NOVEL NEXT Chapter 92
#92
Gooo—!
In the hideout of the Oath of Reversal, hidden in the Southern Wastes, the ritual was reaching its peak.
“—, ———!”
At the center of the ritual, an old man recited incantations continuously in front of a magic circle.
Ignoring the loud noise resonating around him, his eyes were filled with madness as he focused solely on completing the great magic.
Strange patterns drawn on the walls and ceiling continuously emitted black light, gradually enveloping the surroundings in darkness.
‘It’s progressing smoothly. Looks like there are no problems elsewhere either.’
A burly man watching the situation from a distance nodded with satisfaction.
The preparation period led by the old man for the ritual had taken a full 30 years.
Although the preparation in the Southern region had only started about 10 years ago, the prior preparations alone took an astonishing 30 years.
‘No, I heard that the plans were made even before that.’
He didn’t know the exact timing, as it was before he joined the Oath of Reversal, but it was a plan that required such a long dedication.
By now, all the magic deployed across the continent, arranged meticulously over those long years, should have activated simultaneously.
This would provide considerable assistance to the ritual taking place here, at the center of the great magic.
‘The moment of reward for all the hard work is finally here.’
Though they had tried to proceed as secretly as possible, preparing sacrificial rituals involving entire villages was no simple task.
Incidents of being caught by passing powerful individuals or the church were common, as well as plans being disrupted by residents sensing something off.
Each time, the organization cut its ties, downplaying the incidents as the acts of a mere black magician.
Despite countless failures, they managed to hide their original objectives.
‘If we could hold the ritual at the center of the continent, that would have been perfect, but that place has too strong an influence from the church, so it couldn’t be helped.’
Thus, they chose this wasteland situated between the central and southern regions.
This abandoned land, lacking in unique resources, was the most optimal place to carry out their plans.
Gooo—
How long had it been since the ritual began?
From the roiling darkness beneath the magic circle, a black column shot high into the sky.
Ignoring the ceiling, the black pillar reached upward as if dividing the sky with a black line visible even from afar.
“Khuh, kuhluk—!”
The old man presiding over the ritual coughed up black blood.
Dead blood flowed continuously from the wounds on his face, and his limbs shook uncontrollably.
Even as his dying body became an afterthought, he squeezed out the last remnants of his life force to complete the ritual.
Still, he hadn’t reached the desired goal.
‘To think that I can’t fully complete the great magic despite going this far…!’
In his lifetime, he had never seen anyone with greater magical talent than himself.
Lauded as a genius from a young age, he had even been mentioned as a leader at a young age, yet…
Despite dedicating 30 years to this, he couldn’t achieve perfection.
He couldn’t open the door to the ‘Abyss’ connecting to the bottom of the dimension.
‘That figure from a thousand years ago feels surprisingly impressive now…’
He had searched the entire continent for weakened boundaries with the Abyss, sacrificing entire villages nearby to provide energy.
Even though the continent’s top grand wizard, he led the ritual personally, and still, this was the outcome.
‘It’s fine… I expected this from the start. Everything is according to my calculations.’
Originally, his goal was not to completely draw ‘that’ out from the Abyss and become the second Undead King.
If it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough.
The old man tightly grasped the rocket necklace around his neck.
Without hesitation, he offered his soul and his very existence as a sacrifice.
Keheok—!
The ‘deeds’ and ‘rank’ of the grand wizard, now transcending the limits, became the fuel for the ritual and began to extinguish.
Even so, the door did not fully open, and all he could do was forcefully create a hole.
However, he achieved his primary objective.
Kik… Khihyahhat—!
He felt his soul scattering but couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Only anger and madness ruled his heart.
His thoughts became hazy, and the precious things that had sustained him began to disappear one by one.
At last, ‘that’ buried deep within the Abyss began to rise along the column.
Pususus—
As something emerged from the incomplete entrance of the Abyss, most of it was shed, revealing only a fragment.
That fragment burst forth from the black pillar…
Puwook—!
And immediately penetrated the old man’s heart.
Ding—!
The shock caused the string of the rocket necklace around his neck to snap and roll onto the ground, but he showed no reaction.
Now, he was merely an empty shell.
The thing that parasitized the old man’s heart, ‘Seed of Madness,’ fell into a deep slumber due to the imperfect summoning.
Having exited the Abyss, it had suffered over 90% loss, which was inevitable.
As a result, most of the madness that had fragmented surged upward through the black pillar, spreading across the entire continent.
Thus, the second Abyss opened.
And ‘madness’ took root across the continent.
*
‘The Oath of Reversal bastards opened the Abyss. I never thought they’d be this insane.’
I knew they were a shadowy organization, but I never imagined they could even open the Abyss.
It seemed I needed to reassess my evaluation of them.
To pull off an event like this couldn’t be achieved by a mere criminal organization; there must be some connection with high-ranking authorities.
‘That’s that.’
I had to take care of an important task.
Since they had stirred things to this extent, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
[What a large scale for a ritual. The energy of the continent is stirring… I need to see it for myself.]
Just as I was about to begin my ‘master bedroom theater’ operation, this was a variable that far exceeded any situation I had anticipated.
I needed to settle the matter with those bastards somehow.
In that moment, as Hans focused and began to track the center of energy, something wriggled within him.
Wriggle—
Something responded inside him.
– I won’t let it go! I will never let everyone on this continent go!
Huh? What is this?
– Bring death to the world! Revenge! Color this continent with death!
Suddenly, a will explosively erupted from within Hans.
The ‘Heart of the Undead King,’ which had now become his heart, transmitted the surge of thoughts.
It rapidly expanded, attempting to invade Hans’s mind.
– What are you doing? Hurry and become one with me! We must cover the world with death…
Immediately faced with the overwhelming thoughts, Hans frowned with blazing eyes.
