The Cult of the Grim Reaper has established deep roots in China.
They manage hundreds of branches while their leader, Gyeolwon, resides in the main headquarters.
In the deep underground cavern, darkness engulfed a massive chamber.
It was always dark, but now, even the ambient light had vanished.
Gyeolwon's face, hidden in the shadows, contorted.
Crack! A tearing sound echoed from within his body. It was the sound of something twisting and breaking in the wrong direction.
He opened his eyes wide.
Blood vessels burst in his eyes, adding a crimson tint to his already dark vision.
Gyeolwon gritted his teeth.
"Ugh, guh...!"
Blood-tinged foam escaped from between his tightly clenched teeth.
This was the result of practicing necromancy far beyond his own capacity, which he was currently forcing into action.
This wasn't part of the plan.
In such insufficient conditions, he hadn't intended to proceed with the ritual at all.
He had acquired the corpse of the Twin-Headed Poison Dragon with great difficulty. It wasn't complete, but he had managed to obtain some fragments to make up for the missing parts.
They also lacked sacrifices. To summon a creature of such a high level against natural order required a substantial price.
They had established branches across various regions in China. Disciples were dispatched to supply sacrificial pawns. At one point, the Association nearly caught them, but they narrowly escaped.
Since then, he had acted cautiously, lowering the quality and quantity of sacrifices, delaying the plan. Every measure was taken to ensure safety and security.
However, recently, some lunatic had intruded and started destroying their branches that supplied sacrifices.
It was infuriating, enough to make his blood boil, but Gyeolwon gritted his teeth and held back.
A wretch called Faceless.
Too skilled for his disciples to kill, and rumored to be an agent of the Association’s enforcers. If Gyeolwon personally went after Faceless, it risked drawing the Association's attention back to him.
And the bastards of the Taesan family.
Their heir had also intruded and was wreaking havoc. Gyeolwon could kill them if he acted personally, but the consequences would be unbearable.
If he killed them? The Association, which had picked up his trail, along with Taesan’s entire might would crash down on this land.
So he endured.
He prepared to hide deeper once again. It was a despicable situation, but he had already endured for decades. Waiting a few more years was manageable.
Then, the god gave him a revelation.
Do not hide any longer. Carry out the plan immediately.
Kill the heir of Taesan and that wretch, Faceless.
Thus, he had acted, and now he was suffering backlash from pushing beyond his limits.
"Guh...!"
His vision blurred. His consciousness drifted.
In the pitch-black void, he could see death approaching step by step.
It was not a fearsome thing. To Gyeolwon, who worshipped the god of death, death was merely the gateway to paradise.
It should have been something to welcome, but not now.
He hadn’t yet fulfilled the revelation.
It was a command delivered personally by the god of death. He had to accomplish it, no matter the sacrifice.
Gyeolwon was always ready to give his life as a martyr, but he still lacked the power to fulfill the revelation.
Normally, this would have been impossible.
But the god’s blessing had been bestowed. For a moment, he exceeded his limits and manifested necromancy far beyond his own capacity. A power vastly greater than his own took hold within him.
He succeeded in necromancy that would have been unachievable otherwise.
Though its level was reduced, he managed to turn the Twin-Headed Poison Dragon into an undead creature, albeit imperfectly.
In return, the recoil was overwhelming.
"Guh...!!"
His intestines twisted. His mana circuits writhed and creaked, and his core strained.
The agony was like being ground up in a blender, shredding his body from the inside out.
If he lost focus even for a moment, his body would explode.
The backlash from the chaotic collision of mana and spirits contorted his face.
"The recoil... is worse than anticipated."
Necromancy was a complex art, manipulating dead bodies and the spirits extracted from those corpses.
Moreover, the spirit he was controlling was the Twin-Headed Poison Dragon, estimated at Level 3 Alpha.
Even with thorough preparation, it was a tremendously difficult task.
He had performed the ritual in a half-baked state.
The Twin-Headed Poison Dragon’s corpse was incomplete. Many parts were missing. Most critically, one of the heads, where its unique abilities resided, was gone.
The sacrifices were also insufficient. He had managed to gather quite a number, but the shortage in sacrifices resulted in a significant reduction in quality.
The burden on the caster increased manyfold.
Gyeolwon turned his head.
Behind him lay the disciples sprawled on the ground. They were all followers of the Grim Reaper, skilled in necromancy to some degree.
They were all dead, unable to endure even for a moment. In essence, they had served as sacrifices to alleviate Gyeolwon’s burden. They died in ecstasy, knowing their lives were being offered to their god.
