Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: #011 Tech: Necromancer
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1.
"Wait a minute, is it because it's been so long? Something must be wrong."
"Yes?"
"I'll show you again."
Ceres's long, delicate fingers covered his eyes once more.
The result wasn't much different.
A quick express tour of death's illusion, then back to reality.
"Can you use magic now?"
Ceres nibbled lightly at her nail, her expression one of utter disbelief.
"Does your head hurt, or do you feel nauseous?"
"No."
"Any indescribable terror, or precursors to mental fragmentation?"
"Should there be?"
"……."
The "death" that Ceres had shown him—that black, vast expanse.
Wasn't he scared?
Of course he was.
The first time he'd plunged into it, he'd sworn off investing, gambling, betting, extreme sports—anything that threatened his safety.
No, it was hard to put into words...
It was so repulsive, chilling, and terrifying that he'd rather reenlist in the army.
Sure, it was still scary now.
But the glimpse of death Ceres had offered...
Hmm, about as unpleasant as reserve duty?
"Amazing."
"What's it usually like?"
"The weak ones die right there."
"Eek, and the strong ones?"
"They puke or fall into shell shock. I knew you had aptitude, but not to this degree."
"What about you the first time, Ceres?"
Ceres didn't answer.
Ah, got it.
Aptitude for death.
He now fully understood what that status meant.
Sedric Montraven, the genius necromancer who mocked even the gods.
Had he become death incarnate, destroyer of the world?
"Aptitude test's over. What's next?"
"Try operating your mana."
Ceres replied, looking somewhat troubled.
Her attention had fully shifted from Project Z to the genius necromancer Sedric.
He felt the same.
There were still two weeks until the zombie apocalypse, and a free power-up event was no small matter.
Power expanded his options.
It also kept him from dying like a dog.
"Hold my hand."
"Like this?"
He clasped her hand, fingers interlocked.
"Your hands are so pretty."
Ceres shot him a peculiar glance before channeling mana into his body.
That instant.
"Whoa?!"
He could feel his mana circuits wriggling.
"Stay still. I'm activating the dormant mana in your circuits. Think of it as a primer. Don't talk—just feel."
A moment later, the true flow of mana began to register.
It spread through his body like roots of dense weeds, coursing through intricate passages.
So this was actually *feelable*?
He spent the next thirty minutes dazedly contemplating that power.
"Felt it well?"
"Yes. Feels like I could do anything."
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
Ceres flicked her finger against the tip of his nose.
"What you just felt is pure mana. If magic is watercolor painting, that's the colorless 'water.' You can't paint with it alone."
"Now we add the pigments?"
"You're a quick study. Try it. Draw that space you saw into yourself."
Ceres explained in a soft, gentle voice—surprisingly patient.
Did she have this side to her?
"Death. Darkness. The world where everything ceases. You're redefining it. Make your perception the reality."
What was she saying?
He wished she'd skip the fancy words.
He was just a high school grad.
Yet despite his thoughts, a strange confidence welled up inside him.
What to do? He didn't feel like he *couldn't* do it.
He closed his eyes and recalled that space of death.
Pulling the darkness inside him like *whoosh~*, right?
"Urk...!"
A sharp pain stabbed his heart.
Fuck! There went his confidence!
"Pain's fine. It's supposed to hurt. Slowly guide the flow and draw it out onto your hand."
His circuits burned with a prickling heat.
The transparent mana morphed into a black, tar-like sticky liquid surging through his veins—an eerie discomfort.
But he'd endure.
No more dying helplessly.
Focus!!!!
After a tense struggle.
"Raaaaah!!!!!!"
Pitch-black darkness, like death liquefied, pooled in his palm.
"Phew..."
The rounded clump floated like an oil droplet suspended in space.
Hmm, what to say.
It was fascinating. To think he had this soft, fluffy potential...
"Small."
Wasn't he supposed to have insane talent?
The fruit of his squeezed mental strength and imagination looked so puny.
He looked at Ceres with anxious eyes.
"……."
Her eyes were wide open.
His face lit up in response.
"Did I do well?"
"……."
Ceres crossed her arms and stared intently at the black mana orb he'd summoned.
"First time?"
"I had no idea I had such terrifying talent."
"Well... I did check your circuits."
"How long does this curriculum usually take?"
"With enough talent, a year."
Hmm, a bit vague.
"Without it, a lifetime wouldn't suffice."
Whoa, fuck yeah! This was it!
The big payoff? Dog-food Sedric finally breaking free?
"Come with me."
She grabbed his wrist and led him to one side of the rowhouse.
It was a stark white room reminiscent of an operating theater—her workshop, where she'd examined Arbel's corpse.
With a light wave of her hand in the air.
"Come out."
A massive mannequin, easily 2.5 meters tall, appeared abruptly.
As if it had been there all along.
Long, spindly limbs. Eyelids crudely stitched with wire at an angle.
A flat face where the nose had been ground away, lined with jagged, awl-like teeth.
Talk about menacing looks.
Horror game boss vibes.
-Sniff sniff sniff
It sauntered over to him and started sniffing.
"...What the hell is this creepy thing?"
"Your target. I'll guide you—take it step by step."
