Black Gate Conquest (2)

A total of twenty-six people, including Ben and the hero party, the surviving Sea Sun Brigade personnel, and the additionally deployed personnel, advanced toward the center of the Gate.

It was a path where they had to pass through a sea of corpses, but everyone clenched their teeth and endured that revulsion.

The scent of thick death felt from countless deaths, rotting flesh, and blood had enough conditions to paralyze a human’s senses, but everyone here had gone through all sorts of hardships.

I watched the people gradually move forward and steel themselves, then changed direction and moved my feet toward one place.

Each black mage had their own specialty.

In my case, I had no specialty, but I was an all-rounder, and thanks to that, I was a black mage whose double mana consumption, which should have been called a penalty, was both an advantage and a disadvantage.

However, even I had something that could be called a specialty.

To be precise, it meant that there was magic I preferred.

‘Is it there?’

Although faint, a rather powerful soul was bound to its own corpse and unable to leave the flesh.

What was interesting was that, in an environment like this, even a soul would inevitably fall and eventually enter corruption, so I became curious why this soul could still maintain itself.

And when I had become distant enough that no one’s presence could be felt, I stood before that soul.

“You were quite a strong Awakener, weren’t you?”

When I looked down at the corpse, it was filled with traces of having endured until the end and fought desperately despite its tremendous wounds.

It looked as though he had devoted himself to protecting his comrades even while dying.

After examining the half of his face that remained, I could be certain that this person was “Kasim,” whom the Sea Sun Brigade member had spoken of.

Was that why?

I lightly raised my resonance and used Call of Spirit to infuse power into Kasim’s soul.

At that moment, countless thoughts and memories poured into me along with a brief light.

‘Rather than conversation, is he trying to convey what he knows?’

Perhaps he felt as though he wanted to leave something behind, even if he had to sacrifice his own soul.

I was curious why he was giving this information to me despite the fact that I was not his comrade, but in any case, based on the memories contained in the soul that dug into my mind, I could roughly grasp the enemy’s main force.

‘So there is a being that uses black mana. This will be quite difficult.’

I felt that, with this much preparation having been made, what we could do would inevitably be limited. However, there was one suspicious part as well.

‘It feels like it has not escaped the limits of its characteristics. It certainly handles undead and uses powerful magic and curses, but… there are no traces of handling souls.’

After revising the enemy’s information to that of a special being with power stronger than an apostle, I listened to Kasim’s voice, which I heard beyond the countless memories he had delivered to me.

-…Please save my comrades. They paid an irreparable sacrifice because of my arrogance. -

“You regret it. Is it because, although it was your own choice, your comrades had to pay the price?”

-It is the price of arrogance. So please, even if you must break my soul into pieces and use it, save everyone. -

The stage where everyone could be saved had already passed.

However, I judged that if I wanted to escape this place, it would be good to have a helper with strong power.

So I took out a Magic Stone, placed Kasim’s soul inside it, and said,

“I hope those words are sincere. The pain of a soul being shattered is not something that can be described in words.”

Kasim’s soul was absorbed into the Magic Stone without an answer.

It was the moment I obtained good material.

Afterward, I confirmed the black mana that had begun to surge and advanced toward the place that would be its source.

I moved while hiding myself through resonance, and soon, before even thirty minutes had passed, a commotion began to ring out.

‘The battle has begun. The key will be how long they can hold out.’

I became curious as to who exactly the black mage who had committed such an act was.

On top of that, was it because a battle had occurred?

I began to feel the main body of this Gate in more detail, and while moving toward that place, I operated mana inside my body, which I had hidden with resonance, and began completing what I wanted.

The terrible pain gave me the agony of feeling as if my body were being torn to pieces, but it was a familiar sensation, and since I had few emotions that would complain of pain, I calmly moved my feet.

And after a while, I discovered a fairly large skull and focused in order to grasp that being.

‘It is not an ordinary Lich. Its size is more than 1.5 times larger, and although it has become a monster, it still has a human skeleton. Perhaps it corrupted and absorbed a Core.’

What I was thinking of was Lichification using a “Core” as a Life Vessel.

It was an impossible theory, but there was also a speculative theory that it might be possible.

The theory was that if a Core had already been broken, could it not also be classified as undead? However, nothing had been proven, and it was merely a theory that arose from the fact that among the many powers released when a Core broke, black mana and mana also existed, and that a black mage could absorb them to strengthen their own power.

But there had been someone who raised one question.

A Core was a kind of condensed body of power containing many forces. If so, what would happen if this Core was used for Lichification, which required such a structure?

There had been an eccentric mage who raised that question.

It was not impossible to prove it through experimentation, but Lichification itself had become taboo, and the issue was whether there had been anyone willing to sacrifice themselves to confirm that method.

But I speculated that perhaps the Lich before my eyes had made that a reality.

‘How should I approach this?’

The distance between that bastard and me was roughly seventy meters. It was neither that far nor that close. However, if battle began, it was a distance that could be closed in an instant.

