Chapter 67
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Myeongwang (3)
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Kang Sa-hu's offer to step up and clear the gates made Myeongwang's eyes widen in surprise.
"Sa-hu, you?"
"Yes. I've cleared plenty of gates solo so far, so there won't be any slip-ups. I should even be able to handle up to C-rank on my own."
"What? Up to C-rank?!"
His declaration to tackle a C-rank gate—a national emergency on its own—solo made Myeongwang jump in shock.
If anyone else had said it, no matter how boldly, she would've dismissed it as nonsense, thinking they were overestimating themselves.
But Kang Sa-hu knew exactly what he could and couldn't do, and he never exaggerated his abilities.
Even so, she couldn't help worrying. After some deliberation, Myeongwang shook her head.
"No, no. It's still too dangerous. There are over fifty gates I'm holding back right now. How could you clear them all alone?"
"Of course, doing them all at once would be tough. But if I take it step by step, clearing them little by little over time, I think it's doable."
"Ugh..."
In truth, with over fifty gates currently under her watch, Myeongwang was expending far too much spirit power just to keep them sealed.
The Necromancer Society's energy was mostly being funneled through her alone, so the absence of fifty spirits was no small loss.
And if more gates piled up on top of that? Even Myeongwang would be overwhelmed.
After much thought, she made up her mind.
"Most of the current gates are F-rank, with twelve E-ranks and five D-ranks. Like you said, Sa-hu, start with the F-ranks. We'll see how it goes and decide from there. Sound good?"
"Of course."
There was no reason to refuse, so Kang Sa-hu answered as if he'd been waiting for it.
Watching him, Myeongwang narrowed her eyes playfully.
"But in return, you want something from me, right?"
At her teasing tone, Kang Sa-hu let out a small chuckle.
"I would've done it anyway, even without asking for anything. But yes, I do have a favor to ask. I'd like to learn how to create a Death Knight from you, Myeongwang."
"...Huh? A Death Knight?"
His unexpected request caught her off guard.
"That's incredibly tough, you know? You need mountains of materials, spirits, and the ensoulment ritual has to be flawless just to pull it off."
"I have the spirits ready for ensoulment. And for the materials, I've prepared these based on the texts."
Kang Sa-hu handed her his notebook.
It was filled to the brim with materials and magic circles he'd gathered from ancient tomes.
As Myeongwang read through it carefully, her eyes widened again.
"Whoa, hold on! You really prepared all this? This is solid! With just about five more magic circles and two extra materials, you could even stabilize it!"
"...So there were more things needed?"
Rarely showing any distress, Kang Sa-hu frowned at the idea that even the notebook—nearly half-filled with his preparations—was still missing pieces.
Grinning at his reaction, Myeongwang nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Looks like this is from the elders' records while watching me make Death Knights. A few key details are missing."
"Makes sense. If it wasn't penned by you directly, some info would be omitted."
He'd anticipated as much, so Kang Sa-hu accepted it easily.
Had he thought it was complete, he wouldn't have come to her in the first place.
"Then, while I'm out hunting gates, could you fill in the gaps?"
"You got it! With this much ready, it'll be quick."
Beaming, Myeongwang raised her hand with a grin.
At her gesture, a sliver of qi and spirit power leaked from the magic circle that spanned the entire Necromancer Society.
The energies intertwined and coalesced, forming a bone carriage and skeletons from nothing but pure power.
Any other necromancer witnessing her create materials from spirit and qi alone would've been stunned, debating if it was even possible.
Kang Sa-hu, however, wasn't overly surprised. Within his own domain, he could generate a set amount of bones too.
"Alright, let's head out."
"Right away."
Kang Sa-hu escorted Myeongwang into the bone carriage and climbed in beside her.
The waiting skeletons swiftly lifted the carriage and set off.
The Necro Castle, modeled after a medieval fortress, was massive in scale and structure alike.
Back in the Middle Ages, castles handled a city's administration, complete with dungeons beneath the central tower for holding and surveilling prisoners.
Necro Castle was no different, featuring a sprawling underground prison and a grand tunnel leading to it.
Normally shrouded in pitch-black darkness unbroken by sunlight, with only faint green-tinted torches barely illuminating the floor.
But the place Kang Sa-hu reached with Myeongwang in the bone carriage looked entirely different.
