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Chapter 60 - Memory
Chapter 60 - Memory
Chapter 60: Memory
William watched as more than ten sarcophaguses were opened at the same time, and more than ten high-level undead crawled out. Their bodies were wrapped in black miasma, and their eyes were burning with Soul Fire. William finally felt the same as when he was clearing a dungeon.
This could be considered the first time he was encountering a standard enemy since transmigrating—a Divine Realm Authority holder who had perfectly mirrored the Blackwater Swamp’s local myths.
The undead wearing a broken crown and holding a ritual sword made of Elementium Silver was the first to charge over. Condensed undead magic spread across the expensive sword like a spiderweb, stirring the rich Undead magic in the air as it let out a roar.
However, the strike was blocked in midair by a pitch-black halberd.
Pitch-black nexuses that equaled the number of undead present appeared in the tomb simultaneously. Netherworld Knights—who were covered in heavy black armor and whose eyes emitted a faint red light—raised from the summoning nexuses and charged at the undead closest to them in unison.
Do you think you’re the only one who knows how to summon creatures?
The Legendary Netherworld Knights fought the remains of the former heroes and nobles of the Blackwater Swamp. At the same time, dazzling lightning suddenly erupted not far behind William.
Cass stood up and clenched his fist that emitted lightning before punching the Nightmare Maid, who was about to take advantage of the chaos to escape.
When the Stumbling Demon saw this, it moved its fat body to support its Moon Realm ally.
William only glanced at it and didn’t intend to care about it.
Since the swordsman named Cass was a sacrifice for the King and Rebel ritual, even if he wasn’t the main body of the ritual, he should have been raised to the Legendary domain. A Stumbling Demon and a Nightmare Maid probably weren’t a match for him.
Of course, the biggest problem was how to reduce the massive latent danger of him becoming an Authority holder in the future and prevent him from evolving in the direction of disaster.
However, this wasn’t something to consider now.
William lifted Withering Cold to freeze two dim black balls that contained a strong curse in midair. With a flash of lightning, he appeared in front of Simon.
The huge snake behind Simon opened its mouth that was filled with the aura of death and bit at William’s head.
Then, its head was slammed crooked by William’s backhand strike with his staff.
This staff had more than ten ailments: Petrification, Shock, Evil Break, Enfeeble, Explosion, etc. In addition, William used the Power of Dragons to strengthen himself before striking.
Therefore, as a colorful ball of light suddenly exploded on the snake’s head, the huge snake that symbolized Death Vera’s supreme authority had its flesh and scales splattered from the strike. Its skull exploded and its spine bent.
“Hiss…”
The giant snake immediately collapsed to the ground with a bang before turning into a phantom again.
The heavy damage suffered by the giant snake that was connected to Simon’s soul also affected his head. It was as if he had been struck by an invisible boulder. His spine slanted at a dangerous angle, and a bone-deep wound appeared on his forehead.
Back then, the fellow named Evelyn among the Judges loved to use this move. She called this crazy combat method of stacking buffs on a magical medium before giving the enemy a fierce blow on the head “melee staff technique.”
In the epilogue, after she retired from the Doomsday Watchers, she was hired to be the chief trainer of the Kos Empire’s Battle Mage Academy. It was said that she had proposed this course to the academy many times, but it was unknown if she succeeded in the end.
“You…”
Simon saw stars as he looked at William, who suddenly appeared in front of him. However, he only had time to say one word before the other party raised the magical medium in his hand and said to him, “Since you claim to be Death, from now on, I’ll only use Undead-type spells on you.”
A quagmire that resembled an abyss appeared under Simon’s feet. Countless pale hands reached out and crawled up his body, slowly pulling him into the abyss.
Divine Realm Necromancy spell, Abyss of Oblivion.
Regarding this, Simon calmly looked at the undead hands that extended from the abyss and commanded as Death, Halt!
More pale hands crawled up; his orders were useless.
He looked at the magic chanter in front of him in disbelief.
From the moment Simon obtained the authority of Death, he could sense all the auras related to the dead on this land.
Be it ghosts, corpses, spirits, wraiths, or indirectly related matters like the living’s mourning and the curse of the dead, he could sense them and give them orders at will through his authority.
Even the Undead magic that filled this space had to flow through his will.
