About 150 years ago,
So, roughly 1870 or 1880, depending on the calculation.
Heo Sang-hyeon’s ancestor was an open-minded and curious scholar who accepted exotic cultures from the West.
The problem lay in one of the blindly accepted items, a nefarious book that should never have been received.
[Grimoire – Taiyin Shui Zhen Secret Scripture]
This single book led Heo Sang-hyeon’s ancestor down a path of complete corruption.
Following the spells inscribed within, he summoned the [He Who Comes from the Darkness], and the abyssal being that descended into this world mated with Heo Sang-hyeon’s ancestor to create a child that should never have existed.
This child, born 150 years ago, was a great old being’s offspring.
He was none other than the rotting and half-decayed corpse carrier, the Hollow Lord.
In the game, his name wasn’t explicitly revealed, was it? He was just referred to as [Hollow Lord].
Although the exact family tree was unknown, if you calculate the number of relatives between the Hollow Lord and Heo Sang-hyeon, he might be roughly a great-grandfather.
Or perhaps a great-grandmother… What the hell, is that a man or a woman?
“Haah…”
I was now outside the hungry mansion.
More precisely, I was dangling from its second-story window.
Rumble….!
The sound of lightning falling from the dark sky could be heard.
My frail body was shaking as I was exposed to the rain pouring down from the sky. Yet, observing the Hollow Lord engaging in his odd antics wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
“What, what is this…?!”
That was the Hollow Lord’s voice.
Just like his ancestor.
Heo Sang-hyeon’s voice had also been bizarrely unsettling.
True to his lineage, the Hollow Lord spoke in a voice that was equally eerie and chilling.
Hollow Lord was still peering into the crystal ball and was unable to fully grasp the situation, thanks to the [Hazy Presence] spell that rendered me nearly invisible.
I watched as the Hollow Lord amplified his magical power and began to remove the magical interference embedded in the crystal ball.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Ah, I’ve been discovered.
I manipulated Heo Sang-hyeon’s mind and vision using the effect of the ancient god’s mirror.
The Hollow Lord was surveying the situation on the first floor through Heo Sang-hyeon’s eyes and was laughing heartily at the distorted images I had conjured.
Since I was discovered, it seemed this was the end of the ruse. The crystal ball would no longer display false images but reveal the actual events unfolding on the mansion’s first floor, right?
“Arghhh! You damned rat!”
In a fit of rage, the Hollow Lord shattered his crystal ball with an unintelligible scream. It was a shame, really; that artifact must have been costly.
“Where are you? Where have you hidden?”
He then began to spread his magical power in all directions while attempting to locate me.
It doesn’t seem like I’ll be caught just yet.
The Hollow Lord’s detection magic was completely off the mark.
The first floor, then the second, and now near the main entrance.
It appeared he hadn’t considered the possibility that I might have stepped outside.
More importantly, isn’t it about time it arrived?
Gwagwagwagwagwagwa!
Just then, from afar…
The roaring sound of an immense wave began to approach.
“Ah, here it comes.”
A wave brimming with immense magical power, resentment, and the energy from the netherworld was climbing against the mountain.
It was a spell I had hidden far away and left to mature.
Creating, calculating, and controlling the magic circle from a distance safe enough to avoid detection by the Hollow Lord had nearly burst my brain.
The effort was worthwhile… The oncoming wave, even by my own estimation, carried an appalling amount of malevolent energy.
I knocked on the window and shouted.
“Hey, Mister Bones. Over here!”
“You! You! How on earth!”
Startled, the Hollow Lord surged with magical power and lunged in my direction, but…
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})At that very moment, the barrier I had prepared in advance was activated.
[Cold Bone Prison]
Buzzzzzzzzzz!
From beneath the Hollow Lord’s feet, a barrier from the netherworld erupted.
Crackle, crackle, crunch…!
The immense pressure emanating from the barrier began to coil around the Hollow Lord’s flesh, squeezing and constricting him.
“Arghhhh!!! How… how is this possible…?!”
“Ah, how did you activate it without any warning?”
“Krrrrr… how did you…. such a massive… barrier…”
“What are you talking about? I blatantly set it up?”
The nine candles I had deceptively placed while fooling Heo Sang-hyeon formed the ritual for the barrier.
“Did you really think I went through all that trouble just to trap a mere ghost?”
Hollow Lord was now standing right above the place where I arranged the candles and talismans.
Just as I was about to explain this, I sensed the Hollow Lord drawing up magical power.
[Curse of…]
the Hollow Lord tried to cast a spell, but my attack was quicker.
[Lightning Strike]
Crackle crackle crackle!!!
“Aaaaagh!”
“And trying to buy time by engaging in small talk won’t work.”
“Kugh… Do you think a low-tier spell like this can stop me…?”
He’s right.
I was only able to trap him thanks to the multiple layers of traps I had set, but he’s of a different kind by bloodline.
The second-order magic I could use wasn’t enough to fully subdue him.
Well, that’s why I prepared this.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Wooshhhhhh!!!
A giant wave defying the laws of physics.
It wasn’t without reason that I had gone through such a complex process to set everything up from afar.
The magic I had constructed by meticulously gathering the magical power the Hollow Lord had carelessly squandered was no small feat.
The giant wave I created, blending the spirits and corpse golems with the magical power I intercepted from the Hollow Lord, could practically be considered a living entity formed entirely of water elements.
