The Lord Just Wants to Have Fun

“Apostle, what are you doing? Attack already!”

“I want to, damn it!”

The problem was that his body wouldn’t move because of the ominous energy the necromancer had spread.

Philip was making an exasperated expression when—

“Haap—!”

With a sharp cry, Carpenter unleashed his aura, shaking off the necromancer’s oppressive force. He shot forward like a streak of light, swinging his sword down.

But his attack was blocked by a Bone Shield that erupted from the ground.

“Kukuku, even a backwater territory like this has some useful warriors.”

“Shut up, you vile creature! What are you scheming here?”

“I have been waiting for pain and chaos… and the despair that blooms from them.”

“W-what?!”

The necromancer had manipulated the lizardmen into building a dam, cutting off the river amid an ongoing drought.

Naturally, the people who depended on the river suffered, fighting desperately for what little water remained.

The deaths, hatred, and despair that arose from such chaos generated Negative Dimensional Mana—a perfect fuel for necromancy.

“Despair, and become the nourishment for my magic.”

“Shut your damn mouth!”

Gritting his teeth, Carpenter gathered his aura and swung his sword down fiercely.

Crack—!

A full-force strike from an Expert Mid-tier knight shattered the Bone Shield—and split the necromancer’s body clean in two.

Carpenter’s face brightened, but his expression soon twisted.

The two halves of the necromancer’s body transformed into… an avocado.

“Kehek! Apostle… why…?“

“Kukuku, foolish man. To fall for such a simple illusion.”

A mocking voice came from behind.

Carpenter’s heart sank as he whirled around—just in time to see the necromancer’s staff unleashing a sinister black light aimed directly at him.

“Damn it, I’m too late!”

There was no way to dodge or block it.

As Carpenter’s face contorted in despair, a sharp blue arc cut through the air and deflected the dark sphere.

Clang—!

“Hmm?”

The necromancer frowned.

His eyes landed on Terry, who was charging forward, sword swinging.

“Hah, not bad for a young one.”

With Terry pressing the attack, Carpenter quickly joined in, both of them swinging their swords at the necromancer.

Yet, even against two opponents, the necromancer remained completely unfazed.

“This kid is better than the old one.”

To Carpenter’s surprise, the aura clinging to Terry’s sword was larger and denser than his own.

If Terry refined his swordsmanship further, he could likely reach Expert High-tier in just a few years.

But to the necromancer, they were still nothing more than mere knights.

“Kukuku, such a shame. You’re destined to die before you can truly spread your wings.”

Rumble!

The necromancer unleashed a black lightning bolt that crashed down toward Terry and Carpenter.

They barely dodged in time, avoiding a direct hit—but the resulting explosion scattered sharp rock fragments at them like shrapnel.

“Urgh!”

“Argh!”

“What a waste of talent. I’ll kill you and turn you into Death Knights to serve me.”

The necromancer aimed his staff to finish them off.

But then, he hesitated.

Terry—though injured—was smiling.

It wasn’t the empty grin of someone who had given in to despair.

It was too confident, too knowing.

“You’ve been too focused on us, necromancer.”

“What…?”

Startled, the necromancer glanced toward the territory soldiers.

The soldiers were moving—scattering and taking positions.

Because he had been dealing with two Expert-tier knights, the oppressive force of his black magic had weakened.

“Hmph. What could mere foot soldiers possibly do to me?”

No matter how many ordinary soldiers or knights attacked, they couldn’t possibly be a threat.

The necromancer scoffed internally and turned his head back toward Terry.

Bang—!

A deafening crack rang out.

Something was coming—hurtling toward him at terrifying speed.

Sensing the unknown killing intent, the necromancer hurriedly summoned another Bone Shield.

The projectile flying toward the necromancer shattered the Bone Shield and pierced his chest.

“Guhh…!”

*****

“I need to hurry…!”

As soon as the pressure binding his body weakened, Philip activated his Golden Hammer skill.

Regular lead bullets wouldn’t be enough to penetrate the necromancer’s shield.

He placed a tough manganese-alloy knife onto the anvil and envisioned the special bullet he needed.

[Creating Armor-Piercing Bullet requires 50 points. Activate skill?]

Philip swung the hammer down.

A conical, sharp-tipped armor-piercing bullet was forged.

“This should have at least twice—no, five times the penetration power of a regular lead bullet!”

Philip quickly loaded the bullet into his rifle, using the sights to take aim at the necromancer.

The target was beyond the effective range of a normal musket, but his rifle—crafted with Golden Hammer—boasted superior range and firepower.

And the timing was perfect.

The necromancer stood still, aiming his staff at the fallen Carpenter and Terry.

Bang—!

Philip pulled the trigger.

With a thunderous gunshot, the bullet tore through the necromancer’s Bone Shield, piercing his chest.

Blood sprayed as the necromancer collapsed.

“Hit!”

“The lord took down the necromancer!”

As the soldiers erupted into cheers, Philip let out a breath of relief.

Unlike when he was deployed as a U.N. peacekeeper, this time, he had been able to save his comrades with his own hands.

If he had hesitated or missed, Terry and Carpenter would have been dead.

Just as he was beginning to feel a sense of accomplishment—

His eyes widened in shock.

“Ugh! The necromancer is still alive!”

“A-a monster…!”

The supposedly slain necromancer staggered back to his feet.

Panicked, Philip rushed to reload.

In his haste, he fumbled and dropped the bullet onto the ground.

“Cough! How dare a lowly insect…!”

The bullet had grazed the necromancer’s heart, barely missing a fatal shot.

With both rage and desperation surging within him, the necromancer gathered every last ounce of his mana.

“I’ll kill you all!”

“No, you’re the one who’s dying.”

A cold voice.

The necromancer turned his head in alarm.

Terry was already upon him, sword swinging down.

The necromancer tried to raise his Bone Shield, but his mana refused to flow properly.

The bullet wound had disrupted his heart’s mana circuit.

“Damn it! I can’t die here—!”

Schhk!

He never finished his sentence.

His head separated from his body and tumbled to the ground.

[Emergency Mission Complete. 10,000 points awarded.]

Philip stared at the system message before slumping to the ground.

Now that the danger had passed, the tension drained from his body.

After slaying the necromancer, Philip quickly reorganized the forces.

Fortunately, casualties were minimal.

The lizardmen had been caught off guard by the early musket volleys and never recovered their momentum. Moreover, the necromancer had been completely unaware of firearms.

<“Against a necromancer, this level of casualties is almost a miracle. Any of you could have died, and it wouldn’t have been strange…”>

Philip shot a glare at Mau, who had reappeared.

“Aren’t you an angel? Why couldn’t you handle a single necromancer?”

<“Ahem! I am here in the mortal realm only as the Apostle’s advisor. I am not permitted to use my divine abilities.”>

“Yeah, yeah, of course.”

<“Less sarcasm, more action. There are still lizardmen to eliminate and refugees to rescue!”>

With Carpenter and Terry sidelined due to their injuries, Philip led the mop-up operation.

But the fight was practically over.

With their chieftain, Avocado, dead, the lizardmen’s morale had shattered.

Watching their warriors drop one after another to musket fire, they abandoned the fight and fled.

“Kehek! The humans are raining fire upon us!”

“To the water! Fire cannot beat water!”

That idea proved useless.

Lizardmen trying to escape by swimming were gunned down in the river.

Only a few managed to flee, skimming just above the water’s surface.

“My lord, should we pursue them?”

“No need to waste our breath on a chase. Let’s clear out their lair and head back.”

At Philip’s command, the soldiers collected the lizardmen’s weapons, dragged the wounded and the dead together, and skinned their hides.

Not stopping there, they set fire to the nests, slaughtered the hatchlings hiding within, and smashed every last egg.

“Hrk… You monsters!”

“This bastard was the one who ate my wife!”

“My lord, thank you for saving us—and for giving us a chance for revenge!”

The freed captives, who had been enslaved, joined in the retribution.

With the cleanup nearly complete, only one major task remained—the enormous dam.

“This has to go, too…”

“It’s sturdier than expected,” Carpenter muttered, looking troubled.

It would take days just to find the weakest points, drive stakes in, and create structural cracks.

That meant staying in a monster-infested region for several days.

But Philip had no intention of lingering.

“Dig holes at the dam’s weakest points and plant powder barrels inside.”

The gunpowder, painstakingly refined from Ya Myeong Sa, was too valuable to waste in one go, but he had no desire to stay in this place any longer than necessary.

He just wanted to get back and enjoy his hobbies.

“My lord, we’ve placed the powder barrels as instructed.”

“Light the fuses and get out of the blast radius.”

Following Philip’s orders, the musketeers ignited the fuses with lighters and ran back as fast as they could.

Having trained with firearms, they were well aware of gunpowder’s explosive power.

They were also curious—just how powerful would the detonation be with barrels filled to the brim?

BOOOOM!

“Uwaaaah!”

“Holy—!”

A deafening explosion erupted where the barrels had been planted.

The sheer force sent dirt, boulders, and logs flying in all directions.

The freed captives and even the musketeers, who had been watching from a distance, flinched in shock—then burst into cheers.

“The dam is collapsing!”

“By the gods, that enormous dam came down in one blow…”

Cracked and shattered by the explosion, the dam crumbled under the immense water pressure.

As Philip watched the water surge through the newly opened passage, he smiled in satisfaction.

The emergency quest was completed, and his original goal was achieved.

“Alright, time to head back.”

The soldiers marched home, followed closely by the freed captives.

They gazed at Philip with awe, seeing him as a legendary hero from myths—a young lord who had vanquished terrifying monsters and demolished a massive dam in a single strike.

******

With the destruction of the dam, the Amire River’s water levels returned to normal.

Seeing the river flow freely once again, the people of the territory erupted in cheers.

As Philip and his troops returned triumphantly from the Prill Mountain Range, petals rained down in their honor.

“The lord has destroyed the monster-built dam!”

“They say he shattered that colossal dam in one strike using the Volcanic Wrath bestowed by Eldir!”

“Wait, isn’t Eldir the god of blacksmiths?”

“You fool! Didn’t you hear? The lord struck down the necromancer who controlled the lizardmen in a single blow!”

“That’s right! And he saved hundreds of captives enslaved by the necromancer!”

Philip’s deeds spread like wildfire.

The rumors traveled from the lord’s castle to villages across the Baron Brandel family’s domain—and even to neighboring territories.

Naturally, these stories reached the ears of those who weren’t particularly fond of Philip.

******

“The river’s water level rose again… because of that blacksmith brat?”

“Yes, my lord,” Herox reported.

Armand, having recently recovered, scoffed in disbelief.

“Volcanic Wrath? And he killed a necromancer?”

“It sounds like exaggerated rumors about taking down a few lizardmen.”

“Hah! Why not claim he slew a dragon while they’re at it?”

Neither Armand nor Herox believed the rumors.

Stories often grew exaggerated as they spread by word of mouth.

“Perhaps that cunning brat is the one spreading the rumors on purpose.”

“Regardless, this gives us an opportunity.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“We now have a reason to wage war against his territory.”