#80: Necromancer Of The Black Bible (80) — Necromancer of the Black Bible

[The Ethereal Gate leads to the Ethereal Realm.]

As I thought.

If the Ethereal Gate didn’t lead to the Ethereal Realm, where else could it go?

My brow naturally furrowed.

I crossed my arms and asked Equinox.

[The Ethereal Realm has already been taken over by demons, hasn’t it?]

[Correct. Illinas and Dikrea currently divide the western and eastern halves between them.]

[Then opening the Ethereal Gate would mean confronting them directly.]

[Not necessarily. The Ethereal Gate opens into the Citadel of Judgment, the entrance to the Ethereal Realm. To reach the domains ruled by the Demon Kings, one must cross the River of Oblivion.]

[The River of Oblivion…]

The river that appears in countless poems and songs.

The mythical river that erases all memories of those who cross it.

It actually exists in the Ethereal Realm?

[Yes. Because crossing it wipes away memories, even demons cannot cross it easily.]

[Then can I cross it?]

[Of course. The master of the Ethereal Gate is the master of the Ethereal Realm. Every object in the Ethereal Realm exists for its master. Once you open the Gate and prove you are the true lord of the heavens, you will be able to wield all artifacts of the Ethereal Realm at will.]

I roughly understood what Equinox was suggesting.

While the Lord of Wraiths is coming, open the Gate and claim its authority.

But the risk is still too high.

I still cannot guarantee victory against Illinas; deliberately placing myself on his border is not wise.

‘Battles should only be fought when victory is certain.’

Time is on my side anyway.

There’s no need to rush into danger when I can win simply by waiting.

[Equinox, you’re right. My plan is better.]

[Indeed.]

[Then it’s decided.]

I ended the conversation and opened my eyes.

Looking up, the sun had already set and stars were shining.

I dismantled the barrier and stepped outside the monastery.

I had to prepare for war. A war I would fight alone.

Meanwhile.

Eliastra was kneeling in the Chamber of Atonement, located in the deepest level beneath the Grand Temple.

The new body Damian had given her was truly astonishing.

She could wield her divine power freely, with no side effects.

It felt just like the days long ago when Kallios was still alive and she had been under his blessing.

Yet Eliastra quickly shook her head at the comparison.

‘Damian… he is not Kallios.’

Kallios was dead, his soul torn apart and scattered.

El gazed at the object before her, radiating a dark crimson aura.

The corrupted sacred artifact “Ksiratis.”

Its black shaft and terrifying crimson spearhead still exuded a thick, sinister killing intent.

The scene was still vivid in Eliastra’s eyes.

The moment someone hurled Ksiratis and pierced Kallios’s heart.

The gushing blood and torn flesh clinging to the spear, being absorbed; even his soul shredded and scattered.

Seeing that, El had flown straight toward Kallios.

By the time she arrived, his body had vanished without a trace, but she was able to recover Ksiratis, still stained with his blood and flesh.

Fortunately, after Kallios died, no one in the Ethereal Realm paid her any attention.

They had all become consumed by greed and started fighting one another.

El seized the opportunity to hide Ksiratis.

She sealed the Ethereal Gate, abandoned their war, descended to the mortal world, and enshrined it deep here.

‘If I had been even a little slower…’

[This entire world would probably have been destroyed that very day.]

A familiar voice and figure appeared.

A man with long, shining golden hair.

Kallios.

The figure before her was a memory crystal formed from the fragments of flesh, blood, and soul that had clung to Ksiratis.

To prevent anyone from ever opening the Ethereal Gate, El had created this memory crystal of Kallios to guard this place.

[That judgment was correct. Only you are qualified to open the Ethereal Gate.]

“That is not true.”

El shook her head and replied.

“I am not qualified.”

If she had not rejected Kallios’s proposal from the beginning—if she had not hesitated and immediately informed him of the fallen demons’ offer—this world would never have ended up like this.

[You have carried the events of three thousand years ago in your heart for far too long.]

“In my heart, it feels like it happened just yesterday.”

[It is already in the past. Now you must look forward.]

Kallios’s memory crystal was almost perfectly identical to him.

Yet the time it could manifest was barely an hour.

Fifteen years were required before it could manifest again.

If it could manifest more frequently, she might have tried to rule the world using Kallios’s memory crystal.

