Chapter 1638 – 1638. God’S Atlantis
Heading towards the nearby oasis was the right choice.
I found a tribe settled near the oasis. The oasis was small, but the tribe was not. There seemed to be at least 300 people.
‘This might be a decent size here.’
In the scorpion desert area I controlled, 300 people was a large tribe.
I approached the tribe. The tribe’s warriors watched me, then drew their swords and blocked my path.
“Halt. This is the territory of our Sandclaw tribe. No outsiders are allowed without permission.”
“The oasis is also our tribe’s. If you want water from the oasis, pay up. It’s 10,000 penids per liter.”
10,000 penids.
That was 100,000 won in Korean currency. It was ridiculously expensive. Even in the desert, it shouldn’t be this expensive. They were adding a desert traveler premium. These bastards were trying to rip me off.
“You’re a nasty piece of work in many ways.”
The desert warriors looked at me with a mixture of contempt and disgust.
Right now, I was wearing Tutankhamun’s golden mask on my head, shirtless, and only wearing pants. Since I was already like this, I decided to go all out with the pharaoh fashion.
“You are impudent.”
“Impudent? The weather is already making me annoyed… and some weirdo shows up. If you want to buy water, take off that mask. We won’t sell you water until you take off that bizarre helmet.”
The one who seemed to be the leader spoke threateningly. I could feel killing intent every time he spoke. He was someone with considerable experience in putting people down.
“Chief, that looks like solid gold.”
“Ha. Don’t talk nonsense. What idiot would make something like that out of gold?”
“It’s real gold. I used to work in a gold mine until half a year ago, so I know. That luster can only be gold.”
“Hmm.”
The desert warriors’ eyes changed. I could feel their greed for gold.
The leader looked around. He confirmed that I was alone. The leader grinned and raised his hand, and his subordinates surrounded me.
“Hand over the helmet to us. Then we’ll spare your life. Of course, we won’t give you any water from the oasis, so take off the helmet and get lost.”
“I watched what you were up to… and you’re just a bunch of morons who can’t even recognize the difference in level.”
“Haha. You’re rejecting the mercy we’re offering? I admire your spirit, so we’ll bury your body in a sunny spot!”
The leader drew his sword and swung it at me. The series of movements was flawless. It showed how much experience he had as a warrior.
However.
Clang!
The leader’s sword was blocked by a transparent barrier. It was a barrier I had used.
“I’ve decided how to kill you. You will kill each other.”
“What?”
“Death Puppets.”
Black magic manifested.
Threads made of dark energy seeped into the warriors’ bodies.
Creak, creak.
The warriors’ limbs moved like broken machines. They picked up their weapons and swung them at their comrades.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“M-my arm is moving on its own!”
“Chief!! Help us!”
“Damn it! This is sorcery! If we keep our minds clear, we can break free… Keurk!”
Blood splattered everywhere.
I stood still and watched the puppets’ performance.
It was the first time I had used black magic. Actually, I didn’t even know how I used black magic. I just manifested the black magic formula that came to mind. All I did was decide to use black magic.
‘For a warrior of this level to not be able to resist black magic… it’s not bad at all.’
The dead warriors collapsed on the ground.
I could see the warriors’ souls. The souls were trying to escape their dead bodies, but my energy held them back.
“I will not grant you rest. Rise.”
“Ggrrrrrrr….”
The dead warriors rose as undead. Their souls were trapped and unable to leave their dead bodies. Since the souls were trapped in the corpses, they would be much stronger than ordinary undead.
I pointed my finger at the tribe.
“Go and kill all of your tribesmen, leaving not a single one alive!”
The undead grabbed their swords and started running towards the tribesmen. They looked no different from when they were alive.
“Kaaaaaaaak!”
“What is this?!”
“Is the desert chief crazy?!”
“It’s a sorcerer! A sorcerer used evil magic. Find the sorcerer and kill him!”
The quick-witted ones found me and charged. It was a futile effort. I was neither stupid nor weak enough to be defeated by someone who just charged at me.
“Death Grab!”
Death grips emerged from the ground. A large hand with long black fingernails grabbed the charging men and crushed them. Blood and guts fell onto the sand.
“You won’t die peacefully either. Rise.”
The crushed men rose as ghouls. The ghouls crawled on all fours and started eating their own guts that had fallen on the ground. I turned my back on the ghouls and headed towards the oasis.
“Oasis… I don’t feel thirsty, so the oasis doesn’t mean anything to me. But I have a bad personality, so I can’t just let it go.”
I put my hand into the clear water of the small oasis.
I couldn’t feel the temperature of the water. That’s because I was dead.
“Curse of Decay.”
The water of the oasis rapidly began to rot.
