“Abydos-nim, how do you plan to leave this island?”
“You worry too much, junior.”
The lich’s name was Abydos.
He was a “Lich Priest” of the Necromancer Order, and it seemed he had gone into slumber here in this underground tomb with his mummy legion in preparation for the future.
“With my magic, it’s not difficult to create a fleet that could carry this entire legion.”
“I see. That’s truly impressive.”
“We’ll land the legion at the nearest port, slaughter the mortals there, and turn their corpses into undead soldiers. We’ll grow our forces that way.”
“……”
“I hear the cult has no real presence left on the surface, so it falls on us to rebuild it. We’ll need to find other underground tombs like this one, where legions lie dormant. There’s much to do.”
Abydos was completely convinced that I was a descendant of the Cult.
For reference, I had explained that Cain, Senia, Helios, and Ingrid were my companions. I told him they were subordinates who followed me, even if they weren’t well-versed in the cult’s teachings.
“But, Abydos-nim, even if we’re going to leave the island… don’t we need to first bring these undead soldiers up to the surface? The passage is too narrow—it’ll take ages.”
“You really are full of worries, aren’t you? If you activate the switch over there, a direct exit to the surface will open. It’s wide enough, so don’t worry.”
“I see.”
It was only natural that I’d be worried.
If we marched outside like this, we’d run straight into the students who had forfeited, and a massacre would be inevitable.
But how could I stop it…
“Hmm.”
At that moment, Abydos raised his head.
“Looks like they’ve finally arrived.”
“…!”
“I was lingering here for the sake of greeting them.”
A menacing energy radiated from Abydos’s entire body.
“The mages of this era have come to capture me.”
From the entrance we had used earlier—
Professors were charging in.
“To think a place like this was hidden underground! Damn it!”
“Charlotte Strasbourg was telling the truth!”
At least a thousand mummies—probably more.
Staring up at them, Klein bit his lip.
‘Not knowing about this… That’s a failure on our part as keepers of knowledge!’
The mummy soldiers appeared to already be active.
But despite Klein and the others’ arrival, they didn’t move. It seemed they required a command from a higher entity to take action.
“Hey, look over there!”
Professor Murselt, who was in front, raised a hand.
At the far end… stood a skull radiating ominous aura.
“A lich!”
Professor Sylvia raised her voice immediately, recognizing it at a glance.
“That’s definitely a lich! He’s holding a staff with a red orb… He must be a Lich Priest from the Necromancer Cult!”
“A mage who has become an immortal…”
But Klein was more disturbed by something else than the Lich Priest’s presence.
Students were standing beside the lich.
“That coward! He’s using the students…!”
Murselt ground his teeth and stepped forward.
But at that moment—
“Gasp…!”
The skeletons in front of the Lich Priest began to move.
They were not ordinary skeletons, but heavily reinforced beings—Death Warriors.
Their bony fingers had grown sharp like the claws of wild beasts.
“Stop, mortals.”
Right after the Death Warriors blocked the way, a chilling voice came from the Lich Priest.
Just hearing it was enough to sense the sheer magnitude of his power.
‘A Lich Priest of the Necromancer Cult. Just how strong is he?’
Their active period was from far before the vampire hunts of centuries past.
Even Klein, a professor and a Transcendental Department, couldn’t accurately estimate the Lich Priest’s power.
‘Still, just being a lich means he was an incredible mage.’
Praying that he wasn’t a combat-type mage, Klein surveyed the surroundings.
The four-digit number of mummy soldiers didn’t show any sign of attacking yet.
If that Lich Priest was more specialized in controlling lesser undead rather than direct combat, they might be able to take him down with a surprise attack…
“How rude. Not even a proper greeting?”
Just then—
An overwhelming wave of fatigue crushed Klein.
“Urgh…!”
He couldn’t hold his body upright.
His limbs lost strength, and he collapsed on the spot.
“Is this your first time being hit by a curse spell?”
“…!”
A curse spell.
Once regarded, along with necromancy, as the epitome of wicked magic.
These days, with its true nature revealed, it was known as a “biological weakening spell,” not a curse.
‘How can it be this strong…!’
As dizziness overtook him, Klein was in shock—
When suddenly, a voice called out urgently next to him.
“Snap out of it, Professor Klein!”
“…!”
And then, strength returned to his body.
He realized Sylvia had used biological healing magic to treat the Lich Priest’s curse.
“Raaaagh!”
Murselt, freed from the curse spell as well, roared and jumped forward with his muscles bulging.
Using biological reinforcement magic to push his strength to the limit, he threw his fist at the Death Warriors blocking the way.
“Professor Klein! Cover me!”
“Right!”
Boom!
Murselt’s fist smashed into a Death Warrior, and Klein’s fire magic followed, destroying several at once.
Yet the Lich Priest didn’t look the least bit flustered.
“You’re quite skilled. I appreciate that you’re all casting without incantations.”
With those words, the Lich Priest flicked his hand.
The mummies who had remained silent at their posts began to stir.
“I’d like to see the magic of this era. Show me more of your skills.”
A horde of mummy soldiers rushed forward and surrounded the professors.
‘The professors alone won’t be enough to handle this.’
Watching the professors being surrounded by dozens of mummy soldiers, I bit my lip.
They could probably deal with that many, but lining the surrounding walls were tens of times more, lying in wait.
