Chapter 158: Necromancer (1)

"Ifrit......"

Holding a short staff, Elfriede chanted a spell.

Before long, a fireball that was as big as a soccer ball appeared in front of her face. She then quickly flung it towards the group of thieves.

It was Elfriede's main offensive magic, a third-tier spell, fireball.

Swoosh— Bang—

"I-It's a mage! A fire mage! She used magic without even chanting for long!"

"Fuck! This place is a secret place! How did she enter this place!"

The thieves who narrowly avoided the fireball that Elfriede cast, scattered in all directions and shouted.

"Boss! What should we do!"

Some of them looked at me and asked for my opinion. Seizing the moment, Delphina instantly accelerated towards me with a sharp and long sword that looked like a needle in her hand.

"So you're the boss, huh?! I've had a lot of dealings with big black-haired guys lately!"

Swiiish—

The sharp tip of her sword slithered through the air and flew towards the nape of my neck at breakneck speed.

She had no hesitation whatsoever in stabbing people's throats, truly a natural-born killer worthy of the Silver Tier.

"Fuck!"

I managed to duck down and dodge the attack.

Swiiish—

I could feel a faint hint of heat from the blade of Delphina's sword that was passing through my hair. Getting stabbed by that blade would leave me dead without even the chance to sctream.

"Would you see that? You avoid my quicksword? You are an interesting one, aren't you, boss thief?!"

Swoosh— Swoosh—

Delphina continued to stab me with her sword.

"Don't play around, Delphina. I want to finish this quickly and rest. Flame fireflies-"

Meanwhile, Elfriede blazed fire all over the place.

"Then, I will also cast a spell."

A priestess in a blue priestly robe began to chant strange incantations at that moment.

Besides the three of them, was also a quiet female fighter. She was dealing with the other thieves.

I had some difficulty wrapping my head around what was happening but it was indeed a desperate situation.

If I were to be caught by these bastards now, there was a high probability that I would be captured and taken away as the boss of the Thieves' Guild.

On top of that, would an excuse like 'I was in undercover investigation...' work? There's no way, it would. After all, there was no way that the savage laws of this world, which handle every work roughly, would take my side.

"Disband! Disband as ordered! Starting from today, the Thieves's Guild, Hydra, is completely disbanded!"

At that moment, the huge man, Big Joe, who was busy dealing with the fighter, shouted out loud. Soon after, the thieves around him scattered.

"Run away!"

"Just know that it is already too late for you guys to run away. The spell has already been completed. Binding of The Vajra-"

The Buddhist priestess with a languid voice slammed the stone pole she held into the floor. In the next moment, a bluish bubble-like something rose from the floor.

Bubble—

It grew in size soon after. Before we could even react, it already completely enveloped all of us.

"A barrier! To think someone wopuld use a barrier! What a trifling barrier! I already see a lot of this kind of barrier in a rich man's safe!"

"You should not compare my barrier with a barrier from a cheap magic device."

The thieves wielded their daggers, slashing them around to break free from the barrier. However, even though it looked like a soft soap film, it was quite strong and only stretched, not breaking.

Fuck me, will we be captured and subjugated just like this?

When I was taken aback like that,

Pop—

A pricking sound that sounded like a balloon getting pierced by a needle entered my ears. For whatever reason, the barrier suddenly exploded.

After that happened, Luna appeared.

After sticking a bunch of semicircular protrusions into her thick silence totem, Luna shouted.

"You thieves! We are also here! Hassan is here, right! We are here to help! You guys! Don't even think about cutting the line!"

"M-my barrier art......?"

"If I use my Enhanced Silence Totem, your barrier is nothing. It wouldn't be able to compete."

Luna's Silence Totem, which looked exactly like a goblin's bat, had become a great item after it was remodeled and enhanced with the onyx I obtained the other day.

Indeed, if she used something like that, nothing would be able to compete.

"......Escape, now!"

The thieves quickly kick the ground and escape through the broken barrier.

"Damn it, they're all running away! I have to catch you at least!"

Delphina kept stabbing me with her sword. Even though I managed to dodge all her attacks until now, if things continued like this, there was a high probability that I would end up getting stabbed in the heart and die.

