Necromancer Of The Black Bible (180)

Nemeria said,

-I remember everything.

Those words spoken to Damian, of course, did not reach Illinas.

Damian gave a faint smile and stepped back.

Then he looked at Illinas.

No words were exchanged, but the fellow seemed to have a vague grasp of the situation.

“Nemeria. I can no longer feel you.”

Nemeria snorted and smiled.

Illinas’s expression hardened at her sarcasm.

He looked between Nemeria and Damian, then nodded as if he understood.

“I roughly understand. Your plan is to strike me using my own subordinates.”

Illinas drew mana into one of his hands.

Dark mana concentrated into a small point and soon began to whirl.

The vortex began to affect everything around it.

‘Is that a ward?’

Even Damian sensed something unusual.

Even Nemeria, who had just regained her senses, looked startled.

“You seem to have put some thought into it, but what can I do? I don’t think they alone can handle me.”

Illinas wore a confident expression.

It was understandable.

Illinas’s mana was something nothing in the world could match.

Although Damian’s greenish mana was dense, it was not enough to block or negate all of Illinas’s power.

‘I’m only a 4th Circle after all…’

But he did have a plan.

Damian raised Nocturne and then summoned the Soul Harvester.

The massive scythe that appeared in an instant began sucking in the surrounding mana.

At the same time, the blade of the Soul Harvester began to darken.

Illinas, sensing that the Soul Harvester was absorbing his mana, showed signs of alarm.

“The Soul Harvester? How do you have that…?!”

Damian did not answer.

He did not want to exchange a single word with Illinas.

‘I’ll show him myself.’

Words had always been the demon’s weapon.

Words were a means to hear requests and to enforce contracts.

Damian no longer wanted to use their methods.

He wanted to fight with his own weapons, not the demons’.

-Shador. It’s your turn to step up.

At that moment.

Violet mana bound Illinas’s wrists and ankles.

“What is this!!!”

Illinas jolted and tried to move, but he couldn’t break free from the cuffs and shackles of violet mana.

Illinas’s pupils trembled as he recognized Shador appearing behind him.

“Shador? Is it really you…?”

Shador answered with a cold expression.

“I merely attached myself to someone stronger.”

Those words implied that Damian was stronger than Illinas.

Illinas’s expression slowly twisted.

“At death’s door, you lose judgment… I’ll show you my power…!”

Boom!

As Illinas concentrated, Nemeria’s attack followed.

She was a master of ward magic.

Dozens of magic missiles she fired struck Illinas all over his body.

Pew pew pew BANG!!!

But such attacks had no effect on him.

Illinas remained unmoved, focusing on undoing the cuffs on his wrists.

Each time he exerted force, the violet mana trembled, and sweat ran down Shador’s forehead.

It was then.

Piiiiing-

Three Sand Dragon scales that Damian took from his cloak began to spin in midair.

Illinas instinctively felt that this attack would be different from the previous ones.

But he couldn’t dodge Damian’s lightning-fast assault.

Whoosh- whoosh- whoosh-

The fiercely spinning Sand Dragon scales embedded themselves in Illinas’s body.

It was a tremendous shock to someone who hardly flinched at ordinary attacks.

Damian smiled leisurely and pulled more scales from his cloak.

This time, ten.

Each scale whistled through the air and shot out ferociously,

and every hit made Illinas spit blood.

In the end, he fell to his knees on the ground.

Damian approached him.

“So this moment has finally come.”

Illinas lifted his head.

His eyes were a mix of rage and despair.

He tried to speak but no words came out.

Damian’s green mana had sealed his mouth.

Normally, silence magic did not work on Illinas.

But oddly, he could not resist the magic Damian used.

The ominously glowing, sticky mana lightly pushed back Illinas’s power and sealed his mouth, perfectly blocking any spellcasting.

Now powerless, Illinas could only look at Damian with bloodshot eyes.

Damian stepped closer, looked down at him, and said,

“Will you admit who is above now?”

Illinas trembled all over.

Yet he tried to keep his back as straight as possible while glaring at Damian.

Damian slowly shook his head.

“You can’t do that. That would violate the rules you set.”

Damian continued, recalling the first time he met him.

“Obey unconditionally. It’s a courtesy to the strong and a prerequisite for making a contract. Even if you don’t make a contract, if you are impolite you die. I’m stronger than you.”

Illinas clenched his teeth.

It was the spiel he had habitually given to countless creatures under his power.

Hearing it now, rage welled up.

It felt as if his blood was boiling upward.

Damian watched him and spoke again.

“What you say doesn’t actually make sense. What does your strength have to do with contracts? The reward for a contract isn’t given because you’re strong, but because the terms of the contract are fulfilled. The terms and your strength really have nothing to do with each other.”