The only reason Abydos hadn’t deployed them all at once was due to lack of space.
‘In the end, the professors will collapse from exhaustion.’
I scanned the area.
Right now, the only one who fully understood what I was thinking was Senia. Cain seemed to have a vague idea, but Helios and Ingrid still looked clueless.
The one small mercy was that no one had acted rashly and drawn Abydos’s suspicion.
‘I can’t miss the moment Abydos shows an opening.’
As I kept watch, waiting for a chance—
I saw a man soaring high into the air in front of me.
‘Professor Murselt!’
Murselt, the master of biological enhancement magic, broke through the encirclement.
Charging at us like an enraged bull, he showed the true nature of a close-combat mage.
“You coward! Taking students hostage?!”
“Hostage?”
Abydos replied in a scoffing tone.
“You’re mistaken about something.”
“What? Ugh…!”
Murselt faltered mid-charge, as if a curse had taken effect.
“These children are descendants of the Necromancer Order.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“They’re young apostles of the Red Moon, capable of reciting the First Necromancer’s Prayer.”
“That’s absurd…!”
Abydos turned his gaze toward me, ignoring the stunned Murselt.
“Junior, I give you your first mission.”
“Lord Abydos…”
“Deal with that foolish mortal.”
Next to me, Helios and the others gasped.
But from our position, we had no way of refusing Abydos’ command.
“Understood.”
“Hey, Eriol!”
Helios shouted at me desperately, but I ignored him and turned to Cain.
“Cain, can I leave this to you?”
“Hm… That seems appropriate.”
Without needing much explanation, Cain seemed to understand my intention.
‘Cain should be able to buy me some time. And Professor Murselt won’t go all out against a student.’
Then Cain immediately called out to Helios and Ingrid.
“Helios, Ingrid. You come too.”
“What?”
“C-Cain…?”
“Let’s leave this to Eriol.”
After saying that, Cain gave me a subtle look.
A glance that said, “They’ll just get in the way if they stay here, so I’ll take care of them.”
‘Thanks, Cain.’
As expected, Cain was great at adapting to the situation.
He did even more than I had hoped, stepping forward with Helios and Ingrid in tow.
“Y-You guys! What the hell…!”
“Sorry about this, Professor!”
Cain charged at the flustered Murselt, and though Helios and Ingrid seemed reluctant, they followed behind him.
“Hmph. That kid’s surprisingly skilled in martial arts…”
Abydos murmured, touching his jawbone.
But there was still no opening.
‘If the moment comes, Senia will move first.’
Right now, Senia was silently concentrating.
She was waiting for the exact moment Abydos let his guard down.
Only Senia—or maybe Cain—could perceive an opening in a monster like that lich.
I had to wait until Senia made her move.
“Eriol Valencia…!”
At that moment, Klein burst through the circle of mummies.
“What is going on?! That you’re some descendant of an evil cult—there’s no way that’s true!”
“Professor…”
“You’re a top student at Ars Magna Academy! You’re supposed to keep learning magic under me! This is insane!”
Klein screamed, glaring at Abydos.
“Let go of Eriol, you wicked lich…!”
“…!”
In that moment, I sensed a complex magic formation unfurling from Klein.
A powerful spell was coming.
“Hellfire Spear!”
A flame spear, forged from the inferno of hell and compressed to the extreme!
Its power dwarfed any fire magic I could cast.
But the dark energy erupting from Abydos consumed Klein’s flaming spear whole.
‘Joshua used a power like that too…!’
After nullifying Klein’s flame magic, Abydos took a step forward.
“I’ll deal with that one. You all just stand back and watch.”
“Lord Abydos, are you planning to deal with that mage yourself?”
“Of course.”
I got the distinct impression he was smiling wickedly.
“Once I take his life… I’ll make him a Death Mage. He seems worthy of the honor.”
“…”
I remembered how he had ripped bones from the corpses of sailors earlier to create Death Mage.
Was he planning to do the same to Klein?
“Watch carefully, clever junior!”
Abydos raised his staff and shouted with imposing force.
“This is the power you should strive for—the true might of necromancy!”
I could feel a complex magical array forming at the tip of his staff.
It would be powerful enough to kill someone like Klein in an instant.
Abydos was from an era when mages cast spells through incantation.
Casting powerful spells without incantation required immense concentration.
Senia did not miss that moment—she moved silently.
‘The weapon Professor Hephaestus gave us looks like an ordinary dungeon dagger under normal conditions.’
Senia and I each had one such dagger strapped to our hips.
By pressing a button on the hilt, the blade would unfold, extending into the length of a longsword.
Hephaestus had named it the “Progressive Blade.”
“…!”
Senia hailed from the famed swordsmanship house, Artian.
Her specialty was longsword combat.
Though still in training, Senia with a proper longsword in hand… was fast enough to exploit the gap left by a mage focusing on chantless casting.
“What?!”
Thunk!
A lightning-fast thrust that would have instantly killed a human.
But Abydos was a lich. A stab to the back wouldn’t kill him.
Still, his concentration was broken. I could tell the magic array was unraveling.
“You wretch…!”
Abydos raised his hand, voice filled with fury.
That dark energy—if it touched Senia, she wouldn’t survive.
But at that moment—
‘Now!’
Click.
Holding the Progressive Blade I had given him, the Dragon Fang soldier, Deathvice, made his move.
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