Wooooong—
Whumm, whumm, whumm—
Dozens of gates clustered tightly together, emitting a brilliant yellow glow.
Observing them closely, Kang Sa-hu let out a low groan.
Just as Myeongwang had said, their break times had already passed.
At each gate's edge, spirits—likely deployed by her—strained to hold their form, delaying the inevitable break.
The yellow light meant hunters were inside hunting; the gates recognized the spirits as part of the process and stayed stable.
It was a method he'd never considered during his own hunts. Seeing it firsthand deepened his awe for Myeongwang.
But the spirits' condition was what mattered most.
"You're forcibly pinning them in place by fixing the space as the gates push back, right?"
"Sharp as ever, Sa-hu. Yeah. Took me forever to figure that out."
Before discovering how to anchor gates with spirits, she'd either rush to fix breaks as they happened or camp out passively at newly spotted ones. Recalling those grueling days, Myeongwang shook her head.
Anchoring gates with spirits was impressive enough, but Kang Sa-hu spotted something even more astonishing.
"And how did you move them all here?"
Gates spawned randomly worldwide; they never clustered like this naturally.
Even Kang Sa-hu, in his gate-hunting frenzy, had ridden his Giant Hound across the country, plotting efficient routes.
Myeongwang shrugged nonchalantly.
"Oh, that? Analyzed them with magic, found a way to tweak their positions, and applied it."
"...Pardon?"
As he blinked in confusion, she tapped her lips with a finger, mulling a simpler explanation.
"You came through the 'main gate,' so you know. The Necromancer Society's passages and the underworld spaces use spatial separation, expansion, and fixation magic."
The Society wasn't some tiny realm.
Vast as Seoul itself and nestled under London's heart, one wrong move could've pierced subways or sewers.
Yet no such issues had arisen.
The reason tied into why she couldn't leave the central tower's magic circle.
"Like you know, Sa-hu, it's not just a big underground hollow. That'd risk collapse. We gathered nearby spaces, fixed the spatial fabric, and fused them."
Kang Sa-hu nodded at the familiar concept.
Myeongwang continued.
"Step out of the magic circle, and my domain weakens. Any gap in the delicate web of spells, and it all crumbles. I adapted that for the gates and gathered them here in the dungeon."
"...I get it. But I never imagined it could work on gates."
Kang Sa-hu could shift gates within his domain too, but he rarely kept it active long-term, so the idea hadn't crossed his mind.
"Hehe, pretty impressive, huh?"
"Yes. Very."
Puffing out her chest at his praise, Myeongwang preened.
"I'll separate the F-ranks for now. Like this!"
She cried out energetically, her fingers dancing like a conductor's.
The gates responded, lining up in a neat row before Kang Sa-hu as if teleporting into position.
Eyes on the orderly lineup, he cracked his neck, loosening his muscles and realigning his bones.
"Then I'll head in."
"Yeah, be careful."
Even trusting him completely, worry lingered—like a grandmother fretting over her grandchild.
With a gentle smile at her concern, Kang Sa-hu stepped toward the gate.
Whumm!
Though bound by spirits, its function held; the gate swallowed him eagerly.
Confirming he'd entered smoothly, Myeongwang detached the spirit tensely.
"...!"
The gate stayed stable without it. She exhaled in relief.
Sending the spirit back to the magic circle, it absorbed seamlessly, channeling power back to her.
"Phew... One down."
Not a huge relief yet, but the burden lightened a bit. Myeongwang smiled brightly.
"Whew. Our Sa-hu's so reliable."
Myeongwang had lived eons most could only imagine, yet her mind had halted growing at eighteen—post her first death and return.
Not forever childish, of course.
Just that emotions, worn smooth by time in others, stayed vivid and raw as at eighteen.
Greed, longing, dreams—she clung to them fiercely, refusing easy surrender.
Yet her body aged like anyone's, bringing exhaustion, despair, regret.
Still, she always hoped for brighter tomorrows, striving onward—a dissonant harmony.
Thus, seeing Kang Sa-hu—whom she'd watched grow from boy to this steadfast man—stirred complex feelings.
"Alrighty. Time to prep myself."
Snapping from sentimentality, she realized nearly thirty minutes had passed and stood, brushing off her rear.
Behind her turned back, the gate flared brightly.
"...?"
Perplexed, Myeongwang turned.
"I'm back."
Kang Sa-hu, having cleared the gate, greeted her with a bow.