The Game of the Greatest Black Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 64

Anemor looked around and thought.

It was definitely dead, yet... why?

A faint sensation of being alive still lingered.

Its own corpse was clearly visible below, floating in the air.

Yet, it could still think and even move.

The problem was...

-Screech?!

Seonghyun could see this spectral Anemor as well.

At first, fear had surfaced, but no longer.

Instead, emotions like trust, respect, and worship towards Seonghyun bloomed within Anemor, equal in measure to its previous fear.

Now it could be on his side.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Anemor trembled.

Or rather, its spirit trembled, for it no longer had a body.

If only it could be of use to that great being, it would dedicate everything it had.

As Anemor was thinking this, Seonghyun approached and asked,

"Will you come with me?"

-SCREEEECH——!

Anemor nodded vigorously, expressing its joy.

As expected of Seonghyun, beloved by all ghosts.

Even his slain enemies wholeheartedly offered their love.

It was a truly frightening ability, but...

This was a common occurrence for Seonghyun, so...

He accepted Anemor without a second thought.

First, he needed to utilize its power.

It was quite powerful in life, after all.

Wouldn't his stats increase considerably?

As Seonghyun absorbed Anemor's memories and experiences...

['Unknown Power' has allowed you to achieve something impossible at your current level.]

[Strength +2, Agility +10, Stamina +3 permanently increased.]

'Oh?'

The total stat increase from absorbing the memories and experiences of the demonic beast Barpur was 8.

Anemor provided 15, almost double that amount.

He had acquired a soul more powerful than that of Barpur.

Quite a satisfying additional reward.

Above all...

[Target cannot be turned into a 『Death Knight』 due to low level.]

This message popped up when he looked at Anemor's corpse.

It also meant that Anemor could be turned into a knight once the level requirement was met.

He didn't know when that would be, but...

He could store the body in the netherworld for later, just like he did with Barpur's.

Didn't the same thing happen when he acquired Barpur's body?

It seemed like Anemor would become a very powerful ally in the future.

As Seonghyun was feeling satisfied...

-We dedicate our victory to the Lord.

-T-To the Lord, we offer the spoils of war.

Balthar and Fiora bowed in worship.

They held up Anemor's corpse as if it were a tribute to him.

Seeing this, Seonghyun thought,

'Securing the next legion commander?'

Anemor would be more than capable of fulfilling the role of the next legion commander.

Anticipation bloomed.

Without delay, he opened the gate to the netherworld.

The two, realizing Seonghyun's intention, carried Anemor's corpse and entered the netherworld.

As all the soldiers were returning to the netherworld, Seonghyun temporarily placed Anemor's ghost into a vacant Giant Killer Bee undead.

For now, the only undead capable of aerial movement were the Giant Killer Bees.

With that settled, all the soldiers entered the netherworld.

Therefore, Seonghhyun couldn't hear...

The conversation between Balthar and Fiora.

-Fiora? I can't believe it.

-I-I'm glad to see you too, B-Balthar.

-To think the Lord could implant your soul like this... Does that mean...?

-Yes, yes!!! Helena is also with him!!!

The two rejoiced in their conversation.

They might be able to meet their old master again, the one who showed mercy even to lowly heroes and sacrificed herself for them.

However, Balthar asked with a puzzled expression,

-But if your soul is here, what happens to your body? Wouldn't your body remain dormant without a soul?

-Ah, ah. Y-Yes...

-Hmm, I'm sure the Lord has a plan. You'll have to stay in that body for now.

-I-I think so too.

Where Seonghyun couldn't hear, the reason why the young shapeshifter couldn't awaken was being revealed.

0.

Seonghyun, having closed the gate to the netherworld and dealt with Anemor's body and ghost, turned his attention to the raid rewards.

What he had obtained just now were supplementary rewards.

Now it was time to open the real rewards.

Since the Luna team was still dazed, it seemed like a good time to check the rewards.

He had obtained quite a few things.

First, there was the new Overlord-exclusive skill obtained after surpassing level 60, the set item, the skill book, the titles, and finally, the item.

Seonghyun, who preferred to save the best for last, first checked the titles, which were likely to be the lowest rank.

He had gained three titles this time.

All of them were raid-related.

『Rookie Raider』

→《Rare》

→Title given to a user who has defeated a raid boss.

→Increases maximum health by +5% when facing a raid boss.

『Genius Raider』

→《Unique》

→Title given to a user who has defeated a raid boss solo.

→Increases all recovery by +10% in raid fields.

→Further enhances rewards when defeating a raid boss solo.

『Anemor Slayer』

→《Unique》

→Title given to the user who first defeated 『Guardian of Wind, Anemor』.

