He was not satisfied with himself because he felt he was still bringing shame to his master’s name, but in everyone’s else’s eyes, he was completely divine. Lee Sungmin moved forward without stopping.
Even in this situation, Lee Sungmin knew that Kim Jonghyun would be watching all of their movements from afar. The Legion of Death Knights would only come out once the zombies had lost their purpose.
Or… Kim Jonghyun would bring them out if Lee Sungmin and company used something else that they had prepared. Kim Jonghyun had already spent a few days in this city, and in that amount of time, it was unlikely that he would have not completed considerable preparations and countermeasures.
In fact, Kim Jonghyun was watching everything. Just as Abel and Lee Sungmin wanted to confirm Teresa’s ability, Kim Jonghyun clearly used the zombies to confirm Teresa’s ability with his own speculations.
As the Holy Saint, she was still someone who had lost a direct connection with the God she once served once she transmigrated to Eria.
On that subject, the power she was able to display was not something that could be explained unless it was considered to be sacred.
The magnitude of her holy powers, was something that defied all common sense and was something even Kim Jonghyun did not expect at all.
“If I knew this would happen, should I have scrapped the plan from the beginning and erected a barrier similar to what I did in the North?”
The boundary that was erected in the northern forest was not used in this instance. This was because there was a lack of souls available since Kim Jonghyun was already devoting all the souls he collected to the portal for the Demon Realm. If he were able to use that kind of boundary again, this kind of siege would not have been possible to happen in the first place since he would have completely scattered the forces like before.
Was it too late to regret? Kim Jonghyun smiled but shook his head.
“I don’t know much about tactics anyways.”
Kim Jonghyun caressed his chin with his hands as he lowered the crystal ball. Would it have been a little helpful if he had enjoyed playing chess, chess, or such games in the past? Sadly, Kim Jonghyun had never been interested in such a kind of boring and monotonous mind games in his life.
But he did know one thing.
‘I’m much more dominant in numbers.’
There was no need to send the Death Knights out yet. Although the Holy Knights, Priests, and Paladins sent from the Holy Church were a pain, the zombies still had their use. Kim Jonghyun thought this as he decided to observe a bit longer.
Bang !
The city’s buildings began to collapse. The remains of the collapsed buildings did not fall to the floor. Rather, they floated and began to gather into one point.
Abel was surprised as he saw a dark sense of mana coalesce at the center of the debris that was turning into a large figure.
“Golems!”
Such a cry contained admiration. Kim Jonghyun’s magic had created high-level golems on the spot. They were stone golems, and were one step above the low-tier mud golems that were beneath them. But low-tier was only to describe it when it was a singular golem.
Dozens of buildings collapsed simultaneously. And dozens of stone golems of the size of two-story buildings arose. However, it wasn’t just the golems that were now joining the fight with the zombie and ghoul horde against the unified army.
Other high-level undeads, that had been left in the rear, advanced at the call of Kim Jonghyun. There were several hundreds of banshees and dullahans that joined in on the fight along with the numerous thousands of zombies and ghouls that were still up and fighting.
Abel and Frau had not stepped up yet. Abel was concentrating on his plan. He was now using a spell to explore and find the location of Kim Jonghyun and the center of the ritual Kim Jonghyun was trying to conduct.
Trying to locate a single person in the large city of Germane was by no means an easy task. In addition, since the city was under the control of Kim Jonghyun and his mana, it was nigh-impossible to perform exploratory magic within the city limits for any other wizard.
But this was not the case for Abel.
Abel was a man who was able to confidently say he had reached the peak of all magic and was the most knowledgeable Wizard alive.
Abel continued to change the shape of the magical formula that he was constructing in his head, rubbing his hands together. He couldn’t use the magic of spirits like his older brother Cain (Envirus).
