<Chapter 36. What Remains of the Battle - 2>

[You have acquired two secret shop permits and 1,375,717,480 Perium.]

[You have given peace to a comrade who walked a path he could not return from. You have partially cleared the quest objectives, and have acquired 1 secret shop permit. The maximum level of the Invisible Heart skill has increased by 1.]

"Ha?"

Lee Shin Woo widened his eyes. It was due to the message that popped up following his execution of the undead Ethan Cruz.

Due to Lee Shin Woo's interference (the high concentration of light magic did its part), Ethan Cruz hadn't been able to transform into an undead properly and died on the spot. Although he'd wanted all of Ethan Cruz's Perium to remain intact, the amount was...

"1.4 billion Perium...?"

"Shin Woo, you just became filthy rich."

"I would've hit the jackpot if Lucky Strike activated... No, never mind that. Is this real?"

If he could, he would've rubbed his eyes and checked again, but unfortunately, he didn't have eyes that he could rub. In any case, he realized the veracity of the message once he opened his inventory. Since all of the Perium he'd received had been stored in his inventory.

"Are all level 8s this filthy rich...?"

"Ethan Cruz might've been an exception. Maybe he incurred some sort of penalty when using the secret shop."

Jin guessed, and Lee Shin Woo nodded his head in agreement. It was likely. Pleine hadn't liked Ethan Cruz, and it would be strange if he, who acted unlike a hero, would be rewarded by God.

It all made sense; he couldn't use the secret shop for some time and as a result, had amassed an incredible amount of Perium.

'Moreover... He might've been researching the potential behind Perium like me.'

It didn't really matter what he thought though. After all, he was dead now. What was important was that he'd gained 1.4 billion Perium.

"I easily have more than 2 billion Perium if I add in what I gained from the battle."

"Haha, it seems like it was just yesterday that you got so anxious over 1 million Perium..."

Jin and Lee Shin Woo felt the transience of life and aimlessly muttered. Around that time, Ethan Cruz's magical device deactivated, and the barrier was finally released. The magical device, which had been buried deep underground, seemed to only be good for a single use, as it broke apart once its task was complete.

[Master, command me.]

[Paul Zero, I await your orders.]

"That's right. You guys haven't done much yet. Alright, then hunt the remaining undead to your heart's content. Ah, but..."

The heroes would most likely treat all the undead as their enemies. Even if his troops didn't attack the heroes and only targeted the 12 generals' troops, it wouldn't matter. It was likely that the heroes wouldn't think about it and attack his forces anyway. And the chance of Retadane doing so was 100%.

"Go in the opposite direction from the heroes. Be careful of the heroes, and make sure you retreat immediately if I tell you to."

[Understood.]

[Those fools. It's quite difficult to even help them.]

"The heroes are dumb, so it can't be helped. Now, all forces, attack!"

[Uoooooooooooh!]

Once Lee Shin Woo signaled his troops to attack, the Paul Zero Corps advanced! If one were to see Lee Shin Woo commanding his troops, they would feel faint... But unfortunately, the heroes were overwhelmed by the Giants' overpowering pressure. Besides, they weren't in a good enough position to be looking elsewhere anyway.

"Are those the troops led by the Heaven Defying General...?"

"Why did Ethan Cruz's buff disappear? Wait, what the hell is going on?"

"Lloyd, Lloyd! Run away with me! We can't beat them!"

"I-I can't... We finally started pushing them back."

"Stop looking elsewhere and focus on the battle."

All the heroes, scattered around the battlefield, reacted. Even so, three of the heroes had died, so the only heroes left were Seira Von Retadane, Lloyd H.K., Erian Rupate, Prince Altania, and Kratia Melloi. There were only five heroes left.

[Paul Zero has commanded us! To annihilate all undead who oppose him!]

[How funny. Watching these stray dogs who have lost their master!]

[Kill them all! Let's pay these insects back for betraying us!]

[Kuhaaaaaaah!]

But aside from Kratia, none of the other heroes could stand. Since they'd only been fighting against the undead. The Giants trampled on the skeletons, and the golems emitted their magic, burning the fallen undead. They were all were dumbfounded at the sight.

"They're really... killing the undead."

"Why?"

"We cannot ascertain their true intentions. However, it doesn't change that they're our enemy. ...But I think it'd be best if we stay our hand and dispose of them later."

"Hoo..."

Lee Shin Woo watched as the Paul Zero Corps entered the battlefield, nodded his head, and picked up the bones. The bones of Ethan Cruz and Yasunori Akira. It was unfortunate that both of them had only dropped one bone each, but there was no helping it. He soon activated Bone Reinforcement.

[Consuming Lv7 Yasunori Akira's shin bone to reinforce your shin bone. Agility has increased by 15 and Health by 10. The Mana Acceleration skill has become Lv4 and Magic has increased by 10.]

[Consuming Lv8 Ethan Cruz's rib bone to reinforce your rib bone. Magic has increased by 100. The High Rank Mana Bone skill has become Lv4 and Magic has increased by 20. High Rank Darkness has become Lv4 and Magic has increased by 40.]

"Ugh."

He couldn't have imagined that his magic stat, which had already surpassed 4,000, would increase by 100 all at once. As expected of a level 8 bone. This wasn't even taking into account Yasunori Akira's bone.

Was that all? It even leveled up his high rank skills, which further increased his magic. Lee Shin Woo felt even more magic overflowing from his body and smiled.

"See, this is why I can't stop."

