Whether it was unfolding or not, no one but the owner of the voice would know. The repeated process passed by excruciatingly
tedious. And shortly after.
Flash.
From somewhere, a dazzling cluster of light emerged and began pushing back the darkness. The light was rising from near the head of a person lying upon an altar. Thanks to the brilliant radiance emitted by the light,
the appearance of that place was revealed as if under broad daylight.
A stone chamber made entirely of stone. Its identity was none other than Daemon’s secret hideout. The only
difference was that the theoretical texts on dark arts filling the bookshelves had been completely reduced to ash, that was all.
The one with his head filled with the cluster of light was a beautiful youth of about twenty. Lying naked on the altar with a pale body not even covered by a thread,
his appearance was no different from a corpse.
However, the young man’s features—with his flowing golden hair and prominent nose bridge—were outstanding enough to shake the composure of countless maidens. Though due to his pale complexion, he did not look like a living person
at all.
Before him, a black-robed figure of diminutive stature was trembling ceaselessly. The robe that had covered his body was already torn to shreds. Looking closely, he was not human. He was a Lich, an existence referred to as the representative undead monster of evil. But this Lich was in a truly
horrific state. His appearance was truly too gruesome to behold….
Surprisingly, not a single arm or leg remained on the Lich. As if they had been ground in a millstone, only heaps of powder remained where hands and feet should have been, and the remaining parts were also crumbling bit by bit. Furthermore, cracks were gradually forming on his skull, which was nothing but bone, so this truly could not be anything but astonishing. His hollow pupils had lost their light long ago, and only his convulsing torso showed that the Lich had not yet
perished.
But even that would not last long….
Thud.
The Lich’s body suddenly stopped trembling. Soon after, his skull split into two with a cracking sound and fell off, and his torso—the only part remaining—collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
Poof.
The Lich’s body turned to ash in an instant. Only the torn robe lying scattered, buried in white powder, seemed to prove that a Lich had existed in this world.
The stone chamber was once again submerged in silence. Amidst the utter lack of movement, only the naked body of the beautiful youth lying on the altar was emitting a faint light. Time flowed on endlessly in that state, as if it would remain this way for eons. But the change came before long….
Shine!
The eyes of the beautiful youth, who had been lying like a corpse, snapped open. An eerie, murky light flowed from his pupils. A gaze that could perhaps be described as blood-curdling. Soon after, a burst of laughter forced its way through the boy’s lips and filled the stone chamber. It was an extremely unpleasant voice, like the sound of scraping
metal.
“Kuhahaha. It is a success. I have finally escaped Berkis’s clutches and obtained a new body.”
It was a gaze and a voice that seemed impossible coming from a beautiful youth. Nevertheless, the youth was beside himself with joy, not knowing what to do. In truth, his true identity was Daemon.
“It was truly a stroke of heavenly fortune. There is no other way to see it than heaven itself helping me….”
The events of just moments ago flashed across the youth’s eyes like a revolving lantern. It was an attempt that could only be described as a gamble in every sense of the word. A gamble where the slightest deviation would have meant direct
annihilation.
Daemon had overcome those astronomically slim odds and finally obtained a new body.
What was more, not the ugly body he had possessed until now, but the body of a handsome young boy. Furthermore, there was no need to elaborate on having escaped Berkis’s clutches. While waiting to adapt to his newly acquired body, Daemon began to recall the events of just moments ago.
After realizing that the magic circle binding Gedenhyde had run out of power, Daemon’s plan proceeded in rapid succession. First of all, he did not have time to wait until Siegret found the Nidelhark seal in Incresia. A ninth-circle Lich, Gedenhyde, possessed the ability to return to his Lair in the blink of an eye. If this fact reached Berkis’s ears, it would have been the end for him immediately.
Therefore, Daemon had no choice but to devise another method. That was to swallow the magic tome Incresia whole.
To that end, Daemon demanded that Siegret hand over the magic tome Incresia.
“I must have Incresia. Is that possible?”
Siegret, who was completely suppressed by the Ghost Soul Subjugation Technique, could not possibly refuse that demand. Even if he killed Siegret, he would not be able to seize Incresia, but if Siegret handed it over of his own free will, it was entirely
possible.
“It is possible.”
In the end, Siegret handed over ownership of Incresia to Daemon while not in his right mind. Having taught him every last method of using the magic tome, and while he was at it, branded a new master upon Incresia, this ancient magic tome finally fell into Daemon’s
clutches.
“It is done.”
Due to time constraints, he had not gotten to hear the memories of where the treasures were stored, but Daemon did not care. For now, he had no thoughts other than hurrying back to his secret hideout to perform the grand
ritual.
