Chapter 17: One-Man Army

The King's Path (3)

Comet kept the Necromancer's hideout a secret from Dan Ga-yeon and left Yeouido alone.

『Hmph! Hmph!』

The Princess hmphed for no reason.

"Are you still sulking?"

『A commoner has no shame. Torturing royalty and then asking if they're just sulking.』

"But souls don't have basic rights. It's fair treatment."

『That only reveals the inferiority of human civilization. Always quick to rationalize their pathetic aspects.』

"Is that so."

『Hmm. So when are you offering the blood? You've already received the price and even tortured me?』

"Ah. That looks like a shortcut. Let's go that way."

『Hey?』

She arrived at an officetel where construction wasn't finished, leaving only the bare frame. The concrete walls without windows were clearly visible. Comet peeked into the first floor. Concrete hallways and concrete stairs were visible.

The Necromancer must be hiding somewhere on the upper floors. Comet stepped back enough to see the officetel at a glance. And she calmly took in the bleak and drab concrete frame building.

It didn't mean much. She wondered if it would be comfortable to live in a place like this. If they just relied on the government, they'd be provided with food, clothing, and shelter, so she didn't know why they were suffering. She felt sorry for them, feeling a sense of kinship with their plight of being persecuted just for being a Necromancer.

『Huh? Didn't you hear something just now?』

"A sound?"

『I definitely heard a scream.』

Comet concentrated and listened. Sure enough, she was right. She heard a faint scream, almost drowned out by the natural sounds. It was a human scream rather than a soul's scream.

"Looks like they're torturing someone. Judging by how faint the sound is, they must have alchemically treated the hideout."

Comet walked around the officetel, checking if there was anything noticeable.

『Why is the Necromancer torturing a person? Wouldn't it be easier to interrogate them in soul form?』

"Some factions among the elite builds that start with spirit chimeras also learn alchemy separately. They sometimes transition from biological chimeras to spirit chimeras, so a Necromancer from that faction might torture people."

『What's the point?』

Comet examined the concrete exterior walls, gauging the presence of traps.

"Usually, there's no point, it's just for stress relief. I heard that this faction has a lot to do, researching both Necromancy and alchemy, but they're treated as half-baked even when they achieve results, so they're under a lot of stress."

『Ha. I can't bear to listen anymore, it's absurd. Go save them quickly!』

"Doesn't seem like there are any alchemical traps, so should I? Oh, the screaming stopped. Looks like they died."

『Ugh.』

Comet gripped her knife and entered the first floor of the officetel. There was nothing special on the first floor. She headed for the stairs to the second floor. A magic circle drawn with liquid mana was visible on the stairs. It was drawn large, as if to separate the first and second floors.

Comet examined the effects of the magic circle and, finding only convenience functions, went up to the second floor. As she passed the magic circle, she smelled blood. A long trail of red bloodstains stretched across the concrete floor. Judging by the signs of struggle, it wasn't a corpse, but it looked like someone had been dragged away.

The first floor was clean, as if it had been cleaned, so it seemed like this was a space where they lived comfortably, doing a rough job of cleaning. She looked around the spaces that were supposed to be offices as an officetel. There were bloodstains and pieces of corpses scattered around, but nothing special. It seemed like the second floor was left as a spare space.

She went up to the third floor. This time, a magic circle was drawn on the stairs. Comet squatted down in front of it and looked at it intently. It had soundproofing and intruder alarm effects.

She infused Spiritual Power into her index finger and poked the edge of the magic circle. The Spiritual Power raced through the weaknesses of the magic circle. At some point, the magic circle lost its light, and the liquid mana that made up the magic circle evaporated.

Comet stood up, dusting off the hem of her dusty dress.

『It seems there are survivors.』

As the Princess said, she heard muffled sobbing. Comet scratched her cheek and looked around the third floor.

After passing through a few rooms, she was able to pinpoint the source of the sobbing. A girl who looked to be in middle or high school was trapped in a prison made of magic circles.

Comet stared blankly at the girl. The girl, who had been sitting hugging her legs, stopped crying. The girl looked at Comet with trembling eyes, then lowered her head. The third floor became quiet.

『What are you doing? She must be misunderstanding.』

"It's not a wrong thought, is it? We're both Necromancers. It's okay because it's me, but it's not usually like this."

The Princess sighed.

Comet went in front of the magic circle that served as a prison and squatted down. She watched the girl and then slowly spoke.

"Hello?"

The girl trembled with her head bowed. Comet quietly watched the girl in the silence. After a while, the girl trembled and struggled to lift her head. And after looking around cautiously, she opened her mouth.

"...Hello."

She had a tearful expression.

"When were you captured?"

"...Not long ago."

Comet blinked and asked again.

"Specifically, when?"

The girl's lips trembled. A tear fell.

"A, an hour ago...?"

No wonder she looked so well-groomed. Having resolved her curiosity, Comet poked the magic circle as she had done before and destroyed it. The girl stared blankly at the crumbling magic circle.

Comet got up and looked around before moving.

"D, did you come to save me?"

