Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The Selection of Gasdal (3)
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After issuing the order to kill the man named Victor, Freyze headed to the annex.
It had originally been the meditation chamber of the previous family head, her father, but now the entire annex served as Gasdal's laboratory.
Freyze flung open the door to the annex and stepped inside.
The place, which had once been barren and empty for use as a meditation chamber, was now filled to the brim with all sorts of chemicals and corpses.
"You're back, I see."
Gasdal turned to Freyze and said.
In a manner utterly at odds with this gruesome space, Gasdal was dressed in a neat suit.
"Could you wait a moment? I was just about to inject the purified memories."
In front of Gasdal stood a large glass tube.
The tube was filled with a mysterious green fluorescent liquid, and floating within it was the corpse of a middle-aged man.
The man's corpse was far from intact.
Half of his face was covered with a steel plate, his limbs were grafted from other people, and his torso was densely inscribed with black magic circles.
Despite its grotesquely mismatched appearance, Freyze gazed at the corpse with a face full of longing.
It was only natural. That corpse was none other than her father.
Count Adrian.
The first Swordmaster ever born in the Adrian County.
He was a knight famed for his mighty sword strikes that could cleave an entire mountain in two.
It was all thanks to her father that the county had been elevated to a duchy.
But a few years ago, Count Adrian had suddenly passed away from a chronic illness.
After her father's death, hordes of vultures had gathered to devour the duchy.
The duchy's authority had been greatly shaken, and they began seizing various interests through all sorts of schemes.
If Domenico, her father's disciple, had not risen to high class, the duchy would have completely collapsed.
"......As you said, I gave Domenico the order to kill that man."
"Thank you for granting my request."
His tone suggested nothing of the sort. Freyze glared at Gasdal and asked,
"Why don't you handle it yourself? With your skills, you could finish it in no time."
"You know well. If I stepped in, a man like that would be easy to kill."
"Then why......"
"It felt ominous."
Gasdal gazed fondly at Adrian inside the glass tube and said,
"My instincts kept warning me not to fight that man. And I'm quite perceptive when it comes to this sort of thing."
Freyze simply couldn't understand it. She knew all too well how terrifying a black mage Gasdal was, which made it all the more baffling.
"So...... you asked me to deal with him?"
"I'd like you to, but I'm not particularly expecting it."
"Then why give such an order......"
"Because at the very least, it will buy me time to finish my research."
Finishing the research.
At those words, Freyze's eyes widened. Delighted, she said,
"Does that mean the black magic you've been researching is finally complete?"
"It's almost complete. I just need to gather the remaining materials."
"Th-then Father will come back to life? Right?"
"Hm?"
Gasdal made a face as if to say, what are you talking about? That reaction planted a seed of unease in Freyze's heart.
"You told me yourself. That once your research is complete, you can bring the dead back to life! That you could revive Father with it......"
"Ah, that."
Gasdal spoke as if he'd just remembered something he'd forgotten.
"Can't do it."
* * *
For a moment, Freyze couldn't comprehend Gasdal's words.
"What do you mean...... right now?"
"Reviving a person is impossible. Even the Holy Emperor of the Holy Church couldn't do it."
Gasdal spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Reincarnation of the dead.
It was a research topic that countless black mages had obsessed over.
It wasn't entirely impossible. Black mages were more proficient in handling souls than anyone else.
So, couldn't they just reconnect the original soul to the corpse?
But no black mage had ever succeeded in the experiment.
"Th-then what did you tell me? You said you could revive him! And as proof, you briefly brought Father back!"
"That was just replaying memories for a short time."
"W-what?"
"A person's corpse retains the lingering attachments and memories they had while alive."
Gasdal pointed to her father's corpse and said,
"So I extracted the memories from your father's corpse and replayed them. They were incomplete, so I could only show them briefly."
Freyze's mouth slowly fell open. Only now did the reality of Gasdal's deception sink in.
"Why the hell would you......!"
"I needed a laboratory. A safe place where I could steadily secure research materials. Thanks to you opening the ruins for me, all my problems were solved."
Evidently quite satisfied, a quiet smile spread across Gasdal's lips.
"Th-then...... what exactly have you been researching? If not reviving the dead, then what......"
"Ah, curious about that?"
Gasdal chuckled lowly, as if pleased by Freyze's question.
"My true research has been creating a master-class-level Death Knight based on your father's corpse."
Necromancy school, monster school, and so on.
The goal of black mages who created undead was singular.
To produce undead that surpassed master class.
Of course, it was no easy feat.
A master class was a superhuman born from a genius among geniuses devoting their entire life to training.
Thus, even for a grand black mage, creating undead that surpassed master class was nearly impossible.
"Father...... into a Death Knight......?"
"Yes! Isn't it a brilliant plan? A Death Knight on par with master class!"
As if the mere thought filled his chest with excitement, a bright smile spread across Gasdal's face.
"A body that had already reached master class! And with memories, it was entirely feasible! Well...... truth be told, it didn't go as planned from the start. Do you know why?"
The smile that had appeared on Gasdal's face vanished in an instant.
"Because the memories were incomplete. Your father had been dead too long, so too many memories were lost."
