41 – I Also Had a Second Class Change – 1

How many hours had the battle continued?

Before Gi-jun’s level could rise, his mana finally ran dry.

It was only natural that the level-up speed would slow down once one escaped the low-level range—nevertheless, he had wanted to maintain this tempo at least until this battle ended, if possible.

―Contractor, rest a little. You are pushing yourself too hard.

‘……But.’

The undead attacking the city now were not just weaklings either.

As if the leader directing them had guessed that the forces defending the wall would have weakened by now, they were trying to break the wall in one fell swoop by increasing the quality of their troops.

Even for the same zombies, larger monsters—more powerful undead, seemingly created by killing monsters from dungeons that had emerged due to the nearby overflow—lunged all at once, a sight that made him shudder.

The enemy’s strengthening and reinforcement at this exquisite timing!

‘They definitely have intelligence similar to humans at the very least.’

In fact, casualties were gradually increasing here and there.

No matter how great Gi-jun was, how could he oversee all the battles taking place on this massive wall?

However, contrary to his abilities which had revealed their limits, the scene entering his already broadened field of vision remained the same.

The sight of people being crushed by monsters and losing their lives.

The sight of those who could not overcome the magic of the undead, losing their dignity and rising again as new undead.

The sight of them rushing at their former comrades to kill them, or being killed by their hands.

They were gradually gouging out Gi-jun’s heart, which had been filled with resolve.

‘Lucy, I…’

―At the very least, stop overworking your spiritual power like this. That is also why the contractor’s mind is more exhausted right now. You need time to slowly recover your spiritual power and mana.

‘……Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, Lucy.’

Gi-jun felt his mana, which was spinning hollowly and scratching every corner of his body, and finally lowered his raised hands.

Even if he had transcended his limits, he had already done so long ago.

If he had not repeatedly leveled up along the way, he would have already lost his mind.

‘My level… is it 11 now?’

Although it was definitely a tremendous achievement to have raised six levels in a single day.

If he had not been of a Rare-grade race, the speed of his level-ups would have been even faster than this.

However, if his race grade had been lower, it would have been impossible for him to perform this well, so in the end, it was a useless worry.

“Ah.”

“The magician is……”

“He pushed himself too hard anyway. It’s an unbelievable achievement just to have poured out magic like that until now.”

“The magician needs to rest safely. Only then will he be able to feed one more fireball to those… bastards behind there later.”

“You bastards, do you think you can get past us just because the magician is gone! I’ll deal with all of you!”

Seeing that he was no longer pouring out flames, the soldiers’ morale noticeably dropped, but they recognized that he had been overexerting himself all this time and tried to let him rest.

“Magician, I will take you to a safe place. This way……”

Among those defending the eastern wall with him, someone who looked to be of high command approached to lay him down on a cot, but Gi-jun looked at him, silently shook his head, and took out the King of the Well from his back to equip it on his arm.

“M-Magician?”

“Mm.”

A soldier, who had never seen him wield a shield and thought it was hung there just to protect his back, called out to him in shock, but Gi-jun merely nodded once and immediately ran toward where the soldiers were being pushed back.

Even if it was impossible to protect everyone who entered his field of vision because he could not use mana,

it was still possible to protect those within his reach.

“Magician?!”

“The magician is charging with a shield!”

“This guy must have been bitten by a ghoul and is talking nonsense…… Gasp!”

―Boom!

Without a single bit of exaggeration, along with the sound of a bomb exploding, the limbs of a wolf zombie clinging to a soldier were dismantled and sent flying outside the wall.

Gi-jun threw the shield just like that, smashing the torsos of two other zombies, caught the returning shield gracefully, shook off the blood and flesh, equipped it again, and spoke to the wounded soldiers.

“Fall back and recover from your wounds.”

“Magician, how……?!”

“Think of it as magic.”

Replying coolly, Gi-jun threw himself toward the monsters once again.

Gi-jun, who was deliberately engaging in close combat, swept through the front lines, trampling the monsters like a heavy tank.

Compared to when he was firing magic, the coverage range was naturally narrower, but even so, the shield offense techniques he displayed—based on his Unique-grade Strength and Endurance, and Dexterity that reached the Legendary realm—allowed Gi-jun to achieve more brilliant military exploits than anyone else.

Most monsters were torn apart by the simple motion of swinging the shield; those who did not die from that had the edge of the shield driven into their heads to explode them; and the shield thrown at those who were just about to cross the wall pushed multiple monsters off together and returned precisely to his grasp!

