Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Necromancer's Memorial Rite (2)
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“...!”
In response to the soul's reaction emanating from the spirit, Kang Sa-hu whipped his head around like lightning to gaze at it.
Kang Ji-ye, startled by his sudden movement, followed his line of sight with a puzzled expression. She soon realized what he had sensed and widened her eyes in shock.
“A s-soul!”
The souls of the hunters, which had been invisible no matter how many times they checked before, now flickered faintly to life—like a candle flame on the verge of being extinguished by wax.
[Mom...]
[Dad...]
Kang Sa-hu understood that these unstable, feeble souls were searching for their families. He loosened the restraints he had placed on the spirits to keep them in place.
The spirits, each about the size of a melon, silently drifted off in different directions.
“Gasp!”
The bereaved families, who had been quietly watching the memorial rite, gasped in astonishment as the spirits approached them.
But that shock was fleeting.
As the spirits hovered silently before them, like faces meeting face-to-face, tears began streaming from the parents' eyes without resistance.
“Could this be... my daughter?”
Ripple...
The spirit trembled wordlessly before their eyes.
It shook as if sobbing.
It floated quietly, as if gazing into their faces.
And some even burrowed into their family's embrace, as if rushing into open arms.
Their habits and mannerisms from life were vividly imprinted, drawing wails from the bereaved families.
“O-oppa.”
Kang Ji-ye looked at Kang Sa-hu with reddened eyes.
He turned to her, his expression more solemn than ever as he focused his mind to maintain the ongoing memorial rite. Seeing the soft smile on his lips, a single tear rolled down her flushed cheek.
As someone who also possessed knowledge of necromancy and had family of her own, she knew just how precious this moment was.
In the vast silence, only the bereaved families' sobs echoed.
Kang Sa-hu stared at the system windows continuously popping up before his eyes.
Demadr's Blood Authority has been detected.
Demadr's Blood Authority—a skill he had confirmed after acquiring the 'Duke of Hell Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe.' True to its name, it was an extraordinary power.
By feeding blood to the great scythe, it could steal one skill from the blood's owner—but only once, and only if the owner was still alive. Even then, it only granted half the original skill's power. Despite these limitations, its potential justified the grandiose title of "authority."
But now...
The vessel containing that skill, 'Duke of Hell Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe,' was resonating with Kang Sa-hu's power and the system, humming with vibration.
The user's skill is beginning to evolve.
Analyzing current situation.
An unknown power is intervening with the user.
Skill evolution on hold. Reanalyzing current situation.
Just like before, the system windows repeated the same stagnant messages, stalling at some inexplicable issue instead of progressing. But the memorial rite he was personally conducting was far more important than whatever unknown anomaly this was. Kang Sa-hu quickly averted his gaze from the windows and turned back to the spirits.
...It's about time to hit the limit.
The necromancer's memorial rite was originally a high ritual performed by multiple necromancers for a single soul. For him to conduct it alone, summoning seventeen spirits at once, the burden was immense.
His mana—enough for a single spell at any moment—evaporated in an instant.
He had lasted this long only because his mana density was far greater than most. A typical necromancer or magic-specialized awakener would have burned through their mana and coughed up blood in seconds.
Now it's time for the ascension rite.
As he confirmed he had just barely enough mana left for the final rite, he felt the faint yet desperate wills of the connected spirits.
[Please... just a little... longer...]
[Just a moment more... please...]
“...”
Kang Sa-hu's face hardened bitterly as he read their wills.
The dead could only regret every passing moment.
Regrets piled up unknowingly in life became shackles of attachment, binding the spirits.
Why had they made that choice back then?
What had their lives been like?
And above all...
[Mom... I'm sorry... for yelling at you... back then...]
Why hadn't they expressed their love and gratitude to those closest to them?
What was there to be ashamed of?
These weren't grand events—just the daily accumulation of regrets, conscious or not. They couldn't be shed in the brief span of a memorial rite.
They were the weight of one's entire life.
Knowing this, most memorial rites didn't comfort the spirits. Instead, they scolded and forced them into ascension for efficiency and rationality.
“...”
But Kang Sa-hu was not that kind of necromancer.
Woof! Woof!
Kreeeek!
At his will, a Giant Hound and a Corpse-Eating Ape were summoned one by one from his soul core.
Small gasps rose around them, but the ape, sensing its master's heavy intent, ignored the reactions and retrieved a mana stone from the Giant Hound's mouth, handing it to Kang Sa-hu.
This wasn't the fingernail-sized stone from the initial gate break—it was a kumquat-sized one from the B-rank gate.
“Hoo—”
Exhaling deeply amid his rapidly depleting mana, Kang Sa-hu gripped five mana stones.
User's mana has been restored.
These stones were meant for emergency mana replenishment in battle or for selling to make money, but he used them gladly.
The spirits' farewell time in a normal rite lasted barely a minute. He had extended it to ten full minutes, but as the strain grew unbearable...
The spirits, sensing his peril, began returning to him one by one after their goodbyes.
“No! I can't let you go yet. Don't leave!”
Some hesitated at the bereaved families' anguished cries from behind.
But they laboriously swam back to position before Kang Sa-hu.
Finally, all seventeen spirits had returned to their places.
[Thank... you...]
Seeing his pitch-black suit soaked even darker with cold sweat, the spirits offered their thanks one after another.
Kang Sa-hu smiled softly at their gratitude.
“Please let go of all your attachments. Rest in peace.”
Though he couldn't know the specifics of their lingering regrets, he could feel the emotions as the one bearing this alone.
But he knew even another lifetime wouldn't fully dispel them—not here, not now.
So he simply bowed his head quietly.
“You worked hard in life.”
[...]
The spirits made no reply to his sincere words.
But his greeting wasn't ignored.
This small, personal gesture—outside the ritual's procedures—rippled profoundly.
They responded not with words, but actions.
“Wh-what?”
Kang Ji-ye looked at the spirits in confusion, her tear-swollen eyes wide.
The spirits were trembling desperately, as if straining with all their might.
The unknown power grows stronger.
As the system window appeared in Kang Sa-hu's vision, he realized this "unknown power" referred to the spirits' strength. He gazed at them solemnly.
In his mind flashed the memory of the shaman's spirit from long ago—the one that had struggled even in death to save his family.
But that spirit had deep knowledge of spirits from life and moved adeptly as one.
What could drive these formless spirits, lacking even pale forms from life, to such desperate thrashing?
[Just... once...]
The spirits' faint wills suddenly blazed fiercely.
[Since we've suffered this much... one more time...!]
[We're leaving anyway...!]
The characteristically Korean refrain for giving one's all echoed from the spirits.
No longer content to merely ripple awaiting ascension, they burned themselves out in a final burst of clarity.
What desperate purpose drove them so?
Even Kang Sa-hu couldn't comprehend it—but the system, analyzing the spirits purely as data, revealed the truth.
An unknown power is offered to the user as a sacrifice.
System error. Impossible situation. Analyzing current situation.
Unalyzable situation affects skill evolution.
Suddenly, Kang Sa-hu felt something hot flowing from the [Duke of Hell Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe] in his grip into his palm.
As he panicked at this unfamiliar power—neither spirit nor qi—the rampaging system windows stabilized, as if resigned.
Due to incomprehensible circumstances during skill evolution, the owner's authority assimilates for stable progression.
Error. Impossible situation. Proceeding.
A unique ability evolves based on the user's authority and current situation.
As the unfamiliar energy fully absorbed into his body through his hand, the spirits' struggles ceased.
Ability Absorption Authority
“...!”
A second unexpected skill had been gained.
The 'Ability Absorption Authority' window appeared, followed by a lengthy description.
[2nd Skill – Ability Absorption Authority]
- Unique Skill (Original)
- Abilities are determined at user's discretion.
- Permanently absorb and use abilities offered by spirits.
- Can only absorb abilities mastered by the original owner to 50% or higher.
- Absorbed abilities start from an initialized state.
- Reuse cooldown determined by absorbed ability.
As Kang Sa-hu puzzled over the skill's details, his vision began perceiving "something" fading within the spirits post-evolution.
Is that the 'ability'?
Focusing intently, he faintly recognized the abilities harbored by the spirits, just as expected.
Skill: Blink
Skill: Fireball
Kang Sa-hu was stunned upon identifying the nature of what the spirits held.
This "absorption" referred to the skills the hunters had awakened and honed through countless battles in life.
But the skill wasn't omnipotent. Of the seventeen spirits, only three met the condition: having mastered their original abilities to 50% or more.
[Hurry...]
One of those three spirits urged him weakly, as if prodding.
Only then did Kang Sa-hu realize they were thrashing to pass on their fading skills to him. He used a B-rank gate mana stone to replenish his mana.
Through his will, he activated his new skill, Ability Absorption Authority.
Skill: Ability Absorption Authority
Absorbing ability: Blink
Absorbing ability: Telekinesis
Absorbing ability: Subdimensional Space
“...”
As he absorbed the abilities, their skill information naturally flooded his mind. Kang Sa-hu was awestruck.
Each one was a tremendous asset if used well.
And their ability to offer these skills proved the deceased hunters had diligently honed them without neglect, even in death.
Yet they had fallen en masse in a single B-rank gate.
It was a stark reminder of just how formidable trolls were.
Seeing the spirit that had twisted itself to endure and pass on its skill now slump limply, Kang Sa-hu bowed his head in thanks.
“Thank you. I will ensure your efforts are not in vain.”
[...Thank you...]
Kang Ji-ye, waiting for his signal while watching him speak to the spirits, met his eyes and immediately prepared the ascension rite—the final step for the spirits.
As Kang Sa-hu focused on the rite, a faint, mingled murmur reached his ears.
[I wanted... to give too...]
“...”
[Damn it... if only I'd tried... a little harder... in life...]
At the spirit's melancholic mutter, Kang Sa-hu poured even more effort into the ascension rite, his heart heavy with regret.