The Necromancer Who Was Despised

If they survived and received a portion of the rewards…

‘They might think they can aim higher.’

And that was true.

It was a reasonable thought to have, considering that even though they were a party, they were a group of individuals who worked together rather than a collective.

No, mercenaries were selfish to begin with. It was the same even if they belonged to a mercenary.

However, there were binding rules in a mercenary団, and since they were looser in a party, it was just that selfishness was more apparent.

Tildy was the only one who seemed better.

Surprisingly, Kereos seemed to have the most desire. It seemed like the fact that the entire party had lost to Valdur, even though it was a surprise attack, had hurt his pride.

‘In a way, its natural.’

He himself had learned the Mana Breathing Technique, but he wasn’t even a match for Valdur.

Valdur looked quite exhausted and tired, but he didn’t have any fatal wounds.

That meant it had been a one-sided fight.

“But there’s no need for that.”

By running away, they had broken our trust.

“I won’t ask for your cooperation. Stand in the front. If you survive, I’ll distribute a portion of the rewards, and I’ll keep my mouth shut about the betrayal.”

There was no choice.

“Of course, the distribution rate will be lower than I had in mind. Depending on what you get, there might not even be a distribution. But even so, if you manage to survive, I’ll keep my mouth shut about the betrayal.”

It was the price for revealing their own weakness.

I don’t know if it would have been successful, but it had failed.

Now it was time to pay the price.

‘Well, even if they had managed to escape, they wouldn’t have been able to get out of the forest.’

It seemed like they had forgotten that Artina had tracked down the Minotaur’s traces.

Or maybe they were confident that they could escape even in that situation.

Even if they had all scattered and run away, as long as Nana and Specter were there, I was confident that I could catch them without fail.

“Make your choice. Stand in the front, or die here.”

We had to raid a dangerous ruin, and we couldn’t do it with a threat behind us. That’s why I threatened to kill them all if they refused.

Kereos, who was receiving the gazes of the party members, opened his mouth with difficulty.

“We’ll cooperate.”

Even if I had declared that I would push them forward as meat shields, they had no other choice since they had already shown weakness.

I looked at Kereos and his party members coldly, then looked at Anelise and Tildy and said,

“Valdur, didn’t you say these two were going to stay?”

“Let the others go. “I’ll talk to these two separately.”

Keep an eye on the rest. Valdur lowered his head and answered instead of me.

As promised, Anelise was taken away by Artina.

Carlyle also seemed to intend to talk with her and followed after Athena, and I called Tilde alone.

“No, you don’t have to apologize. You weren’t trying to betray us.”

“If you survive this time, I’ll make sure to give you a proper share of the rewards.”

“…How dangerous is it?”

“We have to deal with two Guardians, and it won’t be easy. They were living armor powered by divine power.”

“…Living armor powered by divine power?”

An expression of disbelief crossed Tilde’s face.

“Yes. You’ll see for yourself soon enough. They can also make long-range attacks. It’s extremely difficult to avoid them since there’s almost no warning.”

“You’re a priestess of the Goddess Church, aren’t you?”

“Then you must find it difficult to keep this temple a secret.”

He didn’t deny it.

“But we want to keep this temple a secret.”

We wanted to hide the fact that we had raided the ruins and obtained the rewards.

“…I understand, but…”

“In return, we will destroy the temple once we’re done. We’ll erase all traces of the temple, and if we find any relics or artifacts among the rewards, we’ll taint them with magic.”

“It’s hard to sell things obtained from ruins anyway… Don’t you usually find gold, jewels, or artifacts in ruins?”

Apart from those, it’s rare to find things like historical steles.

‘The historical value of the ruins isn’t high either.’

In other words, what I was saying was that we would completely destroy the ruins, ignoring their historical value, and on top of that, if any relics or artifacts were found, we would taint them with magic to completely erase all traces of other religions .

‘Even if they’re tainted with magic, it doesn’t mean the artifacts will be completely ruined.’

It would take time, but if we preserved the essence and made careful adjustments, we could even turn them into artifacts that worked with magic.

‘It would be even easier with something like a relic.’

If the grace or favor of a god was corrupted, it could be turned into an artifact that suited our tastes.

It was entirely possible if you knew how.

Of course, I knew how.

That’s why it wouldn’t be a loss for me.

“…You just want the profit… Is that it?”

“That’s right. If that’s the case, there’s nothing to object to, is there?”

“…Is that the price you’re offering me?”

“The distribution of rewards is separate. It will probably be paid in gold.”

“I don’t care about the distribution… It seems like you know quite a lot about the Goddess Church, Inha.”

“Well, the Goddess Church hates black magicians. I had to study in order to survive.”

They had always hated and despised black magicians.

Tilde nodded with a wry smile at my words.

“There may be a few who aren’t… but they really are a minority.”

Tilde before me was one of those few.

Even so, she was so strict about other religions…

“As for the favor, all you have to do is prove that we weren’t the ones who did it if our party’s safety is compromised or if your party suffers additional losses.”

Indirectly, it was like saying that he would spare her life.

“…It seems like you’re very angry.”

It was also a tacit expression of the fact that it would be difficult for them to survive.

“Because they did something that deserved it. I don’t have any intention of killing them myself, but considering the power of the Guardians, I don’t know how long they will survive.”

He said he wouldn’t kill them himself, but it was true that he was essentially throwing them to their deaths.