But he did not immediately cast spatial teleportation. That was due to the problem of dealing with Siegret. Although it was true that Siegret had provided him tremendous help, that was strictly due to the Ghost Soul Subjugation Technique.
There was absolutely no need to keep Siegret alive, who would clearly become a powerful enemy in the future. And was he not a dragon, a race bearing deep-seated grudges? Since Daemon was not the type to be swayed by petty compassion in the first place, he immediately commanded Siegret to commit
suicide.
“Right this instant, pluck out your Dragon Heart and hand it over to me.”
Dragon Heart. It was the source of a dragon’s power, and without it, a dragon could never survive. But Siegret, who was deeply suppressed by the Ghost Soul Subjugation Technique, could not possibly refuse that command. Without a moment’s hesitation, Siegret plunged his right hand into his own
neck.
Splurt!
Blood surged forth like a fountain, and the Dragon Heart, emitting a brilliant light, revealed itself along with his neck bones. A brief scream burst out immediately after.
Kwooooar.
With the source of his life escaping, the massive green dragon laid his body down in his dwelling.
This was how Siegret met his end. He had failed to complete his mission of guarding the treasure because of a mere Lich. Daemon, staring at Siegret’s sprawled corpse, muttered
softly.
“I must take his corpse. It is evidence, but also useful….”
He opened the magic tome Incresia. His intention was to shove Siegret’s corpse into Incresia. Since he was already deeply familiar with how to use it, there would be no problems. Moreover, Incresia could store no matter how large an object without
difficulty.
After pushing Siegret’s corpse into Incresia along with the Dragon Heart, Daemon immediately cast spatial teleportation. His destination was the magic circle drawn in his secret hideout.
It was the very moment Gedenhyde had begun reporting to Berkis, and the moment he returned, Daemon performed the forbidden art of soul exchange.
“I must hurry.”
A grand ritual begun with only a ten percent chance of success. Though Berkis interfered midway, he concentrated on the grand ritual with all his might. Enduring pain was already a familiar matter to him, so….
Overcoming several crises where his mind threatened to collapse, Daemon was finally able to achieve his
goal.
“It is a success.”
His soul entered and settled safely into the new body. The fact that the new body was in a mindless state was likely an undeniable reason why the grand ritual was carried out relatively
smoothly.
The moment the grand ritual ended, the Lich’s body, whose Life Force Vessel had shattered, turned to ash and scattered. The body he had possessed from birth until now. Yet, there was barely any emotion in Daemon’s pupils as he looked at the piled ash. Though if one thought about it, it might have been somewhat
regretful.
“I should quickly forget what needs to be forgotten, shouldn’t I?”
He staggered as he raised his body. Moving his body felt quite unnatural, perhaps because he had not yet adapted. But he had a mission to quickly escape this place.
There was no way Berkis would miss the mana emanating from the Lich’s body as it crumbled. It was clear that the Liches led by Gedenhyde would soon rush here. Therefore, he had to escape this place by any means before then.
“I cannot cast magic with this body yet. So first, I must avoid their
attention.”
Daemon staggered over to the bookshelves and picked up a bottle from there. He had prepared it for just such an
occasion.
“If I use magic, I will not be able to deceive Gedenhyde’s eyes. I must use this.”
The solution inside the bottle was a medicinal agent absolutely necessary to perform the Reverse Body Transformation Technique. If he disguised himself as an entirely different race, they would not be particularly suspicious. The mana required for that was already fully stored away in a small magic circle. One truly could not help but call Daemon thorough in his preparations. Removing the stopper, Daemon unhesitatingly put the bottle to his lips and drank it
down.
Gulp, gulp.
Confirming that the dark brown liquid had passed down his esophagus, Daemon stood upon the magic circle without delay. The magic circle had already been arranged to activate immediately the moment someone stepped upon it.
Tzzzzt.
A dazzling light flared up from the magic circle. Daemon’s body was soon enveloped in the light.
After some time had passed, a change occurred. Daemon’s body, which could only be seen as a shadow within the light, began to change. First, the shadow’s height, which had exceeded 180cm, gradually decreased. His slender arms and legs, in contrast, grew thicker, and overall he transformed into a stout yet imposing physique. Shortly after, when the light dispersed, an entirely different race was standing atop the magic
circle.
“Kekeke. Will they really notice?”
The stout shadow, emitting a bizarre laugh, bent his waist, picked up something, and shot outside.
“It is finished.”
