Black Gate Conquest (3)

“Die, worthless human!!”

The moment it stomped its foot, enormous horn pillars surged up throughout the inside of the barrier.

It had manifested high-level black magic, including Earthquake. Because of that, the impact was also being transmitted to the barrier, but the barrier I had spread was different in direction.

It was a barrier made so that entering from the outside to the inside was easy, but leaving from the inside to the outside was impossible.

So it was also strong against impacts.

The horn pillars broke apart as though snapping off.

“…Did you make a prison?”

“You have strong control over black mana, and you can handle all the black mana inside this Gate according to your will. If so, what method do you expect would be the most effective to use against a bastard like you?”

“You used your head quite well.”

“That is because you are strong. I really had to think a lot.”

I opened Sub-space and took out the Necronomicon from there.

When the Lich saw it, its eyes shone.

“The Necronomicon!! So you were the owner of the grimoire?”

“It is one of only three books on Earth. To be honest, it is not that good of a book, but to deal with someone like you, I should receive its help.”

“This is a welcome matter. Let us try it.”

The Lich made the rising ground sink back down beneath the surface.

At that moment, countless black mana flowed beneath the ground, but I snapped my fingers and reinforced the barrier, controlling the black mana that had seeped inside.

And at the same time, I used resonance in several parts of its body to widen openings.

Because its body was nothing but bones and joints, simply dispersing them inflicted shock on the Lich.

Moreover, since it had the Gate Core, which was also its Life Vessel, inside its body, it drew in black mana to somehow protect the Core and resisted the power I had raised.

“You fight in an irritating way. What a petty bastard!”

“There is no right or wrong in a fight. If I can win even by being petty, I should use it thoroughly. Just like you are doing.”

“You noticed?”

The bastard smiled and threw off the robe it had been wearing. Then it picked up one of the Magic Stones dangling all over its body and broke it as it was.

Seeing the enormous amount of black mana that instantly burst out, I clicked my tongue.

‘There seem to be well over thirty. I did not think it would use a storage method for black mana?’

It was an interesting idea.

In reality, a Magic Stone was a medium that accepted “power.”

It could accept mana, and it could also accept black mana and divine power.

The effect of the Magic Stone inevitably changed depending on what kind of power was stored. However, what was funny was that until now, I had not thought of putting black mana inside a Magic Stone.

The reason was simple.

There were various variables involved in putting black mana into a Magic Stone. Among them, the first variable was that the Magic Stone’s lifespan was cut down like crazy, making it impractical.

The second important problem was that there was nothing one could do with the black mana stored that way.

In effect, the method the Lich before my eyes was using was simply unusual.

‘Using high-capacity Magic Stones as consumables? What an ignorant bastard….’

It was using Grade 8 Magic Stones as disposable items.

How lamentable was that?

If I had those, it would be enough to make several mobile Magic Towers. They kept flashing before my eyes because it felt like such a waste, but the problem was that the bastard’s offensive had begun intensifying again.

Its attack power itself was not remarkable, but because various curses began appearing all over the place as if it were laying traps, the range of my movement was narrowing.

The decisive problem was that, perhaps because it was a Lich, it was basically using Quad Casting.

Compared to that, because of the limits of being human, I had to Dispel or cancel the curses, and the difficulty of doing that was the issue.

So I displayed wit and began wrapping those curses with resonance.

Each time my will manifested, the feeling that my mind was tiring was strong, but right now, I had no choice but to somehow endure. By repeatedly concentrating on it, I continued dragging out time while going back and forth with that bastard.

“How long are you planning to do nothing but run away?”

“My body is like glass, you see. Unfortunately, I would like you to play tag with me a little longer.”

“It seems there is nowhere left for you to dodge…?”

As the bastard said, the space inside the barrier was completely filled with lumps of mana I had made.

“I do not know how you maintain and raise mana without any will, but your limit is here. Your skill is a waste, so when I kill you, I will definitely recycle you as a Lich.”

“I refuse. I have no intention of dying, and my preparations are also complete.”

“What nonsense are you trying to say?”

I let out a deep sigh and showed it the Necronomicon in my hand.

“What do you think this book is?”

“Is it not a grimoire, the Necronomicon?”

“That’s right. But one of the Necronomicon’s functions has generally not been known.”

The bastard looked at me with its head tilted, as though asking what that was. It was then.

The book split wide open, and a mouth appeared.

And perhaps because it was a black mage and an undead Lich, it seemed able to hear the bastard’s voice.

That stupid skeleton bastard can only hear my voice when I allow it, like now. -

“Hah, this is astonishing. Was an ‘ego’ implanted in it?”

“I also thought it was an ego at first, but it was a little different in nature. And… it is a praiseworthy fellow that knows how to do amusing things too.”

After saying that, I snapped my fingers, and the barrier vanished as though washed away. But the Lich showed an expression as if it could not understand this situation.

“What… did you do?”

