My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 8
Fragment of the Immortal King (1)
It was dangerous.
‘I bit my neck unexpectedly, but I never
thought my teeth would sink in…’ It may have been a permanent protective shield in case of emergency, but its strength was not that high, so it was quickly broken by the undead’s teeth strength strengthened by black magic, but it did not inflict fatal injuries. I couldn’t do it.
It was just as embarrassing when Zeraf spewed out black magic and was thrown away.
Since I knew nothing about the magic of this world, it was difficult to respond.
Fortunately, I was able to block the zombies behind him by moving them, but my plan almost failed before I even tried it.
I looked down at Zeraf, who had become a dead body.
A village youth zombie was still hanging on his body, biting the back of his neck.
These guys were bad guys from the beginning.
All the undead here, including that zombie, were victims of these guys.
Maybe that’s why it was my first time killing someone, but the psychological shock wasn’t that great.
No, in fact, it would have been dangerous without the “Mind Hub,” but fortunately, it only felt like I had killed a character in the game.
Rather, there is a problem to think about.
‘Actually, I was going to hit him in the back with a rock when I got the chance later.’
After watching Zeraf’s words and actions, I became angry and decided to act right away.
However, when he had the intent to attack, Hans’ body instinctively targeted the neck with its teeth and attacked.
The subsequent response was also close to following the body’s lead.
‘But it’s a bit unfair to say that this is out of my control.’
It was said that it moved instinctively, but since it was an urgent situation, it was possible to control it well enough to just leave it alone.
And it was definitely more effective than targeting someone in the back of the head with a bully.
If I had followed the original plan, I probably wouldn’t have been able to break the shield.
‘But if I had to really ask, this feeling is….’
If I were to compare it, it was like a habit engraved in my body.
If you are conscious, you can fully control it, but if you are unconscious, you move without your knowledge.
I realized that I could not ignore the influence of the instincts engraved in my undead body.
Of course, it doesn’t have any negative effects on the main body on Earth, and you can actually take advantage of this, but you have to be careful.
Now it was time to move on to the next plan.
***
Chief Malcolm.
No, ‘Marcos Geocali’, one of the elders of the ‘Covenant of Reverse Heaven’, an organization operating secretly on the continent, was happily watching the scene in front of him.
A pulsating black gem that absorbs the energy of death from the surrounding undead.
It’s been decades since I searched for the ‘Heart of the Immortal King’.
However, after all the hard work, what I managed to find was only an incomplete fragment.
And in the process of moving it to its home base, there was a risk of being discovered by the cult on the continent, so they chose a remote mountain village where no one would come, sealed the fragments there, and began maturing.
A year has passed like that.
‘It’s soon. Just a little while and finally….’
There were quite a few resources poured into the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King’.
Even his own position was already shaken.
‘But if this is completed, everything will turn upside down. Stronger than ever…’
[Master?]
Suddenly, a communication came to the disciple who was guarding the entrance.
[What’s going on?]
[Master. It’s outside now…]
***
“So my brother is in here!”
“So, you don’t say that he left a while ago.”
I was causing a stir in front of the village.
The person in front was a middle-aged man I first met when I discovered the village.
“No, that means the signal is definitely coming from here! Just let me go inside and check it out.”
“What do you believe in that you let outsiders in?”
“Ah, then please let me see the village chief in person and tell him!”
It would be great if we could bring out the village chief like this, but it didn’t matter because we could still get information even if he didn’t show up.
Not coming out meant they were doing something important, and there was only one thing that was important in this town.
“I am the village chief. “What’s going on that’s making such a fuss?”
And I expected that they wouldn’t be able to easily ignore me or harm me.
There has already been a person who came looking for the person who killed him, thinking there was no connection, and there is no way to prevent something like that from happening again, so he probably wanted to figure out the situation first.
I said hello to Chief Malcolm with a kind smile.
“hello. My name is Heinz. “I thought it was rude because I thought my twin brother Hans was over here.”
“Hmm Hans… I remember. But I think you said that the young man was traveling alone and got lost?”
“Ah… it’s a shame, but we had a big fight a while ago and broke up. “Still, I felt like we needed to reconcile, so I came here.”