Like Arbeth, he did not create his own signature magic like [Extinction Magic].(T/N Refer to chapters 184-190 i think for reference)
He was faithful to the basics of magic. Rather than creating a new branch of magic for himself, the hundreds of years that he had lived were devoted to the basic magic spells that almost any Wizard could learn and to perfecting those said spells beyond their limits.
Therefore, the location magic that he was using under these ridiculous conditions was actually possible only because it was someone like Abel who was using it.
Lee Sungmin’s role was to drag time until Abel pinpointed Kim Jonghyun’s exact location, and to draw out the legion of Death Knights by dwindling down the large numbers of undead before them so that Kim Jonghyun was forced to use them along with Volander.
Honestly speaking, Volander was not someone that Lee Sungmin exactly wanted to face, nor was he a being within the scope of measurement in terms of power; thus making him a large variable. But this was the only choice they had if they wanted to bring out Kim Jonghyun.
Dozens of stone golems began to move forward. They trampled on the surrounding debris with their feet and swung their arms to break everything and wreak havoc.
The debris rose without collapsing, further inflating the golems’ bodies, resulting in them only growing larger. The jousting lances of the Holy Knights that they used in their initial charge to break the lines of the zombies, would not work against such a tough and firm exterior of the golems.
For them, only high firepower spells of holy magic or other similar means of destructive magic, would work against these creations.
Lee Sungmin stepped up once more as he examined the battlefield. He passed by Theos, who was taken aback when his lancing charge did not work at all against the golems.
[Do you know the hunting method for taking down golems?]
Heoju asked as Lee Sungmin shook his head in response.
[For normal people, they would have to break the core that is deeply embedded in the center of the golem’s body… But if it’s you, it would just be easier to destroy the entire golem to rubble.]
Wuooooooong.
A huge amount of internal energy flowed into Lee Sungmin’s spear. Violent sparks of electric currents made from internal energy, colored black, gold, and purple, surrounded the spear shaft.
Lee Sungmin did not hesitate any longer and kicked the ground. Bouncing up into the air, Lee Sungmin became one with his spear, as he descended like a violet streak of lightning. The nearest stone golem, who was approaching while dragging its rugged feet, spread its outstretched hand towards Lee Sungmin, who was rushing right at it.
BA-BAM!
The stone golem’s hand, which had reached out to prevent Lee Sungmin’s advance, turned to powder on impact and disappeared like dust.
Lee Sungmin’s bullrush did not stop, however. He turned the direction of the spear and thrusted it straight into the stone golem’s body.
BANG !
The rest of the golem’s body scattered into dust from the large force behind the spear as Lee Sungmin landed in the middle of the horde of undead behind it.
He looked back and took a few steps back. Lee Sungmin examined the numbers of undead that were rushing at him from all angles. He was looking for something in particular.
[The Death Knights haven’t even shown themselves yet.]
Lee Sungmin once again sent a telepathic message to Teresa. Teresa gulped and nodded her head as she received it.
She knew what Lee Sungmin wanted her to do. He had told her specifically to keep her power in check since there were stronger enemies that would be approaching soon. Theos, who was mesmerized by Lee Sungmin’s performance, hurriedly grabbed the reins of his horse.
“Charge!”
At Theos’ cry, the Holy Knights ran forward again. Theos kept his eyes however, entranced at Lee Sungmin tearing down Dullahans and Banshees with ease. He was completely inspired by Lee Sungmin’s absolute strength on the battlefield.
He moved nonstop. He didn’t dodge the incoming attacks but used them fluidly for his own movements and counter attacks like flowing water.
Without a doubt, Lee Sungmin’s spear, which stretched out faster than the incoming battle axes, tore everything apart and destroyed the dullahan’s without fail. Another approaching golem threw their fist out at Lee Sungmin’s head.
Sha-shing! Lee Sungmin’s appearance disappeared as a purple current of electricity took his place. Standing in the middle of the undead once more, Lee Sungmin again roused his internal energy and started to rotate the spear in his hand.
