Chapter 22
Seo Yeonhee took a potion from the pouch on her waist.
After a brief hesitation, she handed it to Deroa, who approached Ronan.
“Old man, drink this.”
“I will not accept any help from Seo Yeonhee.”
“I bought this with my own money. You won’t even take what I give you?”
“…”
Ronan drank the potion. His complexion gradually began to return.
He was still injured, but he seemed to have passed the threshold of life and death.
Seo Yeonhee concentrated on repairing the Portal Stone without saying a word.
Mason approached and asked,
“What happened?”
“I was here as the protector of Camp A. But…”
Ronan pointed with his chin behind Mason’s back.
There, a tower built of bone, or rather an unknown substance that looked like bone, soared high.
It was probably the Lich’s base.
“Magic bombardment came flying from over there, and the survivors of Camp A were all killed in the end. And I…”
“…killed them after they became undead monsters.”
“…Yes.”
It must not have been easy, mentally or physically.
“I dismantled the Portal Stone when the newbies rose as undead. Just in case some clueless newbie teleported here…”
“Most of the survivors went to Camp B.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they seem to be defending it well.”
“That’s a relief. It’s a relief, but…”
Ronan looked at the bone tower.
“I have a bad feeling. We should hurry.”
“Why?”
“The reason Camp B is safe is that the Lich isn’t attacking them. In other words, it means that killing people itself isn’t its objective.”
“But it attacked Camp A?”
“That’s why it’s even more concerning. Camp A, unlike Camp B, is close to the tower. And above all…”
“Above all?”
“Right now, even though we’re gathered here, it’s not even paying attention to us. Isn’t that proof that it has some other scheme in mind?”
Mason looked at the tower. There didn’t seem to be any unusual activity.
And that fact made Mason even more uneasy.
‘What is it? What is it up to?’
Mason asked,
“Seo Yeonhee, how’s the repair?”
“Done.”
The Portal Stone began to emit a brilliant light again.
At that moment, hazy and ominous energies began to pour down from the top of the tower like rain.
Corpses began to rise one by one.
“Looks like it’s noticed us now.”
A wave of undead monsters was surging in from all directions. Mason and his party desperately fought to secure space.
At that moment.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A group of people rushed out through the Portal Stone.
“Good work, Seo Yeonhee!”
It was Sung Kijun and the Holy Knights, along with the remaining forces of the Under Dark Legion.
They pushed back the wave of undead monsters in an instant, creating a path.
“We have wounded here!”
At Seo Yeonhee’s shout, the healers rushed over.
While Ronan was being treated, Sung Kijun received a briefing from Seo Yeonhee.
“That place over there is the Lich’s lair. It’ll try to keep us in check with bombardment and necromancy, so be careful.”
“The survivors of Camp A…”
Seo Yeonhee silently shook her head.
Sung Kijun gritted his teeth.
“Let’s go!”
Sung Kijun took the lead and charged forward.
At the same time, bone bullets started raining down from the top of the tower.
“Protect the healers!”
“Got it!”
Mason took the brunt of the barrage aimed at the healers, even as he was hit by the bone bullets himself.
Just then, he saw a giant sphere made of bone forming in the distance.
“Incoming bombardment!”
Groaaaaaan…
With a mournful wail, the bone meteor came hurtling down.
People scattered in all directions, and the bone meteor crashed into the ground.
At that moment.
Boom!
Bone fragments flew in all directions from the meteor.
“Aaargh!”
Even if they could dodge the meteor itself, the fragments were too widespread.
“D*mn it…!”
The dealers and healers suffered a considerable amount of damage.
But another bone meteor was already being loaded.
“Intercept it!”
At that moment, dozens of beams shot towards the bone meteor.
Bang!
The bone meteor exploded in midair, scattering bone fragments everywhere.
In that instant, Deroa swung her staff.
“Skill: Force Barrier!”
A barrier surrounding the meteor blocked the bone fragments.
Sung Kijun turned around and shouted,
“We’re almost there! Just hold on a little longer!”
However, the Lich’s offensive wasn’t over yet.
Unlike the front line, which had entered the Lich’s blind spot near the tower, the rear line was still within its attack range.
Once again, a bone meteor flew towards the rear.
A rapid barrage flew in with no time to react. It was a situation where neither magic nor firearms could properly intercept it.
At that moment.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Mason had somehow picked up a shield and was holding it in his hand.
Thud, thud, thud, thud…
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Mason jumped into the air, focusing his strength on the shield.
The bone sphere exploded the moment it collided with the shield, and Mason had to bear the brunt of its destructive power.
“Ugh!”
“Mason!”
Mason rolled on the ground. Not only was his shield shattered, but his armor was also almost destroyed, and bone fragments were embedded in his bloodied body, emitting a sinister aura.
“I’m okay! I’m not dead!”
As Mason got to his feet, the bone fragments fell from his body with a clatter.
And so, the raid party began to climb the bone tower.
“Go ahead!”
Mason climbed up, grabbing onto the protrusions on the outer wall.
Others hurriedly climbed the stairs, but Mason’s speed was like running on flat ground.
Thud!
The top floor of the tower was a wide, flat area.
There stood a monster that was invading humanity.
“Lich…”
And on the opposite side of him stood a monster of humanity.
The Lich’s sunken, hollow eyes. An ominous flame flickered from within those bones.
Clearly, there was some kind of intelligence within them.
“Why?”
Mason spoke without realizing it.
“Why are you attacking Earth?”
He didn’t expect an answer.
<...For the world.>
So Mason was surprised when he heard the answer.
It was telepathy, directly connected to his brain.
“What does that mean?”
