READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 902
<902 – Dark Shadow vs Dark Shadow (11)>
Every time the Death Zone refreshes, the energy of darkness increases.
The accessibility to the special dimension, the Netherworld, enhances.
In the weekly event, Death World, there is a potential for the catastrophic landmine event [God of Death] to manifest as a hard counter to the bug-like gameplay of infinite gacha in the Death Zone.
But everything in this world can be interpreted in different ways.
The fact that Seonhwang Papa, who has been trapped in the Netherworld, could lure out his nemesis, the God of Death, into the Middle Realm could also be seen as a tremendous advantage.
Depending on the player’s capabilities, one could even achieve the feat of early subduing the [God of Death], ranking among the top twenty divine classes before the One Hundred Dimension Continuous Defense begins.
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[Dragon Train Ride Review]
-Okashii-ne: Hehehe. With so many coordinates of the inverted dimension connected, the God of Death might appear, but placing such a door in the main facility is truly bizarre.
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The fact that the coordinates of the inverted dimension serve as a shortcut to summon the God of Death was already confirmed by Grandpa of the Okashii-ne early on.
“Professor Sadako!”
“No.”
“Uh, what if…”
“No way.”
“Hmph. You’re rejecting me without even knowing what I’m going to say.”
“A cat that climbs a tree only looking at the fruit cannot come down on its own.”
The bond between a professor and a student is said to be so deep that they can understand each other’s feelings with just a glance, and Professor Sadako seemed to gauge my thoughts just by looking into my eyes.
Of course, I also anticipated that the professor would respond this way and had already prepared my persuasion method.
“But Professor Mahabharata ascended and became a deity, right? It’s so unfair to think that my necromancy master, Professor Sadako, fell behind in the ascension competition!”
“You thought of me… like that?”
“Of course. Just like how the best papa among papas is Seonhwang Papa, the best master among masters is Professor Sadako. If she succeeds, our necromancy students will thrive too!”
Professor Sadako often leaves the academy without students, but conversely, she stays if at least one student clings to her.
Though she tends to chase away students, claiming it’s bothersome, once she starts the lecture, she is surprisingly enthusiastic.
Even innocent Titosso screams in terror and faints due to the professor’s genuine dedication to preparing her lectures!
She really loves students who appreciate her passion.
The act of begging Professor Sadako like this is akin to appealing for her to immediately abduct me as a teaching assistant, but the route to early subduing the God of Death is worth the risk of going from a teaching assistant to a graduate student to corruption!
“Next month, there’s a necromancer conference. Wanna come with me?”
“Sure!”
“Great. I’ll pack a lunch.”
Hearing our conversation, Sadi Chocolate was hovering nearby, unable to hide her astonishment.
The sight of trading the subjugation of a deity for simply attending a conference is something that can only be understood with the strong bond between a master and disciple like Professor Sadako and me!
But surely, I won’t be surrounded by the lunch box she brings, right?
“Oops, here we go again.”
“This time, the remaining students are holding a large-scale funeral ceremony.”
“How strong could the opponent be?”
The number of Undead Instructors clicked their tongues as they watched the souls of academy students flying towards Karon’s Rowboat.
The sight of translucent spirit bodies flying in a line, covering the sky, was beautiful in color, yet it was chilling when one recalled its meaning.
“Ah. It’s Titosso.”
“It’s real!”
Among the dead souls, there was one shining like a supernova, brightly illuminating the darkness.
It was Titosso, whose soul had begun to radiate the light attribute from being carried around so often.
As a result, the souls that died at the same time as Titosso panicked, either fleeing far away or suffering from blindness.
A nuisance even in death, dealing damage to allies.
I need to bring him back and scold him!
As I reached out for him, Titosso was already coming toward me.
It wasn’t his intention but rather the work of Professor Sadako who, unable to overlook the nuisance, intervened.
“There’s a risk of massive spiritual ascension. Pain is one of the conditions under which the dead flee to the afterlife. If the students ascend, even if we summon their souls, the newborn spirits that are supposed to inhabit them might either be morons or stillborn.”
The professor’s serious demeanor, worrying about the side effects of collective ascension, reincarnation, and forced returns, was impressive.
Still, I won’t be a teaching assistant.
“Even if so, just the survivors would end up dying anyways… Do you have the courage to be hated?”
Undead Queen.
The murky-haired woman.
A bizarre laugh that rattles.
Harsh lectures.
Narrow human relationships.
While there are many reasons to be hated, those who do good deeds receive no rewards.
When the professor posed her question, I snickered.
“I’ve seen countless endings of the apocalypse; if necessary, I wouldn’t mind being hated a bit! Besides, I have my best friend Jiang, who’s also taking the same lecture, right?”
“…Right. Since we’re friends, I’ll stay by your side no matter what Oknodie does. I could even kill Massugaki, who was a candidate for best friend.”
“You don’t have to do that!”
The trio of women, united by lecture bonds instead of alumni relations, began plotting to disrupt the last day of the weekly event.
*
If the Death Zone cannot be stopped, it will spread throughout the Middle Realm.
Of course, even if the Death Zone spreads a bit, it won’t conjure countless restless souls like at the academy.
However, the number of resurrected dead is overwhelmingly large.
“People outside see us as superhumans who must handle everything just because we are heroes, throwing around millions of curse words at even the smallest mistakes, but I’m still a hero.”
