The Necromancer Who Was Despised

Kumar’s words are probably true.

‘Somehow, I’ve been able to track the location of this cave ever since I first absorbed it…’

It seemed that despite his weakened will, he had managed to keep the curse’s final function hidden until the end.

The reason I absorbed it in the first place was to block some of the information.

To think that such high-level magic would be used for nothing more than the staff’s security…

‘It looks like they were planning to turn me into a magic soldier after all.’

The purpose of its creation is clear.

The staff’s performance must be incredible. But the more you use it, the more life force you will secretly lose, and in the end, you will die.

The life force that had been consumed in this way was to be used to maintain Kumar’s consciousness and, at the same time, to strengthen the magic cast on the staff.

The research log was full of writing about chimeras, but it seemed that in addition to researching chimeras, he had also been researching artifacts.

‘The research materials that recorded that have been lost. What a shame.’

“So, the reason you’ve been answering my questions so obediently is because you want to live, right?”

“You call yourself a lousy black magician?”

-I realized it too late. Have you received a blessing from Magi? And you have even absorbed some of the curses that you had cast on other humans. Let me correct myself. You are no ordinary black magician. You are a human with the talent to become a high-ranking black magician in the future.

“So?”

-If you spare my life and provide me with a steady supply of life force to sustain my life, I will arrange a contract with His Majesty the Demon King whom I served.

-Judging by your magic, you have not yet made a contract with any of the demon race. I commend you on your prudent decision. Rather than making a contract with a dubious demon race and becoming a slave, make a contract with His Majesty the Demon King and receive his protection. If you do well, you may even be reborn as a demon…

“…Shut up.”

I couldn’t hear anything I didn’t want to hear.

-…What, what did you say? Did you just say that to me?

“If not you, then who else would I say that to? What? Make a contract with the Demon King?”

I made a contract with the Demon King in my last life and look what happened, I’m being so careful not to make a contract with the demon race, so why are you saying such things?

-…It is true that contracts with the demon race are often unfair. However, if I were to mediate and my master were to be generous, we could make a relatively fair contract. He will surely value you…

“What’s your name?”

-His Majesty Demon King Carion.

“Damn. I know that name too. If that bastard finds out about my existence, he’ll immediately capture me and try to make me his incarnation? Yeah, he’ll value me a lot.”

Ugh.

I immediately drew my magic and began to take control of the artifact.

Originally, I thought it would not be easy since there was security, but Kumar’s magical abilities were so poor that even he admitted it, and since his magic consumption was severe while he was awake, the security was considerably weakened, so I was able to infiltrate the staff with my magic without difficulty.

-Wait, wait! What are you doing!

“I’m getting rid of you. Your remaining magic is also faint. You, you were almost always asleep? I can see why you said you were ugly. I guess you wanted to live even like this?”

-Stop it, stop it!

I break through the staff’s security and quickly advance to where his soul is sealed.

He tries to resist, but without a body and only his soul remaining, and with the strength he has left being only a fraction of what it was, it is nothing more than meaningless floundering.

-Li, live! I’m sure I’ll be of use…!

“I told you. Shut up.”

It seems that he was planning to sell my existence to the Demon King and try to make a comeback, but I’m not an invalid and there’s no reason for me to fall for such a trick.

I took control of the place where his soul was sealed in one go and began to attack his soul directly.

-No, no, no! How have I survived until now…!

It was futile for him to hold out. His soul continued to be damaged by my magic, and in the end, his soul, unable to hold out any longer, was torn to shreds.

-Kyaagh!

Kumar screamed in the terrible pain of his soul being torn apart and finally vanished.

As soon as his soul was completely extinguished, I gained complete control of the staff.

I completely removed the security on the staff itself and also destroyed the function that recognized its owner.

It could be seen as a task to completely erase the traces of the previous owner.

Ting, tick, tick…

As his soul vanished, a gray bead fell out of the staff’s empty eye socket.

