Necromancer Of The Black Bible (168)

William had finally regained his form after a long time.

A hideous body reduced to bone.

Yet looking at this form brought back vivid memories of when he was alive.

Moments from the battlefield where he fought Demon King Belzemon, and later, the events when they united to found a nation, returned.

Recalling what the Sand Dragon had done still made his teeth grind, but it was bearable.

Because that vengeance had already been achieved.

-Are you just going to watch, William? You still have strength, you know?

It was Belzemon’s voice.

It was the voice coming from William’s sword, ‘Lion’s Fang.’

Having been harshly schooled by Damian before, he didn’t rampage recklessly, but he tempted William with a subtle tone.

-War is an opportunity. It’s a chance for a slave to become a king. If we join forces, we could become kings.

-Don’t speak nonsense.

William sheathed the sword and unbelted it from his waist.

Then he thrust it hard into the ground.

“Every time you spout pathetic words, I’ll stick you in here.”

Vwoooom- Woom-

The sword vibrated strongly as if it were glowing.

No wonder—the place was a forest filled with a sanctity so profound it was called a sanctuary.

Any demonic energy stuck into the forest floor here would inevitably be purified.

Woom- Woom- Woom-

The sword wailed for a long while, but William didn’t even glance at it.

Instead, he began to survey the surroundings.

The place where Damian had just slain the assassin Murak.

On the ground lay the corpse of the swordswoman Riena Caligo, who had traveled with them this far.

Above her hovered a soul, staring blankly into the void.

‘It’s begun.’

The state a soul experiences immediately after death.

It is a review of one’s past.

The longer one lived, the longer the reflection lasts.

And the impact is correspondingly greater.

‘What is it that shakes a dead soul?’

William had already experienced death, but he did not know why one reviews the past immediately after death, or what causes a soul to be overwhelmed by shock.

William quietly watched Riena’s soul.

Her soul, newly separated from her body, was astonishingly pure.

Silver energies gathered around her, almost embracing her.

Then something strange caught William’s eye.

The soul whose gaze had been fixed on the void slowly turned its eyes toward him.

‘What is this?’

William approached, and soon their eyes met.

There had been no soul awakened so quickly, so William himself felt bewildered.

Riena’s soul beckoned to William, and as if bewitched, he moved closer.

When he came within arm’s reach, William could see Riena’s soul more clearly and watched her lips part.

“……”

“What did you say?”

William leaned in closer to hear better, and Riena opened her mouth again.

“They’re coming.”

“Who?”

At that moment, William sensed a chilling presence.

A being filled with demonic energy that did not belong in this place at all.

William quickly stepped back and picked up a thin twig lying on the ground.

The moment he breathed energy into the twig, Riena’s soul split apart and a large gate opened.

William knew that gate well.

‘A demonic gate?’

A dimensional gate demons open to make contracts.

But to open such a gate a summoner is required.

Moreover, a summoning circle mediated by a portion of the summoner’s soul and a sacrificial offering is also necessary.

If a gate opened without those things, only one possibility came to mind.

‘The summoning circle was opened from the other side.’

William raised his sword in preparation for the coming situation.

The twig, overlaid with William’s dense mana, had become a sharp blade aimed at the gate.

Creeeek-

The gate opened, and a demon revealed itself.

A demon with five twisted horns.

Its dark crimson skin gleamed, a pronounced chest and a firm, muscular abdomen hidden beneath black hair.

An inscrutable aura dripped from its pitch-black lips.

Though the face was new to him, he could easily tell who she was.

‘Dikrea.’

The Archdemon Dikrea.

Why she, who ruled the upper Demonic Realm alongside Illinas, had suddenly appeared here was unknown.

At this unexpected event, William immediately called his master.

-Master. You should come.

“I felt it too.”

Damian’s voice came from directly behind William.

He had arrived here before William could even sense him.

Damian stepped forward in front of William and said.

“Dikrea. What brings you here?”

“Oh ho. You’ve changed a lot in the meantime.”

Dikrea scanned Damian with a full smile on her face.

Her gaze was soaked in greed and lechery, making Damian feel quite displeased.

Damian revealed his displeasure and spoke.

“Just state your business.”

“You’ve gotten prickly since I last saw you.”

Dikrea stretched seductively and looked around.

Then she spoke to Damian again.

“This is the Pristine Forest. One of my favored subordinates gave up her life to protect you here. In a way… it’s rather romantic, isn’t it?”

A small smile played on Damian’s lips.

With that one line he had completely understood Dikrea’s intent.

But he remained silent and waited for Dikrea to speak.

“I’m not here for anything special. I want to collect the price for the life of my subordinate who died protecting you here.”

Damian’s smile deepened.

He quietly looked at Dikrea and spoke.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. If I weren’t sincere, would I have come here myself?”

