Chapter 40: Imagining Right at This Moment
“Death Bishops! This is trouble!”
Halsenberg grimaced with a look of frustration.
Of course, I already know their identities. Instead of unnecessary confirmation, I decided to focus on devising a plan to resolve the situation.
“Stay calm. This is where it gets real!!”
Five Death Bishops blocked our path—exactly the same number as in my previous life.
They raised their staffs, chanting the same spell I had heard before.
Swish. A dark mass began to swirl and gather in front of their staffs.
“El… Dia… Blo…”
As they completed their incantation, dark energy darted straight toward us from five directions. The pressure from the oncoming dark spheres was immense.
With a confident smile, I swiftly moved out of the way.
“Not falling for that twice!”
Crackling sounds erupted as the dark spheres consumed everything around them.
Fortunately, the vivid memory of encountering this before allowed me to evade in time. Even so, the sight of those spheres, which could destroy anything without warning, was still terrifying.
“El… Dia… Blo…”
But the Death Bishops’ chanting wasn’t over yet.
I clicked my tongue and prepared to dodge again, but their dark projectiles were already inches from my face.
Memories of my previous life overlapped in my mind, and my body froze.
I’m going to die.
Damn it, this situation again?
If I die here, I won’t even be able to recover my residual memory!
“Dispell!”
At the same moment I closed my eyes, a translucent barrier formed in front of me and deflected the projectiles.
Ping! The spheres disintegrated in mid-air with a shrill sound. I opened my eyes to see Halsenberg standing there, his staff facing me as he finished his chant.
“…Again? Is that how it’s supposed to be?”
A sudden sense of déjà vu washed over me, making me feel sick to my stomach.
How come?
I thought I’d improved significantly compared to the last attempt. Why is this familiar situation repeating itself?
“Haste! Skyt Bless!”
Whoosh! Blue light erupted from my body, miraculously enhancing my speed.
I looked around in astonishment while Halsenberg pointed his staff at the Death Bishops.
“I’ve boosted agility! Go! I’ll deal with these guys and catch up!”
Without waiting for my reply, he charged forward.
BOOM! Countless beams of light shot from his staff, throwing the Death Bishops into disarray.
Halsenberg quickly switched his staff into a sword and plunged it into the chest of the closest bishop.
“Hundred Sword Pierce!”
Hundreds of blades manifested in the air and rained down on the Death Bishops.
The bishops created their dark shields to block them, but ultimately couldn’t withstand all the magical blades.
BOOM! The remaining blades hit their targets, causing the Death Bishops to stagger.
“Gu… aaaah.”
Halsenberg didn’t waste a moment, rushing forward and delivering a powerful strike that split one of them in half.
The ground trembled from the impact.
“…No. This is definitely different.”
Watching Halsenberg’s formidable movements, I let out a sigh of relief.
What’s the same about this? Unlike before, Halsenberg is still going strong!
This isn’t some desperate final charge preparing for death.
He’s truly confident that he can destroy all these Death Bishops and keep up with me!
Thanks to Leira distracting them and Seop Baek’s support, I’m not holding Halsenberg back as much.
“Even if it’s not true, I have to believe it!”
Clenching my teeth, I made a decision. Meanwhile, Halsenberg destroyed another bishop’s skull.
“Come on! Don’t waste this golden opportunity!”
“Er, yes, I understand!”
Finally snapping out of it, I nodded and slipped through the Death Bishops, who were now completely focused on Halsenberg.
The speed granted to me by Halsenberg’s magic was beyond anything I’d imagined. The undead tried to attack me but couldn’t keep up with my movement.
“…Gh… You. Breathing… lump of flesh.”
However, there were ghost knights in my way that I couldn’t ignore.
Dozens of ghost knights surrounded me, closing in from all sides and throwing their sword strikes.
“Where!”
I weaved through their attacks at first, but eventually they started to corner me more intelligently, tightening their encirclement.
“Tch!”
