CH 169 Lets Play

If you haven't noticed yet then let me inform you the Harem chapter is out and I already uploaded the pics so go there and give some likes.

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Today's anime meme is here. [ ]

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Yet, there was one thing the shaman still craved—a reaction. He wanted to see fear in the eyes of this human, to witness him tremble and cower before the might of the Orcs. But instead, he was met with a bored expression, a taunt that mocked his feeble attempts.

"Did you really think I'd require assistance from my army to do what?" Jin's voice was laced with casual indifference as he addressed the shaman.

"Just to crush a few bugs under my feet?"

The Orc Shaman found himself at a loss for words. He had never imagined that something like this could happen, at least not against humans. The very core of his beliefs and convictions had been shattered by the reality before him.

Now, faced with a human who seemed to defy the laws of nature, the shaman struggled to find a response.

Anger and confusion warred within him as he grappled with the incomprehensible power that stood before him. This human had not only defeated his brethren but had also dismantled his perception of the world.

In the silence that followed, the Orc Shaman could only stare at Jin, torn between his own pride and the overwhelming force that now towered over him.

As Jin stood there, his gaze fixed upon the trembling Orc Shaman, an unsettling thought crossed his mind. It was a notion born from countless battles, a realization that had gradually taken root within him—the desire to witness something more than just fear.

It was a darker, more visceral craving that had been nurtured by the brutal nature of his encounters.

Esdeath's presence had played a significant role in shaping this aspect of him. Her unwavering pursuit of blood and strength, her unapologetic revelry in chaos and dominance—it had left its mark on him. After all, if he was changing her, who could say she didn't have any effect on him?

In the midst of this chaotic battlefield, as he looked upon the defeated expressions of Orc Shaman, Jin found himself yearning for something beyond fear. He craved the raw, unadulterated terror that could only be born from the realization of helplessness, the kind of fear that could shatter a person's very soul.

It was a disturbing thought, one that hinted at the changing nature of Jin's personality. The endless battles, the pursuit of greater power, and the influence of those around him had left their mark with all the titles, traits and nature he gained.

He was no longer content with mere victory; he wanted to taste the depths of despair in the eyes of his opponents, to revel in the primal fear that came from facing an overwhelming force.

As he continued to gaze at the trembling Orc Shaman, Jin couldn't help but acknowledge the darker shades of his own nature that had been unveiled by his journey through blood and conflict.

So just to see what he said.

"Let me illustrate the gap between us in a more... dramatic fashion."

"From darkness they emerge, my loyal shadows."

"..."

Everything began with those words.

Whoooosh-!!

A ripple incomparably greater than that of the magic energy wave from the last one from Jin spread out everywhere. That wasn't the only change to take place, however.

Along with him unshackling his magic power, the shadow beneath Jin's feet spread out, too. And it covered the entirety of the chamber's surface at a frightening pace, as if someone had poured a bucket of pitch-black ink onto the floor. All the red turned to black.

"Heok?!"

"W-what's this??"

The Hunters of Sohn Ki-Hoon's raid team saw the 'shadow' spread beneath their feet and freaked out. How should they even go about describing this situation? Even the most experienced, grizzled Hunters among the group hadn't heard of anything like this, never mind seeing one.

"Tremble…"

An unknown fear crept up over them.

Sohn Ki-Hoon, lying on the ground, powerlessly began trembling violently while staring up at Jin.

'What…. Just what are you planning to do now when he could just end this?'

As if to answer his silent question – when the spreading shadow completely covered the floor of the boss room….

Shururuk…

The surface of the shadow wavered, and soldiers wearing jet-black armour rose up one by one.

[You have activated 'Skill: Sovereign's Territory'.]

[All Stats of the Shadow Soldiers fighting over the Summoner's shadow will rise up by 50%.]

A thin smile spread on Jin's lips.

'Good.'

He was enjoying the new expressions on their faces.

He sensed the fighting spirit of his enhanced soldiers soaring higher. Quite obviously, a satisfied grin formed on his face. 100 summoned Shadow Soldiers stood besides Jin in a circle with just like they all had very relaxed expressions.

He could summon more, but the place was getting smaller.

"Ku-kururuk??"

"Kuruk!!"

The High Orc Shaman, famed for his bravery, began sweating after getting his wits scared off by the dangerous pressure emitted by Jin and his soldiers as he began sunk even deeper into his throne.

