#87: Necromancer Of The Black Bible (87) — Necromancer of the Black Bible

The wraiths charged at the spirits centered around Verdin and Ceres.

Each time those wearing iron collars around their necks moved, the bushes swayed and the ground dented.

This was a bizarre sight to ordinary spirits, but to Verdin, who had already experienced them, it was a familiar scene.

‘Stay calm. I am not a living being but a soul. Therefore…’

If I set my mind to it, I can use infinite energy.

He recalled when Damian had lent him power not long ago.

At that time, he had not given new power—he had merely amplified and unleashed the mana Verdin originally possessed.

‘That technique can be used even without him.’

Verdin focused his mind and contemplated the area near his chest.

The heart—or precisely, the Mana Rings rotating where his heart once was.

Those Mana Rings were rotating slowly, just as they had when he was alive.

‘If I had a body, the faster the Rings rotate, the greater the strain on it. But not now.’

Currently, he had no body—merely a materialized spirit form.

In this state, it seemed he could draw as much power as he wanted without issue.

‘If this thought is correct…’

Verdin concentrated even more energy into the stick he held and swung it forward.

A deep red energy burst from the stick in the shape of a massive blade.

Shhhwaaaak-

As it extended forward, it bisected every wraith it touched.

The severed wraiths collapsed to the ground, writhing.

‘As expected…’

Verdin was surprised yet satisfied with the result he had created.

Because he could emit Sword Energy far more powerful than imagined.

Moreover, that sight greatly inspired the spirits fighting alongside him.

-Shall we try it like that swordsman?

-Using Sword Energy?

-In my previous life, I handled a sword too. Not to that extent, but I can emit Sword Energy.

Spirits who knew how to wield swords picked up sticks one by one.

They pushed through the allied spirits tangled in chaotic melee with the wraiths and slashed them with sword energy-infused attacks.

That was not all.

Some spirits shot sword energy outward, just as Verdin had.

That Sword Energy raked through the front wraiths, and pieces of their severed spirit bodies rolled on the ground.

Verdin shouted to everyone.

-Excellent! Those who can use Sword Energy, keep attacking! We will hold this place!

Then a voice came from behind.

“You can’t eliminate the wraiths that way.”

The woman wearing black glasses.

He had mistaken her for Princess Lillian moments ago, but she was not.

Her overall impression was similar, but her voice and eyes were completely different.

Moreover, the energy she emitted was heavier than Lillian’s.

She continued speaking to Verdin.

“Just slashing with Sword Energy won’t eliminate spirits. You can stop their advance for now, but they will rise again and attack.”

She was right.

The wraiths rolling on the ground quickly reattached their severed parts and stood up.

They had thought they gained the upper hand with the Sword Energy attacks, but with more wraiths pushing from behind, the situation did not improve.

Because more were approaching than being cut down.

Confirming this, Verdin asked.

-Then what should we do?

“We must annihilate them.”

-Annihilate?

He had seen techniques to annihilate spirits.

The Lord of Wraiths had annihilated Calix with it, and Damian had annihilated tens of thousands of spirits.

Yet he thought their techniques were activated by special artifacts.

Moreover, hadn’t the Lord of Wraiths proclaimed spirit annihilation as his exclusive technique?

Recalling this, Verdin replied to the woman with subdued eyes.

-I do not know such a technique.

“You can do it.”

The woman continued, her eyes shining.

“Our master said that souls are similar to aggregates of energy. Aggregates bound by emotions piercing through life. He said such energy is not much different from mana bound by magic.”

-Mana bound by magic…

Words he had heard long ago from his instructor when learning Sword Energy.

At that time, the instructor had said this about “Sword Energy”:

It is emitting energy trapped by rotating the swordsman’s Mana Rings through the sword. That’s the only way to express it in words. The important thing is…

‘The important thing is will. The will to emit Sword Energy.’

All energy handled by humans is influenced by consciousness.

Freely controlling that consciousness depends on how refined one’s willpower is.

Thus, swordsmen who reach high realms possess correspondingly strong willpower.

Verdin too had been a swordsman who reached the Master realm.

His willpower was on a different dimension from ordinary swordsmen.

Recalling this, Verdin infused Sword Energy into the stick once more.

‘This time, I must annihilate the enemy.’

The enemy’s essence is the soul—an aggregate of energy without substance.

The ways to annihilate such an energy aggregate, as far as he knew, were two.

‘Either sever the binding holding the energy together, or absorb the energy itself.’

In truth, neither is easy.

Since the soul’s binding is formed by emotions, severing it with external physical force is nearly impossible.

‘But absorbing the energy is possible.’

Of course, absorbing any energy with a living body is tantamount to suicide.

If incompatible energies clash, the body could explode.

But in his current spirit form, it was worth trying.