→Allows flight three times a day.

→Allows summoning of a storm whirlwind once a day.

→Increases wind resistance by +10%.

→Increases wind affinity by +10%.

'Oh!?'

From 『Rookie Raider』 to 『Genius Raider』, and finally 『Anemor Slayer』.

The lowest-rank Rare title, 『Rookie Raider』, certainly had a vague effect, but the other two were different.

'The recovery and additional reward bonuses are understandable, but 『Anemor Slayer』 is really good.'

The options to summon a storm whirlwind and increase resistance and affinity were quite appealing.

Especially the options to increase resistance and affinity, which he had heard were quite rare to come by.

To think he'd obtain them like this...

He was satisfied with the unexpectedly good effects.

After a moment of contemplation, he opened the set items all at once.

He did have the Hunter of the Forest set equipped, but...

It was time for a replacement.

Hopefully, this could replace the Hunter of the Forest set.

With that thought, Seonghyun opened the item effects.

『Wind Feather Armor』

→《Unique》

→Chest armor crafted using the feathers and hide of raid boss Anemor.

→Lighter than any other armor, allowing for noticeably increased agility.

→Evasion +15%.

『Anemor's Wing Boots』

→《Unique》

→Boots made from the hide and feathers of the wing portion of Guardian of Wind, Anemor.

→Crafted from Anemor's wings, these are lighter than any other shoes, enhancing agility.

→Movement speed +30%.

『Anemor's Wind Ring』

→《Unique》

→Ring of wind crafted from Anemor's bones.

→Allows for the activation of an effect at any desired moment, regardless of any active spells or incoming attacks.

→Possesses a wind that seems capable of piercing anything.

→Penetration +10% when attacking with a weapon.

→Three times a day, when attacking, the wearer can choose to generate a gust of wind that strongly pushes the target back.

『Anemor's Feather Cloak』

→《Unique》

→A cloak made from Anemor's hide, with a noticeable off-white color.

→Said to be lighter than the wind itself, making the wearer equally light.

→Movement Speed +20%.

→Evasion +10%.

『Guardian of the Wind Set (4/4)』

→ Attack speed +15%.

→ Evasion +10%.

→ Attack power +5%.

→ Allows the use of "Wind Shield" twice a day, which blocks a certain amount of attacks from all directions.

He confirmed that it was a set item consisting of four pieces.

The chest armor and boots could replace the corresponding pieces in his Hunter of the Forest set.

On the other hand, he could still keep the gloves and dagger he was using as a secondary weapon, allowing him to partially benefit from the Hunter of the Forest set effect.

'Wow, all the options are good.'

Seonghyun couldn't help but admire the item effects.

From the armor to the cloak, they were all excellent items that he had to equip.

The set effect was also quite good.

The options now surpassed those of the Hunter of the Forest set.

There was even a skill attached to the set effect.

Speaking of Wind Shield...

'Is that what Anemor used in the first phase?'

It seemed to be the skill that Balthar and Fiora used before attacking.

He had thought it was a powerful defensive skill, and now he had obtained it.

Anemor's Wind Ring also had a knockback effect that could be used three times a day.

He really liked it.

He would have to test this out as well.

After examining all the items, Seonghyun took out the other items as well.

The Essence of Wind and another item, which was a skill book.

He took out the Essence of Wind first.

『Essence of Wind』

→《Unique》

→Material Item

→The essence containing the soul of the wind.

→When used in alchemy or crafting, it can bestow wind-related effects.

'As expected, the Essence of Wind is a material item. And the skill book is...'

Was this a dud?

Seonghyun wasn't too disappointed.

He could just sell it after all.

And he still had the other skill book.

He checked the remaining skill book.

『Skillbook-Summon Storm Spirit』

→《Unique》

→Consumable

→Can only be used by Spiritmancer class jobs.

→A skill book containing the Summon Storm Spirit skill.

→Using it allows you to learn the Summon Storm Spirit skill.

*When using the Tome of Despair, the rank remains the same, but it randomly transforms into a Black Mage class skill book.

It was a skill book that could only be used by Spiritmancer classes.

However, seeing the note at the bottom, Seonghyun smiled faintly.

'The Tome of Despair truly is a cheat item.'

In cases like this, instead of selling the skill book, he could use it himself.

The random aspect was a bit unsettling, though.

In any case, the rank remained the same.

It didn't really matter.

They were satisfying rewards.

He'd change the skill book later.

He opened the last remaining reward.

Or rather, it was a skill obtained from leveling up, not a reward.

This time, it was a Legendary rank skill.

'Let's see.'

