Chapter 1927 – 1927. Dark Moon
The bullet that hit the ground caused a small explosion. It was a high-explosive round. Moreover, it was a round with enough power to dent the ground.
‘Looking at the traces of the explosion, the firepower was concentrated at one point. It’s definitely anti-tank.’
In this world where magic and science have advanced, tank armor is incredibly strong. As such, anti-tank ammunition is also special.
‘It’s too dangerous to just stay still and rely on the barrier. If I make even a slight misjudgment, I’m done for.’
Calculating the direction from which the bullet came, I identify the sniper’s location. They must be at least 1km away.
‘I thought they wouldn’t be alone… Things are going to get annoying if this is how it is.’
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots were heard almost simultaneously. They came from different locations. There are two snipers. Sharpening my senses, I used telekinesis to pull my body backward, dodging the bullets.
‘At least two snipers. Unlike before, they fired simultaneously. The last shot must have been a hasty one to cover Niklas. There must be parts or magic that eliminate the sound of gunshots, but the reason they deliberately made noise is… is it for restraint?’
My thoughts deepen.
This wasn’t good. I was in the middle of a battle. Thinking too deeply was a bad habit. I immediately cut off my thoughts. I was at a disadvantage right now. I had to kill the enemy in front of me first.
[Smoke]
I set off a smokescreen. Sniping was temporarily neutralized.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The snipers gave up on hitting me and were just pulling the trigger for restraint. The impact points were behind me. As soon as I used the smoke, I was running forward. They probably didn’t think that a mage like me would close the distance directly.
I broke through the smoke. Niklas’s eyes widened as he saw me in front of him.
[Lightning Grab]
I extended a hand, gathering a large amount of electric current, towards Niklas.
“Too late.”
Just before my hand touched his body, Niklas spoke. The hand seal was completed, and the nearby wraiths created a shockwave, throwing me back. Then, the wraiths merged into one, transforming into a single being.
A knight in black armor with a black sword. His pale gaze turned towards me.
“…You created a Death Knight right here?”
A 5th-grade undead Death Knight. A monster that is difficult to create even naturally, made from just a few hundred wraiths. It was efficient. You could say it was cost-effective.
“It’s usually impossible. But if you receive full support from the military, things change.”
Niklas said. Crack! A bracelet hidden in his sleeve broke and fell off.
‘Did he use up an artifact? Anyway, the sniping has stopped.’
These guys aren’t trying to kill me, they’re trying to capture me alive.
“Did you receive orders to bring me back alive?”
“Originally, it was a simple mission to kill you. For that, I directly collected your information. In the destroyed East, they say, ‘If you know yourself and know your enemy, you will win a hundred battles.’ Then, I discovered one unexpected fact. One of the wraiths clinging to you sees you as someone other than Leon Schneider.”
Did they figure out that I’m not Leon Schneider? That can’t be it. If they had figured it out, they would have tried to shake me up by using it. They don’t know my identity, so they’re trying to capture me alive.
“I’m suddenly interested in necromancy. If I can get information through wraiths, I’ll make a fortune.”
“It’s not something you can call necromancy. Peeking into the memories and traces of wraiths is only possible because I was born with the Sight. Even if you learn necromancy, it’s impossible. Enough with the idle talk. You’re known for cutting off the limbs of prisoners, right? I’ll take you away with your limbs cut off.”
I hide my bewilderment as much as possible.
I never thought my identity would be revealed like this. No, they’re not sure yet. If they were really sure that I was someone else, they wouldn’t have come with just this many people.
Clank!
The Death Knight takes a step forward. The energy I feel is unusual. I used the magic I had prepared.
[Frost]
Crack!
The Death Knight’s body instantly freezes.
“You underestimate the Death Knight. Do you think you can stop it with just that? And you really seem to be someone other than Leon Schneider. Leon Schneider is an alchemist. He doesn’t enjoy using elemental magic, and he’s not good at it either. I’m really curious about what your identity is.”
The ice breaks, and the Death Knight moves. It didn’t break free through a special method or with Niklas’s help. It broke it with its own power. The Death Knight approaches and swings its sword.
From the top of my head to my groin. My body was precisely cut in half and scattered.
“Hallucination?!”
Niklas, who had been watching leisurely, shouted. He frantically looked around, searching for me.
“I was watching the whole time, but when did you?! Could it have been when you used the smoke magic?! You bastard!”
The weakness of a necromancer is that they completely control the undead. Completely controlling the undead means that if you deceive the necromancer, you can deceive all the undead.
‘Honestly, I didn’t think it would be this easy to deceive them.’