Swoosh—

Seeing her sword pierce the pillar like a bullet, I could easily imagine what would happen to my soft body.

Damn, saying that this is a desperate situation would be quite an understatement.

As I pondered whether to admit I was Hassan before my life was cut short—

Wooosh—

A sharp object that appeared out of nowhere flew towards Delphina's body. She instantly stopped attacking me and raised her blade high to block it.

"Keuuugh! What is it!?"

Taaaang—

A sharp piercing sound echoed through the underground area as metal collided with each other. Not long after that, something exploded with a popping sound.

"Huh? Fu...... Isn't this a sword aura?"

Delphina growled as if she couldn't believe what had come at her. Soon after, what emerged from the blazing fire was Hippolyte who was wearing armor and a fluttering red cloth.

The gold necklace around her neck flashed in the flames.

"Isn't it considered forbidden to cut the line? The Thieves' guild is mine, you Kalkata bumpkin."

Hippolyte said so as she smiled confidently. Right after that, Paranoy, who hid behind her, screamed out loud.

"It is really reassuring to be on the same side as a gold-tier adventurer......! Then, I'll cheer you on from here......!"

Delphina opened her mouth as if she found their action displeasing.

"Elfie! Do something about them! They somehow followed us here!"

"What do you mean we are following you? We were already heading this way from the start."

"Ifrit!"

As Delphina and Hippolyte were quarreling, Elfriede chanted a short incantation and sent a fireball that appeared in front of her face towards Hippolyte.

Crackle—

Being hit by that would surely evaporate all the moisture in one's body in a flash.

"To think you are able to conjure a fire spell with this kind of power with such a short incantation. Marvellous."

But Hippolyte easily split the incoming fireball in two with her sword, just like slicing a watermelon.

Crackle— Crackle— Boom— Boom—

The perfectly split fireball ricocheted to the left and right of Hippolyte, causing massive explosions and scorching the surroundings even hotter.

Flames blazing from all directions, people screaming here and there.

There's really no other place as hellish as this place.

"Damn it......"

After letting out a curse, Elfriede prepared to chant once again. However, Hippolyte opened her mouth at that moment.

"You're a very strong wizard. But you'd better stop. A flame witch can't ever defeat me. You will just make my blood run hotter."

While Hippolyte was saying that, the quiet fighter who wore a Chinese dress that had never opened her mouth until now attacked her.

Pabat—

Her fists flew efficiently towards Hippolyte.

Hippolyte, who avoided her attack by matching her movement, opened her mouth once again.

"Fistfighting, huh? Fine, I'll match you with the same."

Hippolyte put her sword in the sheathe on her waist and faced her with her bare hands. At that short moment, a fighter's sharp roundhouse kick flew in.

"It's sharp. Your form is good."

After successfully avoiding the foot that was whipping towards her head by gently tilting her head back, Hippolyte clenched her fists tightly and exposed her fangs by smiling.

"Avoid this."

As soon as she put her right hand forward, she launched a quick straight punch at the fighter. I could not find any other fitting words aside from launching.

"......!"

Since it was so fast, the silver-tier fighter raised her guard and covered her face with both hands. Probably because she didn't think she could avoid it.

Pak— Bam— Bam— Boom—

However, even though the quiet fighter successfully defended herself, she still flew away and bounced on the floor before crashing into a wall and collapsing.

"Don't stop it like that, you should have dodged it."

"Cough......"

"L-Lily! I'll use a healing spell on you!"

The Buddhist priestess dressed in blue hurriedly shouted as she saw the appearance of the fighter vomiting blood.

However, before she could do so, Hippolyte, who had hit the ground, approached her with a speed that was invisible to most eyes and knocked her unconscious by striking the back of her neck with her hand.

Bam—

"--!"

Without even being able to let out a scream, the eyes of the female priestess went white as her mouth was bubbling with some foam.

"Edwin!"

Delfina, seeing this, turned her back to me and assumed a stance to attack Hippolyte.

"Damn it, nobody said a gold tier would be this strong! How can the gap between us and a gold-tier be so wide?!"

At her words, Hippolyte laughed leisurely in the midst of the raging flames.

