The Return of the Talented Monopolist is Special

Five minutes before Eugene opened the stone door on the floor.

A young girl was resting beneath the stone door.

She had been fleeing through the dense foliage of Glampustan to escape her pursuers, but she lost her footing and fell somewhere.

When she managed to get up, she found herself in a narrow corridor.

Feeling uneasy about staying still in that place, the girl wandered through the corridor, lost and running even farther.

Along the way, the two knights guarding her, as well as the skilled captain of the guard, were all attacked and had vanished without a trace.

The girl, in her youth, cried and wandered through the underground passage in a panic.

The only thing illuminating the dark corridor was a single droplet of water.

In her hand, she held a wand. The girl was a magician who specialized in water magic.

As she walked through the darkness, the girl sobbed.

“Sniff, sniff…”

There was very little she knew.

‘My father sent guards to bring me across to the Black Continent, and as soon as we arrived in Glampustan, we were ambushed by the dark magician.’

She had grown up in an ordinary household on the outskirts, up until she was almost ten years old.

What bothered her most was that she could only see her father on his birthday…

‘Magic, in the end, I need to use this magic to protect myself.’

Unlike her ordinary family, her magical abilities were extraordinarily gifted.

But that same talent became her flaw. She didn’t want to stand out.

In a place like the outskirts, magicians were rare, and as a result, the children often called her a monster and shunned her.

She had hoped that meeting her father would bring her happiness, but now, on the verge of death, she was facing a deadly crisis.

The Magic Tower is made up of four towers: Red, Green, Black, and White.

‘I heard that the Blue Tower and Black Tower don’t get along. Could the dark magicians have tried to harm me because they hate me?’

There was a conspiracy too vast for the young girl to handle.

Then, she heard a noise from above, someone attempting to open the door.

“Ugh…”

The girl, terrified, was ready to cast a fireball at any moment.

And when the face of the man appeared, Julia gasped and immediately unleashed her fire.

***

Eugene briefly assessed the girl’s appearance to determine her identity.

‘Emerald-colored hair, slightly younger than me. Based on the magical aura, she’s from the Magic Tower.’

With his heightened perception, Eugene could see that the girl was from the Magic Tower.

Moreover.

‘There are traces of blood and dust on her face, and she looks like she’s in poor health.’

It was a typical fugitive’s appearance. Additionally, she had already been attacked once.

If Eugene’s memories from his previous life were correct, and the time and place matched…

‘She’s the girl I’ve been looking for. The daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord, Julia.’

The girl, while looking at Eugene in front of her, was busy scanning her surroundings with an expression of uncertainty.

If Eugene’s memory was accurate, the girl was the illegitimate daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord from the Black Continent.

She must have been ambushed by someone while crossing over to the Black Continent and left all alone.

The knights who were guarding her had likely perished.

“Calm down for now. I’m not here to chase you.”

“Ho-how can I trust that?”

The girl didn’t let down her guard, keeping her wand raised in her right hand.

Eugene nodded.

“Right, I know it’s hard to believe. But can you trust me if I do this?”

“What…?”

Swoosh!

As soon as Eugene finished speaking, he drew his sword.

The girl recoiled in fear.

Of course, Eugene’s target was not the girl.

“Can’t check what’s behind you, can you?”

Eugene swiftly moved behind the girl and swung his sword.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed loudly. When the girl turned around in confusion, she saw a zombie, its body ragged like a tattered cloth, charging toward her.

“If I deal with them, will you trust me?”

“That’s…”

As the girl hesitated, more zombies appeared from all directions, one by one…

The total number was increasing rapidly.

‘At least about a hundred, and they feel like two-star level zombies, so I can handle them.’

The zombies, showing sharp fangs and long claws, were about to attack the girl, but they stopped short when they saw Eugene blocking their path, clearly displeased.

“Grrrraaa!”

The zombies growled, ordering those who were not the target to step aside. Eugene ignored them and released his aura.

Fwoosh!

Eugene enveloped the girl’s body in his aura before glaring at the zombies.

