43 – I Also Had a Second Class Change – 3

Even though she had become an undead, her beauty was chillingly gorgeous, and her long, straight black hair fluttered.

Above all, the outline of her body below the waist was indistinct, as if it had been severed.

She was not a lower undead whose body was possessed by darkness, moving only according to slaughter instincts, but a high undead whose soul was possessed by darkness, administering death of her own free will.

Facing the banshee, who wore a ragged cloak and screamed, Lucy cried out in a sharp voice.

―It’s that woman, Contractor! The woman who came to attack the Contractor last night and died!

‘Indeed. I thought she had just become a zombie, but to think she would turn into a named monster like that.’

After the banshee appeared, the first thing Gi-jun checked was the safety of the other soldiers.

Originally, just as the Dullahan, a fairy in Irish mythology, had become an undead who personally killed people by declaring death as a grim reaper, the banshee’s lore of foretelling a person’s death through her wails had also changed more aggressively, granting her the ability to directly kill people with her wails.

Perhaps because the battle with the Dullahan had been so fierce, the troops, fortunately, had retreated far back.

Most zombies and ghouls had also been completely destroyed during the fight between Gi-jun and the Dullahan, leaving even a sense of silence hanging around the castle walls.

“You make a lot of noise for a mere corpse.”

Tolchi raised his voice first and lifted his greatsword.

Gi-jun also raised his shield, but Tolchi shouted resolutely.

“I will face her. Jun, you protect the other soldiers.”

“What? It would be much better to attack together…”

“Hyaaaah!”

The muscle-brained knight charged toward the banshee, shouting as if ignoring Gi-jun’s suggestion.

As if mocking the knight, the banshee floated her body into the air and poured all kinds of magic crafted from darkness upon him.

―Die, dieeee!

“How dare a specter who is already dead be so insolent!”

Tolchi swung his mana-filled greatsword, erasing the spells the banshee had created.

Watching that, Gi-jun realized anew that Tolchi was indeed at a level that did not fall behind his own, and while blankly watching the fight between the two, he felt something stimulate his senses.

At the same time, Lucy, who had detected it, found out more clearly and informed him.

―It’s shadows! There’s more than just one or two, they… are trying to enter the city! At the other walls too!

“Crazy…!”

It was a chilling infiltration operation that even Gi-jun would not have noticed had he not been contracted with Lucy, a spirit of similarly high status, and possessed spiritual power that had reached the legendary grade.

“Lucy—Ur!”

Gi-jun instinctively tried to pour spiritual power into Lucy to emit light, but belatedly remembering the fact that he was currently pretending to be a Flame Human, he hastily added Ur’s name.

―Leave the search to me—!

Lucy, having consumed Gi-jun’s spiritual power, spread out with him at the center and created a light detection net that covered the entire area.

It did not even take 0.01 seconds for the web of light made of spirit power, which those without spiritual sensitivity would not even notice, to run in a zigzag and cover all four walls protecting the city.

―Done, I’ve found them all!

―Kyuiit!

As soon as Lucy, who had found all the enemies at the speed of light, shared it, Ur ignited the flames.

It happened in an instant.

Bright flames mixed with Lucy’s light soared from various places on the walls surrounding the city to the north, south, east, and west, burning down every single member of the Shadow Wraith unit trying to infiltrate the city.

It was a spectacle that, if someone from the outside saw it, they might mistake it for a rock concert being held in the small city.

―Kyaaaaaak!

―Kieeeek!

As the wraiths burned to death in all directions, horrific screams echoed.

The wraiths, specialized in surprise attacks and unparalleled in stealthy maneuverability, had the drawback of being infinitely vulnerable to light instead, and Gi-jun’s spirit arts, which mixed light and fire, were nothing short of an express train to hell for them.

“W-What?!”

“My shadow burst into flames…!”

Those who had been fighting frantically due to the simultaneous invasion of elite monsters realized the wraiths’ infiltration a step late and were shocked, but since all of them had burned to death, it no longer mattered.

—Level has become 15. Light Mana (L) has increased by 2, and Spiritual Power (L) has increased by 1.

—By splendidly controlling the simultaneously flaring flames, you have suppressed only the targets. With the help of another spirit, your spirit has opened its eyes again to a more advanced operation of spirit arts. [Fire Spirit Arts (R)] has reached level 49!

—You have achieved a secret objective of the quest. By completely blocking an event that could have caused fatal damage, the quest rewards will increase significantly!

—Level has become 15. Light Mana (L) has increased by 2, and Spiritual Power (L) has increased by 1.

—By splendidly controlling the simultaneously flaring flames, you have suppressed only the targets. With the help of another spirit, your spirit has opened its eyes again to a more advanced operation of spirit arts. [Fire Spirit Arts (R)] has reached level 49!

—You have achieved a secret objective of the quest. By completely blocking an event that could have caused fatal damage, the quest rewards will increase significantly!