Just as Mason was about to ask something else…
Those who were climbing the stairs, led by Sung Kijun, began to enter the field, and the Lich spread its arms, levitating bone fragments.
“Mason! Buy us some time to get in!”
At Sung Kijun’s urgent shout, Mason hesitated for a moment before charging in.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Thud!
Mason’s fist slammed into the Lich’s head.
He bought time by hitting and kicking the Lich, preventing it from concentrating on its magic.
But barehanded, without even a weapon. The Lich overcame the interference and unleashed its magic.
It was a bone storm.
“Too late!”
Sung Kijun, who had rushed in, activated various skills and blocked the Lich’s front.
“Stance: Golden Bulwark!”
As Sung Kijun stood in front of the barrage, a safe zone was created for the rear line. The players moved in unison, forming a battle formation.
In an instant, the Lich was on the receiving end of a one-sided beating.
Clatter, clatter, clatter…
The Lich floated bone shields around its body and donned bone armor.
‘What’s it doing?’
Mason suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
That wasn’t a battle stance. It was a defensive stance, or rather, it was focusing all its power on defense. It was an action to buy time by any means.
And instead of attacking humans, the Lich was doing something else…
‘Something more important than fighting.’
At that moment.
Rumble, rumble…
The ground beneath their feet began to tremble.
No, it was a vibration coming from beneath the ground, shaking the tower.
‘Underground?!’
Mason reflexively looked down.
Thud!
There, a tombstone made of bone was rising up.
Rumble, rumble…
No, it wasn’t a tombstone.
He had mistaken it for a tombstone because he could only see the tip of its claws, but it was like the foreleg of a beast.
‘Is that it? Is it focusing on awakening that thing?’
Mason shouted like a scream.
“Increase DPS! We have to k*ll the Lich!”
As the vibration intensified, the Lich’s life was also fading away.
The Lich collapsed, its arms spread wide as if to show off its creation.
At the same time, the monster hidden beneath the tower soared into the sky.
“Oh my G*d…”
A dragon. It was a dragon made of bone. A dragon composed entirely of a skeleton, with no skin or flesh. But terrifyingly, countless souls were entangled in the dragon’s bones.
They filled the dragon’s entire body like flesh and membrane.
The screams of tormented spirits.
“Ghost… Dragon…”
It was the moment the worst monster humanity would ever face was born.
๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑
Souls were flowing through the dragon’s body. Some souls were falling off like feathers. Human souls and memories seemed like mere dust to the dragon.
Everyone was frozen in place.
It wasn’t just because of its presence.
They were frozen by the infinite hostility they felt from humanity’s natural enemy.
The dragon slowly opened its mouth.
-Groooooooooo…
Like molten metal boiling in a crucible, a seething mass of souls surged in the Ghost Dragon’s throat.
‘Breath!’
Everyone felt it. However, no one could move.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Except for one person, Mason.
Mason charged towards the Ghost Dragon’s mouth.
‘I have to turn its head!’
However, it was already too late.
Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
A torrent of souls poured out. In the face of that destructive torrent, there was only one thing Mason could do.
“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”
To spread his arms and endure, to block it even a little bit more.
Even if his body crumbled into dust, he wouldn’t let it pass behind him.
Crack, crack, crack…
As the breath crushed Mason’s body, his smart cells, Barbarigen, and core energy desperately tried to protect and restore him.
However, the calculation was simple, and the result was clear.
‘I’m being pushed back…!’
The destructive power was exceeding his regenerative ability.
His self-sacrificing effort was ultimately…
‘A dog’s death…’
Just as Mason made a bitter expression…
Thud!
The pressure pushing against half of his body noticeably decreased.
When Mason looked to his side, he saw Sung Kijun holding out his shield and enduring.
“Sorry… I’m late…”
Thud!
It was the same on the other side.
“Hold on!”
“We’ll stand our ground… even if it means dying on our feet!”
The three tankers of the Holy Knights and Mason had formed a wall.
“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”
As the breath ended, they all collapsed on the spot.
It was a miracle that they were alive, but that was all the miracle there was.
“Grrrrrrr…”
The Ghost Dragon looked down at them with what seemed like displeasure and turned its body, swinging its tail.
Crack, crack, crack!
A tail sweep that grazed the ground. Naturally, it targeted the four tankers.
At that moment.
“Hup!”
Clang!
Ronan’s Dragon Bone Greatsword parried the bony tail.
Even his desperate strike could only slightly change the angle of the tail.
However, it was enough.
Enough to protect his comrades from the dragon’s tail.
Of course, the price was…
“Cough…”
Ronan being flung off the tower.
A step behind them, the others also started to move.
“Fire! S*oot!”
Beams and magic flew in like a downpour.
However, the Ghost Dragon gracefully turned its body, and at the same time, the souls that made up its body unleashed a barrage.
The beams and magic were intercepted by the souls and scattered in vain.
Even Seo Yeonhee, a veteran of countless battles, was speechless.
‘How on earth can we deal with that?’
On top of its skeleton, which was undoubtedly at least as strong as the Lich’s, it had thousands, if not tens of thousands, of souls as a barrier and weapon.
Perfect offense and defense in one.
It was a different kind of invincibility from the”Laughing G*d,”whose true nature they couldn’t even grasp.
If this was the case even when it had landed on the ground, what would they do if it took to the sky?
People fired their beams and magic with all their might.
Not because it was a solution, but because they couldn’t find a better way.
The Ghost Dragon, as if savoring their despair, leisurely approached the tankers.
It seemed like it was going to trample them to death.
Seo Yeonhee closed her eyes in despair.
There was nothing that could save them except a miracle…
That’s when it happened.
