The air split open with light.
A ripple of gold spread across the wasteland like spilled sunlight, tearing reality into shreds. From the rift, armored figures stepped out—calm, polished, gleaming.
The Elite Squad.
Hunters from the upper floors.
Predators sent to cull irregulars like me.
"Target confirmed," the leader said, his voice calm, steady, like a man announcing the weather. His armor was gilded, his sword a razor of white steel. His eyes flicked over my undead army, but they didn't waver.
"Necromancer anomaly. Unregistered Calamity signature. Orders are termination."
The other elites fanned out. There were eight of them in total. Each one radiated power, the kind of refined presence that only came from clearing countless trials.
The living hunters hiding in the distance gasped when they saw them.
"The Elite Squad! We're saved!"
"Kill that monster! Please—kill him!"
The elites didn't even glance their way. Their attention was on me.
I smiled and spread my arms wide.
"Welcome, welcome! Guests from above. You've come a long way—don't be shy. Sit. Eat. Die."
They didn't laugh.
Figures.
The leader raised his hand.
"Formation Delta."
Eight auras ignited at once, pressing down on me like a mountain. The ground cracked under their presence. My undead army groaned, shuddering under the weight of it.
For the first time, I felt my grin falter.
These weren't like the hunters I'd slaughtered before.
These were wolves.
But then I laughed again, throat raw, because what was the fun of playing with sheep forever?
"Dance!"
I snapped my fingers, and my army surged forward. Dozens of corpses howled, blades and claws raised, throwing themselves at the elites.
The clash was instant.
A storm of steel, fire, and blood.
One elite swung his axe, cleaving through three corpses at once. Their bodies fell in heaps—but before he could blink, they twitched and rose again.
Another elite thrust her spear, piercing a corpse's skull. The body collapsed, only to grab her ankle from the ground and drag itself up her leg like a parasite.
The elites frowned.
"This is… unnatural."
"Don't let them swarm. Burn them. Total destruction."
Flames erupted, holy light seared, blades sang.
Corpses burned and fell, over and over, but no matter how many were cut apart, they stood again.
And each time they fell, I fed them more mana, more command, more hunger.
The elites were strong.
But my puppets were endless.
The leader finally stepped in.
His blade moved once.
Just once.
And a row of my corpses fell, heads rolling like marbles.
His aura pressed down on me, sharp as a guillotine.
"You've made a mockery of hunters. You've turned them into carrion. You've broken the order of the Tower."
His eyes narrowed.
"I'll erase you."
"Erase me?" I tilted my head, smiling. "But what happens if I erase you?"
I lunged forward.
Our blades clashed—steel against steel, sparks exploding in the air.
The force of it sent tremors through the ground.
He was fast. Too fast. Strong. His strikes were clean, efficient, without waste.
I could barely keep up.
But I didn't need to win.
I just needed to die.
His sword pierced my chest.
Blood burst from my mouth, hot and metallic.
The world blurred.
[You have died.]
Darkness.
Then light again.
I gasped awake, staggering forward, lungs filling with air.
And behind me, the corpse of my past self rose, sword in hand, eyes empty.
The elite's eyes widened for the first time.
"What…?"
I grinned, spitting blood.
"Round two."
We clashed again.
He cut me down.
[You have died.]
I rose again.
Another puppet joined my army.
The elites faltered.
"What is this…? He's spawning copies of himself?!"
"It's not copies," one snarled, eyes wide with dawning horror. "It's his corpses. Every time he dies, he adds himself to his army!"
Their perfect composure cracked.
And I laughed, louder and louder, cutting myself open just to multiply.
Die. Rise. Fight. Die again. Rise again.
Each corpse carried the skills I'd earned from past lives. Each corpse fought with tireless fury, unshaken, unafraid.
Soon the battlefield was swarming with me.
Dozens of Seo-jins.
Laughing, screaming, singing in unison.
One elite was dragged down beneath a pile of my corpses, his screams muffled as blades hacked into his flesh.
[You have slain an A-rank Challenger.]
[Skill Acquired: Blade Tempest (A-rank).]
I shivered as the power flooded me.
The nearest corpse twitched, then spun in a whirlwind of steel, tearing through another elite like paper.
Blood sprayed across the wasteland.
The elites panicked.
"Fall back!"
"Regroup!"
They tried to retreat, but my corpses swarmed them relentlessly.
The hunters watching from afar could only scream in disbelief.
"He's killing the Elite Squad! He's… he's devouring them!"
"Gods save us—he's not human!"
One by one, the elites fell.
Their bodies rose again, blank-eyed, joining my ranks.
Their skills became mine, flooding my veins with strength that made me tremble with ecstasy.
Flame magic. Spear mastery. Healing incantations twisted into necrotic reversal.
I consumed them all.
Every death was a harvest.
Every corpse was fruit for me to pluck.
I was drunk on it, my laughter manic, unstoppable.
Finally, only the leader remained.
He was bleeding, panting, armor shattered. His blade shook as he pointed it at me.
"You… you're not… a man…"
I stepped closer, my army closing in, dozens of me, dozens of puppets, all grinning the same grin.
"No," I whispered. "I'm not."
I raised my sword.
"I'm hunger."
The final blow fell.
His head rolled across the dirt.
[You have slain an A+-rank Challenger.]
[Skill Acquired: Heaven-Slaying Sword (A-rank).]
The corpse twitched. Then rose.
The wasteland fell silent.
The hunters who had been watching were gone—fled, vanished, praying never to see me again.
Only I remained.
I and my army.
Dozens of hunters.
Dozens of me.
Dozens of elites.
An orchestra of death, waiting for their conductor's baton.
I raised my hand, and they knelt as one.
[System Alert: Calamity Quest Completed.]
[Reward Granted: Evolution of Necromancer's Authority.]
[Processing…]
My chest tightened. The whispers screamed, a chorus of ecstasy.
Yes.
Evolve.
Become what you were meant to be.
A new window opened.
[Authority Evolved: Overlord of Corpses.]
[Effect: All corpses within your domain shall obey. Your death spawns permanent echoes. You are no longer bound by Challenger status.]
I fell to my knees, gasping as the power poured into me.
The ground itself seemed to shiver.
My army's eyes glowed brighter, crimson lights burning like stars.
I exhaled slowly.
"So this… is evolution."
I stood again, taller, heavier, more real than before.
Hunters no longer whispered my name.
The Tower no longer marked me as a Challenger.
I was something else now.
A Calamity.
The horizon burned as the Tower shifted, reality flexing around me.
Somewhere, far above, the gods of the Tower stirred.
I felt them watching. Judging. Whispering.
And for the first time, I whispered back.
"Watch closely."
My smile stretched wide, teeth gleaming red with blood.
"I'm just getting started."