I guess I have no choice but to believe it.
Because my face would look exactly like ‘Hans’.
And now it didn’t matter how I came out on the other side.
Because the goal has already been achieved.
***
As soon as ‘Heinz’ caused a commotion outside the village and confirmed that the village chief Malcolm had come out, ‘Hans’ immediately moved.
I thought the possibility of ignoring it was quite high, but I got lucky.
Since you heard it was an important moment, you probably wanted to make sure even the smallest details were taken care of.
Even if a dangerous situation arises, it may be unexpected that something will happen from the deepest part, surrounded by a barrier from the outside.
Wooung—
Thanks to you, I was able to stand in front of the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King’ without any hindrance.
When I encountered the fragment directly rather than through Alfred, the zombie rat, I was able to understand what maturation meant.
Why were there so many undead around?
‘Are you absorbing dark magic from the undead? ‘Is it Gongmyeong?’
The fragments did not simply absorb black magic.
It may have been incomplete somewhere, but it was absorbing dark magic and at the same time accepting and synchronizing with the missing information and becoming stable.
Come to think of it, the only undead standing around were all menacing-looking entities, including ghosts and headless knights.
The one that looked the weakest was the Skeleton Knight, and at least it seemed superior to the entity seen in the warehouse.
‘No, then the warehouse I was in was a defective product warehouse? ‘I’m suddenly upset.’
During that ‘maturation’ process, low-level undead would have become nothing more than impurities.
The reason he killed himself was probably so that if any useful undead appeared, he could throw them as food for the fragments.
In the end, it failed to meet expectations and ended up in a defective product warehouse.
‘It’s actually a good thing, but you’re strangely upset?’
As I got closer, I felt an overwhelming presence and the dark magic being sucked into my body.
And at the same time, I realized its danger.
Any living creature that touches it will turn into an undead, and a weak person will die just by taking a few breaths next to it.
Regardless of the power it contained, it was nothing short of a powerful curse in itself.
I stretched out my hand towards the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King’.
‘If you’re a picky eater, you can’t use it. ‘Take a taste of junk food.’
Of course, I had no intention of being eaten obediently.
There were some things I believed in.
***
“That’s because we are twins. “From the moment they are born, they can tell where each other is.”
“Hehehe, those are truly unbelievable words…”
The village chief’s face, which had been smiling softly, suddenly hardened.
Then, his expression slowly became distorted and he looked back toward the village.
There was something wrong with the fragment.
It was not the time to argue with such a foolish guy.
“Kill that guy over there!”
Malcolm immediately used black magic to head towards the place where the fragments were and shouted.
At that command, Baucal, the dark knight of ‘Oath of Reverse Heaven’, a middle-aged man at the village entrance, immediately turned his head to kill Heinz.
“…when?”
There was already no one there.
***
[Kill.]
…Fear, Despair, Grief, Pain, Oppression, Madness, Lack, Hatred, Murderous Desire, Anger….
All kinds of negative emotions were constantly flooding in.
[Hate all living people. Cover this land with despair. As the world becomes more stained with death, your power will become stronger. long for life Take away what you don’t have…]
‘Wow, isn’t this really a joke?’
The amount of information filtered through ‘Mind Hub’ was enormous.
At a certain level, not only will the body become undead due to this inherent energy, but the mind will be completely destroyed and consumed by fragments.
Is there anyone out there who can survive this with a sober mind?
‘It has nothing to do with me.’
I continued what I was doing.
Malcolm somehow noticed and headed this way, so there wasn’t much time left.
‘Something must have been done here as well.’
At this point, you could call it obsessive-compulsive disorder.
If I had been able to withstand the effects of this fragment, I would have lived with it all day long.
‘I’ll just give it a try and see if it works out well. I think it’s almost done.’
We attempted to synchronize with the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King’ by utilizing the sense of controlling the undead using the absorbed black magic as a medium.
Normally, it would have been no problem.
However, I am undead and was able to ignore the violent mental attacks coming from the fragments and maintain my sense of self.
‘It would be great if it worked, but even if it doesn’t work out and we can’t use it, let’s give it a try with the significance of having hindered them.’
The fragment was incomplete and defenseless, resonating with its surroundings to fill in the missing parts.
