Chapter 392
"......."
Sillage opened his eyes.
A barren desert stretched out before him, with nothing but sand in sight.
"This is... I see."
Sillage smiled.
"A dungeon made from a special ability."
And a short distance away, Simon was standing. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Judging by your expression, I guess no one told you about this technique."
"Well, even a professor can’t know everything about all his students."
[Ahhhh! What do I do! What do I do!]
The two looked up.
A giant pair of eyes loomed in the blue sky, gazing down upon the land.
[I ended up using the third authority again! What should I do! When the barrier ends, the Life Vessel will definitely break this time!]
"Calm down, Herseba."
Simon comforted her with a gentle voice.
"I'll figure something out."
He spoke confidently, but in truth, Simon was deeply worried.
The opponent was Professor Keyzen.
Shatel, who was first summoned into the dungeon, was strong—but this was a completely different caliber.
‘Can I defeat him before Herseba’s dungeon collapses?’
“To lighten the mood, let me share an interesting fact.”
Though they were deep within enemy territory, Sillage looked completely relaxed.
“Right before I was dragged into this space, the ‘Bloodstone Castle spell was completed. I can tell for sure since the Darkness I used hasn’t returned to me. In other words, when this dungeon collapses and I get out—”
A sly grin formed on his lips.
“You’ll be dead, Simon Follentia.”
“That's unnecessary information.”
Simon raised both his arms.
Rrrummbbllle!
From the vast expanse of desert sand, the majestic structures of a golden city began to rise simultaneously.
“Because I’m going to eliminate you first.”
“Bold. I don’t dislike the reckless spirit of the young.”
Boom! Boom!
Temples, obelisks, gardens, plazas, and theaters.
As the countless buildings and structures erupted from the ground, their doors flew open, and the city’s residents poured out.
Gyaa gyaa gyak!
Gyagyagyak!
Thousands of mummies wrapped in bandages emerged, staggering forward.
“Ancient undead? Impressive.”
Sillage stroked his chin, then began preparing black magic.
Drops of blood seeped from his body, forming magic circles of blood.
They numbered 30, then 60, and now over 100. These small and large circles exchanged data, interlocking like gears, preparing something massive.
[Be careful, boy!]
Even Feer sensed the threat and gave a warning. Simon nodded and gave a command.
“Advance!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thousands of mummies began a frenzied charge, screeching as they marched. Sillage observed quietly, then began overlapping and condensing the floating magic circles.
It had surpassed the realm of a magic formation. It had become a vast city of letters.
“I’ll show you…”
All the magic circles activated at once.
“…what overwhelming power looks like.”
Drip. Drip.
Then the unthinkable happened. At the center of the circle, the rune letters began weeping tears of blood.
Drip by drip, the tears formed a river of blood, branching into thousands of streams, resembling veins of a body.
“!”
The veins passed beneath the feet of the mummies, even under Simon. The entire desert was being covered.
At last, the preparation was complete, and Sillage unleashed his black magic.
<Fountain of Blood, Harry Hellens>
The desert surged upward.
At the heart of the golden city, where the mummies poured forth, the land abruptly rose, forming the crater of a towering volcano.
‘Wait, this is just like what I saw before entering the dungeon…!’
[Get out of the way! Boy!]
KABOOOOOM!
The volcano erupted.
But it wasn't magma or pyroclastic flow that burst forth.
‘Blood…!’
It was the blood of blood-flow magic.
A vivid red liquid, so intense it hurt the eyes, shot into the air. The blood magma, covering the sky, split into countless droplets midair.
As they rained down on the golden city, buildings collapsed in explosive blasts of blood. The mummies within range were completely wiped out.
“Historically, it’s always been tragic natural disasters that destroyed highly advanced civilizations.”
Sillage spoke.
“Now, taste the power of disaster, conjured through blood-flow magic.”
From every direction, more craters formed, spewing blood. The spewing volcanoes looked like wounded living beings.
As the mummies emerged from the doors, they were caught in the blood explosions and fell one by one. The stench of blood was overwhelming.
Slash!
Simon personally swung his greatsword, slicing apart one crater, but there were far too many.
‘At this rate, we’ll be annihilated!’
