Ch.143The Legendary Necromancer Is Dangerous (7)

As Hans integrated the returned heart into his body and stroked the mane of his prized phantom horse, Volkenus, unable to contain his competitive spirit, spoke first.

[It’s been a long time since I’ve met a worthy opponent, Lord. Who shall be my adversary?]

“Take care of that Flame Beast.”

[Hmm, that one? Not my preference, but I have no choice.]

Whoosh!

Volkenus advanced forward, floating through the air while waving his hand made of fierce flames.

True to his demon nature that enjoyed battle, he seemed to want to face the strong opponent Gildeon, but that Verkulachio would likely be quite formidable as well.

‘In terms of rank, Volkenus seems higher, but our side isn’t in perfect condition yet.’

However, if they could endure the initial phase well, it was clear they would soon gain the upper hand.

[Give me… your heart…!]

Crash—!

Swoosh!

Simultaneously, Nox also began gliding without hesitation, as if hunting for prey.

It was clear that he was instinctively drawn to the magical organs possessed by the dragon on the opposing side.

And the Knight of the Celestial Gate, Ruspa, another undead, was confronted by other undead including Chaehwain and Khan who worked together against him.

‘With this, the matchups are roughly decided…’

What remained were the Giant Divine Soldier, Hans, Gildeon, and myself.

After watching the undead fight for a while, Gildeon finally spoke.

“Your necromancy is quite unique. At least, I have no memory of seeing such things.”

“……”

“Come, show me. I’m truly looking forward to it.”

Beneath Gildeon’s expressionless face, there was a faint trace of excitement like that of a pure child.

I responded by accelerating the battle through various necromantic arts.

Overall, the battle situation was evenly matched, with the most notable being undoubtedly the fight between Kubarna and Hans.

Whoosh!

Boom—!

“Heh, its size is certainly the greatest among all I’ve seen.”

Kubarna continuously pushed Hans back with its overwhelming mass.

Simply swinging its hand filled with death energy caused earthquakes, and its iron-wall body seemed impossible to penetrate.

However, Hans carefully observed its movements and began to gradually increase the distance while riding his phantom horse.

“Then, I’ll keep pounding until it breaks.”

Neeeigh—!

Crash!

Clop! Clop!

The intense sound of hooves spread as the ground was torn up, and the death energy wrapped around Hans’s spear gradually increased in size.

Whoosh!

Crash—!

The first collision was truly powerful, but it didn’t cause noticeable damage to Kubarna.

However, Hans, who passed through its body using the phantom horse’s intangibility ability, didn’t slow down and immediately turned around to charge again, summoning more death energy.

“Next, I’m coming.”

Additionally, the death energy that had struck Kubarna’s body during the first charge gathered around Hans’s spear like iron filings attracted to a magnet, increasing its volume.

Neeeigh—!

Clop! Clop!

Boom!

With such combined power, even Kubarna with its massive body staggered and lost balance during the second attack.

“…This is.”

Gildeon’s expression hardened as if he anticipated what would happen next.

As he predicted, Hans passed through Kubarna’s body again, gathered the scattered death energy while adding new energy, and continued his charge.

It was like crashing waves.

Formidable speed and continuously amplifying power.

By the time it was repeated seven times, the death energy gathered on Hans’s spear resembled a massive tsunami.

Crash!

Boom—!

With this unprecedented powerful charge, Kubarna’s legs completely cracked and shattered, losing their function.

Rumble.

Groooan!

Kubarna fell helplessly to the ground, its massive body collapsing.

Hans, breaking through the flying dust and circling around, gathered death energy one last time, leaped into the air, and quietly assumed a javelin-throwing stance.

“Well, it was quite satisfying.”

Swoosh!

Thud!

Crash—!

It was the moment when the Giant Divine Soldier from mythology, known to many through stories, finally met its end.

Watching this series of battles, I felt something strange and asked Gildeon with curiosity.

“Why did you let it be destroyed? If it was an undead you created, you surely had a way to retrieve it.”

With this final blow, Kubarna was completely annihilated. As a fellow necromancer, I could clearly sense that fact.

In response, Gildeon broke his expressionless face for the first time and answered me.

“It was originally created from the ruins of this Filosium Castle and the souls of its victims. At that time, I was so filled with anger that I couldn’t see anything, but I vowed that if someone ever defeated it, I would let it rest here in its homeland.”

In other words, this was the proper ending.

At the same time, Gildeon gathered death energy for a moment and spoke as if paying respect.

“I express my admiration. You possess greater skill than any necromancer I’ve met since my master’s departure.”

By now, my recovered power had reached 60% of my prime. Accordingly, the power of my other undead also increased, and the battle situation quickly turned in our favor.

“So I too shall reveal everything I have here and now.”

In an instant, Gildeon’s presence changed.

It felt as if a completely different being from the one I had been seeing stood before me.

Simultaneously, Gildeon began to summon something by chanting a spell using concentrated death energy as an offering.

It was something I was well familiar with.

Whoosh.

Rustle.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve taken this out. Consider it a sign of my acknowledgment.”

The token of the netherworld, said to be wielded only by those most deeply connected to death on planet Thebe.

The symbol of the god of death.

“The Seal of the Netherworld…”

“You already know it? Then you must also understand what that means.”

At least at this moment, the seal recognized Gildeon as its master instead of me.

It had judged his skill as a necromancer to be superior to mine.

‘…This is really troublesome.’

Honestly, I had somewhat anticipated this possibility.

The Gildeon I met was a necromancer worthy of being called legendary, so naturally there was a chance he had succeeded in summoning the Seal of the Netherworld.

However, in my era, I was the only one who could wield the seal.

Whether I liked it or not, this was the first time I had seen someone else using the seal.

“A necromancer who summons the seal gains absolute power. You must have experienced this yourself.”

Those words were definitely not false. The seal’s power greatly strengthens the undead under one’s command and allows an individual to control an army’s worth of undead.

Moreover, it declares a domain of death in the surrounding area, rendering holy power and other opposing forces completely meaningless.

This was tantamount to saying that a necromancer holding the Seal of the Netherworld essentially had no weaknesses.

“I have only two undead greater than Kubarna. But that’s probably not much different for you.”

Gildeon raised his hand opposite to the one holding the seal and summoned two undead.

A beautiful girl with silver hair fluttering while her eyes were covered with cloth, and a young man in red armor emanating an incomprehensible aura.

The distinctive pattern engraved on the young man’s armor was something I recognized from books.

“…Don’t tell me that’s the Sun King?”

“I’m surprised someone from a later era recognizes him. You are correct.”

“You madman.”

Here was someone even more malicious than me, who had been feared by all for various outrageous acts on Thebe.

The Sun King Ruin was a figure related to the founding myth of the Northern Empire, which continues to exist even now.

To turn someone treated as a hero among heroes into an undead—if the knights of Thebe heard this, they would be outraged.

Gildeon then wielded the power of the seal, causing the power of the opposing undead to explosively increase while simultaneously declaring his domain over the surrounding area.

At this point, there was essentially nothing I could do.

To me, Gildeon quietly declared the end of the match.

“Your necromancy was very interesting. I shall make you mine and hear about it gradually.”

In other words.

“This battle is my victory, not yours.”

My subordinates began to struggle helplessly, and Hans sighed as he faced the two new undead alone.

And the Seal of the Netherworld continued to accumulate power incomprehensibly.

Seeing this scene, I helplessly hung my head.

“Is this as far as I go…”

And then, I immediately composed myself and let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing this strange behavior, Gildeon tilted his head in confusion just as I raised my face again and laughed.

“No, honestly, I was really nervous just now.”

“What?”

“I was wondering what if you knew the next part too.”

It was truly just for a moment, but when he took out the seal, I slightly doubted whether Gildeon might be a superior necromancer to me.

It’s been a long time since I felt this tense facing an opponent.

Gildeon was that formidable an enemy. But, that was as far as it went.

“Have you ever thought about why it’s called the Seal of the Netherworld?”

“……”

The answer is simple. That seal is the passage connecting this world and the netherworld, as well as its entrance.

“It seems this is as far as you go.”

My recovered power had now reached 70% of my prime. And the moment it increased by 1% just now, I definitely felt it.

With this, my total power had surpassed Gildeon’s.

“Since we’re here, watch carefully.”

Whoosh.

Rumble!

As I raised my hand, the seal held by Gildeon began to pulsate.

And in the ensuing ownership battle, the winner was, of course, me.

Savoring the feel of the seal that I hadn’t experienced for a long time, I began to draw out its true power.

“The domain declaration ability—that’s not actually how you’re supposed to use it.”

Overflowing death energy. And amidst it, an unprecedented alien energy began to emerge.

As it pervaded everywhere, a dark blue mist that similarly appeared filled the view.

Rustle.

What appeared in the center was none other than an incomprehensible massive door.

“When you see this for the first time, it makes you realize how narrow the world you’ve known has been.”

The final destination of all souls, commonly called the afterlife.

The Netherworld had now arrived in the mortal world.