Ishtar did not wish for the many lives to be buried under even more death.
“The Death Zone must disappear.”
Ishtar’s Warrior Party received requests for assistance from students who failed in self-rescue and continued to repel the Death Zone.
“That was excellent swordsmanship.”
“With you, I can trust and ascend.”
“Please keep the promise to burn the spring flowers hidden in the secret room of the dormitory…”
“Please take good care of our clan’s descendants.”
Even resurrected as Undead, talented individuals with matching intelligence immediately assisted Ishtar as their thirst and desires were fulfilled.
The Undead who joined Ishtar in repelling the Death Zone met their own annihilation as the Death Zone, which was practically their mother, disappeared.
Even powerful beings like Sadi Chocolate, who could survive by establishing their own spirit system, or Undead who had not had spirit systems implanted into them through ‘encounters’ all behaved in this way.
In other words, Sadi Chocolate possesses the power to contaminate those who observe her simply by being alive.
However, dealing with the schemes of those she hadn’t even met was a problem beyond Ishtar’s capacity.
“The third-year rescue request zone is the last one.”
“Is that so? From here on, it’s the ‘fourth year’…”
Even though the dead had departed, the living Ishtar Party, which had joined up, surpassed the party size and reached the scale of a group or even an organization.
Ishtar obtaining 300 supporters wasn’t just a matter of rescuing survivors after repelling the Death Zone.
[Super Large Holy Mirror]
A technique that passes attacks between mirrors, increasing their power.
This technique allowed the tsunami’s attack to precisely evade them by generating a super large holy mirror and enduring through it, which helped protect the initial group.
“If the academy loses its function, such disasters would occur in ordinary cities too?”
“Surely. There are many powerful magicians, and if they become greedy and go to war, burying an entire city will be nothing.”
In the Era of Peace, invaders who covet others’ assets target only the strong on the opposing side instead of destroying cities, to make the invaders rich with the land and everything it holds.
But in the Era of War, they fight not out of envy for others’ assets, but because killing others is how they survive.
Prosperity?
Value?
None of that is needed.
What they desire is only the enemy’s life.
Attacking cities is a basic requirement, and large-scale magical terrorism against enemy nations will become commonplace.
The moment the magical defense collapses, many lives belonging to the city will be lost.
In such a manner, as people continue to die, civilization declines, and humanity will realize that the golden age of peace can never be reclaimed.
The spread of the Death Zone may become the starting point that heralds the collapse and destruction, a chain of calamity leading to the apocalypse.
“Let’s just stay as we are. Someone will stop it. If not, so what? The seniors or the principal will handle it.”
“Even if we die, there’s a future we must protect. I will move forward.”
Ishtar headed toward the Death Zone in the fourth-year area.
Indeed, it was no easy challenge.
“I’m envious of the brilliant future you will have. The future that I can’t have, that could have been mine, is incredibly envious. So… die already.”
The fourth-year Undead were those who had died just before graduation.
Or they were such strong monsters that had been used as test subjects for power enhancement.
Whether by gloom or sheer power, they were far too difficult for third-year students to handle.
“Grah!”
“Vanilla!”
“The leader still has things left to do… I’ll go first…”
A relentless storm of brutal massacre magic, enough to erase corpses, rained down, preventing them from leaving any final words behind.
Before the frenzied assault of the fourth-year Undead students, who had cast aside all academic rules and moral restraints, Ishtar fought on and on.
So that the sacrifices of the fallen would not be in vain.
To prove that everyone’s sacrifices had worth.
“Have you come?”
“Ahh, haha! It seems the top student indeed has some strength. But the greatest Agassi is still mine!”
“Hero. You’ve come to the most bothersome spot, haven’t you?”
Fourth-year rank two, Velvet Belle.
Third-year rank two, Mandela Castera.
Fourth-year rank four, Burte Glass.
Outstanding individuals gathered on the battlefield where Ishtar met strong characters she had not known, or had only heard about.
For instance, there was a muscle-bound elite tamer standing atop the head of a Giant Turtle or a worn-out man carrying a giant clocklike form above his head instead of angels, who was also a fourth-year powerhouse.
Fourth-year rank three, Gaef AM.
Fourth-year rank one, Forever More.
The strongest of the fourth year.
The pinnacle of the current Gift Academy.
Forever More spoke in a tired voice.
“The time of the Death Zone is sealed by [Stop]. I wanted to release it once more power gathered, but it seems the Dark Princess doesn’t intend to join.”
“…!”
“After 20 seconds, I will release [Stop]. Be prepared.”
The danger posed by Forever More, who could halt the opponent’s [Breath] or [Thought] by allowing the area’s erosion or penetration, was immense.
Ishtar instinctively felt a fear so profound that she felt like stepping back alone while measuring herself against him.
Ishtar sensed it.
That she could never win against this man.
The appearance of the strongest current student in the academy, against whom she could not guarantee victory, did not just provide comfort.
The fact that such an individual would attempt to gather further power while sealing the Death Zone with [Stop] made the ultimate Death Zone even more terrifying.
Of course, there was another fear in the world that surpassed her awareness and common sense.
The fact that an insane trio planned to continuously operate such a deranged Death Zone to summon the God of Death in an infinite gacha, was something no one, at least at this point, knew.