"You frog of Kalkata. Did you think you could look down on 'heroes'? With your power, you guys wouldn't even be able to defeat that foolish Actaeon."

"Damn it......!"

She was not the only one who was surprised as I also felt the same way.

Hippolyte was really fucking strong.

It seemed like I was also taking the word 'hero' too lightly.

Is that the strength of a gold-tier adventurer?

I felt that my goal seemed to be getting further away for some reason.

Hippolyte was someone who would be noticeably weaker once the night came. However, her current appearance, however, made her look completely unrelated that that weak person. Is there a reason?

Anyway, it was fortunate that the attention on me had lessened. So, I hurriedly threw myself up and picked up my precious club, the Fear Smasher, off the floor.

At that very moment, a stinging sensation that felt like a bee sting burned around my neck.

When I turned my head around, I saw Luna wielding a huge bat against the thieves who were running away in the distance.

"Voodoo art of catching thieves-!!"

"What is she spouting?! Somebody help me!"

"Quiet!"

I couldn't see her expression because she was wearing a bone helmet, but her condition didn't seem normal.

Fire was burning all around, and I couldn't tell if it had stoked Luna's unique frenzy.

"Hassan, where is Hassan?! You wicked thieves!"

Whoosh— Whoosh—

Luna continuously swung the huge bat in her hand from left to right and from right to left. One of the thieves guild executives was so close to being beaten by that terrifying attack.

"S-Someone please lift me up!"

"Hihi, silence voodoo!"

Woosh— Bam—

Soon after Luna lifted the big bat, a stone flew from somewhere and hit the back of her head which was covered by a helmet.

"Heeuk!"

"Get out of here!"

The one who threw a stone toward Luna to save his colleague was another Thieves' guild executive who hadn't escaped yet.

"Hweee......"

Luna, who was hit by it, fell to the floor and convulsed.

"Hweee......"

It was a big deal because Luna looked like she had passed out. I dismissed many complicated thoughts and chose to pat Luna on the cheek and check for signs of concussion.

For me, Luna's health and safety were the most important thing.

"Luna, hey Luna, wake up! Wake up! Luna, wake up! It's dangerous to lose consciousness here!"

However, no matter how much I shook her, Luna showed no sign of coming back to her senses. She must have fainted from the unexpected surprise attack.

Should I check her pulse? Should I massage her to wake her up? Just at that moment.

Woosh—

A cold wind blew from somewhere and extinguished all the flames that were burning.

It felt like my whole body getting cold, chilling my back and making my hairs stand on end.

"The fire went out......?"

The first to react to it was Hippolyte who was busy fighting with Delphina. She clicked her tongue as she watched the flames around her begin to die.

"Tsk..."

The second one who reacted was the fairy witch Elfriede who was taking care of her fainting companions.

"My fire went out......?"

Elfriede said so with a tone that made it obvious that she couldn't believe that her flame was extinguished.

In fact, her flame was something that could not be extinguished for quite some time. I know that fact better than anyone.

That's why Elfriede's magic was scary.

However, those strong flames actually lost their powers and were extinguished.

Not only that, this dark and wide place was also swept by a strange chill, making the surrounding air cool down rapidly.

Crack— Crack—

Since the chilling wind even began to freeze the air round us, the situation was definitely not ordinary.

Was Lady Knox about to show up?

I quickly reacted to that thought by removing the helmet that Luna wore and checking her face. However, there was no sign of that happening. So, what was it, what was going to happen? At the moment when I was flustered,

Crack—

In the midst of this mess, something that was lying right next to me rose up.

Crack— Crack—

It twisted its body grotesquely, making a sound like it was forcibly putting together broken joints and bones.

-Grrrr.....

It was none other than Ismael.

Ismael, the leader of the thieves.

I definitely had turned his body into a rag with my dagger. I had even confirmed that the guy's pulse was completely non-existent after I got the confirmation that he had died.

However, the very same guy that I had killed was standing up again right now.

-Gererereuu......

Thud— Thud—

Seeing his bloodied body rise to its feet, all of us froze and didn't say a word.

...Fuck, why is that bastard standing up?