Phantom Spirit Chaos (6)
The structure of black magic is clear.
Beginner level teaches you how to handle black magic power. Intermediate level implements simple spells with that power. And advanced level projects your own ideology onto the black magic power to create unique spells.
The Black Hole I used on Azellia.
Strictly speaking, that wasn't my ideology.
It was just a reversal of the scene Ascaros first showed me—the skeletons pouring out of that massive gate.
Instead of spewing them out, I interpreted it as swallowing them. Just a slight twist in thinking.
But now was different.
I didn't need widespread destruction. I needed absolute power to completely erase a single target.
An overwhelming, absolute force that nothing could resist.
And it had to come purely from my ideology, not Ascaros's.
At my current level, this would normally be impossible.
But Ascaros's expedient power amplification combined with the purity of my black magic power made the impossible possible, if only for a moment.
Now, I need to infuse this massive black magic power with my ideology. My ideology is... survival.
...This is ridiculous.
A bitter smile crept across my lips.
The fundamental difference between magic power and black magic power lies in their nature.
Magic power embraces everything.
Light, darkness, life.
Thanks to its neutral nature, it can transform into any form, enabling not just destruction but healing as well.
Magic power is the cycle of the world itself.
Black magic power is different.
It exists from birth solely for destruction and negation.
Fierce and aggressive, it pursues only annihilation and death.
It is the force that breaks the cycle.
To infuse 'survival' into black magic that wields such destructive power... what a contradiction.
This was a contradiction like no other.
Survival means enduring and continuing to exist.
But black magic power seeks to reduce everything to nothing.
How could the two coexist?
Ascaros had said that once you successfully infuse your ideology into black magic power, it would naturally find its own path...
But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't see how survival and black magic power could coexist.
Ascaros walked the path of the necromancer after extreme solitude.
His ideology of 'solitude' meshed perfectly with black magic power.
The loneliness of one left alone, a life severed from the living and communing only with the dead. That was death in itself.
His ideology sought to soothe eternal loneliness by dwelling with the dead.
His fate of wandering forever between the living and the dead aligned perfectly with the essence of black magic power.
Seraphim's ideology of seduction was the same.
The pinnacle of possessive desire to enchant and claim others as one's own.
That endless greed merged with black magic power to become the sin of lust.
Serena's ideology was pure death.
The absolute will to end everything.
Her madness fused with black magic power to become the sin of wrath that annihilates all creation.
Their ideologies meshed perfectly with black magic.
Emotions that resonated with darkness, danced with death. Negative, destructive ones that matched the essence of black magic power.
But survival... it's the will to affirm life, in a word. The human craving to keep existing. A mind that pursues preservation over destruction, life over death.
Then, a thought flashed through my mind.
No, wait. Could it be...
In my previous life, I was a gaming addict, but I didn't just play games.
I always checked web novels before bed.
I was hooked enough to have favorite authors.
Modern fantasy, fantasy, martial arts...
I liked all genres without discrimination, but my absolute favorite was martial arts.
The reason I loved martial arts novels was simple.
The clear realms and systematic growth.
From third-rate to second-rate, second-rate to first-rate. And beyond to peak, super peak, flower realm, mysterious realm...
A process of steadily climbing defined realms like in a game.
I loved that systematic, logical progression structure.
Growth expressed not vaguely as 'got stronger,' but through concrete stages and realms.
That was the charm of martial arts novels.
And the foundation of that growth was... martial arts techniques.
Every martial arts novel features special techniques.
And among them, there was one that fit my current situation perfectly.
The special technique used by groups always portrayed as villains, like the Heavenly Demon Cult or Blood Cult.
Life Absorption Great Law.
Stealing others' life force and making it your own.
You might wonder why stealing life force equates to survival.
But I'd ask those with such doubts in return: what is survival?
Simply maintaining a state of being alive? Far from it.
Survival is a far more primal and brutal concept.
Survival is... sacrificing everything else to ensure you live on.
Like a starving beast devouring its kin.
Like someone dangling from a cliff shaking off another's hand to climb up.
Building your life atop the life force of others.
That is the purest, most brutal essence of survival.
The destruction and death black magic power seeks... and the survival I pursue.
They seemed opposite at first glance, but their roots were the same.
Taking others' lives to sustain yourself.
The moment I grasped the essence of my ideology, a torrent of immense knowledge swirled in my mind.
And I slowly opened my closed eyes.
The scene before me was devastating.
Nearly all thousands of skeletons were gone, their bones scattered across the cave.
Even witnessing such carnage, I merely wore a serene smile and murmured,
"Life Plunder."
With those words, my heart throbbed.
Thump, thump, thump.
Like a starving viper eyeing prey, it pulsed greedily, extending toward the monster.
"Grrraaah!"
Sensing instinctive terror, the monster lowered its body, wary not of the skeletons but the chains.
Sorry, but you can't escape these chains.
Hundreds of chains began moving to strip every last bit of life force from that single being.
Each chain writhed like a living thing, targeting the monster from different angles.
Shhhaaa! Shraaaack!
With sharp sounds tearing the air, the chains poured toward the monster from all directions.
Fast as black lightning, yet flexible as serpents.
"Kraaaagh!"
The monster twisted its body at incredible speed to dodge the chains.
Its massive bulk moved with unbelievable agility.
Its combat experience was manifesting instinctively.
Boom! Kwang!
Its huge body slammed into the cave wall, sending rocks tumbling down.
Dust filled the air thickly, but the monster's movements didn't stop.
Shh! Sssik!
The monster enlarged its arm to swat the chains away, but they flowed like liquid, evading the attack.
Kwang! Kurrung!
Its desperate resistance continued.
The monster thrashed with all its might, shaking the entire cave.
Walls cracked and the floor caved in, yet the hundreds of chains predicted its movements like intelligent beings, tightening the encirclement.
One acted as bait while others struck from blind spots.
If the monster dodged, other chains awaited along its path.
Clank!
"Grrrk?!"
Finally, one chain seized the monster's hind leg, digging into its flesh.
Not missing the chance,
Shhhaaa shhhaaa!
The remaining chains cascaded like a waterfall, wrapping the monster's entire body tightly.
"Kieeeek!!"
A wretched scream echoed.
"Your souls, your egos—I shall take them all."
The monster's life force began draining through the chains.
"Kweeeeeek!!!"
And I knew instinctively.
The souls cloaking its body were gradually vanishing.
Hot life force flowed through the chains into my body.
Torn flesh healed, broken bones regenerated, and depleted black magic power began to refill.
Watching the scene, Ascaros muttered in disbelief,
"This is... what in the world..."
Ascaros's voice trembled.
His skeletal face showed true shock, felt for the first time in thousands of years.
He had studied black magic power's essence for millennia, believing undiscovered paths still existed...
But this magic...
"Black magic that steals others' life force and makes it one's own..."
His voice mixed shock and awe.
I'd theorized it once. But concluded it impossible. Black magic power's destructive nature can't bond with life force, the energy of creation.
"Lord Astra, your ideology is..."
"What I pursue is one thing alone: eternal persistence."
Clank.
The black chains tightened greedily, sucking in more of the monster's life force.
"Kiiiiiiiiik!!!"
Against the monster's death throes as backdrop, I whispered even more coldly,
"I will never perish. Even if all life in this world must become my sustenance. Even if I must stand alone atop the ashes of all that exists."
After a moment of silence, I savored the warm life force flowing through the black chains and continued,
"That is my ideology."