༺ A Third-Rate Necromancer ༻
[You, damn bastard who considers himself to be a tiger despite never having seen one.]
The grim-face creature snickered.
Orpheus’s body began to move as the Evil Ghost called Griffin cackled.
“You morons, protect the King.”
Then, Evil Ghost Griffin began to speak through Orpheus’ mouth. The moment he issued the command, numerous servants immediately stood up and rushed forward.
“Huh.”
However, my mana surged and pushed them away. It was a type of black magic I had learned from the Dark Spiritualist, that didn’t involve the manipulation of souls.
Patterns made from mana flickered under my feet. This was one of the few defensive spells a Necromancer could use to avoid being possessed by powerful evil spirits.
Usually, it wouldn’t have any effect on normal servants. However, as they were influenced by the Evil Ghost’s power, they couldn’t approach me as they wished.
“Deia, s-stay behind me!”
“Sorry, but I can not allow myself to be controlled!”
Bang! Bang!
The servants were also rushing towards Darius and Deia near the entrance and not just me.
Darius thrust his sword back into its scabbard and swung it around like a club to drive them away. Deia, on the other hand, restricted their movements by firing mana bullets at their thighs and feet.
“Go and assist them.”
[What? Then what about you?]
Surprised, the Dark Spiritualist stared at me with concern, but my gaze was solely focused on Evil Ghost Griffin and King Orpheus.
“I can deal with him by myself.”
[….]
“Trust me.”
[You’re really—!]
The Dark Spiritualist gave me a quick hug and whispered.
[Alright, you cannot die here because we still need to see what lies at the end of the journey of necromancy!! This is your Master’s order.]
Despite not feeling any warmth, or weight, I could feel a strange sensation of something touching me.
“Okay.”
I gave a slight nod and let her go to support Darius and Deia.
“How unseemly.”
The Evil Ghost possessing the King’s body clicked his tongue as he watched us act like that.
“A threat at just this level does not call for such sentimentalities. Why the dramatics? We are not rehearsing a tragedy here, are we?”
It was truly such a ridiculous sight to see as he hadn’t even used a fraction of the massive power he possessed
I gripped the Lemegeton, infusing mana into it, and asked.
“I have one question.”
“What? Is that a plea?”
The overwhelming pressure radiating from him almost caused me to lose consciousness momentarily. If I hadn’t protected myself with magic, it wouldn’t have been strange if I had lost without putting up a fight.
“If you want an answer from me, you must at least show me that you are worthy of it.”
The pressure intensified.
Nevertheless, I stood tall with my back straight, gripping the Lemegeton even tighter.
“Why did you persecute all the dark mages?”
The present Griffin Kingdom went beyond merely harboring a hatred for the people known as dark mages; they treated these people as the Kingdom’s enemies.
Even though Luaneth Luden Griffin, who changed his name to Heralhazard, was the perpetrator of the diabolic massacres.
The Evil Ghost Griffin standing before me, was the one who induced this sentiment.
Perhaps feeling amused at my question, the Evil Ghost laughed out loud.
“It’s quite amusing! It is hilarious, isn’t it? That massacre helped ensure that my position would remain secure.”
“….”
“Given that I was the one who was seated atop the most radiant throne, perhaps no one saw it coming. That the Dark Mage, whom you all once scorned and pointed fingers at, was actually your own king.”
“….”
“It was truly a masterpiece! It was such a pleasure! Due to that event, the Kingdom began to strictly regulate Black Magic, banning all books and information about it, creating a favorable environment for me.”
And that led to the establishment of the current Griffin Kingdom, where everyone had become extremely ignorant about evil spirits.
For instance, at the so-called best academy, Loberne, they couldn’t even mount proper resistance during the incident caused by Setima’s angel.
It was all due to the outlawing of Dark Mages that the Kingdom knew nothing about black magic.
As the pressure kept increasing, I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath.
A faint light emanated from the Lemegeton, providing me with assistance.
To conceal his identity, he ruthlessly took countless lives.
To ensure no one recognized him, he turned the entire Kingdom into ignorant fools.
He did so to an unbelievable extent, but he managed to succeed nonetheless.
However…
“Surely, that’s not the only reason.”
“….”
Griffin’s eyebrows twitched slightly. It was a subtle reaction, but it meant that I hit the mark.
“It’s a throne you’ve managed to preserve for centuries. Yet, why did you suddenly orchestrate the massacre 200 years ago, risking such stature?”
It would have been easier if he had done so from the beginning. So why did he attempt to further strengthen his position for a throne he had firmly occupied for centuries by insisting on causing such a diabolic massacre all of a sudden?
There was only one answer that I could think of— because the need for it had emerged.
“It is probably because you feared that another Dark Mage like yourself would come into existence. “
“….”
“200 years ago, an outstanding Dark Mage happened to discover your secret and became a threat to you. That is my deduction.”
In other words, what he meant by ‘strengthening his position’ was that he felt threatened by someone.
“If I may add another reason, it was because you were afraid.”
Even under this tremendous pressure, the corners of my mouth were slightly lifted. It wasn’t intentional, but a half-instinctive action that seemed quite provocative.
It was because this bastard had quite an amusing expression on his face.