However, he couldn’t sense the existence of the countless hands of the dead in the abyss under his feet at all.
“All the dead heed my orders. The power of magic is only a clumsy imitation of the authority of gods. How can there be the dead I can’t sense!” he shouted in disbelief.
“Because you were wrong from the beginning. Tell me, what’s the essence of Undead magic?”
William looked at Simon, who was slowly sinking into the quagmire, and asked patiently like a teacher teaching a slow student.
However, Simon only stared at the person in front of him, allowing an invisible connection to be established through their gazes. Then, he ordered, Return to Death
A powerful soul attraction came from Simon’s deep eyes that were like a bottomless abyss. He wanted to pull William’s soul out of his body.
“Wrong!”
Silver flashes instantly shot out of William’s eyes. A violent soul storm followed the connection and struck Simon’s ether domain, causing him to fall into temporary dizziness.
“Controlling the soul is the essence of Storm spells. Think about it again. What’s the essence of Undead spells?” William asked patiently.
Simon wasn’t a magic chanter. Other than contract magic related to the Moon Realm and ceremonial magic closer to ancient sorcery, he didn’t have a deeper understanding of the 13 types of magic under the Astral Laws than ordinary people. At most, he had heard Vincent mention them a few times.
William waited for a while. When half of the other party’s chest was pulled into the abyss, he gave the answer.
“Memories. Undead magic is essentially the control of memories.”
“Memories? How is that possible?”
Simon, who originally thought that the other party was only insulting him before his death, couldn’t help but ask suspiciously when he heard this answer.
Even though he was a layman who knew nothing about systematic magic, he knew that all spells related to memory control were classified into Illusion-type spells.
Undead magic controlled memories? What a joke!
“Corpses are the memories of the body, and ghosts are the memories of the soul. It’s not your memories of the world, but the world’s memories of you. The strength of an Undead mage depends on how many memories he can awaken from this land.”
As William spoke, he looked around at the undead fighting the Netherworld Knights in the tomb and said, “As the holder of Death Vera’s authority, all you can awaken are these memories floating on the surface of the world. This is the limit of Vera’s authority.”
“Then, who are the ones pulling me in…”
Knowing that his death was imminent, Simon gradually entered a sense of relief and calm. He looked at the person in front of him and asked, “Corpses turn to dust, and the ghosts dissipate into a breeze. This world is constantly in a cycle. Every wisp of air you breathe and every grain of sand that forms the ground are transformed from the former dead. Facing them, you only need to be patient to awaken their power.”
The swamp under Simon’s feet was an abyss formed by countless forgotten memories.
“Can I ask you one last question?”
Just as the abyss reached his neck, Simon suddenly asked, “Who are you?”
The gray-haired, silver-eyed man looked at him and replied tersely, “Presiding Judge, William Kane.”
An impossible answer, an answer that probably no one would believe.
But Simon believed it.
He nodded.
It was reasonable for him to lose if it was William Kane.
Before he was completely pulled into the Abyss of Oblivion, the man inexplicably asked him one last question, “Speaking of which, which memory do you want to engrave in the world the most?”
The answer instantly surged into his mind.
However, before he could answer, he completely fell into the abyss.
…
The moment the other party asked this question, the former Duke of Thorns of the Blackwater Province, the shortest reigning King of Blackwater, and the temporary wielder of Death Vera, gave an answer.
To everyone who fell into the Abyss of Oblivion, time there was still.
They would forever stay in the moment they sank.
Therefore, the image in his mind forever paused on that fateful night.
The night that made him make up his mind to completely embrace the power of the Moon Realm and the night that made him make up his mind to carry out the King and Rebel ritual and the Eternal Gift.
That night, Vincent carried a girl covered in charred and burned marks back to the Rose Palace.
He had just carried out a secret mission according to his orders—a disgraceful mission: destroy a noble family in Thorn City’s palace that firmly supported the Empire’s royal family.
After seeing the girl in his arms, he got Vincent to leave the latent danger with him—if he really couldn’t do it.
He never forgot the way Vincent looked at him.
In the end, he let Vincent leave with the child.
He recalled that what Vincent said before he left that day had made him make up his mind.
“Simon… How many more people do we have to kill to reach the future you mentioned?”