I returned to reality, leaving behind the shattered barriers that fell like glass fragments.
The place I returned to was still filled with zombie-like villagers dancing, but at least my heart felt relieved.
"How did this happen?"
Even though he wore a mask, the trembling voice of the dark mage couldn't hide his agitation.
Leaving him alone, I looked to the side and noticed another black spherical barrier.
"Vivian, perhaps?"
It seemed that creating those black barriers was a power derived from Natae's page.
I couldn't be sure, but I wondered if the reason the villagers had transformed like that wasn't the dark mage's ability, but rather the ability of that item.
"What if Ivy is being controlled? That would be dreadful."
Suddenly, a black dart flew towards me without warning, piercing through my foot.
"How did you manage to escape? You broke Sloth's curse? It's unbelievable."
Dark spheres floated around the dark mage.
Judging by the low-level magic they were casting, their abilities didn't seem impressive.
But they were still a significant threat to me at the moment.
"Moreover, Sloth's page may have additional abilities."
Having considered that, I decided to reveal my intentions.
"Do you know about the assembly?"
"…!"
Their eyes visibly widened in surprise at the mention of the assembly.
It seems they were secretly involved in it.
"How do you know about the assembly?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Although it was basic dark magic, I had the advantage on the battlefield.
Besides, since everyone else was trapped by barriers, I didn't need to worry about being watched.
[Novice Command: Cast Skeleton Summoning.]
[Twenty-three corpses detected.]
[Caster's proficiency is insufficient. Nine react.]
[Novice Necromancer: Skeleton Summoning successful.]
[Summoned seven Skeletons (Normal) and two Skeleton Soldiers (Normal).]
-Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!-
The villagers killed by Vivian rose as skeletons.
"Necromancer!"
As expected of someone with low-level abilities, they were noticeably taken aback by the situation.
Initially, they appeared with strange gibberish and acted like the final boss.
While searching for opportunities, I picked up Christopher's sword, which was lying on the ground.
"In the name of the assembly, I shall collect the Sloth's page."
To provoke their hesitation further, I mentioned the name of the dark magic assembly.
And indeed, I could see that they were shaken by my words.
"That's impossible. The assembly has already noticed!"
"Go. Charles, Hans, Alex, Alice, Jace, and the rest."
The skeletons obeyed my command and rushed towards the dark mage, tumbling and stumbling.
"Even if you came from the assembly, you can't capture me."
Clank! Crunch!
Indeed, the durability of ordinary skeletons was pathetic.
The dark spheres created by the opponent shredded my skeletons to pieces.
"Grease."
Although the opponent momentarily nullified the friction on the ground, they casually deflected the magic and stepped back.
Meanwhile, with only three skeletons left due to the opponent's magic, they fearlessly continued to advance.
Thud!
At that moment, the remaining villagers blocked the skeletons with firearms.
However, the soldiers of the second tier, not ordinary skeletons, pushed aside the villagers and moved towards their target.
Crack!
'Black Shield. An intermediate dark mage.'
Intermediate dark magic.
I sensed a feeling of mockery from the opponent.
Ignoring the fact that the skeletons clung to them, they created another dark sphere without any intention of evading.
Thud! Boom!
And when the villagers rushed out, the remaining skeletons shattered into pieces.
"It's quite insignificant to claim that you came from the assembly. How did you escape Sloth's curse with such ability?"
I quickly consumed healing potions and strength-enhancing potions from my bag and summoned another skeleton.
Although the number was reduced this time, seven skeletons stood up.
The opponent, still protected by the black shield, created another dark sphere confidently.
"Do you think the same method will work?"
Talkative, aren't you?
I barely managed to block the incoming overlapping dark spheres with an Earth Shield.
Then, using the earth walls that rose from the ground as cover, I secretly summoned Nickel.
Creak?
I handed my sword to Nickel and silently ordered it to ambush the opponent from behind.
Fortunately, Nickel understood my intention, and its presence became almost imperceptible in an instant.
Skeleton Soldier really uses every technique available.
"Because of you, all the efforts put into the plan have gone to waste. Atone for that with death."
"It's your fault, isn't it? Didn't your parents teach you that?"
"You bastard!"
Insulting parents seems to be a universally effective method.
The opponent summoned not only dark spheres but also Flame Arrows, Poison Needles, and Thorn Whips, launching ruthless bombardment.
Within those attacks, my skeletons crumbled one by one, and finally, my mana began to run low.
Eventually, the Earth Shield collapsed completely, and the cover disappeared.
"You may have escaped the barriers somehow, but now it's time for you to die."
"What's your relationship with Lord Bolorik?"
"Hehe. So many curious people who will soon die."
"Fine. Think of me as someone who will soon die and give me an answer."
"Just shut up and die quietly."
Five dark spheres fiercely spewed out with great momentum.
However, I effortlessly moved my body and evaded the attacks.
"What kind of sorcery is this?"
Since I had convincingly blocked the attacks with the Earth Shield, the opponent stood there in bewilderment.
If I can't even dodge attacks that come in a straight line, then my talent would be wasted.
'Straight-line attacks should be at the speed of bullets to make them difficult to avoid.'
Having the foresight of the muzzle direction would allow me to evade even bullets, boosting my confidence.
In my past life, I demonstrated that level of performance.
With the passage of time as the price, Nickel finally appeared behind the dark mage.
"Huh!"
Crack!
The opponent realized it rather belatedly and hurriedly turned around to cast a spell, but the black shield shattered.
"Merely a skeleton!"
Apparently, the opponent, seeing that Nickel's appearance was not much different from an ordinary skeleton, forgot that the black shield had been broken.
