Chapter 613: Contaminated Zone

Clang clang clang clang clang!!!

Underground in the Contaminated Zone.

Sarlas twisted the entire underground using the power of a spirit bound by his magic.

The ground and ceiling flipped, walls crumbled, and earthquake-like phenomena occurred underground. In the process, a deafening roar echoed as massive waves of earth and sand surged, crushing everything in their path.

It’s a disaster where even a superhuman would not survive being swept away.

Amid this disaster, Oliver turned his Black Suit into a surfboard and rode the waves of dirt and sand to escape.

This was possible due to his cool-headed nature even in extreme situations, the superhuman body he gained from eating the Flesh Cook’s meat, and the vast experience he accumulated as a Solver.

If there had been any spectators, they would’ve surely clapped.

However, Oliver neither felt joy nor satisfaction from this.

Because this was only the beginning.

‘The foundation is unstable.’

Even after evading the colossal disaster, Oliver did not feel relieved but calmly assessed the situation.

Now was not the time to feel joy, as the underground was still shaking and dangerously unstable.

This meant there was no better moment to attack.

Boom!!

Before he could even finish his thought, a massive pillar shot up in front of him.

A collision would cause at least a full-body rupture.

Just before the impact, Oliver leaped into the air, used Targeting to latch onto the pillar, and turned the Black Suit around his legs into hooks to lock himself onto the pillar.

“Quick movements, indeed.”

Sarlas, who stood calmly amidst the torrent of earth and sand, said this while moving his hand.

As he moved his hand, another pillar emerged from the wall aiming for Oliver, but Oliver lightly jumped onto the newly risen pillar.

Bang!!

When the pillars collided, a massive shockwave erupted, scattering countless shards into the air.

Normally, the shards would have fallen to the ground, but Sarlas used the magic within the broken fragments to attack Oliver.

The shards came flying just as Oliver dodged the pillar.

The relentless storm of attacks left no time to breathe, but Oliver responded calmly.

“Minions.”

Upon Oliver’s call, dozens of Minions emerged from his chest and blocked the incoming shards, protecting him. Meanwhile, Oliver threw a Black Javelin at Sarlas, who stood stoically amidst the torrent.

Though Sarlas didn’t fall bleeding, he did shatter like pottery.

“That, my friend, is a clay soldier.”

Sarlas’s voice came from behind.

Immediately, the Minions reacted, attempting to spit out Bullets of Hatred at Sarlas, but this time, Sarlas was faster.

He infused a piece of stone with magic and threw it, instantly destroying the Minion, then pulling out a rock sword from the pillar and swung it at Oliver.

Oliver dodged the sword and thrust forward with his Quarterstaff to counter.

Crack!

But this too was just a clone. Its hollow, pottery-like appearance was evidence.

Oliver spoke to Sarlas’s clone.

“I can’t seem to understand.”

“About teaming up with Puppet?”

“Yes.”

Oliver answered while pulling his Quarterstaff sideways, slicing through the clone’s torso.

The clay soldier’s clone, with its side completely shattered, crumbled like a sandcastle, and immediately after, dozens of giant pillars erupted across the unstable underground.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With each pillar’s eruption, the ground quaked, creating a bizarre terrain where pillars rose all around.

But before the shock could fade, countless clay soldier clones resembling Sarlas emerged from the pillars and rushed at Oliver.

Wielding swords made of earth and stone, the clay soldier clones spoke one after another.

“You’re more naive than I thought.”

“Despite being a Dark Magic user yourself, you find it strange that I joined hands with Puppet?”

“Isn’t that a bit discriminatory?”

“I just never thought a noble wizard like you would do such a thing.”

“What do you mean by that?”

While exchanging blows in the unstable underground using pillars as platforms, Oliver and Sarlas continued their conversation.

“You once said, Wizard, that a fight reveals a person’s temperament and character. I believe the way one accumulates magic power also follows a similar principle.”

“Continue.”

“I may not know your name, but I feel like I know who you are as a wizard. You are naturally gifted, but you don’t seek shortcuts, and you probably train diligently, almost stubbornly, over a long period of time.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s the same when I observe how you fight. Even with overwhelming magic, instead of crushing your opponent, you skillfully maintain an advantage, all while assessing my full power. It’s a very traditional approach.”

Oliver systematically destroyed the approaching clay soldier clones with his Bullets of Hatred and Quarterstaff.

“That’s why it doesn’t make sense to me. Suddenly teaming up with Puppet after those long years of training on your own terms.”