He said he was born with the Sight. Didn’t he say something like that?
‘It seems his eyes aren’t that great outside of the necromancy field.’
Niklas urgently used detection magic. I didn’t particularly respond. After all, I’m not in human form right now.
A stag beetle. Using Merlin’s artifact, the [Absolute Polymorph] of Illusion, I transformed into a stag beetle and was running across the wasteland.
‘Turning into a bug is unpleasant… but I can definitely escape his eyes.’
However, it consumed a lot of mana. I felt more tired than when I transformed into a dragon. Also, it felt like the senses of my whole body were cut off in chunks.
‘They say the mind follows the body. It’s not good to maintain a form so different from a human for too long.’
I feel dark mana behind me. Glancing back, I saw them summoning dozens of low-level undead skeletons at random to search.
“Where are you?! Where are you?!”
‘Do you think I’ll tell you if you say that? You fool.’
Fighting head-on is disadvantageous for me. A necromancer, a Death Knight, and two snipers.
‘They’re probably a special forces unit specializing in assassination. There’s no reason to be dragged around by their plan.’
Transformed into a stag beetle, I flew behind one of the snipers. I held back the urge to use telekinesis. Telekinesis is also magic. The moment I use it, I’ll be discovered. So, I had to move only with the physical specs of the stag beetle.
‘This is damn hard.’
I successfully got behind the sniper. Looking at his equipment, it’s all the latest technology. It looks like it could be sold for money.
[Absolute Polymorph]
I returned to Leon Schneider.
The sniper was startled. At least his intuition and reaction were better than Niklas’s. But it was already too late.
[Absolute Polymorph]
Partial transformation.
I turned my right hand into a blade.
[Sharpness]
I used a 2nd-grade support magic to make the blade sharper and stabbed the sniper in the neck.
“……!”
I couldn’t see his face because I was behind him. Instead, I saw him move his arm. He took out a bomb from his pocket. He was going to self-destruct.
“An AX bomb, huh.”
It was one of the bombs I used to use when I was in the military, so I blurted it out without thinking.
Click!
I created lightning. A small current seeped into the AX bomb, and the bomb became inert.
“Mechanical bombs can be used precisely, but they are vulnerable to EMP or current manipulation. It’s bad luck that I’m your opponent. You were unlucky.”
There was no reply. The sniper was already dead.
I stole the gun from the dead sniper’s hand. It was a type of sniper rifle I had never seen before. It was almost 2m in size.
‘A personal custom gun?’
It wasn’t a big problem. The mechanism of a gun is usually the same.
-Serting! He might have used a space-movement artifact! It’s a treasure that’s not easy to obtain, but we have to keep the possibility open! We’re the ones in danger. Don’t be negligent in guarding the surroundings! Serting! Can you hear me?!
A man’s voice came from the radio. I ignored it and took aim. The target was another sniper on the opposite hill. He was looking around the wasteland, searching for me.
‘It’s too late to transform into a stag beetle or a bird and fly away. I can’t miss this opportunity when they haven’t grasped the situation yet.’
[Telescope]
A 2nd-grade body enhancement magic. It enhances eyesight. It felt like my eyeballs had become a scope.
I could see the sniper lying prone on the hill. Of course, just because I could see him didn’t mean I could hit him. There were too many variables in sniping, such as temperature, humidity, wind, and even the drop of the bullet.
But I was once called a genius of shooting. I could easily snipe a target 5km away. My senses told me how to shoot to hit the target.
‘When targeting a stationary object within 5km, my first shot hit rate is… 100%.’
I pulled the trigger.
A gunshot rang out.
The bullet pierced through the air of the wasteland and cleanly pierced the sniper’s forehead. The explosion of the high-explosive round completely blew up not only the sniper’s head but also his upper body.
‘I killed him.’
I immediately turned the gun. The target was the necromancer Niklas. I aimed at his head and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The Death Knight jumped forward. It raised its black sword to block the bullet.
‘He noticed already. He has good instincts.’
Niklas’s body was completely hidden by the Death Knight. There was no opening. There was no way to take him out with a sniper shot like this.
‘I’ll kill the Death Knight then.’
I kept pulling the trigger. The bullets pounded the Death Knight’s entire body. Even though they were high-explosive anti-tank rounds, they couldn’t take down the Death Knight. At best, they only managed to break some of the armor. The Death Knight’s reputation was not a lie.
Click.
I pulled the trigger, but no bullet came out.
‘I feel like I could break it if I just fired a little more.’
It was the moment I was about to take out an extra magazine from the corpse. Something pale flew towards me. It was a wraith.
