The Second Life of a Legendary Necromancer

Chapter 34: The Power of Decay (5)

[You have entered the boss room.]

[The dungeon boss ‘Red Zombie Knight’ awakens from its long slumber.]

The boss room resembled a temple, roughly carved out from a massive cave.

A strange red magic circle glowed faintly on the floor, while blue ghostly flames floated across the ceiling.

At the center of the cavern sat a zombie knight.

It was a knight with red skin clad in ancient armor.

However, its skin wasn’t naturally red.

The decayed flesh had peeled off, revealing raw muscle underneath.

‘A zombie knight, huh…’

Compared to the grandeur of a Death Knight, it fell far short.

A Death Knight, cloaked in dark aura and riding a phantom steed, spread the aura of death, annihilating every living being nearby.

But a zombie knight didn’t possess such majesty.

Zombies couldn’t use skills, nor could they retain much of their physical prowess from life.

Unlike Death Knights, who retained combat techniques engraved in their bodies, zombie knights fought purely on instinct.

However…

While inferior to Death Knights, that didn’t mean fighting a zombie knight would be easy.

“It seems my power doesn’t work on the Zombie Knight.”

The earlier zombies were weak enough for the power of decay to work, but as the level increased, it became ineffective.

[Red Zombie Knight Lv. 135]

[The title is applied, increasing the damage dealt to the target by 12%.]

An S-tier title, Indomitable Warrior.

This overpowered title activated its full effect when facing higher-leveled enemies.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

When Yeonwol drew his Blue Sea Blade, the Spectrals flanked him, ready for battle.

‘My Spectrals may only be around level 100, but their stats are higher because they are sub-boss tier.

As for me, I’m overpowered for my level, with combat strength equivalent to level 130.’

But compared to a true boss at level 135, it was still far from enough.

At least three players like Yeonwol were typically required to take down a dungeon boss.

Creeaaak!

The Zombie Knight dragged its worn greatsword along the ground as it approached.

It wasn’t a steel blade but a stone greatsword, yet its threat couldn’t be underestimated.

Regardless of material, the weapon was crafted using a blacksmith’s special forging techniques, making it dangerous.

[All-Seeing Eye]

[Soul Armor]

[Goblin Soul Flame]

[Spectral Enhancement]

Before the battle began, Yeonwol cast multiple buffs on himself.

Though the Zombie Knight’s movements were sluggish at first, zombies under the control of the Lord of Decay weren’t typically slow.

‘It must have remarkably agile movements.’

As if to affirm his thoughts, the Zombie Knight suddenly leaped forward, closing the distance in an instant.

Clang!

Eltis intercepted it with his axe and shield, but the force was too great, pushing him back.

“Cooling!”

-Kulbriak!!

Yeonwol didn’t miss the brief sword binding.

He ordered Cooling to unleash Ice Breath, while stepping aside to swing the Blue Sea Blade.

[Strength Surge]

[Sea-Splitting Blade]

Yeonwol’s eyes glowed violet as the All-Seeing Eye revealed the Zombie Knight’s weak points.

Unlike low-level monsters, there weren’t many visible weak points due to the significant level difference.

Moreover, the weak points were so small that targeting them seemed challenging, but it was enough for Yeonwol.

[Weak Point Hit!]

[Critical Damage! 3.7x!]

The Zombie Knight staggered as severe damage caused it to falter.

Adding to the attack, Mad Wolf bit into its leg, making it lose balance and wobble.

Though Yeonwol followed up with a series of strikes, the Zombie Knight somersaulted backward, avoiding a direct hit to its weak points.

“Typical of a minion of decay—your movements are strangely graceful.”

The Zombie Knight’s fluidity defied the usual perception of zombies.

Indeed, the zombies controlled by the Lord of Decay were far from ordinary.

However, its defense seemed surprisingly weak.

Even though it had addressed the common zombie flaws of slow movement and poor defense, its relatively low level appeared to leave its defense lacking.

Thud!

The Zombie Knight retreated momentarily before launching itself forward in a rush.

This time, it targeted Yeonwol directly, forcing him to evade.

Though he moved quickly, the tip of the greatsword grazed him.