Yet, Gyeolwon was still facing death. If not for the martyr sacrifices, he would have exploded and died long ago.
"What a sight. Can’t tell who’s the corpse here."
At that moment, a casual voice pierced Gyeolwon’s ear.
Through the ringing in his head, he heard footsteps, deliberately loud and provocative.
A man approached, stepping into the dim light near Gyeolwon.
The faint light illuminated the man, revealing his bright red eyes and hair.
"Tsk tsk..."
The man glanced over the corpses of the fallen disciples.
Their skin had decayed to the point that exposed mana circuits lay raw, blood trickling from every orifice, and they were sprawled grotesquely.
The man’s face twisted in disgust.
Calling that martyrdom... they were truly insane.
"What business... do you have... here?"
Gyeolwon managed to squeeze out a question. Just speaking was grueling, given the backlash he was enduring.
"Nothing, really. I just heard so many rumors, so I came to watch."
After enduring the effort to speak, the response he got was utterly flippant.
Gyeolwon’s face twisted in frustration.
"Oh, could your face get any uglier? That’s quite a mug you’ve got there."
"Crazy... fool... do you... not understand... the gravity of this...?"
"It might be significant to you, but to us? Just a trivial matter. Don’t drag us into your mess."
"Utter nonsense... Your god... surely... wishes for war too... so then—"
"My god?"
Suddenly, Gyeolwon’s words stopped.
The man who had interrupted looked momentarily blank, as if he didn’t understand.
Then, as if he grasped the meaning, he let out a small laugh.
"A god, you say? That thing? Ha!"
Then he burst into laughter, his loud laugh echoing through the cavern. Gyeolwon’s eyebrows furrowed at the piercing sound.
"Insane bastard. You actually call that thing a god and worship it."
The man’s words made Gyeolwon’s expression crumple further.
Crunch! Gyeolwon ground his teeth. His already cracked teeth emitted a sharp grinding sound.
Glaring at the man with eyes wide open in anger, Gyeolwon spat out, "You... Watch your... filthy mouth...!"
"Giving orders now? Why are you so worked up anyway? I’m the one who should be pissed here. Don’t lump me in with scum like you and your cult."
Gyeolwon, on the verge of death, exuded killing intent. The murderous aura of a necromancer at his level permeated the space.
But the man facing him didn’t flinch. He scoffed, then released his own aura, immediately overwhelming and crushing Gyeolwon’s killing intent.
Boom! The walls of the cavern shook with the impact. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling.
"Ugh..."
"Even though I’m a toothless tiger, do you think I’d be overpowered by an old backroom geezer like you?"
The man smirked, raising the corner of his mouth.
"If you want to live out what little life you have left, stay put. Otherwise, I might put an end to it myself. I’ll just watch and then leave."
Gyeolwon was dying. And he would die soon. His survival might stretch to a few days, a few weeks... perhaps only a few hours.
But the man didn’t think it would extend to months.
A silence settled.
"Hah."
The silence broke with a bitter laugh from Gyeolwon, bloodied foam at his lips.
"Ridiculous..."
"Huh?"
The man blinked, wondering if Gyeolwon truly had a death wish.
"You are... merely a servant... bound to your god... You lack the authority... to kill me..."
"......"
Hearing those words, the man’s face turned cold.
He showed no outward aggression, but his expressionless face spoke volumes as he reached for the sword at his waist.
His hand froze midway, as if caught by some unseen force.
Veins bulged on the back of his hand, and his fingers trembled slightly.
– Fwoosh!
A dark red flame flickered to life in his hand, sticky and ominous.
But his hand remained motionless.
“...You filthy bastard.”
The man muttered a soft curse.
His curse was directed at the insolent old man in front of him and also at the cursed entity restraining him.
He released the tension in his hand, and the flame dissipated.
With that, the force holding him back also disappeared.
"Ah, damn it. Looking at you, I’m starting to think you’ll die soon anyway. Guess I’ll just leave."
The man twisted his face in irritation and turned away.
Gyeolwon spoke to the man as he walked away.
"Do not worry... I will fulfill the revelation... and enter paradise."
The man’s steps came to an abrupt halt.
"Fulfill it and enter paradise...? Doubt it. I don’t think you’ll accomplish anything."
"...On what grounds... do you dare deny the god's revelation?"
The man appeared to ponder for a moment, then glanced back at Gyeolwon with a faint smirk.
"Just a hunch."
"...You madman."
It was an answer so worthless it didn't even merit a response.
Gyeolwon's face contorted in anger.
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