They immediately retaliated with a dark sphere, but Nickel skillfully dodged it with its sword and continued to advance.
"What is this skeleton...?"
It seemed that the opponent finally noticed that it wasn't an ordinary skeleton, so they hastily took something out from their chest.
'Sloth's page.'
Seeing the peculiar cube they pulled out, I rushed towards them.
While Nickel chased the dark mage at an incredible speed, the activation of Natae's page was faster.
Shhh!
The cube-shaped Sloth's page started emitting black light and rotating.
As a result, the ground around the dark mage turned black, and six gigantic, pale hands emerged.
Thud!
Nickel blocked the swinging hands and retreated.
Each hand, about the size of a person, had long, red nails. Even after being struck by Nickel's sword, they seemed unaffected, indicating their sturdiness.
"These damn dogs! I've worked so hard to gather this power!"
It seemed that the power had been accumulated using the villagers, and they finally used it now.
I couldn't say for sure what kind of magic it was, but using such power clearly indicated that it was not ordinary.
'I should have killed him with that last attack.'
The opponent's intuition was better than I thought.
While having such thoughts, the white hands were aiming for Nickel.
Thud! Thud!
"How can a mere skeleton do this?"
The opponent was completely fixated on Nickel.
That won't do.
Swish, thump!
As I approached the dark mage, one of the hands flew towards my original position like a whip.
I didn't take the hit, but it would have been disastrous if it had landed.
Apart from summoning hands with Sloth's page, the opponent was still not concerned about me, focusing on Nickel.
Despite depleting their mana to that extent, they continued casting magic, likely due to Sloth's page increasing their mana.
Kikigik. Thump!
As I approached the dark mage, one of the hands flew towards my original position like a whip.
Although I didn't take the hit, it looked like it would have been devastating.
Aside from summoning hands with Sloth's page, the opponent seemed to be capable of using magic as well, as they continued to ignore me and focused on Nickel.
Despite depleting their mana to such an extent, they still continued to use magic, suggesting that Sloth's page was likely increasing their mana.
Kikigik. Thump!
But, Nickel is still an Aura Master.
Even though he didn't have a core to manipulate mana, his ego, experience, and swordsmanship remained sharp.
Just like before, Nickel calmly evaded and blocked attacks, not being overwhelmed.
However, as the black ground expanded and the range of the white hands increased, even Nickel started to be pushed back.
Well done, Nickel.
Now it's my turn.
"This madman. Does he think a magician coming in person will make a difference? Is he even capable of throwing a punch?"
Before I knew it, as I got close to him, he summoned a thorn whip and swung it, sneering.
It was indeed difficult to predict the whip's movements, but unless the opponent was an expert with it, I could easily evade it.
Furthermore, the closer the distance, the greater the delay in the whip's attacks due to its characteristics.
Thanks to that, having dodged the attack, I swiftly penetrated the opponent's guard.
"That's right. This bastard. This is the fist of the Special Forces of the Republic of Korea!"
Whack!
I actually struck his face, which he never expected. He didn't even have time to defend himself.
His mask flew off into the distance.
"Baron Boloric's Butler?"
With a passing thought, I didn't lose momentum and swung my fist once again.
"This is for Charles."
Whack!
"This is for Hans."
Thump!
"And this is for the rest of us!"
"Aaah!"
The screaming dark mage fired a spell from a distance.
With a quick sidestep, it barely grazed my shoulder.
Taking advantage of that moment, I quickly stepped back and stood up. His eyes were bloodshot, and blood dripped from his nose and mouth as he spoke.
"This lunatic bastard! Die!"
As two of the hands that were previously focused on Nickel came towards me, I quickly dodged their grasp and attempted to approach the dark mage.
"Die, die, die!"
Once again, magic went haywire, and the spells rained down on me and the hands without any distinction.
Fortunately, the majority of the magic was blocked by the giant hands, allowing me to escape unharmed.
Shwaaack!
Thunk!
Suddenly, with a newfound ease, Nickel attacked the dark mage.
Desperately, the opponent used the Black Shield, but like before, it shattered.
As the hands desperately tried to block Nickel once again, I shouted to him.
"Nickel!"
Understanding my intentions, Nickel threw his sword.
The thrown sword spun through the air and flew towards the dark mage.
"Heeugh!"
Twisting his body, the dark mage narrowly avoided the sword, but a bright smile appeared on his face.
"To think I would fall for such an attack..."
Swiftly, from behind the dark mage, I caught the sword that Nickel had thrown, rotating my body and beheading the opponent.
From the severed neck of the dark mage, blood gushed out, while his face still wore a smile.
In the first place, the sword thrown by Nickel was aimed at me, not the dark mage.
The reason I called Nickel and instructed him to throw me the sword was for that purpose.
Thud. Poof!
The headless corpse fell to its knees, spurting blood.
And from his grasp, Sloth's page, which was spewing black light, also lost its radiance and stopped spinning.
Gurgling.
With a strange sound, the ground that had turned black began to regain its color, and the white hands were sucked in and disappeared.
'I guess he wasn't a full fledged warlock.'
They didn't seem to have much practical combat experience.
Since they hid and avoided being discovered, they lacked battle experience.
When stories of a dark mage engaging in combat emerged, it usually meant they had been exposed, and their fate was either death or survival.
If they managed to survive even after being exposed, it meant they were no ordinary individuals.
And such individuals were usually famous dark mages who had revealed their names.
I took the Natae's page, which I held tightly even in death, from the hands of the corpse.
It was at this moment when one of the concluding items of this game, Codex Apocalypse, fell into my hands.