The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 179

At the sound of the bells, the entire fortress mobilized, and all who gathered at the walls saw it.

A mass of figures so numerous they blurred into the landscape itself.

The Undead Legion.

A force so terrifying that all living beings instinctively dreaded them.

What if there were so many of them that they could be mistaken for the ground itself?

For a brief moment, the walls of Basilica seemed to tremble.

Or at least, that was the illusion created by the sheer terror.

The soldiers scrambled into position, but—

The undead only continued to gather, their numbers growing instead of diminishing.

“There! Drop the stones there!!!”

“Shit!!! They’re climbing!!!”

“W-Where the hell is our reinforcement?!?!”

Despite the panicked cries, the wall’s entire defense force was deployed—yet it was nowhere near enough.

There was only so much they could do.

They were trained soldiers, but—

Their numbers were lacking, and most of them weren’t particularly strong.

After all, as one soldier had said before—there was never much need for real combat here.

And now, that neglect was coming back to haunt them.

What the hell do we do?

They had already called for reinforcements, but—

No response.

If just a little more time passed, the undead would either scale the walls or break through the gates—one or the other.

Would reinforcements arrive in time?

“Damn it!!! Send reinforcements, you goddamn idiots!!!”

One of the commanding officers on the walls screamed in desperation.

And then—

A massive teal portal opened beneath them.

And in an instant—

The thousands, no—the tens of thousands of undead—

Were swallowed whole.

Was it over?

The soldiers held their breath as relief washed over them.

Shortly afterward, reinforcements finally arrived.

A unit clad in shadowy robes, moving silently and efficiently—

They looked like an assassination corps.

One of them stepped forward, his voice tinged with irritation.

“Where are the supposed ‘undead legions’?”

His tone was sharp.

Clearly, this assassin hadn’t completely purged his emotions—because his irritation was mixed with anger.

He stepped into the light—

Revealing a form part beast, part human.

Bat-like features. Red eyes. Fangs.

And wings resembling a bat’s membrane, attached to his arms.

A vampire beastfolk, perhaps?

That’s certainly what he looked like.

But in Basilica, such a form was nothing out of the ordinary.

No one paid attention to it.

Only his frustration and annoyance mattered.

And it was justified.

They had rushed here for an emergency, only to find—

Nothing.

It felt like a complete waste of time.

And so, one of the fortress officers—still recovering from the panic—shouted back in frustration.

“You should’ve gotten here sooner!!! The undead army vanished like an illusion!!!”

The bat beastfolk let out a low hum, then—

“Shut your mouth before I kill you.”

“W-What?!?”

Even though the officer was a division commander, the assassin spoke to him with blatant disrespect.

The officer’s temper flared—

But then—

He felt it.

A killing intent so suffocating that he gulped audibly.

The assassination corps were not just ordinary soldiers.

In Ninyaru, they would be comparable to the knight orders—a completely different class of warriors compared to normal troops.

Their sheer strength rendered hierarchy meaningless.

The division commander shut his mouth.

The assassin, still unfazed, gestured to one of his subordinates—who immediately vanished into thin air.

A flash of motion—

And the subordinate returned from the bottom of the wall in an instant.

Even at a glance, the speed was terrifying—enough to make the commander swallow nervously again.

“There were definite signs of an attack,” the assassin subordinate reported. “Far more traces on the walls than we expected.”

“Hm. So it wasn’t just an illusion.”

“It doesn’t seem that way, sir.”

“Alright. Assassination Unit Three stays here. I’ll go report this to His Majesty.”

With that, the leader of the assassination unit issued his orders.

His subordinates nodded and immediately dispersed into the shadows.

Using their stealth skills, they vanished from sight.

The division commander furrowed his brow.

Why are they doing that?

Why hide if the enemy was gone?

The assassin unit leader sneered at his confusion.

“You really became a division commander with that brain? The military structure needs to be reformed.”

“W-What?!?!”

“Think with that tiny head of yours. If this wasn’t just an illusion, then it means the undead withdrew exactly when our forces arrived. Do you really not see what that means?”

“W-What are you saying...?”

The commander finally realized the implications.

And a chill ran down his spine.

The undead legion had disappeared the moment reinforcements arrived.

In other words—

“There’s either a traitor among us, or someone is watching our every move.”

“It’s not from the sky—so they’re either hidden or we have a spy in our ranks.”

“A-A traitor in Basilica?!?”

“There might be. That’s why I’m going to report this to His Majesty. Stay put.”

The commander was completely ignored—treated as a mere underling.

But—

He didn’t get angry.

He only nodded in agreement.

Despite arriving just moments ago, the assassin unit leader had instantly grasped the situation, deduced the enemy’s movements, and given appropriate orders.

He was a true strategist.

A commander in his own right.

The division commander gulped and decided to stay out of his way.

No one knew when the undead army would return.

For now—

Only an unsettling silence and a lingering tension remained.

6.

