I Became The Academy Necromancer

Chapter 270: Reunion

Udduduududdudududuudu!

It was like the sound of a drum declaring the advance, announcing their presence while intimidating their opponents.

As the Blood Horses stormed forward, the trembling ground caused everyone above to tense up.

It was like the charge of a knights’ cavalry.

As they watched the hunters rush in, Darius just had one thought.

“Move behind the wooden barricades! Defend the barricades at all costs!”

As Darius bellowed his orders, the soldiers moved in perfect unison. Taking cover behind the stacked wooden barricades, they only needed to hold their ground for a moment to block the charge.

While the Blood Horses were closer to demonic monsters than regular warhorses, they were still horses.

If they failed to break through on their first charge, they would end up being trampled by the spears coming from below.

“Get down! Arrows incoming!”

It seemed they weren’t called hunters for nothing. Some shot arrows while riding the Blood Horses, and their accuracy was nothing to scoff at. However, the arrows were eventually blocked by the wooden barricade, causing minimal damage.

At the head of the charging hunters was a man with dirty blonde hair with a spear in his grasp.

His hair flowed back, brushing his shoulders, reminiscent of a lion’s mane, and his muscular torso, clad only in a fur vest, displayed muscles that truly resembled those of a beast.

“Is that man Lanhardt?”

Darius could now understand why Whalebelter had described the man as lion-like. He could see the rationale behind the comparison.

He exuded a presence that demanded the title of ‘King of the Jungle.’

Realizing that the man was far from ordinary, Darius swallowed hard, his fingers twitching.

Though his desire as a martial artist to face him head-on was on the rise, first and foremost, he was here as the Margrave.

Hence, it was only natural that the strongest force on their side should clash with the enemy’s strongest.

“Huff.”

Standing at Darius’ side, Findenai exhaled a white breath. She had already adopted the demeanor of a predator, her blood-red eyes fixed on her prey.

A harsh cold surged from the Snow White she was holding.

With steam rising from her War Shoes, Findenai surged forward.

“Huh? W-wait a minute!”

Darius was startled by Findenai’s sudden rush, and by the time he noticed, she was already charging ahead.

“M-Ms. Findenai?!”

“Chief!”

Findenai took the lead, going past the wooden barricade and pressing onward. Darius’ soldiers were taken aback, and it wasn’t just them— even the Scrapyard Nomads, who had come to lend a hand, were caught off guard by their chief’s strange behavior.

Crash!

Using both hands, she plunged Snow White into the ground.

And then, an icy chill began to spread.

The ground quickly froze over, turning into sharp ice crystals or rising to create spear-like formations, creating another wall that blocked the enemy’s charge.

“Gasp, gasp.”

Sweat dripping down Findenai’s cheek froze in an instant as her body trembled from the cold.

Why?

Darius wondered why she had acted so recklessly all of a sudden. But as soon as he saw the Blood Horses charging, he understood.

Even after being wounded by the ice crystals in the air and their hooves were pierced by the ice spikes sprouting from the ground, the horses did not stop their charge.

Had Findenai not rushed ahead and weakened the momentum of the charge slightly, the barricades would have been destroyed, the soldiers overwhelmed and trampled, and death would have followed swiftly.

“Finden...ai...”

Darius was in awe.

Thanks to her quick judgment, Findenai had managed to prevent the tide of the entire battle from being thrown off course.

The reason she was able to quickly assess the enemy’s abilities and take immediate action was because of her beast-like instincts and her heightened sensitivity to danger she had honed during her time in the resistance.

“Run! Run! Run!”

“Ignore them and just charge!”

The fierce shouts of the hunters mounted on Blood Horses resounded.

“Block them!”

“Stick to the barricades! If we are forced to fall back here, I won’t be able to show my face to the Chief!”

The Norseweden soldiers and the Scrapyard Nomads resisted their charge.

The two sides kept shouting at each other, trying to outdo each other in volume.

Boom!

Even though the Blood Horses’ charge had subsided a little, part of the barricade was pushed back and shattered to pieces when they collided.

The resounding signal for the start of battle rang out in all its grandeur.

However, at the front of the charge, the man leading the hunters did not continue forward; instead, he stopped abruptly.

Before the halberd came swinging down, Lanhardt called back the Blood Horse right in front of a woman whose silver hair was blown by the wind.

“Your excellent judgment just saved countless lives.”

“Huff.”

Pulling Snow White from the ground, Findenai assumed a stance. Her visible stream of breath made it look like she was holding a cigarette.

“So you came here to kill the Mountain Lord, huh? You’ve got quite the nerve.”

“Just trying to kill him on the side.”

Lanhardt spoke nonchalantly as if killing the Mountain Lord, a being far beyond human strength, was not that big of a deal.