Lightning Annihilation ( 閃電滅) x Two-step Calamitous End (灾害)
A storm of internal energy swirling with lightning swept the surroundings. The Dullahans and Banshees that were known to be high-ranking undead, along with the stone golems, were swept up in the storm and destroyed until there was nothing left of them.
Lee Sungmin who was utilizing the revised footwork techniques his master had given him, took another step forward. The rotating spear that swept through the surroundings and did not disappear only started to grow bigger as Lee Sungmin also added the Blood Ring Techniques into his storm. The storm of lightning, internal energy, and bloody mist, suddenly exploded in a flash. Everything before Lee Sungmin had fallen prey to his spear.
“Hahaha!”
Kim Jonghyun clapped his hands and burst into laughter. He shouted in a joyful voice and grabbed the crystal ball with both hands.
He was still watching everything that was happening that was happening in the city limits. It had only been a few minutes into the battle, yet Kim Jonghyun had no choice but to admire Lee Sungmin’s spearmanship, which had swept away all the high-ranking undead and stone golems Kim Jonghyun had prepared, as if it were nothing.
“Will you leave things as they are right now…?”
Volander opened his mouth and questioned Kim Jonghyun as he too, had seen Lee Sungmin’s martial prowess decimate several undead.
“He has become incomparably stronger than when I met him on my ship a few years ago. You can’t push him like this even if you send all the undead you prepared at once.”
“It looks like you’re right.”
Kim Jonghyun nodded his head. He slowly turned his head and looked at Volander.
“I think you should come forward.”
“Will it be okay?”
Volander’s eyes flashed.
“The Wizard Guild Leader is searching for your location.”
“I know.”
“Can you handle him on your own?”
Kim Jonghyun smiled at Volander’s question. It was a useless question. Kim Jonghyun wasn’t afraid of Abel in the slightest. Volander turned away without saying any more.
Kim Jonghyun slowly raised his hand.
Kurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
A black sphere came up towards the fountain of the former Mayor’s estate. It was the same sphere Arbeth used to take control of the entire land when accumulating the residue fear-based mana when he had attacked the City of Endless Night.
However… it was not the same as Arbeth’s magical sphere. Kim Jonghyun had already transcended Arbeth, a great Dark Wizard, in both knowledge and power.
Kim Jonghyun changed the settings of the sphere to encapsulate everything in the area and started to add more magical formulas to it.
Kryung!
The space started to vibrate. Complex magical formulas emerged around the black sphere. This sphere was not just used to gather the fear-based mana to a single point. It was also being used along with Kim Jonghyun’s demonic energy to create a portal to the Demon Realm.
‘Because I can’t take the Leader of the Wizard Guild too lightly, I have to speed things up.’
Kim Jonghyun already knew where Abel was located as he had done his own tracking magic beforehand, but his magical knowledge and ability as a whole were actually unknown to Kim Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun smiled happily while waiting for the unknown opponent.
[Found him.]
Abel’s closed eyes opened. Lee Sungmin stopped swinging the spear as he heard Abel’s telepathic message get relayed to him.
He stood at the center of the ruined battlefield. Golems, banshees, zombies, and the Dullhans.Nothing was left of them.
In this short amount of time, Lee Sungmin had practically slaughtered the entire opposition of undead.
Even if the zombies and ghouls were nothing but unintelligent creations of the deceased, there were still lots of them along with the high-ranking creations. Yet nothing was left.
Abel identified Kim Jonghyun’s location. However, Kim Jonghyun had still yet to bring out the legion of Death Knights. Would it be better to get rid of everything here and rally the troops towards the location of Kim Jonghyun and fight them on a united front? Or should he wait with the Holy Knights for the Death Knights to appear?
[The numbers of the low-ranking undead are no longer being replenished.]
Heoju said. Lee Sungmin also felt that the endless horde of undead was finally ending.
[It seems like he’s almost trying to bait you to travel deeper into the city to find him.]
It was an obvious trap.