"O-O he- he is sweating? "Just what is the meaning of this…."

"I never saw a monster sweating…"

Even though they were trembling like a leaf from this unbelievable situation, the Hunters also began clutching onto a slender thread of renewed hope now.

"D-did you feel that?"

"Yeah."

"Can… can that even make any sense?"

The mage-type Hunters were sensitive towards the magic energy, to begin with. And they couldn't control their furiously quickening heartbeat no matter what. Because an insane amount of magic energy was gushing out from the man who subbed in for their luggage carrier much more the last time when he commanded the reality to his bidding. Someone whom they thought of as a simple rank E, no less.

'No, hang on. Is this even magic energy?'

'To think, this magical energy is even more ominous than what the High Orc Shaman is emitting…!!'

The sheer pressure from the magic energy thickly filling up the boss room made it difficult to even breathe properly. The fact that this incredible power didn't belong to an enemy relieved them to no end.

Even though shadows stood as if they didn't care, their eyes tell a different tale.

However, the intensity in Shadow's bloodshot eyes radiates a terrifying pressure, potent enough to extinguish a life, leaving him with a quivering shiver down their spines.

On the other hand, indescribably heavy and taut tension was flowing among the ranks of High Orcs.

With the appearance of the Shadow Soldiers, the difference of 1 to 1 suddenly increased to 101 to 1.

More importantly, at least, 50 out of 100 were not ordinary, not at all. No, even a single one out of fifty could chop everyone here including the Dungeon boss; some will do it without even receiving a single scratch from the enemy.

The Shaman's swine-like cheek meat quivered in rage as he now knew he couldn't win, not when he had a whole army of those beasts around him. In desperation, he began chanting.

'How an insolent human being dares to…!'

The boss's glare was now firmly fixed on Jin. The boss quickly decided to kill that human first.

The black-armoured soldiers were summons called forth by that human! If that human died, then these soldiers would disappear, too.

As they say when you corner people they become wounded lions and lose the reason.

In order to kill Jin, the Shaman began chanting a spell.

"…"

The lips of the Shaman quickly moved up and down.

The song of slowness, the song of blindness, the song of crippling fever, the song of intolerable pain, and the song of demonic slumber; five different types of hexes were completed in an instant and flew towards their intended victim.

"It's done!"

The corners of the Shaman's lips arched up.

The moment all those hexes were completed, Jin also sensed the unnatural movement of magic energy.

'….Debuff magic, is it?'

Jin's eyes met those of the Shaman's.

The Orc Shaman smirked derisively.

'It's already too late, human.'

Hexes were different from normal magic spells and couldn't be evaded. The moment it was cast, that would be the end.

With that human b*stard turning into a walking corpse wrecked by all sorts of afflictions, his fate was sealed – to be ripped to shreds by the High Orc Shaman and his magic. That was the end truly befitting a measly human who didn't know his place and dared to show off.

Unfortunately for the monster, however….

A familiar mechanical beep rang in Jin's ears.

Ding. [Abnormal status has occurred.] [All abnormal status will be removed with the effects of 'Buff: Immunity'.]

Ding, Ding, Ding. Mechanical beeps fired out one after the other. ['Hex: Slow' has been dispelled.] ['Hex: Blindness' has been dispelled.] …. .....

All five hexes were dispelled even before they had the chance to activate.

Grin. Jin smirked at the results as it worked just like he hoped for. There was this.

'Buff' he received when he changed into the

'Player'.

[The blessings from the Grand Sorcerer, Kandiaru] –

Continuous effect 'Good Health and Long Life': You'll be immune to all types of diseases, poisonous substances, as well as all forms of status debuffs. During sleep, your recovery rate will increase exponentially.

Thanks to that, he didn't have to worry about status-altering magic, such as hexes.

"W-what?!"

The Shaman shuddered in shock. Fitting for a boss of the rank A dungeon, the High Orc Shaman had immediately realized that its curses were rendered ineffective by an even greater power than it.

'But, those were hexes I cast!' This made no sense! In order to dispel hexes, one required the purification magic, or the blessings of a being possessing far greater power than that of the hex itself.

'There is an even more excellent Shaman than this great me among humans?'

Even before the monster could think about it some more, the Shaman cried out from the pain shooting up from the back of its foot.

"Kuuuwaaaahk!!"

When it looked down, it found a dagger deeply lodged in its foot.

"Keuh…."

