Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 733

Clown 2

The moment the battle began, Necrapeto moved to the relatively safe area at the back.

His innate craving for attention was the reason he had dared to stand fearlessly at the forefront during the invasion of District 9. However, he had no intention of repeating that mistake.

He was somewhat confident in close combat, but…

‘How can anyone stand on the front line against a monster like that?’

His close combat abilities were barely at the self-defense level, and even he knew that against them, it wouldn’t even count as that.

Ah, of course, skill was one thing, but there was also the matter of professional differences—.

“Stop hiding and get over here, you son of a bitch!!”

Just then, the woman who had once been his ally screamed at him as she watched him retreat to the back.

Of course, insults at that level didn’t faze him in the slightest.

If anything, given the sort of people they were, it was practically high praise.

“Pssit! What a strange thing to say. Since when does a necromancer moving to the back count as hiding?”

“Then why the hell did you do that back then…! If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have…! I—I…!”

“Pssit, but thanks to that, didn’t you end up forming a rather nice relationship?”

“T-That’s supposed to be a joke…?!”

If given enough time, their argument had the potential to drag on for days. Unfortunately, the situation did not allow for that kind of leisure.

They were positioned in the rear of their respective sides, and there was a significant distance between them.

“Enough chit-chat, just use your magic!”

“…Ah, alright!”

“Necrapeto!”

“Pssit…”

As they both naturally participated in combat support from the rear, their argument ended.

For him, it was a stroke of luck.

『Liranne Vivian has cast Level 4 Dark Magic [Curse of the Rotten Land].』

『The defense stats of all enemies within range are greatly reduced.』

That foolish woman was nothing but a curse machine, but he was different.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Blessing of the Legion]」 「Harmful effects received by all allies within the radius are reduced by 50%, and their highest stat increases by 20%.」

Not only had he recently acquired a new Level 2 wide-area buff, but…

“……Damn it! Layton is dead! Necrapeto!”

“Hehehe, leave it to me!”

Unlike a dark mage who was mediocre at everything except curses, a necromancer possessed a skill that could produce absurd performance even in small-scale battles.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Puppet].」

After all, a necromancer could raise dead expendables and make them fight again.

Of course, they wouldn’t be as strong as they were in life—

—but wrap them up in buffs, and they became serviceable enough.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Bloodline Conversion]」

「All passive skills possessed by the caster are granted to their kin.」

Poison flowed through their veins, their bones were strengthened, and their attacks began applying debuffs. And that was not even the end of it.

But even that wasn’t all.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Modification].」

「One Kin will be randomly modified.」

The elites of Orcules, skilled enough to be summoned to this battlefield.

The moment they died, they were resurrected and granted random traits.

For example—

「Critical Success.」

「Kin: Coral Layton has obtained the [Large Beast] trait」

 

Coral Layton, a physical warrior while alive, transformed upon resurrection into a massive monster that could rival even that barbarian over there.

“Pssit… a critical success right from the start. I’m lucky.”

Boooom—!

The new summon, once known as Coral Leyton, fought the massive barbarian with strength far greater than it had possessed in life.

“Pssit… to think it has strength enough to hold back that brute of a barbarian!”

Necrapeto sincerely hoped that the summon he had just created would survive.

With stats like that, it would easily rank near the top of his subspace collection.

Slash!

“…Huh?”

Watching the battle from the back, he rubbed his eyes.

Boom—!

…It died from a single sword strike?

‘…I-it was a critical success? And with the best possible base?’

He couldn’t understand it at all.

Yes, the barbarian had a damage dealer at his side. Abed had heard the dealer was fairly strong, and seeing Layton cut down in a single strike made him feel he should never get close to that knight.

No matter how you looked at it, this was ridiculous!

“W-What is that knight bastard…?!”

He was simply the one who said it out loud, but everyone in Orcules was thinking it.

It was only natural.

Even a slow-witted necromancer with no talent for close combat could sense it. How much more so for those fighting him directly?

Slash!

That nameless knight was dangerous.

Not in one particular way, but in every way imaginable.

Boom—!

Even more so than the barbarian known as the “Giant.”

Fshuuu—!

With every swing of his sword, fountains of blood erupted continously.

Twenty elite troops who had been waiting confidently—

—and even the hundreds of supporting troops around them—

“……”

“……”

Every single one of them began to retreat instinctively; no longer able to fight as brazenly as before. They were all too focused on saving themselves.

They were playing a game of chicken, merely pretending to fight until the order to retreat was given.

Until the retreat order was given, they would play a game of chicken, merely pretending to fight—

‘……I need to make preparations.’

Abet Necrapeto, who had lived his entire life sucking up to the strong and trampling the weak, sensed that ‘atmosphere’ faster than anyone and began visualizing an escape route.