‘He must have been strong when he was alive. A trace of his soul.’

As it is also called the shadow of the soul, it is used to create specters, a type of undead.

It could also be called a soul’s corpse, and it was harder to see than I thought.

‘This is good.’

After picking it up, I examined the staff I had acquired.

A staff used by a magician, it is called a staff if it is long, and usually a wand if it is short.

Judging by its length, it is a staff.

‘It looks like wood from the outside, but it’s not actually wood. Is it a bone? It seems to be made from a monster’s body… ‘

And above all, the large black bead held in the mouth of the skull-shaped ornament at the top caught my eye.

‘Is it a jewel?’

In the Demon Realm, I could understand if it was a jewel. Unlike the jewels of the Middle Realm, if it holds magic, there would be no need to go through the trouble of contaminating it.

However, this staff was clearly made in the Middle Realm…

‘No, wait a minute. A jewel?’

I poured all my remaining magic into the staff and thoroughly examined its interior.

“Oh my, crazy!”

I couldn’t hide my astonishment.

‘Dragon Heart! It’s a Dragon Heart!’

The body also seems to be made from part of a dragon’s body.

To think they would use this much of a dragon’s body just to create a magic soldier…

‘No, no. Come to think of it… ‘

Kumar had noticed Denok’s death immediately.

Moreover, it seemed like the Lich El Rocet had high expectations for Denok as a chimera.

‘I see. This staff was necessary to control Denok while also being a magic soldier.’

As the expectations for Denok were high, it seemed that the staff’s performance was also made to be top-notch.

However, Denok was born as a failure, and the staff became half-garbage.

‘They would have at least recycled it… No, wouldn’t a lich of that level already have their main weapon?’

There was a high possibility that there was a staff that was as good as, no, maybe even better than this one.

It had become a mere trinket.

Come to think of it, I didn’t ask Kumar about the lich’s whereabouts.

The research log had also been discontinued at some point after Denok’s failure.

‘Was he caught experimenting on his own kind and killed by the Demon King?’

Wouldn’t that be highly likely? Judging from the fact that this place had been left unattended for a long time.

‘I should have studied history a bit more?’

Before I made a contract with the Demon King, I was living such a low-level life that I had no reason to learn about history, and after I made a contract with the Demon King, I didn’t have time to study magic because I was busy strengthening my physical abilities.

That’s why I couldn’t help but regret not knowing much about history.

‘Well, it’s a good thing anyway. I got my hands on the artifact I was aiming for.’

I don’t care about whether the lich survived or not. It wasn’t that important anyway.

‘The staff is pretty damaged. Still, since it has a dragon’s body and a Dragon Heart embedded in it, it will slowly recover if it is supplied with magic. Tsk. That Kumar guy was a real fool. He couldn’t even use this properly. He could only control monsters… Ah, but it must be hard to obtain magic in the Middle Realm. Of course, even considering that… ‘

Perhaps it was because I had gotten my hands on an artifact that was better than I had imagined. I was deeply lost in thought, holding the staff in my hand.

I was calculating how long it would take to repair it.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Kayla was looking at me with a hardened expression.

“Master, are you alright?”

At Kayla’s serious expression, I asked back as if it was strange.

“I’m fine then. Oh, I’ve also properly taken control of the artifact.”

“What was inside the staff?”

“Huh? Uh. There was an underling of the Demon Lord inside. He wasn’t that great.”

“Did you annihilate it?”

“Yeah. Thanks to that, I also got my hands on the artifact. Originally, it should have been difficult to do right away, but it worked out well thanks to that guy.”

I thought I had grasped all the curses, but there was something I didn’t know.

Thinking about it, the security of this staff may also be at a level that I can’t do anything about right now.

‘The blessing of magic is definitely great, but it’s not omnipotent.’

I was a bit negligent.

As a result, it benefited me, but in my current position where I always have to be careful, negligence is a deadly poison.

