There Is No World For ■■-Chapter 136: There Is No Mercy for the Protagonist. (6)

The one the desert clans called the Necromancer, Dagal, frowned.

Even as countless sandflies poured down upon her, the girl wielding the hammer looked far too calm.

Was she frozen in fear? No, that didn’t seem to be the case. She was slowly raising her hammer.

‘What is this?’

Dagal felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding—similar to what he had felt the day he was unjustly exiled from the city by the Marquis. A boiling unease that churned from deep within his gut.

He never dismissed his instincts, but neither did he overestimate them.

After all, he was a knight who commanded mana, and his opponent was just a girl who hadn’t even come of age.

‘She’s no mage, doesn’t have a gun, nor bombs....’

Was it simply because it had been a long time since he last faced another knight?

To shake off his unease, he began weaving a spell, clenching his fist tightly.

It was the hand sign to activate his insect-controlling magic.

The sandflies attacked in response to his command—and the girl swung her hammer almost simultaneously.

Her hammer seemed slow—or perhaps it only appeared that way.

Yet the hammer struck the ground before the sandflies could reach her.

And then—

Lightning erupted.

A flash of light burst forth, faster than sound, engulfing the area.

Blinding radiance seared everything in sight. Dagal instinctively closed his eyes and turned his head away. Only after that did the sound arrive.

BOOOOOOM!

A deafening explosion, like a hundred grenades going off at once, shook the desert.

When Dagal finally forced his eyes open, it was already over.

The sandflies surrounding the girl had been completely obliterated—leaving no trace behind.

Even those farther away hadn’t survived. The lightning had either incinerated them or the shockwave had torn them apart.

“...”

Dagal closed his mouth, staring at the girl responsible for the destruction.

Haa—

She exhaled deeply, like a mage who had just cast a grand spell. A technique she couldn’t unleash consecutively.

Whether it was the desert heat or the aftermath of the attack, a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.

“Girl... who are you? Who sent you?”

After a brief silence, Dagal finally spoke, stalling for time to prepare another spell.

If she noticed his mana building up, she didn’t let it show. Instead, she answered casually.

“Hong Seti.”

Dagal’s hands froze mid-casting, and his brow furrowed at her response. Her name was simply too absurd.

“A name from Earth? Are you an Earthling?”

“Who knows?”

Seti shrugged nonchalantly, and Dagal twisted his lips in irritation.

“For someone with such skill... you sure act petty. Hiding your origins behind an Earth name.”

Had his words struck a nerve? The girl’s delicate eyebrows arched.

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“And a Korean name at that. Did you think loitering around Seungman City would fool me?”

“...”

“You may have tricked others, but it’s too soon to fool me.”

“What the hell are you even talking ab—”

“Seti, Seti? That pathetic fraud of a name! Koreans beyond the dimensional rift don’t name themselves like that!”

Dagal’s outburst left Seti momentarily speechless, as if she couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or amused.

But before she could respond, Dagal completed his spell.

“Enough games, girl!”

A giant centipede emerged, enveloped in layers of magic—resistance, strength enhancement, acceleration, and hardening.

Magic so overwhelming that an ordinary human would have been ripped apart just by the pressure of the mana.

Yet the monstrous centipede absorbed the spells seamlessly, reacting to Dagal’s commands in real time.

“Forget the limbs! Just leave the torso—I’ll get the answers afterward.”

The centipede obeyed without hesitation. It stretched its writhing body, spread its grotesque jaws, and lunged at Seti.

BOOOOM!

The desert trembled. Sand and stones erupted from the impact.

It was an attack that didn’t even allow time to swing a hammer.

But instead of resisting, Seti lifted onto her toes and kicked off the ground. Using the shockwave as leverage, she soared above the centipede.

The light steps of Feather Step.

Like a feather carried by the wind, she danced along the centipede’s body, evading its sharp legs and navigating the swirling dust.

“Ridiculous.”

Dagal muttered as he began chanting another spell.

There was no need for anything elaborate—he only had to bind her in place.

One strike. That’s all it would take to end her resistance.

With that thought, Dagal unleashed his spell with confidence.

Or at least, he tried to.

Because just as he was about to cast it—

A flash of light pierced through his chest.

*****

Yeomyeong frowned as his sword pierced through the Necromancer’s chest.

The sensation traveling up the blade told him everything he needed to know. The bastard wasn’t dead.

His judgment was swift, and his actions even faster.

Without hesitation, Yeomyeong ripped the sword out of the enemy’s chest and swung it again, this time slicing through the neck.

The old man’s wrinkled head separated cleanly from his body and dropped to the ground—

‘No blood.’

Instead of blood, sawdust-like powder spilled from the severed neck.

Dry, like a piece of brittle firewood.

The same was true of the severed head—no blood splattered.

—...! ...? ...!!!

Apparently, cutting off the head wasn’t enough.

The disembodied head glared at Yeomyeong, its mouth moving wordlessly.

Yeomyeong couldn’t make out what it was trying to say, but judging by the rage in its eyes, it wasn’t anything pleasant.

He stared down at the head briefly—then lifted his foot and stomped it.

Crunch!

A sound like crushing an insect’s shell echoed as the Necromancer’s head burst apart.

Was it over this time?

But in the very next moment—

Mana rippled from the spot where the head had exploded, and countless insects burst forth.