Illinas moved his lips to retort, but no voice came out.

Damian saw that and spoke again.

“I’ve heard enough of your story. Now it’s your turn to listen.”

Illinas lowered his head helplessly and writhed.

Damian laughed as if it were ridiculous.

“Do you hate listening to me that much? No—it’s not that. Look, the problem is that you still have the strength to answer.”

Damian walked behind Illinas.

Then he grabbed and tore off his wings.

“Kruuuuaaah!!!!”

Even with his mouth sealed by mana, a scream escaped.

Extreme pain made black veins bulge across Illinas’s face like a spiderweb.

Damian separated the wing bones one by one from the torn wings and levitated them in the air.

“Will these pierce your body?”

Illinas’s eyes widened, and Damian immediately put the plan into action.

The eight levitated wing bones spun around an axis, and once they reached a certain speed they shot straight into Illinas’s body.

Puuk, puupuu-puuk-!

The long wing bones pierced Illinas’s body at different angles.

The horrific pain and shock made his body slacken.

Damian did not stop there.

“Pull yourself together. You can take a bit more, can’t you?”

Words often said by demon contractors to necromancers.

It was the phrase they habitually used while taking the offering and the last soul.

“I still have more to do, so please hold on.”

Damian grabbed Illinas’s two horns.

Then he ripped them off without hesitation.

“Kuaaaaargh!!!!!!”

Illinas trembled violently, shedding tears of blood.

Bound limbs and long bones piercing his body left him barely able to do anything more.

Damian cut the bent ends of the bones and levitated them again.

“How about this time?”

With those words, Damian fired the bones, and they pierced through Illinas’s body.

Damian watched with a satisfied look as he continued to drive the bones.

Illinas let out incomprehensible screams, but after about ten bones pierced him, he could no longer cry out.

His body, which had trembled like aspens, no longer did so.

Damian gazed briefly into Illinas’s soulless eyes, then used the Soul Harvester to cut off his head.

It was the hollow end of the Demon King who had once dominated the Demonic Realm.

When Illinas’s lifeline was finally cut, Shador, who stood nearby, spoke.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“What else. We end the war.”

Damian turned and looked at the battlefield map.

Countless red dots still advanced across it.

The Demon King was dead, but his followers were still active.

“Let’s go.”

Damian opened a dimensional gate.

Shador entered without delay, and Nemeria hesitated for a moment as she looked at Damian.

Damian asked.

“What will you do?”

“I…”

Nemeria hesitated for a moment before answering.

“May I take some time here to sort out my thoughts?”

“……”

When Damian did not answer immediately, Nemeria opened her mouth with an awkward expression.

“I’ll join as soon as possible.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“…Huh?”

Damian answered Nemeria, who looked puzzled.

“The war will end even if you don’t come. I didn’t restore your mind to use you.”

“Then why on earth…”

Nemeria’s face was conflicted.

In this world, the idea of offering kindness without expecting something in return did not exist.

The law of the world was to give a little and take a lot.

It had been the most important rule in a world ruled by darkness and chaos.

But Damian ignored that rule.

Damian replied without any expression.

“Just.”

He continued as if it were truly nothing.

“I didn’t intend to get anything from you; it just happened that way. Decide as you wish here.”

Damian thought for a moment and added one more sentence.

“Live your life.”

With those words, Damian entered the dimensional gate, and it closed immediately.

Nemeria stared at the empty air where the gate had been for a while.

Freedom is suddenly given.

Having been bound for so long, she needed time to consider what that freedom meant to her.

But one thought rose in her mind.

‘You can’t go like this.’

For some reason, the idea that she must not do as suggested churned within her.

Illinas’s death affected the monsters.

He had been their lord, so his influence had vanished.

As time passed, more monsters began to entertain a certain thought.

“Where are we going?”

“What are we doing here?”

Field commander Barkan felt the same way.

But he rejected that thought.

‘If we scatter here, we’ll die.’

He shouted at the panicking monsters.

“I know you’re confused. It seems something’s happened to Illinas. But think about it—does that matter?”

To Barkan’s question, the monsters just stared at each other; no one answered.

Barkan used that and shouted even louder.

“Our enemy is still alive. If we scatter here, the enemy will find and kill us. They are united, and scattered we would just be prey. So don’t think otherwise. We have a strategy to defeat the enemy, and if we follow it, we will surely win.”

Then someone asked.

“If we win, will you let us go?”

Barkan nodded and replied.

“I’ll let you go. I promise.”

The commander’s words lifted the morale of the entire unit.

A war that seemed already destined to be won.

The monsters were excited at the promise that they could go anywhere after victory.

They did not know.

That the sky had already been covered by storm clouds.

Raindrops began to fall from the cloud-filled sky.