“…!”

A sharp pain accompanied the tearing of the shield surrounding Yeonwol’s skin.

Though the Aturn armor set he wore was efficient for its level 50 range, against a level 130 boss, it was little more than paper.

Just a graze had cost him 20% of his HP.

If his stance broke, the follow-up attack would have been unavoidable, but the Spectrals intervened to block it.

Boom!

Cooling grabbed the greatsword with both hands, lowering his stance to endure the impact.

Though his freezing breath was an asset, Cooling’s raw strength—befitting his 3-meter frame—was his true advantage.

Even Eltis couldn’t rival Cooling’s monstrous strength.

While the Zombie Knight faltered momentarily, Yeonwol hastily downed a potion.

‘Remember: When fighting stronger enemies at a lower level, always maintain full HP!’

This was Yeonwol’s unbreakable rule when facing powerful foes with a low-level character.

A single critical hit could rapidly deplete his HP, leading to death.

In solo play, there wouldn’t have been time to use a potion.

However, thanks to Cooling holding the front line and Eltis attacking with his axe, Yeonwol had enough time to heal.

Meanwhile, Yeonwol brought the Blue Sea Blade to the alchemy kit.

Sparks crackled as three spheres ejected from the kit.

Yeonwol kicked them toward the Zombie Knight.

The spheres rolled toward it, transforming into wires sparking with electricity, binding the Zombie Knight’s body.

-Kulraaagh!

Just as the Zombie Knight’s greatsword severed one of Cooling’s arms and nearly destroyed his shoulder, the wires restrained its movements for a moment.

Cooling managed to retreat, but the wires couldn’t hold for more than a few seconds under the Zombie Knight’s immense strength.

Rip!

The Zombie Knight swung its greatsword at Cooling’s neck.

Though the wire restraint prevented decapitation, Cooling sustained a severe wound to his muzzle.

“Hey! You make a living with your mouth—what’ll you do if that’s broken?”

With its mouth injured, Cooling wouldn’t be able to use his breath attack effectively.

And the ordeal wasn’t over.

The Zombie Knight grabbed Eltis, who was attacking from behind, and slammed him into the ground.

Boom!

Despite his 3-meter frame, Eltis was no match for the Zombie Knight’s monstrous strength.

After stomping on Eltis’s chest, shattering his armor, the Zombie Knight swung its greatsword at the airborne Mad Wolf.

Whoosh!

However, Mad agilely flipped mid-air, evading the greatsword and biting into the Zombie Knight’s thigh.

Chunks of flesh tore away, revealing a diminishing HP bar.

Cooling tanked as best as he could, while Eltis and Mad dealt significant damage.

But aside from Mad, the other two were in poor condition.

Yeonwol abandoned direct combat and quickly activated [Spectral Transmutation].

This was an absolute skill unavailable to ordinary Tamers or Summoners.

It allowed for the immediate healing of summoned creatures on the spot.

Zap! Zap!

Silver-violet sparks danced as Cooling’s severed arm and injured muzzle regenerated, and Eltis’s crushed torso was restored.

Meanwhile, Mad was caught by the Zombie Knight.

Before it could attack, Yeonwol charged forward.

Clang!

Judging there wasn’t time to use a skill, he stabbed at the weak point in its torso.

The critical hit caused a momentary stagger, but the Zombie Knight tightened its grip on Mad’s neck.

It intended to crush his spine.

Crunch! Crack!

With its brute strength, the Zombie Knight shattered Mad’s neck with ease.

Tossing Mad’s limp body to the ground, the Zombie Knight turned its greatsword toward Yeonwol.

Slash!

But Mad, whose neck should have been broken, bit into the Zombie Knight’s leg from the ground!

-…!

Unable to advance toward Yeonwol, the Zombie Knight toppled forward.

Yeonwol seized the moment and unleashed a skill.

[Sea-Splitting Blade!]

[Critical Damage! 4.5x!]

Thanks to its disrupted stance, the critical damage inflicted was enormous. But that moment didn’t last long.

The Zombie Knight quickly regained its posture, shook off Mad’s jaws, and charged at Yeonwol, swinging its greatsword.