At that moment, the clay soldier clones, who had only been trying close-range attacks, began to increase the intensity of their attacks by using magic.

Surprisingly, the clay soldier clones could use not only Sarlas’s Gaia Faction magic but also Agni’s, Skadi’s, Mjolnir’s, Enlil’s, and even pure mana. This allowed them to unleash a barrage incomparable to what came before.

Magical lights flashed through the air as massive pillars of fire, lightning, icebergs, and typhoons erupted. These spells merged and repelled each other, causing huge shockwaves that destroyed the pillars Oliver had been using for footing.

Luckily, before the attack hit, Oliver scattered dozens of sticks engraved with spatial magic around the area, embedding them into various pillars before activating the magic.

He folded the distance, then used Targeting to escape in a way that seemed like teleportation, evading the attack.

Because of this, the clay soldier clones’ attack missed Oliver and instead obliterated themselves, falling far below.

With an earth-shattering noise, they were swept away and shattered by the sea of soil and sand. As Oliver caught his breath, Sarlas’s voice echoed from above.

He had created new clay soldier clones to launch another attack.

“Let me give you an example.”

Dozens of clay soldier clones fell from above, bombarding the area with magic.

It was a magical bombardment.

Oliver selected one of the pre-thrown sticks and folded space to avoid the bombardment. Then, he added extra magic to the spell the clay soldier clones used.

The magic Oliver added mingled with the existing spell, causing a massive explosion that destroyed many clay soldier clones.

Sarlas continued to engage Oliver, speaking through the surviving clones.

“If you were to die tomorrow, what would you do?”

“I’m not sure? I’ve never really thought about it.”

The newly multiplying clay soldier clones organized themselves into a formation, surrounding Oliver, and pressed him with both magic and close combat.

It was like an army of wizards. Their power was formidable, but their precision made them even more troublesome.

“I would probably continue to study and train in magic, just as I have my whole life.”

“Even if I die, my research and achievements will remain for future generations.”

“Sure, I’d be disappointed, but in its own way, it’d still be meaningful, wouldn’t it?”

The clay soldier clones, using high-powered magic, targeted Oliver with precise spells while the close-combat clones closed in, narrowing the gap to exploit any weaknesses.

It reached a point where physical dodging was impossible.

Each time, Oliver folded space using the sticks he had scattered, using Targeting to dodge in a way that made it seem like he was teleporting.

With every dodge, the pillars he used as footholds collapsed, leaving him with fewer and fewer places to escape to.

Sarlas continued speaking through the mouths of the clay soldier clones.

“But what if the world were to end?”

“Not just you dying, but all your efforts amounting to nothing?”

“I’m not sure?”

Just as Oliver attempted to activate spatial magic engraved on another stick to escape the encirclement, a clay soldier clone swung its sword through the air.

Swoosh!

It sliced through the space between Oliver and the stick.

The magic that folded space with the engraved stick was undoubtedly useful, but it was also easily disrupted.

If an obstacle was placed just as the magic was activated, the entire spell would collapse pathetically.

When his escape failed, the clay soldier clones surrounded Oliver, aiming fierce magic and stone swords at him.

“I would probably struggle. Even if the world was ending, I’d do whatever it took to save the fruits of my labor.”

Although the clay soldier clones were emotionless, Oliver could tell from Sarlas’s words that he was sincere.

He was a man who cherished his effort and achievements above all else.

“So, could you step aside? I’ve still got much work that needs doing.”

“How kind of you.”

Despite having cornered him, Oliver said this to Sarlas, who had not attacked and offered a proposal instead.

“Like I said before, I have affection and respect for those who achieve high levels of mastery. Besides, you catch my interest. More importantly, I didn’t come here to harm anyone.”

“Given what you’ve already done, it seems like you’ve harmed plenty.”

“You mean the Dark Magic users hiding underground?”

“Them, along with the refugees living above ground.”

“Sometimes harm is unavoidable when you have goals. I figured you’d understand that?”

Of course, Oliver knew that. That was why he was trying to drive out the refugees in hiding in the first place.

“I apologize if it sounded like criticism. I’m no different. However, I’m afraid I also cannot yield for the same reason. I’m here for work.”

“Work?”

“Yes, the refugees above ground are trembling in fear because of you. I promised to resolve that issue in exchange for their cooperation.”

“What could you possibly need their cooperation for?”

“I’m here to clean the Contaminated Zone. To peacefully relocate them, I needed their help.”

“Then it makes even less sense. Why not just kill a few? They’ll leave on their own.”

