Ch.85Tyrant Lee Ji Cheol (5)

“You want me to save you?”

What an amusing thing to say. However, it was a natural reaction for a living being.

“Sure. Why not.”

Splash!

“Kuhak! Kuk!”

I had clearly pierced Lee Jichul’s heart once.

Yet Lee Jichul was still perfectly alive, having only coughed up some bloody secretions a few times.

Lee Jichul looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“W-why…?”

“I said I’d let you live. If you don’t like it, should I just kill you?”

“…Kut. No. I was merely surprised.”

Watching this scene, Shin Doyun, who had been protected by my magic, jumped up and shouted.

“Hey, kugh. You’re not going to kill him?”

I wanted to just kill him, but there were several reasons why Lee Jichul needed to stay alive.

Despite being an idiot, he was an important resource for Korea, and I happened to need a useful pawn at the moment.

A suitable chess piece that could keep Chae Hwa-in in check, who might be unpredictable even under my control.

And the final reason, which was actually the most important:

“We still don’t know what that being you contracted with is really after.”

“What?”

“In other words, I’m not sure if killing him would be good for me or not.”

This was only natural.

Why should I go out of my way to do something that benefits others?

Anyway, now that I’ve successfully subdued him, if there’s something they want, they should respond from their side.

“…Kugh, what if he attacks me because the contract wasn’t fulfilled?”

“Then you die.”

“Damn it, I forgot. That you were such a crazy bitch.”

Ignoring the despairing Shin Doyun, I went back to Lee Jichul, who had slumped down, and casually spoke to him.

“Don’t feel relieved. It’s not over yet. We should get a response soon…”

“What are you talking abou—kuhak!”

As he was listening, Lee Jichul suddenly opened his eyes wide and began struggling, clutching at his own throat.

The dragon blood I had injected into his heart was starting to react.

“Kuhak! Kuhuk! This damn…!”

In tremendous pain, Lee Jichul kept banging his head down and coughing up blood.

Crack.

Crack crack.

Crunch crunch crunch.

And when all the changes were complete, Lee Jichul’s skin had hardened into something resembling dragon scales.

“Congratulations. You didn’t die. Now you’re a proper dragonoid.”

“Kheuk, huk. A dragonoid?”

“Yes. Though you’ll be bound to me through a species contract.”

Having realized there were other necromancers of considerable skill in this world besides me, I couldn’t feel secure with just a flimsy soul contract.

Since I couldn’t turn Lee Jichul into an undead, this was essentially the next best option from my perspective.

“Now then, shall we negotiate on this side as well?”

Returning to Shin Doyun, I crouched down to meet his eyes and spoke to whoever might be watching us through him.

“If you want something, come out and talk directly.”

It would have been impossible before. But now, with some of my power restored, I could clearly feel it. Some kind of path connected to Shin Doyun.

Perhaps my words were transmitted, because Shin Doyun suddenly rolled his eyes back and lost consciousness.

Maybe they were trying to communicate through Shin Doyun in the mental realm.

“If you’re coming, hurry up and show yourself. My patience isn’t very long.”

After a few minutes passed, Shin Doyun regained consciousness and looked at me and Lee Jichul before speaking softly.

“…Who are you people? Why am I here?”

“……”

The mysterious being’s chosen response was to erase memories and run away.

#

Despite trying hard afterward, Shin Doyun never recovered his memories. He remembered being a returnee and his time at the guild, but had no recollection of contracting with the mysterious being or anything about us.

‘What a petty bastard.’

It’s ridiculous to cause such a fuss over showing one’s face—the dignified title of “mysterious being” seems wasted on them.

However, by interrogating Lee Jichul, whom I had made my subordinate through the species contract, I was able to clearly discover another purpose of that mysterious being.

‘I never imagined Lee Jichul would be connected to Hades.’

If that’s the case, then that being clearly doesn’t approve of Hades’ plan to summon the ancients.

Our purposes were inadvertently overlapping.

‘Since we’ve already crossed paths once, we’ll probably meet again someday.’

Besides, right now, there was an even more important issue.

The aftermath of forcibly restoring my power through necromancy was greater than expected.

“Master, are you still in that state?”

“Yes. It’s been five days already.”

The penalty for forcibly breaking the seal on my power was being unable to draw on that power at all for a certain period.

“Surely it won’t be gone forever, right?”

“I don’t think so. I have a feeling it will return someday.”

The problem was not knowing when that would be. It was frustrating—having something and then losing it made everything twice as inconvenient.

‘To think I’d return to removing fish bones with my hands…’

Thanks to this, I was currently in a very irritable state. I was confident I could cause a scene right then and there if someone provoked me.

“Would you like some strawberry ice cream?”

“…Give it here.”

To avoid any unfortunate incidents during this time, I had been living with someone by my side 24 hours a day.

Naturally, Seoha discovered what I’d been up to on the day I went to capture Lee Jichul. In the end, I honestly explained the situation and begged for forgiveness, but as a result, I ended up like a preschooler with a guardian.

“This is what happens when you keep getting involved in incidents without telling anyone.”

“If someone provokes me first, am I supposed to just take it?”

“You always tell me to be patient…”

“That’s because you’re weak.”

This wasn’t the proper attitude for the Lord of Death from the beginning. A true lord accepts any challenge without avoidance and crushes opponents head-on. That is the correct attitude of a ruler.

Having recalled the memories of when I possessed my original power in the previous battle, my mind and spirit had returned to that strong state of the past.

I had overcome long-standing grievances and finally been reborn as the true Lord of Death.

“Yes. I’ve been too patient all this time. This isn’t the image of a cruel and cold-hearted ruler.”

“Would you like some banana milk?”

“…Give it here.”

However, it was undeniable that temporary power was not true power.

Especially the stimulation of the seal using necromancy carried too much risk.

Using it once and becoming useless for days—how ridiculous is that?

I would use it in emergencies, but it seemed better for my well-being to keep it as a last resort and not abuse it.

“How’s the party doing? Is everything running smoothly while I’m away?”

“Yes. Though everyone says they miss you.”

“Don’t worry. Once I regain my power, I’ll focus solely on dungeons for a while.”

Already addicted to the ecstatic sensation of power, I could no longer return to my former self.

I had no interest in prancing around with meager abilities anymore. I would regain my power as quickly as possible and display my greatness to the world.

Ding.

[Another A-rank dungeon has appeared near a military base in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province. Details are being confirmed, and nearby guilds are planning to form a joint attack team immediately.]

“A-rank dungeons really have been increasing lately.”

“…Was this the sixth one this week?”

“Yes. That’s a 50% increase compared to two months ago.”

I couldn’t tell what this meant. But it was clear that it wasn’t good news for humanity.

I picked up my smartphone and called someone—Joseph, my gaming friend and one of Europe’s top information brokers.

Ring.

Riiiing.

Click.

[Ahem, hey, I told you it’s dawn here at this hour. What is it this time?]

“Nothing, just wondering if anything special was happening. I heard higher-ranked dungeons are appearing more frequently.”

[Higher-ranked dungeons… There are certainly a lot of rumors flying around about that.]

After pausing briefly, Joseph lowered his voice as if sharing a secret.

[It’s not 100% confirmed, but there are statistics showing that lower-ranked dungeon appearances have decreased overall, with that ratio being added to higher-ranked dungeons.]

“So they really are increasing, not just my imagination?”

[Yes. At this rate, an S-rank dungeon might appear somewhere soon.]

S-rank dungeons, called disasters regardless of their specific rank.

If one were to appear in this climate, it would certainly cause chaos no matter where it appeared.

“Let me know immediately if one really does appear.”

[Why should I?]

“Then as promised, I’ll play Bolt Action 4 with you until we clear it.”

[Damn it, fine, why are you so desperate to play that game anyway?]

The call ended with Joseph complaining irritably.

I put my smartphone away and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘……’

Whatever happens, what I need to do won’t change.

I slowly got up and headed to my room, warning Song Hayeon:

“I’m turning off the ring and going to sleep, so don’t come in until I say it’s okay.”

“Ah, you need to brush your teeth before sleeping! Seoha will scold me!”

A strange premonition that the flow of the world, which had momentarily paused, was moving quickly again.

With a groundless prediction that many things would change from now on, I quietly fell asleep, waiting for my power to return as soon as possible.