Chapter 121
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: The Authority of Death
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It wasn't just a simple torrent of necromantic mana—it rapidly mutated into something entirely different.
The process felt profoundly unfamiliar and erratic, even to me with my experience as a Deathlord.
The massive torrent solidified, took shape, and a concept crystallized within it.
And then it became something completely different from the start—not the same category, but a utterly alien structure.
The meaning of that concept was [Death].
This is...
"What the hell is this? It's not magic, and it's not a supernatural ability either."
This power had no specific method of use. It existed as naturally as breathing, and my will infused into it effortlessly.
This was outside my expected range.
A Deathlord is the being closest to death itself.
Naturally, as something akin to the netherworld incarnate, by the time one reaches the Deathlord level, the power they wield is inherently tied to death.
But closeness doesn't mean identity— it can never become the exact same concept.
Even if I'm not entirely convinced that my own Deathlord realm was the absolute pinnacle, this was a first for me.
If it were something obtainable merely through adaptation, I would've shrugged it off—and I'd likely have encountered it in the Labyrinthos too.
But in this reality, after recovering memories from various halls, witnessing this unprecedented phenomenon left me utterly perplexed.
The reaper's form that had enveloped me vanished without a trace, yet it was fully palpable within my circle.
Something that was magic but not quite magic.
A supernatural ability, yet one that defied categorization.
Even when I reached Deathlord, I'd only mimicked it at best—I'd never handled the real thing.
At least, that's what I'd always called this kind of power.
Authority.
A primal force possessed only by humans' impossible extremes—special transcendent beings like krakens or ancient gods, innate from birth.
Not something you could gain through mere training or meditation.
Just as human effort can't sprout a fourth arm.
Even the authority crafted from the Machine God's heart merely borrowed its power—it wasn't truly mine.
[It resembles an Authority, but it is still weak.]
Does that mean if it grows stronger, it could truly be considered an Authority?
I sorted out my increasingly complicated thoughts by clearing the area around me.
And that's when I realized it, belatedly.
The mana core and magic circle—which shouldn't vanish after a single use—had disappeared without a trace.
The mana core that Sullivan had brought from that other dimension was apparently no ordinary one.
There was no other way to explain this incomprehensible phenomenon.
"Young Master."
It was then.
Misha, the head maid, approached me with a face full of tension.
"Are you alright?"
"Pardon?"
No sooner had she spoken than I took in the bizarre sight I hadn't noticed until moments ago.
The servants around us had even stopped what they were doing to stare at me outright.
And for good reason: centered on where I'd been standing in the training grounds, the ground within about five meters was completely blackened and dead.
This kind of phenomenon becomes possible at the Deathlord level, but the key point was that I was still a 7th-circle necromancer.
In other words, I'd casually wielded the very concept of death—something only achievable at Deathlord rank.
I silently extended my hand.
Then, I resonated with Thanatos, hidden within the single unified ring.
Unlike regular magic, black mist-like fog slithered out as if breathing, enveloping the surrounding air—and the air itself dispersed as if it had died.
......
At the same time, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion crashed over me.
This went beyond merely having or lacking necromantic mana.
It was the fatigue of using a newly formed, untrained organ in my body—my head throbbed with a sharp ding!.
Simultaneously, the [Death] dormant in my circle began rampaging like a wild beast.
I just need to control it... but it's not easy to control.
Still, in this situation, leaving it be would spell disaster—I was certain of that.
Reflexively, I raised one outstretched hand to face level, palm aimed at the ground.
Drip... drop...
Black shadowy currents poured from my palm like falling water droplets.
A spell made possible by reaching 7th circle.
Shadow Transfer.
Destination: the Demon Realm.
I twisted the position of my shadow with one of the few undead I'd scattered there beforehand.
"Young Master?!"
I had no time to respond.
The space around me warped, and in an instant, my vision shifted to a deep, dark forest.
-Grrrrr...
Hostile presences from demonic beasts surged from all directions, but I ignored them and ran like mad.
I needed to get as far away as possible.
This phenomenon born from Thanatos devouring immense Deathlord-level dominance—who knew how vast an area its explosion would affect?
With no distinction between friend and foe yet, that was out of the question.
How long did I sprint like a maniac?
Deep in the Demon Realm's forest, I took in the sight of countless ferocious demonic beasts surrounding me.
A place teeming with notoriously troublesome monsters, even among those monitored in the Demon Realm.
