Chapter 2452 – 2452. Dark Moon
I returned to the doll shop.
Aisa, who let out a sigh of relief as soon as she saw me, was there.
“You’re back. You came out later than I thought, so I was worried.”
“Ilario’s workshop was quite large. And there were some other things that happened.”
“Hmm. That’s very intriguing. You’ll tell me about it, right? Of course, I won’t write it in an article.”
“Yeah.”
I looked at Jack, the old man sitting at the counter. He was gaping, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Unbelievable… Not only did you come out of that workshop… but you’re alive and well.”
“If I had let my guard down, I wouldn’t have made it back either.”
There were an enormous number of Ilario’s undead dolls in the workshop. If I hadn’t had the Astral Vision, Phase Astral… I could have been the one who was defeated without being able to deal with them all.
‘More than anything, I was lucky. If the doppelganger had used its abilities… that would have been terrible.’
Crack!
A doll placed on the counter shattered. It was the doll that served as the entrance to the workshop. That meant Ilario’s workshop had collapsed. The dolls inside the workshop would have been destroyed as well.
“…Did you get Ilario’s Vision magic?”
“I did. I won’t have to come to this shop ever again.”
“See you later, Uncle Jack.”
I left the shop with Aisa.
We had dinner at one of the most renowned restaurants in Neo London and talked. Of course, we didn’t part ways after that and went to a nearby luxury hotel.
• • •
Now that I had obtained Ilario’s Vision magic, I had to try it out myself, even if it was just for experimentation.
Under the identity of Eugene, I took on a simple request.
To deal with a new gang that had crept into Zone X. The client was Rose, who ran a manpower agency in Zone X.
‘Trying to establish themselves in Rose’s territory… They’re morons from outside Neo London.’
Zone X is a place where many gangs gather due to poor security, but even in this trash can of a place, there are unwritten rules. One of them is not to touch the X Manpower Agency area.
Is it because Rose’s popularity is that great? Absolutely not. It’s because the gangs know they can’t deal with Rose.
‘Rose knows many mercenaries as a broker. If Rose asks, there would be mercenaries who would gladly crush a gang or two.’
I didn’t take the request from Rose. I chose this request myself. Using a high-ranking mage like me to deal with a single gang? It’s like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. Naturally, the reward for this request was also a pittance.
‘This kind of request is perfect for experimenting with Vision magic.’
A request where I could kill everyone without any repercussions.
I slowly walked towards the gang’s hideout. The gang had occupied one of the abandoned buildings scattered throughout Zone X and made it their base. Of course, it was illegal.
At the entrance of the building, a low-ranking gang member was sitting on a chair, yawning with his mouth wide open. Spiky steel hair forcibly embedded in his scalp and thorn decorations embedded in his shoulders. A punkish fashion. Anyone could tell he was a gang member.
“Huh? What are you, crawling in here?”
Click.
As soon as he saw me, the guy aimed a pistol at me.
“You don’t look like someone who came to join our Gitro gang… Are you a mercenary? Which gang sent you?”
“You seem quite familiar with this. Have a few mercenaries come here besides me?”
“Even in the countryside, there’s turf wars, so how could it not be here? The gangs with some name don’t move themselves and use mercenaries. You’re the third one. The other two… their organs and implants were ripped out and became my pocket money. You don’t have implants, but… looking at what you’re wearing, you’ll be worth some money.”
“…Judging by that attitude and atmosphere, you’re not a low-ranking member.”
“Oh, yeah. I’m the boss here. Didn’t you even check that before coming? Are you even a mercenary?”
I hadn’t read the information Rose had given me. I had only checked the location of the gang.
It was just a gang. The time spent reading the preliminary information was a waste. Besides, if it was a really dangerous gang, Rose would have told me in advance.
[Fire Ball]
Whoosh.
A fireball appeared, blazing in the air.
“A mage!! Damn it…!”
The guy pulled the trigger. The bullet fired from the muzzle hit the barrier. Of course, it didn’t even leave a scratch.
The fireball flew towards the side of the guy. I deliberately avoided a direct hit to avoid killing him instantly.
‘I need to capture him to experiment with Vision magic, so I can’t kill him right away.’
The fireball exploded as soon as it hit the wall.
KWA-A-A-A-A-ANG!
Part of the building was blown away. The gang members inside the building rushed out like a swarm of insects.
“What the hell!”
“Is this a war?!”
“Who the hell is it?!”
“Boss! Are you okay?!”
As soon as the gang members saw me, they started firing their guns. Grenades and even rocket launchers were flying towards me. Of course, they couldn’t penetrate the barrier.
“Damn it…. He’s a high-ranking mage. Why is a high-ranking mage here? No, who hired a high-ranking mage for this kind of job? You’re a high-ranking mage, and you took this kind of request? Don’t you have any pride as a high-ranking mage?!”
The boss shook his head and got up. Even if he hadn’t been hit directly by the fireball, it wouldn’t be strange for a normal person to die instantly. But he got up right away?
‘It’s not magic or martial arts… Is it a physical enhancement type ability?’
It didn’t matter. If he was powerful enough to threaten me, he wouldn’t be living as a mere gang member.
I flicked my finger.
[Blood Spear]
A blood-red spear that appeared in the air fell on the gang members. The gang members screamed, but they continued to fire bullets at me.
“Ah, it’s not working! These are special bullets! They’re special magic bullets that can penetrate barriers!!”