“Because it doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Haha, that’s a funny thing to say. To hold such feelings for a bunch of lowlifes illegally living here, people who haven’t accumulated anything worthwhile.”

“Hmm, who’s to say? Everything is relative. I don’t think I’m better than them.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I have more knowledge and skills than they do, but that was because I was lucky enough to get opportunities, lucky enough to seize them, and lucky enough to have the talent to match. Without that luck, I might have been living as a refugee here myself.”

“I can’t personally agree with that. By that logic, I’m just another lucky person.”

“Precisely. You, too, are a fortunate person.”

······.

“It’s not to diminish your effort, Wizard, but without favorable conditions, talent, or the right people around you, one might end up quite different, wouldn’t you say?”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Can you deny it?”

Oliver asked. The question seemed casual but carried undeniable weight. Sarlas changed the topic.

“What’s your point?”

“Could you leave? If you go, I’ll also withdraw.”

“Just consider this: I’ve got you surrounded. I know you don’t know where the real me is, the footing here is unstable, and below, the waves of earth and sand are surging. And you think you can force me to back down?”

“Yes.”

As soon as Oliver answered, he activated the spell.

The moment the spell was activated, the pillar Oliver was standing on and the surrounding pillars collapsed as a giant tree grew, invading the surging sea of earth and sand.

It was the trees that grew from the sticks Oliver had thrown, instantly causing Oliver and the clay soldier clones to lose their footing and fall below.

“Do you think that will stop the waves of earth and sand?”

Sarlas spoke through the clay soldier clone.

Even below, the giant tree grew; it was one of the dozens of sticks Oliver had previously thrown.

While it was indeed meant for movement, it also served the purpose of securing control over the space when needed.

Luckily, since the wave of earth and sand was controlled by an elemental spirit, the trees thrown into the sand absorbed the spirit’s power and grew even faster.

Proof of this was that the tree filled the surrounding space, slowing the flow of the sand.

However, it was still not enough to completely stop the fierce waves of dirt.

“As expected, using a Druid’s power is impressive, but everything will be crushed soon.”

Sarlas was right. The spell that mixed Dark Magic rituals and Druidic sorcery to absorb the element’s power was impressive, but against a spirit, there were clear limitations. It could hinder it, but winning was difficult.

“It’s fine. This much is more than enough.”

Sarlas didn’t understand what he meant, but he soon would.

Oliver had used the rapidly grown trees, energized by the spirit’s power, to retrieve a large quantity of corpses buried in the underground.

Thanks to Eve, he easily located them.

The trees twisted and writhed like they were alive, using their vine-like roots and branches to retrieve various corpses—some decayed, some patched-together, others blended like flour dough—and brought them to the surface.

These were bodies once used by Puppet for experiments, original inhabitants of the Contaminated Zone, or corpses handled by Dark Magic users before Sarlas arrived.

Even while falling, Oliver scattered emotions and life energy toward the corpses brought by the trees.

[Revive]

[Obedience]

Hundreds of corpses gained new life under Oliver’s control. Sarlas looked at them and asked a question.

“What do you plan to do?”

It was a reasonable question. An army of corpses had considerable power, but the situation mattered.

In a space like this, where Oliver didn’t have control, they weren’t a threat, and such decayed and damaged corpses wouldn’t be a threat either.

However, for Oliver, that power was sufficient. To prove it, Oliver mixed emotions, magic, and life energy to create an artificial soul.

Then he mimicked the human sacrifice ritual used by the White Swan Prince.

[Lamentation]

Oliver didn’t fully understand the theory or workings, but he activated the ritual by relying on the sensations. The artificial soul in Oliver’s hands dissolved, and hundreds of corpses gathered their hands and began to wail in unison.

It was reminiscent of the bound red statues summoned by the White Swan Sect’s prince candidate.

The corpses retrieved by the trees clapped their hands with a loud crack and emitted a bizarre sound, halfway between a scream and a prayer.

Simultaneously, every spell within the space resonated with the dirge and was momentarily neutralized.

This included the magic chains that bound the spirit.

The spirit, now free from Sarlas’s control, found freedom through its agony toward the lamentation, halting the crushing waves of earth and sand directed at the giant tree.

Oliver now stood on safe footing, but the results didn’t end there.

The spirit struggling against Sarlas on the ceiling tried to drag Sarlas out of hiding.

The ceiling shook violently as if an earthquake was happening, and then a massive shockwave burst out as Sarlas emerged, attacking the spirit and wounding it, absorbing some of its power.

Indeed, Oliver had not been mistaken. Part of the spirit was grafted into Sarlas’s body.