Chapter 26
“Alright.”
I looked at the child torn by conflict before me.
“I’m not here to weigh right and wrong. I’m not saying those humans who crushed your past were justified, nor that you were justified in slaughtering countless humans.”
“…….”
He let out a low growl.
He flinched with resistance, like red disinfectant seeping into a gaping wound.
He must be angry.
He must not understand.
Knots of anger and resentment still linger in his chest.
And I’m telling him it’s all over.
That it’s history that’s already passed.
“No, I can’t do that.”
He shook his head violently.
“I can’t shake off those awful memories. They’re the path I’ve walked. Are you telling me to deny myself now? And even if I were to forget everything you say—do you think that would bring true happiness?”
To a child who has lived only cursing humanity, my words must have felt like asking him to abandon himself.
His lips pressed together in stubborn resolve—the obsession of one who’s lived long with a single goal.
“I’m not asking you to deny yourself.”
I stepped toward him.
He raised his spear defensively—but I didn’t stop.
“All I’m saying is that you should now enjoy what you wanted to do but couldn’t.”
“What I wanted to do?”
“Yes, what you wanted to do.”
Before he knew it, I stood within his strike range.
His spear tip pointed at me.
Swish.
I reached out softly and pushed.
He staggered back, powerless.
“For a moment, I truly felt your past. I saw why you were hurt, what emotions you felt, what you longed for. I knew it all.”
Skill effect of ‘Memory Reenactment’ (S-rank).
“…….”
“And in that, you clearly wanted to see the world.”
“The world…?”
He flinched.
The empty sockets of his skull trembled.
“You were curious. Curious about the softly shifting sand, curious about camels striding across the desert. But all your memories held was the sun—you didn’t even know your own face.”
“That’s right.”
He admitted it for the first time.
“I was curious about the world. That’s undeniable, beyond human notions of good and evil.”
“Then isn’t that enough?”
“Is that enough?”
His face twisted—he felt I was toying with words.
Clomp.
I found myself right in front of him.
“To be honest, I can’t fully empathize with your pain. Even if I felt it briefly, that’s all—because it’s not truly my pain.”
“…….”
“That’s why I don’t want to comfort you rashly. I can’t, and I shouldn’t. I just…”
“…….”
A strange silence.
I swallowed and continued.
“Why not follow your desire? No matter what hatred you bear for humans, no matter what grudges you hold—set them aside and just focus on seeing the world.”
His shoulders trembled.
His emotions swirled in turmoil.
He must be curious.
He must yearn to behold it.
Finally, he asked, “So you can show me the world?”
“Of course.”
I smiled.
A Skeleton is the lowest class of Undead.
Whether a corpse had its neck slit or eyes gouged, it appears in the form of a complete Skeleton.
‘Come to think of it, these skeletons… have no eyes, do they?’
They lack eyes, yet they can see.
That’s certain—because I, a Necromancer, felt it.
Anyway.
Swish!
I reached into the air.
As if summoned from imagination, a sleek staff materialized in my hand.
Now, shall I make my offer?
“I am a Necromancer—cursed, yet a sorcerer who commands death.”
Thud!
I drove the staff into the ground.
“The world I live in is completely different from yours, but if you wish to see such a world…”
I extended my left hand.
Flinch.
He trembled.
“Take my hand and step beneath me.”
[Stage: Trial of the Sun Spear]
[Difficulty: Unmeasurable]
[The Sun Spear’s resentment toward humans pierces the heavens.]
[Subdue the Sun Spear to trigger Bone Two’s true awakening.]
I proposed his submission—
One of the child’s desires, ‘Sight,’ as the condition.
[The Sun Spear agonizes.]
[The Sun Spear hesitates.]
“…….”
Silence stretched, yet I waited steadily.
After a moment—
“You…”
“Yes?”
“Are you different from other humans?”
Rustle!
He gripped his spear tighter and raised it again.
“I am the Absolute of the Ancient Desert Empire. A demi-beast unrivaled in the world. The Spear That Swallowed the Sun.”
Vrrr!
A massive aura gathered around his spear.
“I serve no one—especially not humans.”
“…….”
“Do you have the right to be my master?”
The wounded child’s question.
[Ding!]
[Hidden Quest Activated!]
[Exclusive hidden condition for ‘Stage: Trial of the Sun Spear’.]
[The Sun Spear’s grudge against humans has lessened.]
[However, the Sun Spear is curious.]
[Hunter, inquiries about Joo Donghoon.]
[Prove that you are the true master.]
[Upon proof, the Sun Spear’s memory and will will be inherited by Bone Two.]
‘Oh?’
A quest variation?
The wording has changed.
