25 CHAPTER XXIV: Ghost 2 (1/2)

My body, my consciousness, is tainted by the darkness.

In the body that should have lost its pain, a terrible pain rushes in, as if the body is about to burst from within, as if something is trying to eat through the body.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The scream echoed through the forest. A scream echoes through the dense forest, and I recognize the voice as my own.

Death is imminent. The terrible pain I hadn't felt in a long time made me understand that I was still as weak as I had been in life.

The silver arrow falls from his hand. There is still pain in the palm of the hand that held it, but it doesn't matter at all.

Terrible nausea. Pain. Lassitude. All kinds of pain assaulting my soul.

I feel as if I'm being dragged into the depths of hell, the underworld.

”Your soul continues to fall toward the darkness.

The words that Horos said to me before come back to my mind. I try to ease the pain by thinking desperately.

I can't see up, down, left, right. I managed to cling to a nearby tree as I was about to fall.

My heart, which had stopped beating, was now beating at an alarming rate. My breathing is ragged.

Memories and knowledge that didn't belong to me poured into my brain. I slammed my head against the tree with all my might, over and over again, because I felt so sick.

What ...... is this?

I feel nauseous. I don't know what's going on. The only thing I know is that if I relax I'll die.

The tree snaps. Blood pouring from my head. My knees shatter and I fall to the ground, but I crawl on all fours and hang on to the other trees.

I use everything I have to stay sane.

I remember what it was like on my sickbed. The pain getting stronger, little by little, and the strength slipping away.

Days when the incessant pain didn't allow for sleep and every action led to pain. The loneliness of being obsessed only with life, with no sorcerer, no doctor, no one to help, and the regret of being able to do nothing but stare at myself as I slowly wore myself out and died.

I'm changing. My body, my soul is transforming. I'm merging.

Stronger, more vicious, more worthy of the King of the Dead.

The Lord must have set this up. I don't understand what he's done to me without my knowledge.

The memories, the knowledge, they are not mine. I must not accept it.

In the midst of the pain that I can't resist, the thought that ”it's not mine” suddenly crosses my mind.

--Stupid ............ Why can't I swallow it?

It's dark. There's no one here. I raise my head, letting out a hot breath.

I'm not sure what to do. Unlike the wraith of a wraith, he was standing on two legs.

I don't know why, but I knew that it was not an entity, not a soul, but just an illusion of my brain.

It was not a conscious act.

The pain was overridden by murderous intent and anger. I stood up and swung my arms over my head.

He wasn't moving fast enough, and he didn't have time to extend his claws. But the blow easily cut through Lord's illusion.

The illusion disappears.

--What a mighty soul. ...... Hasn't he admitted defeat yet?

It's as if you're being burned all over. The heat is especially in my head, my brain and my heart.

I hear a voice from behind me. You turn and swing your arm sideways. Behind you stands the phantom of the road you've just wiped out.

The illusion disappears. But a new one appears. Before I know it, my field of vision is filled with countless visions of Lord.

Up, down, back, left, right. Some standing on the ground, some with their lower half buried in the ground, some flying through the air. Countless eyes, cunning and emotionless like snakes, looked down at me.

I pounce on them in anger. Holos Kamen invades my brain.

The will flowing in like a muddy stream is so strong that it could crush you if you're not careful.

--There's, en, consciousness, too thick. I'm not sure what you're talking about.　No. ...... No. ......!　　I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that.

I'm not sure what to do. I'll do my best, with all my might, to resist the spirit that's trying to swallow me.

I will live. I'll live and I'll be free.

--The vessel, the abyss, it's too deep!　How did you get here ...... end, I command you. Stop resisting!

Lord's voice echoes in my brain, tormenting my spirit.

End. It's ...... who?

I scratch my chest. My heart is beating hard. It's not my imagination. My heart, it's beating. It's alive. It's got a pulse.

I'm not a corpse. I'm being reborn as a more evil creature, a ...... unforgivable monster, one that transcends death.

Oh, so this is the destination of the necromancer's curse!

In the midst of the pain of not being able to think logically, I suddenly understood the true nature of the Necromancer.

The destination of the curse they had created. Their goal, the King of the Dead. It's immortality.

It's not about staying alive even when you're dead. It's complete ”immortality” and ”immortality” to live on.

Death is only a process for them.

They are experts at creating countless undead. It would have been much easier to just make themselves undead.

But they didn't take that approach.

Senri said. A first-class necromancer is a being who has turned himself into a special kind of undead.

Before he knew it, Lord's vision had vanished. Instead, there was a large mass of darkness in front of him.

A vision. Holos Kamen's face floating in the center of a great black haze.

He's trying to eat me, trying to sink me into the depths of darkness.

A voice echoes in my brain. A voice of anger, of confidence.