Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Ancient Desert (6)
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“Yeah.”
I looked at the child struggling right in front of me.
“It’s not about deciding right or wrong. I’m not saying the humans who crushed your past were right, nor that you were right for massacring countless humans.”
“…….”
The kid let out a low growl.
It flinched in defiance, like red antiseptic poured into an open wound.
Of course it would be angry.
Of course it wouldn’t understand.
With anger and resentment knotted up in its chest.
To be told it was all over.
That it was already ancient history.
“No, I can’t do that.”
The kid shook its head violently.
“I can’t shake off those horrific memories. They’re the path I’ve lived. Are you telling me to deny myself? And even if I forget it all like you say, do you think that could truly be happiness?”
To a child who had lived only cursing humanity, my words.
Must have felt like asking it to abandon itself.
The kid’s lips pressed into a tight line.
It was the stubbornness and tenacity of one who had lived for eons with a single goal.
“I’m not telling you to deny yourself.”
I approached the kid.
It raised its spear warily, but.
I didn’t stop walking.
“What you wanted to do, couldn’t do—enjoy those now.”
“What I wanted to do?”
“Yeah, what you wanted to do.”
Before long, I was within its range.
The spear tip pointed at me, but.
I gently reached out and pushed it aside.
It slid away without resistance.
“For a moment, I clearly felt your past self. What pained you, what emotions you felt. What you desired—I knew it all.”
The effect of the skill, ‘Memory Recreation’ (S-rank).
“…….”
“And in that, you definitely wanted to see the world.”
“The world……?”
The kid flinched.
The dark hollows where its eyes should be trembled.
“You were curious. About the soft sand underfoot, the camels roaming the desert. But with only the sun etched in your memories, you don’t even know your own appearance.”
“Yeah.”
For the first time, the kid admitted it.
“I was curious about the world. That’s a fact, beyond human good or evil.”
“Then isn’t that enough?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
The kid scowled.
It felt like wordplay to it.
I stood right before it now.
“To be honest, I can’t fully empathize with your pain. Even if I felt it briefly, that’s all. It wasn’t my own situation.”
“…….”
“So I don’t want to carelessly comfort your feelings. I shouldn’t. I just.”
“…….”
An odd silence flowed.
I swallowed once and continued.
“Just—why not stay true to your desires? Whatever hatred you feel toward humans, whatever grudges linger. Set them aside and think only of seeing the world.”
The kid’s shoulders trembled.
Emotions swirled in a complex storm.
It must be curious.
It must want to see.
Finally, the kid asked.
“So that means you can show me the world?”
“Of course.”
The corner of my mouth lifted.
Skeletons are the lowest among undead.
Corpses that died—neck severed, eyes gouged.
Yet they manifest in perfect skeletal form.
‘But come to think of it, skeletons…… they have no eyes?’
No eyes, sure.
But they can see.
That much is certain.
Because I, a necromancer, could sense it.
Anyway.
I reached out into empty air.
As if in an imagined world, a fancy staff materialized in my grip.
Alright, time to make the offer.
“I’m a necromancer. Cursed though I may be, a summoner who wields death.”
I slammed the staff into the ground.
“The world I live in is completely different from yours, but if you want to see even that world…….”
Then I extended my left hand.
The kid flinched.
“Take my hand and come under me.”
[Stage: Sun Spear's Grudge]
[Difficulty: Immeasurable]
[The Sun Spear's resentment toward humanity pierces the heavens.]
[Subjugate the Sun Spear to achieve 'Bone 2's' true awakening.]
I proposed submission to it.
Using one of its desires, ‘sight,’ as the condition.
[‘Sun Spear’ agonizes.]
[‘Sun Spear’ wavers.]
“…….”
The silence stretched long.
Still, I waited patiently.
After some time passed.
“You.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you different from other humans?”
It gripped its spear again, raising it.
“I am the absolute ruler of the Ancient Desert Empire. Half-human, half-beast with no equal in the world. The spear that devoured the lofty sun.”
Immense energy gathered in its spear.
“I serve no one. Especially not a human.”
“…….”
“Do you have what it takes to be my master?”
The wounded child’s question.
[Ring!]
[Hidden quest activated!]
[Exclusive hidden condition for ‘Stage: Sun Spear's Grudge’!]
[The Sun Spear's hatred toward humanity has subsided somewhat.]
[However, the ‘Sun Spear’ harbors doubts.]
[The hunter, ‘Joo Dong-hoon,’ intrigues it.]
[Prove you are its true master.]
[Upon proof, ‘Bone 2’ will inherit the Sun Spear's memories and will intact.]
‘Oh.’
A quest mutation?
The wording had changed.
Originally, it was ‘Bone 2’s’ true awakening.
