Chapter 261

1.

Necromancer Lord.

A lord hell-bent on invading Lumencia, the City of Seven Lights.

No, that's how he was known.

The drab and ominous-looking ashen castle visible in the distance, away from Lumencia, was the Necromancer Lord's castle.

It was close enough to be seen with the naked eye, but not many users had reached the Necromancer Lord's castle yet.

Because it was anything but easy.

It took a whopping two months just to get the quest to enter the castle.

And beyond just being tedious, the difficulty was considerable.

Countless people couldn't do it even after looking at the guides.

The number of people who had entered the Necromancer Lord's castle was bound to be small.

Even those who did enter the Necromancer Lord's castle had never met the Necromancer Lord himself.

No user had met the Necromancer Lord so far, and the final quest ended with defeating a sub-boss remaining in the castle.

Users had concluded that no one would reach the end of the scenario until a hidden quest was discovered.

Even knowing that, a considerable number of users couldn't give up because of the attractive "hero vs. demon king" scenario.

And who knows, they might be the one to get the hidden quest.

They rushed in like moths to a flame.

However, the biggest reason most people couldn't go straight to the castle even after spending two months to get the quest was because of a raid monster that existed in front of the castle.

The very reason the Prism Effect party was recruiting additional members.

Wraith Rider Razak.

They had recruited a new party member because Razak was the gatekeeper to the Necromancer Lord's castle.

But right now, the Prism Effect party members couldn't help but be shocked.

Was it because of Seonghyun's appearance, melting the undead with overwhelming firepower from beautiful violet flames?

No.

"Wow..., is this for real?"

"...He's amazing, truly amazing."

"Why is someone like that still without a guild..."

"Maybe he has some circumstances? Or maybe he likes to travel in a small group like us?"

The reason the four were so amazed by Seonghyun's overwhelming performance was something else.

They were already aware of his might, so they weren't surprised by his firepower.

After seeing Seonghyun's firepower, they all checked the information that appeared in the party window.

Then they saw the party member window.

『??-Lv.220-(????)』

『Ir-Lv.242-(??????)』

『Stella-Lv.242-(?????)』

『Claudine-Lv.242-(?????)』

『Basque-Lv.242-(?????)』

Even though there was a level difference of 20, Seonghyun's firepower was stronger.

They couldn't help but be surprised.

'No wonder he mentioned the Rapid Guild's Demon King when I mentioned a demon king.'

'So he was a newbie who just arrived.'

'Then that makes sense.'

'It's plausible he wouldn't know.'

When they recalled his initial reaction after seeing Seonghyun's level.

It made sense.

It was plausible that a level 220 user who had just arrived in the seventh region wouldn't know about the Demon King.

By the way, he was definitely level 220, but.

'What kind of firepower does a level 220 have...'

'I thought he had a high-rank class, but he's even more amazing than I thought.'

'This is no joke.'

'So cool.'

The range and power were certainly enormous.

Everyone was amazed as they swept through the monsters in their respective areas.

Of course, Seonghyun was the first to finish, and the others were about the same after him.

As the battle more or less ended.

They gathered around.

"Phew, they certainly get stronger the closer we get."

Everyone nodded in agreement at Ir's words.

Seonghyun also belatedly nodded.

Honestly, he didn't feel much of a difference, but he reacted as if he did.

It had been a while since he had partied up to hunt, so it was fine.

It was a bit frustrating, to be honest.

But the efficiency was better than he thought.

'The regenerating mana is enough to handle it.'

Since they were hunting in a party, he didn't have to use too much mana, and it was particularly good that everything fell with just a moderate amount.

It was a thought that would have made the Prism Effect party fall over in surprise if they had heard it.

'To think that's the firepower he can produce with just that much mana.'

In any case, Seonghyun was also quite satisfied.

After a short break.

They diligently headed toward the Necromancer Lord's castle, which was now right before their eyes.

How long had they been walking?

"Yoohyeon-nim, we're about to enter the area where Razak appears, so you have to be careful."

The party leader, Ir, said to Seonghyun.

Seonghyun nodded at his words.

He remembered that Razak was the gatekeeper, so Seonghyun was also somewhat tense as he headed toward the castle.

Just then.

A cold wind blew from somewhere.

Seonghyun was the first to notice the change.

"Everyone, be careful...!"

The first to react to Seonghyun's urgent cry was Stella, the tank.

She lifted a shield larger than herself and deployed a barrier, and a dome-shaped barrier that enveloped all the party members spread out.

Woooong!

As the translucent blue dome-shaped barrier stood firm.

A sharp blade aura, like a pure white chill, fell upon it.

Kwagagagagaga!!!

A loud grating sound, as if it would shave off the barrier, spread through the area.

The barrier, which seemed like it would firmly protect the party members, soon began to crack.

The tank, Stella, who noticed this, had her eyes wide open.

Her barrier was breaking in a single blow.

It was no wonder she was surprised.

In the midst of that, the party leader, Ir, assessed the situation and shouted urgently.

"Scatter!"

With that shout, the cracks that had formed in the barrier instantly spread throughout the entire dome-shaped barrier.

And almost simultaneously with the shout, the sharp, pure white blade aura imbued with cold shattered the barrier and was about to strike the party members below, but.

There was no one there anymore.

