Chapter 9

Chapter 9
## Chapter 9

Fragments of the Immortal King (2)

The dark spellcaster positioning himself at the entry portal locked eyes directly with me.

He had actually been quite a cooperative partner when it came to collecting intel alongside Jeraf.

[Greetings! The climate is exceptionally pleasant today, wouldn’t you agree?]

I offered a genial welcome, but my friendliness was met with an icy, silent rejection.

Refusing to even glance in my direction, he spun on his heel and began to sprint away, terrified to utter a single phrase.

[Honestly, it genuinely stings to be snubbed in that manner,] I muttered, attempting to comfort my wounded spirits at his frosty behavior.

I shifted my gaze to the dependable companions standing by my side, who offered a unique sense of security.

[Heh heh heh…]

Rattle—clack—

The hallway grew pitch-black like spilled ink, saturated with the suffocating stench of demise radiating from my skeletal forces, resoundingly echoing with hundreds of malicious, glowing eyes.

The dark outlines that materialized through the gloom were uniformly magnificent, radiating an unshakeable aura of raw power.

‘Hmm… They certainly present a terrifying silhouette.’

Yet, regardless of how menacing my allies appeared, I refused to condone treating individuals poorly based solely on outward looks.

The intrinsic nature of a soul was what truly carried weight, and I possessed total faith in that regard.

‘Besides, that cranium is quite sharp. The skeletal frame is brilliantly buffed as well.’

[Khehehek—]

“Damn it! By what means did you arrive here?! Keep away from me!”

Thud!

The retreating dark spellcaster found himself boxed in by phantoms materializing straight from the earth near the threshold of the structure. Cut off from any route of escape, he was backed into a corner and forced to fight.

In truth, I never harbored the slightest intention of permitting his departure from the very start.

My goal was to completely wipe out every single dark wizard and their loyal lackeys residing within this settlement.

I instantly projected my intent to the entirety of my skeletal horde.

[Slaughter every living human inside this settlement. Ensure not a single soul slips away.]

I didn’t waste a moment fretting over whether any blameless captives were trapped within the walls.

My heightened sensory ability, ‘life detection,’ swept across the entire perimeter of the settlement, granting me the capacity to pinpoint the malevolent energy of every single entity dwelling within it.

There were absolutely no innocent bystanders residing in this place.

[Kieek!]

Clatter, snap!

Hundreds of skeletal warriors behind me surged past the cornered dark spellcaster at the threshold, flooding deep into the heart of the settlement.

They moved to seal off the outer boundaries to choke off any escape routes while simultaneously launching an assault from within.

Swoosh!

Clash!

“Agh, in a place like this…! Falling to monstrosities like these!”

The cornered dark spellcaster unleashed a barrage of diverse enchantments, desperately struggling for survival.

I carefully managed my skeletal units, driving him to exhaust the absolute limit of his capabilities.

This wasn’t born out of kindness. Rather…

Whish!

[Hmm… Does the structure work like this? It genuinely isn’t all that complex once you see it.]

I spoke softly to myself while observing the dark, unholy embers dancing across the palm of my hand.

The trait ‘Vile Wisdom’ provided me with a flawless comprehension and inherent gift for mastering forbidden magic.

Even so, I still required the actual absorption of ‘knowledge’ to deploy it effectively.

While I could intuitively comprehend and neutralize the defensive spell at the hidden corridor’s entry point via physical contact, distinct types of dark sorcery demanded a different approach.

[Kueee—]

Slam!

And right before me stood an ideal set of instructional guides.

I intently monitored my skeletal forces being ripped apart by the malevolent energies, soaking up every bit of real-world application like a sponge.

Furthermore, ‘Vile Wisdom’ didn’t merely permit me to replicate what I witnessed; it actively guided me to realize superior pathways for refinement, practical execution, and evolving offshoot techniques.

“Agh… *Cough!*”

I believed I had granted him ample breathing room while maintaining the strain, but the dark spellcaster, overextending his magical core, hit his absolute breaking point, coughing up crimson fluids before collapsing forward.

