[You have hunted a member of the 12 Generals, the Lv8 Archmage, Feotane Von Seldin! All contributing heroes receive 50,000,000 Perium, and all stats increased by 100. You have acquired 15 permits to Godâs secret shop. Proficiency in all combat-related skills has increased significantly!]
[You have received Godâs grace. The Invisible Heart skillâs maximum level has increased by 15.]
[The Beginner Shining Flame Element has become Lv8 and Magic has increased by 10.]
[The High Rank Assimilation skill has become Lv9, and Agility and Magic have increased by 30.]
[You have given a Lich, one who defies natural order and lives with an imperfect soul, eternal rest. You have acquired the title, âImmortal Hunterâ. All stats have increased by 40. The Rebellion skill has become Lv9 and all stats have increased by 20. Whenever the conditions for the Rebellion skill are met, all stats temporarily increase by 27%.]
Now, even if he killed one of the 12 Generals, his combat skills wouldnât level very quickly. Thatâs because most of his skills were high level already. With his High Rank Assimilation skill reaching level 9, most of his skills were level 9 now.
It felt like itâd evolve once it reached level 10, but getting there was the problem. At the very least, he realized that he couldnât reach level 10 with Godâs rewards anymore. He was disappointed, but he was also happy about his stat growth.
âKilling one of the 12 Generals increases all my stats by 100, and with the new title and the Rebellion skill, all my stats increase by an additional 60 a piece⌠So, my total stats are 24,553. The titleâs amazing, but Rebellionâs quite surprising as well.â
To be honest, Lee Shin Woo hadnât put much interest in the Rebellion skill, as it required him fulfilling two of its conditions before he overcame a level difference of one. However, this skill would grow whenever he performed some great feat, and before he knew it, it was already level 9.
Whenever he met one of the skillâs conditions, his stats would increase by 27%. If he met two of them, then his stats would increase by 54% instead. Just using the Titan would meet one of Rebellionâs conditions, and fighting a huge army would meet another, so just those two conditions would increase his stats by a whopping 54%âŚ
If he took into account his stats, which were at the cusp of level 9, as well as the Titan, he felt like he could really take a level 9 opponent head-on. Not a weakened opponent like the Garuda, but someone like the Magic or Undead Emperors!
âŚBut the problem was that the Lichâs loot was nothing to write home about.
[You have acquired 541,609,990 Perium.]
[You have acquired the Lv8 Archmage Feotane Von Seldinâs Parietal Bone.]
âTch, I guess Iâve been too lucky lately. Itâs right before the final battle, yet he only drops one bone. If he dropped two, then I mightâve hit level 9, but⌠Meh, Iâll absorb the bone later. I have something more important to do.â
He had something more important to do? Obviously, it was reforming his undead seniors.
âL-Lee Shin WooâŚ?â
âHow did you⌠No, more importantly, how did you manage to kill the Archmage?â
âIâll tell you later. We have to deal with our seniors. Ah, my juniorâs there too, huh.â
Lee Shin Woo ignored both Lloyd and Erian, who stared at him dumbfoundedly, and turned his attention to his undead seniors.
They, like Lloyd, stood vacantly, but unlike him, they stood still because their master had died.
[GuâŚoohâŚ!]
[The Lich⌠The LichâŚ]
âLooks like some of them are dead already. Thatâs too bad. Hope we meet in our next life⌠Anyway, everyone. Do you guys remember? Who killed you and who you need to kill?â
[Keuk. KuhaahkâŚ!]
In the past, heâd tried desperately to persuade his undead seniors with dramatic flair, but that was unnecessary. Lee Shin Woo spoke naturally as if he were speaking to a friend, yet his neither-soft-yet-loud voice resounded throughout the area, such that the undead could all hear him.
âYou all remember, right? Itâs too much of a waste to die here. Hating yourselves for becoming undead is proof of your ambition and your intelligence.â
[A-AmbitionâŚ]
[Intelligence⌠My intellect⌠Yeah, Iâm a heroâŚ]
âThatâs right. Youâre a hero, hand-picked by God herself. Youâre not going to stay here and rot whilst attacking your juniors, are you? Right?â
[I amâŚ!]
No matter what rubbish came out of his mouth, the undead heard whatever they wanted to hear.
Lee Shin Woo didnât adjust his speech for them; on the contrary, they adjusted his speech themselves. This was neither the power of Acting nor Instigate; it was on the level of magic at this point.
âWhat are you doing, Lee Shin Woo?â
âWhat theâŚ? The undead areâŚâ
Lloyd, who was unaware of his darkness element, or the Acting and Instigate skills, realized that there was an extraordinary amount of power within his words. But still, wasnât conversing with the undead a bit too much?
His seniors had already become undead, beings which shouldnât exist, yet instead of giving them a pain free death or a peaceful rest, Lee Shin Woo was tormenting them even further.
âOpen your eyes. Your enemy isnât here. Do you want to die unavenged, or do you want to continue struggling? Thatâs up to you.â
âHey, Lee Shin WooâŚâ
âLloyd, stop.â
Ever since Lee Shin Woo had arrived, so many strange things had happened; not only had the Archmage died, but the undead had stopped. But he still needed to stop himâŚ! or so he thought, but when he tried to step forward, Erian stopped him.
