༺ Findenai ༻
In Necromancy, the most difficult aspect was none other than communing with souls.
Unless they were extremely powerful souls or souls with deep resentment, ordinary people were unable to see them.
According to the book even the Necromancers could only perceive a few souls or spirits.
Because this was the realm of talent, not mana.
But I was not like that. I was different.
I saw all spirits, even the common ones, and I had suffered greatly due to them, but on the contrary, I could use them to my advantage.
Did the spirit souls contain mana?
“No, they’re just lumps of mana with a will.”
They were just a noisy bunch of mana lumps, and I converted their mana into magic.
[Hahahahaha!]
[My body is burning! It’s on fire!]
[Die! You’re dying too!]
It burnt until it consumed all of its own mana, creating a willful magic that followed the enemy.
‘Even though it’s just a simple fireball, it’s pretty effective.’
Magic that possessed its own will was unquestionably advantageous.
Weren’t the apprentice mages easily accessing and firing fireballs, enough to throw the Resistance into disarray and purge them?
‘But.’
That was not the problem.
If it was just the barbarians, the Giant of the North, Darius, would have dealt with them.
It wouldn’t have been possible for them to cross over the mountain range.
It was the white wolf that bit the giant’s ankle.
Findenai’s strides were violent as she raced toward me.
I clicked my tongue, marveling at her speed which made me wonder if she had an engine attached to her legs.
“A monster is indeed a monster.”
A woman who was the final boss of a chapter. It was a good thing that she was not equipped with her proper weapons and equipment yet.
‘There is no Axe of Pangu, which was usually given as a drop. Neither the Landing Machine nor the Hand of Hemomancy.’
I was expecting it, but she was quite different from the Findenai I knew as the boss.
Her equipment was poor and shabby.
I thought about taking advantage of that, but as I watched her running towards me, I changed my mind.
“Not yet.”
Even if she was still a long way from her final level, I was still not able to face her.
Darius committed a huge error by confronting that monster by himself.
I grabbed another soul and converted the mana it contained into magic.
In an instant, it became an ice pick as it flew towards her.
Quadduk!
However, Findenai did not slow down, smashing the ice without the slightest hesitation.
In addition, to prevent the broken Ice from easily returning to its original form, she collected the broken fragments and crushed them into powder.
[Keeeeeeeeeeeee!]
The anguished evil spirit’s scream rang out. To put it in better words, the soul was partially materialized on being converted into magic.
It was only natural for them to feel the pain.
“You’re playing with something quite amusing, Necromancer.”
Findenai leaped high into the air. With the snow falling hard, she was about to take me down from above.
Then, the white god-like figure suddenly rushed at her, and Findenai’s body spun several times in the air before crashing into the ground.
“Kkkkkk!”
Findenai groaned as she coughed up blood and the Mountain Lord, who had struck her down with a single blow was now standing tall beside me.
[We, spiritual beings, cannot take lives recklessly.]
“I understand. Leave the rest to me.”
With that, I glanced away to look at the members of the Scrapyard Nomads, who had adapted to my magic.
“Bear! if you keep slashing, it will eventually run out of mana and disappear!”
[Damn you, you son of a bitch!]
[Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!]
[Do I have to die again? No! I hate it!]
“Ignore their bullshit, it’s only magic!”
“Stop treating the fireballs like humans!”
[No! I’m alive!]
“Fucking bastards! You burnt the insides of McTerry’s mouth completely? How can he kiss his wife now?!”
The Scrapyard Nomads reacted quickly after they learnt that slashing the fireballs repeatedly would cause them to consume mana and disappear, but they were also infuriated as their initial panic resulted in the death of their companions.
At least that was what would have happened if the Mountain Lord hadn’t appeared.
KUOONG!
They failed to figure out what hit them before their bodies collapsed to the ground as the Mountain Lord rammed into them.
“Uh, what the hell!”
Crack!
Unable to scream properly, they just rolled in the snow, their voices muffled by the sudden pain and broken bones.
‘There was a reason for his unwavering confidence.’
I realized that the Mountain Lord was not exaggerating when he said that he could easily kill ten thousand men by himself.
The enemies that Darius and the Norseweden’s soldiers had struggled against were wiped out in the blink of an eye.
Without embellishment, it really happened in the blink of an eye.
The Mountain Lord strode past them majestically as his deep blue eyes gazed into mine once more.
[I hope you won’t forget the Oath.]
“Rest assured. The Norseweden Mountains will no longer allow humans. I will see to it myself.”
[Kreung.]
With a single growl, the Mountain Lord disappeared into an orb of white light, which gradually rose into the sky in contrast to the falling snow.
“Keugh!”
“As expected, you have amazing endurance.”
The struggling Findenai tried to get up right before me. It was truly amazing that she still had the will to fight even after being hit by the Mountain Lord.
She was a difficult boss to deal with, one who became stronger in moments of crisis.
I used one of the trapped evil spirits to create a chair to sit on. I was planning to make a simple ice stool.