The experience points given by the Shadow Wraiths must have been incredibly generous, considering he had just leveled up three times while dealing with the Dullahan a moment ago, yet his level had risen once again.

However, this was rather natural, because each Shadow Wraith was treated as a rare monster, and as difficult as they were to discover and deal with, their experience points were also substantial.

Rather, the determination of the enemy leadership, who had stubbornly gathered such rare monsters to operate them as an assassination unit, was simply astonishing.

―Yoooouuuu—!

The banshee, realizing that the undead army’s most crucial operation had gone up in smoke due to Gi-jun’s amazing perception and response, abandoned even the knight she was fighting and rushed toward Gi-jun, but this became a perfect opportunity for Tolchi.

“Die, specter!”

Just like when he had struck the head of the Lizardman boss monster Gi-jun had been facing, his greatsword, glowing red with his full strength, was about to plunge into the banshee’s head—just before it did.

―Boom!

“Kugh?!”

Because it was struck by a skewer flying from somewhere and its trajectory was twisted, he had to settle for slicing off one of the banshee’s arms instead of her head.

―Kyaaaaaaaaak!

The banshee’s painful scream filled the top of the castle wall.

Although the soldiers of the east wall had already been pulled back a long time ago, the scream was so terrible that even those in the safe zone collapsed in large numbers, vomiting blood from their ears, noses, and mouths.

Fortunately, they did not die due to the distance, but all of them were ruled out of combat.

Suddenly, Gi-jun and Tolchi were left in a position where the two of them had to defend this wide castle wall alone.

—The Banshee Avenger’s wail brings death to the area! However, with Charisma that has reached the legendary domain, you have almost completely nullified this!

—[Unfailing Body Clock (L)] strongly resists physical and mental interference.

—Resisted with great success. A positive modifier has been applied to [Adamant (L)].

—The Banshee Avenger’s wail brings death to the area! However, with Charisma that has reached the legendary domain, you have almost completely nullified this!

—[Unfailing Body Clock (L)] strongly resists physical and mental interference.

—Resisted with great success. A positive modifier has been applied to [Adamant (L)].

And at the same time, a message that somehow felt like he had seen it somewhere before appeared once again to Gi-jun.

An Avenger, what a killer class name—harboring such an absurd thought was only momentary.

Adamant, which still had the positive modifier remaining even after killing the Dullahan, was strengthened once again and now began to exhibit an effect that was almost like its grade had risen by one.

For even the fatigue and internal injuries accumulated from the battle that had lasted for hours—which could not be recovered without sufficient sleep—were completely disappearing!

―So… it was you guys.

Just as Gi-jun checked his recovered body and was about to charge toward the banshee who was constantly pouring out her screams,

a somewhat languid male voice momentarily stopped his movements.

―You were the ones who ruined this day.

Under the palely shining full moon, an aristocratic man stylishly wearing a knee-length frock coat revealed himself.

Wearing polished, shiny shoes and a silk hat on his head that a magician might wear, he would not be lacking in being treated as a gentleman even if he went to England right this instant.

Except, that was, for the ridiculously long and pointed swords, the estocs, held in each of his hands.

Beside Gi-jun, who felt that overwhelming presence and instinctively knew that the guy was the final boss of this overflow, Lucy shouted.

―Ah, dual swords! Except for the Contractor, it’s my first time seeing someone holding a weapon in each hand!

‘Dual swordsmanship is usually a bluff-filled weapon technique that only the person using it thinks is cool. It’s on a completely different level from my Dual Shield Mastery, which is perfect no matter how you look at it.’

Ironically, at Gi-jun’s claim completed by Biche’s brainwashing, Lucy felt as though she understood what ‘only the person using it thinks is cool’ meant.

―Even if only for an excuse, I should eliminate the culprit before I leave. Starting with the stronger one first.

The man, who had stepped lightly through the air and descended before they knew it, pointed his two skewer-like sharp swords at Tolchi, who was on guard against him, and suddenly looked back at the banshee who was screaming while clutching her severed shoulder, tossing a few words at her.

―You take care of that guy. If you finish quickly and return, I will hand over this guy’s corpse as a reward.

―Kuuuugh…!

The banshee, rising as blood tears streamed down, groaned as if she had little sanity left, widened the distance from Gi-jun, floated up, and aimed her remaining palm at him.

―I will kill you…!

“Right, I will finish you off completely this time.”

Gi-jun raised his shield, feeling that something was amiss after hearing the exchange between the gentleman and the banshee.

Due to the repeated level-ups and the strong modifier from Adamant, his condition was already at its best.

The gentleman seemed to have judged that Gi-jun was weaker than Tolchi after seeing his poor equipment… but well.

It was a reaction that could only come from not knowing that Gi-jun was originally a tank, not a Spirit Summoner, and that since obtaining Adamant, he was at a level that surpassed a heavy-armored knight even with his bare body.

‘The faster we finish off the boss, the less damage there will be. First, starting with the weaker banshee!’