『Swirling Blood』

→《Legendary》

→[Lv 1][Growth Type]

[Instant Effect][Active]

[Cooldown 10 minutes]

[Duration 10 seconds]

Swirling blood sweeps the battlefield, eventually consuming all blood.

→ Overlord exclusive skill.

→ Summons a blood vortex that sweeps the battlefield.

→ Enemies with blood have their blood absorbed with each hit.

→ The absorbed blood makes the vortex larger and fiercer.

'Oh?!'

His first area-of-effect skill.

Thanks to the Death Legion, he hadn't felt the need for one, but recently, during the capture of the Fortress of the Past, he had felt the lack of an area-of-effect skill.

To think he'd obtain it like this...

He wasn't worried about its performance.

There was no doubt that none of the Overlord skills lacked in performance.

In this raid as well, Monarch's Silence and the Wraith of the Dead had played a big role.

Therefore, he had no worries.

He had more things to test now, from items to skills.

'Should I go to the others now?'

He had checked all the rewards.

It was time to return to the Luna team, who were still dazed and murmuring.

1.@@novelbin@@

While Seonghyun was checking the rewards, the Luna team was murmuring amongst themselves.

"H-He really caught it..."

"A-Alone..."

"Hmm, I-It took about 10 minutes, right~?"

"9 minutes 57 seconds..."

Even after hearing it, they could only react with disbelief at Hwawol's words.

That was the amount of time other teams had barely managed to hold out.

However, Seonghyun had defeated Anemor in that time.

Would there ever be anyone who could surpass this record?

No, would there even be a team?

At least, the Luna team could confidently assert that there would never be.

"F-First kill, and a s-solo raid at that."

"...Wasn't this his first raid ever?"

"H-Hmm~ Has there ever been someone like that~?"

"Fuck, of course not!"

Hwawol exclaimed in frustration, but no one rebuked her for it.

No one could fault her feelings at that moment.

It was a truly unbelievable record.

At first, there had been envy and jealousy.

It felt like the Rapid Guild was putting all their effort into raising him.

The Luna team was also considered the best among the rookies, weren't they?

Therefore, Longfeng, Hwawol, and even Elzahar had shown some jealousy.

But at this point...

They couldn't even bring themselves to be jealous.

Jealousy only arises when the difference is manageable.

No one here was foolish enough to be jealous after witnessing such an overwhelming gap.

And no one had ever heard of such a record, not in the Rapid Guild, nor in any other guild.

Not just in the East Asian server, but globally.

Which meant...

'Huh.'

'Hmm.'

'Really now.'

'...Perhaps.'

The thought arose that the Rapid Guild might be securing a new single-player ranker.

It was still a long way off, but...

Everyone was having such thoughts when Luna suddenly remembered something.

The Rapid Guild was one of the guilds that had been around since the early days.

The same was true for Yuna.

However, Luna knew that no one could keep up with Yuna, so she was still hunting alone.

Yuna herself preferred to be alone, but Guild Master Rapid had occasionally mentioned it with a troubled expression.

-It's difficult because there's no one to back up Yuna. If it weren't for that, she would have already reached the top 5... It's a shame.

Yuna had brushed it off with a "It's okay," but...

It remained deeply ingrained in Luna's mind.

Therefore, Luna made a new resolution and said to her teammates,

"...I think it's time we stopped acting individually."

"...Then?"

"Hmm~ Join forces?"

"..."

"I heard that Yuna doesn't have a backup team, so she's been leveling alone and still going solo, even though she could have raised her ranking a long time ago."

Those words caused everyone's eyes to waver.

Not just the Luna team gathered here, but most of the members of the Rapid Guild respected and admired Yuna.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that everyone did.

So many had stepped forward to try to be Yuna's backup.

But the gap had already widened so much that it wasn't easy to catch up.

Most of them knew that it was an impossible task.

And with Luna's words, everyone realized.

"If this continues, Seonghyun might end up the same..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"We may not be needed, but... shouldn't we at least try our best to be his backup?"

Luna's words struck everyone like a blow to the head, leaving them dazed.

Everyone wants to be the best.

But what if they hit a wall?

And what if they found someone more deserving of that position?

Shouldn't they prepare to make him the king?

If they couldn't be the king...

"We'll make the king."

At those words, everyone's eyes lit up.

They all nodded in agreement with Luna.

It could be seen as a cruel reality, or even a pathetic sight.

They could be called losers who succumbed to reality and settled.

But it didn't matter.

As long as they could become Seonghyun's backup team.

With that resolve...

Someone approached and asked,

"What were you talking about?"

It was Seonghyun, of course, and Luna, startled, let out a scream.

"Kyaaa!"

"...?"

Seonghyun was bewildered by her reaction.

What had he done to make her dislike him so much?

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]