“Poison.”
I added poison as well.
The rotten oasis water turned purple. Just then, I saw a small lizard passing by. I snatched the lizard and threw it into the oasis.
Chiiiiiiiik!
The lizard’s flesh and guts melted away, leaving only bones. The skeletal lizard became an undead and swam around inside the oasis with its short arms.
“Now, then…”
I moved towards where the tribesmen were.
“The beauties will live, and the rest will die!”
• • •
I raided five tribes.
I walked through the desert leading an undead army of 1,000. The undead did not tire. They didn’t complain even after walking for hours in the scorching sun. However, the smell of rotting corpses was quite bothersome.
‘1,000 is not enough. I need to gather at least 20,000. I should gather about 5,000 before attacking the city.’
I didn’t walk myself but rode in a palanquin. I had a huge wooden board made and ordered the undead to carry it. The wooden board was a vast 30 pyeong in size.
Sitting comfortably on the palanquin chair, I watched the beauties dancing on the wooden board. Twenty beauties were shaking their bodies and acting coquettish to survive. It was a satisfying sight.
“Huh?”
I saw a tent in the distance. People were gathered there.
‘Is it a desert tribe?’
There seemed to be about 100 people.
‘There are a lot of camels. And a lot of luggage. Was it not a tribe but a caravan crossing the desert? It’s a huge scale for a caravan.’
They also discovered me. I could faintly hear their shouts. They were moving in a hurry, so they didn’t seem to want to fight and were trying to escape.
‘With an undead army of over 1,000… it’s natural for them to run.’
I spoke to the undead.
“Increase the speed.”
The undead followed my orders absolutely. The undead started running. The palanquin swayed back and forth.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
The beauties in the palanquin lay flat on the palanquin and gripped the handles tightly to avoid falling off.
The caravan was trying to escape for their lives. The caravan was much faster than I expected. At this rate, I might lose the caravan.
“You can’t escape without my permission! Death Field!”
Dark mana spread out in all directions from me. The golden desert sand turned black. Black sand rose from the ground, blocking the caravan’s escape route.
“You can’t escape! Prepare for battle!”
The warriors escorting the caravan drew their swords.
“Halt.”
The undead that were about to charge at the caravan stopped abruptly.
‘These stupid undead can’t distinguish between beauties. If I recklessly order a charge, they might even kill the beauties.’
I should secure the beauties first and then order the undead to charge.
The palanquin continued to move forward. When it reached the front of the undead army, I got off the palanquin.
“Are you the master of this undead army?”
A man with gray hair and a pleasant impression spoke to me first.
I tilted my head for a moment. It was because it was a voice I had heard somewhere before. I scanned the man up and down. He was a merchant wearing fancy clothes.
“Who are you?”
“I am Harmo, the owner of the Lykos Caravan. Do you know the Lykos Caravan?”
“How could I not know the Lykos Caravan, the best caravan in the western Atlantis?”
The Lykos Caravan was the most important and influential caravan in the western desert region.
“Then it will be quicker to talk. Let’s make a deal. I will give you what you want, so let us go.”
“You want to negotiate? Well, not bad. First offer. Sparkly.”
Harmo’s eyes widened as if they would tear.
Sparkly.
That was the code name Harmo used in Helten.
“That voice… I thought it sounded familiar, could it be the Heavenly Demon?”
“Haha. It’s good to see you like this. Heavenly Demon. What are you doing here?”
I looked around. There were many eyes watching.
“Let’s talk separately.”
“Understood. I’ll set up a tent. Ah, everyone here is trustworthy, so don’t worry.”
“I don’t have any trouble even if my identity is revealed.”
“You operate openly, after all. I envy that.”
The tent was quickly set up. Harmo and I sat facing each other inside the tent.
“Heavenly Demon. It’s good to see you like this. I never dreamed that the identity of Tutankhamun would be you.”
“How do you know about Tutankhamun?”
“Didn’t you know? The story about Tutankhamun has already spread throughout the entire Golden Desert. Hatep, the ruler of the Golden Desert, has sworn to the citizens that he will kill Tutankhamun and prove his greatness.”
“Hatep. He’s the one I need to kill. That bastard talked too much.”
“He wants to show off his achievements. Heavenly Demon. Can you explain how you ended up like this?”
I explained roughly. From the owner of the oasis to Tutankhamun’s golden mask and the special event.
A smile appeared on Harmo’s lips after hearing the whole story.
“It’s an interesting situation. Heavenly Demon. Let’s make a deal. I will provide you with equipment to arm the undead and equipment used by necromancers.”
“What’s the price?”
“I want the monopoly on trade in the Golden Desert.”
“Good.”