Of course, fleeing immediately was impossible.

No retreat order had been issued yet.

‘Help out just enough for appearances…’

Then, once an opening appeared, he would run without looking back.

Ah, just in case, he should fall back a bit more for now.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Puppet]」

He didn’t hold back on his support skills.

He had to do his part to have an excuse after retreating, and he felt the front line would collapse instantly if he didn’t.

But…….

‘……Huh?’

His judgment was rational, but it was also a grave mistake.

The moment he raised a new body with Puppeteer, he became the focus of the knight’s attention. The man’s eyes were blank and soulless like a machine’s, yet they gleamed with a hunter’s light.

‘W-Why are you looking at me…?!’

He screamed inwardly in panic, but in truth, he knew exactly why the knight was looking at him.

Because the moment their eyes met, he understood.

What the knight was thinking as he looked at him.

‘Ah. I should probably kill him quickly.’

There was no malice or irritation in the knight’s eyes.

And precisely because of that, Necrapeto felt chills run through his entire body.

And so—

Step.

Without even realizing it, he took a step backward.

Tadat—!

As if that were a signal, the knight’s body shot upward.

“What is it?”

“Borrowing you for a moment.”

Leaping high into the air, the knight lightly stepped on the shoulder of the colossal barbarian and used the momentum to fly straight towards Necrapeto.

“……”

It was a strange sensation.

As if time itself had slowed down.

Even as the knight rapidly closed the distance, his mind worked faster than ever.

‘Momentary Immortality.’

That didn’t seem like a good idea.

Sure, if he used it, he wouldn’t die for a minute no matter what happened, but…….

Would he really be able to survive after that?

‘……I-I shouldn’t have come here! Why does this always happen whenever I run into that Barbarian!’

A sense of unfairness and sorrow welled up, but he quickly cleared his mind.

Such thoughts wouldn’t help him stay alive.

Right, so…….

‘……Damn it!’

In that instant, Necrapeto acted on the method he’d thought of in a flash—the one offering the highest chance of survival.

Abet Necrapeto has used [Staff of the Underworld].」

The Staff of the Underworld.

No. 17. A relic belonging to the highest tier of the Double Numbers, it was considered the ultimate weapon for any ‘Necromancer’.

It was a tool with various risks, but…….

‘Call of the Underworld.’

Necrapeto didn’t hesitate to activate the staff’s effect, ‘Call of the Underworld.’

Ah, and of the four possible targets, he naturally chose the most manageable and enjoyable to torment.

‘Liranne Vivian’

As he scowled and chose his target, the approaching aura vanished while green light swirled around him.

「The character and the designated target are summoned by the Call of the Underworld.」

A world of the dead, where no one from the outside could interfere.

‘Psssit… even I must admit, that was a wise choice.’

Now all he had to do was endure here.

Sure, the process might be a little boring—but he could pass the time by tormenting Liranne Vivian, as long as he didn’t kill her.

…At least, that was what he thought.

“Wow… the scenery here really is killer.”

Until he saw a barbarian casually looking around at the surroundings.

***

「The character has used [Aegis Barrier].」

「The designated target will receive the effects in their place.」

Three green moons hung in the sky.

They looked so vivid and close, as if I were standing in the middle of space. Yet on closer inspection, I could tell the moons were formed from writhing corpses.

Sounds like zombies echoed from all directions like background music.

Below, meanwhile, stretched an endless expanse of desolate plains, steeped in gloom—

Boom!

From cracks in the ground, something green erupted upward like magma.

‘If I get hit by that, the debuffs stack, right? Better be careful.’

So this is what it feels like.

It’s definitely different from how it looked in the game.

Maybe it’s because the light itself pouring down from the sky is green, but it really does feel like I’ve come to another world.

‘Anyway, sightseeing’s over.’

There was an order to all of this, and I had no intention of taking a leisurely stroll when I still had things to do.

Therefore…….

Schwing.

As I finished scanning the area and looked ahead, the man I had locked eyes with flinched and his shoulders jerked.

“B-Bjorn Jandel! Why—how are you the one here……!”

By activating Wall of Aegis, I could even block instant cast targeted abilities that were normally impossible to redirect, although this was my first time using the effect.

“Who knows?”

There was no real reason to explain it to this guy—

“I-I definitely targeted that bitch Vivian…!”

Ah… so he wasn’t targeting Raven?

I had assumed as much and used the shield without a second thought.

‘Well, they were standing in pretty similar positions.’

Even if this whole thing had started from a misunderstanding, when I thought about it, it wasn’t such a bad situation.

The Corpse Collector, Abet Necrapeto.

He was someone I wanted to kill with my own hands.

Grin.

Smiling, I raised my hammer.

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