Chapter 122 - The Money-Blowing Necromancer

Cursed Land (1)

[All 50 participants have been selected!]

[Moving to the Cursed Land!]

The scenery changed.

A city lay in ruins atop ground as black as if it had rotted away.

'Judging by the architecture, this looks like a fantasy setting...'

Messages appeared.

[The second test begins.]

[You have entered the 'Cursed Land.']

[This is a special stage where experience cannot be earned.]

[Points will still accumulate. However, if you have not experienced anything special before, nothing will change going forward.]

[The rules will now be explained.]

[Rules]

[1. Participants are scattered throughout the area.]

[2. Participants cannot leave the Cursed Land.]

[3. You are free to do whatever you wish. Survive here for one month.]

[4. The locations of participants of the same nationality will be displayed at the top.]

The objective was simple: survive for a month.

Kim Minwoo immediately checked his inventory first. Food, equipment, consumables, and so on.

'There are no restrictions on using any of it?'

Nor was the ground swallowing his feet, and it didn't seem to be casting curses on him.

What was going on? This challenge was too easy.

'Then there must be more to it.'

He looked up at the display. There was one red dot and two blue ones.

The red one was him. The blue ones seemed to be his fellow guild members.

'They should be easy to find.'

Before moving, he summoned Merhen and Cedric. Merhen frowned slightly as she surveyed their surroundings.

"This is... a strange place."

"They call it the Cursed Land."

"It certainly seems that way."

She picked up a pinch of pitch-black soil and put it in her mouth. Her eyes soon narrowed slightly.

"... It's all mixed together."

"Mixed?"

"Yes. The taste is complicated. Like a chimera."

Merhen turned to him and asked,

"What do we have to do here?"

"Survive for a month."

"That's... not very good."

"Why?"

"It's angry."

Just then, the ground began to rumble and shake as though an earthquake had struck.

ROOOAR!

A distant, echoing cry spread across the entire land.

The flames in Cedric's eyes flared.

"Something seems to be coming."

"Looks that way."

Minwoo drew the Death Spirit Sword.

The rotten ground bulged, swelling again and again like bubbles in boiling water.

SPLOOSH!

The earth burst like bubbles all around them, and clusters of grotesque tentacles sprang out.

Dozens upon dozens of tentacle clusters had formed a ring around them. Each tentacle was about three meters long, and the sight of them swaying was thoroughly revolting.

'There sure are a lot of them.'

Just then—

"Disgusting. Die."

[Merhen uses Cyclone (SS)!]

WHOOOOSH...!

An immense blast of wind uprooted every cluster of tentacles buried in the ground. Still writhing, they were gathered into a single point.

[Merhen uses Grand Explosion (SS)!]

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A massive chain of explosions erupted. The tentacles turned into thousands of fragments that rained down onto the ground.

'They're weak.'

Of course, Merhen's spells were SS-grade, but even allowing for that, the tentacles weren't particularly strong. They just looked rather disgusting.

Then some of the shredded tentacle fragments suddenly began gathering in one place. They writhed like clay being molded, taking on a human shape. And that wasn't all.

"Ghaaah!"

The figure desperately gasped for breath.

"Excuse me. Are you all right?"

"W-water..."

The emaciated blond man pleaded desperately for water. His strange language was intelligible, so it seemed they could communicate just as they had in the first test.

The man was clearly in bad shape. Instead of water, Minwoo poured a top-grade potion into his mouth. The man trembled all over as though convulsing, but his complexion improved a little.

"Hah. Hah..."

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Wh-where..."

"Until a moment ago, you were those grotesque tentacles."

At that, the man stared blankly at the tentacle fragments.

"Ha..."

He let out a hollow sigh, as though unable to believe it.

Minwoo's expression hardened as he watched. Even after a top-grade potion, there was no real improvement in his condition.

'Has all his life force been drained?'

That was usually how people reacted when they had been drained of all their life force, the very foundation of their bodies.

At that point, even potions couldn't save them. Potions stimulated existing life force; they couldn't stimulate something that wasn't there.

