Necromancer Of The Black Bible (53)

The heat I sensed through extrasensory perception was immense.

No doubt, the state inside the room could even be felt from outside.

If the temperature rose any further, objects might catch fire.

‘I must protect Erian.’

I raised mana and enveloped Erian’s body.

A 2nd-circle spell, Mana Shield.

But with the White Serpent guardian spirit and Equinox, its power would rival that of a 6th-circle mage.

And with Nocturne added, my Mana Shield would block not only external harm but even temperature itself.

Whoooom—

Indeed, the Mana Shield worked, surrounding Erian’s body and perfectly blocking the heat born of the boy’s resentment.

But the boy was still gripping Erian’s heart.

I tightened my hold on Nocturne and rose to my feet.

Then I warned Erian’s watching spirit.

[Step back. You could get hurt.]

But….

[Don’t think you can solve this by talking to him.]

The opponent was a grudge spirit of the dead.

I had learned about them from my master.

Their thoughts are fixed and never change.

Unless given what they want, their grudge is never released.

What this boy wanted now was Erian’s life.

And he was clutching her very heart.

In such a state, there was no room for talk.

Either annihilate him or give up Erian’s life.

‘I cannot hand over Erian.’

Her death was the trigger that opened my master’s eyes to black magic.

I would never let that happen in this timeline.

I commanded Nocturne.

[Is the Soul Harvester ready?]

It was difficult to handle, but I have tamed it. Just give the order….

[Prepare it now.]

At that moment, Nocturne’s form changed.

Into a massive scythe with a long, sharp blade.

It looked slightly different from the one Shador had wielded.

‘The light radiating from the blade is different.’

Shador’s summoned Soul Harvester blade had been all black, with only its edge faintly pale.

But the one Nocturne summoned now shone with a faint blue light, and was translucent enough to glimpse through.

This thing is a demonic artifact. It changes form depending on the wielder’s nature. Not only its form—likely its performance as well….

[Quiet.]

It was almost comical.

For Equinox, who called Nocturne a demonic artifact, to now call the Soul Harvester one as well.

Anyway, that wasn’t what mattered now.

I had to test the Soul Harvester’s power.

I raised the scythe and looked at the boy.

You think you can cut me with that? You must be mad. I’m already dead. How do you kill the dead again?

The boy still didn’t realize what I was holding.

But he knew he was a spirit, and spirits couldn’t be dealt with by ordinary means.

I had no desire to enlighten him.

‘One strike.’

So I resolved and swung the Soul Harvester at him.

A chilling blue afterimage pierced through him.

It happened in an instant.

Huh?

The boy looked back at the afterimage that had slashed diagonally through his spirit.

Then he looked down at the wound on his spirit, which did not close.

What is this?

The wound on his spirit glowed coldly, and that glow spread across his form.

At last sensing something wrong, he released the heart he had been gripping and began clutching at his spirit body.

What? What did you do to me?

Who knows.

I didn’t know either.

It was the first time I had ever seen the Soul Harvester cut a spirit.

I silently watched the boy’s transformation.

The spirit that had been blazing hot now cooled—no, froze.

From the wound the afterimage cut, white frost began to cover him.

The boy wanted to thrash, but he could not.

For his spirit was stiffening and scattering shards.

No! I don’t want to die like this!

I corrected him on one thing.

[You’re already dead. This isn’t death—it’s annihilation.]

Annihilation.

It was different in nature from life and death.

It is existence returning ultimately to nothingness.

To return to the fundamental energy of the world itself—that is annihilation.

The boy’s spirit began to dissolve from the wound outward.

He struggled, but the more he did, the faster he scattered.

N-no! Please! Don’t do this!

The boy seemed to instinctively know what annihilation meant.

And so he was utterly terrified.

His look resembled a living being facing an unwanted death.

Even though he felt no pain.

H-how dare you! To do this to me! When the Wraith Lord learns of this, h-he won’t let you live!

An intriguing title appeared.

The Wraith Lord.

Could it mean the king of wandering spirits?

Well.

There are more grudge spirits in this world than one might think.

Since gaining extrasensory perception, I saw them whenever I closed my eyes.

I’d seen more than I could count on the way to the monastery.

Even now, as I annihilated the boy, other spirits were watching.

If this Wraith Lord really existed, those spirits would surely tell him.

‘Interesting.”

The thought alone intrigued me.

I approached the boy’s nearly shattered spirit.

His face was cracked like a spiderweb, crumbling piece by piece.

He tried to say more to me, but I no longer wished to listen.

‘I’ve heard enough.’

