Necromancer Of The Black Bible (147)

The process of creating the new undead legion proceeded smoothly.

The first step—selecting the souls to be extinguished—was not difficult.

-You damned bastards! I’ll kill you all!

-My grudge will not be appeased. I’ll avenge it even from beyond the grave!

-Alfred. That name shall be cursed forever. I’ll topple you with my death and my whole life.

Souls piled high with rage and resentment.

Ceres selected them one by one and posed questions.

“You’re already dead. You may live a new life now, or you may not. I’ll decide what to do. Do you have anything to say to me?”

Though a simple question, these souls could not hear it.

They only repeated words laced with vengeance.

Those who could not hear the question and spoke only of their grudges.

Ceres selected those and extinguished them.

Because such souls made up a considerable portion of the total, the mana flasks were filled quickly.

Each time, I purified the mana and turned it into core mana,

and once all the flasks were filled with core mana, we moved on to the next stage.

‘Now the real problems begin.’

Necromancy requires intact souls.

Because they possess free will, if selected incorrectly they could become mentally unstable or even turn into traitors.

Cirrhnua proposed a solution for this.

“The most basic way to control humans is punishment and reward. If you systematize that, controlling them won’t be difficult.”

“Be more specific.”

In response to my question, Cirrhnua explained the structure of a kingdom.

A nation where the king holds all power is structured in a tiered fashion centered on the king.

The basic logic is this.

‘If you do not obey the order of your superior at each level, you are punished.’

Cirrhnua suggested adding a second rule of our own to this.

“Those who achieve merit will be rewarded with promotion to the next level.”

In short, punish those who fail and reward those who succeed.

But Cirrhnua said that such things are not easy in the human world.

“Humans have narrow vision. Therefore it’s hard for those in power to judge who did well or poorly. And there are always sycophants around the powerful. As a result, sycophants often receive rewards for no reason, and those who actually earned merit are punished.”

It was a piercing, accurate comment.

I had seen many such cases myself.

In kingdoms there were powerholders besides the king whom one had to impress, and there were many things one had to do to get in their favor.

In my previous life, my master described this as ‘filthy.’

For that reason, we lived on the outskirts of the territory.

‘But the group I will create from now on will be different.’

I can read the thoughts of everyone connected to me.

I can read their actions, thoughts, and even emotions.

Anyone connected by Necromancy can be known for what they did and what feelings they hold toward me,

so events that happen in other human states will not unfold here.

I nodded at Cirrhnua.

“Good. Implement it as is. And you will also take part in soul vetting alongside Ceres.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Now the real work began.

The founding of the new undead legion was right before us.

Meanwhile.

Eliastra, who served as pope of the Kallios Theocracy, was in deep thought.

‘What should I do about this?’

She sat in her private study wearing the Crown of Wisdom.

The Crown of Wisdom is an artifact that amplifies the wearer’s perception and insight.

At the same time, it also protects her thoughts.

Now she thought she had to hide her thoughts from her master Damian.

Because she had received a request from Equinox.

-This matter is deeply related to your Master’s test to create a new Mana Ring. So from now on, do not report or reveal anything related to it. I will assume all responsibility.

Because Equinox had a close relationship with Master Damian, she could not easily ignore its request.

Moreover, since it concerned Master Damian’s growth, she had even less choice.

However, keeping secrets from her master was unacceptable, so she resolved it thus.

-If what you say is not true, I will report it to my Master immediately.

-Do as you wish.

After receiving that assurance, Senior Investigator Sanchez came, saying he must guard the relics under the Grand Temple.

Afterwards he brought the Bible of the Nameless God.

There was this written within it.

[I must meet Damian. Take me to him.]

This phrase was not as light as it looked.

It disregarded an important principle she knew.

‘The Bible of the Nameless God has functioned as the key to the Ethereal Gate. Its activation cycle is 15 years. It has always operated on that cycle—suddenly it moves now?’

Over the years, she had met and conversed with Kallios’s memory crystal once every fifteen years.

After the conversation, the Bible’s light disappeared.

To meet Kallios again, another fifteen years had to pass.

There were no exceptions.

Yet now a situation falling into that exception was unfolding.

Eliastra examined the phrase written in the Bible carefully.

The Bible did not shine as before, but the letters were clear.

Then Equinox’s voice sounded.

-Is there something strange?

-It’s very strange. The Bible acts on a fifteen-year cycle; it has never reacted in between.

-That is past. Isn’t the important thing the present?

Equinox’s remark was accurate.

The past is meaningless in the face of the reality unfolding before one’s eyes.

No matter how splendid past glories were, they are of no use once they scatter in the present moment.