Seonghyun, Ir, and Claudine teleported back, and the rest dodged out of the way.

And before them, they could see a ghost horse, a mix of pure white, blue, and black, and a ghost knight riding on it.

[You have encountered the raid monster, 『Wraith Rider, Razak』.]

[The raid will begin.]

Seonghyun felt a little awkward without the usual warning message.

But that wasn't important right now.

Razak had launched a surprise attack.

And looking at the party members, he raised his sword with no change in expression, as if it were business as usual.

Just as they were preparing for another attack, another message appeared before them.

[The raid monster, 『Wraith Rider, Razak』, summons his soldiers.]

With that message, a cold chill swirled around.

A storm of cold that emerged from Razak swept through the area.

A storm so fierce it was hard to open one's eyes even for a moment.

But there was a sound that could be clearly heard within it.

Crack, crackle!

Crack-crackle!

Crackle! Crack!

The sound of ice breaking and something splitting.

And while the others couldn't see it, Seonghyun could see it clearly.

'They're coming out of the ground.'

Thinking it was a rather interesting ability, Seonghyun prepared himself.

The number of soldiers was surprisingly large.

‘He's not called a gatekeeper for nothing.'

And he also realized why Prism Effect was recruiting a new party member.

That number would certainly be burdensome.

However…

'Inferno Lord is more useful than I thought.'

Wasn't the role Seonghyun was currently playing a flame mage?

The matchup was perfect.

Just as Seonghyun was inwardly pleased.

Ir shouted urgently.

"E-everyone, prepare!"

Ir seemed flustered by the unexpectedly large number of soldiers.

That's why Seonghyun stepped forward.

"I'll take care of the soldiers."

"B-b...ut!"

The moment Ir tried to argue.

Claudine spoke.

"Let's do as Yoohyeon-nim says!"

Not only had they already seen his sufficient firepower, but more importantly, Seonghyun had the advantage in terms of type matchup.

That's why Claudine shouted quickly.

Although Ir was the party leader, Claudine also played the role of a shot-caller, so Ir had no choice but to nod.

It was too many to face alone.

But that was precisely why they had to trust Seonghyun.

"We're counting on you!"

At Ir's words, Seonghyun simply nodded and created a giant wall of violet flame, trapping all the soldiers.

The other party members trusted Seonghyun and, leaving that area to him, charged toward Razak.

In contrast to the Prism Effect party desperately charging at Razak, Seonghyun was handling Razak's soldiers very simply while maintaining the violet flame wall.

To Seonghyun, this number of soldiers was nothing.

He watched the Prism Effect party with some leisure.

'There aren't many parties that coordinate that well.'

He watched to see how they fought.

First, the tank, Stella, was able to reach Razak.

The first skill she used instantly dyed her shield a bluish-green, and then she struck Razak with the shield.

Kwwaaaaang!!!

A faint vibration was felt even on the ground where Seonghyun stood, as if a rather strong blow had landed.

He thought it was an attack skill, but.

Razak's eyes changed after being hit by the attack, and he looked only at Stella.

'It was an aggro skill.'

Immediately after, he brought his sword down on Stella, and Stella blocked it with her shield.

Kkakakakak!!!

A sharp grating sound was heard, and Stella's expression quickly hardened.

She had blocked it, but as if some damage had been transferred, Stella couldn't hold back the pain and cried out.

"Ugh."

At the short scream, a heal flew in from behind in an instant.

And a purification settled on Stella's shield, which had been struck by Razak's blade aura.

Then, Basque, who appeared behind Razak, wielded two daggers imbued with red energy and swung them at Razak's neck in an X-shape.

However…

Kkakakak!!!

Razak's shield blocked it brilliantly, and Basque's voice, filled with dismay, echoed.

"Damn it...!!!"

With that, Razak's shield was swung, and Basque raised the hands that had swung the daggers to defend, but.

"Keoheok!"

Overwhelming damage swept through his entire body.

A timely heal settled upon Basque.

But it couldn't completely heal the damage he had just taken from the counterattack.

To think a single blow, seemingly just a casual swing of the shield, could deal so much damage.

But there was no time to be surprised.

After sending Basque flying, Razak moved again to attack Stella.

The aggro was still focused on Stella.

Like a true tank, Stella used various defensive skills.

And at that moment, Razak used the same blade aura that had shattered her barrier before.

The sharp, pure white blade aura descended upon Stella, and the blade aura spread over Stella's shield, which was covered in defensive skills.

"Heup!"

Stella held her breath and blocked the blade aura.

And from behind her, a pure white light flashed.

A giant pillar of light fell from the sky onto Razak's head.

Kwwaaaaa!!!

It was truly a baptism of light.

But as if that wasn't enough, Razak emanated a menacing aura from his eyes, shattered the pillar of light, and stepped forward.

'So this is a gatekeeper.'

Just as that thought entered the minds of the Prism Effect party members.

A violet flame rose up around them and wrapped around Razak.

Fwooshh!!!

Unlike during the baptism of light, Razak raised his shield and defended, emitting a cold aura.

And toward that Razak, Seonghyun walked over.

"The s-soldiers...? Ah???"

As Ir asked about the soldiers and looked behind him where they had been.

There was already nothing there.

Seonghyun looked at the astonished Prism Effect party and said.

"I'll be joining you now."

Words more reassuring than anything else.