“With one barrier, I was able to sever the connection with the black mana containing your will. But if I install this barrier in a complex, multilayered manner, what do you think will happen?”

“…What did you do, I asked!!”

The gloomy weather remained the same, but the problem was that the outside, which should have been overflowing with black mana, was quiet, as though a calm fog had settled.

What that implied was clear.

It meant that I had been able to cut off the bastard’s control over the black mana.

To recover control once it had been cut off required a great deal of time and effort. Moreover, it had to fight against a competitor who could handle black mana in order to recover that control, and that was currently impossible.

“You will have to use all the Magic Stones you possess. That way, you will at least be able to try.”

Then I focused all the mana I possessed into the Necronomicon and said to it,

“Play with the Lich. I am thinking of devouring the control authority over the black mana that bastard has lost control of.”

-You insane human. Your mind will be blown away doing that. Do you think that is simply the mana you bastards handle? -

I knew what the Necronomicon was saying. But I had said I would do it because it was not impossible.

“Endure. You can do that, right?”

-K, kekeke…. I am helping you because you paid the price. -

What I had secretly delivered to it was Kasim’s soul.

His soul would be torn to pieces by the Necronomicon, and he would have to live eternally in pain. However, Kasim would achieve what he wanted.

His soul was that enormous and noble.

He had merely paid the price for a misjudgment. For now, I judged that if the Necronomicon could buy even a little time based on my mana, that would be enough.

And to seize control, I handed over all my mana.

At that moment, leaving behind the Necronomicon, which floated into the air and moved freely toward the Lich, I spread both arms wide and began drawing in the black mana that had lost control.

I actively used the power of resonance, and this was not simply manifesting will into the air, but an operation of engraving my will onto the countless extending “powers.” For that, I first had to contain the black mana in my own body.

How much I could contain and how much I could endure was something I would only know by trying. Just then, the Lich realized my intent and spoke while clashing noisily with the Necronomicon.

“In the end, you will destroy yourself. Do you think you can withstand that power with a worthless human body!!”

‘I know. It will certainly be hard enough to kill me, or I may die from the slightest wrong choice or judgment. However, if I can accept this well, endure it, and finally make it mine, I will be able to see the wall of an 8th Circle Master.’

I had long since surpassed the limits of a human.

So it was time to look beyond that.

Now was the time I had to accomplish it.

After creating the Keltium Golem, Go Yu-jin had entered inside after overlapping buffs on it.

The vicious black mana had struggled desperately to seize control of the golem, but she had already grasped the state of things enough to understand why Geum Seong-chan had told her to act only after applying buffs.

‘There are many undead. If they push with numbers, the limits of a human body will be clear even just because of corpse poison. Here, I have no choice but to act actively.’

Then Go Yu-jin transformed the Keltium Golem’s body and made it long and sharp, as she had when she captured Saturn before. This time, unlike then, she shaped it not into a net but into blades and began swinging them.

The undead were sliced apart as soon as they were caught. Various undead, including zombies, ghouls, and skeletons, rushed in, but no individual seemed capable of overcoming the wall called Go Yu-jin. At that moment, Go Yu-jin noticed an enemy charging with tremendous force and shouted.

“It’s a high-ranking undead. Everyone, widen your range and prepare for impact!!”

Along with the clear shout, Go Yu-jin’s golem collided with a skeleton that suddenly appeared. But the problem was that at the same time as a roar occurred, the golem’s body burst apart, and Go Yu-jin was rapidly pushed back by the tremendous amount of impact, to the point that she could not come to her senses.

‘A Death Knight!’

Just as she grew tense at the enemy individual that seemed to be not an ordinary Death Knight but an upper-rank Death Knight and quickly began restoring the broken parts,

“I cannot place every burden on you.”

Ben Smith gripped his holy sword and ran forward.

The sword, which radiated divinity to the fullest and shone brilliantly, drew a trajectory along with radiance.

Everything along the path of that trajectory was cut apart to an almost futile degree, but only the Death Knight offset the power by creating a collision sound and lightly withdrawing.

At that, even Ben clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“I have experienced countless undead, but this is my first time seeing an undead as remarkable as you. Whose soul did you devour?”

A Death Knight was made so that it could display most of its abilities from when it had been alive.

It meant that the stronger the material, the more absurd its abilities would become. In that sense, just as he was seriously wondering whether one of their comrades had become the material,

“There isn’t just one!! Prepare yourselves!!”

At that moment, Ben shouted after confirming a large number of Death Knights and Liches suddenly popping out and rushing in from all over the place. The other party members also had no choice but to raise their tension at the terrifying situation, even though they knew it was a trap.

At that, Go Yu-jin shouted toward the Saintesses.

“The buffs I requested…. Now!”

In the end, through the Saintesses gritting their teeth and exerting divine power, Go Yu-jin’s golem began to shine with a brilliant light.

A variable had appeared.