Chapter 31: The sun has risen (4)

"That is that Bone Dragon-"

People couldn't take their eyes off of the white Bone Dragon floating in the night sky.

Its body was a couple meters long.

It was giving off so much pressure that it was difficult to ignore it simply because it was made of bones.

– Hehe. Hey Mary, everybody seems shocked after seeing the Bone Dragon! By the way, black dragons are stronger than white dragons! Hehe!

Mary listened to Raon's voice as she recalled what Cale had told them before he went to meet with Marquis Helson.

'We will reveal things to a degree from here on.'

Approximately fifty to seventy percent…

They would reveal about that much of their abilities.

'I was planning on slowly getting to the center of the enemy lines while going through the test but that's not going to work.'

Cale might not have noticed it, but he was quite angry.

It was the same for Mary.

The reason for their anger was because of a hypothesis that was almost a certainty.

'Would there only be one of these tree monsters?'

No.

They were sure that there were more.

They must be all over this Xiaolen continent.

'And someone is probably dying right now because of one.'

Mary's purple eyes sank low.

SCREEEEEEEEECH—!

The body of the tree root that had numerous bones stabbed onto it screeched and flailed.

The movements were intense.

It looked as if it might be a final struggle.

There were individuals who did not want to miss that moment.

"Why are you letting candidate Heni Wishrop fight but not us?!"

"I'm certain that must be related to the rain cloud! We must investigate it!"

"Protecting the wall is rescuing the Empire! I cannot sit still as a candidate! We will fight as well!"

Some candidates went to the Lord's Castle, some candidates hid after hearing the alarm to protect themselves…

There were also other candidates who wanted to show their abilities.

Some of them wanted to fight against this thing together beyond the wall.

"Unfortunately, no. The Marquis-nim-"

"Then what about them?!"

The Knight Captain of Precinct 9 was in an awkward position. He needed to stop these candidates from fighting against the monster.

It would get complicated if any of them ended up getting hurt inside Precinct 9 while fighting.

The central forces could use it to bring Marquis Helson down.

'Fuck! Normally, they would have stopped by now!'

The candidates were rowdy.

'Why did the First Imperial Prince have to come here?!'

It was because the First Imperial Prince was implicitly supporting the candidates' actions by standing silently with his arms crossed behind them.

The First Imperial Prince had shown up alone without his helpers and had been quietly standing back there since earlier.

"Huuuuuu."

The Knight Captain stood in front of the steps heading up to the wall as he started to speak.

"Candidate Heni Wishrop and her helper suddenly barged in; the Marquis-nim has asked that the candidates wait-"

"Move!"

Candidate 13 dodged the knight and stepped onto the stairs.

The shocked Knight Captain tried to stop him but the three helpers of Candidate 13 blocked the Knight Captain as soon as the candidate moved.

"Shit-!"

That was the beginning. The candidates all rushed onto the wall once they saw the opening.

'These bastards!'

A fire was burning in the Knight Captain's eyes.

'Do they think that the battlefield is a joke?!

How dare they go against the Marquis' orders and move as they please?!'

As for Heni Wishrop and her swordsman… The Knight Captain was planning on scolding them later as well.

'No matter how strong you are, a battle is not something you do alone!'

This was why the Knight Captain hated necromancers.

Quite a lot of them were spoiled brats and did not know how to act properly because people around them started calling them an Emperor candidate and let them do as they pleased once they got the ability.

Of course, it was true that being a necromancer was a sign of glory.

They were able to overcome the pain of dead mana.

However, it was also true that it had become tarnished once it turned into the Emperor's symbol of authority.

There was only one necromancer in the Empire.

The Emperor.

He was extremely powerful but one person could not do everything on every battlefield.

'It's useless.'

Although it was a disrespectful thought, he was someone who thought that a necromancer was useless.

The people who ended up fighting the bloody battles were people like him who were just treated as pawns.

He was pretty sure that there were a lot of people who felt the same way.

"Stop them! Get them!"

"Yes sir!"

He ordered his subordinates and then frowned.

'Shit! It's because that person stepped in!'

The Knight Captain's gaze was vicious as he looked up at Mary who was in the sky.