I turned my sword around to grip it reverse-style and began plotting the shortest path through their formation.
“There.”
An idea flashed through my mind. I saw an opening.
Though my mana reserves were low and I wanted to conserve as much as possible, it couldn’t be helped.
“Flow!”
I immediately fixed my gaze on one of the ghost knights and activated my skill.
The scene blurred around me as my perception shifted, then I plunged my reversed sword into the ground.
“Minefield!”
BOOM!
The ground trembled violently. The countless ghost knights around me staggered from the shockwave.
Taking advantage of this opening, I weaved between them. Thanks to my stealth skill, they had trouble keeping track of me.
This was my hidden trump card combo: the Stealth Run Play.
“Don’t… let him escape…”
“Chase… He’s heading to our master…”
The ghost knights began pursuing me, their helms filled with menacing glows. Behind them, dozens upon dozens of undead followed, easily numbering over a hundred.
I had unintentionally gathered quite the aggro mob. Despite the serious situation, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Protect… our master…”
“My minions… arise…”
Finally, I came to a stop.
“Is this…”
In front of me stood rows of skeletons in dark robes.
Though I hadn’t confirmed it myself, I was already half-certain as I readied my sword.
These must be the Liches.
“Kill… the breathing… lump of flesh…”
Without hesitation, they swung their staves, causing grotesque undead to burst forth from the ground. Their stitched-together bodies were disturbing to look at.
As I scanned the lineup of liches, my eyes widened.
Among them stood one that was clearly different from the others.
“…That’s him.”
This skeleton was significantly larger than the rest and emitted an oppressive aura. Its eyes glowed an intense red, and its staff was adorned with a skull carved from crystal that shimmered brightly.
Looking at it sent chills down my spine and made me almost lose control of my bladder with instinctive fear.
I immediately activated The Eye of Mimir.
[Monster Information]
[Name: Eldritch]
[HP: ??? MP: 3085/3085]
[Strength: 3 Agility: 22 Intelligence: 335]
[Details: Among the Liches who are the leaders of the undead, this particular Lich possesses unmatched magical power and has accumulated the wisdom and knowledge of a sage over centuries.]
Just as I thought. The guy looked like a final boss, and indeed he was.
I checked the stats of the others as well. While I could confirm the stats of all the Liches, their HP values remained obscured.
These must be the Life Force Vessels that Halsenberg mentioned—until those are destroyed, their true HP can’t be determined.
“Think simply, Park Jeong-yong. He’s just a gimmick boss.”
Gimmick boss.
In gaming terms, these are bosses that can’t be defeated through regular means and require specific strategies.
Though difficult to defeat with conventional tactics, once you figure out their gimmick, they become much easier to handle.
Let’s keep it simple then.
He’s just a gimmick boss that can be easily defeated by finding and destroying his Life Force Vessel.
I continuously repeated these affirmations to overcome my fear.
As I gathered my focus again, the Eldritch suddenly made a sound with its skull, its glowing eyes flickering.
“…What are you, breathing lump of flesh?”
I was surprised.
Its voice wasn’t the usual scratching sound characteristic of undead. Instead, it was relatively clear and articulate.
Decades of wisdom will make even a skeleton sound sophisticated compared to other undead, I guess.
Since they were willing to have a conversation, I was grateful since I had no interest in fighting. With a nervous smile, I replied.
“Me? I’m a hired thug sent to kill you, asshole.”
“…A pawn of the Second World… No. That’s not all. Breathing lump of flesh. The scent of your being is similar to ours.”
“…”
“Very familiar… and respectable… and strangely nostalgic. Breathing lump of flesh. What are you hiding?”
Amazing.
He had almost perfectly understood my identity—or rather, the identity of the object I possessed.
Indeed, he had good reason to hold back his attack.
“In that case, this will make things easier.”
With a grin, I pulled out the cause of all this—the egg I had kept in my bag.
The egg had grown so large that it was now about the size of my torso.
