Chapter 19
Simon took out two lanterns from subspace. He held one himself and placed the other in the skeleton’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
The skeleton took the lead, and Simon followed behind.
Inside the ruin, there was nothing but darkness. The chill from the stone floor seemed to travel up through his feet and legs.
There were no railings or anything of the sort, so he stepped forward cautiously, believing that one wrong move would mean certain death.
‘This is……’
As he descended the stairs, he saw inscriptions on the wall—letters that couldn’t be deciphered.
But somehow, they looked familiar. Had he seen them recently?
Simon dug through his memory carefully.
‘Right, ancient runes!’
They resembled the very ancient runes Eric had explained during Darkness Dynamics class.
Then was this place an ancient ruin? Why was it near Keyzen?
While pondering countless unanswered questions, Simon continued downward.
Tap.
At last, he reached the bottom of the stairs. He had come down quite a bit, for even when he shone the lantern upward, the ceiling was nowhere in sight.
He needed to widen the search area. Simon summoned a second skeleton, handed it a lantern, and gave it a search command.
Simon himself also walked, illuminating his surroundings with the lantern. The walls and floor were densely covered with ancient runes.
‘If the runes are this extensive……’
Then this entire ruin was essentially a colossal magical device.
Click! Click!
At that moment, the skeleton signaled it had found something. Simon rushed over.
‘What is this?’
Amid the dense runes stood an altar, and atop it rested a skull.
Simon placed the lantern on the altar and carefully brushed the skull.
‘……’
A strange jolt coursed up his arm.
Simon didn’t know much about undead, but his instincts could tell.
This was the remains of an undead so ancient and horrifically dangerous, it defied comprehension.
Simon cautiously lifted the skull.
Clatter!
“Uwah!”
As he raised the skull, bones rained down from the ceiling. Simon quickly stepped back and dodged.
“S-Scared me.”
The skeletons approached and shone their lanterns on the floor. Staring down at it, Simon picked up one of the bones.
“……Number 2?”
Muttering to himself, Simon inserted it beneath the skull.
It fit perfectly, like solving a puzzle.
“…….”
A strange thrill stirred deep in his chest.
He wanted to assemble this undead. He had no idea what this thing would do if it awakened, or what harm it might cause him.
Even so, if there was ever a time in life to bet everything boldly, Simon felt that time was now.
Resolved, Simon placed the skull on the altar and pressed his palm to the handprint etched below. Then, just like before, he summoned Darkness.
Woooooong!
“Urgh!”
He had only invoked a little Darkness, yet it felt like all the Darkness within his body was being drawn into the altar.
The altar began to hum and emit a deep blue light, and in the skull’s eye sockets, a faint blue flame ignited.
‘Hmm. So this alone doesn’t complete it?’
Simon brought bone number 2 closer to the skull.
Click!
It attached magnetically. The skeleton-type undead’s signature “attraction” had activated.
‘Nice.’
Simon set down the skull and began the real assembly.
As if possessed, he matched the bones one after another, and the feeling in his hands was better than ever.
He connected the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae in order to form a spine, then attached the scapula, clavicle, and humerus in front of it, adding ribs to construct the upper body.
Below, he picked up the pelvic bone and added it beneath the coccyx to form the pelvis. Femurs, tibias, and kneecaps followed, slowly shaping the legs.
‘Worth grinding Summonology since morning!’
He wasn’t 100% sure, but this skeleton followed the structure of a “human” skeleton. With his instincts and Summonology knowledge combined, Simon had no trouble assembling it.
However, this skeleton was far too tall.
Kneeling down to assemble it, Simon eventually had to squat, straighten his knees, stand on tiptoes, and finally even climb onto the altar, struggling as he worked.
It would’ve helped if the skeleton had just bent down, but it didn’t obey his commands. As soon as its legs were complete, it stood upright on its own.
‘Should’ve started with the arms!’
Groaning, Simon finished attaching the remaining arms. Then he stepped back a little and looked at the skeleton with a pounding heart.
“Woooow……”
A massive skeleton over 2 meters tall stood firmly before him. It was an awe-inspiring sight, but it still didn’t move.
“What now?”
Simon folded his arms, thinking hard—when suddenly,
Flaaaaaaash!
Brilliant moonlight poured down from the ceiling like a curtain of light.
The moment the moonlight struck the skull, the blue flames in its eye sockets flared up like blazing torches.
[Heh. Haha! Hahahahahahahahahaha!]
With that booming laughter, the floor and walls of the ruin quaked. The runes on the walls peeled off and flowed through the air, forming currents that draped over the skeleton like fine robes.
The runes were being absorbed into the skeleton’s joints and bones.
[At last! At last, I have returned!]
At the thunderous declaration, Simon covered his ears. The Darkness erupting from the skeleton’s body resembled a violent tidal wave.
