Absolute Dweller-Chapter 202
The skeleton’s hands were completely empty, and its body was bare—no armor, no tattered robes, nothing.
Despite its pitiful appearance, it was impossible to underestimate.
Because—
「Undying Wraith (Lv. 81)」
Its level was far from ordinary.
‘Level 81...’
A monster in the 80s—the first I had encountered since the Ice Dragon.
And—
Crackle—!
As it drew closer, the purple aura around it intensified.
Clatter... Clatter...
Even though it was just a bare skeleton slowly walking forward, not a single retainer dared to move.
Because they felt it too.
This was something entirely different from any monster we had faced before.
"Yoo Han-gil, are you okay?"
The retainers, who had been staring blankly at the skeleton, finally snapped back to reality at my voice.
Yoo Han-gil responded after a brief delay.
"Ah... Y-yes. Th-thanks to you, I-I'm okay."
His voice was trembling.
Not just his voice—his eyes were quivering too, drowning in pure fear.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Everyone here was so overwhelmed by fear that they couldn't utter a single word.
Especially—
"...Dad. Are you ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ okay?"
Unlike the others, I couldn’t use Reinforcement on him.
Without the support of the black aura, he was the one most affected by the oppressive presence of the purple energy.
"...This is nothing."
It was obvious he was forcing himself.
‘North Gate, Open.’
Vwooom—
I immediately opened a portal.
"Dad, go back."
"...I’m fine. I can endure."
"Don't be stubborn, listen to me. Without black aura, you can’t leave my domain. The same goes for Yoo Han-gil. Take Kim Geon with you and leave—right now."
This wasn’t about protecting my family out of selfishness.
My father was a powerful combatant—but this was different.
‘The entire area is flooded with purple aura.’
This skeleton wasn’t like the Death Knights or the Liches that had merely used this energy to enhance their swords or spells.
No.
I could tell instinctively.
This skeleton was the source of the swirling purple aura.
‘So that’s why.’
When I saw the crows dropping dead, I had instinctively recalled the moment my domain expanded.
Because the two were eerily similar.
‘This place...’
The way the purple aura suffocated everything around us—
‘This is its domain.’
Was this how the monsters felt when they died inside my domain?
It was like an overwhelming presence was crushing me from all sides.
The tighter the purple aura closed in, the smaller my domain shrank.
If my father stepped outside the domain, the purple energy would devour him instantly.
The only thing that could counter divine energy was another divine power.
That’s why I had to send him away.
"Please, Dad."
Perhaps my desperation reached him, because he finally stopped resisting and turned toward the gate.
"...Be careful, son."
"Don’t worry."
Sending Yoo Han-gil away was for the same reason.
He would only be a burden in this battle.
As Father and Yoo Han-gil left, I turned to the remaining retainers.
"Listen carefully, everyone."
The skeleton must have noticed our presence.
But it didn’t react.
Just like when we first saw it, it continued walking forward with slow, deliberate steps.
It was underestimating us.
Good.
That meant we had time.
"Prepare your strongest attacks."
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we could even scratch it.
But we had to try.
"Attack with everything you've got, but stay inside the safe zone."
The first to react was Kang Deok-soo.
"I’ll hold it back!"
Unlike the others, he didn’t need preparation.
Clank, clank!
The Silver Knights, covered in black aura, charged at the Undying Wraith.
But—
Clang!
The halberds they swung failed to leave a single scratch on the skeleton.
Instead—
Fsssshhh!
The halberds that touched its bones began corroding and disintegrating.
Within a single minute, the entire Silver Knight force had vanished.
Kang Deok-soo muttered in disbelief.
"This can’t be..."
His knights couldn’t even delay the skeleton for one second.
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Then, Jung So-ra stepped forward.
Whoosh!
She summoned the highest-tier fire spirit, Lion Flameheart, who boldly charged forward.
But—
BOOM!
Before it could even get close, its body exploded, forcing an instant de-summon.
Bang!
Moon Byeong-ho’s sniper bullet fired.
KABOOM!
Yang Ha-young’s bone spear followed immediately.
And finally—
Vwooooom!
Kim Ga-young’s light-infused arrow, empowered by black aura, was launched.
Screeeeeech!
For the first time, the skeleton raised its hand.
Then—
BOOOOM!
The arrow exploded violently, engulfed by the purple aura.
Yet—
The skeleton emerged completely unharmed.
It continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.
The retainers visibly lost morale.
"What...?"
"...Monster."
I felt the same chill run down my spine.
‘Should we run?’
But even if we did—
‘Where?’
Where the hell could we even escape to?
There was no paradise waiting for us elsewhere.
If we ran, this thing would eventually reach Seoul.
Its slow movements gave us some time, but that was all.
‘Even if I wait for Avatar to resurrect... would that be enough?’
Impact Burst.
Would that skill even work against this thing?
The answer came instantly.
‘No.’
It was a force far beyond what had been needed to deal with the Reaper.
After all, Impact Burst had failed against it.
The skill itself was just an enhanced version of Kim Ga-young’s technique, refined through the Avatar’s characteristics to incorporate a greater concentration of black energy.
‘That thing deflected Kim Ga-young’s attack with just a gesture.’
More precisely, the swirling purple aura around it acted as a shield.
It wasn’t hard to predict what would happen if I tried Impact Burst.
‘The only thing that could possibly deal damage is... the self-destruction attack from before.’
Condensing pure black energy into an explosion—
It was the only option.
‘The Avatar did it.’
The Avatar was just a weaker version of me.
I was superior in every way—whether it was in awakening abilities or controlling black energy.
So—
Whoosh!
‘There’s no way I can’t do it.’
Even though the Avatar’s death erased most of my experience, I could still tell how to do it.
After all, it was my own power.
The black aura condensed endlessly.
Crackle—
The energy swirled around me, just like what I had seen before the Avatar’s self-destruction.
But—
This time, it was different.
Crackle—!
Before, uncontrolled energy had leaked out, making the entire process seem unstable.
But now, the black aura followed my control perfectly, flowing into my right hand.
As the massive power gathered in my palm—
Clatter—
The skeleton finally stopped moving.
It had reacted.
Then—
BOOM!
A sudden explosion erupted at the skeleton’s feet.
At the same time, its entire body shot forward like a bullet, straight at us.
“It’s coming!”
“Block it!”
Jang Seong-jun poured everything into forming a psychokinetic barrier, while Jung So-ra’s spirits created walls of their own.
Whoooosh!
Inside the force field, Lee Joon-hyuk summoned a water dragon to block the charge.
But all of their efforts—
BOOM! CRASH!
The skeleton ripped through everything in its way with its bare hands.
And then—
As soon as it stepped into my domain—
Whoosh!
The invisible hands, already prepared, seized its limbs, infused with black energy.
“Sorry, but this is my territory.”
At that moment—
Everything was ready.
I extended my hand, filled with condensed black energy, toward the skeleton.
And then—
[1,000,000,000,000 won has been consumed.]
FLASH!
The black light swallowed it whole.
BOOOOM—!
A wave of destruction erupted outward.
Whoooosh!
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Even the retainers had to push their powers to the limit just to withstand the aftershock.
And when the storm finally passed—
“......”
The sky and earth had been split in half.
[Citizen Yang Ha-young’s Loyalty has reached 100.]
[Citizen Yang Ha-young is already registered as a retainer.]
[Retainer limit has increased.]
[Citizen Kang Deok-soo’s Trust has reached 100.]
[Acquired: ‘Steel Knight Order.’]
[Citizen Yang Ha-young’s Trust has reached 100.]
[Acquired: ‘Growth.’]
The results were better than I had expected.
But—
‘Damn it.’
The backlash was worse than I thought.
‘I can’t use that again.’
The pain in my hand, as if it had been ripped apart, was bearable.
But the crippling exhaustion swallowing my entire body—
That was not something I could endure again.
I felt like I was moments away from blacking out.
‘...Shit.’
Because—
The system hadn’t given a notification.
Which meant—
‘That thing is still alive.’
Clatter!
At that moment, the skeleton’s skull fell to the ground.
Its empty eye sockets were cracked—almost completely destroyed.
And then—
Fwoosh—
A purple flame ignited within it.
At the same time—
Whooooosh!
The remaining purple aura in the area rushed back into the skeleton.
‘Its power is restoring.’
To make things worse, my domain had started shrinking.
I had burned through too much energy in one go, severely reducing the time I could maintain my descent.
‘No choice.’
I wasn’t in a state to keep fighting.
‘Retainer Summon.’
I sent the retainers back first, intending to leave right after.
But just as I was about to retreat—
[......Stop.]
The skeleton, now fully restored, spoke.
Its body had regenerated completely, and now muscle and flesh were forming.
With an expression twisted in rage, it stared directly at me.
Even though its killing intent burned clearly, the system didn’t react.
Because—
The purple aura now completely shielded its body.
It had solidified the swirling energy into a defensive barrier.
I knew immediately.
In that state—it might actually be vulnerable.
I had been about to retreat—
But I changed my mind.
‘North Gate, Open.’
I opened a gate to the main base and threw myself through.
And then—
[STOP RIGHT THERE!]
The fully regenerated humanoid creature chased after me.
It shouldn’t have been able to pass through the North Gate without citizenship—
But somehow, it did.
Which meant—
“Welcome to my home.”
The situation had been completely reversed.
Earlier, when I descended, I had been the intruder in its domain.
But now—
It had stepped into mine.
[An enemy entity has been detected within the Absolute Dweller’s domain.]
[Executing elimination.]
CRACK!
The battle was over.