“You idiot, that only works on level 4 barriers! That monster is at least level 5 or higher!”
“Why would a level 5 or higher be here?!”
“I don’t know! Just shoot! The boss will do something… Ugh!”
Spikes of blood erupted from the pool of blood on the floor, piercing the gang members.
The surroundings quickly became quiet. All 20 gang members were incapacitated. About half of them were dead, and half were alive.
The boss swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“J-just tell me this before I die. How much are you getting for doing this?”
“Was it 5 million credits?”
“…You’re killing us for that kind of pittance? I’ll give you three times that! I’ll leave this city right now, just spare me!”
“I refuse. My reputation is on the line.”
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
The guy screamed and charged at me. Since there was no other way, he was charging in desperation.
I cut off the guy’s arms and legs with a blade of blood.
I approached the guy who had fallen to the floor. I took out the grimoire containing Ilario’s Vision magic, Necromantic Heartcraft, from my inventory.
“W-what are you trying to do…?!
“I’m going to materialize and store your soul before you die completely. It’s a new Vision magic I just got my hands on. I came here to experiment with it.”
“Soul materialization…? You, you bastard. Are you a necromancer?”
“I’m quite interested in necromancy.”
The guy’s face turned pale. It wasn’t just because he was about to die.
“P-please. Don’t turn me into an undead…! J-just kill me! Please!”
“Your opinion is not important.”
I took out a Dark Hole from my inventory. Black mana flowed out. The grimoire reacted to the black mana and began to unfold on its own.
‘I guess it’s like a grimoire. It started assisting me on its own when I tried to use Necromantic Heartcraft.’
I could use Necromantic Heartcraft even without the grimoire’s assistance. It was true that it was more convenient with the assistance.
‘According to the contents of the grimoire, it can only be used on corpses that have been incapacitated or have died within 3 minutes.’
When the body dies, the soul disappears somewhere.
‘Necromancy is about dealing with dead souls. But dead souls cannot be said to be intact. When a necromancer summons a dead soul, the dead soul has lost its memories and ego from when it was alive.’
That was why it was impossible for a necromancer to completely revive the dead.
‘Necromantic Heartcraft allows you to store and use souls in their intact state.’
So, if there was a complete body… even the dead could be revived completely.
The magic circle of Necromantic Heartcraft was drawn on the guy’s torso.
“No, no, no!!!”
The guy cried out. But the magic didn’t stop.
Crack, crunch.
His body twisted and broke. Blood splattered everywhere. I watched as his internal organs were torn apart and his brain melted.
The melted brain and the torn heart collided and turned into a small bead. A disgusting bead that looked like a lump of flesh. The guy’s soul existed inside this soul core.
‘I succeeded.’
-Damn it! What the hell did you do to me?!!
The guy’s soul, trapped inside the soul core, shouted. Right now, I could see the soul and hear the soul’s voice. It wasn’t my ability, but the grimoire’s.
‘One level 3 Dark Hole to use the magic once. I knew it from the grimoire, but the efficiency of Necromantic Heartcraft isn’t very good.’
I used Necromantic Heartcraft on the other gang members as well. The results were all successful. I obtained 20 soul cores.
‘I consumed 11 level 3 Dark Holes. The amount of black mana required varied depending on the level of the target.’
I sacrificed one of the soul cores to use black magic.
[Call Living Knight]
One soul core disappeared somewhere.
Immediately after, the air split open, and a self-moving suit of plate armor appeared. The Living Knight, holding a longsword in his hand, looked at me and waited for my command.
‘Since I sacrificed a soul core, the black mana consumption was minimized. At this rate, I can operate 30 of them at the same time. It wouldn’t be bad to use them when I need a vanguard.’
I tried to put the soul core into my inventory.
[Living creatures cannot be placed in the inventory.]
‘Are soul cores considered living creatures? I’ll have to make a separate pouch to carry them around.’
Next was the resurrection test.
I took out a corpse that I had prepared in advance from my inventory.
It was the corpse of a criminal who had died in the Lumen Prison.
I inserted a soul core into the head of the corpse, where the brain was.
The corpse didn’t even twitch.
‘…A soul core alone cannot make a corpse move. It needs power to move. The soul core itself does not generate power.’
Magic stone.
I additionally placed a stone containing mana into the heart of the corpse.
I could feel it. The soul core absorbed the mana from the magic stone and then released it throughout the body.
Thump!
The heart began to beat, and I could feel life. The soul core was the brain, and the magic stone was the heart.
“Hah! Am I, am I alive? Really…?!”
The revived corpse looked around his body in disbelief.
“T-this isn’t my body?!”
“This is the second experiment. Use your ability. If you can’t, you’ll die.”
“M-mage!”
The guy who had obtained a new body jumped up from his spot and swung his fist at me.
KWA-A-A-ANG!
The barrier blocked the guy’s fist. Despite the loud impact, the barrier was stable without the slightest tremor.
I smiled with satisfaction. This was definitely not the power a normal person could produce. The physical enhancement ability that the guy had was applied.
“You can use your ability. The grimoire only had information about dolls… I have to experiment with things like this one by one. Well, let’s move on to the next experiment. Next is the pain experiment.”
[Telekinesis]
The guy’s right eyeball burst.
“Kaaaaaah!”
The guy writhed in agony.
This was the function I wanted most of all.
It meant that I could continue to torment my revenge targets even after killing them.
“Very good.”