In other words, it was a distance where we could tighten and sever each other’s throats.

So just as I was agonizing over the method,

“Rise, rise and slaughter the intruders!!”

Along with a dry, sinister shout, countless undead raised their bodies.

The powerful lumps of black mana felt among them were enough for me to know that they were lower-realm Liches and Death Knights.

‘Its control is tremendous. It literally feels as though this space itself belongs to it.’

Because it was not an easy situation, my worries continued. At that moment, I felt a heterogeneous sensation from that bastard.

‘Chantra…?’

It was incomprehensible why a being that handled black mana had divinity inside its body, but when I concentrated my consciousness to confirm it, I understood the reason.

‘There is a scratch on the Life Vessel inside its body….’

It meant someone had approached that bastard, and in the process, struck it with an object imbued with divinity.

Was the Core, which was also its Life Vessel, left alone because there was not enough time and knowledge to fix it?

Or was the location that had been struck a trap advertising itself as its weakness?

I could not be certain which was the correct answer, but countless presences were heading toward the party, so I could no longer drag out time.

Even the undead that had remained around the Lich had all left their positions, so the important thing was that it was clearly off guard.

‘An undead equal to me or perhaps of a higher realm…. Interesting.’

At that moment, I threw my body forward and stretched out my hand.

Then I released my will, and the moment I snapped my fingers, mana containing no will filled the area around that bastard’s body. The instant the barrier unfolded after enveloping it, the Lich let out a clear shout.

“I thought you would come, black mage!!”

At the shout, as if it had been waiting for me, I clicked my tongue.

The distance was about thirty meters. That bastard turned to look at me, and I also looked at it.

There was still a great amount of black mana controlled by that bastard filling the surroundings, but because I had spread a barrier through resonance, a boundary had been divided between inside and outside, weakening its will.

“You are a bastard who uses a mysterious method.”

“Are you an apostle of the Church of Ruin?”

“Ruin is the natural course, and it is the trial given to this land. However, it is merely a trial that cannot be overcome!”

“How ridiculous. You must have been human once too, and judging by your way of speaking, it seems you are from Iceland. Why did you turn your homeland into this?”

“Nutrients. The Calamity God wishes to descend upon this land.”

“For a god to descend, only three hundred thousand sacrifices are needed? What a low-rank god. Shouldn’t at least hundreds of millions have to be sacrificed?”

“How dare you…. Are you trying to insult a god?”

“The insult is the very actions you yourselves are taking. If failing to properly assess your own god is not an insult, then what is?”

The Lich trembled. Then it laughed.

“Kahahaha, that is right. Your words are correct. We were foolish. I had been watching suspiciously, wondering why the god still had not descended. But…. There was a reason. It was not something to be compared to mere apostles!!”

‘It is surprising that a human mind still remains.’

After becoming a Lich, one gradually lost reason and became numb. So judging only by the stage where it could think like this, it meant that its Lichification had not happened long ago.

However, it might be different if it possessed enough transcendence to withstand that, but that did not seem to be the case.

‘In any case, there is always an opening there.’

“Have you finally realized it?”

“I will grant you a peaceful death, and…. I will make you into my minion so that you may enjoy eternal life and live while serving the Calamity God!!”

The Lich flew toward me.

It used Blink as naturally as breathing.

It meant that its mana calculation was extremely fast.

In a split second, the Lich closed the distance, and from its hand, which was swung in an instant, a bundle of Dark Spears burst out and flew toward me.

‘Its deployment speed is also fast and clean. If judging only by skill, it certainly does not feel inferior to me.’

However, there were many openings in how it used power.

It used magic by drawing in the power of death, in other words, black mana, that filled the surroundings.

Because the inside of the Gate was filled with black mana, this method was certainly efficient and powerful, but there was an opening here.

It felt like it did not know why I had erected the barrier.

The black mana inside the barrier was quickly consumed. The black mana outside was creating fairly strong pressure as it tried to pierce through the barrier and be absorbed inward, but because that bastard and I were at similar realms, if I concentrated through resonance, it would be difficult for that bastard to pierce through it.

Matching the enemy who used Blink, I also used Blink to close the distance.

Since it was a low-grade magic, it could be cast just by thinking. Like that, inside the cramped space, we continued a fight where we flashed around, aiming for one another while closing and widening the distance.

“Are you truly human?”

“Are you truly a Lich?”

“How dare…. You try to toy with this proxy of death. You will gladly receive the punishment for that sin.”

“Sin is not especially sweet, so I am not glad to receive it. I refuse.”

Then I stretched out my hand and snapped my fingers.

Snap!

With that sound, mana expanded between that bastard’s ribs and placed a burden on its body.

At that moment, the bastard drew in black mana to defend itself, wasting the black mana inside the barrier once again, then suddenly looked at me and said,

“If you are relying on this barrier, did you think I would not know?”

“You would know. If you didn’t, you would just be revealing that your brain had melted.”

The barrier was merely one method. And what I was preparing was being carried out outside the barrier.

In a situation where even that bastard did not perceive it….