The Necromancer's chamber was as large as a garden, but unlike one filled with flowers and the floral scent that came with their existence, it was an amalgam of bones, grotesque flesh, and a large broken plinth at its centre which almost seemed like a table if one didn't look at it close enough. And it was only because of the unusual space it possessed that the two ravenous beasts the Necromancer controlled could move freely within its space. However, in Singularity Mage, they had not been able to make use of that space, and Merlin was going to make sure history repeated itself—if that was the right phrase to use in their current situation.
"Remember the plan, guys!" Merlin called out as he instantly stretched forth his left arm. "Keep them busy until I can deconstruct the spell it's using to control them!"
Chima and Nora straightened on their feet, their heavy breaths petering out to an extent.
"I still don't know if you've lost your mind, or what you're saying is actually the truth," Chima began, stepping forward with his shield of flames back in his grasp. "But I guess I'll just have to wait and find out."
"Yeah, do that," said Merlin. "Just, please, don't let the beast get close to me."
Nora stepped forward as well, her Air Ball ready, as she and Chima flanked Merlin, facing the two gigantic beasts in the Necromancer's control. She remained silent, probably as a means to retain what little energy she had left for the fight, and looked the most determined Merlin had seen her yet. It was a welcoming sight.
Merlin focused.
In Singularity Mage, Kieran had taken both the beasts and the Necromancer on alone. And it had not been really that tough of a battle. Merlin didn't have the capabilities of Kieran, so he had to rely on his teammates, and that was why he had asked Chima and Nora to take each of the beasts, keeping them busy for a few seconds, until he could deconstruct the spell the Necromancer was using to control them. After all, it was not like they would just stand by and watch him as he, well, attacked them.
And that proved true a second later. With deafening roars, they lunged forward.
Chima groaned as the large paw of the beast he had taken as his opponent landed on his shield, sending him sliding backwards across the floor. But he quickly reined himself in, and hurried at the beast once more before it had the time to turn Merlin's way.
Merlin had told Chima long before they had gotten to the Necromancer's chamber that trying to strike the beasts in an attempt to injure them was futile as they were undead. And he was glad that the boy had taken those words in, because now he had two shields of flame instead of a sword.
Merlin understood Chima's intention, this way he could focus only on defense as a sword had no use here.
Nora, on the other hand, had things a lot harder. Shields were not part of her spells, so taking the attack of the beast she was facing head on would be a suicide mission. However, her constant spell practices had not been for naught. She occasionally swapped her spells between Air Vortex, wrapping it at her heel and using it to sharply and nimbly shift herself away from attacks before they hit, and when she had the chance, she would switch to Air Ball, gnashing her teeth as she blasted the beast farther away from both herself and Merlin.
Merlin could see that it was daunting on her, but not because of the beast she was facing, but her stamina. After all, the beasts had no minds of their own, as they were dead, and the Necromancer found it hard to give two ravenous animals distinct attacking patterns while also protecting itself from any attacks that might come its way.
And that would be the cause of its loss.
Activate Perk: Reader Mage… Merlin ordered, focusing on the giant beasts as they rained down attacks upon attacks on both Chima and Nora.
Exhaustion was in the air, and Merlin knew he had to hurry up.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing spell…]
[Analysis complete]
[Spell: Mana Puppet.
Category: Advanced, Tier III
Spell Wielder: E-Rank Necromancer.
Spell Description: A control spell that manifests the caster's mana into thin, threadlike strands used to attain control over inanimate beings like a puppet by strings.]
[Deconstructing Process: Strings can be cut. Sever the mana serving as strings by sharpening your mana into blades. Spell is an Advanced one, do be careful with your mana output, lest you drain yourself and become exhausted.]
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?]/[No?]
Compared to the ominous warning the System had given him when he had tried to deconstruct Nora's Air Ball, this was more acceptable. However, draining himself of his mana was not the best outcome for him. After all, he still had the Necromancer's shield to deal with.
The pile of skeleton had itself surrounded by a rotating shield of mana which moved so fast that it had become a blur of blue and purple coalescing together. This was the major reason why Merlin had claimed that his party members would be unable to defeat the Necromancer without his help. After all, the highest spell amongst them was a Tier II spell, and that meant that the mana control of the caster was just slightly past the base threshold so that they could launch it, and was nowhere perfect. Only spells made of mana with near perfect control could damage the Necromancer's shield. Merlin had learnt that through Kieran.
The protagonist had been so fascinated by the Necromancer's magic that he had scrounged for whatever information he could on it. Spells with insufficient mana control were unable to break through the shield because their mana were not compact, thereby making them weak and easily disrupted by the fast moving flow of the shield. It was like kicking a children's ball into a supercell tornado.
In that case, Merlin was the only one who could break through. He channeled just enough mana onto his palm as he replied…
Yes…
[Deconstructing…]
[1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10… 11… 12… 13… 14… 15…]
Merlin's mana crackled like electricity, forming a circular spellform over his palm which fused bit by bit until it became a singular whip that looked as sharp as any blade. The whip shot out of his palm immediately, and slashed over the backs of the beasts, and in an instant, they dropped to the ground, inanimate as they should have been from the start.
[Deconstruction Complete]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 67%/100%] → [77%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 10]
[Just sharp enough, Merlin Tyrrell]
Merlin's left hand stung so much that he couldn't smile at Chima who was staring at him with a dazed look, having now understood that he had really been telling the truth all this time. He immediately assigned the free attribute points he had earned to his Resilience to make the pain a lot more bearable as his work was not done.
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 30%/100%] → [35%/100%]
A lot better…
"Hand me the bolts!" He stretched out his hand at Kim Minji who had been standing behind him all this while. He had been unable to think of anything for her to do here in the battle with the Necromancer, since she could not launch her spells without Nora's help, and Nora was too exhausted to be taking on two jobs at the moment.
As soon as the bolts fell onto Merlin's palm, he dashed past Chima and Nora, and forward at the Necromancer. He had to hurry, making sure it had no time to regain control of its magic and begin to puppeteer the dead beasts once more. There was always a short window after spells were deconstructed where mana went haywire very briefly. Magic could not be cast at that moment. And that was Merlin's chance to end things.
The pile of bones with a flaming head noticed his approach and made some sort of grating noise as it tried to hurry up its approach with casting its Mana Puppet spell.
This was what made the Necromancer an E-Rank monster. It had no actual attack spells. As long as its strings were cut, it couldn't fight, only defend. And defending was useless against Merlin.
Halfway to the Necromancer, Merlin put a pause on his running, angled his body, and swallowed a deep breath. He fell into a trance at the snap of a finger, and snapped back in an instant, the head of the bolt already doused in his mana, blue and bright. He had never tried this before and was unsure if it would work, but he could only hope at this point. He strengthened the muscles of his forearm and lunged the arrow at the Necromancer, precisely, its shield, having activated Reader Mage.
[Spell: Mana Shield.
Category: Advanced, Tier III
Spell Wielder: E-Rank Necromancer.
Spell Description: A shield made from rotating mana at supersonic speed.]
[Deconstructing Process: Disrupt the flow of the mana forming the shield by channeling yours directly into its stream as a foreign object. Spell is an Advanced one, do be careful not to make direct contact with it as you will not be left unscathed.]
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?]/[No?]
Yes…
The arrow struck the shield and it shattered like glass. Merlin didn't rejoice and instantly closed the distance between him and the Necromancer, having channeled another wave of his mana into the second bolt in his hand for no reason at all other than to just be safe. He then dug it straight into the Necromancer's skull, extinguishing its flames and shattering it. The Necromancer fell to the floor like the sack of bones that it was, and Merlin heaved out a huff.
[Deconstruction Complete]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 77%/100%] → [87%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 10]
[Quite the Necromancer Slayer, aren't you, Merlin Tyrrell?]
Merlin's chest rose and fell in intervals as the blue screen before his view shimmered and changed into new words…
[Red Quest: Clear the Dungeon has ended]
[Time taken to complete: 00.50.55]
[All Progress increased by 10%]
[Progress to leveling up Strength: 74.25%/100%] → [84.25%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Agility: 68%/100%] → [78%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 87%/100%] → [97%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 22%/100%] → [32%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 35%/100%] → [45%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 10] → [30]
[Quest Reward: Random Loot Box]
[Accept?]
[Yes]/[No]
Merlin decided to hold off on that until he had some alone time. Right now… He fell to the floor as his party mates walked up to him… He just wanted to have a long sleep.