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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 16
1.
The wild boar flinched slightly upon spotting the skeleton—but it didn’t flee.
Instead, it let out a loud screech.
Squeeeeeal!
The cry was sharp and thunderous, loud enough to send the nearby mountain birds scattering into the sky.
Now that I saw it head-on, its size was even more intimidating.
It stood nearly chest-high to a grown man, and the muscles bulging along its legs showed solid, coiled strength.
It was clearly larger than I’d expected—and that made me uneasy.
‘Still…’
The boar didn’t charge recklessly.
It fixed its fierce gaze on the skeleton and began to approach—slowly, cautiously.
‘Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.’
If it had rushed in at full speed and rammed the skeleton, there’d be no counter—without enough power to resist, the skeleton would’ve been smashed to bits instantly.
But this slow, deliberate approach?
That gave me time to plan. To react.
Then I heard Equinox’s voice in my mind.
[You can possess any undead you've raised with necromancy. If needed, try taking direct control over your subordinate.]
‘Is that so…?’
I’d half suspected it already.
From the moment I began issuing commands to the skeletons, I had a hunch that it might be possible to directly move them myself.
Now that hunch has been confirmed.
‘So I can possess the undead I raise with necromancy...’
Even in my past life, my master had never mentioned this.
Back then, I only used undead as disposable soldiers or errand runners—there was no reason to even consider something like this.
But things are different now.
‘Right now, I’m alone. If I want to survive, I need to wring out every drop of potential from what I have.’
My enemies are everywhere.
Some know who I am—what I am—like the Demon Lord.
But there are countless others I haven’t even met yet.
And in this world, anyone I meet by chance is far more likely to be an enemy than a friend.
In a place like this, every single skill, every spell, every trick I have could mean the difference between life and death.
‘If I can possess my own undead, that gives me a serious advantage.’
Without hesitation, I possessed the skeleton standing at the center.
Shhhh—
As my consciousness entered the skeleton’s body, my senses sharpened with startling clarity.
What once felt distant was now vividly close.
‘So this is what it feels like.’
I clenched and opened my right hand.
There was no tactile sensation in the palm—an odd feeling, but a welcome one.
No sensation meant no pain.
‘I can stab with this.’
Bone is the human body’s toughest weapon.
And a skeleton, being all bone, could wield that weapon freely.
Even without a proper blade, it could still deliver deadly strikes.
Having worked through the calculations in my head, I gave the skeletons hiding in the brush on either side a command:
[Move in a little closer and wait.]
The skeletons advanced soundlessly.
The boar, fixated on me, didn’t seem to notice their movement.
Of course—it couldn’t. Skeletons gave off no scent.
And if they moved without a sound, there’d be nothing to detect.
I stood still, waiting for the boar to come closer.
It locked eyes with me and let out another cry—
Squeeeeal!!
A warning—’Get out of my territory.’
The moment I heard it, I issued the attack command to the skeleton lurking on the left.
The skeleton emerged from the brush, gliding forward, and thrust its hand into the boar’s side.
Tuhwak!
The boar let out a short, pained shriek and tried to shake the skeleton off, but it was no use.
The bony hand had punched straight into its belly and was now gripping its guts.
Then, from the other side, another skeleton charged in.
Chwaak!
That hand pierced the boar’s other flank.
The attack was brutally effective.
The boar’s legs buckled beneath it as it flailed wildly.
But with holes torn into both sides of its abdomen, it couldn’t gather the strength to fight back.
Its hind legs finally collapsed, and it was left barely holding its upper body up with trembling front legs.
I slowly walked toward it.
And then, with a single motion, I drove my hand straight into the region where its heart should be.
Thwack—
As thick blood spurted out, I felt the boar's heart gripped firmly in my hand.
It throbbed within my grasp, pulsating with life.
Sensing the vitality emanating from it, a thought crossed my mind.
‘Could it be possible to absorb life force while possessing a skeleton?’
My intuition proved correct. Focusing my mind, I initiated the absorption, and the boar's life force began to flow into me—more precisely, into the skeleton I was inhabiting.
Equinox's voice echoed in my mind.
[Life force absorbed while possessing an undead is initially retained within that undead. Once you release the necromantic spell binding it, you can reclaim both the mana and the absorbed life force.]
‘So that's how it works.’
This single hunt had unveiled numerous insights: how to command skeletons, possess them, and absorb life force through them. These techniques delved deeper than any necromancy I had encountered in my previous life.
‘Even with the same terminology, the depth of these techniques is unparalleled.’
I looked down at the boar's carcass, now shriveled from the complete extraction of its life force. Only its skin remained, collapsing into a hollow shell as the skeletons withdrew their arms.
Equinox spoke again.
[Retrieve its soul. A beast of this magnitude possesses a correspondingly powerful spirit. Such souls are essential materials for the necromancy you'll learn ahead.]
[Understood.]
I waited as the boar's soul separated from its body.
