Chapter 251. The psychological war continues
When the Necromancer's consciousness faded, he was brought to a very familiar dreamscape.
Expressionlessly watching the tall skyscrapers reaching for the clouds and the thousands of cars moving toward their destination, a strange feeling of discomfort arose.
His worst fears were confirmed once he realized he had returned to Earth and Sanctuary was only a slightly more realistic dream.
Initially puzzled, he tried returning to his old life, but his boss had already found a replacement. The comfy job where he didn't have to do much and was paid well was gone.
Having to start from scratch, he re-entered the all-too-familiar rat race, working from 8 a.m. until 4-5 p.m. for a meager amount of money, all to pay his rent and utility bills.
He slaved away for a random company during the day and drowned himself with internet content when he got home, trying to forget the feeling of his 'other life' in Sanctuary.
Day after day. Night after night.
After an unknown period passed, he found himself standing on a balcony overlooking the disgustingly overpopulated city and had a moment of realization.
He felt more alive in Sanctuary than he did on Earth.
Even if in Sanctuary, people were constantly living with the fear of possible death the next moment. Even if the level of technology was far inferior to that of Earth.
Even if the entertainment levels were almost nonexistent. Even if the demons were constantly invading and encroaching on humanity's living habitats.
Even if he had to fight day in and day out in Dungeons against terrifying monsters and complete unreasonable Quests.
Even with all of that, he felt more alive here in the past three months than in over 30 years back on Earth.
It wasn't like he found his purpose or higher calling by transmigration to this world. On the contrary, he was still looking for that.
What he did find were people. People lacking in terms of gruesome greed like back on Earth.
The power balance also greatly intrigued him. There were still the nobles and merchants, people with obscene amounts of gold coins, but their overall influence was negligible in the grand scheme of things.
Why? Because of Wanderers. Because of these people, that would immediately sever the greedy fingers trying to infringe upon the common folk's interest.
Because unlike on Earth, Sanctuary had the Wanderers, who represented a deterrent against tyranny. Yes, black sheep would appear every now and then since it is human nature to be greedy and destructive.
But once the commonfolk suffered, the Sanctuary intervened and asked the Wanderers to take action, which they gladly did.
Staring at the mountains in the distance from his balcony, Michael took in a deep breath of the cold yet strangely polluted morning air and concluded what the Earth was lacking.
A consciousness? Maybe. But even more than that, it was the people who lacked severely in terms of awareness.
Unlike the Sanctuary, Earth didn't have any outside invading forces. So, what stopped them from uniting against a common enemy, such as the oppressors who made their lives miserable every day?
A strange sense of impending doom arose in his chest, making his heart pump blood faster. His adrenaline levels spiked severely, and the dreamscape was slowly shattering.
The last thing he remembered thinking while watching the mountains in the distance slowly crumble was, 'Ahhh, thank the Heavens is only a dream.'
Opening his eyes to see the tent he fell asleep, a strange emotion washed over him. Comfort and maybe a trace of relaxation.
Watching the demon charge at him, less than five meters away, the Necromancer only slightly shifted his body to the left, making the spear aimed at his heart miss and impale his right lung instead.
Pain assaulted all the nerves in his body, and the wound caused him to cough a mouthful of blood. Making use of it, he spat it at the demon's eyes and grinned wildly.
Materializing the two-handed scythe from his inventory, he hacked the demon in two from its waist. Hearing it howl in pain, he sneered and stomped on its face, making its head burst like a ripe watermelon.
The noise stopped, but he saw his minions fighting against demons coming out of two different Nightmare Portals nearby.
An unrestrained laughter emerged from his throat, further aggravating his wound.
But he didn't care.
Grabbing the shaft of the spear, he crushed it with his bare hand and pushed the other end out of his body. The pain was incredible, but it made him feel alive.
Drinking a Healing Potion, he ordered his minions to retreat slightly as he equipped his items. The yellow chest armor decorated with golden bones, the green yet lavishly decorated pants with a strange motif, the boots with the red skull archetype, the metallic gloves that somehow didn't impede his hand micromovements, and finally, his helm.
He swapped his scythe for the more familiar sword and shield and joined the battlefield. All previous thoughts of 'hiding his trump cards' vanished.
The Reapers made way, and a three-meter-tall demon pushed through the gap. Seeing the Necromancer and recognizing him as the main target, it directly swung the large axe it was wielding at the enemy.
Michael didn't shy away. Waiting slightly for the weapon to come closer, he pushed his left hand with the shield forward, deflecting the blow to the left.
The action destabilized the demon's form, allowing its opponent to find vulnerabilities to exploit. And exploit he did.
In less than three seconds, the Necromancer executed more than five blows to the demon's neck, chest, and armpit. The poor bastard didn't stand a chance.
Seeing that his Skeletons were reduced to more than half the normal numbers, he immediately activated Raise Skeletons in quick succession and had the Golem use his taunt.
Before the poor Quarterback could get swarmed and sent off the battlefield, Michael cast Corpse Tendrils and Decrepify, effectively stopping the demons in their tracks.
Adding sufficiently well-placed Corpse Explosions here and there, the battle ended in less than five minutes.
Collecting his spoils, the Necromancer smiled widely, still intoxicated by the feeling of 'returning' to this world.
After a quick investigation, he realized what had happened and why his Accountant No. 2 couldn't react in time to wake him up as instructed.
'When the first Nightmare Portal appeared, the minions probably charged at it to clear it. Once they got closer, a second one appeared, much closer to the tent than the first one. From it, the first demons to enter the Dungeon directly charged at me. The Cold Mages stopped most, but one managed to knock away Accountant No.2 and impale me with the spear. Tsk, tsk, tsk! These devils are getting impatient, it seems.'
