Necromancer Survival

The Priest reacted faster than I did; he quickly turned around and asked, “What was that?”

Subsequently, Bae Jaemin made a bewildered noise. I did the same as well. It definitely had been less than one minute since I took my eyes off the Warrior, but the space where his body should have been was now vacant.

Even the puddle of blood had cleanly disappeared. If not for the fishy scent of blood that lingered in my nose, it would have been hard to believe that Kim Sangyoon had suffered a fatal injury mere moments ago.

[Grrrrk….]

Just then, above my head, I heard a sound–like a beast crying out.

Bae Jaemin reacted instantly and raised both arms over his head, but some unknown entity scratched his arms before retreating. Bae Jaemin staggered and lowered his hands; the prosthetic arm was crushed completely. His intact arm was injured enough to bleed through his clothes.

“…Kim Sangyoon?” However, Bae Jaemin seemed more surprised by who attacked him rather than his injuries.

He opened his sole eye wide as he looked at a corner of the ceiling. I also followed the Priest’s gaze and identified the attacker. “S-Sangyoon-ssi…?”

There was Kim Sangyoon, supporting his body weight with the strength of his arms pushing against the walls by the ceiling.

However, something was strange.

Kim Sangyoon’s bangs, which he would style every day, were drooping as if they were wet, and his eyes, visible through the gap in the strands of his hair, were glowing red like the other servants’.

Kim Sangyoon was still critically injured. The hole in his abdomen was still there, and some organs could be seen through the gap.

Nevertheless, the Warrior wasn’t bleeding. Of course, that didn’t mean he was completely fine otherwise. His body, which was originally quite built, had become eerily swollen.

His forearms, holding both sides of the ceiling’s corner, were enlarged enough to be twice the size of a normal adult male’s forearms. A beast-like growl kept rumbling from his throat.

Upon closer inspection, his canines were also elongated and protruded sharply out of his mouth. The Warrior drooled as he couldn’t close his lips. That barbaric appearance exuded an unprecedentedly creepy aura.

“…What the hell is that?” Bae Jaemin murmured in a low tone, as if he couldn’t believe that the brute before him was truly Kim Sangyoon.

And as soon as he heard Bae Jaemin’s voice, Kim Sangyoon tilted his head from side to side and made a fierce growling sound. It felt as if he were reacting sensitively to even the Priest’s smallest movements.

“Explain, Choi Lee-kyung,” Bae Jaemin called out.

“……”

Bae Jaemin tapped me with his toes, but I had no idea either.

Just then–

As soon as Bae Jaemin’s toes touched me, we suddenly heard a crash–! from the ceiling. Bae Jaemin was pushed back; Kim Sangyoon had kicked off from the ceiling and shot towards Bae Jaemin.

“Haa…. This piggy bastard…!”

[GrahhhhH!]

Bae Jaemin, completely frustrated, used his staff to narrowly prevent the attack from hitting.

Surprisingly though, even when Bae Jaemin grit his teeth and engaged in a power struggle with Kim Sangyoon, it was Bae Jaemin who was slowly losing his balance.

It seemed that Kim Sangyoon’s strength increased as much as his muscles swelled. Bae Jaemin’s brows furrowed; his face twisted from the humiliation. But, he soon cast a strong buff on himself.

“[Grant me the power to establish my authority as your servant on this land.]”

As the buff was cast, Kim Sangyoon seemed to waver for a moment as if he were being pushed back. However, he raised one leg–displaying some incredible flexibility–up from Bae Jaemin’s staff, bent his waist, and kicked Bae Jaemin’s neck, sending the Priest flying towards the wall with a bone-crunching sound.

Thud–!

Cr-r-rack–!

“Cough…” Accompanied by the awful sound of breaking bones, Bae Jaemin flew to and was stuck inside the wall.

“……” I couldn’t keep my mouth shut at the sight.

Kim Sangyoon even took away the Priest’s staff and threw it into the corner. The Priest vomited blood, but he raised his head. “You…What have you done?”

The Priest’s face was full of astonishment. Even so, he stretched his intact hand out to the side.

Then, the staff that Kim Sangyoon had thrown flew back into Bae Jaemin’s hand. However, Kim Sangyoon did not waver at all and readied his stance.

“…[Holy Wave].” Bae Jaemin also quickly responded with another skill.

Something akin to a tsunami of light gently rose from behind him and began to envelop Kim Sangyoon’s torso.

Kim Sangyoon crossed his arms to withstand the attack, but as soon as the light touched his body, it exploded. Both of his arms were soon covered in blood.

“You idiot…Huh?”

Surprisingly, though the wound was deep enough to expose bone, it healed in the blink of an eye.