If the memories weren't intact, they had to be filled with something else.
That was why Gasdal had approached Freyze to obtain memories from outstanding warriors.
"The research...... was a great success. Forcibly filling the imperfect vessel turned out quite impressive."
Gasdal turned to Freyze.
"It's all thanks to you. I'm grateful for your help......"
"Gasdal!"
Unable to listen any longer, Freyze lunged at Gasdal. She grabbed him by the collar and screamed.
"I won't...... let you get away with this...... Kyaaak!"
Gasdal brushed off Freyze's arm with a displeased look. He straightened his clothes as if something unclean had touched him and said,
"You won't let me get away with it? Perfect. I was thinking the same."
At those words, Freyze shot to her feet and shouted,
"You've already ruined my family—what more do you mean you won't let me get away with! You filthy......"
Crunch.
A sound she'd never heard in her life rang out. The sound of skin and muscle tearing, bones crushing.
"......"
Freyze slowly lowered her gaze. Gasdal's hand was buried in her chest.
"Your memories are the final piece needed to complete the Death Knight."
Gasdal pulled his hand from her chest. Freyze collapsed to the floor.
Gasdal wiggled his fingers. Freyze's soul was extracted from her corpse.
Gasdal forcibly tore apart Freyze's soul, extracting only the memories.
-Kyaaaaaaaak!
Freyze's soul screamed in agony from the excruciating pain. Still, Gasdal's hand did not stop.
"Done."
With another gesture, the memories extracted from Freyze were injected into Adrian.
At that moment, Adrian's eyebrows twitched. Gasdal's eyes widened at the change.
"Oh, oho! Blood kin's memories make the body react immediately! This is it! Exactly what I was hoping for......"
Just then, the annex door burst open. Domenico rushed in, shouting,
"Lady Freyze! You must escape!"
Domenico's body came to an abrupt halt. He looked back and forth between the dead Freyze on the floor and Gasdal.
"Hm? You're here now?"
Gasdal asked nonchalantly. In that instant, Domenico let out a beastly roar and charged.
He poured all his mana into his half-shattered zweihander. Red aura surged high.
"Gasdal!"
Domenico swung his greatsword down at Gasdal. At that moment, countless spears erupted from Gasdal's shadow.
The black spears shattered Domenico's greatsword and pierced his torso.
"Kuhuk!"
Domenico's body froze in place. Impaled on the spear, he vomited blood.
"H-how...... aura......"
"Aura? That's nothing special. Even my children can use it as much as they want."
Skeletons burst from Gasdal's shadow. The skeletons gripped spears in their hands.
Incredibly, the spears they held were cloaked in pitch-black aura.
"To interrupt this joyous moment. What a rude fellow."
Gasdal looked at Domenico with displeasure.
"Well, I'll forgive you. You're my second research material, after all."
"Second...... what nonsense......"
"No need to know. Besides, it's lonely watching alone. Care to join me?"
Gasdal swung his hand through the air. Black mana gathered, forming a mirror.
"This is......"
Gasdal snapped his fingers, and an image appeared in the mirror.
Domenico immediately realized what the mirror was showing.
The duchy.
"My Death Knight lacks a bit of memory to activate."
With that, Gasdal opened a subspace and pulled out his staff.
"In cases like this, quantity over quality is the way to go."
Gasdal unleashed black mana. Pitch-black mana surged upward, blowing the annex roof away.
Not just the roof. The black mana spread, obliterating everything in the annex.
The only thing left intact was the glass tube beside Gasdal.
Domenico trembled. To blow away a building with a mere mana burst. It was a sight he'd never witnessed in his life.
"Watch closely. I'll show you how I fill the quantity."
Gasdal slammed his staff into the ground.
Across the entire duchy, legions of skeletons appeared.
* * *
Demian shook the blood from Yeomyeong.
The floor was littered with the corpses of the duchy's knights and soldiers.
They had all charged with everything they had, but it wasn't enough to stand against Demian.
"Time's been delayed."
Demian was about to pursue Domenico when
souls began crawling up from the corpses. The souls wailed toward Demian.
-Stop! Don't go! Leave him be!
-You cruel bastard! You've killed so many and you still won't stop!
The souls spat fury and hatred at Demian.
They hadn't colluded with the black mage out of personal greed.
They had only blocked Demian's path out of loyalty to Freyze.
Even in death, they tried to stop him for her sake.
"Shut up!"
Demian roared at the souls.
"You knew of the black mage's existence and hid it! And that's not all. You were the ones sending dungeon explorers to Gasdal!"
The ruins had a high mortality rate compared to their dangers.
Many had become Gasdal's research materials.
And it was the duchy's knights and soldiers who kidnapped explorers from the ruins and sent them to Gasdal.
-We acted for the young lady!
-Don't defile our loyalty!
"That doesn't absolve your sins. Shut your mouths before I annihilate your souls!"
Demian's killing intent silenced the souls.
At that moment.
A massive burst of black mana erupted from the direction Domenico had run.
The black mana spread across the entire duchy, forming black magic.
Gritting his teeth at the sight, Demian muttered,
"......In the end, it's begun."