Necromancer Of The Black Bible (85)

Kiyaaaaaaa-!!!

The roar of the Soul Harvester continued.

The one that had taken my body rampaged freely, devouring the surrounding wraiths.

Like a colossal demon before its offerings, the Soul Harvester’s massive maw absorbed wraiths indiscriminately.

Such truly voracious consumption.

I did not resist and let it do as it wished.

Master! At this rate, my consciousness will be eroded by it.

Nocturne’s groan was genuine.

Its voice trembled faintly and was gradually fading.

Then Equinox’s voice followed.

[If the Soul Harvester runs amok, it can claim the owner’s soul as well. Leaving it like this is dangerous.]

Even Equinox saying this made it clear the situation was truly dangerous.

Yet I wanted to observe it a little longer. I was only now beginning to grasp its true value.

[Everyone, endure it even if it’s hard.]

[But at this rate, even you, Honored Master…]

[Don’t worry about that. I can hold my own consciousness.]

This was sincere.

Though the Soul Harvester was running wild and swallowing countless wraiths, it was not affecting my consciousness.

Rather, it allowed me to observe the current situation with greater clarity.

How it transformed the absorbed wraiths into power.

What techniques could now be used with that power.

That was not all.

The Soul Harvester’s intentions were completely visible.

What it desired and intended to do.

The goal it sought to reach.

As all this was vividly conveyed, I grew curious about it.

‘It seems like it wants to tell me something.’

The Soul Harvester is a sentient artifact, but it cannot converse.

It can only commune, like an animal or plant.

Its attempt to erode Nocturne’s consciousness might be because no such channel exists.

But now that its thoughts and intentions were clearly transmitted, communication was unnecessary.

‘This one has been locked away for far too long as well.’

Waiting alone in some warehouse for the day it could emerge, now rampaging freely—how exhilarating it must feel.

That feeling would be similar to my own past joy when, after limping through life, I could finally run on healthy legs again.

Kiyaaaaa-

As if agreeing with my thoughts, the Soul Harvester let out another scream.

Realizing I understood its feelings, it relinquished partial control of the body to me.

Thanks to that, I could now understand the principles behind its techniques.

‘Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Chaos. On top of that, it can freely handle life force and mana absorption. The key here is the attributes of the absorbed wraiths.’

Wraiths possess different energies depending on the lives they had led.

The stronger the resentment and anger, the stronger the Fire energy; the stronger the regret and sorrow, the stronger the Water energy.

The same applies to Wind, Earth, Chaos, and so on.

Emotions accumulated over a lifetime create energies of specific attributes.

The Soul Harvester can absorb them and recombine them within itself.

What matters here is the vessel of the one wielding the Soul Harvester.

The total power it can wield is proportional to the size of that vessel.

‘In that sense, it might like me.’

My current realm is the 4th circle.

Thanks to the White Serpent guardian spirit, I can wield twice that power.

With Equinox’s guardian spirit added, I can effectively use about three times the power and twice the mana.

There is probably no mage who can handle mana to this extent.

Even Shador, its original wielder, was likely not at this level.

Kiiiii-, kiiiii-

The Soul Harvester cried out as if responding to my reasoning.

Then it began injecting its plan directly into my mind.

‘Hmm… It has gathered enough power to unleash an explosion.’

Surprisingly, it even transferred the absorbed power to my Mana Rings.

Thanks to that, the purification of my 4th-circle Mana Rings was complete. The reason it could not multiply further was likely due to the need for the “special material” Equinox had mentioned before.

Even after realizing this much, Equinox remained silent.

Instead, the Soul Harvester’s thoughts filled my consciousness.

‘It wants to wipe them out in one blow?’

The moment I read its thoughts, a point high in the sky came to mind.

I immediately chanted the spell and cast teleportation.

Pat-

It had been a long time since I last used this magic.

But teleporting to such a high altitude was a first.

The scenery and objects captured by my sight and all my senses were truly breathtaking.

‘Truly magnificent.’

The sky divided between crimson and sunset hues, with the forest sprawling beneath.

And the city surrounded by a shimmering golden barrier.

Before it, an innumerable horde of multicolored wraiths surging forward.

From up here, I understood why the Soul Harvester had pointed to this spot.

‘Now I can finally see the whole picture.’

Grasping the overall situation in war is crucial.

An infantryman who sees only the front can fight only the enemy before him, while a knight overlooking from horseback can face a hundred.

A commander facing the entire enemy must be able to see them all, no matter what.

In that sense, this place was optimized for facing the enemy.

After all, the only forces I could call an army were myself and the Soul Harvester alone.

“Then shall we try out what you want?”

When I glanced at the Soul Harvester in my hand, it responded with a screech.

I smirked once and gripped its handle firmly.

A hot energy began concentrating on the scythe blade.

‘Inject the concentrated power in sequence.’

The moment the plan formed, I swung it five times in rapid succession.

Red, blue, yellow, ochre, and flickering purple energies shot out fiercely.

Each energy formed massive pillars that embedded into the ground in a pentagonal shape.

‘From here, they’re exactly at the vertices of a pentagram.’

The pentagram is the foundation of magic circles.

Its function is to concentrate mana.

And those five vertices were positioned at the center of the wraith army.