They had to eliminate the cause of the disaster, the caster.
Simon gathered mounted mummy cavalry and launched a direct charge at Sillage.
Thududududu!
The sound of hooves thundered across the land. But with a mere flick of Sillage’s hand, the ground rose before them, and another blood volcano erupted.
“Urgh!”
Simon jumped off his horse just in time. Blood rain poured down, followed by an explosion that wiped out the mummies.
“How many cities and nations do you think I’ve destroyed in my lifetime?”
Sillage’s eyes gleamed.
“The time I’ve built up is different—”
Drip.
Just then, blood trickled from Sillage’s mouth.
He grimaced and clutched his left chest where his heart was. Blood vessels burst in his eyes, and nosebleeds gushed down.
‘Again, huh.’
With a bitter smile, he looked at his chest.
Sillage’s congenital limitation.
His beginning, and his end.
It was the ‘heart’ that had been destroyed by his father.
To fix this heart, Sillage had become stronger, founded the Blood Heaven Cult, and rose to the top as a renowned blood-flow sorcerer.
But no matter what body he took, he couldn’t rid himself of the pain from his heart.
‘I need to hurry and perform the ritual, offer the sacrifices, and summon the Apostle.’
Everything was ready.
The fresh, talented first-years had all been “sacrificed”. The dungeon master had been subdued.
The dungeon’s entrance was sealed with the Ring of Blood.
All that remained was to go outside and activate the black magic.
Thus, the great project of the Blood Heaven Cult, the Apostle, would descend upon the world.
The "partner" who had always funded Sillage planned to use this powerful being to throw the continent into chaos. But in this one matter, Sillage’s intention differed.
‘I will devour the Apostle.’
He would consume the Apostle and obtain its body.
The Apostle had twenty hearts.
One broken heart wouldn’t matter.
By consuming the Apostle and becoming it, he would finally transcend the limitation of his heart, and the world would be in his grasp.
Cough! Cough!
Spitting blood, he opened his palm.
A puddle of blood filled it. Soon, this torment would end.
“Herseba!”
Simon thrust both hands into the sand.
“Sorry, but I’m summoning more!”
With a mighty pull, a large stable-like structure rose in front of him. From within, bandaged mummy cavalry poured out.
“Numbers are always tricky to deal with.”
Sillage wiped the blood from his chin and pulled his arm behind him.
“What do you think was the fundamental reason I could hide my identity from the Keyzen HQ?”
Rrrrrrrumble!
Simon’s eyes widened in shock.
A crimson portal opened behind him, and countless people began walking out of it.
“Because I possessed a secret technique known only to the Blood Heaven Cult, one that no necromancer is aware of.”
Simon was appalled.
‘Impossible! They're entering directly into Herseba’s dungeon?’
That wasn’t subspace or a teleportation circle.
It was a mysterious space magic.
The number of newcomers easily exceeded a thousand. Most importantly, among them walked a familiar red zombie.
‘Blood Zombies!’
Rage burned in Simon’s eyes.
These undead, against whom he’d fought to the death aboard the Holy Federation’s sacred train, were made mostly from kidnapped Federation civilians. In other words, their main ingredient was human.
Even the ordinary cultists looked abnormal. Though they had avoided zombification thanks to the complete Blood Core, their eyes were unfocused, and their bodies emaciated.
[They look worse than death.]
Even Feer, an ancient undead, muttered such sentiment.
Squish! Step! Step!
Countless cultists of the Blood Heaven Cult, along with the Blood Zombies, filled one side of the desert.
Among them, three individuals stood out especially.
“You summoned us, Archbishop?”
A man dragging two bloodstained crosses.
“Hehehe! Do we finally get to see the Apostle?”
A bizarre woman with her entire body pierced and her tongue sticking out.
“It’s always like this around here.”
A man with a ponytail, muttering with a bored expression.
These three were all of “bishop” rank in the Blood Heaven Cult—on par with, or stronger than, Aloken, the boss from the Holy Train.
“Simon Follentia. Take a good look, feel it, and despair. You are now—”
Sillage spread his arms with a twisted smile.
“Facing the entirety of the Blood Heaven Cult.”
WAAAAAAAH!