The girl, who had been still as if the prison was still there, belatedly asked. There was no certainty in her voice, and the content seemed to be just a wish.

Comet suddenly fell into thought.

"I didn't come to save you, but you have been saved."

She left the room where the girl had been trapped and looked around the third floor. The third floor seemed to be the Necromancer's living space, as there was a bed. It was somewhat amusing to imagine the Necromancer, whose Strength Stats would be lacking due to being an elite build, struggling to carry it up to the third floor.

Comet suddenly discovered a refrigerator and approached it. She didn't know where they were drawing power from, but it was running.

『Isn't your treatment cold?』

"What do you mean? Ah, that's... That's true. I felt bothered and thought no one was watching, so I acted carelessly. I'll be careful from now on."

She saw canned drinks and took out two.

"Should I apologize while handing her a drink?"

『That would be good.』

Comet nodded and returned to the room where the girl had been with the drinks. The girl was gone. Looking at the path leading down to the second floor, there were faint traces of dust. It seemed she had secretly run away in the meantime.

"She's quick. She has decisiveness. I should have at least tried to talk to her."

Comet put the drinks back in the refrigerator and opened one for herself. She heard the sound of carbonation.

"With this structure, there's probably a research lab on the fourth floor."

Comet drank her drink and roughly looked around. The stairs leading to the fourth floor were covered with magic circles that had soundproofing and intruder alarm effects. It would be a waste if the research results were destroyed if they fought in the lab, so she hoped the Necromancer would come down on their own.

"Let's wait here for now."

Comet tore open a bag of chips next to the refrigerator and sat down on a chair. And she ate chips and drank her drink while chatting with the Princess.

In the middle of it, she discovered a game console in the corner. She played a game for a while to let the Princess experience human culture.

『Try to do better. You keep getting it wrong.』

"This is a nonsense quiz. The quiz maker's mindset is more important than logical reasoning, so it can't be helped. The fun part is being amazed by the surprising answer after getting it wrong."

『Your excuses are long. If I were solving it, I would have gotten more right!』

"Do you want to try? Tell me and I'll press the buttons for you, so give it a try."

『What are you expecting when there's a cultural difference?』

"I don't know who's making the long excuses."

The Necromancer came down from the fourth floor when Comet was making the answer key for the quiz. A young man in bloodstained clothes, as if he had been disposing of a corpse, came down from the fourth-floor stairs. Then he stared blankly at Comet, listening to the game sounds.

"Hello."

Comet put down the game console and greeted him.

"What's going on...? Why is Comet here?"

The man muttered.

"I've come to kill you."

Comet smiled brightly.

"...What the fuck!"

The man hurriedly ran back to the fourth floor.

『Is it okay to leave him alone?』

"It would be troublesome if he jumped off the fourth floor. But he's not a close-range build like me, so he probably won't."

Comet turned off the game and cleaned up the trash. As she was blowing the crumbs off the table onto the floor, the Necromancer came down. He was wearing a robe that he seemed to have made himself, looking fully armed.

The Necromancer stared at Comet with trembling eyes and said quietly.

"I didn't do anything to you. Why did you come to kill me? I think there's some kind of misunderstanding."

Unlike his fully armed appearance, the Necromancer tried to talk.

Comet readily nodded.

"You didn't do anything to me."

"Then why?"

"You don't need a reason to kill people, do you? I just came because you were here."

Comet shrugged.

The Necromancer's expression changed as if he felt unjustly wronged by the situation itself. He looked like someone who had been doing well but suddenly faced a natural disaster.

"As the top student of the academy, I have a conscience, so I'll concede the first attack."

Comet gestured for him to hurry up.

The Necromancer distorted his face.

"You think you're the only one who's collected souls! I have too! I've collected them too!"

"Yes, yes."

The Necromancer stretched out his hand and fired beams of Spiritual Power. The Spiritual Power twisted its path and flew towards Comet.

Comet clenched her fist and forcefully struck the air. The shockwave swept through, pushing away the air and shattering the Spiritual Power.

In a brief moment, a knife arrived in front of the Necromancer and was swung.

Incantation omitted.

Soul Severance.

The knife stabbed the Necromancer, leaving a dark wound. Even without PVP experience, any Necromancer would know how to deal with this magic. It wouldn't end like this.

The Necromancer resisted, stirring up Spiritual Power. The dark wound scattered, and Spiritual Power collided with Spiritual Power, causing an explosion. The Necromancer, directly hit by the blast, was thrown back, crashing through a wall and disappearing into the distance.

Beyond the wall, a fervent incantation echoed. Countless souls swirled and coalesced, forming a single, massive entity. It resembled a quadrupedal beast, its immense size reaching the ceiling, with Spiritual Power scattering like fur.

The giant beast bared its fangs and howled.

"Go! Fenrir!"

In an instant, the wall shattered as the beast lunged forward.

Fenrir? A cute name.

Comet reached out towards the charging Fenrir.

Spiritual Power moved silently.

Incantation omitted.

Spirit Plunder.

"Come here, puppy."

The pressure to seize dominance overwhelmed Fenrir.

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