―Aaah—! Aaaaaah—!

The banshee screamed even louder as she shed blood tears, but there was no reason for him to be affected by a scream he had already successfully resisted.

Even while taking all the black mana flying and filling the space with his body, Gi-jun quickly charged toward the banshee.

―W-What! Stop, stooop!

Terrified by that monstrous charge, the banshee stopped her screaming and stretched out all of her mana to attack Gi-jun.

However, even if he had taken the impact, he should have at least paused for a moment, but Gi-jun broke through as if he were simply passing through the magic.

Beep—as if it had finally reached its limit from the blow of the black mana, the Shock Absorber shrieked noisily.

He had thought it was worthwhile to insert the mana battery made by Biche since it had held up decently well during the fight with the Dullahan, but as expected.

To think it would be retired without even making it to the boss battle this time as well.

At this rate, he didn’t know when it would ever grow in grade.

“Tch.”

―Stop!

Even though the Shock Absorber had stopped functioning, his charge still did not stop.

Adamant, the legendary technique that turned his body into a divine metal, did not dare to allow him to despair.

Just forward, and forward again.

Only then did the banshee, realizing she could not handle Gi-jun, float up into the air away from the castle wall as if trying to flee, but Gi-jun lightly kicked off the ground and jumped as if he had been waiting.

Even while knowing that below him, monsters clinging to the wall were swarming.

―You madman—! If you fall from here, you too.

“This time—”

The banshee’s body, which had been waving a hand while screaming something, suddenly burned fiercely and was held in midair.

While the banshee was unable to move, Gi-jun flew up aiming precisely at her—floating in the air for a not-so-short moment.

With his entire body covered in a hazy light as he operated Salutaris, Gi-jun, who lifted his shield dyed in bright light and flames, looked like a holy angel.

Seeing his eyes behind the mask burning as they were engulfed in bright flames, the banshee momentarily stood captivated.

“Your head!”

Crunch.

The fangs lodged precisely in the banshee’s head, vomiting dazzling flames.

Since the banshee, who was closer to a spiritual body than an ordinary undead, was particularly vulnerable to spirit power, how could she possibly hold out against spirit power mixed with light and flame?

—You are becoming increasingly accustomed to mixing flames and light to produce a stronger and more sacred power. [Lucy (L)] has reached level 5, and [Fire Spirit Arts (R)] has reached level 50!

—You have achieved one of the core objectives of the quest. As everyone witnessed your heroic sacrifice, the quest rewards will be greatly amplified!

―…Ah.

Was she truly moved this time by the warmth of the flames that purified and burned everything?

Seeing the banshee’s severely distorted face momentarily loosen blankly, a sentimental thought arose that perhaps peace had finally found her only at the moment of death.

―A mistake…

“A mistake?”

―The target was wrong… Revenge…

No, she wasn’t at peace; she was just a klutz.

Gi-jun could not help but smile bitterly at the banshee’s strong resentment, unable to let go of her will for revenge even as she died.

―My younger sibling…

The few words the banshee spat out, as if murmuring further, erased the smile from his lips.

―Thud!

Immediately after, Gi-jun landed on the ground along with the banshee’s corpse.

The corpse, completely purified by his spirit power, vanished, but something pitch-black that popped out of it clung to Gi-jun’s body as if it could not disappear just like that.

The vengeful spirit of the banshee, who had been unable to discard her strong resentment until the very end, clung like a curse to Gi-jun, who had marked her end.

―Eek! What is this! It’s filthy and disgusting! I’m going to get rid of it right now!

“……Hold on. Hold on, Lucy.”

Gi-jun stopped Lucy, who was startled and about to emit light.

In any case, the debuffs given by the banshee had long since been entirely repelled.

There was no need to erase it right this instant at the cost of wasting Lucy’s power.

“Could you wait just until everything is over?”

―Contractor, you aren’t possessed by the banshee by any chance, are you?

“No way. Just…”

Although he could never forgive the banshee, who had dragged in countless people to be wounded and suffer,

even so, he thought that erasing her just like this would be too hollow.

“She already paid for her crimes. So I thought I should at least show her how this matter ends.”

―Contractor is really… well, if it’s just showing her, I guess it doesn’t matter.

“Don’t worry needlessly. I only believe that those who commit crimes must be punished.”

Gi-jun, who declared firmly as if pledging to himself, watched the banshee’s corpse disappear with nothing left but her soul with somewhat fleeting eyes, and then let out a light sigh as he saw the monsters creeping toward him from the surroundings.

“Now, defeating these guys and returning to the top of the wall is the problem, though.”

―Kihit!

Hearing his muttering, Ur, who had been quiet, suddenly let out a laugh as if feeling proud.

Ur, who had been sitting on his shoulder in a spiritual state without even materializing, hopped down and created a strong flame, seeming to drive away the surrounding monsters all at once,

and seeing Ur materialize inside the brightly burning flame, Gi-jun’s eyes widened.