[El, you know that is impossible. I am not Kallios—merely a faint trace of him. I possess no power or authority, so I cannot influence anyone. Do you truly believe someone like me could rule a world stained by evil?]

Kallios pointed out the flaw precisely.

In truth, this argument was nothing new.

They had repeated the same conversation hundreds of times over the past three thousand years.

El gazed quietly at Kallios’s memory crystal.

Then she slowly nodded and stood up.

“You are right. I will speak of it no longer. I came here today to open the Ethereal Gate.”

Despite how shocking the statement was, Kallios showed no sign of agitation.

He simply smiled gently and spoke.

[I have been waiting for this day.]

Kallios walked silently to another sacred artifact placed to the right of Ksiratis.

A thick book radiating a soft silver light.

It was the ancient sacred artifact known as the “Bible of the Nameless God.”

Standing before it, Kallios looked down at the bible and spoke.

[I remember the days when you and I wrote this book together, El.]

“……”

[Back then, you asked me why I created this world.]

Eliastra nodded and looked at Kallios.

A question she had never received an answer to in over three thousand years.

This time, she hoped he might finally answer.

Yet once again, Kallios merely smiled faintly.

[I leave that answer for you to find.]

“I do not know. I truly do not understand why I must keep doing this.”

[Yet what is the reason you have endured until now?]

“Because it was what you wished…”

This time too, Kallios shook his head.

He stood before the bible, turned to El, and continued.

[You must live your own life.]

El pressed her lips tightly together.

A story she had heard thousands of times already.

A story she no longer wished to hear.

Kallios looked at her and spoke again.

[For the past three thousand years we have repeated the same conversation and made no progress. But today, you are different.]

“I… have not changed.”

[No. Did you not just say you would open the Ethereal Gate?]

El could not reply.

Kallios’s memory crystal pointed out the truth with the same precision he had in life.

Kallios continued speaking to El, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

[You have changed. You cast off Lactea’s body and received a new one. I have not yet heard who gave it to you. The Ethereal Gate is surely connected to the one who granted you that new body.]

El could not answer.

Kallios’s sharp gaze stole her breath.

[You cannot avoid this answer, El. It was not I, but you who decided that the questions required to guard the Ethereal Gate must be asked.]

It was true.

The questions just now were part of the procedure to open the Ethereal Gate.

The “Bible of the Nameless God” was the lock sealing the Ethereal Gate.

To open it, she had to answer the questions posed by the memory crystal of Kallios that she herself had created.

Upon hearing her answers, Kallios would judge for himself and open the “door.”

The door that led to the lever capable of opening the Ethereal Gate.

After passing through that door, one had to travel without rest for seven full days and nights to reach the lever.

That was why Eliastra had told Damian it would take at least a week.

El hesitated for a moment.

She could not easily decide whether to tell the truth to Kallios’s memory crystal.

She could not predict how the memory crystal would react to the truth she spoke.

‘If I am rejected even once, I will have to wait another fifteen years.’

How would Damian react if he heard this?

Would he pressure and punish her?

Or would he grow angry and annihilate both her soul and body?

These thoughts tangled and filled Eliastra’s mind.

‘What should I do?’

At that moment, a voice rang out.

[Do whatever you want. The Ethereal Gate is not essential to my plans.]

Eliastra’s eyes widened as she stared at Kallios in front of her.

It was not Kallios who had spoken, yet the voice was strikingly similar.

Damian’s voice sounded again.

[I can hear all your thoughts. We are connected, after all. But something feels strange. When we met earlier, you trusted me, yet now it seems you don’t.]

-T-that’s…

[No, wait. Hmm, never mind. Now I understand. You do trust me—that much is certain. But… you don’t trust yourself.]

At those words that struck right at the core, Eliastra froze, unable to move.

[Trust yourself. Trust the heart that has guarded this place for three thousand long years. Only by believing in yourself can you finally move forward.]

Faith in oneself.

El silently repeated those words.

And Kallios’s smile deepened as he watched her.

[It seems you have gained a new companion.]

“He is not a companion, he is my master…”

[No, he is a companion. If he were truly your master, you would not be agonizing like this.]

Kallios’s observation was spot-on.

Damian did not dominate her mind.

Giving her a body did not mean he controlled her spirit.

That was why El could still make her own decisions—and why she was struggling here.

Kallios slowly approached and looked into El’s eyes.

His golden eyes, seemingly empty, shone especially bright.