She interlocked fingers with him again.
"Remember the sequence and position of the mana flow. We'll use your circuits like a magic circle. You're 0th rank, so nothing complex."
A far stronger mana flow than before coursed through his body along the circuits.
Like internal energy flow?
Now that he could feel it clearly, it wasn't hard. He memorized it roughly.
"Got the motions down."
"Now, shoot the mana at the target... but it's not just shooting."
"Then what?"
"I told you. Magic overlays your world atop the world. Weave the image and paint the picture."
"A picture?"
"Recall the opponent's cause of death and manifest it in your mind."
Ceres, ma'am...
Way too fast.
Was all magic this abstract?
Couldn't it be "pinch of salt, spoonful of soy sauce"?
"So, imagine that thing dying from my magic?"
"Exactly. As vivid and specific as possible. Fall from height, drowning, electrocution, slashing, strangulation. Cause doesn't matter. Project the death image clearest in your mind."
The clearest death image he could conjure?
Hmm...
The rooftop plunge hurt. Getting headshot as Sedric hurt.
Scary. Painful.
But the death most vividly etched in his brain.
-Clack.
Footsteps echoed in his ears like an auditory hallucination.
That chilling sensation carving his flesh like soft butter.
The instant his neck flew skyward, spinning.
Even knowing it was in the past, his skin prickled, a cold chill sinking deep into his gut.
He'd never forget that sensation, no matter how many deaths.
Yes.
That was irresistible, absolute death.
Kisara's sword strike—the clearest death he could picture.
"Got it pictured."
"Now for self-suggestion. Overlaying your world on the world."
"How?"
"Incantation's fine. Your own ritual's fine. Key is consistency. Convince yourself your conviction is 'reality'—anything goes."
Her voice, smaller now to avoid disturbing his focus, tickled his ear.
Self-suggestion, huh...
In simple terms, magic applied a chuunibyou setting to reality.
Self-suggestion meant adding personal details so he wouldn't doubt, "But does this really work?"
In that case, one thing came to mind.
"...Hand seal?"
Before the puzzled Ceres.
He quietly pressed his palms together in front of his solar plexus.
One last recall.
The form of the death that cleaved him, the terror and despair.
Make the mannequin feel it too.
"Split in half and die."
-Swish.
It sounded like that.
The orb of floating mana instantly curved into a crescent, slashing a black line through the air.
A faint breeze tickled his cheek.
-Thud.
At the same time, the mannequin cleaved perfectly along the line from crown to groin.
======
:::Challenge (New!):::
- Use 0th rank magic. +5pt
======
He looked down at his hand seal with trembling eyes.
"This... is necromancer power...?"
Death was badass!!!
Different from what he knew, but holy shit, awesome!!!
Come to think of it, Ceres's magic differed from the typical corpse-raising necromancer too.
First time he liked this world's lore.
Lugging around zombies and skeletons like a corpse parade? Lame.
In a hyperinflated world where 7th rank was Adam Smasher tier? Yeah, trashy.
"Ceres! I did it! Reward peck kiss!"
Ah, they weren't that close in this loop yet?
He'd slipped into last-loop habits.
But Ceres just smiled, no hint of anger.
A mix of incredulity and delight, like finding a fun new toy.
"Fun. Very fun. Utterly... impressive."
She gave a light clap.
The bisected mannequin slapped back together and vanished into the air like it was sucked away.
"What you just used is a basic death-line spell. Lumping the cause and deriving the result—Death Verdict."
"Cool name. What level's my strength now?"
Confidence surged wildly.
Even back when he'd amped to level 1 and swung Hero around, it wasn't this strong.
"Basic proficiency gets you to 7th rank."
"7th!"
"0th rank, but it's still 'magic.'"
Real mages barely acknowledged 0th rank magic, but who gave a shit?
His chest swelled.
Day one of the loop, and he'd climbed to Sunming's shoulder—strongest ranks.
"Thank you so much!!!!"
"Thanks... I never imagined you'd learn it in a day. Absurd."
"I didn't do anything! All thanks to the excellent teacher!"
Watching Ceres's helpless chuckle, he thought.
This loop was really different!
.
.
.
.
Ceres watched the flattering, smiling Sedric while replaying that moment in her mind.
More precisely, the instant he'd used "verdict."
A minuscule amount, but he'd perfectly pulled up his mana and mixed in the "color."
The problem came in grasping the circuit path and timing the manifestation. It went completely off.
Mana had leaked through the wrong path—not the one she'd taught.
That much, she understood.
Death Verdict was simple magic, and Sedric was a total beginner.
First time using it—easy to mix up.
But one thing she couldn't comprehend.
"Split in half and die."
Yet the verdict had landed perfectly.
It bisected one of her prized Masquerade constructs dead-on.
There was only one explanation for that.
A vivid "image" that laughably compensated for any lack of skill.
A clarity of death that could crush a normal human mind.
The trait of a being that could face it head-on.
"By any chance... mind if I borrow the shower? As you can see, I'm a total mess."
"Go ahead."
Sedric headed to the bathroom with a casual grin.
"What kind of hell did you go through?"
Ceres muttered unwittingly at his retreating back.