’A Blink Spell with a decoy?’

The thought had barely formed when Ognian saw the Undead Knight’s life force extinguish as it collapsed before him. A flicker of disbelief crossed his cold face.

He was just a talented Wizard Apprentice who had recently learned the Meditation Technique. How could he possibly kill an Undead Knight with a mere firearm?

’This isn’t very wizardly...’

But his thoughts didn’t slow his actions. With a few taps of his staff, Ognian summoned several more Summoning Rune Arrays.

"You have truly angered me, Investigator, Sir!"

As a Wizard of the Undead Magic discipline, his mastery of Undead Summoning Spells was profound, and he was even more skilled in the transformation and modification of the undead.

He had already transformed and modified a great number of Undead Creatures in the Undead World.

Upon seeing the Undead Knight’s life force extinguished, he reacted like most Undead Mages—without a second thought, he simply summoned several more Undead Creatures and Sewn Corpse Monsters.

’If one Summoned Creature dies, I’ll just summon a few more.’

He intended to kill the little apprentice before him quickly.

Just then, a phantom’s gaze locked onto the Undead Knight. The Rune Branding for the Corpse Explosion Skill on its forehead glowed with a gray light. "Siyaam, Sir, Sute."

’Corpse Explosion Skill?’

’How can the Corpse Explosion Skill be used on an Undead Knight? It’s not a zombie-type creature; it doesn’t even have flesh to spread plagues or toxins. I...’

BOOM—

"How is this possible!?"

Ognian was dumbfounded. ’This can’t be real. It can’t be. How can the Corpse Explosion Skill detonate dry bones...’

But just as the Undead Knight never expected a few bullets to trigger the instant-death effect of a death-related trait, the Corpse Explosion Skill couldn’t care less about Ognian’s thoughts.

The Undead Knight and its skeletal steed beneath it both exploded, sending countless shards of bone, armor, and weaponry flying in a 20-meter radius.

[Your Corpse Explosion Skill has damaged a Skeleton Shooter, triggering the death trait: Calamity. Instant-death progress: 2/2... Reward: +1 Survival Point.]

[Your Corpse Explosion Skill has damaged Ognian Sherman, triggering the death trait: Calamity. Instant-death progress: 1/10... Reward: +2 Survival Points.]

[The Skeleton Shooter has triggered the death trait: Instant Death. It is now dead... Special Reward: +2 Survival Points, +1 Resilience Level.]

[The Skeleton Shooter’s death has triggered Corpse Explosion Skill, damaging Ognian Sherman and triggering the death trait: Pestilence. Instant-death progress: 2/10... Reward: +2 Survival Points.]

[The Flesh Butcher has triggered the death trait: Instant Death. It is now dead... Special Reward: +4 Survival Points, +1 Resilience Level, +1 Spirit Level.]

[...]

[Your Corpse Explosion Skill has damaged Ognian Sherman, triggering the death trait: Senescence. Instant-death progress: 8/10... Reward: +2 Survival Points.]

Wei’en stood a short distance away, having already retrieved the Six-Barreled Shotgun from the Mechanical Gate.

He methodically loaded large-caliber rounds while admiring the Undead Creatures as they exploded one by one, like a chain of fireworks blooming in the sky.

The explosions of the modified, sewn-together Flesh Butchers were particularly spectacular, splattering gore all over Mr. Shadow’s face and body... It was a magnificent sight.

"A pity these Undead Creatures disappeared right after they showed up..."

’It’s even more of a pity there were so few of them. A few more and the chain reaction would have definitely blown him to bits.’

"You... you... damn you! Who are you? Why is your Magic like this?"

Ognian stared at Wei’en in terror. His graying hair was turning stark white before his very eyes, and the skin on his face and body began to sag.

Not only that, but pustules erupted on his hands and body, emitting a sickeningly foul stench. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"As you can see, I’m just an ordinary Investigator."

Wei’en’s senses picked up the sound of a crowd rushing over from the main hall. He looked at Ognian and chuckled. "Frankly, your appearance has shattered all my illusions about Wizards..."

’He’s also a disgrace to the Ghost Soul School. An Official Mage who only knows four spells and relies completely on his Undead Creatures for strength.’

’How did he even manage that?’

"And that makes me very unhappy. Goodbye, Mr. Shadow!"

With that, he used his Blink Spell again, appearing before Ognian with the shotgun aimed at his head.

An attack on par with a squad captain’s struck Ognian as he stared in terror. "No, no, you can’t kill me! I’m..."

’...a dead man.’

BANG!

Dozens of pellets erupted from the six barrels.

[You have hit Ognian Sherman with the Six-Barreled Firearm, triggering the death trait: Calamity. Instant-death progress: 10/10. Evaluation: ... Reward: +2 Survival Points, +1 Gunnery.]

[Ognian Sherman has triggered the death trait: Instant Death. He is now dead. Evaluation: It’s been proven that a Wizard who fears close-quarters combat is not a good Wizard. Special Reward: +10 Survival Points, +3 Gunnery, +2 Spirit Level, +2 Resilience Level.]

[Devourable life force detected. Use Soul-Devouring Magic?]

’So in the end, I only managed to kill him because of the instant-death trait?’

’It seems that captain-level attack wasn’t so powerful after all... Or maybe, Official Mages aren’t as weak as I imagined?’

Wei’en looked at the body of the Wizard Ognian, which had been warped beyond recognition by the effects of the death traits, and calmly performed a wizard’s salute.

He had chosen to attack directly, rather than feigning civility as he had in the past, simply because Ognian had repeatedly shown killing intent toward him.

’Since a fight between them was inevitable, why wait?’

He had no desire to be constantly watched by a Wizard lurking in the shadows.

"Adagua!"

Before the others could arrive, Wei’en used the Soul-Devouring Magic for the first time.