‘Recently, things have been going too well, so I think I’ve loosened up a bit without realizing it. I need to tighten up again.’

“… It seems like that guy was trying to get you to make a contract with the Demon Lord, but are you really okay?”

“Huh? You think so? The guy was annihilated though….”

“But then, why were you surprised at the end? You suddenly became speechless there….”

Only then did I realize why Kayla was acting like that.

‘Ah, she can’t hear Kumar’s voice.’

I only said it in my head, so I can understand why she’s acting like that.

After saying that I would annihilate it, if I suddenly became shocked out of nowhere, she might have thought I was under a surprise counterattack.

‘But I was surprised because of the staff’s material.’

It’s not just any material, but the body and heart of a dragon. As a magician, it was impossible not to be shocked in my head.

Besides, the conversation was a problem. Looking back on what I said, it was understandable that Kayla would be worried.

‘The curse of extortion, the Demon Lord, the Demon Lord’s name, the Demon Lord’s incarnation… and then I was shocked at the end.’

She had higher expectations of me than I thought.

In fact, it’s fair to say that I’m her last hope and she’s betting everything on me, so if I go wrong, her life will really fall into ruin.

‘Well, even though I say that, she even said that she wanted me to trust her.’

I immediately explained to Kayla.

“I was just surprised because the artifact’s performance was better than I imagined. It had been left alone for a long time without any maintenance, and the soul that was dwelling here was a low-level one, so its performance was greatly reduced, but there’s a way to restore it, and even with its current reduced performance, it can handle high-level magic….”

‘Wait a minute.’

High-level magic. The body of the chimera Denok and the heart of Denok that I just collected, and the blue roots of Trenesi….

“Why are you like that. Is it really….”

“No, it’s not. Wait a minute. Kayla, will you be quiet for a minute? I’m fine, okay. You don’t have to worry. I just have to think for a bit.”

She seemed to be observing me for a moment, then slowly relaxed her tension.

“I’ll believe you.”

“Yeah. Believe me. You can believe me. It’s me. Will you be quiet for a bit?”

I muttered whatever came to mind and then immersed myself in thought.

After thinking for a long time, I came to a conclusion.

‘It’s possible.’

Perhaps Kayla’s foot could be fixed sooner than I had thought.

‘Dara started with Tia and ended with Kayla….’

It was a funny situation.

‘Oh, come to think of it….’

Tia’s curse worried me a bit.

Well, she wouldn’t go berserk or anything. I had absorbed some of it and put her to sleep.

‘But I should probably go back just in case.’

I still had to do what I had to do.

I went straight to Denock’s body and drew my sword.

“Master?”

“Wait a minute.”

Then I peeled off the skin around his ankle.

‘Fortunately, it’s not rotten here.’

Of course, he wouldn’t have been able to walk if it had been damaged this much.

I took some of the tendons, muscles, and bones from his ankle and put them in a sealed container.

I had prepared it to bring back anything that was intact, and fortunately, it came in handy.

“Let’s go back for now.”

“…May I ask why you took that?”

“…Hmm.”

I thought about it for a moment, but I remembered what Kayla had said on the way here.

‘I hate to give you false hope, but… this has a pretty high chance of working.’

I also remembered Kayla’s words about wanting to be trusted and believed in, so I decided to just tell her plainly.

“Because I might be able to fix your foot.”

Kayla’s footsteps stopped.

“Of course, it’s just a possibility. Don’t expect too much. Oh, that’s right.”

I looked at Kayla and said.

“As you know, your leg can’t be fixed in a normal way. Black magic will be involved, so you’re okay with that, right?”

“…I’m prepared.”

She must have guessed something after seeing me take some of Chimera Denock’s body.

I planned to use parts of Denock’s body, or if that didn’t work, another monster, a different race, or if there was no other way, another human’s body, to rebuild Kayla’s broken leg.

‘This is also a kind of chimera.’