Chapter 90 – The Curse of the Abandoned Mine (2)
The sheer number of undead swallowed even the darkness of the tunnel.
It was overwhelming.
Packed so tightly that they left no gaps, the undead horde slowly closed in on us from both sides of the tunnel. The oppressive pressure from their endless, writhing advance was no joke.
We decided to start by clearing out the ones emerging directly beneath us.
Skkagak―!
Fenry’s claws flashed through the air, slicing through clumps of zombies in one fluid motion.
Meanwhile, I crushed the skulls of zombies clinging to my ankles with sharp stomps before retreating slightly.
Once I cleared some space, Fenry expanded her range of attack. Her two sets of claws moved in a whirlwind, mowing down zombies in an instant.
Seeing it up close, I had to admit—those claws, renowned as one of the strongest weapons for close combat, were truly terrifying.
Fenry casually shook the rotting flesh from her claws as she scanned her surroundings.
The number of zombies had grown even larger.
They kept crawling out of the ground, endlessly and without pause.
“Are these things moles? I didn’t see any signs of tunneling before.”
“They’ve probably been buried so long that the traces disappeared.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We move. The longer we stay here, the worse it’ll get.”
“Why?”
At her question, I pointed to the back of her head.
The faint glow emanating from her hair ornament.
At some point, Dark Rose’s Blessing had activated.
Fenry reached up and touched the ornament, frowning as she sensed its energy.
Blessings like these were mostly defensive, designed to protect the wearer.
Something invisible was attacking Fenry—something that had triggered the blessing.
“Could it be…?”
“It’s the curse.”
As I answered, I began channeling holy energy.
Was this the effect of the curse?
Unfamiliar symptoms began manifesting on my body.
My arm itched unbearably, and when I looked down, my skin had turned black, branching out in a web-like pattern. Pressing down on the darkened area, I felt no sensation at all—just a numb, creeping sense of decay.
The curse was clearly attacking my flesh.
While Fenry had the Dark Rose, I had my holy energy.
When I infused my body with it, the blackened skin slowly regained its original color, and the affected areas began regenerating.
The curse couldn’t touch me. My holy energy repelled it, and my heart seemed to assist by accelerating the regeneration process.
With the curse neutralized, I had no reason to worry about succumbing to it. This was why I’d been so confident in taking on this mission in the first place.
‘The source of the curse must be nearby.’
The dead had risen, and the curse had begun to spread.
Something had reacted to our approach.
“Fenry!”
“What?”
At my call, Fenry, who had been rampaging at the front, suddenly appeared beside me like a ghost.
She had glided down the shadow cast by the glowing orb overhead, making her sudden approach eerily silent.
I glanced around and clicked my tongue. Dozens of corpses lay scattered in her wake.
In just a short time, she had cut down hordes of zombies like she was slaughtering livestock.
‘Gotta give credit where it’s due.’
Fenry might have the personality of a sadistic elf who enjoyed tormenting me, but as a comrade, she was someone I could trust to watch my back. Of course, she required constant supervision—like holding the reins on a particularly wild horse.
“We need to run.”
“Run? Where to?”
“Where else? Straight ahead.”
“In this situation? Retreating seems smarter.”
Fenry gestured behind us.
The reanimated corpses rising from the ground had completely blocked our escape route.
Her suggestion was to hold back and carve out a path for retreat while we still had time.
I shook my head.
“If we retreat now, we might never get close again.”
“And what makes you so sure there’s anything ahead?”
“Same thing behind us, right? How many countless people have fallen victim to this curse over the years? Don’t assume Dark Rose’s Blessing will keep protecting you forever.”
“You’re saying the blessing could stop working?”
“It’s possible.”
Dark Rose’s Blessing didn’t activate at the user’s will. It responded automatically to the situation, and its activation and deactivation criteria weren’t clear.
This was why I had willingly handed over the artifact. Its uncertainty made me uneasy. I preferred more reliable defenses, like my mental barriers and my heart’s regenerative powers.
Fenry continued to fiddle with Dark Rose, her sharp gaze boring into me.
I knew exactly what she wanted: certainty.
She wanted the information I held.
Even though she was my ally, persuading her wasn’t as simple as just giving orders. Not in a danger zone like this.
“The source of the curse is nearby. The fact that it’s active proves it.”
“And if we find the source?”
“We destroy it. That’ll end the curse.”
“The source? Are you saying it’s alive?”
“It’s more likely to be an object. Something the miners uncovered while digging and disturbed.”
I had barely finished speaking when I stepped past Fenry and swung my dagger.
The head of a charging zombie tumbled to the ground.
Even though Fenry had cleared the area earlier, it didn’t take long for the gaps to be filled again.
The zombies swarmed toward us, clawing and scratching. If they caught hold of us, they’d pile on like a pack of rabid dogs.
“Move!”
“Tch!”
Fenry surged forward, while I trailed behind to cover her flank.
Woom—!
I infused holy energy into my dagger, and its blade gleamed with a golden hue.
The dagger, crafted by the dwarves at my request, easily withstood my enchantments. Its durability was leagues ahead of any standard weapon.
As rotting miners charged at me from both sides, I pierced their chests, leaving gaping holes.
However…
“…It’s not working?”
Despite the holes in their torsos, the zombies continued advancing, unaffected by my holy energy.
I had assumed holy energy would repel the curse, but it seemed I was wrong.
Rolling to the ground, I evaded their grasp and regrouped beside Fenry.
“Finally run out of tricks?” she teased.
“Give me a second.”
Moments later, a ripple of golden light radiated outward, enveloping the horde.
I had activated an ancient rune, unleashing its power.
Though the zombies were engulfed in the light, unsettling moans continued to fill the air. As the light faded, the horde only grew more ferocious, surging toward us.
The holy light hadn’t worked.
“…The reaction is completely different from the chimera,” I muttered.
“Stop wasting your energy. It’s barely slowing them down.”
The zombies’ movements seemed slightly sluggish, suggesting the rune had some effect. But considering the mana cost, the results were unimpressive.
The chimeras and the zombies might have appeared similar on the surface, but their properties were fundamentally different.
Fenry seemed to understand something about this, but now wasn’t the time to press her for answers.
“Die already, you bastards!” she snarled.
Her focus remained on carving a path through the horde.
Once she made up her mind, she didn’t hesitate. Her every action was now singularly focused on breaking through.
That was one of her strengths—decisive and relentless action once she’d made a decision.
How long had we been fighting?
With every step we took, the stench of rotting flesh thickened, and severed body parts littered the path behind us.
Eventually, we switched roles.
I took the lead, with Fenry providing support from the rear.
Given my regenerative abilities, it made sense to preserve Fenry’s strength while I pushed forward.
With the heart’s influence, my stamina had long surpassed human limits. This level of combat wouldn’t tire me out easily.
While my enchanted dagger wasn’t as destructive as Fenry’s claws, it was more than enough to sever the zombies’ limbs.
I swung my blade wildly, carving a path through the horde like a berserker.
“Cold-hearted bastard.”
“Hey, I’ve got plenty of heart and tears.”
My body ached from the relentless battle.
Scratches from claws and bites covered my skin, but most of the wounds healed within moments, thanks to the heart’s regenerative power.
It was hard to tell who the real zombie was anymore.
Still, the endless swarm was perfect for me to cut loose. The only problem was their sheer numbers, which slowed our progress.
‘Now I see how the previous lords met their end.’
Once exposed to the curse, their bodies would’ve decayed and turned into zombies.
Unlike us, the dwarves hadn’t had any power to resist the curse.
Surrounded deep in the tunnels, they couldn’t advance or retreat. They would’ve been overwhelmed, one by one, succumbing to the curse as their strength faded.
By the time they fell, they’d all have turned into zombies.
“…Zombies, huh?”
I muttered the thought aloud, glancing around the battlefield.
Despite their tattered clothing, it was easy to guess what these individuals had been in life based on their posture and gear.
Most of the undead were miners or ordinary soldiers.
Suddenly, I recalled something Fenry had mentioned earlier:
“The previous lords tried to lift the mine’s curse and lost their lives. Over 350 elite knights disappeared alongside them.”
“…This is bad.”
The previous lords.
The elite knights.
Not a single one of them was in sight.
A warning bell rang in my mind, and I instinctively retreated, signaling Fenry with an outstretched hand.
It was a touch-down signal for a position switch.
Fenry frowned, clearly annoyed, and gave me a swift kick to my rear.
Damn it, this woman…
When I glared and signaled again, she clicked her tongue in irritation and reluctantly moved to the front.
Always stubborn. One of these days, I’d make her regret testing my patience.
“Hold them off for a bit,” I said.
“We’re already holding them off!”
Ah, true.
I laughed awkwardly and grabbed the Ring of Bloodletting.
As my palm touched the smooth white band, it shimmered and transformed into a bow. The familiar grip fit perfectly in my hand as the weapon fully materialized.
The satisfying feel of the bow in my hand didn’t last long.
Sssssss―
‘Damn, this thing’s thirsty.’
The Ring of Bloodletting began greedily draining my blood, triggering a wave of dizziness. But the sharp pulsing of my heart quickly restored me to normal.
Fine. If you want blood, I’ll give you as much as you want.
‘Just make sure the power is worth it.’
The longer it fed, the stronger the arrow would become.
How strong would it get?
This seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out.
I held the bow in one hand while keeping my dagger ready in the other, providing support as Fenry pushed forward.
At some point, the swarm of zombies began to thin. Their numbers were dropping quickly, which meant we were getting closer to our goal.
“There! Up ahead!”
The tunnel widened rapidly, revealing an opening to the outside.
Finally, an end to this grueling battle was in sight.
Would we find the source of the curse beyond that exit?
From what I knew of the story, Fenry had reached this point but decided to retreat after seeing what lay beyond.
Why had she given up?
“Stop!”
“Why are you stopping now?”
As the tunnel ended, a vast new space opened up before us.
Sensing the openness, Fenry conjured several orbs of light and scattered them throughout the area.
The eerie, expansive chamber lit up like daylight.
In one corner of the crumbled ruins was a small stone altar with a sarcophagus resting atop it.
And blocking our path to the altar was a fresh wave of undead, waiting for us.
I swore under my breath as I took in the scene.
“Damn it. Why are my worst-case guesses always right?”
At this point, it felt like a law of the universe.
These weren’t ordinary zombies.
‘The aura of trouble radiating off them could only belong to…’
In her 6-star days, Fenry had called these creatures “annoying.” She had abandoned the mission because dealing with them was too much of a hassle.
But now, I could see the truth.
These weren’t just any zombies.
They were the previous lords and their elite knights.
“Annoying? Really? That’s how you described these guys?”
I shot Fenry a glare.
This elf was definitely a scammer.