I inserted ‘Hans’ into that deficiency.
And the results were immediately apparent.
《The object grows by meeting the conditions. Acquire the special skill “Evil Wisdom.”
The phrase appeared before my eyes.
But even before I saw it, I was able to recognize the change in myself.
The body, consisting of nothing but bones, remained the same, but the level of existence changed.
And the new knowledge was naturally imprinted in my mind.
[oh! You can talk now, right?]
I was able to speak by resonating my vocal cords with dark magic, but that was only a minor change.
I lowered my head and looked down at my body.
A black gem pulsating between my ribs.
I got a heart
〈Individual Information〉
-Individual name: Hans
-Race: Undead (Demilich)
-Common characteristics: 「Mind Herb」 「Super Recovery」
-Individual characteristics: 「Corrupt Heart」 「Evil Wisdom」 「Magic Affinity」
-Special Details: ‘ The rank has risen thanks to the power of ‘Fragment of the Immortal King (1/3)’. The dark magic latent in the fragment was assimilated into the entity. Due to the influence of the “Mind Herb”, no mental contamination occurred.
And I evolved from an ‘elite skeleton’ into an immortal wizard ‘Demi-Lich’.
***
Huyan sat guarding in front of the secret passage today as well.
It was a punishment for failing to dispose of a zombie rat in time yesterday.
‘Ah, for no reason did you blame me because of that guy Zeraf.’
Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I went in, but Zeraf doesn’t come out.
‘It’s obvious, but I guess he’s just taking out his anger on his personality.’
Hu Yan leaned back and leaned on the chair.
A year has passed, but even today, this corner of the village was extremely leisurely.
The only thing I did today was deliver the news from the village entrance to the teacher inside.
[Huyan! Huyan, you bastard! What are you doing now?]
Kwa-dang!
Hu Yan fell backwards in his chair due to the teacher’s sudden communication magic.
[yes! Master! There’s nothing wrong here!]
Hu Yan quickly got up, pulled up a chair, sat down, rubbed the back of his head and answered cheerfully, but the teacher’s voice did not calm down.
[Is there anything wrong?! What the heck… no, check the fragments first! hurry! Contact Zeraf too!]
[Yes, yes! Let’s check it out right away!]
Because of the barrier surrounding the area where the fragments were, it was necessary to use a special magic tool provided at the entrance to transmit communication inside the warehouse.
[hey! Zeraf! Stop and quickly check the fragments… Huh?]
Huyan, who was in a hurry to send a communication to Zeraf, stopped moving and checked the magic tool again.
And sent the message again.
[Zeraph? Hey, can you hear Zeraf?]
There was no reply.
Actually, it was natural.
Because it wasn’t connected in the first place.
“Uh… no, what’s going on?”
This was when Huyan, embarrassed, jumped up from his seat.
Wow—
the magic circle at the entrance to the warehouse reacted, and soon the door swung open.
“hey! Zeraf! “Why are you suddenly…”
Huyan, who was looking back at the open door, soon froze.
It wasn’t Zeraf standing in front of the door.
“Uh… uh… why…?”
Hundreds of undead, including skeletons radiating ominous energy, were crowding around and filling the passage.
***
Commanding the undead was not difficult.
The amount of dark magic I have in my body now is a whole different level from when I used up what little I had.
Because I was manipulating a large number of people, I couldn’t share the same sensations as when I connected with Alfred, but it was still satisfying enough.
That’s because I had not only zombies and skeletons under my command, but also high-ranking soldiers near the debris.
‘The condition is not very good, perhaps because the fragments have sucked energy for a long time…’
It would be a relief to just get this far.
The floor around the ‘Fragment of the Immortal King’ was littered with undead remains, as they had been sacrificed so many times.
I led the undead across the passage majestically.
Soon, an entrance leading outside was visible.
‘There’s a barrier there so I can’t just leave… Should I hit it and break it?’
After thinking for a moment, I immediately realized something and put my hand on the door like Zeraf did.
And I was able to directly experience the effects of “Evil Wisdom.”
Ugh—
the magic circle reacted and the door opened.
Now black magic was no longer an unknown mystery to me.
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