Novel Catchup
Chapter 248 (Part 2)
Chapter 248: The Second Mission (Part 2)
‘Execute.’
John Delgado nodded slightly in response to the signal.
Before long—
Thunk—!
“Guh-urk!”
The chilling sound of flesh being pierced resounded.
Thud—!
The eyes of those nearby turned to the fallen man.
The first victim had appeared.
He was a follower of the Despair Cult.
And the one who killed him was also—
“A-a murder!”
“Look! His nickname turned red!”
“What’s going on? He killed one of his own?”
Nearby followers of the same cult were stunned.
It was a ridiculous situation for a follower to kill another, but they didn’t know.
They had no idea that John Delgado, their leader, was behind it.
Ryu Min watched the murder unfold from afar, smirking.
‘The followers really do follow the necromancer’s orders.’
John Delgado had privately met with a follower earlier and made a proposal:
Kill a nearby follower when I give the signal.
In return, I will share the next round’s strategy and grant you a rank equivalent to that of a cardinal.
‘To think they’d all fall for that.’
What was even funnier was that more than one follower had agreed to this proposition.
Thunk—! Thunk—!
“Urk!”
“Gah!”
The followers of the Despair Cult turned their weapons on each other.
They killed without hesitation, trusting in the leader’s promise.
Ha-ha-ha, ugh—
A follower who laughed as he killed was in turn stabbed by another follower.
That one was then cut down by yet another follower.
The scene among the Despair Cult members was one of ruthless bloodshed.
They were all fanatics, seduced by John Delgado’s promise.
Thunk—! Thunk—!
“Argh!”
“Kill them!”
When the followers suddenly started killing each other, Berber was shocked.
“What’s going on? Why all of a sudden!?”
He hadn’t imagined any hidden manipulation behind it.
“Hey, you maniacs! Why are you attacking your own comrades?”
To him, the followers of the Despair Cult were valuable assets and soldiers.
They shouldn’t be wasted like this.
But no matter how much he tried to stop them, they were too busy killing.
Why had they suddenly started fighting?
For Berber, who planned to kill John Delgado and expand his power, this was incomprehensible.
However, murder wasn’t confined to the Despair Cult.
“Kill them!”
“Damn it, you! Come here!”
“Die! Die!”
The ice had broken, and people began to slash at one another without hesitation.
Seeing the Despair Cult members fighting, others felt compelled to join in.
Justifying their actions as necessary for survival was an added bonus.
Hmm.
Amidst the chaos, Ryu Min observed quietly.
The followers of the Death Church refrained from participating, only watching as instructed by Ryu Min.
He continued to monitor the quest progress bar, waiting for the rightmoment.
[Current number of survivors: 2,102]
[Current number of passers: 201/1,152]
……………
[Current number of survivors: 2,050]
[Current number of passers: 253/1,152]
……………
[Current number of survivors: 1,991]
[Current number of passers: 312/1,152]
……………
As the number of survivors dwindled and the number of passers increased, Ryu Min continued to wait.
‘Not yet. More need to die.’
Even though Ryu Min remained composed, the increasing number of passers made the followers of the Death Church anxious. They started to worry if they should join in the killing now. Would they miss their chance to survive if they continued to sit idle?
But they kept their trust in the Black Scythe, anxiously waiting for his signal.
Finally, when the number of passers exceeded 400, Ryu Min signaled John Delgado with a look.
‘Summon them.’
John, catching Ryu Min’s gaze, nodded and activated his corpse reanimation skill.
“Arise.”
A light emanated from the tip of his staff, spreading out to the corpses strewn across the ground.
Soon—
“Groooaaaar…”
Hundreds of bodies rose, moving like zombies.
The frenzied combatants stopped mid-strike, their attention caught by the surreal sight.
Step, step, step—n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
The undead, moving in unison like a trained army, began advancing towards—
“W-what are those things?”
“They’re coming this way?”
The group they seemed to be heading for was none other than the Death Church followers.
It looked as if the undead were about to attack them en masse.
‘In reality, they’re here to offer themselves as sacrifices.’
Contrary to appearances, the undead had no intention of attacking. They were merely presenting themselves to be killed.
‘It’s less morally taxing to slay already-dead bodies than living people.’
Ryu Min’s strategy banked on the fact that eliminating summoned creatures would still count toward the mission’s kill count.
Step, step—
As John Delgado’s summons approached, Ryu Min shouted decisively.
“All members of the Death Church! Slay those undead! One each!”
Executing the order wasn’t difficult.
They weren’t real, living people; they were merely summoned creatures.
Slash! Thud!
Moreover, the undead didn’t resist, making them easy targets.
“Huh? Why aren’t they fighting back?”
Their curiosity was short-lived.
One by one, the Death Church members widened their eyes in astonishment.
‘Wait a second, this message…?’
‘I killed an undead and received this?’
When Ryu Min himself struck down an undead near him, he saw the same message the others did.
[You have committed murder.]
[You have passed the second mission.]