[Who has awakened me!]
The skeleton’s head creaked as it turned. Then it saw Simon standing by the wall.
Step. Step.
The massive figure approached Simon. Then it leaned its head in close, right in front of Simon’s nose, studying him.
Simon had to try very hard not to scream.
[State your name, human.]
“S-Simon Follentia.”
The skeleton tilted its skull to the side.
[You’re Follentia……?]
Kahahahahahahaha!
Its deafening laughter echoed throughout the ruin. Cold sweat trickled down Simon’s back.
[I see! Could it be, you’re Richard’s descendant!]
“Yes.”
Simon steadied his racing heart and replied,
“I’m his son.”
[Hahahahaha! Yes! Yes! So that’s it! No wonder the Darkness felt familiar! Only Richard could’ve awakened me!]
The skeleton turned around. A shadowy cloak-like presence fluttered behind it.
“……Who are you?”
This time, Simon asked. The skeleton stopped walking and looked back with a grin.
The fact that a skeleton could even make a facial expression was odd, but it clearly did.
Its mouth opened, its nasal cavity flared, and its blazing eyes gleamed with intense curiosity. It looked just like a living human.
[I am Feer, master of the battalion.]
Feer spoke.
[Once, I rampaged across the continent alongside your father, Richard!]
Simon’s eyes gleamed with astonishment.
That was his father’s undead?
Feer, who had been laughing heartily, stretched out his neck and continued.
[Before that, let me ask. Who led you here?]
There was a sharpness in his voice.
It felt like he was being tested, and Simon swallowed hard before answering.
“Neftis Arkbold.”
[Ah.]
Feer’s lips curled into a grin.
[Hehehe, so that’s how it is! That woman, yes, I suppose she would do something like that! Very well!]
Whoooooosh!
A storm-like gust swept through the chamber. Light poured into the entire ruin, and the air itself seemed to scream.
[Form a contract with me, Simon Follentia! And lead the ‘Legion’!]
The undead of his father shouted with arms wide open.
[The Legion will become your will, trampling everything in your way! All things in this world will kneel at your feet and bow their heads!]
His excited voice made the ruin hum and resonate.
[But know this! You will inevitably walk a path reeking of blood! That too is fate! Son of Richard, are you prepared to lead the Legion?!]
Simon bit his lip, troubled. Feer grinned slyly as he circled around him.
[Are you afraid? Are you terrified? Standing before power, what calculations spin in your mind, boy!]
Though it was once his father’s power, it remained an unknown force.
Simon knew nothing about what the Legion was, what the blood-reeking path entailed, the conditions of the contract, or what limitations it might carry.
However—
“I have a question.”
Instead of an answer, a question came. Feer’s face crumpled with displeasure.
[Speak.]
“I don’t know what use you are. This Legion… is it strong?”
Halt.
Feer’s steps came to a stop.
[Heh. Heheheheh! Pfft! Khahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha!]
Boom!
The air vibrated, and dirt crumbled down from the ceiling.
Usefulness, he says! Usefulness!
This boy wasn’t lost in fear or confusion, he dared to evaluate the Legion!
[A fine question, human! Strong, you ask? If you wish, shall I bring down all of Keyzen right now?]
Gooooooooh!
Sinister wails of the dead echoed from every corner. It was a horrifying sight, but Simon’s expression remained unchanged.
[Very well! I shall answer your question!]
Feer withdrew his power and spoke.
[Your father already disbanded the Legion once! And I was sealed here! But now, with you awakening me, the master, the Legion has been ‘reborn’ at its first moment.]
“The first moment.”
[Indeed! But if you rally the scattered forces of the Legion, and restore its former strength—]
Feer’s mouth curled into a smirk.
[—then none on this continent shall stand in your way.]
“Alright.”
Simon nodded.
“I’ll form the contract.”
[Kuhuhuhuhu!]
Feer wrapped his arms around Simon and leapt, landing atop the altar.
[Place your hand upon my ‘Core’!]
Feer’s ribcage spread open, and inside, a pulsating mass of dark magic throbbed like a beating heart.
Simon obediently placed his palm on it.
[Once this contract is sealed, your life will be completely transformed! Are you not afraid?!]
“There’s nothing to fear.”
Simon said calmly.
“If you really are my father’s army, then it’s only natural that I take command.”
[Kahahahahahaha! Excellent! That’s the spirit I wanted!]
Outwardly calm, modest in appearance, a seemingly ordinary boy, but now and then, the qualities of a conqueror would show.
‘You raised a fine son, Richard! This one is not like you!’
Though his current mastery of dark magic seemed lacking, he possessed immense potential. And unlike Richard, he had a well-grounded sense of self and emotional stability, a mentally complete being.
Feer was thoroughly satisfied with this boy.
[Now begins the contract! Don’t die on me, Simon Follentia!]
Superb.