"Urgh!"

Sure enough, before long the man began coughing up copious amounts of blood.

"I'm sorry, but you don't have long to live."

"... I had a feeling. But how... did you end up in this hellhole...?"

"... Hellhole?"

"You don't... know... where this is?"

"No. Is there anything you can tell me?"

"This is... a prison... A prison for a terrible monster..."

"Please explain."

Minwoo poured another potion into the man's mouth. The information he was hearing would be worth that much.

A light entered the man's eyes.

"There's a monster underground. It wakes if it isn't given sacrifices. Hah... Dark mages... have taken over this place..."

"Dark mages?"

"... As long as they don't wake the monster... this is the ideal place for their training. So... they abduct people... and offer sacrifices regularly..."

So this was the Cursed Land. Apparently, it was a perfect fit for dark mages.

"How often do they need to offer sacrifices?"

"... Once... a... day... The stronger... the sacrifice... the stronger... the curse becomes... The dark mages... have no reason... to refuse..."

Damn.

The man seemed to have little time left. Minwoo tried pouring in another potion, but it was no use. He watched the man's lips, hoping to glean even a little more information.

"Be... care...ful... As long... as you're... here... the dark mages... will... come for... you... Hah."

With those final words, the man stopped breathing. Minwoo closed his eyes for him.

'I have a rough idea of the situation now.'

For dark mages, this place was a gold mine as long as they kept offering sacrifices.

'And the participants can't get out.'

That meant an inevitable clash with the dark mages occupying this place. They already needed sacrifices, and now suitable offerings had practically fallen into their laps overnight.

'On the other hand...'

It wasn't entirely bad for the participants, either. Without the dark mages, the awakeners who had come here would almost certainly have turned on one another. There were bound to be some who thought buying time with sacrifices was better than fighting an unidentified monster.

'It did sound pretty powerful just from its cry.'

The monster underground seemed likely to be far stronger than Duke Timorn...

'They should have dealt with the tentacles on their own, at least.'

Those hadn't been very strong. Any awakener who had made it to the second test would have dispatched the tentacles easily. Just as he had heard the story from the blond man, the others would have a rough understanding of the situation by now.

'I'd better find my guild members first.'

Their locations were displayed above. As he traveled, he would encounter dark mages and get some idea of their strength.

He advanced with his two legion commanders.

* * *

Long ago, the dark mages had discovered a land that was a blessing to them—a land where a monster lay sleeping.

They destroyed the city above it and spent years offering sacrifices to help the monster grow. The power of curses spread over the land. They erected a barrier to keep that power from escaping.

And so, over the long years, this cursed land became a holy land for dark mages.

As long as they obeyed a single rule, the dark mages of the holy land could prosper forever.

Offer a sacrifice once a day.

And yet, in this holy land...

"... There are intruders?"

"Reports are coming in from all over."

Mortan, priest of the holy land, tilted his head.

"There was no indication of the barrier being breached, was there?"

"No. It's perfectly intact. That makes it all the more puzzling. How did they enter the holy land...?"

"How strong are they?"

"It seems several of our followers have already fallen to them."

Strong enough to defeat the followers, then.

A gleam entered Mortan's eyes. At that level, they would make rather good sacrifices.

"How many?"

"From what we've established so far, there appear to be more than twenty."

"We needed some decent sacrifices. Excellent timing."

"Yes. Surely He is watching over us."

"... You seem to forget rather often these days. We do not serve a god. We merely trade with a monster."

"... Ah, yes. My mistake."

"Let's go."

Mortan rose and left the temple with the dark mages under his command. About two hours into their search for the intruders, keeping in touch through crystal balls, his head snapped around.

His pupils turned pitch-black, and his field of vision expanded dramatically. Far in the distance, he spotted a group of three.

'Found them.'

He glided forward. The first to react was Liu Wei, an awakener wearing equipment fashioned in the likeness of a beast.

"Rrraah!"

Liu Wei transformed into a leopard in an instant and lunged at him.