With no body to explode, he could absorb freely, and even incompatible energies had room to harmonize.

‘Shall I try that?’

Verdin focused his mind again.

To absorb the enemy’s energy, he needed to generate Sword Energy differently.

While drawing energy from his Mana Rings, he had to rotate it in the opposite direction.

Only then would a form capable of accepting new energy be complete.

‘To think I’d use this technique.’

A technique he had tried once in his novice knight days and been forbidden by his instructor.

Though it had been a very long time, his familiarity with handling energy made it easy to create.

Hoooo-

The green energy condensed on the stick created a strange vibration.

Rather than emitting immense power like before, the vibration quietly emitted low sounds while releasing energy.

It seemed to calmly await its moment.

Like a predator just before pouncing on prey.

Verdin faced forward and fired that energy at the wraiths beginning to advance again.

The green energy scattered from the stick flew incomparably slower than before, but its effect was certain.

The wraiths it touched began screaming and annihilating.

-Aaaah!

-Wh-what is this!

-I-I’m disappearing!

-N-nooooo!

The wraiths vanished, each emitting grotesque cries.

And after they vanished, beads fell to the ground.

Thudududuk-

Seeing this, the woman looked around and shouted.

“Did everyone see? Fight just like this swordsman! Create energy that absorbs spirits and fire it!”

In truth, it was not an easy command.

Verdin was a swordsman who had reached the Sword Master realm.

Yet the spirits forming ranks around him were no pushovers either.

Thanks to their guardian spirit Ceres, they were souls that had succeeded in reincarnation at least three times, and among them were those with considerable skill.

Indeed, soon several souls picked up sticks and fired the exact same Sword Energy as Verdin.

There were fewer than ten of them, but that alone completely reversed the battle.

Green Sword Energy ravaged the battlefield, wraiths vanishing one after another, leaving only multicolored beads rolling on the ground.

The fight was gone.

Only one-sided annihilation remained.

Sensing they could not possibly oppose it, the wraiths could no longer advance and turned back with terrified expressions.

And at that moment, a tremendous explosion sounded from behind, and a green pillar soared into the sky.

It was the place where the Lord of Wraiths had bound Damian with hundreds of chains long ago.

Kwaaaaaang-

With a piercing destructive sound, the iron chains binding me exploded.

‘Tougher than expected.’

Because it’s an artifact from the Ethereal Realm?

Or due to compatibility?

As such questions arose, Equinox’s voice reached me.

[The Soul Harvester and the Wheel of Eternity were made in the same era with the same materials. The souls dwelling in them are the same.]

[Then these two are twin brothers?]

[Something like that.]

Hearing that, it makes sense.

When first trapped in the chains, the Soul Harvester strangely refused to obey.

Its attitude was completely different from moments ago when it joyfully rampaged freely.

I felt longing and joy like meeting an old friend—and sorrow.

Kiii-, kiii-

I stroked the softly crying Soul Harvester.

Then whispered to it.

[Your brother won’t die from this. Anyway, it’s buried underground, right?]

Only then did the Soul Harvester’s emotions begin to calm.

The intense sorrow subsided, and the turbulent emotions settled quietly.

I continued stroking it and spoke further.

[If you don’t want to, you don’t have to step in. Even with Nocturne, we can easily deal with that level of opponent.]

I looked at the Lord of Wraiths sprawled far on the ground.

Lord of Wraiths, Penbris.

His attempt was quite good.

He succeeded in binding me using the artifacts’ compatibility.

Yet that level cannot stop me.

‘I have too many means at my disposal.’

Moments ago, I cast the “Phoenix Hide” magic on myself to increase Fire resistance.

Using it grants a whopping 80% resistance on top of base resistance.

I had gained 60% Fire Resistance upon forming my second Mana Ring, and with the fourth, base resistance reached 80%.

In this state, casting “Phoenix Hide” grants complete immunity to Fire.

Using that, I triggered the Explosion spell.

Yet it was not easy.

The chains were so sturdy that one or two explosions could not free me; only after amplifying mana about 20 times with the 3rd-circle black magic “Flame Veins” could I break them.

Of course, I could have used the 3rd-circle necromancy spell “Corrosion,” but that might disable the entire Wheel of Eternity, so I did not.

It says absolutely do not use Corrosion.

Nocturne’s voice.

It seems control over consciousness by the Soul Harvester has been released.

[You seem unharmed.]

Thanks to you, Master. This one has finally come to its senses. Above all, it seems to have something it wants to say.

[What is it?]

It wants you to plant it in the ground. It wants to talk to its brother. It says it will try to persuade it somehow.

A welcome proposal.

To persuade the Wheel of Eternity to become mine.

But Master, if you plant us in the ground, the duel with that one…

[Why? You think I’ll lose?]