The Genius Necromancer of the Barbarian Race

Two Coupons and Already Benefits?

Inside the Goddess statue, a crude-looking stone was visible. It was undoubtedly the 'Rune of the Abyss'.

An item that was rumored to allow one to ascend to godhood by opening the gate of the 'Abyss' if one collected all seven.

It was closely related to the ending of 《Dungeon God》, but since no one had ever gathered seven of them, nobody knew what kind of ending awaited.

To be honest, the whole business about becoming a god was perplexing.

Did it mean becoming a god like Thrag and Mortis?

"Brother, what is the matter!"

As I continued to look around inside the Goddess statue, Barkal asked me in a puzzled voice.

"Is it an enemy? Is there an enemy hiding inside?"

"No!"

I stopped Barkal just as he was about to climb up on the statue with his axe and examined the interior again.

Unlike the first time I obtained a 'Rune of the Abyss', there were no mana stones nearby this time.

While internally lamenting the absence, I reached out for the Rune of the Abyss.

Wait.

That thought struck me the moment before I touched it.

Could the reason the dungeon hasn't collapsed be because of the 'Rune of the Abyss'?

If so, wouldn't the dungeon collapse the moment I obtain the 'Rune of the Abyss'?

That would be inconvenient. This place is underground.

It wouldn't be easy to escape quickly, and it might just be better to haul the Goddess statue fragments to the surface for retrieval...

* 〈Rune of the Abyss has been engraved.〉
* 〈Rune Progression: Stage 2〉

Hm?

Just as I was organizing my thoughts, a message popped up.

The Rune of the Abyss, it said it was engraved?

It also said my rune progression advanced to stage 2?

Rumble rumble rumble.

"B-brothers! The dungeon doesn't feel right all of a sudden!"

"Is the dungeon collapsing!?"

"Why all of a sudden!?"

"Oh wise Dmihtan! Do you know anything?"

Even as the dungeon shook, the two looked at me, seeking answers.

Do I know anything?
Sorry, guys!

"First, let's get out of here!"

The 'Rune of the Abyss' was absorbed before I realized it.

Seeing the dungeon collapsing upon the rune's absorption, it was now clear that the unknown power contained in the Rune of the Abyss had been what kept the dungeon from falling apart.

After shouting to Barkal and Serena, I kicked off the ground to escape from the underground as quickly as possible.

Judging from the sound of footsteps following behind, both were keeping up well.

One of the dungeon's laws.

When you kill the master, a dungeon portal appears nearby.

Following that iron rule, I ran through the underground.

But... nothing!?

Rumble rumble rumble!

Rocks finally started falling from the ceiling. One grazed my shoulder.

The ceiling was collapsing! If we got buried here, there would be no gathering runes to become a god—just a pancake.

"I have an idea!"

Serena shouted as she ran up.

"I'll smash through the ceiling! The Eastern Sanctuary's martial artists use a technique called the Rising Dragon Fist. If I just—"

"Serena, just follow us without a word!"

Of course, I rejected Serena's idea. Hey, if you break the ceiling while it's collapsing, won't you just punch a hole and bring everything down at once?

Everything would come crashing down, wouldn't it?!

"Brother!"

Barkal, I'm busy right now! If you say something weird, I can't tune in...

"There's a portal here!"

Contrary to my expectations, Barkal was calling me because he'd found a portal.

Our lifeline, glowing a vivid blue.

No words were needed—we three immediately dashed toward the portal.

Out of breath, I couldn't afford to slow down even for a moment.

By the way, Serena and Barkal...

Why are you two so fast, you crazies!

I know as a 'Necromancer' my physical stats lag behind, but isn't this gap too much!?

"Hwahhhhhhh!"

Just before the dungeon fully collapsed,

I reinforced myself with skeleton exoskeleton strength and barely made it through the portal.

An outrageous noise thundered behind us. That was definitely the sound of the dungeon collapsing.

* * *

After passing through the portal, an open forest came into view.

I collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Wow, I really almost died.

Even as I struggled to suck in air, Barkal and Serena didn't look all that fatigued.

True 'Apostles' are different.

They're monsters.

"Brother! This is definitely Lurdan Forest, not the previous dungeon!"

Well, that's a relief.

"Thanks to this, we can further raise Thrag's fame! Dmihtan, if you return to the tribe, you'll surely be recognized as an excellent barbarian!"

I had no intention of returning to the Red Wolf Tribe. As a necromancer, fields full of barbarians are a little scary for me.

Ah.

There was something I'd forgotten in all the chaos.

The carriage.

It had definitely come into the dungeon with us. There's no way the horse found a portal—it must have been caught in the collapse.

"Ugh..."

I felt like crying. All my supplies and money pouch were on that carriage.

My money.
My blood-sweat-and-tears money.
My soul! My effort! My anguish!

"Dmihtan, is it not enough for you to be known as the one who killed a Necromancer?"

As I displayed a pained expression, Barkal spoke, flustered.

"... Yes. Killing a mere Necromancer is not enough to claim any sort of fame! I was foolish, wise Dmihtan!"

Chatter chatter from beside me.

Shut it, man! As I was about to say that, I sensed movement in the distance.

The sound of rustling from the brush. Monsters?

Monsters don't only dwell in dungeons. It's common for some to escape a dungeon and wreak havoc.

That's why adventurers are paid so much to contain dungeons.

"It's the carriage!"

What appeared through the bushes, fortunately, was the carriage.

The carriage?

Our carriage.

My money!

