Necromancer Of The Black Bible (164)

-You are my possessions. Do you understand that?

Some thirty thousand souls agreed in unison.

At the same time, I felt their emotions.

Most of it was hope and joy at finally being given a new chance.

Some were so happy at the prospect of life itself that they seemed ready to leap for joy,

some wondered anxiously if they might reunite with people from their past lives.

No one was disappointed or troubled by the fact that they would be born into already dead bodies.

They only wanted to see the light of this world again.

They wanted to feel the nearly forgotten senses anew.

I considered their hearts and made only one request.

-You will be allowed to do whatever you wish. However, we face a great battle ahead. I don’t know who the opponent will be, but you must fight. The freedom you yearn for will be given after winning this battle.

As I waited quietly, I heard the souls’ answers.

I began, one by one, to link those who said they accepted and would obey my words to bodies.

Each time, green light pierced the clouds and descended to inhabit the bodies.

Thus the some thirty thousand souls obtained new bodies, a sight like green rain falling from the sky.

I watched the spectacle with my eyes closed.

‘Not bad at all.’

My senses were much dulled compared to before, but I was moved by the sight of my souls rising into new bodies.

As their desire and anticipation for life were transmitted, my own senses revived.

The joy felt by thirty thousand was conveyed to me intact.

‘…What is this?’

I couldn’t define it clearly, but it was a familiar feeling.

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth from an unknown pleasure.

I opened my eyes, feeling a rare sense of fulfillment.

The sky had cleared without my noticing.

It seemed the souls’ descent had scattered all the clouds.

Brilliant sunlight poured over the castle.

Blue sky and a shining sun.

And golden rays.

They shone upon my undead army that had just received new life.

The sight was not strange so much as strangely moving.

I stood on the balcony and watched my newly awakened children soak in astonishment and joy.

Having gained a new chance after a very long time, they moved their pale, stiff bodies clumsily and rose.

None of them blamed the ugliness of those bodies, and none complained of discomfort.

They were simply grateful and glad to be able to move again.

Watching them, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Was I like that when I was born into this world?’

It was a topic I had never thought about in my previous life.

I didn’t know who my parents were, and by the time I could think for myself I had been abandoned at an orphanage, so I never pondered the meaning of life.

My previous life was a continuous stream of suffering.

When facing that relentless pain, I sometimes resented the parents who had borne me and abandoned me.

Meeting my master of course stopped that resentment, but even after that I remained skeptical about life.

I thought it would be better to die than to live in such hardship,

and that the reason I lived was to gain greater power to exact revenge on those who had made my life hard.

I thought death was failure and the end.

If I were to die, I didn’t even want to be reborn.

I wanted to vanish without a trace.

‘For someone like me to come this far…’

It’s truly ironic.

I was led by my master to travel through time.

I even obtained a force powerful enough to overturn this world.

And I gained the power to revive the dead.

Is this allowed?

No, rather—what should I do with this world?

Should I kill all the living, raise them, and fill the world with undead?

If I could do that, what would my next goal be?

Thoughts kept linking, but finding an answer wasn’t easy.

I had only ever considered my own welfare, so I had never contemplated the world or others.

Then I noticed some undead banging their heads against a wall.

As I watched quietly, their thoughts entered my mind.

-Why doesn’t that earlier feeling return?

-My senses aren’t the same as before.

-It’s strange. It’s suffocating.

They were unable to adapt to the bodies of the dead.

Of course.

Unlike when alive, an undead’s senses are focused on consciousness.

Concentration amplifies them; without sufficient mental power they become endlessly dull.

Those experiencing undead bodies for the first time would not know this.

To avoid the expected panic, I warned them.

-Your bodies belong to the dead. Therefore your senses will inevitably be dull. To feel the vivid sensations of your past life, you must concentrate. Draw up your mental power and focus on sensation, and you will feel much stronger than before.

Hearing me, the undead each focused on their senses in their own ways.

Some sat cross-legged, some lay looking up at the sky.

Some stood on their hands, others leaned against walls and stared into the void.

They focused in their own ways, and one by one some mastered the method.

Only then did they relax.

They seemed to realize their new bodies were not much different from those they’d had before.

Then Ceres’s voice came.

-Unusual activity has been detected in Edelmund.

-What is it?

I immediately linked to Ceres’s sight.

She was watching an image within a crystal sphere, where several riders were riding swiftly.

‘There are quite a few. They’re all heading in different directions.’

Ceres told me what she had discerned so far.

-It seems they are requesting aid from other nations.

-Aid?

A more alert reaction than I expected.

We’d only just taken two castles, yet they’re responding so earnestly.

-I looked because it struck me as odd; apparently a new Towermaster was appointed just yesterday. A man named ‘Hyro’, who was previously intercepted here by Laerin.

Ceres showed me a figure.

A mage in a blue robe with a long white beard.

Seeing him, I had an idea who he was.

‘He was the one who turned into an eagle and fled.’

At the time Laerin struck with lightning, and he somehow survived.

I estimated he was at least a 6-circle level mage.

-He was scouting here. If he returned alive, he’d know something about the current situation.

-It seems so. But….

Ceres paused to think before continuing.

-There are quite a few riders. It looks like they’re sending messengers to forces beyond the kingdom.

-You don’t mean the Pristine Forest, do you?

-Yes. It appears they’re even sending messengers to the Light of the Abyss.

The Pristine Forest is where the Elves live, and the Light of the Abyss is the Dwarven nation.

Sending messengers this far means the enemy does not underestimate me.

‘Interesting.’

With Leopold dead, I hadn’t expected anyone left in the Empire to stand against me.

So I had been feeling complacent.

-Master. If they join hands with Illinas, the outcome of this war is uncertain.

-That would be so.

An astute observation.

Someone who sought help from Elves and Dwarves has no reason to exclude the Demon King.

He saw my undead army with his own eyes and must have watched Graenum Castle fall in an instant.

Having witnessed how my strength grew with each kill, the strategy he might consider would be to amass an overwhelming force and eliminate me in a single decisive battle.

‘If that’s the case….’

Several thoughts crossed my mind.

His plan is not flawless.

It wouldn’t be hard to conscript armies from kingdoms that have already submitted to the Empire, but the unruly Dead Lands will not comply easily.

‘Still, who knows. If the Empire’s greatest Swordmaster challenges me one-on-one and wins….’

Plans must always account for the worst-case scenario.

I assumed the Empire could be brought around up to the Dead Lands.

Now what remains are the Elves, the Dwarves, and the Demon King.

‘Illinas will use a cunning pact to ally with them. But the Elves and Dwarves….’

It’s uncertain.

They are not quick to trust humans and have a history of deep betrayals, so they are unlikely to join him.

‘If either the Elves or the Dwarves sides with me, the odds of victory increase greatly.’

Elves, in particular, are adept at magic.

Laerin’s ability to perform so well against the Empire’s high mages is because she is of elven blood.

‘Spirit magic is stronger than human magic. With Eckhart gone, it’s even more potent.’

Now the outline was forming.

If the enemy forms a large-scale coalition, we should form a strong but small alliance and defeat them piecemeal.

Having come up with a rough plan, I gave instructions to Ceres.

-I will go to the Pristine Forest. Can you teleport me there?

-One moment. I’ll look for a conduit.

Teleportation magic usually uses memories as a conduit.

Therefore you can go anywhere you’ve visited once before.

But I’ve never been to the Pristine Forest, so a conduit is necessary.

-If there’s none, I’ll just go on foot. It’s only a few days from here anyway.

-Even so, the Pristine Forest is bound by powerful magic. If you approach directly, you may be regarded as an enemy.

-If there is no conduit, it can’t be helped.

It was then.

I felt the presence of Equinox, who had not intervened until now.

It took form as a black shadow, stood behind me, and spoke in a low voice.

-Sanchez is currently in the Pristine Forest. You can use him as the conduit.

-Sanchez? Why is he there?

I asked, but Equinox didn’t answer.

I turned to look at him, but his face was shrouded in deep darkness.

He slowly retreated in that state and soon vanished entirely.

I concentrated, but I could no longer sense Equinox’s presence.

‘How wanton.’

It seemed he no longer intended to meddle in my affairs.

It didn’t matter.

I would topple the Empire even without his help.

I would definitely eliminate those who ruined my and my master’s lives in the previous life.

I immediately informed Ceres.

-Ceres. Find Sanchez. If you use him as the conduit, you can send me to the Pristine Forest.

-Ah…. I see. Sanchez is in the Pristine Forest. I’ll communicate with him and then teleport you.

A short while later.

With a dizzying sensation and my mind going faint, I was sucked into a subspace tunnel.

When I opened my eyes, I stood in a forest I’d never seen before.

And someone approached me.

“Oh, you’ve come.”

When I looked up, it was Sanchez.

He looked at me with a somehow familiar gaze.