But Eliastra remained cautious to the end.

-That this Bible sought out my master is not an ordinary matter.

-Of course it’s not ordinary. Our Master will become a new god.

-…So do you think we must follow this phrase?

-Is there room for another interpretation?

Eliastra could not answer.

She knew too little to judge.

The God of Light who was already dead and the world that followed.

The appearance of Equinox and the arrival of Damian.

In this matter, she was simply to follow the will of the new master.

Then Equinox’s voice was heard.

-Do as instructed.

-Do you mean to deliver this book to the Ethereal Gate?

-That… no.

After a moment’s thought, Equinox continued.

-Everything must follow causality. Who found this book?

-Investigator Sanchez.

-Then have Sanchez do it.

Equinox showed a vision within Eliastra’s mind.

The vision showed the passage of time across the continent.

As time flowed in the video, the continent changed.

Countless nations rose and fell, and countless lives were born and died.

Yet there was one place that hardly changed: the ‘Pristine Forest.’

The forbidden domain where elves live, the Pristine Forest.

Eliastra looked upon it and asked.

-Why are you showing me this place?

-Because it’s a place of connection. In this place, the Master will inevitably meet this book.

Equinox’s words were archaic, as if from an old chronicle.

Eliastra, mulling over his language, answered.

-Then I will place the book here.

-Do so.

Eliastra immediately summoned Sanchez.

And assigned him the mission to escort the Bible of the Nameless God.

The western upper Demonic Realm ruled by Illinas was bustling.

Because of the emergence of new demonkin.

Bodies of demonkin, animated by the collected souls, opened their eyes, and Illinas called them forth and made them swear an oath before all the demons.

“Your rebirth here means you belong to me forever. You must not defy Lord Illinas and must remain loyal for eternity.”

With the oath concluded, the newly born demonkin

roared loudly before all the other demons.

As if they were children given new life.

Having finished the ceremony, Illinas hurried back to his study.

He sat on his throne and spoke.

“Shador.”

A violet vortex swirled before him and someone appeared.

The shadow warlock Shador.

He was Illinas’s right hand and a black mage who reached the 10th Circle.

He knelt on one knee and bowed deeply in respect.

“You summoned me?”

“What of Murak?”

There had been no word for months.

As an assassin, communication was difficult by nature, but never before had he gone so long without contact.

So whenever Illinas grew frustrated, he would inquire about him through Shador.

Shador spread both hands and formed a black orb.

An orb that could see both past and present.

After staring into it for a long while, Shador spoke.

“He is still in hiding.”

“What?”

Illinas’s brow furrowed.

He asked again, as if exasperated.

“Still in hiding? Have you not found Damian’s whereabouts?”

Shador looked into the orb again and spoke cautiously.

“We found him, but he is in a place we cannot reach.”

“A place we cannot reach…”

“According to Murak’s guess, he is at the Ethereal Gate.”

“The Ethereal Gate.”

Illinas unconsciously looked out the window.

The pillar of light that had appeared some time ago.

He had suspected that Damian was responsible for it.

‘He actually obtained the Ethereal Gate…’

It was no ordinary feat.

There was a reason it took so long even after deploying the legendary assassin Murak.

The Ethereal Gate, like the upper Demonic Realm, is isolated from the world.

Lost in thought, Illinas asked again.

“Then does Murak have a contingency?”

Shador nodded slowly.

“There was danger, but it seems he handled it fairly well. If we wait, he should seize an opportunity soon.”

“I see.”

It was a relief to hear.

If Murak says so, he will surely carry out the assassination before long.

No target had ever escaped Murak’s hand.

Having wrapped that up, Illinas moved on to another topic.

“What is the size of our legion as of today?”

“We have surpassed six hundred thousand.”

“Six hundred thousand…”

There is no army of this scale across the Demonic Realms.

The most powerful imperial armies on the surface may be larger in number, but they cannot match this in combat power.

Illinas’s army all possess immortal bodies and strength on a different plane from humans.

If he could, he would march on the Ethereal Gate immediately.

But even he did not know from here how to reach the Ethereal Gate.

That was the greatest problem.

Illinas spoke with a displeased expression.

“We possess the mightiest forces yet have nowhere to employ them. Shador, what do you think we should do now?”

Shador thought for a moment and answered.

“It is not good to leave an excess of troops idle. Morale could fall or accidents could occur internally.”

“Are you saying we should attack anywhere?”

“Yes. The closer the better.”

Shador’s answer pointed to one place.

Where the beam of light touches.

The eastern reaches of the upper Demonic Realm.

Realizing this, Illinas nodded slowly.

Now the time had come to end the standoff with Dikrea.