Bae Jaemin was so surprised he was rendered speechless. Then, as if he had been waiting for this moment, Kim Sangyoon smiled bitterly and struck his fists together.

[Berserker Drive.]

The skill, which must have been triggered by clapping his fists together, caused steam to rise from the Warrior’s entire body.

In that state, Kim Sangyoon jumped high, in place, and rotated 180 degrees. He placed his entire momentum behind one hand, ready to deliver a hefty swing.

Thud–!

And then, the Warrior suddenly appeared in front of the Priest, as if he were using a ‘Blink’ skill. The defenseless Bae Jaemin was struck in the face and rolled onto the floor.

Reflexively holding his hand to his face to stem the nosebleed, Bae Jaemin shouted in surprise, finding it hard to believe that Kim Sangyoon could become so suddenly powerful. “How could you have a skill like that…!”

However, Kim Sangyoon grumbled, smiled, and stretched the muscles in his shoulders. He then lowered his posture once more and rushed in; another one-sided beating followed.

Bae Jaemin shot out a skill to deal with the rushing Warrior. But, though Kim Sangyoon had been in front of the Priest, Kim Sangyoon appeared behind Bae Jaemin and dealt a heavy blow to break his ribs.

Then, he appeared on the right after pretending to attack from the left, slashing across Bae Jaemin’s cheek three or four times. However, when Bae Jaemin tried to fight back, the Warrior appeared in another blindspot. Eventually, the Priest had no choice but to raise a triple shield and retreat a few steps. “Don’t make me laugh… I won’t… Not to a bastard like you…!”

Though Bae Jaemin used his skills to heal all the injuries Kim Sangyoon inflicted, the Priest was dismayed despite his currently favorable situation. His pride had been hit hard, and he seemed to have lost his composure.

He nervously wielded his staff as he floated large-scale skills in every direction. “[Please cut off the head of the arrogant heretics. Let the grief of the unbelievers be heard. This holy war will always end in your victory. Grant eternal despair to those groaning in hell.]…!”

Bae Jaemin drew a holy symbol with his fingers from which a wave originated, and a strong wind blew. I protected my broken hand and was pushed back by the sheer force.

However, Kim Sangyoon stood firm; he raised his red eyes and looked at Bae Jaemin without moving a muscle. He gazed at Bae Jaemin as if the Priest was a cornered prey. I could feel a transparent, savage impulse emanating from the Warrior, as if he wanted to pick his opponent apart piece by piece.

Bae Jaemin bit his lips momentarily–he too had felt that bloodlust. However, the Priest seemed more angry than afraid. “You cheeky little…!”

As expected, Bae Jaemin began swinging the staff harder than before, his flourishes fueled by anger. Soon, stronger beams of light burst out than the waves before. The beams gradually began to produce a silhouette of an angel, its holy eyes closed. “[Angel Bind.]”

There were a total of four angels, all of them holding chains. They walked slowly around Kim Sangyoon; the chains created a barrier as they weaved in and around each other.

The chains continued to wind around him until a dense network of light, like a net, surrounded Kim Sangyoon. It seemed the Priest had activated a powerful skill that could hold the opponent in place for any future attacks. The Warrior also lowered his stance, letting out a long, low groan…he must have felt the unusual aura.

[Grr….]

At that moment.

Shockingly, Kim Sangyoon began digging at his exposed, unhealed stomach. I heard the gruesome sound of flesh tearing apart; the smell of blood became even denser.

[Berserker Drive, Mode Two.]

As if everything before had been nothing but a warm-up, pitch-black tribal tattoos began to appear all over the Warrior’s body.

A black line stretched from his wounded stomach to his chin; Kim Sangyoon’s body swelled to the point of bursting. His eyes became completely black; the whites of his sclera were nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, he began to completely overwhelm the Priest’s energy.

However, Bae Jaemin laughed at that appearance, “I see now… You were playing around with your skills at the cost of your life, weren’t you?”

What did he mean by ‘at the cost of his life?’

I looked at Kim Sangyoon, startled by those words. “……!”

Ominously–and just as Bae Jaemin had stated–the Warrior’s body was slowly crumbling from the back. It was as if his flesh was turning into dried blood and was flaking away.

However, Kim Sangyoon opened his closed eyes and answered tranquilly, [I’ll lose 10 years, and you’ll lose 50, you son of a bitch. That’s not really a loss, is it?]

He clenched both fists and roared–

[Come at me!]

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TL: It’s interesting. Kim Sangyoon’s dialogue is now in brackets. I wonder why?

Also T_T I CANT BELIEVE HE’S SACRIFICING HIS LIFE FOR THE HAMSTER!