‘Well, I have extracted every bit of utility from him. His fate is irrelevant now.’

As the skeletal horde swarmed forward, burying the falling spellcaster beneath them, I systematically categorized my thoughts.

‘It was an immense stroke of fortune that I succeeded in taking down Jeraf through a stealth attack.’

Engaging an adversary of that caliber using only superior skeletons would have been an exercise in futility. Had Jeraf stood on equal footing with this particular dark spellcaster, I would have been utterly annihilated.

‘At this point, the groundwork is essentially complete. Shall we greet the visitors… or rather, the bandits who have occupied the property?’

Boom!

The protective barrier enveloping the entire structure shattered violently, and an object hurtled straight toward me, breaking into countless fragments upon impact.

It was one of the skeletal units I had deployed earlier, the most potent asset among them—the Death Knight.

“You… How dare you pull this…!”

Malcolm, an elderly man whose features were twisted in pure rage, stepped into the structure wrapped in a dark vestment, gripping a staff tipped with a skull.

I cast my gaze behind Malcolm.

I had dispatched all three Death Knights specifically to buy precious minutes, yet nothing remained of them but shattered remnants.

I had suspected this outcome the moment my mental link with them snapped, but it was an unavoidable sacrifice.

Though their condition was far from ideal, the Death Knight ranked among the highest echelons of the undead, making them incredibly difficult to reclaim.

Losing such assets merely to delay an enemy was a bitter pill to swallow, but no alternative existed.

The moment I sensed the sheer magnitude of this old man’s energy echoing across the village, I concluded that my current undead forces could do nothing more than delay him.

Consequently, I required a window of time to integrate and familiarize myself with forbidden sorcery before confronting him face-to-face.

[Greetings, Village Chief. It has been quite some time. Have you been keeping well?]

“What?! Who stands there?!”

[Me? It is simply me. Have you truly wiped me from your thoughts?]

He had completely erased both my appearance and vocal cadence from his memory, prompting me to scrape at my bare cranium with one hand while projecting my magical frequency aloud.

[Well, if your memory fails you, there is little I can do to mend it… Though, if I recall, I originally intended to remain for a mere two days to assist with the community labor before moving on, correct?]

“Two days? You… you are Hans! You somehow managed to transition into an Elite Skeleton—by what means?!”

[You are entirely free to ponder that riddle on your own time. Regardless, I concluded my visit lasted far beyond the initial schedule, did it not? Therefore, I reasoned I should contribute a bit more to the local community chores.]

“Contribute? What absolute madness are you spouting, reducing this entire area to such a catastrophic state?”

In the face of Malcolm’s mounting fury, I maintained absolute tranquility.

[It is basic sanitation work, nothing more. I am simply purging the entire settlement of toxic materials that are utterly incapable of being salvaged. Oh, please do not feel obligated to express your gratitude. Neighbors ought to look out for one another to get by, shouldn’t they? Hahaha.]

An immense wave of gratification washed over me as I spoke, prompting me to chuckle warmly.

Engaging in charitable service brought such a profound sense of accomplishment.

Perhaps I ought to pursue charitable endeavors back on Earth as well, even if only operating through a proxy form.

“Tell me, by what method did you manage to handle the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King’?”

‘Ah, is this the limit of our conversation? I was hoping to goad him a bit further.’

I easily discerned the underlying intent behind Malcolm’s words as he gathered dark energies to launch an assault, simultaneously finalizing the preparation of my own counter-magic.

[Are you referring to this specific item? Owing to your actions, I found myself lacking a heart. Consequently, I substituted it with the artifact you stored away in your vault. It remains far from fully integrated, but for the time being, it serves its purpose sufficiently, wouldn’t you say?]

Crash!

The instant the final syllable left my mouth, jagged ebony spikes erupted from the flooring in a hostile surge.

Reacting instantly, I conjured a protective shroud of shadows around my form to deflect the oncoming spikes.