"Kehehe!"

Candidate 13 arrived on top of the wall at that moment. His body was surrounded by dead mana.

This person was a close combat necromancer like Zero and had a bone spear.

'It is time for me to get the attention!'

The tree root's intense movements had decreased as well.

'It really was a last-ditch effort!'

The tree root should die with a final attack.

He could hear the other candidates approaching behind him.

However, he was ahead of them.

'It is difficult for me to defeat the members of the Imperial family. That is why I need to gather as much of the attention as possible!'

Aside from the Imperial family, Heni Wishrop was strong as well, but…

'The way she handles the bones and that bone dragon of hers was strong.'

However, Heni Wishrop seemed passive and timid based on what he had seen.

She seemed far from the type of person to run rampant.

'The sword master is not doing anything either!'

This sword master was Heni Wishrop's subordinate. He had been shocked after seeing this person but the swordsman was standing still after slashing the monster once.

Choi Han wasn't even looking at the approaching Candidate 13.

'This is my chance!'

He stepped onto the ledge of the wall.

'I'll charge at that dying tree root!

I will kill this thing and reveal my awesomeness to the world!'

"Huh?"

It was at that moment.

Just as he kicked off the wall and jumped up…

Boom, Boom—-!

He saw the scenery beyond the wall.

The ground suddenly started to shake.

The rumbling was more intense than earlier.

"As expected, it was not just one."

The swordsman's voice reached Candidate 13's ears.

He then saw three large tree roots shooting out of the polluted ground.

"Ah..."

The thick black liquid surrounding those tree roots… There was also poisonous air created from dead mana.

That poisonous air was carried by a breeze and reached the candidate's nose.

'I, it's so toxic!'

The poisonous air was extremely toxic.

'No!'

The tree roots viciously charged toward the wall. It was as if it had finished its reconnaissance.

Candidate 13 realized that the first tree root was the weakest of them all.

"N, nooooo! No!"

'I'm going to die.

I'm going to be the first to die!'

"S, save-"

"You are being too loud."

Candidate 13 felt someone grab the back of his neck and pull him back. He turned his head.

The sword master had an innocent smile on his face as he pulled the candidate back.

The man then gently spoke to the candidate.

"Please withdraw if you do not wish to die."

Although the smile was innocent and the voice was gentle, Candidate 13 could see the vicious aura fluctuating around the man's body.

"Ah, oo-"

Choi Han carefully placed the stiff body of Candidate 13, who couldn't even say anything, on the other side of the wall. Of course, it was done while still holding him by the back of his neck.

Choi Han's gaze headed toward the stairs leading up to the wall.

The candidates who had been confidently coming up flinched.

'The area above the wall is different from inside the wall.'

They probably couldn't feel the tree root's venomous aura from inside the wall. They probably couldn't feel this dense aura of dead mana either.

The wall was too high and thick for them to feel it.

Choi Han turned toward the tree roots.

'Those things, no, that thing-

Is running wild because Cale-nim is not here.

The monster controlling the roots is launching an attack because it noticed that Cale-nim is not here.'

"How foolish."

Choi Han mumbled as he put his sword into its scabbard.

Raon had talked to him not too long ago.

'Choi Han, we'll be there soon! The human said that we will leave this place to the smart but cowardly Marquis Helson and go there! Choi Han, he says that he needs you!'

Cale was calling him.

He wanted Choi Han to go capture this monster with him.

Choi Han had no reason to hesitate.

"A, are you lea-"

Choi Han nodded his head at the people above the wall who were anxiously watching him prepare to leave.

"I have something to do but you all should be able to handle this much. Those tree roots are all that have come here."

The swordsman who had blocked Choi Han earlier became anxious and asked with desperation.

"Sir, we are able to handle it but then-"

We will receive quite the damage as well. There would also be a lot of casualties.

The swordsman wanted to say that to keep Choi Han here even if it sounded cowardly and made him look servile.

Reducing the number of casualties and surviving…

That was the most important rule in the edge precincts.

"It is fine."

Choi Han smiled as if he knew what the swordsman wanted to say.

"They are not mine to destroy."