"Seriously, just stop talking. Everything you say scares me now..."

Of course, his abilities hadn't been the only thing to grow. Yasunori Akira and Ethan Cruz's memories had merged, flooding his mind with clear memories.

Lee Shin Woo boldly discarded the useless elements, and extracted only the important aspects. Why Yasunori Akira had chosen to ally himself with Ethan Cruz, and why Ethan Cruz had decided to betray his fellow heroes... he ignored such pointless memories. He had no interest in dead men's circumstances.

"Oh, this is it."

As a result, there was only one thing he could use. It was regarding Ethan Cruz's contract with the Archmage, Feotane Von Seldin, as well as some auxiliary information from that exchange... Information regarding heroes that had died in the past.

"I'd somewhat expected this, but it seems like that bastard is controlling undead heroes..."

"Ugh, that's the worst possible information."

Because of his quest, Lee Shin Woo could find all of the undead heroes on his minimap, but for some reason, he couldn't look through the level 5 danger zone. It was likely that the Archmage, or perhaps the Emperor himself, had done something.

"Relax. He doesn't have someone as capable as Ethan Cruz working for him anymore."

"I really won't be able to take it anymore if these guys keep popping up... Well, I guess I didn't really do anything though."

"Jin, you're always a lot of help, so don't down yourself."

Lee Shin Woo comforted Jin, who blamed himself for being unable to do anything, and collected the rest of the loot. Yasunori Akira's equipment wasn't very valuable (the blade was curved on only one side, like a traditional Japanese sword), whereas Ethan Cruz's equipment piqued his interest. It was the bracelet-shaped artifact that Ethan Cruz had used when he had attacked.

The bracelet was pitch black, as if made of darkness. Due to its simplistic design, one might think it was a cheap trinket, but it was definitely a rare item, as it periodically emitted a black energy.

[You have acquired the Lv7 Everlasting Night.]

"Ah, crap."

Lee Shin Woo was bewitched by the enchanting, darkness emitting bracelet, but the moment he came into contact with it, he knew he'd made a mistake. He had forgotten that anything he touched turned into bone! Fortunately, a message came up, stating that Bone Reinforcement wasn't high enough to convert it, and it hadn't turned into bone.

He felt relief that his item hadn't changed, and simultaneously felt frustrated that his Bone Reinforcement wasn't at a high enough level. He convinced himself that it'd turned out well, and checked the artifact's info.

[Everlasting Night]

[Lv7]

[Durability: 850/850 (Self-Repair)]

[Magic Attack Power: 2,200 - 2,500]

[Element: Darkness Lv7]

[Options: Magic + 150, Calculation Assistance (High), High Speed Casting (High), Accumulation (MAX)]

[Special passive skills: Night's Blessing - If darkness magic is infused into this artifact, then its power is amplified and changes the properties of nearby mana close to darkness. Highly increases the success rate of darkness magic. However, you cannot use any other element aside from darkness, and just carrying around the artifact causes you to be weak against light.]

"It feels like the ultimate darkness magical device..."

"Seriously, how did you win?"

"It says that he was really weak to light."

"But your Light Resistance is maxed too."

"Yeah, you're right. The penalty is meaningless to me."

"..."

After laughing at the speechless Jin, Lee Shin Woo equipped the bracelet on his right arm (under his armor) without hesitation. Since it hadn't transformed into bone, it was unaffected by Rule of Bone, and also couldn't be stored in the Bone Armory. However, it possessed a self-repair feature.

"Nice. Then let's give a silent prayer for Senior Ethan, who gave me such a nice gift on his way out. Then, let's go kill the Vulture General."

"You demon. You really are a demon..."

Lee Shin Woo gripped the Lightning God's Fury, and charged towards the battlefield with Jin.

At the beginning, the Heaven Defying General, or Paul Zero had appeared and swept through the battlefield. He had been worried that the heroes would see him, but because his subordinates were here, he came to the conclusion that he didn't need to look like an undead as well.

'Retadane's in worse shape than I thought. Rather than provoking her by showing up as an undead, I think it'd be better to form a bridge between us.'

That 'bridge' would be Lee Shin Woo himself. He would reveal that he'd been saved by the Heaven Defying General and his troops to his seniors, who were repulsed by the undead, and he would then suggest that they form an alliance with the Heaven Defying General.

Thus, the Paul Zero Corps' participation in this battle was incredibly important.

[Paul Zero is with us!]

[Uooooooooh!]

A few of the dumb Giants yelled out 'Paul Zero' and took a sideways glance at Lee Shin Woo, but he ignored them for now. He'd already told them that he could disguise himself as a human being, but if he knew they'd act like this, then he wouldn't have told them...

"Ah, Lee Shin Woo!"

"You were safe. You disappeared, so everyone was worried..."

"Senior, we should take care of the Vulture General first! Let's talk later!"

"A-Alright!"

Lee Shin Woo safely joined up with the other heroes. He saw the Vulture General, who, despite falling from the sky and losing his mount, bravely struggled as his bald head shined.

[Keuk, you crazy bitch!]

"Huooooooooh!"

And the one pushing him back was old lady Retadane, who rotated her flail with her eyes wide open. He could hear her gasping, telling him how much she had overworked herself. That girl really didn't have an off-switch. Lee Shin Woo was speechless, yet still raised his sword high.

"Retadane, I'm here to help!"

5 minutes passed.

Retadane's flail crushed the Vulture General's shiny bald head, and thus, the heroes had safely killed two of the 12 generals.