Since the base consists of the corpse golems and spirits the Hollow Lord was manipulating, this too, in a way, is a necromancy golem.
“Now, we can’t have the windows breaking…”
I swung open the window in front of me and clung to the second-floor wall.
Wooshhhhhhhh!!!
Defying gravity, the wave rose and transformed into a massive spear of water that rushed toward the open window.
I infused this giant magic with new properties and energy.
[Raging Torrents of Sanzu River]
This was no longer a mere second-order spell, but a vast and powerful magic.
Boommmmmmmmmm!!!
the Hollow Lord, unable to even scream, was struck directly by the torrent charged with the energy of the netherworld and the essence of death.
Rumblinggggggggg!!!
Crashhhhhhhhh!!!
The entire mansion shook and an ominous vibration filled the air.
But the mansion couldn’t be allowed to crumble.
I had to focus my mind to control the range within which [Raging Torrents of Sanzu River] could exert its influence.
After a prolonged scream finally ceased, and the surroundings fell utterly silent, I climbed through the window into the second floor of the mansion.
“Phew. Let’s see…”
The room on the second floor where the Hollwo Lord had been was in complete disarray.
Everything in the room was destroyed, and nothing remained in its place.
Even the Hollwo Lord, who had been at the center of the room, was nowhere to be seen.
It was unlikely that he had been annihilated to the point of leaving no bones behind.
Where could he have gone?
The room is too dark.
[Dancing Flames]
Whoosh!
A dazzling flame blossomed in my palm.
Though it resembled a burning flame, it emitted no heat.
It was a magical source of light, gathering only the essence of pure light.
The flame rose as if dancing. It spread out in all directions and illuminated the dark interior of the room.
“Was hoping to finish it with just one blow, but you’re quite resilient, aren’t you?”
The Hollow Lord was nowhere to be seen.
At that moment, it seemed he had concealed himself amidst the clutter scattered throughout the room.
The room was spacious, yet the bizarre arrangement of furniture caught in a maelstrom made it feel much smaller than it actually was.
But, was it correct to call them furniture?
Taxidermy.
Scattered around were taxidermies made from animal skin.
Bears, wolves, foxes, deer, tigers…
This wasn’t merely a collection for decoration or admiration.
These were materials intended for creating necromancy golems or their precursor, the corpse golems.
Originally, there was a pattern of attacking those who could move here, but since they were all sent out of the house, such unfortunate incidents did not occur.
The taxidermies here were, after all, unfinished products abandoned midway through their creation.
Wooooooooooo….
A disturbing vibration began to fill the air from somewhere.
Uuuuuuuuu….
The sound of ghosts sobbing permeated the atmosphere.
Creak… Squeak…
Crunch, snap…
– Save me… please save me…
– Monsters are devouring me…
The noises were meaningless. They were just designed to shake the intruder’s mind.
A typical mental attack.
[System: The unique trait ‘Madness of the Abyss’ has been activated. The effect of fear has been nullified.]
“Making sounds as if you’re tearing apart corpses won’t mean much.”
[Instill Fear].
It was one of the most basic among the necromantic spells.
Seeing a creature capable of casting advanced spells like [Spirit Explosion], [Curse of Death], or [Touch of Corruption] resort to something as low-tier as [Instill Fear] suggested that my previous strike had been effective.
The hastily used inferior spell dissipated without meaning. It only served to reveal its caster’s location to me.
[Gale Strike]
Whoosh! Bang!
It was a second-order magic that unleashed a powerful blow by propelling compressed air.
Though lacking additional effects, it was a spell that was sure to inflict physical damage.
Crash! Smash!
As the taxidermies obstructing the view were blown away in all directions, the pitiful figure of this corpse-like creature was exposed.
It was the Hollow Lord.
His limbs were twisted in unnatural directions, and black mucus poured from every orifice on his face.
“Cough… what… are you… this monster…”
“No, seriously!”
How many times has it been now?
Why does every monster I meet keep calling me a monster?
“The necromancy golems… why do they still draw upon my magical power… why does this continue…”
Ah, don’t you know? It’s called an infinite loop bug.
“That’s because I made it that way.”
“What did you say…?”
“I tied them all up and set them on fire.”
Of course, I took magical precautions to prevent the fire from spreading too much.
It’s a simple trick using rudimentary AI.
The necromancy golems were unable to go anywhere and they kept trying to repair their continuously destroyed bodies by incessantly draining their master’s magical power.
The destruction repeated endlessly, and regeneration proceeded forcefully.
Although the Hollow Lord was a monster with immense magical power, he couldn’t withstand having his magic drained endlessly like this.
Of course, the Hollow Lord had created several safety measures to prevent such a situation, but I had destroyed all those safety measures.
“Now, it’s over.”
“Haak… I am…”
My reflection appeared in the Hollow Lord’s eyes.
Four eyes emitting a fierce light from my pitch-black mask.
Due to the continuous use of magic, my eyes shone with a bright red light.
“After all, you’ve lived excessively long by not only taking the lives of others but even exploiting the lives of your descendants, haven’t you?”
Moreover, if left alone, this creature would soon die anyway.
This was because the necromancy golems, with their limited intelligence, were still draining magical power from him.
I raised the sharply shining silver hook.
“Let’s end this.”
“No… please stop…”
It was a movement unmistakable for anything else.
A typical stabbing posture.
I focused and aimed at his heart with this posture.
“Stay still. There’s something I need to remove from your body.”