Originally it was Bone Two’s true awakening.
Now it’s inheriting the Sun Spear’s memory intact.
One might say that’s the same, but as a hidden quest, the latter is far more tempting.
‘There’s no choice, huh?’
I laughed.
Swish!
I summoned a spear in my right hand and gripped it.
Shhh!
I dispelled the staff.
“Master, then.”
A skeleton transformed into the Sun Spear calling me master—
Thump.
My heart pounded.
“How do I prove it?”
“It’s simple.”
He answered.
“Catch my spear. Endure the true power of the sun, not a faded grudge. Can you do it?”
He raised his spear.
I replied,
“I can endure anything.”
The world flashed.
—
Vrrr!
Blistering sunlight.
Warm rays became spear blades, tearing through me.
‘This is the true power of the sun.’
It dwarfed the force of mere resentment.
How strong?
Strong enough to make the old man watching behind me click his tongue.
“Phew, disciple. Are you all right?”
‘Does that look all right? I feel like I’m dying.’
“It can’t be helped. That child has grown far stronger. Hm… I could probably kill him easily at my prime strength.”
“…….”
That old coot.
I’m wracked with agony, yet he brags.
He said he could kill, not just subdue.
“You’re incredible. I rarely say ‘kill’ lightly—I usually say ‘subdue.’ A foe I can’t even subdue—that’s your current power.”
‘Indeed.’
Sorry, but I had no time to humor his chatter.
Each ray of sunlight from the spear was a critical hit.
[The Sun Spear uses skill ‘Solar Flurry’ (Lv.MAX).]
[The Sun Spear uses skill ‘Raging Desert’ (Lv.MAX).]
[The Sun Spear uses skill ‘Soulflare’ (Soulflare) (Lv.MAX).]
……
I groaned in torment.
I clenched my teeth.
But still, the child pressed his assault.
“Disciple. No need to strike back. Ah… but never mind; you lack that skill anyway.”
‘Are you fanning the flames on a burning house?’
I snapped, and he chuckled.
“I’m just saying endure it. After all, aren’t you invincible here?”
‘It’s unbearably painful, though.’
“Well, as one practicing the Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts, you should withstand this!”
“…….”
Damn it.
In excruciating pain, his words only stoked my fire.
Inside and out, I felt engulfed in heat.
“You know it too.”
He continued,
“That child isn’t testing your skill. He’s testing your will.”
‘Will…’
“Right—your resolve. Those with strong determination stand firm. If he wishes to judge you, endure this much.”
The child serves no ordinary master.
He serves only the exceptional.
Even the sturdiest stone bridge is tested before crossing.
Especially since humans hurt him so deeply, he wants to judge me—confirm me.
‘Honestly.’
That meaning feels all the more special.
To serve only the chosen, yet once one serves, to swear unwavering loyalty.
“Very well.”
Whatever it is, let it come.
I will endure endlessly.
Though the pain may kill me.
For I risk death to become a ranker.
‘And the Sun Spear…’
Is a great stepping stone toward that rank.
“If there’s anything you wish to judge, judge it all.”
He unleashed spear after spear.
The Spear That Swallowed the Sun—
No, now the Spear That Spews the Sun.
[Skill ‘Pain Tolerance’ (B-rank) has upgraded.]
[Skill ‘Pain Tolerance’ (A-rank) acquired.]
[This skill still has room to grow.]
Ah.
Am I becoming a masochist at this rate?
The horrific pain gradually eased enough to endure.
“Heh heh, splendid.”
He murmured,
“True to form, my disciple—stubborn as they come, yet among stubborn ones, world-class.”
‘Thanks to you, elder.’
I found my composure.
Now I could withstand his spear strikes and step forward.
Clomp, clomp.
Advancing through the gleaming spear onslaught, I came before him and gazed calmly.
“……You are.”
The Sun Spear muttered in amazement, “You truly are different.”
His momentum broke.
Along with it, his lingering grudge.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t wrong.
It was a world that had ended—
Long ago a past life—
He no longer wished to suffer.
“I… want to be reborn.”
To abandon his former life and loyally serve someone.
To stand beneath a steadfast Necromancer and see the world with his own eyes.
Thud!
He knelt.
Crack!
A tear fell.
Since ruling the Ancient Desert Empire, he had never shed a tear.
He washed away his grudge with tears.
And then—
“Lord.”
He called the human he chose to serve.
“I acknowledge you as my lord.”
[Congratulations!]
[Hidden condition fulfilled.]
[Stage ‘Trial of the Sun Spear’ cleared!]
[Clear rewards have arrived!]
At that moment, the Absolute of one world became my subordinate.