“The magician is beating the zombies to death himself!”

“He’s engaging in physical combat himself because he ran out of mana? But how is he that strong!”

“The monsters…… the monsters are being swept away like dust.”

The soldiers, who had temporarily withdrawn from the front line to rest due to injuries, fatigue, and the like, watched Gi-jun’s performance and threw out comments, finding it too absurd.

In the midst of that, one person accidentally got the answer right.

“……Could it be that he wasn’t a magician originally?”

“What nonsense.”

“He was firing magic continuously for several hours, and you say he’s not a magician? Are you insulting the magician?”

And he ended up shutting his mouth at the scolding flying in from all sides in an instant.

At first, Gi-jun thought he received a lot of attention because of the fireballs he handled, but that was not the case.

Even after exhausting all his mana, charging to the front line with a single shield and fighting in the most dangerous place, he was performing well enough to attract the soldiers’ attention and boost their morale, just as when he was wildly firing fireballs.

“Magician……”

“He only entered the city today, yet he’s going this far to protect it.”

“We too……”

“We too!”

The Charm stat exerted a strong stimulation on the minds of others.

And since the mind dominated the body, the bodies of the soldiers, who grew heated as they watched Gi-jun’s exploits, were actually overflowing with vigor.

Even if this was merely a temporary phenomenon,

at this moment when the city might be conquered by the undying monsters if they fell back even a little, the vigor brought about by a strong will definitely raised their chances of survival.

“I…… I think I’ve rested enough now. I must stand up again and fight alongside him.”

“You idiot, if you don’t rest when you can, you’ll die!”

“I feel certain that if I fight with him, I won’t get tired!”

“If we rest now, will we even have a chance to fight again? Even if one arm is broken, I still have an arm left to swing a sword. I’m going to fight!”

“Let’s go!”

Gi-jun was not a saint either.

Although he was pushing himself because he hated seeing innocent humans die right before his eyes, the reason he actively stepped forward in this defensive battle was, above all, because an attractive quest had been presented.

However, as the battle intensified and more people pinned their hopes on him, he was willingly throwing himself into combat that went beyond what the quest required of him.

“Whew, whewwwww……!”

―Contractor, you seem to be in a good mood?

“Yeah. Close combat suits my body best after all.”

―I don’t think it’s only because of that, but if the contractor is happy, then that’s fine.

Whether back on Earth or after crossing over to the Other World, he was someone who had shrunk back to the periphery out of fear of standing at the center of the crowd.

While he thought Ye-min, a hero who stepped forward without hesitation to lead people, was amazing…… he had actually been unbearably jealous of her at the same time.

How could he be so ugly, being jealous without even trying to make an effort himself?

Still, thanks to the special training with Biche, his heart had changed a little too.

Instead of being gloomily jealous from behind, he wanted to try making an effort again.

He wanted to live up to his name now.

“Come at me, all of you, you smelly corpse bastards――!”

“Aaaah, a bright light has caught on the magician’s body!”

“It’s blinding, everyone look away!”

“The undead are flocking to the magician with a terrifying momentum—and they’re all being crushed!”

To be honest, even now—he did not have the confidence to do it perfectly like Ye-min, but

he could not push away those who were already relying on him just because he lacked confidence.

At the very least, he wanted to reward those who placed their faith in him in a cool manner.

This was the new justice he had established, the first step toward the Übermensch discussed by Nietzsche.

“The magician is leading the charge and fighting while drawing the enemy’s gaze, so we can’t fall helplessly!”

“Let’s protect the magician! At least until I die, I won’t let the magician die!”

“The shield the magician swings is much stronger than your sword strikes! Puhahaha!”

The weary and exhausted soldiers gained energy once again and began to fight.

No matter how tirelessly the undead attacked, their numbers would inevitably decrease if their heads were cut off and their lives were completely ended.

Since the absolute powerhouse Gi-jun gathered and dealt with all the undead in the area with his provocation skill, which had reached the Unique grade, the soldiers who rushed to assist him could slaughter the undead much more safely.

As he continuously swung his shield and tore into the enemies like that, a gap similar to when he used magic eventually formed, giving the soldiers room to catch their breath.

“Raise your heads and look at the eastern wall――!”

“We drove out those damn monsters――!”

“Together with the shield-wielding magician――!!”

And at that moment, someone among the enemy army finally

detected the existence of superhuman beings who were changing the tide of the battlefield with outstanding performances incomparable to others.