Seizing the precise window for a counterstrike, I unleashed the dark embers I had so recently mastered.

“[Finger of Death]”

Zing—

In a flash, a dark beam of light surged forward.

In the brief span of hearing Malcolm’s voice, my right shoulder segment was pierced cleanly through both the shadow shroud and the defensive sigils I had layered around my physical frame.

[Tsk… Old man, is it truly mandatory for you to vocalize the technical titles of every single incantation you cast?]

“I have absolutely no interest in your idle chatter. [Call of Hell]”

‘A classic display from a senior citizen attempting to project authority.’

The fundamental laws of sorcery I comprehended in this realm carried no requirement for vocalizing incantations step-by-step; the actual architecture of the magic itself held far greater significance.

If it functioned merely as a personal habit to streamline his focus, then there was little ground for argument.

Clatter, thud—

“Groo…”

Abominations crawling out from the darkness beneath Malcolm’s boots clashed violently with his opposing undead forces.

Entities comprising haphazardly assembled mire and skeletal fragments tore into one another with ferocious intent to annihilate.

As our duel raged onward, agonized cries reverberated across the zone of conflict, while dark embers and bone shards detonated violently across various sectors.

‘Hmm… It appears he is attempting to overlay a mid-tier amplification onto a novice’s blade. I suppose I feel a minor pang of pity for that display?’

That was an absolute fabrication.

In reality, I harbored zero remorse.

“I am blind to the method you utilized to resist its corrupting nature, but you have clumsily crammed an unformed, volatile artifact into a thoroughly inferior vessel. Every single ounce of labor I invested has been utterly ruined… [Bone Burst Cascade]”

I rapidly deployed an ebony partition to intercept the oncoming wave of highly volatile force.

Even so, enduring his constant stream of denigrations was beginning to sour my mood.

It was glaringly obvious to any objective observer that I bore no accountability for this situation.

Furthermore, his habit of tacking on formal terminology to the tail end of every phrase was becoming incredibly grating!

To make matters worse, the sudden shift in naming convention for that last incantation was strangely irritating!

Maintaining uniformity is absolutely vital!

Nevertheless, I had steadily grown entirely accustomed to the high-tier dark sorcery Malcolm was throwing at me.

As a direct consequence, despite enduring multiple exchanges of hostility since losing my limb, I had avoided sustaining any further trauma.

I had extracted a wealth of knowledge from Malcolm, to the point where it was finally time to conclude this affair.

Boom!

Ebony spikes unexpectedly erupted from the terrain, lunging directly toward Malcolm’s position.

Simultaneously, the dark beam projecting from his direction rattled my defensive shield, but I was no longer vulnerable to maneuvers I had already thoroughly analyzed.

Trading one final sequence of enchantments, I extended my hand toward Malcolm, proclaiming with an edge of irritation and lingering bitterness.

[I shall end your existence and claim vengeance for Alfred.]

—

Malcolm found himself momentarily paralyzed with confusion by the sudden declaration escaping Hans’s mouth.

‘Alfred? Claim vengeance for him? Did there exist an individual within this settlement whom he held ties to?’

It was entirely outside his priority to retain the names of common villagers discarded as sacrifices a full year prior.

In truth, he possessed zero knowledge of them from the inception of this project, barring perhaps some low-level subordinate deployed to gather intel within this settlement to pinpoint an optimal zone for artifact cultivation.

‘If he already possessed ties to the residents of this location, it implies he perceived our objectives from the very beginning and engineered an infiltration… Does this tie back to Heinz, the individual who arrived at the settlement earlier? Exactly how much information has he uncovered?’

His train of thought grew increasingly tangled, yet it held no true relevance in the current moment.

Rumble—

Clang!

‘He is adapting with terrifying speed to the exact brand of dark magic I am channeling!’

The entity was not merely adjusting to handle his offensives; the sophistication of the dark spells utilized in the counterstrikes was climbing at an exponential rate.

At this stage, holding his ground was turning into an increasingly grueling task.

‘By what miracle did a complete novice regarding the mystic arts manage to seize such immense authority through sheer happenstance?’

A standard individual simply could not evolve at such a breakneck pace into an absolute powerhouse of a Demi-Lich, overflowing with malevolent energy in such a condensed timeframe.

‘This represents a completely unnatural rate of comprehension. Must it be attributed to the properties of the artifact embedded within him?’

While Malcolm, entirely ignorant of the properties behind “Vile Wisdom,” could arrive at no alternate theory, his conclusion wasn’t completely wide of the mark, given that the underlying capacities were indeed derived from the “Fragment of the Immortal King.”

‘I cannot afford to permit any further stagnation here! I shall commit every shred of my power, regardless of the toll it exacts!’

“[Covenant of Doom!]”

—

Even as I maintained the pressure on Malcolm, I instantly registered a shift in the surrounding environment.

Separate from our immediate duel, the chaotic conflict playing out across the wider settlement had swung decisively in one direction.

The dark spellcasters attempting to push back the skeletal forces I had deployed into the settlement had all perished where they stood.

Currently, the sole entities offering any semblance of opposition within the settlement boundaries were the automated minions animated by dark magic.

Conversely, looking back at my immediate opponent, I could perceive Malcolm’s malevolent reserves—which had forcibly harvested the spirits of his fallen dark spellcasters—undergoing a massive, abrupt surge in magnitude.

“[Crown of the Corrupter], [Resting Place of the Dead]”

An ebony coronet materialized above Malcolm’s brow, and the terrain directly beneath his heels shifted to a deep black as twisted skeletal variants rose from the earth.

‘Ah… We have arrived at the secondary phase of the encounter. While observing novel sorcery is always educational, I truly prefer to wrap this matter up swiftly.’

Despite my thoughts, I could only observe the spectacle with a faint sense of annoyance.

[The individual has attained higher comprehension via acquired insights. Mastered the capability ‘Dark Magic.’]

Malcolm appeared convinced that a window for a dramatic reversal still existed, but the opportunity had already slipped through his fingers.

—

Precisely as anticipated, Malcolm’s final stand proved to be short-lived.

“Gah… *Cough!*”

I completely neutralized and drew in the entirety of Malcolm’s dark reserves, mirroring the exact incantation that had previously severed my right limb to punch a clean cavity right through Malcolm’s sternum.

“Gh… To fall in such a manner, completely wasted… Had I only preserved my undead legions…”

His assessment was accurate.

Though his proficiency in alternative dark arts was of an elevated grade, Malcolm’s primary mastery had always centered on his role as a necromancer dependent upon his constructed undead.

In his desperate rush to finalize the stabilization of the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King,’ had he not offered up an immense portion of his top-tier skeletal forces as raw material, this engagement would have posed a severe challenge.

I surveyed the shattered remains of the undead scattered across the soil marking the conclusion of the clash.

Following that, I lowered myself to one knee before the collapsing form of Malcolm.

[Village Chief, your personal skeletal legions were truly quite remarkable.]

“*Cough*… *Cough*…”

Malcolm coughed up dark fluid from his throat, and within moments, his breathing ceased entirely.

Crimson drops even leaked from his distorted eyelids, illustrating the immense agony of his final moments.

[Tsk, a textbook example of cosmic justice. You truly ought to have maintained a modicum of morality.]

At that exact juncture, the overarching conflict within the settlement reached its absolute end, and a heavy blanket of stillness descended over the entire landscape.

Not a single living soul remained within the boundaries of the settlement.

I raised myself from the ground and cast my gaze upward.

The sheer ferocity of our magical exchange had completely vaporized the roof overhead, exposing a spectacular, starlit night sky.

[Alfred… Are you observing this?]

Now that I have definitively delivered the retribution you were owed, you may finally find peace and slumber undisturbed.

In that precise instant, a brilliant streak of light cutting across the night cosmos felt entirely like Alfred offering his final sign of peace to me.

Or perhaps, it was merely an illusion.