Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss –  87

EP.87 Level Up Part 2

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[The promotion test begins.]

– Defeat all the enemies that appear.

* If you die during the trial, it will reset, and you will be revived.

* Time flows much slower in the Trial Chamber.

* If you give up midway, you will never be able to level up again.

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The message was not significantly different from the one before, except for a crucial change. This time, the objective had shifted from mere survival to eliminating enemies, and the restriction on using certain divine powers had been lifted.

At first glance, having access to all abilities made the trial seem less daunting. However…

‘On the flip side, the difficulty might be high enough that even unrestricted power won’t guarantee success.’

The possibility was enough to spark a trace of concern.

‘Actually, does it matter?’

His main goal for entering the Trial Chamber wasn’t necessarily to clear the challenge but to train and improve himself. With the intent to retry as many times as necessary, the actual difficulty level wasn’t of great importance.

With that, Jeong-hyeon resolved to set his concerns aside for now and take things head-on. He surveyed his surroundings.

The current theme seemed to be a ruined city. Crumbling buildings littered the landscape, giving off a desolate, eerie vibe. Scanning the area, his gaze fell on a distant structure housing numerous coffins.

The oddity of the scene pulled him in, and he began approaching the site as if under a spell. Just as he reached the area, a message appeared:

[The ancient heroes, empowered by great divine strength, rise from their rest.]

“Ancient heroes? Empowered by divine strength?”

The message only deepened his curiosity. As he stood in puzzled silence, the sky suddenly erupted with an overwhelming surge of divine power that engulfed the coffins.

It was unlike anything Jeong-hyeon had ever seen. Instead of dark magic raising the dead, as in a typical necromancer’s ritual, it was divine power animating the corpses. The sheer oddity of it left him staring in disbelief.

One by one, the bodies within the coffins began to stir, their movements slow but deliberate, as they emerged into the open.

‘…Is that even possible?’

Controlling the dead was supposed to be the domain of necromancers. But this—infusing corpses with divine power to animate them—was a completely alien concept to him.

As he watched, Jeong-hyeon’s astonishment gradually turned into a wide grin.

‘So, in other words, this means I might be able to control corpses like a necromancer, but with divine power?’

Until now, controlling corpses had required a special item called the Flower of Life. However, if he could emulate the scene before him and animate corpses using divine power, it would be a game-changer.

With a clear purpose in mind, Jeong-hyeon quickly retrieved potions from his subspace pouch and began consuming them one by one. His new goal was simple yet ambitious:

‘Master the ability to control corpses, just like this.’

He wasn’t sure what to call this power—perhaps something like a Holy Necromancer. The absurdity of the name made him chuckle, but it also fueled his determination.

‘This is why I can’t stop training. Just imagining how powerful I’ll be once I’ve mastered this skill… It’s exhilarating.’

Drawing his sword with renewed resolve, Jeong-hyeon let out a small laugh, ready to dive headfirst into the trial.

***

The heroes that rose from their coffins wasted no time. As soon as they equipped the scattered weapons and armor, they fell into formation and charged directly at Jeong-hyeon.

Observing the approaching enemies, Jeong-hyeon gathered a vast amount of divine power and declared a sanctuary over the area.

A powerful wave of divine power rippled outward. Typically, the mere presence of such power would repel or destroy most enemies within range. However, these opponents, animated by divine power, seemed largely unaffected.

‘Resistance to divine power.’

Jeong-hyeon thought, his mind racing.

This discovery only fueled his growing fascination. If he could master this skill, it would provide a monumental advantage in battles against divine-powered foes.

‘This could turn the tide against the Church.’

One of his most significant weaknesses—the inability to completely dominate those with divine power—might finally have a solution.

For now, though, he focused on the immediate threat. As the heroes’ attacks closed in, Jeong-hyeon dodged their strikes with precision, avoiding the radiant waves of divine power they wielded. Unlike mana, which would dissipate upon touching his aura, divine power retained its potency and demanded more care.

Drawing his sword, he countered with speed, driving the sword directly into the heart of the closest hero.

The sound of tearing flesh echoed in the air—a sensation that felt strangely out of place given that these were corpses. Curiosity piqued, Jeong-hyeon glanced at the impaled body and noticed something unsettling.

The wound was closing. The corpse was regenerating.

‘Even this is possible?’

He watched as the once-dead flesh knit itself back together as if it were alive. A grin crept across his face.

‘This will be perfect for the royal parade later.’

The thought of leading a procession of reanimated royal corpses through the kingdom filled him with glee. The despair of nobles and royals would be a sight to behold.

Slashing through another hero, Jeong-hyeon noted with interest how the severed halves of the corpse continued moving independently. Though grotesque, their movements were unnervingly coordinated, almost zombie-like in their persistence.

‘Fascinating.’

He observed the two halves scramble toward him, unable to suppress a genuine sense of admiration for the display. With a quick motion, he stored the remains in his subspace pouch, pondering aloud.

‘I wonder if they’re reusable.’

If these animated corpses could regenerate endlessly, they would be an invaluable asset. The idea was exhilarating, though there was no time to test it now. With more heroes advancing, Jeong-hyeon set the thought aside for later experimentation.

***

Simply flooding a corpse with divine power wasn’t enough to move it. Jeong-hyeon stood amidst the lifeless bodies, staring at them thoughtfully as he tried to replicate what he had seen earlier.

‘If I think about it, it’s like manipulating a puppet with strings made of divine power.’

However, the movements he had witnessed earlier were far too smooth and natural to be mere puppetry. More importantly, when he had sliced one of the reanimated heroes in half, each part had moved independently. That detail lingered in his mind.

‘Independently…?’

A realization struck him. If each severed part could move autonomously, then the divine power infused into the corpse must have been distributed evenly throughout its body.

‘So, all I need to do is spread divine power across the entire body?’

Motivated by this idea, Jeong-hyeon picked up one of the nearby corpses. Channeling his divine power with careful precision, he infused it into every fiber of the lifeless form.

Moments later, the corpse twitched and began to move, stumbling forward like a zombie.

‘It worked.’

Yet, despite the success, something still felt lacking. The movements were clumsy, and the reanimated body lacked the grace and coordination of the divine puppets he had seen earlier.

‘What’s missing?’

It was clear enough—unlike the heroes Jeong-hyeon had faced earlier, the corpses he animated lacked the ability to heal themselves. Despite this setback, it was not impossible to overcome. Healing magic learned from Lucia or the wide-reaching effects of a Domain Declaration could easily resolve the issue.

Jeong-hyeon made his decision. From this trial, he would master the ability to infuse divine power into hundreds, even thousands, of corpses simultaneously and control them all effortlessly. He drew a deep breath, steeling himself for the task ahead.

***

Meanwhile, in the shattered remains of a once-grand cathedral, Nemesis, the Pope, surveyed the scene with an unreadable expression. The ruins lay in utter disrepair, a monument to destruction so complete it seemed beyond salvation.

Turning toward a nearby Paladin, he addressed him with a calm but sharp tone.

“Care to explain how this happened?”

The Paladin knew the severity of the question. His answer could determine the extent of his punishment. Balancing truth with caution, he chose his words carefully.

“There was an attack last night. The motive remains unclear, but the lingering traces of divine power suggest someone of considerable power—at least a cardinal-level figure, if not higher—was responsible.”

The vagueness of his response was intentional. To outright accuse anyone of higher rank would be to invite retribution upon himself, but the circumstances demanded he provide some kind of explanation.

‘And besides, I can’t say for certain who’s responsible.’

Nemesis listened without interrupting. His gaze swept over the wreckage, and after a moment, he let out a faint chuckle.

“This has the Hero’s mark all over it. Yes… with this level of divine power, it could only be the Hero or the Saintess. And since I’ve personally ensured the Saintess never learned anything more powerful than rudimentary holy spells… the answer is obvious.”

The word Hero sent a cold shock down the Paladin’s spine.

According to all he knew, the Hero had been destroyed—caught in a scheme orchestrated by both the Church and the Kingdom to force a suicidal end. Hearing the title now, in this context, made his blood run cold.

And then the implications struck him harder.

If this attack was truly the work of the Hero, then it wasn’t some new hero rising. This was a ghost of the past, risen to exact vengeance.

“A Hero’s revenge…”

The irony was cruel. A Hero born to protect the world, now consumed by wrath and bent on its destruction. The Paladin couldn’t fathom how such a fate had come to pass, but there was no undoing what had already been set in motion.

Lost in thought, he looked up as Nemesis suddenly spoke again.

“We must go to the Academy. That’s where the Hero will be.”

His tone of voice seemed to indicate that he was certain that the Hero would be at the Academy.

‘Why the Academy?’

It didn’t add up. But before he could voice his doubts, Nemesis turned to him with a faint smile, as though reading his thoughts.

“Have you forgotten? I was once a member of a Hero’s party. More specifically, I served alongside the Hero who became the Demon King.”

The Paladin froze.

The Demon King?

That would mean Nemesis had been part of the previous generation’s Hero’s party—an era long since passed.

‘How long has he been alive?’

Questions swirled in his mind, but a deep instinct warned him not to dig deeper. Whatever answers lay there, they were truths he was not prepared to face.

Silently, the Paladin nodded, pretending he hadn’t heard anything unusual. It was the safest choice he could make.