Not even Cascadia's forces usually sent troops here, so no worry of anyone getting caught in it.
"Hiss... whoosh."
As I muttered dazedly, they slowly closed in, encircling me.
And from behind them emerged a massive spider, its body over ten meters across.
One of the Demon Realm's infamous demonic beasts.
With its tenacious vitality, it was definitely on the high-risk extermination list.
Come to think of it—this was its territory.
Ah.
Detonating this here is gonna be a pain...
Unless it activated mid-battle instinctively, it didn't seem like a power to use recklessly.
But letting it fester would shake me to my core, so without hesitation, I erupted the pent-up energy like a volcano.
BOOOOM!!!
At the same time, grotesque rune-like patterns flashed beneath my feet.
Shhhhhhh...
A black magic circle manifested above my head, and from it emerged a colossal skeleton draped in robes.
The reaper's form swung its massive scythe in a full circle, scattering death as it burst out of the magic circle.
Roughly over twenty meters tall, the scythe it wielded was pitch-black, swallowing even light itself.
The demonic beasts instinctively froze at the sight.
But the reaper moved even faster—and in that instant.
Ink-black splatters erupted across the entire area, like a brush laden with ink flicking droplets everywhere.
And the colors of the space vanished in a heartbeat.
"Move your asses, you slugs!!! You gonna let the Family Head go alone?!"
"Keep moving!! Legs are in sight!! Hustle, hustle!! Were you a sloth in your past life?!"
The moment the massive roar and shockwave were detected, the monitoring squad in the Demon Realm grabbed their gear like they were on a five-minute alert and bolted.
Even those lounging with Paradise artifacts, leaving only minimal watch, were dragged out and mobilized.
They might've gained some entertainment thanks to Paradise, but right now, the crisis was too dire for excuses—especially with Melissa, here for monitoring duty, on the move too.
Something seriously bad had gone down.
Had one of the deep Demon Realm entities stirred?
Thoughts raced as Melissa rallied the squad and headed toward the commotion with a grim face.
"Family Head, going deeper is truly dangerous. This place is..."
"I know. But we have to check now."
Melissa was resolute.
She judged the incident grave enough.
The squad exchanged glances, then drew weapons and followed her.
But contrary to expectations, the notorious beasts' habitat was eerily silent.
And then.
At the end of that silence.
They could only gape at the scene before them, speechless.
"Hic... cough!!"
"What... why is breathing so hard?"
Crossing a certain boundary, even inhaling air made breathing labored.
The ground was blackened and dead, littered with what seemed like demonic beast corpses.
"Family Head."
"Activate protective artifacts, everyone. Some stay here, others advance with me."
With a tense expression, Melissa manifested a Death Knight and pressed on.
How far did they go, maintaining vigilance?
She and the squad beheld it.
About 200 meters of barren flatland. A land of utter death, with truly nothing left.
One lone beast doing this? Absurd.
This was a catastrophe.
The thought flashed through everyone's mind.
Soon after, they found the culprit.
In the center of the vast death zone stood Leon alone, staring blankly at his hands.
But no one could call his name.
For a brief moment, merely looking at him froze their bodies, as if the word "death" were etched into their very souls.
Something wearing Leon's skin? No—could that even be called human?
As all stiffened in primal terror.
Something suctioned into the dazed Leon, and the oppressive aura vanished completely.
Moments later, a knight beside Melissa cautiously called out.
"F-Family Head."
"What."
"Look... look at the sky."
Melissa's eyes widened as she looked up.
The sky, clear just before, was now blackened above Leon's head, without even clouds.
Centered on Leon, nothing within a certain radius could live.
An unintended something akin to authority had emerged.
Thanatos—the entity born from the solidified torrent of necromantic mana in my circle.
Or more precisely, the [Death] backlash from resonating with Thanatos far exceeded expectations.
I'd never imagined implementing Thanatos with Deathlord-level dominance and assimilating it would be possible.
Originally, the plan was to use that power to constrict the circle appropriately and form the seventh ring.
But now?
The necromantic circles that had spun through most of my heart had merged into essentially one ring.
Not just one or two, but a whopping seven.
I'd only meant to break through to 7th circle, but things escalated—still, if I control it well, it's not bad.
I'd handled death back in my Deathlord days, but this felt entirely different.
In the end, I ended up staying at an empty lodge in the mountains, a bit away from Cascadia territory.
Melissa, having witnessed the devastation I'd wrought firsthand, had shoved me here.