The Necromancer Who Was Despised

I thought that maybe the orcs’ intelligence was higher than I expected.

Of course, they’re still just orcs.

“Then I’ll make them move.”

The corpses were piled up decently.

I raised Elroset’s staff and began to approach the battlefield slowly.

Anelis reached out her hand as if to stop me, but soon withdrew her fingers.

The Elite Living Armor accelerated her movements, and she couldn’t help but move alongside me.

As we approached the battlefield, the aggro that had not been attracted to us until now began to head in our direction.

Kyra’s gaze turned towards me as I approached the battlefield.

I exchanged a light smile with her.

And immediately raised Elroset’s staff.

Instantly, a black aura spread around me, and the movements of the undead under my command became lighter.

About half of the orcs that had died in the area rose from the ground.

All of them were in the form of zombies. But they weren’t ordinary zombies.

‘Reinforced zombies.’

Their classes had increased, and magic remained, and the achievements were made possible by Elroset’s staff’s amplification rate.

Even without additional reinforcement, ordinary cold weapons couldn’t penetrate them.

In reality, even when an orc attacked me bare-handed, the zombie orc’s body only had a shallow wound.

Considering the orc’s physical strength, it was an absurd performance.

And the attacked zombie orc took its revenge by biting the neck of the orc that had attacked it.

Only then did the orcs recognize me as a threat and made me their target….

But the three Elite Living Armors didn’t allow the orcs to approach.

The orcs’ heads that tried to sneak up on us were smashed like watermelons by the Elite Durahan’s iron hammer.

Thanks to the curse magic’s effect, the orcs’ movements began to slow down.

As a result, the Elite Living Armors, who were already stronger than the orcs, were able to realize a one-sided massacre against the orcs.

Anelis, who had been startled by the orcs’ approach, began to calm down as she saw this.

And finally.

A different, mana-filled cry resonated across the battlefield.

Soon, new orcs appeared.

Orcs with different physiques appeared at the forefront.

They were the ones who blocked the first golem’s attack, and then three of them quickly destroyed it.

Artina tried to move to rescue the first golem, but unlike the other orcs, they seemed to have anticipated her attack and easily blocked it.

“Dammit.”

Artina quickly gave up on the first golem.

Instead, the second golem and Kereo came out, and thanks to that, they were able to rescue and recover the first golem.

However, as a result, the frontline that had been formed began to collapse.

It was clear that those who could handle mana were different.

The reinforced zombies’ solid structure was broken by force, and as a result, the ones that had been raised were falling back to the ground one by one.

If I could supply more magic, I could raise more orcs….

“It’s more than expected…”

I had expected around ten of them.

But I could confirm that there were almost thirty of them who could handle mana.

At that moment, Kyra, who had not moved until now, intervened in the battlefield.

I alone repaired the broken transmission line.

Tremendous power.

It wasn’t for nothing that I sent her to the front line.

‘…This is weird.’

But my nerves weren’t focused on that.

‘From this time on, guys who can handle mana are over thirty? Yet, why are there only this few…?’

The territory could be expanded by several folds, and there would still be room to spare.

In the past, the orc tribe around the Owlan Earl’s territory had shown much greater power despite having only around ten warriors.

Even if the orcs’ numbers were limited by time, there was no reason for their territory to be this narrow.

‘There must be something. Is there another unknown force around here?’

“…Lord!”

I looked up at Kaila’s urgent voice.

——————!

A strange noise.

The orcs immediately responded to the eerie cry.

‘…That’s it.’

Those brutal orcs, especially the warrior class that could handle mana, why couldn’t they participate in the battle right away.

With this much power, why couldn’t they possess more than just this small territory.

The question was resolved in an instant.

“…Basilisk.”

A new monster had invaded the battlefield.

“Why, why is the Basilisk here…!”

Anelis’s voice was filled with panic.

Come to think of it, it was Kerio who first mentioned the Basilisk during the second round.

‘……’

I immediately strengthened my connection with Kerio to confirm the situation.

However, I couldn’t get any accurate information due to the disconnected parts.

So I asked Anelis.

“Was there a Basilisk’s lair around here?”

“…I don’t know. There were rumors of its appearance, but…”.

Anelis said that if she had known, she would have told me earlier.

It’s likely that she would have desperately kept it a secret.

The Basilisk is no ordinary monster.

‘Stone Breath.’

A monster that uses petrification, a type of curse.

That means it’s a monster that can use mana.

And that enormous body.

Its skin isn’t weak either. The environment where they live becomes solid due to their breath, making their skin as hard as steel.

‘That body, using mana, and with excellent defense…’

A high-grade monster.

The wyverns, the basilisks, and the orcs’ natural enemies, were also suffering.

