Necromancer Of The Black Bible (99)

A spectral form of a woman surrounded by a crimson aura from head to toe.

I still couldn’t guess who she was.

Then the woman spoke first.

“Who… are you?”

“That’s the question I wanted to ask.”

I stood facing the unidentified spirit for a moment.

Even as a spirit she radiated a distinct presence.

Her voluminous, flame-like hair rippled in the air, and her bright crimson eyes were calm and steady.

She wore rose-colored leather armor.

Antique gilded patterns were engraved on the armor and the cloak that hung behind it.

I had never encountered a spirit with such vivid attire among the spirits I’d met so far.

Then Equinox’s voice came to me.

[Be careful. That one is a being similar to me.]

How interesting.

A being akin to Equinox, the continent’s first necromancer and the shadow of the God of Light Kallios.

“Could it be a dragon?”

I tossed the guess out casually, and it seemed I was right—its brows twitched.

“You know me.”

I didn’t bother answering.

A peculiar color flashed in its eyes.

It was so vivid it seemed almost corporeal, and I couldn’t help but be impressed.

But it seemed the surprise was mutual.

“You are surely a wraith, yet you are unfazed. I’ve lived for ages, but I’ve never seen one like you…”

The tone contrasted with her youthful face.

A languidness suggested she’d seen the whole world.

She stared at me intently for a long while.

A sensation like being pricked by a sharp awl flitted across me for an instant.

Then Equinox’s voice spoke again.

[I remember who it is. The Crimson Dragon Eckhart’s last fang, Ragdares.]

“Ragdares.”

I immediately verified the information, and the spirit trembled once.

“How do you know that name…?”

“The important thing is that you don’t know who I am.”

And more importantly, this being was my enemy.

I had wondered why such a being was here, and after hearing Equinox’s identification, I had a guess.

‘It’s a guardian spirit protecting an heir.’

That was why Equinox said it was a being similar to itself.

Siiiiii-

I concentrated mana into one hand.

But as a spirit, the amount of mana I could focus was limited.

When I rotated my Mana Ring, my body solidified noticeably.

Ragdares’s expression hardened at the sight of me like this.

“You…”

She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Because magic had been cast from my hand.

‘Soul Prison.’

A 4th-circle necromancy spell that transforms mana into a special substance to imprison souls.

My Mana Ring was fully purified, so I could form a fairly potent prison.

Swooooosh-

Mana shot from my hand, scattering green light as it charged toward Ragdares, and she reacted instantly.

Flare-

Fierce flames poured from her grasp.

But that was all.

Those flames couldn’t disperse my spell.

After all, she was also a spirit.

‘The only magic a spirit can use is lesser magic.’

It’s a decent power for a spell cast by mere concentration, but it can’t counter my Soul Prison.

Sensing this, she quickly backed away.

Shuwaak-

I summoned the Soul Harvester at once and lunged toward Ragdares.

But she had anticipated this attack.

With a sword drawn before I noticed, she met the Soul Harvester’s blade head-on.

Chaaeng-!

A sharp metallic sound rang out as an explosion erupted.

A spectral explosion mixed with flame.

The blast tore through everything in the room, and at the same time all the doors, including the windows, were blown out.

Kwaaang-

A fierce wind scoured the space.

I wore a constant shield, so such an explosion didn’t affect me.

I quietly watched straight ahead.

And when I saw her vanish into the smoke, I immediately shifted into spectral form and began the pursuit.

Piiii-

When moving quickly in spirit form, a thin windlike sound like this is made.

A note like a high-pitched whistle.

I chased Ragdares to the sound.

Her fleeing like this showed she understood the situation perfectly.

[Do not let your guard down. Dragons are cunning.]

-Wooooooom!

Equinox and the Soul Harvester warned me at the same time.

A single question arose with that.

‘What is it’s scheme?’

When our blades clashed earlier, I could sense something.

The Soul Harvester had absorbed part of her soul.

So I was confident I could win if the fight continued like this.

‘But she knows that too.’

Her flight alone made that clear.

But what if she had a trick up her sleeve?

What if she was using a ruse to turn the fight in her favor?

One possibility came to mind.

Returning to her true body. If she became whole again, she could turn the tide.

Just as I reached that thought, Ragdares vanished.

‘Where did she go?’

I closed my eyes and focused my mind.

I entrusted everything to an absolute sense that could detect all things in this world.

After scanning the vicinity for a moment, I found her.

‘Over there.’

Deep beneath a manor.

She was there, looking in my direction.

Eckhart Manor, deep underground.

Here lay the resting place of the ancient Crimson Dragon Eckhart.

Ragdares, who had barely shaken off the recent pursuit, returned to the sanctuary to assess the situation.

‘Who on earth is it?’

Ragdares was taken aback.

It made sense; she had never encountered a spirit this powerful before.

‘Even among ancient souls, there was nothing like that.’

