Boundless Necromancer

Chapter 119:

With the message that the God of Battle felt hostility towards me, it seemed that it expressed no further intention.

Perhaps, like the God of Proof, it had ceased its action due to needing to expend divine energy for the Tower.

Of course, whether I liked it or not, the hostility from the God of Battle remained unchanged.

While within the Tower, the God couldn’t exert a direct influence on me,

yet the potential indirect influence through the use of deities remained uncertain and worrisome.

“………”

It was displeasing.

Merely absorbing divine energy led to the Tower calling me a ‘dog.’……

Honestly, even though I tried not to feel irritated, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

However, I had already grasped a certain degree of solution to this matter.

‘Since this chaos was caused by divine energy, the solution should lie within divine energy.’

The concept newly incorporated into divine energy, known as ‘Legend,’ seemed to hold the key.

Activating the categorized <vampire exterminator=""> under ‘Legend’ resulted in effects such as ‘Cannot be regenerated’ and Demon Expulsion.</vampire>

If I could further develop this divine energy ability, could I eventually stand against a God?

However, the puzzle was ‘Faith Harvest,’ an unfamiliar ability.

‘Why is Faith Harvest connected to divine energy?’

Could it be akin to how Cell Neir, as the Vampire Lord, led the vampires?

Now that I thought about it, the vampires, led by Cell Neir, were worshiping the God of Battle.

Could Faith Harvest be Cell Neir harvesting the vampires’ faith and offering it to the God of Battle?

It made sense since Cell Neir wouldn’t harvest faith for himself.

‘No, dwelling on this further would be meaningless.’

Of course, my guess wasn’t perfect, so I decided not to think too deeply about it.

The important thing was the connection between the Faith Harvest ability and the generation of ‘Legend.’

The two abilities of divine energy and Faith Harvest were similar to gears that had been separate but were now meshing and functioning properly.

Though the meshing of the gears hadn’t been intentionally planned, and I didn’t yet understand the system behind it, at least I had a rough idea.

“For now, I should absorb the Vampire Lords spirit and learn how Faith Harvest works.”

I decided to properly investigate Faith Harvest before moving on to the waiting room.

“Absorbing the Spirit of the Vampire Lord Cell Neir to permanently increase ability stats.”

“Strength has increased by 5.”

“Agility has increased by 4.”

“Stamina has increased by 6.”

“Magic power has increased by 7.”

“Endurance has increased by 5.”

As I absorbed Cell Neir’s spirit, my ability stats increased significantly.

“Absorbing one of the skills possessed by the Vampire Lord Cell Neir.”

“Acquired skill ‘Charisma (C-).’ “

Furthermore, I could even acquire an unfamiliar skill called ‘Charisma.’ 3.

The rewards from absorbing Cell Neir’s sovereignty didn’t end there.

“Detected the divinity in the Vampire Lord Cell Neir’s sovereignty.”

“Condition met for activating ability ‘Divine Energy.'”

“Attempting divine extraction.”

This was a message I had seen once in the waiting room.

“Again…?”

The divine extraction, which elevated my divine energy rank to B-, was triggered.

“Divine extraction successful.”

“Rank of ability ‘Divine Energy (B-)’ increases to ‘Divine Energy (B).’ ”

“Through ability ‘Divine Energy (B),’ the accumulation of Legend will now proceed more quickly.”

Finally, the message ended, and my divine energy rank increased by one level. ”

“Meeting the condition once again triggered divine extraction.

I had a sense of what the conditions for divine extraction were now. It depended on whether the spirit held divine energy.

‘If it holds divine energy, divine extraction activates; if not, nothing happens.’

However, the criteria were vague.

The fact that divine energy wasn’t extracted when I killed the vampires meant that only those possessing divine energy at a similar rank to mine had their divine energy absorbed.

While analyzing all of this might not have practical application, knowing what was known and unknown was vastly different.

It was as if I was gaining a certain level of control over the divine extraction.

‘Perhaps there might come a time when I intentionally use divine extraction.’

Now I had a better understanding of divine extraction.

What remained was understanding the why and how of Faith Harvest, which surprisingly, I could easily uncover.

After all…….

“Oh, oh…! To defeat the Vampire Lord single-handedly…! You are indeed the hero!” “I can’t believe the hero himself has come…! Truly, the deity has not abandoned us!” “Representative of the mighty God, thank you for extending the hand of salvation to us!”

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ detects strong faith towards the user.”

“Faith already harvested through ability ‘Faith Harvest’.”

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ is not activated.”

People appeared throughout the city, likely considered targets for Faith Harvest.

»————- ★ ————-«

These individuals appearing across the city were not ordinary folk.

“Indicates concealed clerics in the city occupied by vampires.”

“…….”

As I looked at the mini-map, there was no doubt about this fact.

Yes.

‘These people are all clerics…..’

The people gathered around me could be considered key cleric members to break through the 13th-floor trial.

Of course, after personally killing the Vampire Lord Cell Neir, there was little utility in this regard…….

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ detects strong faith towards the user.”

“Faith already harvested through ability ‘Faith Harvest’.”

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ is not activated.”

Reflecting on the recent messages, I could understand that these individuals’ faith had already been harvested by me.

” I didn’t expect the strongest savior of all to save us…..! ”

” To slay the vicious Vampire Lord….. he definitely is the will of God…..!”

” Slaying the vampires with ease….he surely has mass strength….!”

After hearing the clerics, I got the idea why it harvested to me

‘ They think I’m just a Knight sent by the order.’

In another perspective, the faith I harvested was somewhat similar.

But I wasn’t a will of God nor a Knight as the clerics thought.

However……

‘ It seems as if the faith sent by mistake is also recognized as faith.’

Although knowing the fact, I didn’t think to tell the truth.

The faith may as well give benefits towards me, why help to reject it?

‘ There’s no need for that.’

It felt a slight guilt, but it wasn’t a total fraud.

‘Well, I didn’t lie. ‘

I did kill the Vampire Lord and had abilities, so it was true.

And I had never claimed to be a knight from the order myself.

“Achievement unlocked: ‘Did Not Lie.'”

“Magic power increased by 1.”

Of course, the system rewarded this achievement as if refuting my thoughts.

Although receiving rewards for achievements so easily was good, somehow, I felt a strange prickliness about this one.

However, given the current importance of stat increases, this prickliness was soon overshadowed by the fact that my stats had risen.

‘It might be better if more of these kinds of achievements are unlocked.’

Just as I was hoping for more achievements, the situation changed.

‘Mr. Han Sungyeun?’

Suddenly, the team members who had brought the clerics to me approached, looking a bit hesitant.

‘Um, Mr. Han, there’s something we’re curious about.

May we ask…?’

Despite the respectful approach, I could sense an air of anxiety from them.

‘Is there something you want to ask me?’

I looked at them as if waiting for their question, and Michimoto Sachio spoke up.

“There’s one thing we’re curious about. Would it be alright to ask…?”

While it felt like he was treating me like an aristocrat, I noticed that David Taylor and Andrey Tarkovsky behaved the same way.

Both of them were behind Mitsumoto Sachiho, but they were looking at me with an extremely polite attitude.

Feeling intrigued by their stance, I granted permission for Michimoto Sachio to ask his question.

“Please go ahead.”

Mitsumoto Sachiho hesitated as before and presented his question to me.

“Um… Do you… really consider yourself to be a chosen Knight by the gods?”

I felt my mind go blank at a question I hadn’t expected.

A chosen hero by the gods?

‘What kind of question is that?’

I wanted to retort that it made no sense for anyone to be a chosen hero when all of us were just challengers climbing the Tower.

However, instead of immediately denying it, I asked them why they thought that way.

‘Why do you think that?’

‘Well, you see… to defeat the Vampire Lord, who can only be slain by one who possesses divine power… it’s just that…’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘According to the clerics, they said the Vampire Lord can only be killed if you have divine power.

So, we thought maybe you are a Knight after all…’

“…….”

I was taken aback.

Could even those who operated as hunters outside the Tower have such thoughts?

It was even more astonishing coming from those who were aware of the Administrator’s abilities.

While it was true that the Vampire Lord couldn’t be killed without divine power….

there was a fair chance that Administrator abilities,known as quasi-divine powers,

would hold the capability to inflict effective damage on the Vampire Lord.

‘From the beginning, if you look at the Administrator’s abilities, they are a form of quasi-divine power bestowed by the gods.’

They were merely under the misunderstanding, believing that only through divine power could one defeat the Vampire Lord.

It was a somewhat absurd misconception.

I was about to respond that it wasn’t the case, but I swallowed those words.

Why? Because……

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ detects strong faith towards the user.”

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ is in a state where it can be activated.”

“……they’re quite similar.”

It was due to the Faith Harvest ability that had piled up faith for me in the <vampire exterminator=""> ceremony.</vampire>

If I could exploit this misunderstanding well, I could also harvest faith from them.

And…..

“As expected…!

To kill such a monster, you must have been a divine apostle…!”

“Oh my… Did Gods really exist in the Tower…?”

“I almost couldn’t believe it, but he really was God’s representative…?”

They readily accepted my somewhat thoughtless words.

“…….”

Although I felt a tinge of guilt due to their unwavering trust, I was also astonished by their gullibility.

“Ability ‘Faith Harvest’ is activated.”

“Harvesting faith in your vicinity.”

“Insufficient foundation and faith to form a myth.”

“Harvested faith will be stored for the next Legend.”

“…Great.”

The thought of the rewards I would receive later helped ease the guilt away.

[To be continued.]