HPDBC Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Chapter 121
The turbulent surge of simple necromantic mana rapidly transforms into something else.
Even with my experience as a Death Lord, this process appeared quite unfamiliar and erratic to me.
The massive current stabilized, became established, and its concept was defined.
And then, it became something completely different.
No, while it was similar in nature, its structure had changed entirely.
The meaning of this concept was [Death].
This is...
“What the hell is this? It’s neither magic nor an ability.”
This power had no particular method of usage.
It simply existed, as naturally as breathing, and my will resided within it.
This was beyond my expectations.
A Death Lord could be considered the closest existence to death.
Naturally, reaching the level of a Death Lord meant being akin to the underworld itself, and the power they wielded was inherently close to death.
But close was not the same as identical.
Though I did not believe that the level of a Death Lord was the absolute pinnacle, this was something I had never encountered before.
If it were something one could acquire simply through adaptation, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.
In fact, I would have experienced it in Labyrinthos.
But now, in this reality, as I reclaimed memories from multiple halls, witnessing such an unprecedented phenomenon left me perplexed.
The reaper’s form that had been enveloping me had disappeared, yet I could feel its presence wholly within the circle.
It was magic but not magic.
It was an ability but could not be classified as one.
Even when I reached the level of a Death Lord, I had only imitated it—I had never handled the original.
At the very least, I used to call such power Authority.
A force that humans could never possess, a primordial power wielded by beings like the Kraken or the Ancient Gods.
It was not something one could attain through mere training or meditation.
Just as a human cannot grow a second pair of arms through sheer effort.
Even the Authority created from the Machine God's Heart was merely borrowed from the heart’s power, not something I was generating myself.
[It resembles an Authority but is still weak.]
So, if it grows stronger, could it truly become an Authority?
I tried to clear my tangled thoughts by organizing my surroundings.
And then, I realized something.
The magic core and magic circle, which should not have disappeared after a single use, had vanished without a trace.
It seemed that the magic core owned by Sullivan, who came from another dimension, was far from ordinary.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain this inexplicable occurrence.
“Master.”
At that moment—
Misha, the head maid, approached me with a deeply tense expression.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh?”
Before I could even answer, I took in a strange sight that I had failed to notice until now.
All the maids and attendants had stopped what they were doing and were staring at me.
It was no surprise, given that, within a five-meter radius from where I stood in the training ground, the ground had turned completely black, as if it had died.
Such phenomena were only possible for someone of Death Lord-level, yet I was still merely a 7th-circle necromancer.
In other words, I had just casually wielded a concept of death that should only be accessible at the Death Lord level.
I silently raised my hand.
Inside a singular, fused ring, Thanatos resonated.
Unlike conventional magic, a black mist seeped out naturally, wrapping around the air as if it were dying.
...
At the same time, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit me.
This wasn’t about whether I had necromantic mana or not.
It was the same sensation as using a newly developed organ—an unfamiliar fatigue that left my head throbbing.
“Lord, advancing any further is extremely dangerous. This place is—”
“I know. But we must confirm what’s happening.”
Melissa was resolute.
She had determined that the situation was too grave to ignore.
Seeing her determination, the watchmen exchanged glances before drawing their weapons and following her.
But contrary to their expectations, the notorious lair of demons was eerily silent.
And when they finally reached the source of the disturbance—
They were left speechless by the sight before them.
“Hhhk... cough!!”
“What... Why is it so hard to breathe?”
Though air filled their lungs, it was as if breathing itself had become an arduous task.
The ground was charred black, and the area was littered with the corpses of slain monsters.
“My Lord.”
“Activate protective artifacts. Some of you stay behind while the rest move forward.”
With tense expressions, Melissa and her team proceeded cautiously.
She even materialized the Death Knight, preparing for the worst.
How long had they been advancing with bated breath?
Then, they saw it.
A vast, lifeless wasteland spanning roughly 200 meters—nothing but barren land, utterly devoid of existence.
Could a mere monster have done this?
Impossible.
This was a catastrophe.
The same thought struck everyone’s minds simultaneously.
And soon, they found the one responsible for this disaster.
At the center of that desolate expanse stood Leon, staring blankly at his own hands.
Yet, none of them could call his name.
For the briefest moment, merely looking at Leon seared the very concept of death into their beings, rendering them motionless.
Was it something merely wearing Leon’s face?
No, could that thing even be called human anymore?
As they stood paralyzed in fear, something suddenly whooshed into Leon, and the oppressive force that had been suffocating the area vanished entirely.
Moments later, one of the knights beside Melissa cautiously spoke.
“My... My Lord.”
“What?”
“Look... at the sky.”
At his words, Melissa lifted her head—and her eyes widened.
The sky, once clear, was now darkened above Leon, completely devoid of clouds.
Within a certain radius around him, nothing was alive.
* * *
An unintentional manifestation of something akin to an Authority.
A being born from the torrents of necromantic mana tightly bound within the Circle—Thanatos.
Or rather, to be precise, it was the aftershock of [Death] caused by resonating with Thanatos, far exceeding any expectations.
I hadn’t thought it possible to manifest Thanatos through Death Lord-level dominion and actually withstand it.
My original plan had been to harness that power, narrow the Circle, and form the seventh ring.
But now, what had happened?
The necromantic Circles rotating around my heart had effectively fused into a single ring.
Not just one or two—all seven.
I had only intended to break through the Seventh Circle, but things had escalated.
Still, as long as I could control it, this wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome.
I’d handled death before as a Death Lord, but this was entirely different from back then.
And as a result—
I found myself confined to an abandoned mountain lodge, a short distance from Cascadia’s territory.
Melissa had personally locked me away after witnessing the calamity I had created.
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