“After listening to this, it seems that you have blabbered enough. I must admit you have a talent for making things really annoying.”
A dense mass of mana began to gather above the King’s head. In fact, the slightest movement of this tremendous power could annihilate the entire audience chamber.
“Thanks to you, the Kingdom’s laws against Dark Mages will now be even more severe. And yes, you’re quite similar to that annoying guy who came looking for me 200 years ago.”
“….”
“You threatened me, the King, and due to your actions, half of the Royal Palace was ruined. However, I managed to miraculously survive and defeat you.”
The Evil Ghost seemed like he had come up with quite a heroic backstory this time.
“Did you wander around looking for the ghosts using the Lemegeton?”
He then let out a boisterous laugh.
I could sense the light from the Lemegeton growing even more melancholic at the words of that bastard.
“Do you know why I watched over you so closely? It’s because, in the end, you’re no different from the countless other Necromancers spread all over.”
“….”
“You forcibly awaken spirits using that stone and manipulate them for your own purposes! You forcefully awaken them from their rest and use them!”
“….”
“What? Third-rate Necromancer, you said? Just like all people? Are you kidding me? In the end, you, too, treat the dead as mere tools. You are no different from a Necromancer like me!”
“….”
“I have no intention of wasting more of the King’s time on someone who is all bark and no bite. Now, perish.”
Evil Ghost Griffin extended its hand.
The mana sphere wriggled and moved.
However, its form began to deteriorate almost immediately.
It started swaying about, and simultaneously, agonizing screams from inside began to resound.
“….?!”
Perplexed by the sudden change, the guy looked dumbfounded, and I shook my head in disbelief.
“Unfortunately.”
The heavy pressure pressing down on me gradually faded away.
I could feel some relief in my waist that had become tense due to the pressure. Despite the lingering pain, my lips trembling and teeth clenched, it was still bearable.
“You can only be called third-rate because you don’t even have a simple understanding of the basics.”
“What did you say?!”
It was a concept I’d explained to Findenai and Deia.
Although I had never properly conducted a lecture for the students at the academy, I never expected to give one to an Evil Ghost who was on the brink of evolving into a demon in the Royal Palace.
“All souls contain mana.”
The amount may vary, but for a soul to manipulate mana, it needed intense emotions that could act as a substitute for a physical body.
“In other words.”
I pointed at the huge sphere. From inside the huge mass of mana, people’s faces protruded, struggling and glowing.
“It means your massive mana contains a proportional amount of souls.”
Because he was a Necromancer.
Once a soul perished, their mana, too, naturally would disappear.
However, for a Dark Mage like him, to use such vast mana…
That meant that there were resting souls inside that Evil Ghost, which meant that there was a chance for me to absorb them.
Lemegeton could awaken those resting souls.
Just by emitting light, it already began awakening the resting souls within the Evil Ghost.
Those whose souls were captured by the Evil Ghost had their consciousness restored.
“It’s truly ironic.”
Two months ago, when I met Emily, defeated the Human-Bone Centipede, and made it possible for her to get her revenge on the Research Director, Maalkus, I had one question.
The way a soul attained rest and was exterminated seemed to have strictly different principles.
When a person died, they would close their eyes, and their soul would return to the earth.
Meanwhile, extermination meant the complete disappearance of the soul itself.
Since this was an extremely challenging task, it was impossible to do it with my magic at that time.
However, Emily managed to annihilate the Research Director, Maalkus by herself while they were underground.
It was clearly impossible with my magic alone.
However, it was evident to me since I was the one who converted Emily’s mana into magic.
In the end, I reached a conclusion:
Emily’s resentment amplified my magic even further.
The desire for revenge granted the girl a power close to an unimaginable level.
That, too, was due to the emotions the girl had developed after her death.
“Ultimately, even the deceased possess a will. They harbor emotions. It is a notion that is the exact opposite of the causality we have common understanding of.”
It wasn’t just that they died with resentment.
Resentment could also arise after death.
[Graaaahhhhhh!]
[Save meeeee!]
[It’s a demon! A cursed demon!]
[Freedom! Give me rest!]
[It’s better to just annihilate me!]
The souls that he had imprisoned for hundreds of years, using their mana as he wished while they were unconscious, had now awakened.
And now they harbored a deep and intense grudge towards the Evil Ghost.
“Keeeeub!”
Evil Ghost Griffin tried to capture the souls that were trying to escape by any means.
Necromancers were originally proficient in capturing souls and inflicting pain as they carried out their duties.
However, the Lemegeton emitted even brighter light.
Due to the nature of this stone, which imparted the ideal power necessary to awaken souls, the Evil Ghost seemed to have a hard time now.
“Necromancers merely borrow their power from the dead.”
This was something I said when I first met King Orpheus in the prison.
“Perhaps because you have become an evil ghost.”
I sneered at the bastard who was struggling.
“Or perhaps because you forgot that these souls were once human.”
What was the point of being able to handle various techniques and advanced magic?
“While you borrow their power.”
If the roots supporting everything from below were weak, it would eventually result in only fragile branches.
“You forgot to respect and appreciate their greatness.”
And those who lacked such basics, we called them third-rate.