He quickly grasped the situation but it certainly wasn’t what he had desired.
‘It’s the thought of the previous Undead King. Did it awaken because of the effect of the opened Abyss?’
This was not the will of the ‘Heart of the Undead King’ he had dealt with before, but the lingering thoughts of the previous Undead King that had been trapped there.
It seemed that for some reason, it had been dormant while the Abyss was closed, only to awaken due to this incident.
‘Is it the second Undead King? I hope it’s not the first… No, perhaps it could be both.’
Seeing it demand to merge with him, that seemed the most credible theory.
‘Since the Heart of the Undead King also originated from the Abyss, it seems to have been overly activated due to this situation.’
I felt irritation surge at the sudden circumstance.
That presence had caused an explosive increase in the data within the “Mind Hub,” leaving Hans with no time to spare.
With the Heart of the Undead King already draining his reserves, the thoughts of the previous king were certainly not to be underestimated.
[Hoo— How dare the specters of the past give me orders!]
– Come out and be one with me… What?
[A loser dares to chatter. I will handle my affairs; you simply vanish silently. If you keep barking, I can’t endure this noise.]
-… Hah…
The thoughts transmitted from the heart hesitated a moment at Hans’s remark.
But it was only for the briefest of moments.
– … Ha, ha ha ha—! You! You have escaped the ‘will of death’! You maintain your self-awareness! Thus, you have not yet become one of us! Ha ha ha ha!
The thoughts erupted into a mad laughter, ringing in his head again.
– I… we! Are still ensnared by ‘death’ like this! Ah—! O death, grant us complete death! O death—! …ah, color the continent with death! Ah hahaha!
‘Seems like it’s properly gone mad.’
If their mind was intact, they wouldn’t have accepted the Heart of the Undead King in the first place.
After all, they had spent hundreds of years ensnared in the death of the Abyss, so it was only natural they ended up like this.
‘Whether it’s a true soul caught or just a fragment of thought doesn’t really matter.’
What mattered now was that due to this presence, he was unable to take any action in an already busy situation.
‘But it wouldn’t do to just sit idly by while the Abyss would close and put them back to sleep.’
I already owned the “Heart of the Undead King.”
Though it had been used, it hadn’t shown noticeably negative effects, but now that I discovered it bore the previous owner’s name, I needed to scrape it off somehow.
Conducting a reflection of my heart through the skill “Undying Heart,” Hans soon spotted a foreign substance.
Found it.
An intangible concept-like thought had adhered to his heart.
Yet, finding it was one thing; figuring out how to remove it was another issue.
‘It is neither a substantial entity nor an energy body. It’s just like the many negative emotions contained in the heart; that thought is a part of those emotions… Wait? Emotions?’
Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind.
The “Mind Hub,” which he had frequently relied upon, was not suitable for this situation.
What he needed now was a more direct way to influence emotions… and he had just the skill for that.
‘”Persona.”’
Originally used to embody the host’s emotions into an avatar, over time it had evolved to amplify and control certain emotions.
That was the answer he sought.
The Heart of the Undead King was already one with Hans. The skill “Undying Heart” proved that.
Then, the emotions contained within could also be regarded as Hans’s own, couldn’t they?
If so, removing the thoughts that had never been one with him should be feasible.
Gaining confidence, Hans boldly addressed the thoughts.
[Stop yapping and wait quietly. I’ll extinguish you for good.]
– Extinguish…? Extinguish! Eternal death! To disappear from this world! Death!!
The thought, previously throwing a fit, responded again to Hans’s words.
It was an unexpectedly intense reaction.
– Ahaha! If you truly grant me eternal death, I’ll give you a present! Something you should have had but couldn’t!
Curiosity was piqued in that moment, but what good was talking further with a madman?
Hans immediately focused inward through the “Undying Heart.”
The first thing he saw was… all sorts of negative emotions, including death.
Those were emotions concentrated in the original ‘Heart of the Undead King,’ too heavy and sticky to even consider touching.
‘That wasn’t my original goal anyway.’
What he aimed for was the fragment-like thought mixed inside.
Given the short mixing period and its inherently alien nature, separating it wasn’t particularly challenging.
Just as Hans used “Persona” to slowly disassemble that thought…
– Ah… It’s scattering. It’s being extinguished! Eternal death approaches!
The thought, continuously crying out for death, began to shine with ecstatic tones.
– A gift! I shall give you a gift! It will help you paint this continent with death!
What the thought referred to as a gift became clear quickly.
A part of the thought was separating, differentiating into a portion that simply contained information and one that had its own self.
The information housed within the thought seemed to be the gift.
‘I’m not sure how helpful that will be, but it’s better than nothing.’
Hans boldly separated the self-aware thought and scattered it away.
– Ah… O death… that brilliant…
The lingering words of the previous Undead King’s thoughts faded as it vanished.
Finally, Hans could enjoy some peaceful moments.
‘Hoo, I feel relieved now. More importantly, I’ve delayed too long.’
Dealing with the thoughts caused significantly more time to pass than expected.
‘What could this gift be? If it’s at best information from 300 years ago, it doesn’t seem very beneficial.’
The most likely scenario was knowledge or experience about magic… but that wasn’t likely to lack given that he had “Evil Wisdom,” “Forbidden Knowledge,” and the “Path of Sorcery” encompassing the principles of other dimensions.
As he checked the gift with a light heart, he was taken aback at the unexpected information contained within.
‘Oh…? This is indeed worth calling a gift?’
Of course, it made sense, as it precisely matched what the thought had referred to as ‘something I should have had but didn’t.’
‘This will be quite the advantageous variable.’
It was information concerning the ‘Legacy of the Undead King.’