Dikrea smiled composedly, and Damian watched her with sharp eyes.

After a long, silent stare, a crease appeared between Dikrea’s brows.

She opened her mouth in a somewhat harsh voice.

“Why are you staring like that?”

“Just.”

Damian snorted and continued.

“I didn’t ask you to protect me, and I didn’t sacrifice a soul or any offering to summon you. I was just curious how long you’d be able to hold out here, appearing all on your own.”

“…!!!”

Dikrea’s expression hardened visibly.

Seeing that, Damian continued.

“Our first deal was very good. You gave me exactly what I wanted.”

“Th-that’s right? Then how about a deal this time as well? More generous than last time…”

“I don’t want to make a deal with you.”

Damian slowly approached Dikrea.

He stood right before her and said,

“It’s an absolute rule observed since the beginning that demons of the Demonic Realm cannot come to the surface on their own. Your presence here despite that must mean you are in dire straits.”

Dikrea fell silent.

At the same time she focused all her power and began to probe Damian.

The strange aura she sensed from him and his immeasurable power.

And a gaze that seemed to pierce through everything about her.

Confirming all of this, she realized she had been mistaken about something.

“You should have learned more about me before coming here.”

Damian’s cold voice crawled down Dikrea’s spine.

The energy emanating from him prickled Dikrea’s skin.

“How did you become so strong in such a short time?”

Dikrea managed to ask, and Damian replied with a deep smile.

“I ask the questions.”

Asking is the right of the strong. The weak dare not question the will of the strong.

Under normal circumstances she might have been offended, but Dikrea could not defy Damian now.

She simply shut her mouth and waited for him to speak.

Damian asked,

“Isn’t your situation so desperate that you had to open a summoning circle from the other side and come to me yourself?”

Dikrea’s heart sank.

From that single sentence she understood Damian knew everything about her.

She racked her brains frantically, but there were only two choices left for her.

Damian’s hand lightly grabbed her horn and pulled it downward.

Dikrea could not resist.

The energy flowing from Damian was beyond anything she could handle.

Dikrea slowly bowed her head and even bent at the waist and knees.

Damian placed his foot on the back of her head and pressed down.

In the end, she was forced to press her forehead to the ground in a deep kowtow to Damian.

Damian looked at her and said coldly.

“Beg.”

“…Please…”

Dikrea’s voice trembled faintly.

A great humiliation for someone who had ruled the world in terror as an archdemon.

But if she couldn’t get through this, she would be forced to submit to Illinas.

Finally deciding, Dikrea mustered her strength and spoke again.

“Please… take me… in.”

“Say it more precisely. What do you mean by ‘take you in’?”

Red tears fell drop by drop from Dikrea’s eyes.

They were tears filled with anger and resentment.

Yet a soft voice flowed from her mouth.

“Make me your servant. I will be by your side always and do anything.”

A satisfied smile formed on Damian’s lips.

But he did not stop there.

There is always a price to pay when dealing with demons.

Damian looked down at her and asked.

“If I grant your wish, what will you give me?”

Dikrea shuddered all over.

The humiliation she felt was palpable.

Damian looked at her and spoke again.

“Come to think of it, it’s right that I decide that.”

Damian examined the prostrate Dikrea carefully.

Then he fixed his gaze on one spot and spoke.

“This will do.”

What Damian grabbed were her wings.

They were black wings bristling with sharp barbs here and there.

“You want to become my handmaiden, so you won’t be needing such things anymore.”

“Th-that’s…”

Without waiting for Dikrea’s answer, Damian snapped her wings.

Crack!

She almost screamed from the extreme pain, but she couldn’t even manage that.

Damian’s foot was on her, so she couldn’t even raise her head.

Dikrea’s face was pressed completely into the ground, and Damian, smiling, tore off her wings.

Only after ripping off both wings did Damian remove his foot from her skull.

Dikrea trembled all over, the pain still not subsided.

Damian looked down at her and spoke.

“By the primordial sacred covenant, you are now my eternal dog. Even if you die, your soul belongs to me, and you cannot propose a new contract to anyone. Do you agree?”

Time of contract.

Dikrea, already stripped of her wings, could do nothing.

But she couldn’t answer lightly.

Because she knew exactly what Damian intended to do.

Damian asked again.

“Why not just go back and become Illinas’s dog?”

Those words snapped Dikrea to full awareness.

Damian was right.

If she failed this contract, Dikrea’s fate would be decided by Illinas.

She finally opened her mouth.

“I agree.”

Damian sat down there, slowly stroking Dikrea’s head as he spoke.

“Your wish is granted.”

The moment his words ended, Dikrea transformed into a large black dog.

Damian slowly stroked the fur of Dikrea, now a dog.