Necromancer Of The Black Bible (165)

Sanchez’s gaze had grown even deeper.

It wasn’t only his eyes that had changed. His whole fundamental aura had shifted.

I looked at him and spoke.

“It’s been a long time.”

“Ah, yes. It’s been a while.”

Sanchez bowed his head, and I asked him again.

“Have we met before?”

“……”

Until now, I had never shown my true form to Sanchez.

I had only presented myself in the guise of Mikel von Raiernov.

Yet him acting as if he knew me meant one of two things.

‘Either someone told him, or he isn’t really Sanchez.’

The instant that thought crossed my mind, Sanchez hastily dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

“I was informed by the Pope.”

That could be possible if it was the Pope.

She’s one of the few in the Theocracy who knows my identity.

But it wasn’t a sufficient explanation.

I looked down at Sanchez and asked again.

“Who did she say I was?”

“She said you are the only God of this world, and the one who stands in for the Light.”

“Why would the Pope tell you that?”

“That is….”

Sanchez rummaged through his robes and placed a book on the floor.

A thick book with a rough cover.

He glanced at it and opened his mouth.

“This is the Bible of the Nameless God. An ancient relic kept beneath the Grand Temple. Originally this book was blank, but recently an auspicious inscription appeared.”

“An auspicious inscription?”

When I asked, Sanchez silently opened the book.

The page he opened was blank at first, then it began to emit a faint silver glow, and soon black script appeared.

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

The deep black letters stood in stark contrast to the silver.

Directly beneath, faint gray letters emerged.

[First, deal with the assassin. He hides in my shadow.]

At that moment, the black text above flickered.

Simultaneously, a stabbing murderous intent shot toward me,

and someone stepped in front of me.

Chaaeng-

A swordsman in a dark gray cloak.

The swordswoman with ash-gray short hair had drawn her blade, which leaked a strange light.

She looked at me and spoke.

“I’ll take care of it.”

It was an interesting situation.

The enemy lying in ambush within the Bible of the Nameless God had appeared.

And the one confronting that enemy was someone I didn’t know.

The swordswoman, as if reading my thoughts, added immediately.

“I’ll explain after I finish this one off.”

Having said that, she swung her sword forward.

Whooong-

A fierce wind of the blade swept forward, toppling several trees.

But the opponent lightly dodged it.

As I watched the opponent, the mark on the back of his hand, carved long ago, flared up.

With that I could tell who he was.

‘The Shadow Assassin Murak.’

He is the brother of the Demon King Perak.

I had once heard from Shador that Illinas had dispatched an assassin, and it seemed this was the one.

Murak’s movements were certainly formidable.

He evaded the swordswoman’s attacks repeatedly, biding his time for an opportunity.

Then Sanchez placed his hand on the ground and murmured an incantation.

“Barrier of Light.”

The barrier that appeared in an instant enveloped the area, and Murak was trapped inside it with us.

‘An excellent judgment.’

Murak is of the Shadow race.

If he sensed disadvantage, he could have vanished.

By sealing him like this, the chances of eradicating him were far higher.

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded in my mind.

-Master. I’m a bit late.

It was Sir William’s voice.

Still in the form of Andre, he was watching from outside the barrier.

-Do not worry. Riena’s skill is reliable.

-Riena? Is that the name of that swordswoman?

-Yes. Dikrea dispatched her to escort you.

A snort of a laugh escaped me.

If Dikrea sent her, it meant there was calculation behind it.

There is no such thing as a free favor in demon calculus.

It means they give you a debt first and collect it back doubled later.

‘How amusing.’

I dislike receiving help I don’t need.

I had been observing the situation until now, but it no longer seemed necessary.

Contrary to Andre’s words, Riena was struggling against Murak.

Riena used a greatsword as tall as she was and was driving Murak with flash-like footwork, but it was too difficult to land a strike on him.

Murak used the Shadow clan’s specialty to exploit an opening and soon bound Riena’s two wrists and both ankles.

“Ugh!”

Riena gritted her teeth and tried to use a teleportation skill, but her body only flickered briefly and she couldn’t execute the technique.

It seemed Murak had nullified it.

Watching that, memories of what had happened to them flashed before my eyes.

I saw the battle that had taken place under the Grand Temple and Murak’s figure feigning defeat and hiding inside the Bible of the Nameless God.

Perhaps because Murak had appeared to lose then, William had relaxed.

That meant Murak’s acting had been utterly convincing.

Then William’s voice came through.

-I’ll take care of it.

But I did not allow it.

-Stay there. I’ll handle this personally.

Murak looked this way and spoke.

“You’ve finally appeared, Damian.”

“You know me?”

Murak did not answer.

He sensed it too—how dangerous it would be to converse with me.

He looked at me silently, then, putting forward the trapped Riena, he muttered.

“What shall we do? Your subordinate might be killed….”

“Do as you like. That one is not my subordinate.”

“You’re full of bluster.”

“Bluster? You really think so?”