‘These zombies from the Magic Tower are targeting the Tower Lord’s daughter. It matches the events from my previous life.’

Eugene could already clearly visualize the internal political struggles of the Magic Tower in his mind.

‘Did they track me when I found Julia? Maybe they used scent to follow me, or they could have traced the flow of mana.’

Whatever the case, what mattered now was that Eugene had altered the course of the event.

“Are you going to help me?”

“Just watch your body.”

Eugene couldn’t let the girl die here.

The reason was simple.

First, if the girl died, war would break out between the Penchel and the Magic Tower. Eugene decided to think about the specifics of this reason later.

Secondly, helping the girl would create a debt of gratitude that could later be used to learn magic.

“Gaaaah!”

Dozens of zombies rushed at Eugene without hesitation.

It seemed the zombies were smart enough to realize they needed to deal with Eugene first, rather than attacking the girl who was wrapped in his aura.

“I’m fine with it.”

The more real combat Eugene encountered, the better it would be for his growth.

With a smile on his face, Eugene assumed his combat stance.

Swish! Swish!

The zombies’ sharp claws aimed for Eugene’s body and neck, but Eugene executed ghost-like movements with his ghostly acrobatics, dodging the attacks—

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Using the basic ‘downward slash’ of Penchel, which he had trained intensely over the past six months, Eugene struck.

It was a far more powerful downward slash than usual—something El Dora had trained hard on.

Moreover, with Eugene’s enhanced aura, the effect was beyond imagination.

The heads and shoulders of the zombies split like firewood, and ten of them died instantly.

Was the difference in aura a reflection of absolute power? The zombies, despite their strong energy, were no match for Eugene.

“That… that’s impossible…”

Julia could faintly hear a small sound of admiration from behind.

It was no surprise that she was shocked, to see all those zombies being cut down by a boy who seemed to be around her age.

But then…

“Kwahhhh!”

As the remaining 20 zombies sensed the situation becoming more unfavorable, their bodies grew larger and more grotesque.

‘These aren’t just regular zombies. They’re enhanced zombies.’

Enhanced zombies were something Eugene had often encountered during his time as an advisor to the Sun God Church in the Black Continent.

Unlike regular zombies, enhanced zombies exhibited abnormal appearances and rapid movements.

If zombies were classified into three stages: Pawn, Soldier, and Knight, enhanced zombies were among the highest-tiered Pawns.

When dead knights were used as mediums, they were even able to use swordsmanship, earning them a notorious reputation.

“Kraak!”

“Kaak!”

The enhanced zombies relentlessly attacked Eugene with seemingly endless stamina.

Even…

Snap. Snap.

The half-zombies, which Eugene had thought had died when their bodies were split in half, were now leaping toward him with a single leg, as though someone was deliberately controlling them.

“Ugh, damn it.”

Eugene grimaced and slashed at the legs coming toward him.

No matter how many times he cut them down, they kept getting back up.

It wasn’t until only their ankles were left that they finally stopped moving, making them exceedingly difficult to deal with.

However, Eugene showed no signs of tiring and continued to cut down the zombies as though he were a machine.

If he hadn’t brought a real sword for this mission, the battle might have been even harder.

Meanwhile, Eugene was also keeping an eye on one more thing.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

At first, he split the zombies’ heads in half with downward slashes, but as the number of zombies increased, he changed his strategy.

He chose to leave the zombies’ heads intact and continued to fight them in that way.

After all, even if he cut off their heads, the zombies would still move on their own, approaching him.

The most important reason for this decision was…

Perhaps Julia knew the reason, as she shouted.

“Hey, be careful…! The head…! You have to cut the head off!”

“I know!”

“If you leave the head like that!”

Eugene smiled and kicked the zombies’ heads toward Julia.

“Screaaam! What are you doing? You’re not helping me…?!”

“I am, so be quiet!”

Eugene waited for the right moment.

Kwahhh!

No matter how many zombies he killed, they didn’t seem to decrease. To deal with them, Eugene decided to use them to his advantage.