I rushed to the carriage. Thankfully, the goods loaded inside were all intact.

Thank goodness. If this hadn't made it, I would have cried. Meeting Mortis wasn't even half as terrifying.

"How did this little one make it out when it definitely entered the dungeon with us?"

"Hmm, I think it might be thanks to my excellent training!"

Barkal grinned broadly, shaking his head vigorously. I remembered all he ever did was smack its rump for training.

I stared at the horse that had returned alive. Maybe it had escaped out of pure survival instinct?

When a dungeon collapses, portals can spawn randomly throughout the entire dungeon, not just near the master.

Even then, realizing to dive into a portal to survive is more than just basic instinct.

Our horse. Isn't it a genius?

"Has this happened before? Entering a dungeon together or something?"

"No, never."

When I answered, Serena looked at the horse in shock.

"Then this is the first time, and it found a portal and figured out what to do!?"

Yep, sheer genius.

"Amazing! This really is a smart horse!"

"It's the power of my training!"

"Where on earth did you get such a famous horse!? Even nobles can't easily obtain such a clever and outstanding steed!"

Now that I think about it, Serena doesn't know how we got this carriage.

"... Got it from a passing merchant."

"A merchant!?"

"Yes. Paid a high price too."

I don't lie.

It was from a passing (fake) merchant.

And I did pay a high price.

"That merchant must be shocked—never would they have imagined that a party who bought their horse would become such renowned adventurers!"

Serena laughed happily.

Though it's a stretch to call the 'Dungeon God' party renowned yet...

The merchants surely would be shocked.

So shocked, they're probably buried underground by now, right?

* * *

After completing our request in Lurdan Forest, we decided to camp for the night.

Drowsy with fatigue and with night falling, we judged it too risky to push our horse any further.

"I love camping more than anything in this world!"

At the mention of camping, Barkal laughed heartily and began preparing.

Though I'd skimmed a few survival videos on XTube, Barkal's actions were on a different level.

From building a fire to scattering herbs to keep bugs away.

He did everything for camping, a to Z, all by himself.

"Learning how to survive in nature is an essential virtue for Barbarians!"

He even made the fire and the bedding, but the food was a disaster.

"A Barbarian eats everything raw!"

And what about Serena?

"I'm sorry, I burned everything!"

So in the end, cooking was my job. At best, it was just stew made with bread, spices, and meat from the carriage.

"This might be the tastiest stew I've ever had!"

"Dmihtan! Are you the strongest in cooking too?!"

What a fuss.

After a simple meal and just before turning in for the night, I asked Barkal a question to satisfy my curiosity.

"Barkal."

"What is it, brother?"

"Is that necklace your brother's?"

At my question, Barkal fell silent.

For a while, only the crackling of the campfire broke the careful silence.

"Yes."

So that Necromancer earlier wasn't the one who killed your brother, then?

"As I said, Darshan wouldn't have been killed by such a weak Necromancer."

You said that before too.

"Then why did that Necromancer have your brother's keepsake?"

"I don't know."

Barkal shook his head.

"... It's probably because of one of the tenets of Necromancers."

It was Serena who interjected.

"I've heard some Necromancers carry the keepsakes of strong warriors to bind their souls and grant them to their undead."

"So that's it."

"Yes."

Serena bowed her head and added, "May Liberas bless your brother."

It must have been the way the Church of Liberas sends off the dead.

"But as Brother Barkal said, that Necromancer was likely not the one who killed your brother."

"How can you be so sure?"

I asked, and Serena replied right away.

"There was no corpse. If the warrior was strong enough that even his necklace was taken, then the Necromancer who revived his body as an undead must be the culprit."

That would be the one who killed his brother, Serena added.

"Are you both on a journey for revenge, then?"

She asked us with a serious expression. Barkal looked at me.

The original purpose of this journey was the 'Journey of Proof'. Barkal was merely a companion helping my quest.

Moreover, what the chief asked was not revenge, but to hold a funeral for his brother, who wandered as an undead.

'Revenge' was not part of our plan.

"We will hold the funeral. We will also take revenge. That is your duty as his brother, and mine as his friend."

Still, it's good to offer a little lip service.

He's an 'Apostle,' after all.

"My brother Dmihtan...!"

"I hope you succeed in your revenge!"

Serena.

Weren't you a follower of Liberas, the Goddess of Love and Virtue?

Isn't the Church's doctrine to 'love the whole world'?

"Revenge is also for someone else's sake, so isn't that a kind of love too?!"

Sometimes, you scare me.

"By the way, about that dungeon earlier,"

Serena tilted her head as if a question had just occurred to her.

"Why did the collapse happen only after some delay?"

"Doesn't matter! We survived, and our honor was raised as well!"

"That's true!"

No need to mention to them that the sudden dungeon collapse was because I retrieved the 'Rune of the Abyss'.

Besides, explaining every little thing is a pain.

'That's already two.'

I drifted into thought.

If I posted on the 《Dungeon God》 community that I'd collected two 'Runes of the Abyss' in less than a month, a horde of people would call it staged and drag me through the mud.

That's how quickly I'm gathering runes. Not that I can guarantee things will continue at this pace.

I was a little dumbfounded.

Am I really going to become a god at this rate?

* 〈Rune Progression: Stage 2〉

Huh?
Why is this popping up again?
Is it some sort of rerun, just in case I missed it? How thoughtful.

* 〈A new ability has been unlocked based on your rune progression.〉

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Hmmm, our boy Barkal is a camping enthusiast.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】