The cult’s fanatics screamed with joy until their throats tore.
-Kyagagak!
Mummies, riled by the noise, charged forward, but the three bishops each used different blood-flow magic to rip them apart and landed in front of Sillage.
“Archbishop. Should we kill that boy?”
Asked the bishop with the two crosses, looking back at Sillage. He nodded.
“Yes.”
The moment his command was given, bloodlust erupted from all three of them.
Simon’s expression stiffened.
Craack!
Craack craack!
‘Ah.’
To make matters worse, cracks began forming all around Herseba’s “World of Sand”. She too had reached her limit.
If the World of Sand collapsed now, the problem wouldn’t be Sillage’s black magic, it would be having to fight thousands of cultists.
“.......”
A hopeless situation.
And yet, Simon found himself smiling.
‘Despair, huh.’
Was this truly a hopeless situation?
No.
Not yet.
His mind was still turning, his brain still circling around the chance of victory.
Simon lifted his head, and a gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Kid's got a killer look in his eyes."
The bishop with the ponytail muttered, flinching. The female bishop nudged his arm.
"Don’t let your guard down. He may look young, but he’s someone the archbishop requested support for."
Simon lowered the palm that had been covering his forehead and exhaled a long breath.
Chance of victory.
A way to win.
"Herseba."
[Kiddo! Augh! I can’t last much longer!]
"There is one way to win."
Simon rolled up his sleeve and showed the bracelet on his wrist. After sending Darkness into the bracelet, he lightly tapped it with his fingertip, and a subspace opened.
Herseba’s subspace, created by the subspace artisan, Gellen Eclipse.
Inside that narrow space sat the Lich’s main body. Between its chest bones, the Life Vessel was pulsing steadily.
Simon reached out toward the Life Vessel.
[Boy! Don’t tell me—!]
Feer read Simon’s thoughts and gasped.
[That’s impossible! A Life Vessel is a completely different concept from a Core!]
"This is the only way."
Simon’s face was tense, but a confident smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"I will pull this off, no matter what."
Truthfully, touching this meant he wouldn’t be able to use Herseba again—whether in Keyzen or outside.
He still remembered clearly how much effort it took to create her.
But—
'There are too many lives riding on this now.'
The faces of Maelyn and his friends, turned into sacrifices, surfaced in his mind.
Shaking off hesitation, Simon placed his hand on Herseba’s Life Vessel and poured Darkness into it.
Kyaaaaaah!
Simon’s Darkness began to interfere with Herseba’s Life Vessel.
[Urgh!]
Herseba groaned in pain. The cracks in the dungeon she was maintaining spread faster.
"Puhaha! What’s he doing?"
"He’s breaking the space for us? Even better."
The bishops and Blood Heaven Cultists snickered.
Crackle!
Crack-crack-crack!
Simon’s Darkness and Herseba’s Darkness clashed violently, intertwining and colliding.
‘Breaking it myself? Not a chance.’
Legionization.
Simon was trying to transform Herseba into a Legion-type Undead.
Of course, no one—not even Richard—had ever attempted to legionize a Life Vessel. It was unprecedented, and as it stood, the Life Vessel would explode.
Pop!
The first ring maintaining the Life Vessel snapped.
Pop! Pop!
The second and third rings broke as well. The final central core wobbled dangerously.
"Herseba!"
Simon’s eyes sharpened.
"I’m your creator! I’ll never let you go!"
[You crazy bastard! gack! What are you even saying now…! Urghgrrghk!]
"Trust me!"
Simon shouted with wide eyes, nosebleed running down his face. He was also experiencing symptoms of Darkness reflux.
"Trust me, and open your heart!"
His brain boiled, an electric surge snapped through his thoughts.
He could do it.
He would succeed.
At the moment he focused all consciousness to a single point, the bishops’ mockery, the sounds of the mummies and cultists clashing—all faded away.
Sound vanished, and time slowed.
The slower the time, the clearer his perception became.
He projected Darkness into Herseba’s Life Vessel, and drew rings around it as it began to collapse.
‘First ring.’
He created a new ring with legionized Darkness.
‘Second ring.’
Next to it, the second ring intersected.
"He’s doing something!"
"Stop him!"