Seong gazed down from high above the clouds, nodding to himself.

There really are some sharp ones down there.

To realize there was a spy or hidden observer immediately after the undead withdrew—

They had good instincts.

But there was one thing they hadn’t considered.

They had no idea that Seong could hear their conversations.

Thanks to Kalisha, who wielded thunder’s power, he had amplified their voices through soundwaves.

There was no way they could know.

Still, Seong let his thoughts drift.

“I’ve gathered the undead... but how should I use them?”

This was his first real war.

Even in games, he had barely played war-based strategy titles.

What kind of tactics should he employ?

A frontal assault didn’t feel right.

Not that it would really be a “war” for him—

He had 20,000 undead under his command, sure—

But they weren’t even his main force.

His contracted entities alone outmatched the entire undead legion in sheer strength.

Even so, he pondered how best to disrupt Basilica with the undead army.

He could always raise more undead, but—

“Might lose some bodies in the process.”

If he planned to use the Explosion Build, he needed to be ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) mindful of preserving the corpses.

Still—some sacrifices might be acceptable.

But for now—

“Where the hell are the White Knights?”

They were supposed to be fast, weren’t they?

He had expected them to arrive soon, but—

“I don’t see them.”

“I can’t sense them either,” Helena added.

“My moon senses nothing either~,” Serpina chimed in.

Even with multiple detection skills, the White Knights were nowhere to be found.

For now, he had to wait.

The Explosion Build would stay on hold.

Seong turned to Helena.

“What do you think we should do?”

“Hm... I think we’re doing fine as it is? We came for skirmishes, not all-out war. We should expect to lose some undead in hit-and-run tactics.”

That made sense.

With his new artifacts, his mana recovery and max capacity had significantly increased.

Sustaining an army wasn’t an issue.

Losing some corpses wasn’t a big deal.

But—

“I don’t think we’ll lose as many as you expect.”

“Oh? Hahaha!! I knew you’d figure something out!”

Helena laughed, immediately understanding what he meant.

Seong simply nodded.

“First, let’s rattle them a bit.”

He might not be able to deal with the assassination unit directly, but—

As the saying went—

“There’s no fighting back when you’re outnumbered.”

And he had one more trick up his sleeve.

7.

Before departing, the Assassination Unit 3 Captain had issued strict orders—stay hidden.

The enemy needed to believe they were gone.

That way, the undead army would return.

That was the rationale behind the strategy.

But—

The assassins themselves didn’t believe that would happen.

If anything, they thought the captain was overthinking it.

Compared to the two elite units, the Espionage Unit and the Special Forces, Assassination Unit 3 was considered weaker and less disciplined.

And since they weren’t fully emotionally conditioned like the other units, they still had personal biases.

And those biases led them to misjudge the situation completely.

“Even if we stay hidden, I doubt they’ll come back.”

“And if they do? We’ll just wipe them out.”

“Exactly. Why is the captain even worried about this?”

Despite their doubts, they didn’t disobey orders.

Unlike Ninyaru, where rules were loose, Basilica’s laws were absolute.

Defying an order meant death.

So, begrudgingly, they complied.

Even though maintaining stealth for prolonged periods was exhausting, they had no choice.

Then—

A whisper.

Barely loud enough to hear.

“The undead legion is back!!!”

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The voice was hushed, trained in stealth communication techniques—

But the urgency and fear were unmistakable.

The other assassins froze.

They hesitated.

Should they engage immediately?

Or wait for the captain to return?

The decision didn’t take long.

“All units, attack!”

Waiting was not an option.

If the walls fell while they stood by, they’d be held responsible.

And so—

They descended upon the undead, carving through them with deadly precision.

At first—

It was easy.

One of them scoffed.

“What the hell? These guys are a joke.”Laughter rippled through the unit.

“Yeah, this is nothing.”

“There’s a lot of them, but they’re weak as hell.”

Their confidence soared.

They cut down undead after undead, their movements fluid and flawless.

Then—

Something changed.

From the depths of the horde, two figures emerged.

Their eyes glowed—one teal, the other deep navy blue.

One was a skeletal knight, its entire form gleaming with dark energy.

The other—

A hulking figure with a mole-like head, its teal gaze flickering ominously.

One of the assassins laughed.

“Oh, look at that! A jackpot! This one’s mine—”His words never finished.

Because—

His head was gone.

A single instant.

A flash of motion—

And his headless corpse crumpled to the ground.

His severed head rolled across the battlefield.

For a moment—

Silence.

Then—

Screams.

“AAAAAARGH!!!”

“S-Someone help!!!”

“T-Target those things!!!”

“W-We can’t fight back!?!?”

“D-Damn it—AHHHH!!!”

The undead moved.

Not like before.

This time—

They hunted.

One by one, the assassins fell.

Their precision, their speed, their training—none of it mattered.

They were being slaughtered.

From atop the fortress wall, the division commander had been watching.

His voice came out as a whisper.

“...What the hell is that?”