Even in the face of such blatant words, Tildy could not respond.

Honestly, from a mercenary’s point of view, the fact that he didn’t kill them on the spot could be considered an act of mercy.

The mercenary industry is also strict when it comes to traitors.

Of course, unofficial betrayals are quite common, but it’s a different story when it comes to the surface.

“If the problem is that your party is falling apart, we will help you find a new party while you travel with us for the time being.”

As long as I’m a black magician, it will be difficult to continue working together.

I’m not the problem, he is. It will be possible for a short while since there is a valid reason.

Tildy looked a little surprised, as if he hadn’t expected such a show of goodwill.

“In return, please swear in the name of the goddess that you will keep the ruins a secret.”

“…If you completely destroy this place, I will have no choice.”

Tildy hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Satisfied that I had convinced him, I headed back to the base camp, and soon after, Athena and Kaila returned, bringing Anelis with them.

“We did it.”

Athena whispered in my ear, glaring at Cereo’s party.

“If they survive, he agreed to let them join this party. He also agreed to provide the mana breathing technique and aura strengthening technique that you mentioned. They agreed right away.”

I called Kaila over and asked them both.

“How are you feeling?”

“As for me, I didn’t do anything. But why?”

“Because if possible, I want to challenge it right away.”

I didn’t know what else they might be thinking later, so I planned to fight as quickly as possible.

“I think it will be okay. Valdur… since we’ve brought Tildy over.”

Athena nodded as if to say she was fine too.

Fortunately, neither of them seemed to have any problems with their stamina.

In the meantime, Tildy and Anelis were awkwardly talking to the party members who were guarding them.

Of course, they didn’t tell the truth about what they had discussed with us, but they said that there would be no penalty for the distribution and that they would receive our protection and additional payment for being placed in the back row.

Cereus bit his lip and glared at me.

‘…Is it because of Anelis? ‘In this situation?’

I wondered.

I would rather it be a misunderstanding and that he was angry because he misunderstood that we were trying to take Tildy, the only priest, away.

‘Oh, maybe it’s both.’

It was absurd, but since he had only glared at me for a short time, I didn’t say anything.

In the first place, the only ones who had discovered them were me and Valdur, who had been watching them.

After Tildy and Anelis finished talking, I spoke to them.

“Originally, I planned to rest at the base camp before going, but that won’t be possible.”

Since I can’t trust you, I’ll force a battle right away.

I said so openly.

Cereus and the party members bowed their heads as if they were ashamed. However, there was a faint hatred hidden in Cereus’ eyes.

‘We must not let them live.’

This incident has caused things to go terribly wrong.

He went from being someone we could deal with by taking our time to someone we had to deal with as quickly as possible.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

Neither Kayla nor Athena had any intention of letting the front lines survive.

‘I will adjust it as needed.’

I also plan on actively helping out.

Saying I needed to prepare, I headed to the place filled with the corpses of minotaurs.

That place was filled with the corpses of minotaurs we had dealt with.

I went there and breathed magic into each of their corpses.

If it weren’t for Tildy, I would have released magic in bulk like I always did, but I had to be careful because I had to keep Tildy alive for the time being.

‘Anything related to the demonic realm is a bigger hot button than any other religion.’

Of course, I didn’t forget to use the artifact to disguise it as mana.

Naturally, I paid the most attention to the body of the leader.

Although it had some divine power, it was already dead, and thanks to the extra work of breathing magic into it, the preparation was complete.

I infused it with so much magic that some of the internal bones were close to becoming black bones.

‘Normally, it would be annoying and not a very efficient method… .’

But it was necessary now.

After the preparatory work was finished.

I stood in the center of them and chanted the trigger words.

Rustle, rustle.

One by one, the corpses of the minotaurs raised their bodies.

Then, they each started to pick up the equipment that had been left on the ground.

The Cereo party watched the scene blankly.

I could sense a mixture of emotions in their blank stares.

“Is it necessary… .”

Yes, it is necessary.

They don’t know because they haven’t gone inside properly yet, but the concentration of divine power in the central hall where the guardian is unusual.

The undead couldn’t help but be affected.

My direct undead have been strengthened and are strongly connected to me, so they are comparatively less affected.

However, these temporary undead are not very connected to me, and the efficiency of the magic transfer is also reduced.

‘And since they were beings who originally possessed some divine power… .’

Although I had infused them with my magic in a short period of time, they had still been alive for some time, so they were more familiar with divine power and reacted better to the dense concentration of divine power.

‘They were already weak, but they are becoming even weaker.’

Although the base body is a minotaur, a medium-sized monster, and seems quite useful, when you consider these various disadvantages, it means that they are not all that great.

‘Even with the shield, there is a high possibility that they will become incapacitated with one blow.’

At least those that are not completely destroyed can be regenerated with magic and used again, but if their condition is not good, I plan on just throwing them away.

‘But there are about 20 of them.’

I think the chieftain will be more useful since I put more effort into him.

I will have to clash with them to get the exact information.

To protect the guardians, Minotaur and Cereo Party’s front lines, with Kayla in the lead.

It was made into a land of death, but it was subtly different from what was used in the previous hideout. In fact, it was similar to using Animate Dead on multiple people at the same time.

Cereus Party wore determined expressions as if they thought this was their last chance.

It was impossible to escape this situation.

They were the guys who couldn’t even beat one Balder in the first place. There was no way they could rebel against me.