Still smiling for the camera, he returned to the tent. It wasn't damaged, but the quilt had a hole from where the spear pierced through. Not only that but since he wasn't wearing any armor, the blood splashed everywhere on the quilt and mattress, making a mess.
Fortunately, he had over twenty Cleaning Marbles, so he immediately used three of them to clean himself and his 'sleeping quarters.'
After he finished storing everything in his inventory, he continued exploring the Nightmare Dungeon. After another ten hours of grueling traps, he finally discovered a portion of the cave where he hadn't encountered flying arrows or pitfalls in over two kilometers of carefully searched terrain.
Not wanting to be caught off-guard, the Necromancer still ordered his minions to investigate every possible corner and advance slowly. Either way, he wasn't in a rush.
Another three hours of exploration later, he was still in the area identified as Algal Hollow. He couldn't help but complain inwardly about not doing anything for almost a full day except 'disarming' traps and dealing with the demons from the Nightmare Portals.
Fortunately, his mental sanity stopped dropping after he encountered the first group of 'natives.'
[ Nangari Longfang (Minion) - Level 63
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%. ]
[ Nangari Spitter (Minion) - Level 62
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%. ]
[ Nangari Oracle (Minion) - Level 62
*Monster Shadow Damage Over Time Resist: Monsters take 40% reduced damage from your Shadow damage over time effects.
*Unstoppable Monsters: Monsters become Unstoppable when life drops below 15%.
*Increased Resistance: All Resistance increased by 25%. ]
While the Necromancer was happy to finally find some creatures besides the demons invading through the portals just to fuck with him, their appearance was a bit... traumatic to the eye.
'Speaking of which... Nangari, huh? I'm not exactly sure what that is, but I'm certain that their snake-like lower-body and upper-body posture is a bit similar to that of the Naga from novels I've previously read.'
Fortunately, the Sanctuary didn't leave him guessing and gave a quick introduction to what these creatures were.
[ The nangari (a.k.a. snake men) are a group of snake-like monsters found in Hawezar.
They are twisted amalgamations of multiple snake heads, even human body parts.
Not content with simply killing their prey, they seem to take malicious pleasure in inflicting as much suffering as possible before death. ]
Adding a 'Noted' in thanks to the brief explanation, Michael engaged the new enemies using his minions.
It was a good thing that he did since both the Oracles, Spitters, and the Longfangs used a combination of poison and venom in their attacks.
The Oracles and Longfangs were each towering over his minions, with heights around four meters, while the Spitters were polar opposites, with any of them barely reaching the shin-bones of the Reapers.
It was the large variety of attacks at their disposal that somewhat flummoxed the Necromancer. From the spears they wielded to magic attacks, to skills using poison, to bites and scratches... it was a mess.
'That Oracle is the most dangerous among them all. Why the fuck does it have Medusa's stone gaze!?'
At some point during the fight, the Oracle's eyes lit up with a yellowish color, and the four Reapers facing it were immediately petrified.
Unable to move, they could only passively endure a beating from the Longfangs. However, the issue wasn't there, but in what this 'petrified' status added.
'It probably decreased my minions' Physical Damage Resistance. Based on the values I've seen, I'd say around 25% more damage was taken compared to before being afflicted. Not only that but the Poison Resistance was probably lowered as well since the Spitters did even more damage than before. If quantified, I'd say around 50% more.'
Making plans for future encounters, the Necromancer continued exploring for another three to four hours, after which he felt slightly tired.
It wasn't the physical kind, but rather mental. In over 36 hours, he had only met the demons coming out of the three Nightmare Portals and eight native monsters.
It was incredibly tiresome and boring!
So, he decided to continue the psychological war against the devils. He took out some pots and pans, lit a bonfire, and started cooking.
Yes, he already had prepared food waiting to be consumed in his inventory, but he felt like taunting the demons by putting on a cooking show.
So he began preparing some roasted potatoes and a large piece of pork.
After drowning the meat in wine, he put it in the hot pan, instantly producing sizzling sounds.
Unfortunately, the demons maintained their composure and didn't attack, leaving the Necromancer with nothing better to do than enjoy the fruits of his labor.
After the meal was finished, he set up the tent randomly near a wall, entered it, and went to sleep.
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Unbeknownst to the sleeping Wanderer, the devils were already fuming mad, and the demons in the stands were no better.
Watching the Necromancer slaughter their kind was annoying in itself, even if they didn't have a sense of camaraderie. But now, to make matters worse, he was cooking and sleeping in a Nightmare Dungeon!
It was absurd!
[X'Fall...](Khedra)
[Don't! I already used too many resources interfering with the Nightmare Portals when he fell asleep the first time, and we still failed.](X'Fall)
[What if we give you some resources then?](Khedra)
[It's not possible. Do you think the Sanctuary would sit still? The best we can do is wait. I have enough to interfere three times more. Let's make use of that.](X'Fall)
[This... *Sigh* Watching that damned human is so annoying I feel like smashing some heads! Damn it! What sort of madman camps in a Nightmare Dungeon!?](Khedra)
The Viscount was even more helpless than the angry Khedra. Watching the demons under him catch some wild animals and cook them over a fire... he felt like smacking these morons to death.
Why were they imitating the Necromancer!? Since when do demons eat vegetables!?
Feeling veins pop on his temples, X'Fall took a deep breath and focused on the screen.
The real fun was only beginning.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone