Necromancer Of The Black Bible (106)

Puh-puh-puh-puh-ong-!

A series of explosions occurred.

The explosions were roughly as powerful as a Fireburst cast by a wizard of at least 5th circle.

‘It works!’

Having discovered a new principle of magic, I couldn’t conceal my excitement.

Using this principle, I could cast magic comparable to using a Mana Ring even while in a spectral state.

I followed the violently exploding spirit down into the depths.

The mana I had unleashed kept constricting its spirit, so the explosions continued without pause.

In the end, it kept exploding and fused into Eckhart’s body.

And then.

Puuuuong-!

A single huge blast rang out, and black smoke poured from Eckhart’s mouth.

He opened his eyes, but his condition was terrible.

Because the possessing spirit had exploded inside the body, most of the organs were damaged.

That wasn’t all.

Looking closely, even the Dragon Heart had split, gushing blood.

Though it was a chance success, the scene gave me great inspiration.

‘If you make a spirit explode, it can inflict deadly damage on the body it’s possessing.’

It’s the same principle as when I lightly burst Leopold’s body a moment ago.

Using this principle, I felt I could easily deal with any enemy.

‘It’s an especially perfect attack for ancient dragons.’

I descended to the surface lightly and materialized.

Eckhart, seeing me, struggled to steady himself and get into position, but it didn’t look easy.

Rrrroaarrrrr-!

A massive roar shook the cavern.

Only the souls shackled near the lava river reacted to it.

It left me utterly unmoved.

Still, he glared at me with fierce eyes and threatened me.

[You woke me. I will make you experience that the price will not be small.]

Having finished speaking, he snorted.

Black smoke was mixed in that snort.

“Pathetic.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The antiquated creature’s attempt to keep up appearances even in this state could only be described as laughable.

I pierced through his body with my gaze.

Although the mana I had fired had all been detonated, the mana he had gathered to use against me remained in his spirit.

It seemed he intended to exhale a breath using that mana.

I raised a hand and spoke.

“I’ll teach you one thing, you fool.”

[What?!]

He snapped angrily and raised his head, and I continued.

“Mana is not yours to own.”

Then I snapped my fingers and ignited the mana held within his spirit.

Then another explosion erupted inside him.

Boom!

Because the explosion happened inside the body, he took the full impact and dropped to one knee.

It was only a spell roughly of 5th circle at most, yet the power was such.

It felt rewarding every time I used it.

Estimating the mana that hadn’t yet exploded, I spoke again.

“Do you feel it now? The gap between you and me?”

A question that ruthlessly scraped the pride of a supreme being dragon.

If his body had been intact, he would have erupted in fury, but….

Who knows.

How would he react now?

I watched the dragon with quiet anticipation.

The earlier explosions had left his body in far worse condition.

Holes had opened across his torso, black smoke streaming out and red blood trickling down beneath them.

Blood dripped from his lips, yet his eyes still burned fiercely.

[Grrr….]

A groan that couldn’t form an answer.

Anger surged, but he seemed powerless to act.

He barely managed to endure the pain, straighten the knee he had knelt on, and rise.

His breathing was ragged, and the blood kept flowing, forming a pool.

Despite that, he began to ready his breath.

“Foolish indeed.”

I detonated the mana heavily gathered in his chest.

Pwehong!

[Gah-!]

This one was certainly lethal.

Just listening to the tormented groan made that clear.

I didn’t stop and began detonating the mana seeping through his entire body.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-

His forelegs and both hind legs that supported his body.

The area surrounding the Dragon Heart and even the innards including his stomach.

He couldn’t endure the shock and finally knelt before me.

At the same time, his massive head also fell to the ground.

Thud-

A low vibration swept across the area.

Even if his soul was incomplete, is an ancient dragon only this much?

It’s a disappointment compared to what I expected.

It’s much more anticlimactic than when I first faced the Sand Dragon.

Then Equinox’s voice was heard.

[I underestimated you, Honored Master.]

[No. That was a fair assessment. I was much weaker back then.]

But now that we’ve come this far, I understand.

I am strong.

Strong enough to defeat a dragon easily.

I approached his head, which had come up to me.

Intermittent snorts escaped, but they weren’t threatening at all.

If anything, he looked pitiful.

I stroked the corner of his nostril and spoke.

“You’re weak.”

[If my kin had been whole… we wouldn’t have been taken like this.]

I met his gaze.

His eyes held many regrets, and I could read all of it.

The three thousand years he’d lived flashed through like a reel of memories.

The content matched the memories I’d read from Eckhart’s original body earlier.

The glory of a distant past and the struggle not to lose his dying body.

And the long loneliness he experienced after separating from his body.

This one was far more pitiable than the original—he’d spent most of his life bound to a sword.

To humans that sword might be a legendary blade, but because of it he couldn’t be used freely, and so he was locked away in a dark underground vault for a long time.

“For all the years you’ve lived, your experience is scant.”

[Grr….]

“I see why you are foolish.”

Three thousand long years.

He only knew how to win.

So he never learned how to deal with someone stronger than himself.

How to suppress desire and live with it.

He never learned how to make friends or how to endure the passage of time.

“You were just a sword. A blade that fights and wins, then fights and wins again. So you couldn’t defeat me.”

In past lives I have lost many times.

I lost at the orphanage, and I lost many battles against mages.

I survived thanks to my own knack for survival and my master’s help.

I don’t know everything about the world, but there was at least one thing I could teach this dragon.

“I’ll tell you before you die. If someone stronger than you appears, if you realize they’re stronger, give up the fight. If you try to fight them, you’ll usually die. If you’re lucky you’ll keep your life, but you’ll be maimed. But if you give up early and declare defeat, your chances of survival increase greatly.”

I continued stroking the corner of his nostril.

“I’ve shown you the gap in power. Now what will you do? Do you want to live more? Or do you want to be extinguished here?”

Death means little to him.

He’d already been isolated for a long time, bound to a sword in a disembodied state.

I couldn’t begin to gauge that long loneliness.

‘But annihilation is different.’

Death means becoming a spirit, but annihilation is returning existence itself to nothingness.

That meaning wouldn’t be light even for him.

His red eyes glistened.

He barely gathered his strength and spoke to me.

[Can you annihilate me?]

“Of course.”

[Do you plan to annihilate my kin as you made me so?]

“If they stand in my way, yes.”

[Your path… ah, you mean that child.]

He immediately realized I was referring to Emma.

Just as I thought communication had become easy, he uttered something unexpected.

[Heh heh heh. It’s unfortunate, but I won’t give that child up. I will never hand them over to you.]

I stared blankly into his eyes.

A gaze trembling with vengeance, anger, and ecstasy.

At the sight, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Of course. A creature who’s only ever won won’t change just because it lost once.’

Changing one’s mind isn’t that simple.

Not by being defeated once or twice; only when all hope is gone does the heart truly change.

“I thought you’d be different because you’ve lived a long time and are strong… but you’re just a child.”

I removed my hand from his nostril.

Then I took a step back.

Something sprang up from underground and wrapped him completely.

It was Gio.

He had grown as large as his father, Amur.

Gio, constricting Eckhart’s spent body, asked me,

-Dad! Can I eat this?

-It’s prepared for you. Eat as much as you want.

As soon as permission was given, Gio’s mouth opened wide.

His enormous jaws bit clean through Eckhart’s head.

Crunch!

Eckhart writhed, but under Gio’s overwhelming strength he could only squirm.

I summoned a chair, sat down, and watched.

Crunch, crunch-

Gio, like a growing child, devoured the ancient dragon with relish.

He spat out the hard bones and stripped away all the sharp scales.

Eckhart’s spirit screamed, but I paid it no mind.

[To be offered as prey to a Sand Dragon! I will not let you go unpunished! I will curse you even in death!!!!]

He repeated the same words.

How foolish.

Even while losing and being eaten, he still ranted like that.

I ordered Nocturne to summon the Soul Harvester.

Then, before it got any louder, I absorbed the spirit.

Swoooooosh-

With a light rustle of wind, a single soul orb appeared.

A red orb tinged with gold.

I thought about consuming it now but decided it was too precious to waste.

‘Even if I ate it now, my Mana Rings wouldn’t multiply.’

To become a 5th circle necromancer, Emma’s sacrifice is needed.

All of this is to obtain my fifth Mana Ring.

‘I’ll store this for later.’

In any case, Eckhart had separated her soul.

The captured souls are in the Ethereal Gate, so I can deal with them later.

As I mulled over these thoughts, Gio burped.

Having swallowed the rest of Eckhart’s body, Gio quickly finished digesting and began spitting out bones.

I rose from my seat and examined Eckhart’s bones with Gio nearby.

Dragon bones are known as high-quality materials.

But what lay before me now wasn’t just any dragon—these were ancient dragon bones.

Items made from these would all be of exceptional quality.

Not just good, they’d be the best.

I smiled at Nocturne’s confirmation.

‘By the way, should I go after the remaining ones now?’

What would the one who left be doing at the academy?

The question was immediately answered.

A red shackle formed nearby, and a spirit came into view.

A spirit in the form of a woman with distinct facial features.

The spirit was Emma’s.