Soon, a faint, wispy form resembling a smaller boar emerged above the carcass. I reached out and grasped it, and it transformed into a luminous blue stone in my hand.
Clutching the stone, I commanded the skeletons.
[Return now. Ensure this stone is delivered to me without fail.]
With the command given, I disengaged from the skeleton and opened my eyes.
＊ ＊ ＊
The skeletons returned safely to the cave.
The one in the center—the leader of the group—stepped forward and handed me the Soulstone just as I had ordered. Once that was done, I dispelled the spell binding them.
As Equinox had said, I received the boar’s life force and vital essence that had been absorbed during the possession.
I gazed down at the Soulstone of the boar, which glowed with a cool blue light, and asked Equinox,
[What can I do with this?]
He responded, his voice tinged with pride.
[There are many uses for it, but for now, it’ll serve as a catalyst for necromancy.]
I recalled something Equinox had explained before—when I’d first captured the spirit of the white snake, he had said its soul could be used as a guardian spirit.
‘And now, he's saying it can be used as a necromantic catalyst too?’
In magic, a catalyst refers to a component that isn’t consumed in the casting but allows more powerful spells to be executed.
If that’s the case, then this Soulstone might be a key to unleashing stronger necromancy.
[Oh? Sharp as ever. That’s right. As long as you don’t extract the soul from the orb itself, it can be reused to cast potent necromantic spells.]
[So… does that mean I’ve finally reached the level where I can start using necromancy?]
[Indeed. You’ve taken down a wild beast that carried a soul of this magnitude. That’s no small feat. Especially considering the skeletons you used were animated with bones weakened by exposure to demonic energy—it’s not something just anyone could pull off.]
[So what should I try to raise first?]
As I asked that, my gaze naturally shifted to the pile of bones in the farthest corner of the cave.
Bones I had never dared use for necromancy—until now.
They belonged to none other than Lyernoff, a high priest of the Holy Nation of Calios. As befitting someone of such sacred rank, the bones gave off a faint, ethereal blue glow.
Whether through necromancy or summoning, using remains of this caliber would no doubt yield a powerful servant.
In truth, I had collected Lyernoff’s bones with necromancy in mind from the beginning.
Standing before the pile, I asked:
[I want to raise this one.]
Equinox gave what seemed to be a faint, approving smile, though he said nothing at first. Then, suddenly, his voice came through.
[Let’s try it. The process is similar. But this time, you’ll need to recite a Spirit Summoning Incantation. I’ll inscribe it into your heart.]
Equinox proceeded to teach me the chant.
Once I had committed it fully to memory, I positioned myself in front of the bones and focused my mind.
Just like Equinox had demonstrated before, I began the process of summoning through necromancy.
‘Still the rotation of the mana ring, draw out the mana core…’
A dense core of mana gathered in my palm. I pressed it down, letting it seep into Lyernoff’s bones.
Then, gripping the Soulstone in my other hand, I began to chant the summoning incantation.
The Soulstone flashed with a bright light—and the bones began to stir.
'Did it work?'
Lyernoff had once been one of the continent’s most revered high priests.
If I could raise someone like him and make him my servant, he’d be a powerful asset.
'Of course, I’d have to break him first.'
His pride as a priest—a particularly unyielding kind of pride—gave me pause, but ultimately, it didn’t matter. I had the means to render his very existence powerless. If it came to it, I could use that to threaten him into submission.
'Rise, Lyernoff!'
I poured even more focus into the spell. The Soulstone glowed even brighter, and the bones began to knit together—feet and legs, waist and torso, arms and head—until finally, a full skeleton stood before me.
But that was it.
It didn’t move. No voice. No response. Unlike the time when Equinox had shown me how necromancy should look, this body remained lifeless.
'…What?'
The unease didn’t fade. My mental focus was wearing thin, and as it dwindled, the mana core began to separate from the bones and return to my heart. With a soft clatter, the skeleton crumbled to the ground.
'Why? Why won’t his soul return?'
Equinox answered my question.
[Because his soul is bound.]
[Bound?]
And then it hit me.
I had offered Lyernoff to the Demon Lord.
No matter how potent the catalyst or how perfectly I recited the spirit summoning chant, his spirit wouldn’t return. Because it was no longer his—it belonged to the Demon Lord, Dicreia.
[There are ways to summon even souls bound by the Demon Lord. But… not yet. You’re not ready.]
A frustrating truth.
I would have to give up on Lyernoff.
'Then… who should I raise?'
As I muttered to myself, Equinox’s voice came again.
[No need to look far. I sensed it from the beginning—this place is thick with powerful souls, each carrying a heavy past. Choose the strongest among them.]
[And where exactly am I supposed to find one like that?]
Equinox didn’t answer. Instead, my gaze was drawn, almost pulled, to one side of the cave.
There, hidden beneath the shadows, was a dark spiritual presence—watching me.
I looked at it and asked.
“Who are you?”
The presence answered, voice heavy with the weight of its soul.
[I… was called William.]
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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