The speed was astonishing, belying the sheer weight of the weapon!

Realizing perfect evasion was impossible, Yeonwol minimized the damage.

Clang! Clang!

He deflected the path of the attack by grazing the side of the greatsword with the Blue Sea Blade.

The greatsword slightly grazed Yeonwol’s shoulder, but that was it.

Instead, he used the opening to land consecutive strikes on the Zombie Knight.

Boom! Boom!

As the Zombie Knight lifted its sword from where it had pierced the ground, the surface trembled.

Normally, one would pull the sword out and then swing it, but the Zombie Knight’s tireless stamina and brute strength enabled this crude, straightforward fighting style.

It followed up with a wide horizontal slash aimed to cleave Yeonwol’s waist, but Yeonwol had already retreated out of the sword’s range.

The Zombie Knight tried to pursue him but was blocked by Eltis’s massive axe.

Crash!

Eltis’s axe smashed into the Zombie Knight’s chest, heavily denting its breastplate.

This was immediately followed by an Ice Breath attack!

The Zombie Knight couldn’t comprehend why the enemies it had crushed earlier kept reviving so quickly.

Spectrals retained their former physical bodies in full when resurrected.

Senses, organs, skin, muscles, and even skills.

Everything was the same as a living being.

However, since they were merely Spectrals, they couldn’t be killed through conventional means!

Mad couldn’t move his body due to a broken neck, but he managed to sink his jaws into the Zombie Knight. Meanwhile, Cooling regenerated his severed arm and re-entered the battle.

Crackle!

Yeonwol swiftly repaired Mad’s broken neck, but he realized his mana was running dangerously low.

‘I can’t keep this war of attrition up indefinitely. Until I solve the mana issue, I can’t fight like a true Necromancer.’

Although he had managed to reduce the Red Zombie Knight’s HP by half, Yeonwol was depleting his energy even faster.

HP could be restored with potions, but there was no way to recover MP.

If any more Spectrals were seriously damaged, it would become nearly impossible to restore them.

‘I can manage one more recovery. Anything beyond that is impossible.’

If the opponent were intelligent, he could set traps or intimidate them strategically. But zombies had no intelligence.

They felt no fear and acted solely on their instinct to annihilate the enemy before them. Attempting unnecessary tricks would be pointless.

‘I’ll have to finish this quickly. Even though it lacks intelligence, its combat instincts are sharp.’

Combat instinct! For the zombie, that was the only thing left.

Yeonwol devised a plan to exploit this trait and issued an order to Eltis.

“Eltis, don’t hold back your body. Engage it and keep it restrained at all costs.”

A faint violet glow flashed in Eltis’s eyes.

-“As you command, Master!”

Thud!

Eltis launched himself at the Zombie Knight, slamming his axe into the greatsword.

A deafening roar echoed as their weapons clashed.

But as expected, Eltis was overpowered. The Zombie Knight’s monstrous strength was too much.

Even though Eltis’s frame was much larger, he was being pushed back.

Meanwhile, Cooling locked his hands together and smashed them into the Zombie Knight’s head from behind.

Thunk!

While undead creatures didn’t have a weak point in their heads like living beings, the impact was significant enough to make the Zombie Knight’s legs buckle slightly.

Sliding smoothly between its legs, Yeonwol pushed off the ground with one hand, leaping into the air, and drove his sword into the back of its neck.

Thunk!

[Critical Damage! 2.6x!]

Without All-Seeing Eye, the damage wasn’t as substantial.

Thud!

The Zombie Knight shook off Eltis and tried to kick Yeonwol, who retreated just in time to avoid it.

But the Zombie Knight didn’t waste its failed attempt, immediately swinging its greatsword into Mad, who was biting its leg.

Crack!

Flesh and bone shattered as Mad’s spine was crushed, but he ignored it and continued to sink his teeth into its thigh.

The level gap rendered its defense so overwhelming that Mad couldn’t tear through the armor or flesh. However, the Zombie Knight’s HP was steadily decreasing.

The Zombie Knight didn’t have time to focus on Mad. Smashing Cooling’s chest with a brutal elbow strike, it turned its attention back to Eltis, who was charging at it again.