In an instant, his gaze shifted.

After sizing me up for a moment, he moved, and a long black spike shot out, piercing Riena’s heart.

Riena, whose mouth had been sealed by Murak, couldn’t even scream; she trembled and then went limp.

I simply watched the scene.

For the woman named Riena, dying like that was the better option.

‘If I kept her alive, Dikrea would use it as a pretext.’

Moreover, a capable subordinate of the Demon King must be killed.

They would never betray her, after all.

I laughed coldly and said.

“Illinas still seems to be firmly mistaken.”

As soon as those words left my mouth, Murak began to move quickly.

He was heading straight for Sanchez, who had cast the barrier.

Not a chance.

Sanchez is the most important person to me in this world.

I unfurled my mana.

My core mana, purified over a long time, instantly filled the barrier and, almost at the same moment, enveloped Murak’s entire body.

Only then did he realize something was wrong and tried to vanish, but it was too late.

My mana had already saturated the space, leaving no gap for him to disappear into.

I sat him down on the ground and approached.

One step.

Another step.

Having approached slowly like that, I looked down at him and spoke.

“It’s too late to stop me.”

“Tch!”

“I’ve already severed the thread of fate. But there’s nothing Illinas can do about it.”

“…The Demon King will never remain idle.”

“Oh? Do you really think so?”

I used the deployed mana to suck in his essence.

A dense essence of darkness was drawn into me, and the flustered creature thrashed and cried out.

“How dare someone like you think you can kill me!”

Murak writhed.

His struggle was fierce, and the murderous aura he exuded was formidable.

I watched him and uttered.

“You have somewhere you can rely on, don’t you?”

“……”

“Well, that makes sense. The Shadow clan doesn’t die easily.”

The Shadow clan can regenerate if even a tiny part of their body remains.

Because of this trait, they do not die easily.

That’s why the Demon King Perak was not completely destroyed but sealed in a vessel.

But Murak’s situation now was different.

The Barrier of Light Sanchez had erected turned this place into something like a sealed vessel.

I smiled faintly and impressed the situation upon him.

“Think carefully. Can you escape from here? Your final shard was kept in that book. If none of you remain outside the barrier, can you come back to life?”

The smile vanished from Murak’s face.

He finally seemed to realize his predicament.

I focused on him and asked,

“Do you happen to know what happened to Perak?”

“…How do you know that name…”

“How could I not know?”

I produced a potion bottle from within my robe.

The transparent bottle was filled with a black substance, and Murak’s expression stiffened when he saw it.

He strained to reach the bottle by any means, but it was impossible.

The space inside this barrier is entirely my domain.

A space saturated by my dense mana.

Without my permission, he couldn’t move here at all.

“Are you going to trap me like you did my brother?”

“No.”

I shook my head.

Then I informed him of the decision I had just made.

“I’ll annihilate you.”

Murak’s expression contorted.

He seemed about to say something, so I moved my mana immediately and began to draw out his essence.

Shuuuuu-

The black essence I extracted from him was absorbed into me through my core mana.

Murak, the Shadow Assassin famous even in the Demonic Realm.

True to his reputation, his essence was pure and powerful.

Feeling that potent power flow into me and watching him fade brought on a peculiar pleasure.

High-ranking demons I never could have approached in my past life were no longer my match.

Seeing them thrash about, unable even to measure the gap in power, felt more than pitiable—it felt almost endearing.

Isn’t this the pleasure that comes from great power?

Are not all the strong in this world trying not to let go of this pleasure?

Once tasted, this pleasure is not easily discarded.

A desire to seek out opponents again and force them to submit had taken root within me.

I absorbed Murak’s essence fully.

His shell gradually turned to ash, and once the absorption was complete, it vanished into the air.

“Hoo-”

A cold, weighty presence could be felt in my breathing.

Along with it, I sensed I had gained a new power.

Whooong-

With a small vibration, my form blurred.

My body had changed as if it were of the Shadow clan.

I looked at my faintly shimmering palm.

I willed it and shook my hand; the shape of the hand disappeared entirely and became vapor.

‘Interesting.’

Until now, when I absorbed enemies, it was in the form of pure mana; that power simply converted into core mana and became part of me.

But this time was different.

‘A new attribute has been granted.’

Perhaps because my mana didn’t originally possess it.

My core mana evolved due to the essence of Darkness, and as a result I acquired a new ability.

I experimented with changing my body’s form this way and that.

Then Sanchez’s voice came from beside me.

“Master.”

“Hm?”

“May I release the barrier now?”

Coming to my senses, I realized quite some time had passed.

Sanchez’s face had become noticeably pale.

It seemed to be from maintaining the barrier for so long.

I nodded.

“Release it. The enemy has been dealt with.”

“Understood.”

Sanchez bowed his head and dispelled the barrier.

Then new faces that had been waiting outside the barrier came into view.

Two blonde Elves.

They bowed politely toward me and spoke.

“Silvarna awaits you.”