But Lee Sungmin didn’t really have the option to back down. Germane was a big city and if the troops scattered their front to look deeper, it would inevitably work against them.
It was practically suicide to be scattered in such a large area where Kim Jonghyun had eyes and ears over every ounce of the space. Eventually, the army decided to gather together as one instead of spreading their forces out and decided to move forward warily.
It was not as if Lee Sungmin had killed everything in sight and that there were no casualties. Even he could not attract every undead’s attention and kill them all in one move. Therefore, several dozens of people had already died and about a hundred were wounded.
Teresa swallowed her breath and blocked her mouth with her hands as she saw the terrible sight of the deaths in front of her. How could she not help but feel responsible for these people’s deaths?
“Saint, don’t be shaken by this.”
Instead, the other officials of the Holy Church again gave words of affirmation to her and prodded her to maintain her dignity and image for the rest.
There was a possibility that some of the undead would rise again, so the bodies were burned before moving forwards.
Abel set the direction. Even if Kim Jonghyun was located in a general direction, Abel could not direct the army to just blindly invade. Kim Jonghyun’s strength was also unknown, and the legion of Death Knights that was led by one of the Five Black Stars of Predator, Volander, was nowhere to be seen.
‘In addition, there is still power on this side.’
There was no need to throw it all away. If Abel could bring more capable people with him, the easier it would be for him to establish a safety net.
“In the world of Murim and martial arts, how many people are there who are stronger than you?”
Theos approached and asked Lee Sungmin, who walked with his lance on his shoulder. He was unaware of the world associated with Murim since he was busy protecting the Saint within the Holy Church. Although Theos’ power had reached the equivalent of a Peak-Realm martial artist who was at the pinnacle, he had reached his power through other means instead of martial arts.
“The number can probably be counted on one hand.”
Lee Sungmin spoke honestly. There was Geom-Seong of the Wudang. Musin who was now without an arm thanks to his master and a few others. Among them, he was unsure about Jehu and Kang Seok, who might not even be alive, but he did not think he was weaker than them any longer. Those individuals were the ones that Lee Sungmin knew of and could be said to be stronger- or on the same level as him.
Do Zun, who was famous as the Mercenary King and one of the last Six Divinities that was alive, had never met Lee Sungmin, but it was clear that Do Zun would be inferior to Lee Sungmin as he was now.Cheon-Myeong, Geom-Seong’s disciple, was also someone at the realm of Transcendence, but he was also several steps behind Lee Sungmin.
‘Wijihoyeon and Baek Sogo.’
The skills of those two were honestly unknown to Lee Sungmin right now, so he did not take them into account.
“Wow… I was amazed to see your martial art techniques with the spear. If there was a god in this world of martial arts, I thought they would be something like you.”
There was one. Musin. The God of Martial Arts supposedly.
“I don’t really like that title.”
Lee Sungmin replied with a bitter smile. At that, Theos tilted his head, but soon smiled and bowed.
“I’m glad I’m here with you.”
It wasn’t just Theos. Most of the Holy Knights present were paying respect to Lee Sungmin for helping them save as many lives as possible. Even the mercenaries and other groups that came along with them that were a part of the newfound army, had similar gazes of respect, awe and admiration.
Lee Sungmin felt a bit burdened by that gaze.
Suddenly…
Lee Sungmin felt something stinging on his skin.
His arms got goosebumps as the hair on them, began to rise in alert of danger.
WROAAAAH !
It couldn’t be seen with the eyes, but it was certainly strong enough of a presence to feel. The bright look of care and relaxation disappeared from Theos’ face.
The horses on which the Holy Knights were riding stopped moving forward, and started to tremble. The faces of the Priests and Paladins turned white, and those who were weak in the crowd actually completely collapsed.
Not far away, a murky and black fog was approaching.
[They’re here.]
Heoju warned. Lee Sungmin grabbed the spear he was carrying without any delay.
Volander… and the legion of Death Knights had arrived.