âErian?â
âJust sit still, Lloyd. Doesnât it look like theyâre paying attention to him?â
âYeah, it looks that way, but whatâs your point?â
âIt seems like heâs trying to persuade them.â
âPersuade the undead?â
âNo, our seniors who met an unfortunate demise. Didnât you say so before? That theyâre not undead, but our seniors! I think so too!â
ââŚâ
In the past, he would never have been able to see them that way. The undead were the undead, end of story. And they were also beings that must be defeated.
He wasnât entirely sure if Shino Rendu was the catalyst, but the undead heroes were capable of reverting to their original forms, and Lloyd had become able to acknowledge them because of it. If thatâs the case, then⌠he would have to acknowledge their newfound potential.
âTheyâll⌠fight on our (the heroesâ) side again? Can he really do it?â
âYes, like Shino Rendu.â
âShino Renduâs not on our side. He fights for the Heaven Defying General.â
âHe himself told us that the Heaven Defying Generalâs on our side. Perhaps he was once a hero?â
âT-Thereâs absolutely no wayâŚâ
âTheyâre not completely off the mark. Though I wasnât once a hero, but am still one now,â Lee Shin Woo whispered in a corner, and only inwardly replied to his seniors, who were undergoing an identity crisis.
In the past, he wasnât able to persuade all of his seniors. But since then, his Acting and Instigate skills had grown by leaps and bounds, as well as him acquiring several innate elements related to cause-and-effect. Plus, he had the Wild Card skill now too, which combined the power of all those skills together and allowed him to manipulate a situation to his liking, so now he couldâŚ!
âIâll bring you to your true enemy! Open your eyes. Fight them! We have to put an end to the undead curse. Thatâs your final duty as one of the heroes!â
[AhhhâŚ!]
âSilene, you donât need to suffer anymore. You donât need to hate every undead anymore. Donât let the curse consume you. Nowâs the time for you to control the curse.â
[Senior Lee Shin WooâŚ!]
âNowâs the time. Youâve all been waiting for so long. Now! Weâll bring peace to the Underground ourselves!â
[Keuk. Kuooooooh!]
At that moment, the darkness that had been welling inside him spread throughout the clearing. The darkness, which felt incredibly warm, completely covered the undead heroes. Silene Viesa, who had continued strangling himself, had, at some point, sported a relaxed expression and was letting the darkness do as it willed.
âThe final battle is near. Heroes, return as heroes once more!â
A considerable amount of darkness filled the clearing, which was then sucked into the undead heroes. Lloyd and Erian shook while watching, and one of the undead raised their heads with an incomparably clean appearance.
[Youâre right. Though I retained my intellect, I had forgotten my purpose for so many years. I can completely remember being violated by that Lich day by day!]
The undead heroâs once rotting flesh had become indistinguishable from human skin and appeared to him as a middle-aged man. His tattered leather armor was dyed in black and shined brighter than new clothes.
[I have a goal: to be acknowledged as a hero, strike down evil, and return goodness to this land! Even I, who had been killed by the Empireâs undead, have a goal!]
Soon, another stood opposite from him. She, who was once a Ghoul, had regained her beautiful appearance. Her once tattered white robes were pressed by the crisp darkness, turning them into black robes which covered her entire body.
[Ah. I no longer hate myself or the living. I finally realize that I was trapped in a delusion, ever since I became an undead. Iâve been completely freed from the curse! I thank you junior, you, who possesses such an astounding power. You, who possesses the ability to set the darkness right!]
Another undead hero, who just a short while ago had rampaged about whilst carrying a scythe as tall as he was and whose appearance was indistinguishable, had been restored by Lee Shin Wooâs darkness. He had returned to being a lively, elvish young man.
[Kuheuk, Senior⌠SeniorâŚ! I-I am⌠Senior!]
Because he remembered everything that had occurred, tears flowed from his eyes. The young man no longer hated himself.
âSilene. Howâs it feel becoming an undead? Itâs not much different, is it?â
[SeniorâŚ]
Lee Shin Woo jokingly winked at him and raised a hand. His hand, which had clearly been human, had instantaneously turned to bone and clacked.
âYour appearance doesnât matter. You can always change it. What does matter is whatâs inside. Silene, whatâs inside you?â
[IâŚ]
Silene Viesa, whoâd returned to life, looked down at his hands. As he was once a boxer, his hands were once covered with blisters and cuts. But now, he had been reformed and his hands were completely clean. They were only slightly, very slightly pale.
But the power within them⌠He was much more powerful than before.
[I have⌠hatred inside me.]
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Silene tightened his fists and replied. Within those lively, human-looking eyes of his blazed a blue goblin fire, which proved what he was.
[Hatred towards those who made me like this. Hatred towards my once foolish self. Hatred towards reality itself! Hatred towards the Undead Empire!]
âGood. Hatred is one of our most important emotions, one that proves that weâre alive. Itâs fine to have, so long as you direct it in the proper place.â
Lee Shin Woo confirmed that heâd reformed all 27 undead heroes (six level 7s, fourteen level 6s, and seven level 5s) and smiled in satisfaction. He then looked at the level 6 Avenger, who gazed upon him with blazing goblin fire, and declared.
âLetâs go, Silene. Iâve prepared the perfect stage for you to unleash your anger.â