Maggots, worms, beetles, flies—

The writhing swarm scattered in all directions as if fleeing from Yeomyeong.

‘Was the real body the bugs?’

Persistent bastard.

Yeomyeong sighed and prepared to chase down the insects when the giant centipede suddenly thrashed its head violently.

It was clearly trying to shake him off.

Had the Necromancer issued one last command before fleeing? Or was it simply rampaging?

Yeomyeong jumped off the centipede’s head, gathering mana into his sword mid-air.

For a creature that size, ordinary sword techniques wouldn’t inflict deep wounds. He’d need to take its head in a single blow with his Comet Sword.

Decision made, he prepared the technique. His plan was to decapitate it before landing—

But before he could unleash the Comet Sword, Seti shouted from below.

“Wait, Yeomyeong! Don’t kill it!”

What?

Thrown off by the sudden call, he hesitated and aborted the attack, landing in the sand instead.

He tensed, readying himself for the centipede’s counterattack—

But instead of the centipede, it was Seti who ran up to him.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Yeomyeong, she pointed at the giant centipede.

“When you killed the mage just now, the bug-controlling spell broke. Look—it’s not attacking anymore.”

True to her words, the centipede wasn’t attacking.

Its antennae and front legs trembled nervously.

It was clearly afraid.

But even frightened, the creature was massive enough that they had to tilt their heads back to see its face.

Yeomyeong didn’t let his guard down, and the centipede didn’t take its eyes off him either.

They stood locked in a brief standoff until the centipede slowly began retreating.

Thud!

Seti slammed her hammer into the ground, and the centipede flinched before spinning around and burrowing into the sand as fast as it could.

Its panicked retreat left a trail of disturbed sand in its wake.

Seti exhaled lightly.

“Well, that ended easier than I expected.”

But Yeomyeong shook his head, still on edge.

“No. It’s not over yet.”

“...Not over?”

“That mage—I didn’t kill him. He turned into bugs and escaped.”

There was no need to ask where he’d fled.

The only place nearby for the insects to hide was the burrow where the centipede had first emerged.

“...If we started this, we need to finish it.”

With that, Yeomyeong headed toward the hole.

Seti silently followed close behind him.

*****

As they descended into the tunnel, the hot desert air gave way to a cooler, more subdued atmosphere.

It was deeper than it first appeared.

Looking around, it was clear the tunnel hadn’t been dug by the centipede. Its walls were too clean, almost like they’d been carved out with machinery.

“...Could this be an underground dungeon?”

Seti voiced her thoughts as she inspected the area.

Yeomyeong, following the faint traces of mana, answered curtly.

“Maybe.”

“...So there really are mages living in places like this.”

Seti glanced around curiously, but there wasn’t much to see.

The rough, unfinished walls made the tunnel barely distinguishable from a burrow.

Still, that worked to their advantage.

Unlike stone or metal corridors, the dirt walls preserved traces of the mage’s transformation back from insect form—deep footprints in the soil, handprints on the walls, and faint remnants of mana scattered throughout.

Following these clues, Yeomyeong and Seti continued deeper into the tunnel.

Eventually, they emerged into a spacious chamber.

It was clearly artificial, with a circular ceiling and walls that curved smoothly.

The chamber was so large that even the giant centipede could have tap-danced across it.

Yet despite the size, it was sparsely furnished.

There was an old table and bed—clearly used by the Necromancer. An orc’s corpse, likely the centipede’s food supply.

And...

Glass tanks and metal containers stacked against one corner of the wall.

Finding such items in a mage’s lair wasn’t the surprising part.

The real shock came from the labels written in Hangul.

“...‘Handle with care’? ‘Confidential’?”

Seti read the dust-covered Korean labels aloud, her brows furrowing.

“Why is there Korean writing here...?”

“...Who knows? Maybe the mage was obsessed with Korea, or maybe military supplies were smuggled here from Korea.”

“For that, this stuff’s too old. These look like they’re at least a few decades old....”

While talking, they pried open the glass tanks and metal containers, inspecting the contents.

But no matter how thoroughly they searched, they couldn’t find a clear reason why Korean writing was present.

Instead, they found something else—their primary target.

More specifically, they found where the mage-turned-insects had gathered.

Yeomyeong stared at one of the empty metal containers for a moment before speaking in a cold voice.

“Come out. Unless you want to die like this.”

The moment his words fell, a swarm of insects poured out from between the containers.

Seti recoiled at the disgusting sight, raising her hammer instinctively.

The swarm moved with eerie precision, clustering together as though ants drawn to honey.

Worms formed a face. Beetles became legs. Maggots coalesced into arms and a torso.

As the mass reshaped itself into a humanoid form, the Necromancer glared at them and bellowed indignantly.

“Vile creatures! Not only did you free my centipede, but now you come to kill me as well?”

“...”

“Who sent you?! Was it the Marquis of Drayterial? Or those wretched elf bastards?!”

“You attacked first, so—”

Seti started to protest, but Yeomyeong raised his hand to cut her off.

He leaned slightly toward her, whispering,

“He’s mistaken. Let’s play along.”

It was an improvised suggestion, but Seti didn’t object. Instead, she gave him a small nod as if to say, ‘Do as you like.’

Whatever Yeomyeong was trying to figure out, she could always torture the answers out of the Necromancer later.