―It’s him……!

Among them, someone who spotted Gi-jun muttered in a gloomy voice.

The undead, whose voluptuous beauty stood out as if vitality still remained despite being dead, hid her body in a worn and dirty hooded coat, and floated in the air like a ghost, her feet unseen.

The voice was eerie and sharp, filled with death energy, such that any living being would suffer mental instability just by hearing it.

Although treated as a fairy in Ireland of Earth, she was a Banshee, corresponding to a high Rare-grade undead on the continent of Leta.

―That bastard killed me and ruined everything! He dragged my revenge down to being incomplete! What are you doing, go and capture him!

Reacting to her voice, the elite monsters finally moved their heavy bodies.

They were neither low-grade zombies that would only appear at the entrance of a dungeon, nor monsters from nearby dungeons that had gained new power through the contagion of death.

They were the true strength of the Unique-grade dungeon that had remained unconquered for the past few years—named undead who had even grown further by burying countless Summoned and gaining experience.

High-ranking undead belonging to a Rare-grade race at the very least, and even having Unique-grade classes.

―Then I shall go…….

―I will take care of that knight over there……!

―Go quickly!

The Banshee threw a fit, ordering around undead who were far stronger than herself, who had only just become an undead.

Once they had all departed, she immediately changed her attitude and bowed her head to the one in front of her.

―Please forgive me for giving instructions without waiting for Master’s command.

―Something of that level is not a problem, but I am not your master. Because I have no intention of accepting you into our bloodline.

The one who replied coldly leaned back on a sofa made of bones and twitched his eyebrows as if something was not to his liking.

That existence was the very culprit who, reigning as the boss monster of the Unique-grade undead dungeon, had silenced all challengers for several years, and ultimately enticed the one with the greatest negative emotions among the challengers to plan and execute this overflow.

―That you were too excessive and hasty is evident even from this uncomfortable chair. Although we are launching an offensive by gathering all the negative energy of the area, if we fail to seize the city, you will have to pay the price.

―If only I can complete my revenge, I will willingly offer everything.

―Hmm.

Looking at the face of the Banshee, who strongly displayed her resolve that she had no intention of dying in vain, the man crossed his legs while sitting on the bone sofa.

Her face, burning with vengeance and anger, was still incomparably beautiful.

―If only you had come before you died, I would have gladly taken you.

―That is a great pity.

―Ah, indeed.

Facing the Banshee who bowed her head with an unreadable expression, the man bared his fangs and snorted.

Averting his gaze from her, he quietly gazed at the wall protecting the small city of Turis.

The Turis Lord’s direct order of knights was personally leading the troops to guard three of the walls like an iron fortress, and the remaining people, including the Summoned, were guarding the one remaining wall.

Originally, the Summoned of Turis were also a formidable force, but the series of attacks from the outside over the past few months had caused many to leave Turis, and even if that were not the case, the majority of the Summoned of Turis, who usually had high activity in dungeons, would have been caught directly in the overflow and killed.

Even so, it was somewhat surprising that they had protected the wall until now.

‘According to calculations, we should have already completely breached the city gate by exploiting the gap created when the knights supported the wall that the Summoned failed to protect, but…….’

Nevertheless, since the mid-boss class undead had set out, the situation would soon progress.

Once even a single wall collapsed, the front line, which looked meticulous, would collapse miserably.

Once the surprise attack unit moving in the shadows, the Shadow Wraiths, dug into that gap and succeeded in dealing with all those annoying priests, then he would finally step forward himself to bring down the curtain on this tedious battle――.

―Flicker, flicker

―Aaaaah! What is that light!

When a flashing light suddenly arose on one side of the wall, the man grimaced heavily and cried out frantically.

Even an ordinary high priest could not pain him with a mere holy spell that only emitted light!

―Kill that bastard first! Chop off his head and eliminate him before anything else!

―I will do so, for he is one of my enemies!

The Banshee answered in a firm voice, casting her gaze toward the wall as well.

A light that sparkled brightly, as if mocking her who had died miserably and fallen into darkness.

Yet, for some reason, feeling a moment of peace settle in her heart that had been filled with confusion and anger upon seeing that light, she bit her lip—which did not even feel pain when bitten—so hard it tore, trying to ignore that feeling.

‘It won’t be long now. I will definitely kill that bastard with my own two hands……!’

Revenge absolutely had to be achieved.

To comfort the soul of her younger sibling who had died unfairly and bitterly.

Even if she herself fell into hell, without fail.