Even the mid-sized monsters, such as trolls and minotaurs, were in the same situation.

Trolls were merely food for basilisks, and even the ogres, the forest tyrants, could only fight against basilisks if they were at the top of their game.

“If such a creature has built its nest nearby, it’ll be hard for our forces to expand their territory.”

However, considering that the orcs’ power would grow stronger in the future, it was likely that the basilisk was either defeated or had left its nest for some reason.

“It seems to have caught the scent of blood and come here…”.

Interestingly, the basilisk didn’t touch the dead orcs.

After glancing at the golem, it began to move towards the nearly empty orc village.

“Is it trying to avoid variables? Or is it because the golem’s size is too burdensome?”

Although the golem was large enough to crush the basilisk, there was no reason for it to fight such a massive creature when there was already a weak target available.

The orc warriors, witnessing this scene, briefly looked at us before charging towards the basilisk.

“…What should we do? Should we chase after it?”

The sudden appearance of the basilisk had turned the situation upside down.

As the warriors went to confront the basilisk, the ordinary orcs stopped their mindless charge.

The madness in their eyes had faded.

The basilisk’s roar seemed to be the cause.

“For now, let’s wait.”

There was no reason to refuse an opportunity to reap benefits.

However…

“We need to prepare.”

And if possible, we would deal with the basilisk as well.

It was a public service, and more importantly…

“It’s profitable.”

I didn’t need the money, but selling it to the Magic Tower would bring in a fortune.

We could also use some of the byproducts to craft additional equipment.

The basilisk’s outer skin was one of the best materials, possessing both physical defensive capabilities and magical resistance.

The magical resistance had naturally developed to prevent self-harm from its petrification breath, and it would still function even after the basilisk’s death.

Some processing was necessary, and it would be weaker than when it was alive, but it remained a top-grade material.

The problem was that capturing it with our current strength was a bit challenging.

“Kaila could do it, but the petrification breath is a bit of an issue.”

As a high-ranking expert, she could resist to some extent, and with my help, we could confront it more safely.

However, there was still risk involved.

Considering the basilisk’s characteristics, there was no one who could provide proper support, and if we were careless, our bodies could turn to stone in an instant.

“So… we need to use a different method.”

Boom! Boom!

The orcs’ fierce resistance continued.

Time was on our side.

I raised Elroset’s staff and struck the ground firmly.

I supplied additional magic to the Land of Death.

My will is transmitted to the Land of Death.

Unlike before, the orcs didn’t get up from their fallen bodies. Instead…

Chrrr.

The red blood began to clot around a single point, soon forming a shape.

I started preparing another magic, pulling out my magecraft.

The dragon heart, held by Eloset’s staff, began to glow with an ominous light.

Soon, the magic was complete, and I cast the incantation.

[Temporary Fortress Construction]

Temporary Fortress Construction.

A mage is a being that can exert power beyond their limits through preparation.

By setting up a dungeon, a mage can defeat three or more warriors of the same rank, and with sufficient preparation, they can even emerge victorious against ten or more warriors of the same rank.

However, a mage without their own dungeon was exposed to numerous threats.

Even if a mage had their own dungeon, it was difficult to spend their entire life cooped up in it.

Therefore, mages worried about how to exert their maximum power outside of their dungeons.

It wasn’t a concern for dragons, who possessed infinite mana and powerful dragon speech.

Of course, they too would grow stronger with preparation, but they were already so powerful that they didn’t need to.

The Land of Death I used, as well as the Death Aura, were byproducts of the process of mages trying to find a way to exert their maximum power while wandering.

The Land of Death was originally a magic that couldn’t be used on the battlefield, and the Death Aura was a magic created by a dark mage who had lost their base and was struggling to survive in the intermediate realm with almost no magic.

And as a result of that research…

A magic was developed that allowed mages to exert their maximum power outside of their dungeons.

That was the true identity of the magic.

Although it had the same name, the manifestation of the magic differed from mage to mage.

Even the arrangement was varied, and only a basic framework existed, requiring the mage to customize it individually. It was a unique magic that needed to be tailored one by one.

At the very least, it was a 5-class magic, and not just anyone could use it even if they reached 5-class.

It took at least a year to complete the customization.

But…

“I’ve already finished it.”

In my first life, I was a 6-class mage, and I had even grasped the opportunity to surpass the limits of 6-class.

As such, I had already completed the customization long ago.

“I need to lower my level, though.”

My current level is 5-class, and it’s been a while since I surpassed the limits.

Therefore, I appeared quite weakened, but…

In terms of completion, I was on a different dimension from 5-class mages.

Anelis, standing beside me, wore a shocked expression.