The bishop wielding crosses charged past the mummies toward Simon.
[It’s useless, human!]
CLANG!
Before anyone knew it, Feer, now out of Bone Armor mode, slammed his Greatsword of Destruction into the bishop’s cross. The bishop’s eyes bulged.
"W-What? What is this undead?"
[Kahahaha!]
BOOM!
With the next strike, Feer sent the bishop flying. He turned to look behind him.
[Do whatever you want, boy!]
Feer’s mouth opened wide.
[You’re that man’s son, after all!]
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
At last, the moment the three rings formed from legion power overlapped on Herseba’s heart.
The crumbling World of Sand completely changed.
"!"
Night descended upon the desert.
The clear, pristine sky turned a deep indigo.
Herseba’s eye in the sky, once cloudy, now gleamed with the same dark blue glow as Simon’s Darkness.
Rrrrrrrrumble!
Rrrrmmble!
The Blood Heaven Cultists panicked and froze. The halted golden city was rising once again.
"W-What’s going on!?"
"More mummies are coming!"
The cultists began stepping back in fear. Herseba’s excited voice rang out.
[Kiddo! Kiddo! What did you just do? Power is surging through me!]
"Welcome to the Legion, Herseba."
Kneeling on one knee, Simon panted and smiled wide.
"You can do more, right?"
[Of course—!]
Simon recalled what Magnus had said when they met to negotiate Akemius prisoner exchange.
—Wanna know something? The true way to use Ancient Undead.
The true way to use Ancient Undead.
Ever since hearing that from Magnus, Simon had been thinking—he hadn’t yet drawn out the true power of a Legion Commander.
Right now.
‘I’m going beyond my limits!’
What needed to be done was clear. And now that he was more tightly connected with Herseba, he understood.
The true power of the World of Sand.
‘Herseba’s authority isn’t about creating mummies, it’s about summoning the mummy forces she owns. If that’s the case…!’
Don’t set limits, expand freely.
Herseba is the Legion, and the Legion is me.
Therefore—
Herseba can now summon more than just mummies.
Fssssssssssssssssssssss!
To the right of the center.
Something was rising from the desert.
It was a large mansion.
And that wasn’t all. Around the mansion, faded buildings like a ghost city rose up, forming an undying realm of death.
[Uhaha! This is insane!]
The mansion’s door burst open.
Out walked a young boy wearing a faded crown. He touched his body in disbelief.
[Simon! How did you bring me here?]
Ancient Undead Prince.
In the middle of the desert, Deathland was being reconstructed. From the ghost city’s buildings, countless zombies began pouring out.
"2 o’clock! A large zombie force appearing at 2 o’clock!"
"Over 3,000 units minimum!"
"Where are they coming from?"
The cultists, stunned by the sudden enemy forces, looked panicked.
[No idea what just happened!]
Prince struck a pose with his right hand over his face.
[General of the Legion Zombie Unit! The Hero Prince has arrived!]
-Uoooooooooooh!
-Grooooaaah!
A black wave of zombies surged like a tsunami.
[Noisy bunch.]
At the same time, from the opposite side of Deathland, another presence emerged.
The cultists’ attention shifted in that direction.
-Kiriririririk!
-Kiririk!
That entire area had become a spider lair, covered in webs. At the center, sitting on a web, a woman crossed her legs.
[General of the Spider Unit, and the most loyal servant of the Legion Commander.]
With a seductive smile, she rose to her feet.
[My name is Erzebet.]
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
From the rear of the formation—
Tall trees burst forth as the center of the desert transformed into a jungle.
[I was waiting at the ruins, but you summoned me. And to the most ideal battlefield, no less.]
From the nest in the trees, Harpy undead—Skullwings—dropped down.
And leading them, a man shouted:
[General of the Skullwing Unit, Akemius! I have answered Young Master’s call!]
-Screeeee!
-Screeeee!
The Skullwings filled the sky.
"Now then, Sillage’s specter. And Blood Heaven Cult."
Simon grinned as he stood beside Feer.
"I’ll return your words exactly. Take a good look, feel it, and despair. You are now—"
He spread both arms.
"—facing the Legion."
UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!
The dead gathered in the desert night let out a thunderous roar.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters