Episode 143: The Selection of Gasdal (4)
Within the mirror conjured by Gasdal, the horrors unfolding in the White Kingdom were vividly displayed.
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Undead! The undead have appeared!”
“Aaah!”
Thousands of skeletons were attacking the people. Mercenaries and explorers who had come for the ruins, as well as the citizens of the White Kingdom, were all being slaughtered.
Dominico stared at the scene in disbelief. “This… this can’t be happening…”
He had once fought a dark sorcerer in the past. That sorcerer had managed to summon fewer than five skeletons, and even those were so unstable that they would dissipate if they strayed too far from him. Back then, even as a low-class knight, Dominico had easily defeated the sorcerer.
But this? Thousands of skeletons summoned at once, and the dark magic was holding strong even from a distance. It was a sight that defied belief.
“There must be an accomplice… Yes, that’s it! That filthy scoundrel must have brought in other dark sorcerers behind our backs!”
Gasdal had signaled the hidden dark sorcerers in the White Kingdom to unleash their magic. That was the only explanation for the mass summoning and maintenance of so many skeletons. Dominico’s understanding was that a single dark sorcerer couldn’t possibly achieve this, but several working together could.
“An accomplice?” Gasdal tilted his head, puzzled by Dominico’s words, as if he couldn’t understand why he would think that.
“Come to think of it, I never did tell you exactly what level I’m at,” Gasdal said, addressing both Dominico and Frize. He had only introduced himself as a skilled dark sorcerer, leading them to assume he was of high rank.
“I am a Grand Dark Sorcerer.”
Dominico’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s… impossible…”
Even as a lifelong knight, Dominico knew what a Grand Dark Sorcerer was—a being comparable to a master class, someone who had transcended humanity.
“For me, this is child’s play. If you still don’t believe me, I could summon more. I could double the number of skeletons.”
Though not as powerful in combat as a master class, grand sorcerers had achieved incredible feats in other areas—like creating bridges that spanned continents overnight or sinking entire lands to form vast lakes. With such tales in mind, Gasdal’s display was understandable.
Dominico hung his head. Facing a Grand Dark Sorcerer, there was no hope. It was a situation steeped in despair.
Just then, a voice rang out. “Charge! Destroy these vile creatures!”
“Follow Sir Duplis! Save the people!”
Through the mirror, a group of knights was seen rescuing people. Led by the high-class knight Duplis, they were cutting down the skeletons with precision. For a moment, Dominico felt a glimmer of hope, but it was fleeting.
“Ah, some lively ones still remain,” Gasdal remarked, tapping his staff on the ground again. Instantly, more skeletons erupted around Duplis, surrounding the knights with hundreds more.
“With a high-class knight present, I suppose I should put in a bit more effort,” Gasdal said, tapping the ground once more. The skeletons turned black, their eyes glowing red as they charged.
“Ah! They won’t fall!”
“How can mere skeletons withstand our aura?”
The knights were quickly overwhelmed. In that moment, Duplis stepped forward, his sword slicing through the skeletons with ease.
“Sir Duplis!”
“Truly remarkable!”
But before the knights’ admiration could settle, the skeletons began to regenerate.
“Hold the line!”
“Don’t retreat!”
The battle raged on fiercely. Duplis and the knights fought valiantly, but the tide was against them. The skeletons, though destroyed, kept regenerating.
Dominico watched the scene with darkened eyes. The skeletons could regenerate endlessly, while Duplis and the knights had limited energy. If the battle continued, it was clear Duplis would eventually fall.
Grinding his teeth, Dominico couldn’t let Duplis die. He had to join forces somehow. With two high-class knights, they might stand a chance against the Grand Dark Sorcerer.
“Argh!” Dominico grabbed the spear that had pierced his body, pulling himself free with all his might. His body, riddled with holes, collapsed to the ground.
“Gah…!” Forcing himself to move, Dominico tried to flee from Gasdal.
“Pierced by a ghostly spear, you won’t last long,” Gasdal said, making no move to pursue. “You’re still within my grasp.”
Gasdal clicked his tongue, as if mocking Dominico’s futile escape.
Despite the pain, Dominico kept moving. He had to escape and join Duplis. Suddenly, his strength gave out. His legs refused to move, and he collapsed to the ground.
He had to go. He had to move somehow. But his body wouldn’t obey, and the light in Dominico’s eyes began to fade.
Moments later, someone appeared where Dominico lay.
“So, it has come to this,” said Damian Haxen, looking down at Dominico’s body.
Damian had followed Gasdal as soon as the large-scale dark magic was activated, and he found Dominico lying on the ground.
Dominico’s soul began to rise from his body, but he didn’t immediately realize what had happened.
“I… I’m…”
“You’re dead,” Damian said coldly. Dominico looked at him, struggling to comprehend.
“Lady Frize… she’s gone,” Dominico muttered, dazed. “Gasdal… he killed her. I… I couldn’t do anything…”
“Are you seeking my sympathy?” Damian asked with disdain. “I told you, you brought this hell upon yourselves. You’re just paying the price.”
Frize and Dominico had not only allied with a dark sorcerer but had also delivered the people who flocked to the ruins to Gasdal. They had made a grave mistake and committed terrible sins. Now, they were facing the consequences.
“If you hadn’t stopped me, I could have at least prevented Gasdal from using large-scale dark magic.”
A Grand Dark Sorcerer was a formidable foe, even for Damian. Given any opportunity, they could unleash untold horrors, so he had tried to act swiftly.
“Do you even know what’s happening now? Gasdal’s skeletons are killing people.”
“I saw. He showed me himself,” Dominico sighed, looking up at the sky.
“Gasdal initially demanded the souls of the citizens. To avoid sacrificing them, Lady Frize opened the ruins to outsiders,” Dominico lamented, covering his face with his hands. “We committed the crime, so why must the citizens suffer?”
“How amusing. You worry about the citizens after offering up explorers to Gasdal,” Damian scoffed. Dominico fell silent.
At that moment, a massive magic circle appeared in the sky, and souls from across the White Kingdom began to be drawn into it.
“What… how can anyone perform dark magic on such a scale?!”
Damian wasn’t surprised. For a Grand Dark Sorcerer, such magic was trivial.
“Ahhh!”
“We’re being pulled in!”
Voices cried out from behind. The souls of the White Kingdom’s knights and soldiers, who had secretly followed Damian, were being drawn into the magic circle.
“We can’t hold on…!”
Not only them, but Dominico’s soul was also being pulled in.
“Tch.” Damian clicked his tongue. He didn’t care what happened to them, but he didn’t want their souls falling into Gasdal’s hands.
He loosened his bracelet slightly, releasing a bit of dark power, and cast a protective dark spell over the souls present. As a result, the knights, soldiers, and Dominico were no longer being pulled in.
Seeing Damian use dark magic, Dominico asked in shock, “Victor, are you… a dark sorcerer?”
“Don’t lump me in with that trash,” Damian replied, clearly displeased. “I can use dark magic, but I’m not a dark sorcerer.”
Dominico blinked, as if wanting to argue that using dark magic made one a dark sorcerer. Ignoring him, Damian began to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Dominico asked.
“To kill him,” Damian replied without looking back.
“Everything is going smoothly,” Gasdal said with satisfaction, watching the souls gather in large numbers.
“My wish is about to come true.”
The Death Knight of the Master Class.
Once he had that, he would no longer need to fear the Master Classes.
“Then, he will surely favor me even more.”
Gastal’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Dorgo.
The founder of dark magic and the master of all dark sorcerers.
Everything Gastal did was to follow Dorgo’s sacred will.
He was lost in reverie, thinking of Dorgo, when he sensed a presence nearby.
With a peculiar smile, Dorgo turned toward the source of the disturbance.
“Oh, you’ve finally arrived.”
Victor.
The man who had pushed his avatar to the brink at the ruins stood before him.
“Foolish. To come all the way here instead of running away.”
“When I find trash, I can’t just walk past it.”
Gastal burst into laughter at Victor’s words. He had found him amusing back at the ruins, and it seemed that hadn’t changed.
“Since you’ve come all this way to see me, I should give you a proper welcome.”
Despite having witnessed Victor’s skills at the ruins, Gastal remained confident.
The skeletons his avatar had used were mere low-level minions. But the ones he was about to summon were different.
They were his elite force, nurtured over the years by feeding on souls and memories.
“Let me show you my loyal servants.”
As Gastal struck the ground with his staff, the shadow beneath him spread wide.
Soon, the shadow began to writhe, like a storm-tossed sea. From within it, skeletons began to rise.
These were no ordinary skeletons.
As Gastal had boasted, they were unlike any others.
Their bones weren’t white but a deep crimson. And their forms varied greatly.
The skeletons Gastal had summoned before were uniform in size, as if cast from the same mold.
But these red skeletons came in all shapes and sizes.
There were small ones, no bigger than a child, and massive ones, as large as bears, even some reminiscent of ogres.
Their weapons varied too. Some wielded swords and spears, while others brandished greatswords and maces.
“So, we meet again.”
Damian gazed at the crimson skeletons, lost in thought.
In his past life, they were renowned as Gastal’s elite legion.
Though weaker than they had been, that was only by the standards of his previous life.
“Each of them possesses skills beyond the Low Class.”
Gastal’s voice brimmed with pride.
“Do you know what happens when they receive my support?”
Skeletons backed by a true dark sorcerer could fight beyond their original capabilities.
Hundreds of Low Class-level skeletons.
If they were supported by Gastal, the grand dark sorcerer?
The potential power was unimaginable.
-This can’t be… We can’t win this…
Dominico, who had followed Damian, spoke in a trembling voice.
-Victor, you must flee. Save yourself…
Damian ignored Dominico’s plea. Instead, he drew his sword, Dawn.
Seeing this, Dominico looked at him in disbelief.
-…Are you planning to fight?
“That’s why I’m here.”
Damian replied calmly, and Dominico’s eyes widened.
Conflict flickered across Dominico’s face. After a moment, he spoke again.
-Victor, can you create skeletons?
“That’s a foolish question. Dark sorcerers have different specialties. Not all can summon skeletons.”
-…I see.
“But I can.”
Dominico looked at Damian, stunned.
-Then make me a skeleton.
Now it was Damian’s turn to be taken aback.
“Do you understand what it means to become undead?”
-I do. A soul that accepts dark magic cannot reincarnate and remains in this world.
A human soul is meant to reincarnate endlessly.
But a soul tainted by dark magic can no longer reincarnate and is left behind.
Eventually, it loses strength and fades away.
-Even so, I want to help you in this fight.
Dominico spoke with quiet resolve, his face set with determination.
-Please, I ask this of you.
-I ask the same!
It wasn’t just Dominico. The knights and soldiers of the White Kingdom who had followed also pleaded earnestly.
“You will all regret this.”
Damian warned them. Dominico gave a wry smile.
-We must pay the price somehow.
Damian looked at them silently. Then, slowly, he removed the bracelet from his wrist.
The dark magic contained within it was fully unleashed.