Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Gasdal of the Selection (1)
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The Necromancy School.
It was a school of black magic that commanded the souls of the dead, treating them like slaves.
Other black magic schools dealt with souls too, but only as a means to produce black mana.
The Necromancy School handled souls on a higher level, exerting direct influence over them.
That was exactly what Gasdal's summoned skeletons were.
By binding the souls of the dead to bone fragments, he turned them into soldiers.
*How horrific.*
Demian could see it in his eyes: the souls bound to the skeletons, writhing in agony.
Even in death, they couldn't find peace, exploited by a black mage.
It was truly a gruesome fate.
"Grrrk!"
Miya's eyes could probably see the tormented souls too.
After all, Miya was a being formed from the grudges of people sacrificed to corpse playthings.
"Grraaack!"
In the end, Miya couldn't suppress her killing intent and charged at Gasdal.
Hundreds of skeletons blocked her path. Miya enlarged her arms massively, then swung them at the skeletons.
With every swing of her fists, the skeletons shattered completely and flew off into the distance.
Mere bone constructs couldn't stop Miya. She tore through the skeleton legion like a hot knife through butter, closing the distance to Gasdal.
"It's been a while since I've seen such a finely made flesh golem. I'm curious about the creator's face."
But Gasdal didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"In that case, I suppose I'll have to get a little serious myself."
Gasdal slammed his staff into the ground again.
The pulverized bone fragments gathered before him. They began reassembling, piecing back together.
Even splintered bones and crushed ones returned to their original places. The speed was so great there was no time to intervene.
This was the frustrating part about the Necromancy School.
The skeletons commanded by a necromancer restored themselves indefinitely. The only way to stop them was to cut off the supply of black mana.
The problem was that Gasdal, the source of that black mana, was protected by the skeletons.
"Grraaack!"
But Miya had anticipated as much. She'd dealt with skeletons before.
Since skeletons regenerated endlessly, the key was to sever the black mana supply itself.
In other words, kill Gasdal himself, not the skeletons. That's why Miya had targeted him directly.
"Grk!"
Miya charged into the skeleton legion again. She'd smashed them once; doing it twice would be no different.
At that moment, Gasdal struck the ground with his staff.
A magic circle appeared at his feet. At the same time, the skeletons' bones began turning pitch black.
It was a black magic spell called Black Bone, which dramatically increased the skeletons' durability.
"Grraaack!"
Miya smashed a skeleton with her enlarged fist. But unlike before, it didn't fly away.
It withstood the blow without shattering and counterattacked from the spot.
"Grraaack?"
The reinforced skeleton legion pushed back Miya's fist and surged forward.
They slashed at her body with bone swords, pierced her with spears, and bashed her with shields.
"Kyeng!"
Miya was helpless against the skeletons' onslaught. She kept getting pushed back.
"To think you can't even endure this much. Looks like it wasn't made by a black mage of particularly high caliber, huh?"
Gasdal spoke in a disappointed tone. Even as she took hits from the skeletons, Miya glared at him.
"Grrr... Grk!"
Murderous intent darkened Miya's eyes. Gasdal watched her with evident interest.
"An undead that hates black mages? How unusual. Undead like you are a rare sight."
"Grraaaack!"
Miya bellowed as if telling him to shut up with his nonsense.
In that instant, ghostly flames erupted across her entire body.
"Hm?"
The flames didn't burn Miya's body. Instead, they regenerated her wounds in an instant.
"Wait, could this be the phoenix's...?"
Miya charged at the skeletons. Those touched by the flames ignited instantly.
Skeletons that had shrugged off troll fists turned to ash in a blink.
The path blocked by skeletons cleared wide open. Miya reached out to grab Gasdal.
At that moment, Gasdal tapped the ground with his staff again.
The shadows beneath him writhed, then pitch-black spears burst forth in a shower. Piercing through the flames, they impaled Miya's torso.
"...Kyeng!"
Even the flames that had reduced skeletons to ash couldn't burn the spears. With her body run through, Miya let out a groan.
"An undead using holy flame? What an intriguing specimen. I'll have to take you back for study. But you're dangerous, so I'll have to sever your limbs first."
Skeletons emerged from Gasdal's shadow again. They grabbed Miya's limbs, trying to rip them off.
That's when Demian embraced Miya from behind.
He pulled her off the spears while swinging Dawnbreaker. Aura burst forth, creating a slashing wave. The crescent-shaped slash cut through the skeletons and bore down on Gasdal.
But before it reached him, Gasdal formed a shield of shadow to block the aura.
