix it with Cloud!’
The two raging forces collided midair, detonating. A cloud of black smoke enveloped Simon.
‘Petty tricks!’
Nirti halted her assault, eyes narrowing, waiting. Through the smoke, the tip of the greatsword emerged.
‘Got you!’
The moment Simon’s position was revealed by the blade, Nirti hurled every bone in her body forward. The bones tore through the smoke.
Fwooooosh!
But—
Simon was on the ground. He had circled through the smoke, abandoning Feer’s Bone Armor, and was rushing at her directly.
‘What? Then this greatsword—!’
As the smoke cleared, Feer’s skeletal body was revealed, thrusting the greatsword forward with a sly grin.
A perfect fake-out.
<Phantasus Original – Sleep>
Simon shot forward like lightning, brushing his hand against her abdomen and back as he passed.
Two stacks at once.
Ping!
Suddenly, her entire body grew heavy, her limbs drained of strength.
‘Sleep curse?’
And even in this life-or-death battle, her eyes threatened to shut—a dangerously strong Sleep.
Remaining calm, she activated a Cancellation magic circle drawn onto her body, then thrust her right arm forward.
Chwaaak!
Simon extended his arm as well. Nirti’s bones shot out, wrapping around his arm, even seizing the Greatsword of Destruction.
[Hhhhhhhaaaap!]
Charge.
‘Reckless! Is he relying entirely on that Sleep curse?’
Counterattack.
She thrust bones forward to impale him—but overlooked two things.
First, that her Cancellation hadn’t dispelled the Sleep curse. Second, that under the Sleep’s effect, her bones didn’t extend at full strength.
Simon twisted his body, squeezed through the bones, and raised his sword high above his head—then brought it down with all his might.
Chwaaaaak!
Her shoulder and right arm were severed, and she screamed in agony. Simon, unable to follow up, retreated quickly to dodge bones erupting from the ground.
‘Damn! The bones deflected the blade slightly!’
“Ghhh! Grrrrrghhh!”
Nirti clutched her severed shoulder, trembling violently.
As one who had studied immortality, she could regenerate an arm—but wounds cut by the Greatsword of Destruction could not be healed.
“Then so be it!”
Abandoning the severed shoulder bone, she drove other bones through her shoulder socket, extending them into the shape of a new arm.
Jjaaaang!
At the same time, a nearby experimental tank shattered, and a chimera-mutated monster’s arm flew out, attaching itself with a chuk! to her severed stump.
Kududuk!
Kududuk!
She reinforced the chimera arm with Bone Creation magic, then immediately lunged forward, thrusting with the new arm. Simon raised the Greatsword of Destruction before his body.
Jjeo-o-o-ong!
‘!!’
Monstrous strength.
Even though he blocked, Simon’s body was blasted backward with a loud whoooosh. Feer darted in like an arrow, wrapping Simon in Bone Armor as if hugging him, and together they crashed into the wall.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
Nirti, watching through the thick smoke, grabbed a syringe with her trembling left arm and injected it into her body again and again. Stimulants to fight off drowsiness. Painkillers to numb the agony.
Fwooooh—
But when she saw Simon rise to his feet without a scratch, her eyes filled with caution.
“…I hate to admit it, but you really are from Keyzen.”
She smirked.
“The more I see you, the more of a waste it feels to kill you. Why don’t you work for Elder? He can’t resist talented people. He’d forgive all the atrocities you’ve committed so far.”
[What nonsense in the middle of battle.]
Clack.
Simon rested the greatsword on his shoulder. His intangible cloak swirled magnificently.
[Your ‘Executioners’ exploited innocent villagers and carried out forbidden experiments. And you want me to work with you?]
“All for a higher cause.”
Nirti said.
“And another thing—‘innocent villagers of Tarados’? That phrase really pisses me off.”
Her voice turned cold as she braced herself against the wall.
“Do you know why the Gold Mine Dungeon, said to have been destroyed decades ago, still exists here in Tarados?”
Simon, his injured leg still not fully healed, barely managed to stay upright. He decided to use the conversation until his leg recovered.
[You researched the ability to dominate dungeons with the power of Kal. You must’ve used that somehow.]
“What are you talking about? Sure, you can dominate a dungeon with that, but you can’t recreate one that’s already vanished.”
She spread her arms wide.
“This dungeon was never destroyed in the first place.”
Decades ago—
When ‘dungeon addicts’ turned undead and rampaged outside, devastating the city, the local lord hired five adventurers to clear the dungeon. They ventured deep and killed the dungeon master.
Or so history claimed.
“The truth is, the dungeon master had the attribute of immortality, just like other monsters here. The adventurers couldn’t kill it, so they sealed it instead. Once sealed by an artifact, the master’s chamber closed, the dungeon’s power disappeared, and monsters stopped pouring out. People naturally assumed the dungeon master died and the dungeon was destroyed.”
She slowly stepped forward.
“When the dungeon stopped producing gold, the people—blinded by rage—murdered the adventurers who had saved their lives. Brutally. Only one woman survived, thanks to her companions’ sacrifice. And in her womb…”
Her voice sank.
“…was a child.”
Simon’s pupils trembled as though an earthquake had struck.
[……Don’t tell me.]
“That’s right.”
Nirti twisted her mouth into a grotesque grin.
“Those adventurers were my parents.”
Her mother, who lost her husband unjustly and fled the Gold Mine Dungeon, was pursued by Tarados citizens trying to kill her. She barely escaped to the neighboring fiefdom of Eplun, where she gave birth to Nirti alone.
But her body was frail, and her mind was shattered by grief for her husband and hatred for the traitorous people of Tarados.
—I’m sorry, Nirti. Mother is truly sorry.
When Nirti was just three, her mother hanged herself.
Orphaned, Nirti survived by scrounging trash and catching rats in back alleys and slums.
She was exploited for labor, abused in vile ways, beaten by drunken vagrants—until finally, she was sold for a few coins to…
—From now on, this will be your home.
…an illegal necromancer laboratory.
There, she underwent inhuman experiments that no person could endure. Yet while every other subject perished, Nirti clung to life, fueled by her hatred.
In the final stage, researchers implanted a Core into Nirti, making her a necromancer. One month later—
With her awakened power, Nirti slaughtered everyone in the lab.
“After wandering aimlessly, ‘Elder’ extended his hand to me. His ideology, his purpose—they matched mine perfectly.”
She spread her arms.
“I joined the Executioners, grew strong, and came to the Gold Mine Dungeon! Mother often told me—the dungeon master wasn’t truly dead!”
Simon stayed silent.
“So I built my lab here and decided to create an immortal army in this dungeon.”
Her mouth twisted further, consumed by rage.
“Tarados! Tarados! Cursed Tarados! I’ll make them suffer what I suffered! I’ll starve them, sicken them, drag them through filth—and in the end, use them as test subjects! For ruining my life, I’ll return every ounce of torment!”
She burst into wild laughter.
“All of it—deserved retribution!”
Simon’s legs were finally healing. He exhaled deeply and stepped forward.
[Your past is tragic, I admit. But most of the Tarados people who killed your parents are already gone. Why should their descendants suffer your revenge?]
“Don’t make me laugh!”
She screamed.
“Then why did I have to endure that nightmare? Why?! For what reason?! There’s no reason behind the evil of this world! I only give back what was given to me! I’ll destroy Tarados—and when I’m done, I’ll bring down the kingdom, the Alliance too!”
[…You ‘only give back’?]
At those words—
Simon’s eyes grew cold. All traces of sympathy were gone.
[You’ve strayed too far, Nirti.]
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters