The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All - Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Isabelle Gaudí was a witch, but she was more known as a necromancer.

In fact, it was the latter that made her branded as a world-class criminal.
There were not many beings in the original story who had mastered the abominable forbidden art of conjuring the dead and treating them as servants, because it was threatening to anyone who saw them.

In fact, the characters with the title of Necromancer boasted strength beyond common sense.
Except for Isabelle Gaudi.

“Okay… .”

The entrance to the cave was quite narrow.
I had to bend down to barely get in.
But I didn’t go in immediately, I took off the backpack I had been carrying on my back and put it down.

‘Am I crazy to just go into witch’s workshop like this?’

A witch’s workshop was literally a place where traps and all kinds of dangers lurked.
Not to mention the Necromancer’s Workshop.
If I went in without thinking, I could get into a lot of trouble instead.

I took out a simple alchemy sprayer from my backpack and one of the three bottles of purification potion I had brought with me.
The sprayer was an expensive alchemy tool that made a spray base potion like gas and spread it over a large area.
I had learned how to use it from Cass Lyle before coming here.

It was originally an equipment of the club, but I borrowed with semi-forced permission from Alice Blesbuck, who was hesitating, saying that she remembered something urgent while making the potions.

“Is it like this?”

I leveled the ground in front of the cave and installed the alchemy spray device I had brought.
I struggled a bit as my hands were not used to doing this, but it was not a difficult task to begin with, so I was able to finish it quickly.

‘Like this, light a fire underneath and add reagents… .’

I lit a fire with the solid fuel and lighter I had brought beforehand, and fitted the bottle containing the purification potion into the mouth of the device.
As soon as I did, a pure white mist-like substance flowed out of the other mouth of the sprayer.

“It’s done.”

I adjusted the fog to enter the entrance of the cave and put a small fan next to it.
The price was quite painful, but it was an expense I could afford with a smile compared to the compensation I would soon receive.

I was told it usually takes two hours to evaporate and release an entire bottle of potion.
I sat down some distance away and took out the kimbap and water I had brought.
I bought it from a canteen down the mountain just in case, and it was a really great choice.

It had been about two hours.
When I saw that there was no more mist-like smoke coming out of the sprayer, I got up from my seat.

First, I carefully put the device back and placed it next to the cave.
If I brought it into the cave and it broke, I might lose at least tens of millions of won.
My hands trembled at the thought of it.

“Whoo.”

Taking a breath, I took out the supply dagger in one hand and Nidhogg’s fang in the other.
This was because Nidhogg’s fang was capable of attacking formless beings such as spirits, fluids, and ghosts.

I stood in front of the dungeon nervously.
Then I took out a bottle of purification potion and applied it to my weapons, clothes, and skin.
As I poured all the rest into my mouth, a notification popped up in front of me saying that I was in the presence of Holy power. [Note: ‘신성한’- Holy, Divine, Sacred….]

I went straight inside.
The buff from Henir’s Shadow as I entered the dark place, and the buff from the branch of the World Tree as I was still in the mountains, gave my body more vitality than usual.
I walked carefully.
Soon after, I was able to meet for the first time a sentinel who was guarding this dungeon.

It was a Bone Observer characterized by a large eye embedded in a pile of bones.
Literally playing the role of a sentinel, he was a nuisance that could be seen anywhere in black magic-type dungeons.

And as soon as I saw that he was melting to death, I could notice it.

The Bone observer remained motionless in its half-melted form.
He was weak to begin with, so he seemed to have died as soon as he came in contact with the purification potion.

As I walked a little further, I heard a muffled sound.
A rattling sound.
Instinctively, I knew it was the voice of a skeleton.

But the guy’s appearance was not much better.
It seemed that the joints of his arms had fallen off, and he only had his head and legs attached to his torso.
He was glaring at me and gnashing his teeth, but that was the best resistance he could muster.

With a mediocre kick to the leg, he didn’t move again.

‘This seems to be more effective than expected.’

There, the owner of the dungeon, Isabelle Gaudi, died, and the dungeon seemed to have deteriorated naturally.
In the case of a dungeon that was defended by someone, if the supply of rewards and mana was not constantly maintained, the threat to the dungeon would naturally diminish.

I moved forward without hesitation.
Several monsters appeared along the way, including ghouls, skeletons, and gaseous spirits, but most of them were defeated in a single attack.

In fact, I wondered if the road to get here had been more difficult.
That was when I thought about it.

“Whew… .”

If the inside of the dungeon I had just passed through was a natural cave, the area in front of me clearly showed signs of having been artificially manicured, no matter who looked at it.
Perhaps this was where Isabelle Gaudi’s real dungeon and workshop began.
Above all, the stench emanating from a while ago made my expression contort.

I took a couple of breaths and collected my thoughts.

So far, only the level of junk mobs had come out, and there were no special traps.
In the first place, Isabelle Gaudi’s dungeon was a type of dungeon that crushed opponents with overwhelming quantities rather than traps or machinery.
However, those blocking the way at the entrance of the dungeon were barely more than twenty.
The number was far too small to be called a quantity.
What this meant was that the dungeon deterioration was more severe than expected, rather than that the effect of the purification potion was better than expected.
Perhaps the dungeon had been declining at a terrifying speed since the time when Isabelle Gaudi’s management was cut off.
In the first place, the faster the dungeon itself was attacked, the lower the difficulty level, but……

The difficulty level was much lower than I had imagined, which was rather distracting.

The playable character that attacked it at the most similar timing to my current situation was Ivan Hunt.
Even then, I was almost a month early.
What was the boss-level gatekeeper that appeared when I played as Ivan Hunt?

‘The Living Dead, who was originally a hero in his lifetime. And a Flesh Golem.’

However, the former had already been destroyed by Lee Myung-Joon long ago.
Then there was only one Flesh Golem left.

Flesh Golem.
Literally, it was a golem made from the flesh of living beings.
And it was obvious what the Necromancer would use as a material.
It was the flesh of humans and monsters.

In particular, she had a nasty hobby, so she had created a golem in a form that was absolutely disgusting.
It was so shocking at the time that I even remembered how it moved with its arms instead of its legs.

The thought of seeing it again made me nauseous again.
I struggled to endure it and took out the last remaining purification potion.
This was the reason why I had to make three purification potions.

The flesh golem was very strong.
And since it was not a living being, the method of attacking its vital points did not work either.
However, if I applied a purification potion, it would become no better than a goblin or slime.
I handed it to the branch of the World Tree.

“Do you remember the old days?”

I burst into laughter without realizing it as I suddenly remembered the time when I caught Nidhogg.
I had grown a lot since then, so I could leave it to him.
But just in case, I told him to listen clearly.

“If you go in, you’ll see a huge chunk of flesh. Me and… Henir will rip through the guy’s skin and turn his insides upside down. Then you can throw it in there. you’ve done it before, so I believe you’ll do well this time too.”

The branch of the World Tree did not respond, so I added a little threateningly.

“If you fail, you will have to suck up all of his bodily fluids. And I can assure you that it will taste so horrible that the goblin you ate will seem like a delicacy.”

I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I feel like its stem had become stiff.
I hurried my steps, thinking that he would have understood it at this point.

Unlike the Henir’s Shadow, who silently did everything he had to do and always had a reliable feeling, the branch of the World Tree had a somewhat unpredictable feeling.
There were times when he actually ignored my orders and acted unexpectedly.
More than anything, he had unknowingly instigated my hatred for Cass Lyle.

If we continue to grow, we will be able to communicate.
With that thought, I kept moving forward.
Then, at some point, I reached a large open space.

At the same time, I could feel the indescribable smell that I had felt before, intensifying momentarily.

In the middle of the open space, there was a piece of meat that literally looked like a huge ball.

It was the guy.
It looked as if he was dead, but he was shaking little by little as if breathing.
To be honest, I was hoping that he would die naturally, but it didn’t seem like it was going to go that smoothly.

His attack pattern was a dash and hand-to-hand combat using his huge physique.
It was important to note that poison flows through the body fluid itself and that the tongue extends freely like a protrusion.
He was surprisingly fast compared to his gigantic physique, but that was all.
He had low intelligence, and he only attacked according to his instincts, so I only needed to avoid the occasional protruding tongue and getting covered in bodily fluids.

“Whew… .”

I tried to grab the Banshee’s necklace, but after a moment’s pondering, I stopped.
I had to have at least one way to detoxify it immediately, since I could possibly be hit with his bodily fluids.
I had brought the antidote with me, but it wasn’t immediate.

I grabbed my dagger and Nidhogg’s fang and readied myself.
Then, Henir’s Shadow flowed over my body, increasing in size so that it could strike from anywhere, and the last remaining purification potion was held in the branches of the World Tree.

“Hup!’

Using Henir’s Shadow, I threw the remaining dagger at him.
Perhaps it had more power than imagined, but the dagger flew in a straight line without rotating and stuck in the middle of his flesh.

I guess I can’t use that thing anymore because it would stink.

“Keeeeeeek!!!”

He let out a howling sound and frantically tossed and turned his body.
The arms of an orc or a goblin were attached like centipede legs, disgusting even from a distance.
He was quite dull, but the dagger soaked in the purification potion seemed painful.

“Keeeeeeek!!!”

“My ears are going to explode, you bastard.”

He rushed towards me, using his many arms as his legs.
Without panicking, I threw Nidhogg’s fang at him as well.
Perhaps because of the sharpness of the weapon itself, not the fierce poison of Nidhogg, it dug deep into his body.

“Keek!”

I used Henir’s Shadow to grab hold of the handle of Nidhogg’s fang as I flew sideways.
And at the same time, the remaining Henir’s Shadow stretched out to the ground, pinning him firmly to the ground.

“Uu, uup… !”

Along with the sound of the leather bag tearing, a stench that I had never smelled in my life spread.
It was good to use my power directly to inflict wounds, but if it went on like this, I would suffocate and die from the stench.

‘If you flip that over.… .’

I shuddered at the horrible imagination.
Shaking my head to shake off the thoughts, I looked at him.
There was a big cut on his side, but he didn’t seem to feel any pain at all.

Seeing the inside revealed by the wound, I had no choice but to harden my expression immediately.
His insides were not much different from ours.
There were parts of the body that anyone could see were the body of a monster, and there were cases where it was the other way around.

And when I thought of Isabelle Gaudi, who must have been chatting and giggling with creating such a thing, I couldn’t help but curse.

‘Crazy bitch.’

I looked at him, determined to kill him as quickly as possible to ease the pain.
And once again, I quickly flew to the side to avoid the guy who was rushing towards me.

Then, I heard a creepy sound.
Unlike before, something like a purple protrusion pierced through the skin on the guy’s side and shot towards me.

Of course, I had no intention of being hit in real life by the same attack that had hit me so many times in the original story.
As I had prepared for, Henir’s Shadow popped out, making it easy to deflect the attack, which was a decisive blow.

And the branch of the World Tree, which until now had been quietly looking for an opportunity, moved.
I even made him stick out his tongue, so there was no more trump card left in him.

The purification potion flew straight to his wound.
I could clearly see the glass bottle digging into his large wound.

And that was the end of it.