A low voice burst forth from the darkness. That place was a massive underground cavern, and a massive form giving off a reddish glow filled the cavern. It was none other than Berkis’s dwelling for undergoing his period of slumber. Berkis looked down below with an expressionless
gaze.
There, shattered fragments of a small vessel lay scattered in all directions. It was the Life Force Vessel that had held a Lich’s life force until just moments ago. But seeing it broken like this, one could well understand that the vessel’s owner could not possibly be
safe.
A strange gleam flickered in Berkis’s massive pupils as he looked down at the vessel fragments. It was a gaze as if he had sensed something.
“You! You were hiding not very far away.”
When a Life Force Vessel shatters, the target Lich’s body perishes almost simultaneously. But a Lich is also a high-level mage, so he does not simply perish. In the process of his body disintegrating, he emits a considerable amount of mana. As a dragon, Berkis could naturally detect that aura. He soon gave an order to his trusted subordinate beyond the
wall.
“Go, Gedenhyde. Confirm his destruction, and at the same time, collect the treasures he possessed.”
“Understood.”
Gedenhyde, who had been waiting for the order, raised his face full of rapture and quickly bowed his head. His opponent had been the detestable existence that had beaten him savagely for a full five hours like a dog. Though it was a bit regrettable that he could not take revenge directly, he could not help but feel a refreshing
satisfaction.
“I shall go and return.”
He immediately turned his body. Because of this, he failed to notice that his master beyond the wall was currently deeply pondering something.
Even after Gedenhyde left the dwelling, Berkis did not enter sleep but fell into thought. In truth, Daemon’s actions were something that Berkis simply could not understand.
"Why on earth did he go to Zicrate, and why did he come back here?"
Of course, the fact that he could not escape from his grasp was an immutable
truth. After all, he already had every one of the liches' Life Force Vessels stored
inside his body. Even if the fellow had come back to his senses, fleeing itself was impossible.
But here, the other party had done something utterly unexpected. Ambushing Gedenhide
would immediately expose his identity, so from the standpoint of one who had to keep
that identity hidden, it was something he absolutely had to avoid. Even so, he had attacked Gedenhide.
On top of that, to think he had even gone to Zicrate's lair while Verkis was asleep……
"Could it be?"
An ominous thought suddenly flashed through Verkis's mind. If the fellow's target had been
Zicrate, and if by some chance Zicrate had been defeated……. But Verkis soon shook
his head.
"No. That can't be. Even if the opponent is a 9th Circle lich, there is
virtually no chance that Zicrate was defeated. No matter how inexperienced Zicrate may be,
there is no way he couldn't handle a mere lich……."
But his unease would not go away. If the fellow had fallen at Zicrate's hands,
then returning all the way here would have been impossible. No matter how gentle-natured a Green
Dragon might be, it made no sense for him to simply let an intruding enemy live and leave.
In the end, Verkis decided to go in person and find out what had happened. Thoughts of sleep
had already vanished from his mind.
"I suppose I should go see Zicrate first. I'm unbearably curious
as to what on earth happened……."
The moment that thought ended, Verkis's enormous body vanished from the lair. To a 10th Circle
Dragon, something like a spatial movement magic circle was utterly useless.
Gedenhide was running hard, leading fifty subordinates with him. In his mind,
there was only the desire to hurry and confirm the fellow's annihilation.
"Just how did that bastard become a master of the 9th Circle?"
No matter how hard he racked his brains, he simply could not understand it. But Gedenhide did not even dream
that his magical ability was not increasing because of the brainwashing magic lying dormant in his mind.
After five hundred years, it should have been almost certain that he, too, would have become a master
of the 9th Circle. Magic, after all, was a discipline that grew in direct proportion to the length of time spent learning it.
But Gedenhide had no idea that Verkis's brainwashing magic, existing within his subconscious,
was secretly preventing him from training in magic. Frustrated, he merely urged
the liches under his command onward.
"Hurry. We must finish this quickly and return to guard duty."
At the order, the liches abruptly increased their speed. To Gedenhide, it was a great pity
that he could not use spatial movement. Unfortunately, that location was a place whose coordinates
had not been identified.
But then, the liches running at the front suddenly came to a halt. It was because, upon seeing them,
someone had been startled and hurriedly stepped aside to the side of the road. When their movement stopped,
Gedenhide let out an irritated shout.
"What is it?"
"An orc suddenly appeared. Judging by its attire, it appears to be
a wandering hunter……."
Before the lich could even finish his report, Gedenhide smoothly stepped forward. For now, the situation ahead
was exactly as the lich had reported, down to the last detail.
At the side of the road stood a single orc in shabby clothing, looking bewildered.