The method was simple.

Screech…

He could feel a faint magical energy leaking from the zombies’ skulls.

Eugene began counting.

Three.

The magical energy coming from the zombies’ heads grew stronger.

Two.

As the magical energy reached its peak, Eugene dodged the zombies’ claws and rushed toward Julia.

One.

Before the final count, Eugene hugged the girl and released a strong aura, stomping the ground with force.

Boom!

Immediately after, the zombies’ skulls exploded in all directions from where the girl had been standing.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The heads exploded one after another, causing the nearby zombies to crumble as well.

This was the characteristic of enhanced zombies—corpse explosion.

“Wow…!”

The girl couldn’t help but express her admiration at Eugene’s response.

She couldn’t help but compare Eugene with the knights who had been protecting her.

‘Those knights were 4th-tier, but this guy seems way stronger…!’

It was likely her first time seeing someone stronger than a 4th-tier knight fighting right in front of her, and she stood there, mesmerized by Eugene’s effortless victory.

Eugene left about 10 zombies remaining and casually said to the girl:

“You shouldn’t just stand there, you know. Help out.”

Eugene wasn’t asking for help because he was exhausted.

He had a different reason in mind.

“Eh…? Oh, okay!”

The girl, as if snapping out of a daze, lifted her wand and began attacking.

Whoosh!

She cast a fireball, which, despite her weakened state, burned the legs of the zombies that were approaching with sharp claws.

Based on the speed and power of her casting, the magic was incredibly strong.

‘She’s the daughter of the Tower Lord, no doubt about it. Her talent is incredible. I can see why the Blue Mage Tower Lord wants her.’

Eugene’s gaze sharpened noticeably.

While dealing with the zombies, he used his mukwang to adjust his atom’s rotation speed and expand his energy perception.

Through this, he aimed to learn something.

‘As expected, the magic used by Tower people is different from the usual. They spin the mana even faster in the circle before casting the spell. But is that even possible?’

Eugene was carefully observing the girl’s magic, trying to figure out the flow of her mana.

The Mage Tower was located in the Black Continent, and because the Tower Mages were few, they were often looked down upon by the Church mages. However, Eugene didn’t see them that way.

‘Wait, now that I think about it, it’s similar to the knight’s techniques. I could learn from it and apply it myself.’

Boom!

Another fireball exploded.

Eugene smiled to himself, thinking that he would later borrow the magic from the Tower girl and use it himself.

However, now Eugene was beginning to wonder why the girl, with all her power, had been hiding.

Soon, he discovered the reason.

“Hoo, hoo, hah…”

The girl seemed to be exhausted, dripping with cold sweat and staggering.

It seemed to be a physical limitation.

Eugene clicked his tongue lightly and moved the girl behind him.

“Rest. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Thanks…”

The girl, too weak to speak properly, mumbled in a barely audible voice and collapsed to the ground.

There were only about 6 zombies left. The remaining zombies, with only one leg each, were quickly reduced to nothing but bones after being set ablaze.

It was almost over.

As Eugene began to intensify his aura for the final cleanup…

Boom!

He instinctively jerked his head back to avoid something, and a huge shockwave echoed through the air.

A rusted greatsword was embedded in the wall.

It had flown at such high speed that the shockwave flipped over the bodies of the surrounding zombies.

Eugene narrowed his eyes, focusing on the greatsword, and then turned his gaze to the other side.

There, he saw…

Thud, thud, thud.

A hulking knight, fully armored in full plate from head to toe, was walking toward Eugene.

‘He’s wearing armor, but looking at the ragged body visible through the gaps, he’s the same kind of enhanced zombie. However… he’s on a different level.’

A soldier-class zombie, stronger than a pawn?

No, this one was closer to a knight-class zombie, even stronger.

‘This won’t be easy. He’s dotted an opponent to underestimate.’

However…

Grin.

Contrary to his thoughts, a smile never left Eugene’s lips.

The return of the talent monopolizer is extraordinary.