Netherborne [An OP Monster Isekai]

Chapter 58. Hackers Have Limits?

Like a puppet cut from its strings, Toby’s entire body went limp and tumbled to the ground, causing a wave of gravel to surge at the group of knights surrounding the Hacker. The knights’ armor easily shrugged off the flying rocks, and the warhorses used their translucent mana to bring up rippling shields across their forms.

Victor debated helping his lumbering giant, but it was far too risky with the Hacker present. Deciding to watch for now, he continued monitoring through Toby’s eyes.

Toby’s fallen body took up the entire street, with his limp head a mere inch away from the Hacker’s foot—who was a clean-shaven man with white hair and skin. His eyes were dull and unfazed like they had seen the birth and death of stars despite their golden radiance.

The Hacker gave Toby a once-over, his expression never changing like a porcelain doll—almost as if he had no facial muscles to begin with. “The deal is done,” the Hacker said to the screaming commander in a pool of his own blood and missing feet. “I expect the payment by the Duke upon my return.”

“H-help me…” The commander gritted his teeth. “P-please.”

“Not in the contract.” The Hacker nonchalantly waved the dying man off and turned to leave with his hands behind his back.

“Constantine…”

The Hacker paused and eagle-eyed the commander over his shoulder. “Do not speak my name so casually, Commander.” His voice was cold and venomous, as if speaking to an inferior. “The contract was simple. Bring down the Demon King of Necron.” Constantine gestured to the motionless giant that lay at his feet with his chin. “The threat is down.”

“But not dead.” The commander spat a mouthful of blood. “And you know that’s what the deal meant.” Then, with shaking arms, he tried to lift his torso off the ground. “You are contracted to kill the Demon King. The duke paid good money for this.”

Constantine watched the struggling man with cold eyes. “That is not what we agreed. Just use a healing pill—I have no time to waste here.”

“Want to run away to your sky castle?” The commander sneered as he reached to retrieve a pill from his spatial ring. “If I die, who is there to report your success?”

The two locked in a staring contest, and all the warhorses took a step back. Constantine’s eyes dimmed slightly, and a thin smile appeared on his perfectly carved face. “Who would question the word of a Hacker?”

Seeing that Constantine had no intentions of healing him, the commander grimaced and looked at the sky-blue pill resting between his bloodied fingers. Then with a glare at Constantine, he swallowed the valuable pill and made sure his sliced-off feet were in place below his stumps, ready to be reattached.

Constantine chuckled and turned to leave, but the Empire knights surrounded the Hacker and blocked his path. Constantine’s brows furrowed, which was the most expression he had shown thus far. “What is the meaning of this? You dare block my path?”

“We can’t let you pass,” one knight declared form atop his warhorse and glared down at the Hacker. “The duke will be displeased if this mission fails. We both know you are here to assist us in bringing down the demon king, yet he still draws breath…”

“He was dead from the start.” Constantine shrugged and looked around the encirclement. “Y’know, undead are technically already dead… The duke should be more specific in his instructions.”

“You know, I always wondered…” the knight continued as he looked down at the Hacker through his helmet’s meshed visor. “Why are you Hacker bastards so stuck up? Is helping us kill the demon or heal the commander really such a chore when you are supposed to be all-powerful?” The knight left the words hanging, but the Hacker didn’t bite, so he snickered. “Or perhaps it is out of your capabilities?”

The Hacker looked long and hard at the knight. “Random knight, you should know, like anyone in this world, power comes with consequences. I will not divulge such secrets in response to your crude attempt at taunting me.” Constantine thinly smiled. “But what I can say is the contract is complete. The System deems it so. Therefore, my job here is done. Good day—”

The commander approached from behind and grabbed the Hacker’s shoulder with a bloodied hand, staining the white cloth. “You will remain here until my men are finished with their task.” He was standing on his feet, but clean gaps through his armor showed his bare shins.

Constantine sighed and slapped the commander’s hand off his shoulder. “Very well, then.” He stepped to the side with grace and leisurely watched as half the knights approached the motionless body of Toby.

The bells of war had never ceased and screams echoed through the half-destroyed town. The distinct smell of burned wood and blood lingered in the freezing wind due to the many ice-encased buildings down the street. Toby couldn’t even move his eye as the knights encircled his massive body and raised their spears.

To Victor, it looked like a bunch of fishermen readying their harpoons for a beached whale.

With a shout from the commander, the readied spears plunged into Toby and sank deep into his flesh. Toby didn’t react as the spears dug deep before being yanked back out. Black blood leaked from the holes and trickled down his gray skin, and his flesh failed to heal.

Victor watched everything in fascination. The Hacker had suggested their abilities have some kind of limit. Was it a once-a-day type of deal? Or did he have a limited mana pool, and the bigger the spell, the less he could cast in a day? Completely stopping mana flow inside an S-grade monster would take considerable resources. I assumed the Hackers ignored standard practices, but Constantine’s words claimed otherwise. He paid the price to bring my subordinate to the ground like this. I just need to find out the price and how I can abuse it. He wondered if threatening or killing the Hacker was a good idea. If he used his avatar and failed to harm the Hacker and Constantine got away, Necron could incur the full wrath of the Empire, and even he might not be safe from the Hacker’s reach.

On the other hand, if he obtained valuable information that allowed him to combat the Hackers, he could rest easy without the constant threat of them looming over his shoulders.

Deciding to use Toby, Victor tried to push some mana into the Demon King’s body, but he felt great resistance. Like trying to blow air into a plastic bottle, Toby’s body simply couldn’t take any more mana.

The knights had figured out Toby was far too large, and getting to the heart with spears would take far too long. Because none of the knights, except the commander, had exhibited any magical capabilities, Victor was starting to wonder if mages or people having combat classes were rare. Maybe Alice is even more formidable than I thought… Or perhaps these men are just hired muscle and aren’t the crème of the crop. But why would they employ a Hacker and not a few mages? Ah.

Operations cost money. Mages likely cost a lot to be employed; if they are anything like academics back on Earth, they despise battlefields. They would prefer to stay in their laboratory or libraries. Or, in this case, it would be wizard towers… Maybe the duke spent all the money on the Hacker and assumed the operation would go without a hitch with a Hacker present.

Victor halted his thoughts as he noticed the knights getting off their horses and walking up to the hulking gray mass of Toby’s motionless body. Some even used an embedded spear to help them climb up to where the spear holes leaking black blood were. Their spatial rings flashed with power, and a chalky red stone appeared in their hands; they then crushed the rocks in their palms like breaking an egg and carefully fed the powder into the holes.

Victor didn’t need a wild imagination to guess what they were doing. Seems they found a replacement for fire mages… He debated if he should do anything, but he couldn’t come up with a way to remove the MANA FLOW: VALUE SET TO ZERO debuff the Hacker had placed onto Toby. But if he dies, I can revive him again with my Raise Undead skill, and hopefully, the debuff will be gone just like last time with Henry.

Since Toby was undead and moved purely on the mana coursing through his veins, luckily or perhaps unluckily, his heart stopped. Meaning the blood was no longer pumping through his veins. Upon realizing it, the knights became distraught as they had planned to carry the powder through his body via the blood. Deciding to just light it anyways, they set fire to Toby’s enormous body at various sections using oil and a lighter. It took a second, but it exploded when the blazing oil reached the powder.

Without any regeneration to repair his burning skin or mana to protect his vitals, Toby found his body combusting and imploding like a firework.

Victor felt his vision begin to distort as the connection thinned. Right before it ceased, he cast his Raise Undead skill. Mana in the surrounding area was caught up in a vortex that funneled toward Toby. His body began rapidly regenerating, and as the dust settled from the explosion…

“Impossible,” a knight stumbled back and muttered before screaming as Toby’s full form appeared as a shadow in the dust cloud. “IMPOSSIBLE.”

“Noisy,” Toby’s voice rumbled out, and an arm the size of a tree shot out and smashed the knight square in the gut like a runaway truck, sending the knight spiraling into a nearby shop and crashing through a wooden wall. Blood leaked through the closed knight’s visor, and the knight ceased all movement.

Toby wafted the dust cloud away and loomed over the group of knights. He then mentally asked, “Master. Can I kill them?”

“Yes,” Victor’s ancient voice replied in the back of Toby’s skull. “Kill them all.” There was a pause, but the last order sent a shiver down the Demon King’s spine. “Especially the Hacker. I want him dead—if he dies by your hands…then all of today’s mistakes are forgiven.” Toby’s eye scanned the group and located the white-robed man, and the pair’s golden eyes locked.