Clang!

The Zombie Knight drove its greatsword down onto Eltis, cleaving through his armor and piercing his heart. Despite the pain, Eltis continued pressing forward under Yeonwol’s command.

Sensing something unusual, the Zombie Knight tried to retrieve its sword, but Yeonwol’s transmutation was already complete.

Crackle!!

Yeonwol repaired Eltis’s body while leaving the sword embedded in his chest.

This rendered the greatsword nearly impossible to remove.

In effect, the Zombie Knight’s weapon was now sealed!

Forced to kick Eltis away, the Zombie Knight retreated.

Though its weapon had been neutralized, the situation was far from favorable.

Mad’s spine was broken.

Cooling, with his shattered chest, struggled to move.

Eltis, with a high-level greatsword lodged in his body, saw his combat capabilities plummet.

Mad could only manage to stand on his front paws, while Cooling, unable to breathe, couldn’t even unleash his Ice Breath.

However.

They were “Resurrected Spectrals.”

The highest-ranking entities among the undead.

“What are you doing? My minions, charge forward. Fight until your bones and flesh are ground to dust.”

-“We will fulfill your command, Master!”

Even with shattered chests, broken spines, or greatswords piercing their hearts.

They were undead who swore eternal loyalty to their master.

Unless their bodies were completely obliterated, they would bare their fangs at the enemy until the very end.

That was the true terror and despair of the undead.

Immortal soldiers with infinite life.

There was a clear difference in levels, but from the start, there was a chasm between them and the likes of low-tier undead such as zombies.

Mad lunged forward on his front legs, sinking his teeth into the Zombie Knight’s thigh without letting go.

Cooling, though unable to breathe, used his powerful arms to engage in a brutal struggle.

Eltis, almost immobilized by the greatsword impaling him, continued swinging his axe, striking the Zombie Knight.

The Zombie Knight shattered the Spectrals’ bodies with its bare fists but didn’t let its guard down.

Its combat instincts recognized that its enemies were undead like itself and, on top of that, were high-ranking entities capable of regeneration.

No matter how much it broke and destroyed their bodies, it felt uneasy.

The thought that they might regenerate and attack at any moment made it impossible to ignore even defeated enemies.

But.

That was merely its delusion.

Yeonwol had no intention of regenerating the Spectrals any further.

He had made it seem as if they were fighting recklessly, relying on regeneration, but in truth, he had carefully conserved his remaining mana.

Thud!

Eltis’s abdomen was pierced, and he collapsed backward.

-“Master, I can no longer fight…”

Both of his legs had long since been crushed, making even standing impossible.

Mad’s entire skeletal structure was shattered, rendering him immobile, while Cooling was pinned into a stone wall and couldn’t free himself.

All the Spectrals were incapacitated.

However, the Zombie Knight wasn’t unscathed either.

Its armor was completely destroyed, and its greatsword was broken in half.

Yeonwol, too, was covered in wounds from fighting alongside the Spectrals, but…

[MP: 1,034 / 2,990]

Though his physical strength was drained, thanks to the time the Spectrals had bought him, Yeonwol had recovered enough mana to deliver a decisive blow.

If the Zombie Knight were in perfect condition, it wouldn’t have been easy to face it alone, but now things were different.

Mad’s focused attacks on its legs had significantly reduced its mobility.

Eltis had destroyed its greatsword.

And Cooling had scattered frost until the end, causing its body to slow due to freezing.

[All-Seeing Eye]

Yeonwol’s eyes turned a faint violet hue.

One of All-Seeing Eye’s characteristics was its ability to analyze enemies more thoroughly the longer he fought them, increasing the number and size of visible weaknesses.

‘I can see it.’

A critical weakness of the Zombie Knight that had been invisible earlier.

Just below the back of its neck, a large, radiant violet orb of light shimmered.

“This is getting tiresome, so let’s end this, Walking Dead.”

As Yeonwol raised his sword, a blue wave-like aura enveloped the Blue Sea Blade.

[Blue Wave Ascension Blade: First Form]

[Sea-Splitting Blade]

A blade that seemed to slice through the clouds reflected on the blue sea surged toward the Zombie Knight.