Chapter 286
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 286.
The altar emitted light.
And after a brief moment, the intense light faded, and that was the end.
It was an utterly hollow conclusion, but it wasn’t as if nothing had changed.
“The inside is flickering.”
The core of the seal.
Inside the crystal orb, lightning could be seen striking relentlessly.
When the time came, it would activate and destroy this core of the seal.
―Y-you human… What have you done to the treasure left behind by that being…?
“Huh?”
The half-frozen angel trembled as it questioned Yoo Baek-jun.
Despite suffering a grievous wound large enough to pierce through its chest, the angel hadn’t died—in fact, it seemed perfectly fine.
‘This thing’s life is disgustingly tenacious.’
Given its nature as an angel, it wouldn’t die easily without special means.
Not that Yoo Baek-jun had any intention of killing it in the first place.
He stared at the angel.
“Hey, you’re trapped here, aren’t you?”
―W-what! W-what, what nonsense…
“You can’t contact the being you’re talking about, right? That’s the case, isn’t it?”
―Lies! That being always listens to my prayers!
He had hit the mark.
If there were an angel guarding this place, there would be no need for such troublesome measures.
Because of the whirlpool surrounding this area, it seemed neither angels nor the Thunder God could communicate with one another.
‘I have this nagging feeling that if I leave this angel alone, it’ll cause trouble.’
As Yoo Baek-jun pondered what to do, he recalled one fact.
He gripped the Thunder Spear. The angel tensed, thinking it was about to be attacked.
But Yoo Baek-jun had no such intention.
―Mortal, you have kept your promise.
―Gasp! That voice…
The Thunder Spear emitted light as the voice of the Thunder God resonated.
The moment it heard the voice, the angel dropped to its knees in prayer.
―This is the gift I promised. I hope it will be of help to you. And Sephiroth, you shall obey the words of this mortal.
―O Thunder God!
The angel cried out the Thunder God’s name, but no response came.
It was more like a recording than an actual conversation, so no reply was possible.
Still, it served its purpose.
―Y-you, who are you? Now that I think about it, that spear… The one that being possessed…
“You get that we’re not enemies now, right? Just keep guarding this place like you’ve been doing.”
―Guard it?
Yoo Baek-jun nodded.
“And when this core of the seal is destroyed… escape and return.”
―Destroy the core of the seal?!
“Yeah, since that being told you to, go back and ask about it later.”
―Ugh… uuuuuuh…
The angel seemed utterly confused.
It must have been an unbelievable statement, especially for one who had been ordered by the Thunder God to guard the seal.
―A-alright. I don’t understand what’s going on, but…
Since the Thunder God commanded it to obey.
The angel, its frozen body now thawed, nodded slowly.
Its body gradually began to fade away.
“Now, let’s take these too.”
Yoo Baek-jun picked up the ominous staff and emblem that had been on the altar.
His focus was on the emblem.
[Emblem of the Death King (Artifact)]
An emblem left behind by the Death King, who fought a lifetime of oppression. It contains the power he left behind before his death.
Only those with the proper qualifications can use this emblem.
The Successor of the Death King trait can be obtained through a complex event.
Though Yoo Baek-jun had simply acquired it through the Book of the Martial God.
‘From what I’ve heard, this guy wasn’t just some ordinary necromancer.’
He’d heard the Death King was like a fusion of a warrior and a necromancer.
Apparently, he had exceptional talent in martial arts as well—or so he’d heard.
“Hmm…”
Yoo Baek-jun stared intently at the Emblem of the Death King before gripping it tightly. The emblem melted away like snow in his grasp.
Whoosh!
And the power contained within was absorbed into Yoo Baek-jun.
―The Emblem of the Death King is assessing its user… You have been deemed worthy of using this item.
―The Successor of the Death King’s(S) trait has resonated with the Emblem of the Death King. As a result, the trait has been upgraded by one rank.
The power of the emblem circulated through Yoo Baek-jun’s entire body.
Feeling that power, he checked his newly upgraded trait.
[Death King (S+)]
―You have inherited the power of the Death King.
―Become a master of necromancy, greatly reducing magic consumption and increasing power. All traits and skills related to undead under your control are upgraded by two ranks.
―Using the Death King’s dominance, you can forcibly control any undead. Even undead stronger than you can be dominated for a limited time.
―Undead you summon or control will possess greater power and undergo physical transformations.
―The Death King’s power has been optimized for your body, reducing strain and greatly increasing resistance to divine power.
―You can wield the Death King’s equipment.
Though the changes weren’t drastic, he was pleased with some of them.
“Greatly increased resistance to divine power… Now I can finally live a little.”
Thanks to the Necklace of Radiance, things had improved, but the aversion to divine power had still lingered.
When he visited the Thunder God’s temple, he could feel his condition worsening.
And there was one more thing.
[King of the Dead (Artifact)]
A staff once wielded by a king who fought a lifetime of oppression but ultimately inflicted great suffering upon the world.
Now, it serves as a key to access the pocket dimension where his most cherished legion is stored.
―Option: Legion of the Dead
*Legion of the Dead: Summons the legion that served the Death King from the subspace. If destroyed, they return to the Subspace and regenerate over time.
It was likely an artifact that originally had multiple options.
But that didn’t matter.
‘It probably just had necromancy-related options anyway…’
The Legion of the Dead alone was more than enough, and this was what he had come for in the first place.
With this artifact, he could summon the legion whenever he wanted.
And a powerful legion at that.
“Alright, time to head back.”
He still needed to check the Thunder God’s gift, but that could wait.