His movements were nimble, but to Mortan, it was nothing more than futile resistance.

He was the priest who had ruled this holy land for decades. The power he had amassed was more than these riffraff could withstand.

With a single gesture, black spikes erupted from all directions. Liu Wei immediately transformed into a bear and curled up. The spikes tore straight through his thick fur and plunged into his flesh.

"GRAAAH!"

The enormous bear struggled with all its might to move.

"Your strength, at least, is passable."

Mortan sneered as he spoke. The other two Chinese awakeners flinched.

Fortunately, they had arrived close to one another and had been able to regroup quickly. Through the person who had appeared when they destroyed the tentacles, they had also learned enough to expect dark mages to come after them.

The problem was...

'How the hell are we supposed to beat this?!'

Liu Wei ranked among the top five awakeners participating in this test, yet he had been subdued before he could even put up a fight.

And this wasn't even the only dark mage. Figures in pitch-black robes were swarming up behind him.

"Vermin who have trampled upon our sanctuary. Your crimes..."

Just then, Liu Wei, who had already returned to human form, shouted urgently.

"W-wait!"

"...?"

"We'll help you! No, please let us help you!"

"Help us?"

"We're not the only ones who came here! You'll need to catch them all, won't you? We're offering to help with that!"

"... Aren't you their comrades?"

"Comrades? Hardly! You have countries here too, don't you?"

"We do."

"They're just people from other countries! Complete strangers!"

His protests sounded so genuinely aggrieved that it didn't seem to be a lie.

'Hmm...'

Mortan considered it briefly. The holy land was vast, and these intruders were fairly capable. At this rate, he would have to keep roaming around to hunt them down, scattered like gnats.

But if he made use of these men, cleaning up the holy land would be much easier.

'Using poison to control poison...'

Not a bad idea.

"What do you want?"

"Spare our lives. That's all."

"Very well. If you prove your loyalty."

"... Prove it how...?"

"Accept a brand."

Liu Wei swallowed hard.

'Damn it. So much for getting off easy.'

It looked as though the man intended to do something strange to them, but he had no real choice.

"... All right. But I'd like to know what it involves."

"Nothing much. I will merely inscribe a mark on your hearts."

"..."

The Chinese awakeners' faces twisted as though they had tasted shit.

He was going to inscribe something on their hearts. That was obviously a very big deal.

"... Yes. I'll do it."

Liu Wei was the first to nod. If he couldn't avoid it, he might as well embrace it.

'It's not completely hopeless.'

From the circumstances, this seemed to be an entirely different dimension, like the inside of a gate. The races, languages, and appearances were all different.

'I just have to get back to Earth.'

Whatever the man inscribed on his heart, it didn't seem likely to affect him across dimensions. He only needed to last a month. Then the test would be over.

'Besides, this might actually be better.'

Even he, who had placed fifth in the first test, had been subdued in the time it took to draw a breath. Siding with these men and capturing awakeners as sacrifices actually looked far safer.

The only unknown was the first-place contestant who had earned fifteen million points.

'That couldn't have been pure skill. They must have found some trick.'

He chose to believe that. If he refused out of fear of that contestant, he would die right now.

"What about you two? Will you refuse?"

"O-of course not!"

"Brand us! We'll prove our loyalty!"

Only then did a smile appear on Mortan's lips. His hand plunged deep into the chest of the restrained Liu Wei.

"Guh!"

"The pain will only last a moment."

Brands were inscribed within the Chinese awakeners' chests. As the hand slid back out, they gasped for breath.

"Hah!"

Then a shudder ran through them. Their bodies were brimming with an uncanny vitality.

Watching them, Mortan smiled coldly.

Did they know that these brands worked by siphoning off and burning their life force?

He had never intended to spare the men who had trampled the holy land with their filthy feet. He would use them for a while, then offer them as sacrifices once they were worn-out husks. That would be just right.

He issued his command.

"Find them. And bring them before me."

"Understood."

The Chinese awakeners began to move.