The swordsman felt the area around him grow dark at that moment.

It was bright above the wall despite being night time because of the black magic lights, but he could see a shadow covering the area.

Tap.

Mary descended to the ground.

She gave an order to the large moving bone dragon.

"Bite."

And…

"Rip it up."

The white bone dragon opened its jaw.

"Screeeeeeeeeech-!"

An eerie noise echoed through the area.

The large wing made only of bones started to move.

It caused a gust of wind.

The people on top of the wall subconsciously covered their faces with their arms because of the strong gust of wind. However, their eyes were looking forward.

"…Ah."

The three tree roots…

One of them was grabbed by the white bone dragon's front claw.

Riiiiiip–!

It was then ripped off by the dragon's jaw.

The white bone dragon brutally ripped the tree root apart as if it didn't care about the poisonous air at all.

Boom- boom! Boom!

The other two tree roots charged toward the bone dragon.

The bone dragon kept the one tree root in its jaw while grabbing the other two with its two front claws.

Riiiiiip—!

It then ripped them apart.

It seemed so easy for the bone dragon.

Of course, the poisonous air seeped into the white bones as the black liquid landed on it, but the white bone dragon did not care.

Crack.

Although the poisonous air seeped in so much that some of the bones broke…

The bone dragon did not care.

It did not feel pain.

The white bone dragon didn't even think about its body breaking and only focused on its attack.

It bit down and ripped apart.

It did not look elegant or beautiful in the process.

"Haaa..."

It was simply violent and rough.

The Knight Captain and the knights who had chased after the candidates to stop them could feel the will of the person controlling the white bone dragon through its actions.

It showed her will to destroy the tree roots and to make sure that they did not make it past the wall.

The Knight Captain subconsciously mumbled to himself.

"…Yeah."

Bones do not die.

They were already dead.

"…This is why necromancers are scary."

People who overcame death could control dead mana and bones, things that death left behind.

The Knight Captain looked around.

Scared candidates were blanking out while looking at the white bone dragon.

The Knight Captain looked at the area at the bottom of the wall beyond the candidates.

Heni Wishrop was standing on the ground.

'Hmm?'

The Knight Captain scowled a bit.

'What is going on?'

The First Imperial Prince was approaching Heni Wishrop. Now that he thought about it, First Imperial Prince Sanders, who seemed to support the candidates in their decision to run wild and try to go up the stairs, had quietly stood there.

Now, Sanders was quickly walking toward Mary.

– Hey Mary, why is that Imperial Prince coming here?

He then stood in front of Mary and silently looked at her.

– Is he glaring at our good Mary right now?

The First Imperial Prince looked at Mary with such a fierce gaze that it looked as if he was glaring at her before he hit her shoulder and walked past.

– H, how dare that punk do that to our Mary! I'm going to slam my head against him!

Raon was about to get angry before stopping himself after seeing Mary do something.

– Hey Mary, what is it?

Mary started to walk as if nothing was wrong.

She walked toward a residential area that was empty because everybody had evacuated. She then moved into an alley.

She confirmed that nobody was around her before starting to speak.

"Raon-nim."

She opened her palm.

Sanders had placed something in her palm in that instant when he hit her shoulder and walked past.

– Huh? It's a note!

Mary opened the note.

< Heni Wishrop. >

The handwriting was a mess as if he had not had much time.

It looked as if he had rushed quite a bit.

The note was also not written on a piece of paper.

He seemed to have ripped a piece of his bed sheet to write it.

'It's blood.'

The letters were red.

It was written in blood.

– …Hey Mary. I think we should inform the human about this right away.

Raon's voice sank low after confirming the contents of the note.

Mary's gaze sank even lower.

< All of the necromancers who lose the candidate test die as humans. However, they are reborn as something that is not human. >

There was only one instance of being reborn as something not human.

Undead.

< Those things that are reborn are still able to use a portion of their necromancer abilities. >

< The Emperor controls those necromancers. >

< The Emperor is their host. >

Mary's gaze moved.

"Young master-nim."

Cale and Eruhaben appeared in the dark alley.

—
Translator's Comments

B, b, blood message?

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]