‘If the circle activates properly, perhaps a third? No, half could be wiped out at once.’

While thinking this, I felt a vibration from the Soul Harvester.

An energy more ferocious than ever.

Once the deep green energy was fully charged, I swung toward the ground without delay.

That energy fell directly into the center of the five pillars, and an intense reaction began.

Pajijijijik!

Reactions of every color erupted.

Each flash illuminated the pentagram on the ground, and thousands of wraiths were sucked into the pillars.

Meaningless reverberations spread like screams.

Wraiths, known to be immortal, were being eradicated so easily.

I recalled the face of the Lord of Wraiths, who prided himself on being the only one able to destroy wraiths.

‘What expression is he wearing now?’

I slowly descended from the sky while searching for the Lord of Wraiths’ position.

I couldn’t find him easily because the sight of wraiths being sucked into the pillars was so spectacular.

I watched most of them vanish for a long while before lightly landing on the ground.

Where I stood was the center of the five pillars.

Standing there, all the wraith energies absorbed by the pillars flowed into the Soul Harvester.

Kiyaaaaaa-

The Soul Harvester roared in all directions while absorbing that immense quantity of energy.

Having absorbed even the pillars completely, the Soul Harvester’s appearance was utterly transformed.

The blade, previously extending about 2 meters, had grown to 4 meters, with two blades overlapping.

The handle had also doubled in length, and at its end protruded a massive additional blade.

That was not all.

A previously unseen gem was embedded in the center of the handle, constantly changing color.

‘It seems the attribute of the energy can be changed by altering this color.’

Now so large, it could no longer be held vertically.

To wield it, I would likely need to maintain levitation magic constantly.

The moment I thought that, black energy flowed from the handle and enveloped my body.

Then I gently floated into the air.

‘Oh… splendid.’

To fly without casting magic—excellent.

I like it more and more.

I lightly swung the evolved Soul Harvester.

Huuuung-

With just one swing, crescent-shaped energies burst from each of the three blades.

Along with that, the wraiths outside the pentagram were swept away.

I slowly advanced through them, watching ahead.

Searching for their master, the Lord of Wraiths.

Though quite far, I found him quickly.

With Verdin’s sight and the crimson and golden energies enveloping the Lord of Wraiths’ body, he was immediately recognizable.

I approached him and asked with the Voice of the Soul.

[You said you would kill me and take Verdin?]

I saw the smile vanish from the Lord of Wraiths’ lips.

He must now realize.

Whom he had provoked.

The Lord of Wraiths met Damian’s eyes.

Though quite far away, he could tell—the other was watching him.

In that instant, his breath caught and chills ran through his entire body.

The crimson and golden energies enveloping him visibly dimmed.

‘Damn it!’

The expedition had begun with great confidence.

And with good reason—no one had ever been able to stop an army of wraiths.

Even high-ranking demons mostly could not detect wraiths, and even if they could, they could not touch them.

Only the highest demons with special powers could handle wraiths.

Thus, on the surface, there was essentially no one who could oppose them.

That was why they had been able to hide here and build their forces over three thousand years.

Yet the being before him now had completely overturned the Lord of Wraiths’ common sense, annihilating half his subordinates in mere minutes.

He was like a predator that devoured wraiths.

‘What exactly is he? How can he annihilate wraiths in an instant?’

Lord of Wraiths Penbris’s mind desperately raced.

After dredging up all information from distant memory, he grasped one clue.

‘Could it be… the Soul Harvester?’

The only artifact capable of wielding such terrifying power against wraiths was the Soul Harvester.

It had been created out of concern that escaped wraiths would disrupt the Ethereal Realm.

‘It was meant to collect wraiths that had escaped the Wheel of Eternity.’

He recalled Kallios himself wielding the hammer to forge the Soul Harvester’s blade.

He had spoken thus before all the angels:

We must create a great cycle. When a spirit inhabits a body, lives its life, and dies, we must guide that spirit back to the Ethereal Realm to plan a new life. Not all spirits will follow our guidance in this process. This is a tool to control them.

Recalling the Soul Harvester flashing with each strike of Kallios’s hammer sent chills down the Lord of Wraiths’ spine.

‘If that truly is the Soul Harvester… then it didn’t merely destroy my wraiths.’

The Soul Harvester absorbs souls.

It converts the absorbed souls into primal energy to use as its own power source.

The spectacle the approaching figure had just displayed was exactly that.

Having thought this far, the Lord of Wraiths commanded everyone.

“Fall back. Do not approach him under any circumstances.”

The wraiths then retreated while maintaining a large semicircular formation.

As Damian slowly advanced, the semicircle retreated at the same pace.

Damian advancing toward them was utterly overwhelming.

He floated in the air, slowly advancing while wielding the Soul Harvester with massive blades at both ends of the handle.

Each time he passed, surrounding plants withered, but after he moved on, they revived.

The revived plants were fresher and sturdier than before.

Thanks to this, lush foliage began sprouting behind Damian.

Though the principle behind it was unknown, the Lord of Wraiths and all the wraiths here felt awe.

Then a voice came from beside him.

My Lord. Retreat. That man is dangerous.

It was the voice of the guardian knight Lanford.

Hearing this, the Lord of Wraiths immediately donned his cloak and activated the artifact.

At the same moment, his figure vanished without a trace.