I swung the Soul Harvester and cut his head off.

Then,

Shuuuk—

Fragments of his spirit began to be absorbed into the Soul Harvester.

Because his grudge was so deep, it took quite some time.

When all of him was absorbed, a bead formed in the groove along the Soul Harvester’s blade.

A small bead burning red.

Though small, its energy seemed fierce.

[Can this be of use, Equinox?]

[If it were a normal fire-attribute bead, its size would make it useless. But this is fire born of resentment. It is called Flame of Resentment—very rare and very useful. Gather more spirits that can create such flames, and forge a proper bead. Even demons dwelling in hellfire could be burned away by it.]

An unexpected gain.

If I gained something like this each time I destroyed a grudge spirit, it would be profitable.

What if I absorbed those others watching me now as well?

I looked around at the spirits watching from all corners of the room.

Those who met my eyes flinched and vanished.

Likely because they read my intent.

Anyway, with the grudge spirit gone, all that remained was to return Erian’s soul to her body.

[Erian.]

Y-yes, I’m r-right… here.

Erian’s spirit looked much changed from before.

Her once radiant spirit was now darkened.

But its shape had grown clearer.

This meant her body had recovered greatly.

I guided her spirit toward her body.

Though the soul was absent, the body was gradually normalizing.

Her breathing steadier, her heartbeat stable.

Her body temperature had risen, and warmth returned.

The bluish pallor faded, and her lips regained their red hue.

Feeling her pulse, I sensed that Erian’s body was ready to awaken again.

At that moment, Equinox’s voice spoke.

[Honored Master. There is one concern.]

[What is it?]

[The girl’s spirit has seen too much. If you restore her as is, it may bring trouble later.]

He had a point.

Erian’s spirit had seen my true form and the process of me absorbing the boy’s grudge spirit with the Soul Harvester.

If she remembered this upon waking, it could cause problems.

I looked at Erian’s spirit.

She stepped back, trembling, and whimpered.

What are you going to do to me? Please don’t. I’ll be good, I promise.

Fear was laced into her tearful voice.

That fear seemed to stain her spirit with darkness.

[The fear of annihilation is an instinct all beings share. If you wish to save her, it is best to at least erase the fear born from you, Honored Master.]

[How do I do that?]

[With the third Mana Ring, you gained a new gift. Not just an ability—more accurately, a divine Power.]

[Power?]

Power referred to powers held by gods.

It was similar to magic, but not the same.

Magic was cast through the mage’s own power, while Power borrowed the power of a god.

Priests’ blessings were a prime example.

They merely channeled divine power; they did not possess it themselves.

[Allow me to demonstrate.]

I handed Equinox control of my body.

Normally, I hated doing this, but for learning a new Power, it was most efficient.

Equinox looked at Erian’s spirit and spoke.

[Erian. I am going to erase your memory now.]

No! I don’t want to forget the people I love.

[Do not worry. You will not forget those you love. What I am erasing is….]

Equinox said no more.

He raised his hand to her spirit.

Bright light wrapped around it.

The light dispelled its darkness, and soon it shone brightly again.

Equinox continued.

[Honored Master. Anchoring a soul into a living body is similar to doing so in a dead one, but far simpler. A dead body must be infused with mana to activate it, but a living body does not. What you must beware of in this process are the soul and vigor.]

The soul is the spirit; the vigor is the memory of the body.

Equinox seemed to be saying that if the soul’s memories and the body’s memories didn’t align, side effects could occur.

[Correct. If the soul bears too many memories unknown to the body, the body will clash with it, causing mental disorders. Thus, in such cases, it is best to erase parts of the spirit’s memories.]

Considering past cases, his words rang true.

When William, the thousand-year-old figure, was raised, he was deeply confused.

And Verdin, of the bandits, had also fallen into a long confusion upon death and could not be raised immediately.

But with the power of Forgetting, such problems would no longer occur.

Erasing the memories that caused confusion would resolve it cleanly.

[Memory erasure—that’s the new ability I gained?]

[Correct. It is called the Blessing of Forgetting. As you may have guessed, it is a divine Power—and thus irreversible.]

With that, Equinox guided Erian’s spirit into her body.

A flash of green mana flared once, then was gone.

The core mana was withdrawn after linking soul and body.

And Erian opened her eyes.

At that moment, I recalled what Equinox had once told me when I first formed my necromancer’s first Mana Ring.

Master, in the end you will become a god.

At first, I had no grasp of what that meant.

But now, after raising the dead, reviving the dying, and gaining the Power of Forgetting, I felt it.

I might truly become a god.