It was Jin's 'Knight Killer'.

The Shaman raised its head, and its bloodshot glare landed on Jin.

"How dare a mere human…..!"

Jin casually put a grin on his face to pounce on him and silently mouthed some words to the Orc Shaman.

– You shouldn't be disturbing me while I am representing here.

….Don't do anything useless, in other words.

Immediately, the Shaman's face reddened up like a beautifully ripe persimmon.

"How dare a measly human!!"

'….So, it still has some mental capacity left to get angry, even now huh?'

Jin's expression turned icy in the blink of an eye.

In all honesty, he could've eliminated the Shaman right at the beginning of the battle if he wanted to. However, he chose not to.

Because he wanted to instill the sense of fear into the heart of that Shaman, the way it managed to do to the Hunters present.

However, it seemed not quite enough to make that arrogant monster taste the true meaning of fear. The b*stard's eyes were still 'alive'.

In that case….

"Time to elevate this to the next tier."

"Prepare for a spectacle beyond imagination."

From now on, he'd show the true sphere of influence of a necromancer.

In the eyes of this Shadow Monarch, his surroundings now resembled a location of celebration, filled with all sorts of delicacies. From the corpses of the High Orcs sprawled on the ground, black smoke eerily rose up as if they were waiting for Jin's call.

---

Before any of the gathered hunters or High Orc Shaman could react, Jin, without even turning his head, called upon two of his soldiers by their names, "Gold Akame."

The two shadowy figures responded swiftly, understanding their lord's unspoken command. In an instant, they vanished from the room, leaving only the subtle hint of their presence behind.

The room fell silent, and then came a series of thudding sounds that echoed through the chamber. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The noise seemed unending, a relentless drumbeat of impacts.

As the hunters turned their attention toward the source of the sounds, their eyes widened in astonishment. Before them, a small mountain of High Orc corpses began to pile up, as if summoned by some unseen force.

"Aren't they...?" one of the female magic casters muttered, her voice trailing off as she tried to make sense of the spectacle.

The realization dawned upon the other hunters and the High Orc Shaman simultaneously. These were the very Orcs they had encountered during their survey mission. The same Orcs they had battled and defeated, and here they were, returned from the dead.

Curiosity and unease hung in the air like an electric charge. They watched in fascination and trepidation, uncertain of Jin's intentions.

Jin's preparations were nearly complete, but there was one missing piece to his macabre puzzle. He glanced upward, where a lone High Orc corpse remained stuck to the ceiling, eluding his grasp.

With a wide, satisfied grin, Jin called out, "Arias, heed my call!"

At his command, a surge of shadowy energy enveloped the remaining High Orc, pulling its lifeless body from the ceiling and into the dark abyss. It was a sight that sent shivers down the spine of the High Orc Shaman.

As the shadow extraction began, the room seemed to tremble with power. The collected hunters and monsters watched in a mixture of awe and dread as the shadows of the fallen High Orcs materialized before Jin.

'My warriors have become undead…!!'

The Shaman began shuddering uncontrollably. About 300 warriors had lost their lives. And about the same number had changed into those black-armoured soldiers.

'Which means, those soldiers that b*stard had summoned are…?!'

The Shaman finally realized that the unidentifiable human was not wielding regular summons at all. And at the same time, it also realized how disadvantageous they were against the enemy's powers.

The High Orc Shaman, however, was experiencing a different kind of revelation. It dawned on him that the enemy he faced was no ordinary foe. The advantage was irrefutably with Jin, and they were severely outmatched.

The conflict had transformed from a seemingly one-sided battle—101 versus 1—to an overwhelming 301+ versus 1, with the odds now firmly in Jin's favor.

The extracted shadows roared to life, their eyes gleaming with an eerie, crimson light as they stood before their master. It was a chilling and awe-inspiring sight, a testament to the terrifying power Jin wielded over life and death.

High Orc Warriors would bravely jump into a fight against enemies stronger than themselves without fear.

"Ku…. Kururuk."

"Kuruk."

"Kuwak."

High Orcs, renowned for never backing down from a chance to shed some blood, and only alive High Orc now openly retreating out of terror.

The fact that he and his fellow warriors now wouldn't be able to ascend to the warrior's heaven after their death and instead become the puppets of the enemy was the worst possible nightmare for these High Orcs.

For sure, the impact of him showing off the Shadow Extraction skill was quite huge.