Now, it could inherit the Sun Spear's memories directly.
One might think it’s the same, but.
Being a hidden quest made the latter far more appealing.
‘No choice, huh?’
I smiled.
I generated a ‘spear’ in my right hand and gripped it.
I dismissed the staff.
“Master, huh.”
Bone guy as Sun Spear, calling me master.
My heart pounded.
“How do I prove that?”
“Simple.”
It answered my question.
“Receive my spear. Withstand the true power of the sun, not the faded lump of grudge. Can you?”
The kid raised its spear.
I replied.
“As much as you want.”
The world flashed bright.
* * *
Blazing sunlight.
Scorching rays stabbed my entire body as spear blades.
‘This is the true power of the sun.’
Nothing like the kid gripped by mere grudge.
Strong enough that.
The old man watching from behind clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Whoa, disciple. You okay?”
‘Do I look okay? It hurts like hell.’
“Bound to. That kid’s way stronger than before. Hmm…… Probably around my prime would it take to kill it lightly.’
“…….”
This old coot.
Hurting like dying, and he’s bragging?
Not just kill, but lightly.
“Kid, it’s impressive. I say ‘subdue,’ not ‘kill’ lightly. An opponent even I’d struggle to subdue. That’s its power now.”
‘Sure, sure.’
Sorry, but.
No time to humor the old man’s chatter.
Every beam of sunlight pouring from the spear was a lethal blow.
[‘Sun Spear’ uses skill, ‘Sun Chain Strike’ (太陽連擊) (Lv.Max).]
[‘Sun Spear’ uses skill, ‘Raging Desert’ (Lv.Max).]
[‘Sun Spear’ uses skill, ‘Soulflare’ (Lv.Max).]
…….
Gorgeous skill names I’d never seen.
I groaned amid the ensuing pain.
Gritted my teeth.
But that didn’t make the kid stop attacking.
“Disciple. No need to counter. Ah…… Well, no need to worry. It doesn’t have the skill for that anyway.”
‘Are you…… fanning the flames right now?’
When I snapped, the old man chuckled.
“Just endure. You’re practically invincible here anyway, right?”
‘But it hurts like crazy instead.’
“Hey, with your Mantra of Eternal Azure Palace Reincarnation Technique at full swing, you can handle it!”
“…….”
Damn it.
Hurting enough to die.
And he keeps saying that, making my insides burn hotter.
Hot inside and out.
“You know it too, don’t you.”
The old man kept talking.
“That kid isn’t testing your skill. Just your will.”
‘Will…….’
“Yeah, your grit. Your character. The more tenacious, the more upright the path. If you want to wield it, endure this much.”
The kid serves no one.
Only the special.
Doesn’t cross a bridge without tapping it first.
Especially after all those wounds from humans.
It wants to judge me.
Confirm me.
‘Actually.’
That holds special meaning.
The less it serves, the more loyal once it does.
“Yeah.”
Whatever, however.
Unleash it all.
I’ll endure endlessly.
Painful enough to kill.
But I’m a ranker aspirant, defying even death.
‘And the Sun Spear is.’
A huge stepping stone to that rankerdom.
“Judge whatever you want. Judge it all.”
The kid kept unleashing its spear.
The spear that devoured the sun.
No, now the spear that spews the sun.
[Skill, ‘Pain Resistance’ (B-rank) upgrades one level.]
[Acquire skill, ‘Pain Resistance’ (A-rank).]
[This skill has room for further growth.]
Ah.
Am I gonna class-change to masochist at this rate?
The excruciating pain gradually lessened.
Enough to endure.
Enough to receive.
“Heh, good.”
The old man muttered.
“Fitting my disciple. World’s strongest in sheer bullheadedness.”
‘Thanks to you, elder.’
I regained composure.
Now able to advance while taking its spear.
Step by step.
I approached it amid the flashing spear strikes.
Drew close and gazed calmly at it.
“……You.”
The Sun Spear murmured in surprise.
“You’re definitely different.”
Its momentum broke.
With it, the built-up grudge released.
Think about it—no wrong there.
A world long ended.
A past life already past.
No desire to keep suffering.
“I…… want to be reborn.”
Abandon the old life, serve someone wholeheartedly.
Under a steadfast necromancer, take in the world with its own eyes.
It knelt.
Tears fell too.
Tears it hadn’t shed since ruling the Ancient Desert Empire.
The kid washed away its grudge with those tears.
And.
“My lord.”
It called the ‘human’ it chose to serve.
“I acknowledge you as my lord.”
[Congratulations!]
[Hidden condition fulfilled.]
[Clear ‘Stage: Sun Spear's Grudge’!]
[Clear rewards incoming!]
The moment I claimed a world’s absolute ruler.
As my subordinate.