[Art. I may not have hands or feet, but I am an artist.]
The soul I chose was a bit of an oddball, and he designed the chair on his own, resulting in a fairly elegant ice chair.
It was not bad.
I sat down, crossed my legs, and spoke to Findenai.
“The Resistance of the Clark Republic. Are you Findenai, the leader of the Scrapyard Nomads, as well as their allies?”
“……………”
In an instant, Findenai’s neck went stiff and her blood-shot eyes trembled in confusion.
“Uh, how did you……!”
“Do I really have to explain that?”
“……………”
She may not have realized what had happened, but she knew that her defeat was a fixed outcome.
Clenching her fists, Findenai tried to use her limp arms to raise herself.
However, she continued to slip and fall in the piled-up snow, over and over again.
“I am Deus Verdi, the second son of the Margravate of Northweden and the younger brother of Darius, the man you ruthlessly destroyed.”
“Deus… Verdi.”
“I’m not very well known. Darius’s name is so prominent that I’m overshadowed.”
Even in this situation, Findenai continued thinking of my name. I was convinced that she would definitely bite and kill me one day.
So, I clicked my tongue.
Findenai had a beastly side to her, and while she was among the best in the continent in terms of strength, she lacked a cool head.
“Why do you think you’re still alive?”
“……Huh?”
“Answer me. If you can’t figure out this much, there’s no need to waste any more time.”
If Findenai couldn’t think more clearly than I expected, I would not hesitate to kill her.
However, Findenai answered, biting her lip.
“Is there anything you want from us?”
“The answer is somewhat lacking, but I’ll consider it to be a passing grade.”
Before I knew it, my chin was resting on the armrest that the evil spirit of the chair had fashioned for me. This guy might be more useful than I realized.
“I’ve heard that the Clark Republic has intensified their crackdown on the Resistance. It seems that a specialized group called the Relief Unit is behind it.”
Relief Unit.
A professional organization created by the Clark Republic to eliminate Resistance groups such as the Scrapyard Nomads.
Before fighting Findenai, it was possible to briefly use the Relief Unit as an ally, but she was still quite strong.
“Relief Unit, huh. Isn’t it just a group that exterminates pests?”
It was named as such to convey that it eliminated Resistances and kept the citizens safe, but its purpose was to eliminate the thorns in the Republic.
It was no different than a method used to get rid of bugs, and the bugs, in this case, were the Resistance.
My lips twitched with cynicism.
I could partly understand how they were treated.
“For you to be crushed and killed here like this is a fitting end that the Republic desires.”
“You bastard……!”
After several attempts to get to her feet, Findenai finally managed to raise her back and lean against a tree. However, her unsteady legs showed no sign of recovery yet.
“However, I would have already trampled you to death if I had intended to do that.”
“What from before… you mean.”
“Two choices.”
I raised the index and middle fingers of my right hand.
“I give you two choices. One is to remain here, be buried in the snow, and get crushed to death by me. Like a worm.”
Findenai was a popular character because she had her own backstory and was designed to be quite good-looking.
But that was of no use to me. It was so useless that it could be thrown in the trash.
What was important to me was that…
She made countless players rack their brains, made them challenge her several times, and created a level of difficulty that forced them to level up.
The strength of Findenai.
“The only other option left remaining for you is to be mine.”
I needed her strength.
“What?”
Before she could react properly, I slowly rose from my chair.
“If you obey my commands and follow them well, I will give you everything you’ve ever sought from the Kingdom.”
Findenai had fled from the Clark Republic and come over the mountain range to the Griffin Kingdom for a variety of reasons.
The Relief Unit was too powerful for her, so her flight began there.
They were running low on supplies, had no power, and had no base of operations.
So, Findenai planned to go over to the relatively open-minded Kingdom, establish her own base, grow the size of the Resistance in the Kingdom, and return to the Republic.
In fact, in the game, she never made it back to the Republic, but she did manage to grow the size of the Resistance.
“I will provide you with supplies, I will also give you a place to stay, and give you a job for funds.”
“What, what are you talking about?”
It was not difficult to grasp.
Even elementary school students would have understood this by now.
I was recruiting her.
“Even the Republic will not be able to attack us, the nobles and margraves of the Kingdom.”
“……………”
“The other members are secondary. But not you. If only you would come under me.”
I got up from the chair and got down on one knee in front of Findenai, who was leaning against the tree.
Our gazes met.
I gently stretched out my hand toward the startled and flustered woman.
“I will be a shield to protect you.”
The younger brother of the Margrave of Norseweden.
The second son of the Verdi Household.
The disbarred Professor of the Loberne Academy.
These positions were almost insignificant.
However, for a wolf who had lived as a slave, fought in the Revolutionary Army, and needed a moment of rest.
It was something that could serve as a refuge.
“Five years. And after that, I will set you free. At that time, whether you go back to the Republic and start a revolution or give up and live, I won’t care.”
After all, by then, I’ll know whether this world had a happy ending. Or a fucking tragic one.
Therefore…
“Be mine, Findenai.”
