Necromancer Of The Black Bible (153)

Thud, tumble-

Bolt’s head fell to the ground.

But the atmosphere didn’t change much.

Was it because the result had come too anticlimactically? Or because they no longer feared death?

Kael did not relax his stance in the strange atmosphere.

Sure enough, someone stepped forward after grabbing Bolt’s struggling shoulder.

“I’m Giggs. Beat me too, and I’ll acknowledge you as commander.”

Kael nodded without answering.

Giggs looked a little better than Bolt had a moment ago.

His steps were balanced, and even from the sword he was holding, a faint aura could be felt.

‘He must have been considered quite skilled among them.’

After facing Bolt, a few concrete details came into view.

Most of the undead soldiers gathered here had wounds big and small.

Sunken injuries as if struck by a heavy blunt weapon, and clear cracks like those carved by a sword.

The wounds cut by swords had been reattached with mana, but even the traces hadn’t been erased.

‘They were left unattended for too long.’

He couldn’t blame anyone.

It wasn’t Natasha who raised them.

It wasn’t as if they had made a promise with Verdin like Kael had; a god had raised them directly.

‘A god….’

Damian, the god of death.

Natasha and Verdin sometimes spoke about him.

Verdin also said that Kael’s revival had been due to Damian’s power.

But it didn’t sink in easily for Kael.

Even if he had been brought back by divine power, he had never met him directly or heard his voice.

‘If a god raised them, it would be neatest for him to clean up this situation…’

A bitter smile appeared on Kael’s lips as he thought that to himself.

Because there was no way that would happen.

‘As if something like a god existed…’

Kael looked at Giggs, who was striding out boldly before him.

The hundreds of undead soldiers surrounding them were cheering.

“Giggs! Show us your skill!”

“If you become the commander, I’ll acknowledge you too!”

“Giggs! Win!”

Their reaction was very different from when it had been Bolt.

It seemed he had gained quite a bit of recognition through the disputes among them.

Giggs fixed his dangling jaw back in place, then said with his blue eyes gleaming,

“Come on, bring it!”

Kael didn’t refuse and stepped forward.

One step, two steps.

With swift footwork, the distance closed in just two steps, and Giggs was immediately within spear range.

Kael thrust his spear straight out.

Thunk-

Giggs’s skill was even worse than Kael had expected.

On the first spear strike, meant to gauge his ability, he was helplessly pierced dead center in the chest.

But the guy grinned and tried to grab the spear shaft.

Kael had predicted even that.

He withdrew the spear at a speed nearly invisible to the eye, then thrust again.

Thunk, thunk, thunk-

After landing a three-hit combo to both shoulders and the abdomen, Kael immediately sliced through both knees.

Swish!

Giggs dropped helplessly to his knees on the floor, and just before his body collapsed, Kael swiftly swung his spear again and cut his throat.

Thud-

It was truly extraordinary skill.

He had displayed overwhelming spear skill and defeated Giggs as well, but the undead soldiers’ reaction was lukewarm.

Rather than cheering that skill, they voiced complaints.

“Damn it! Why is this so anticlimactic!”

“And here I thought I’d finally get to watch something fun after ages!!!”

“Screw it all! Get lost!”

“Don’t try to impress us with that crap!”

Kael looked around at them with a stunned expression.

In the Empire, he had often displayed his martial arts skill surrounded by spectators.

Each time, the crowd had cheered for his victory and his transcendent skill.

But the undead here had the exact opposite attitude.

Even after showing skill rarely seen anywhere, they were complaining.

They were even on the verge of rushing him.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do?’

Kael did not let down his guard, spear gripped tightly in his hand.

Then three people popped out of the crowd of onlookers.

Three undead soldiers, each holding dual swords in both hands.

They grinned broadly and approached Kael.

“There’s no need to fight one-on-one, right?”

“If you’re a commander, you should be able to easily suppress the likes of us.”

“Right. That’s what makes a commander, isn’t it? You never know when something will happen.”

Red glows were rising from their hollow eye sockets.

Their appearance was quite different from the other undead soldiers..

‘Are these guys getting crazier and crazier?’

But he couldn’t back down.

Kael nodded silently, and they surrounded him.

Kael tried to fight with his back to the onlookers, but they mocked him and gave the soldiers space.

It was obvious to anyone that they were trying to toy with the commander.

Sure enough, a raspy voice came from behind.

“Heh-heh-heh. I wanted to see a scene like this.”

“A guy with nothing but skill getting ganged up on?”

“Me too, me too. I wanted to see it too.”

The moment he heard that, Kael sensed something was wrong.

Normally, when such a contest ended, there should be an atmosphere of acknowledging the winner, but the mood here was not like that.

It was simply an atmosphere of wanting to watch while making him the scapegoat.

‘Then…’

There was only one method.

Convincing them.

Even if he had to fight all of them, he had to convince everyone.

Kael channelled aura into his spear.

As flame-attribute aura gathered over the entire spear, heat radiated along with a faint red glow.

Sensitive people would have sensed it, but the undead here paid it no mind.

They seemed determined only to torment Kael.

Kael looked at them one by one with a cold gaze, then set his course.

‘Let’s finish this quickly.’

He thought no further.

Using the footwork he used in battle, he closed in from the front in one burst and thrust his spear.

The spear, as always, pierced through the fellow’s head.

As he stayed still in that state, the other two inevitably rushed at him from behind.

Kael immediately pulled out the spear and smashed their heads with the spear blade.

Crack! Crack!

With two consecutive strikes, he smashed both of their heads.

It seemed that cutting them apart like this made it take time for them to regenerate.

Kael did not lose momentum and shouted,

“How can you all be this weak! No matter how immortal you are, how can things that can’t even take a single exchange fight in a war!”

Kael’s voice was loud, but there was no response.

Someone who heard him opened their mouth.

“So you’re saying we’re useless, then?”

“How dare you look down on us!”

“We don’t die! We can come back to life and fight!”

“Looks like we need to teach you some manners.”

Then, from one corner, a huge undead got to his feet.

It was Bolt, the one Kael had knocked down first.

After restoring his severed neck bones, he stood up and shouted toward Kael,

“Let’s not just sit still, everyone! What big deal is a commander? At most he’ll just smash our heads. Let’s show him that something like that can’t beat us!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Giggs, who had just finished being restored, stood up and shouted,

“What matters is our will!”

“Will!!!!”

The undead soldiers shouted excitedly and rushed at Kael.

Kael clenched his teeth.

The ones gathered here had already grown to more than several thousand.

It was because word had spread that a contest had begun, and undead soldiers from all over had gathered.

‘I don’t like this.’

Even if there was a skill gap, could he really win against them?

More than that, did they even have value as soldiers?

Even if he showed the difference in skill, even if he won the promised duel, they still wouldn’t acknowledge him as commander. How could he call them allies?

Then a line he had learned at the Imperial Academy came to mind.