Ragdares was a soul fragment of the ancient Crimson Dragon Eckhart.

Eckhart’s main body had entered a long slumber, so it could only operate in this manner.

It was difficult to maintain a flesh-and-blood body in this world for a long time.

Even a dragon with skin harder than steel and magic stronger than any creature cannot withstand the erosion of time forever.

Ragdares closed her eyes and looked up at her huge resting body.

In truth, Eckhart made a pact with the emperor for a different reason.

He wanted to live longer.

To enjoy that immense power for as long as possible, ideally forever.

For that, he swore an oath with the first emperor Sigmund and remained as a guardian spirit for the family.

Protecting the empire or the continent was never his concern.

Ragdares gazed at Eckhart’s body, which exhaled at regular intervals.

That body, having endured more than three thousand years, still held primeval perfection.

Its body, wings folded and stretched long across the floor, undulated like a vast blood-stained mountain range.

A soft sheen flowed across its scales.

With each exhale, the scales flipped once, revealing scars here and there etched with ancient runes and magic circles.

Traces of memories older than legend.

Eckhart’s heart beat slowly, embracing all those marks.

Ragdares watched Eckhart for a long while.

Then, seeing the hot lava flowing before him, she finally felt reassured.

‘They won’t be able to come this far.’

This place was so deep it couldn’t be measured by human standards.

No matter how ancient a being, they likely couldn’t find this place.

Ragdares sat on a nearby rock and looked at her faded right hand.

‘It absorbed part of me.’

She had lived long as a spirit, but had never been subjected to an attack like that.

A weapon with such a function surfaced from distant memory.

‘Soul Harvester.’

A weapon forged by the God of Light Kallios at the dawn of time.

But that weapon should be sealed in the Ethereal Realm.

Not only does no one know how to use it properly, but its possessor is none other than a demon.

‘I can say with certainty that demons cannot wield Kallios’s weapon.’

Their tainted power cannot control a divinely refined weapon.

‘Then what is it?’

A frown formed between Ragdares’s brows.

At the same time she connected with her true body.

-Oh, it’s you. My last fang, Ragdares.

Eckhart’s mind still greeted her.

But she hadn’t connected just to exchange greetings.

-I came because I need help.

-That’s rare. With your power you could burn the entire continent.

-A strange one showed up.

-Strange? Did you see a Sand Dragon?

-Not that. I clashed with it once and part of me disappeared.

Eckhart began to examine the Ragdares connected to him.

He inspected the spirit itself and the memories recorded within it.

After understanding what she was saying, Eckhart spoke.

-You’ve been struck by the Soul Harvester.

• Are you sure? The Soul Harvester is sealed in the Ethereal Realm, isn’t it?

-Much time has passed, my fang. Even by my estimate it’s been over three thousand years, so it wouldn’t be strange if something happened in the meantime.

-Then is this one a demon of the Ethereal Realm?

-Hmm.

Eckhart, after reviewing the spirit’s memories again, answered.

-It feels too orderly to call it a demon.

-Then what on earth is it?

-Hm….

Eckhart’s main body began to tremble at its head.

It meant he was tracing back to very distant memories.

After a long while the reverberation subsided and Eckhart spoke.

-A necromancer. More precisely, a shadow of a god.

-A shadow of a god?

-I understand your confusion. Someone you’ve neither seen nor heard of appeared and threatened you. But my instinct and reason both point to one place.

Ragdares waited silently for his words.

Then he conveyed an image in a clear voice.

[Do not ever fight it. Even if I awaken, it won’t be an opponent easily defeated.]

After that, an overwhelming fear poured into Ragdares’s spirit.

It was a warning from Eckhart’s main body.

A signal that could never be ignored.

Having finished the communion, Ragdares took a step back.

Her spirit had been restored, but Eckhart’s breathing had grown somewhat rough.

“An opponent I cannot defeat…”

While muttering alone like that, the red gem in the clearing began to glow.

The light signaled that the heir was using magic.

A signal that the guardian spirit must watch over them.

Normally she would have been there to assist directly, but the situation had changed.

Ragdares peered into the shining gem and soon confirmed the heir’s identity.

Erisia von Eckhart.

She was the heir chosen by Ragdares for the family.

A beautiful appearance, a strong character, and exceptional talent.

She was unquestionably the best among all children Leopold had sired or taken in.

Having seen her pass the first test, Ragdares became her guardian spirit, and because of this Erisia was thriving as a promising talent of the empire.

‘When this child matures, I can take that delectable body.’

Ragdares smiled as she looked at Erisia.

In two years Erisia would graduate from the academy and become an adult.

At her coming-of-age ceremony, Ragdares planned to manifest into her body.

But Ragdares did not know.

That someone was watching her contented smile.

Damian, who had stealthily entered this space, watched Ragdares and Eckhart’s body from beyond the river of lava.