Having finished everything, Yoo Baek-jun prepared to leave the whirlpool.
Just before stepping out, he turned to look back.
“…….”
Beyond the temple in the distance.
A black pillar soaring high into the sky caught his eye.
“The Evil Dragon and Thanatos…”
Yoo Baek-jun smirked.
“Watching to see who’s stronger wouldn’t be so bad. Could be fun.”
He turned his back and headed to where Jeon Soo-yeon and Seol-yeong were waiting.
* * *
And so, Yoo Baek-jun returned to his original world. Not long after—
Whoosh!
At the heart of the Battlefield of Proof, in Thanatos’ temple, corpses from the underworld were being summoned en masse.
Each one was a powerful individual, and among them were the remains of those who had once made their names known.
―These shall be Death Knights, and the mages shall become Elder Liches. The rest shall serve as ordinary soldiers.
―Leave none unused. The Thunder God’s remnants are struggling desperately, so we must eliminate them completely.
Under the command of the High Priest, the death priests worked busily.
From the highest point of the temple, someone watched over them.
The Pope, Benedict.
―Huuu…
Unlike the priests, he had taken on the complete form of an undead.
Rotting flesh, exposed bones.
Yet, from his body emanated an overwhelming aura of magic and power.
―For so long…
A voice whispered into Benedict’s ear. He looked up at the sky.
From the black pillar stretching into the heavens, the presence of a god could be felt.
―For so long, far too long, I have remained dormant. Now, it is time to leave this cramped hell.
Benedict bowed his head. The god he served was delivering an oracle.
Thanatos himself.
―From another world, I shall reclaim my power and break the seals that bind me. Benedict, prepare to open the ’Gate.’
―Yes, as you command…
Benedict raised his head. His eyes burned ominously.
―First, I shall tear apart that human who dared interfere with Lord Thanatos, and then I shall spread our faith throughout that world.
―Good…
The divine presence flickering within the black pillar slowly faded away.
―All for the sake of slaughtering those detestable gods with my own hands…
The Death Cult would do anything to achieve that goal.
Benedict swore it.
* * *
“Damn, no time to rest.”
The moment Yoo Baek-jun returned through the gate, he headed straight for the floating island.
Jeon Soo-yeon left, saying she had work to catch up on, leaving Yoo Baek-jun alone with Seol-yeong. He called for the World Tree’s fairy.
―Huh? What’s up as soon as you’re back?
“I’m going to build a factory here.”
―A factory…
The fairy blankly repeated the word before jolting in surprise.
―No! Factory! Environmental destruction! Bad!
“What are you talking about? Not that kind of factory. It’s a factory for making airships.”
―Airships?
The fairy blinked.
It did involve machinery, but it wasn’t the kind that produced smoke or pollution.
Since it ran on magic, nothing like that would come out anyway.
“I’m thinking of building it on the edge of the floating island. Is there a suitable space?”
―There is, but… Hmm, follow me.
―Meow!
Seol-yeong popped out from Yoo Baek-jun’s arms. The fairy perched on the tiger’s head and guided them.
The edge of the floating island.
“If you fall, you’d die, right?”
―Wanna try?
“Should I throw you off first?”
―Hmph! I have wings, you know?
Yoo Baek-jun looked down.
Being the edge of the island, there was nothing but a sheer drop ahead. Falling here would mean plummeting straight into the sea.
“This is perfect. I like it.”
―Huh? Why are you looking at me? What? You’ve got that look like you want something.
Yoo Baek-jun stared intently at the fairy.
“I need the World Tree’s magic.”
―Tch, I knew it. You’re not planning anything weird, right? Like causing pollution or something?
“No…”
It wasn’t that kind of building, and besides, the presence of the World Tree here meant environmental pollution was unlikely to be an issue.
It would purify most things anyway.
―Well, fine then! I’ll help you. You better be grateful, human. Ahem!
―Meow!
“…….”
The fairy puffed out its chest proudly, and Seol-yeong mimicked it.
Ignoring them, Yoo Baek-jun surveyed the area.
‘This should do.’
He took out the blueprint and adjusted the position of the hologram that appeared before him.
“Alright, right about here…”
Yoo Baek-jun channeled his magic.
The blue energy flowing from him was sucked into the blueprint.
But the amount was far from ordinary.
“Huff!”
It felt like every drop of magic in his body was being drained.
In an instant, all of Yoo Baek-jun’s magic was absorbed by the blueprint.
‘Not enough magic.’
Just as he had expected.
Yoo Baek-jun looked at the fairy.
―Ugh, I don’t like this!
The World Tree’s fairy assisted him.
Though it grumbled, it knew this was something Yoo Baek-jun couldn’t handle alone, so it readily lent its aid.
“Hmm, ohhh…”
An immense amount of Magic flowed in.
The magic of the World Tree rooted in this floating island connected with him.
For a brief moment, he felt omnipotent from the sheer volume of magic.
‘Damn, how much is this thing eating up?’
Even the blueprint’s voracious appetite for such an insane amount of magic was astonishing.
Creating airships would require magic stones, and at this rate, he’d need an absurd number of them.
“Haa…”
Yoo Baek-jun focused his mind.
And shortly after—
Boom.
A heavy sound echoed right in front of him.
He opened his eyes.
“Oh, this is amazing.”
―Meow…
A massive structure had been erected.
It resembled an aircraft hangar, complete with a long runway-like extension.
Yoo Baek-jun grinned.
“Nice.”
Though the gate had been a hassle, seeing the reward made all his frustration vanish.
It was a satisfying result.