Demian used the opening to put distance between himself and Gasdal. First, he needed to get Miya to safety.
Demian set Miya down on the ground. Her body was riddled with fist-sized holes.
"Kyeng..."
Even Miya's regenerative powers weren't keeping up properly.
"What a callous master. Watching your pet get beaten to that state."
Gasdal spoke in a mocking tone. Demian turned to him and replied.
"I left her to it because she still has much to learn."
Miya had charged in rage and gotten badly hurt.
This incident would teach her the importance of gauging an enemy's strength.
"Learning, you say... That was a dangerously foolish choice. What if I'd crushed her in one go..."
"How many did you kill?"
"Hm? What are you on about all of a sudden?"
Demian pointed at the spears sprouting from beneath Gasdal's feet.
"Those... are evil spirit spears, aren't they?"
Evil spirit spears.
One of the secret arts of the Necromancy School.
Weapons forged by intertwining, merging, and compressing evil spirits steeped in hatred, resentment, and rage.
It was said that merely touching a living being drained their vitality, and even grazing it could kill.
What made them most terrifying was their resistance to holy power.
"I'm asking how many people you killed to make the skeletons and evil spirit spears."
At Demian's question, Gasdal made a face like he couldn't comprehend.
"You're talking nonsense. Do you remember how many breaths you've taken in your life?"
Demian let out a scoffing laugh at that. It was low and drawn out.
"It's been a while since I've heard such bullshit."
He poured mana into Dawnbreaker. Blue aura instantly dyed the blade.
"Finally, the master steps in?"
Gasdal gathered his skeletons, looking expectant.
"I hope you're a bit stronger than that one."
Gasdal struck the ground with his staff.
Skeletons made of black bone charged forward, weapons at the ready.
Hundreds-strong skeleton legion.
There was nothing they couldn't smash. But even so, Gasdal would just restore them. He couldn't waste time on such futility.
Demian observed the skeletons, reading all their movements. Though they lacked muscle, their skeletal structure was human, so it was no challenge.
A path naturally traced itself in his mind. Demian lowered Dawnbreaker and plunged into the legion.
-Kieeek!
-Kweeeek!
Hundreds of skeletons formed multiple layers of encirclement to kill the single Demian.
The encircling skeletons swung their weapons to slay Demian.
Attacks poured in from all directions. Bone spears and swords sought to wound his body.
Demian stepped along safe paths. The skeletons' strikes repeatedly cleaved empty air.
Like water flowing between rocks, Demian passed through the legion with effortless grace.
"What... is this...?"
Gasdal's face gradually filled with horror at the impossible sight.
"You idiots...! Why do you keep missing? Just stab him to death, I said!"
Gasdal's scolding was pointless.
Demian had already passed through the legion and stood before him.
"This is ridiculous...!"
Gasdal slammed his staff down. Evil spirit spears shot from his shadow, piercing Demian.
In that instant, Demian's form blurred, and the spears sliced only air.
"...!"
Feeling menace from behind, Gasdal whirled around.
Dawnbreaker, swung by Demian, severed Gasdal's head.
* * *
Gasdal's head hit the ground.
Demian didn't stop there, slashing Gasdal's body several more times with Dawnbreaker. The torso crumbled into multiple pieces.
"What a pointless effort."
A voice came from below.
Gasdal's severed head looked up at Demian, chuckling.
"It won't make a difference. This body is..."
"A fake?"
Gasdal's face stiffened at Demian's words.
"This is just an undead you're remotely controlling. The real you is somewhere else."
"How did you...?"
He'd noticed from the moment they first met.
Demian was a swordsman, but also an exceptional black mage. That's why he could sense the incongruity in the black mana emanating from Gasdal.
Above all, the skeleton legion Gasdal summoned was too weak.
It was hard to believe a grand black mage had called them forth.
"You... what the hell are you? A holy knight of the church? Or..."
Demian stomped on Gasdal's head. It burst, silencing the voice.
The Gasdal before him was fake, but for Demian, it was as good as finding the real one.
Demian extracted black mana from the fake Gasdal's corpse.
Fresh black mana, recently emanated by a black mage.
Exactly what Demian had been needing.
"With this, I can find where the main body is."
Demian used the black mana to form a ritual. A black magic spell to backtrace the main body using the mana.
After closing his eyes for a long while, Demian looked up.
"Not in the ruins, huh."
The detection spell pointed outside. And not just anywhere.
The count's estate.
Gasdal was in the domain of the count who ruled this land.