He ignored the weight of his words and asked while stroking his chin.

“So, you’re the wolf guarding the mountain range, huh? You indeed fit the description.”

“Do you think we are the same beast, huh? Don’t act like you’re close to me—”

Findenai, who was about to express her frustration openly while catching her breath, suddenly stopped.

The sudden shift caught even Lanhardt off guard.

“Wait a minute, what?”

Who told Lanhardt about her?

Having left the Scrapyard Nomads and now living as Deus Verdi’s maid, the general public had pretty much no idea about her existence.

But now, someone had told Lanhardt about her.

“There’s someone who knows about me?”

“Hmm, curious aren’t you? I’m sure no one would expect a person as skilled as you to be hiding.”

“Stop dodging the question and tell me, who the hell was it?”

Lanhardt’s eyebrows twitched at Findenai’s persistent questioning.

However, since he greatly valued the judgment and abilities she had shown just moments before.

“You showed something good, so I’ll return the favor and tell you.”

Lanhardt spoke briefly about the man.

It was a brief and simple explanation.

“I don’t know where he came from.”

But it was exactly what Findenai had been hoping to hear.

“But a Necromancer told me.”

Findenai’s pupils trembled violently. The information was so shocking that she almost forgot how to breathe.

This was exactly what she had been longing for.

“Huff.”

Then, the atmosphere changed dramatically.

The heat radiating from Findenai’s body began to overwhelm even the cold discharged by Snow White.

The physical exhaustion caused by her use of Snow White was long forgotten.

As excitement surged within her, a twisted smile appeared on Findenai’s face.

“Did that bastard tell you anything else about me? Like ‘she’s beautiful, fucking sexy, or that he wants to devour her’?”

“Hmm? No, he didn’t say anything like that.”

“Oh? Really? Is that sooo?”

Whoosh!

With a powerful swing of Snow White, Findenai took a large step forward.

Lanhardt, the man she had considered an enemy just moments ago, was already insignificant in her eyes.

“Move. I’m headed to see that motherfucker Master Bastard’s face.”

***The fierce battle was under way.

A brutal clash between those defending the Mountain Range and those trying to breach it.

Making them look somewhat ridiculous, I was already making my way up the mountain range.

“How... how do you know about this path?”

Xiao Hu, following me closely, looked at the path I was taking with awe. Since the mountain range was naturally treacherous, it was nearly impossible to climb it without a trail.

That was the reason they were fighting so hard over the entrance.

However, I was ascending the mountain via a hidden path.

“I just learned about it a long time ago.”

I had heard about these secret trails from the Mountain Lord occasionally.

And while I’d never actually used them before, I was glad I hadn’t dismissed it back then.

“But... what are you planning to do after we enter the Mountain Range?”

Since I couldn’t leave Xiao Hu behind, I brought her along, though I hadn’t explained the reason.

Without stopping my steps, I answered as I continued upward.

“Meet the Mountain Lord.”

“Wha-what?! T-that’s dangerous! The guardian deity is probably in a terrible mood!”

Xiao Hu looked like she wanted to turn back immediately. But she knew there was no going back now, so she followed me while muttering her complaints under her breath.

“Y-you have a plan, right?”

“Of course. Don’t worry too much.”

“Hmm?”

As soon as she heard the sound of a snort from above, Xiao Hu’s body turned stiff. Feeling nervous, the girl hid behind me.

Xiao Hu began to tremble due to the unfamiliar voice, but for me, it was all too familiar, and I had longed for it.

Click.

“I came here just in case...”

The sound of a shotgun being loaded echoed. As I looked up the path, I saw a short-haired woman in a coat with a shotgun slung over her shoulder.

Deia Verdi was looking down at me.

“I never imagined someone would actually know about this path.”

I almost called her name instinctively, but the intense hostility in her voice stopped me.

“Put your hands where I can see them unless you want a hole in your head.”

The gun’s aim didn’t waver.

If I even made the slightest move, she’d pull the trigger without hesitation.

I knew it was proper to greet her, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate.

Ah.

I finally understood why I didn’t want to meet them in my current form.

It was fear.

The fear that they might not accept my current appearance as Kim Shinwoo.

I felt almost childish for worrying about this, but it also made me realize just how important they had become to me.

“What, is your head just for decoration? Or is it tough enough to deflect bullets?”

“W-what are you doing?!”

While Deia sneered, Xiao Hu urged me from behind.

I could say I was frightened in a different way, yet I had no intention of running.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

I uttered a meaningful phrase.

Normally, this wouldn’t have revealed anything significant. Deia might have simply scowled, asking if I knew her. However...

“Huh?”

As soon as she heard my words, her eyes opened wide, as if she sensed something, and she stared straight at me.