The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 129
And then…
The dimensional crack suddenly condensed into a point and burrowed into my chest, into my seal.
“What’s going on?!”
The others were flustered.
But unlike their concerns, there was no abnormality in my body.
On the contrary…
“Is it connected…?”
This phenomenon was unheard of.
Absorbing a dimensional crack?
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon.
I, as if possessed, naturally stretched out my hand and circulated my magic, and soon the air split open, creating a dimensional crack.
Inside it was the dimensional fragment we had just conquered.
“What’s going on? Why did it suddenly…?”
“I don’t know either. Only… it doesn’t seem to be harming me. Just for now.”
I also need to understand the situation. First, I checked my body, magic, circle, and other aspects, and it seemed there were no problems.
The only difference from before was that my seal’s size and shape had changed slightly.
And the dimensional fragment was connected to my seal.
“Is this a subspace… or a small world that belongs to me?”
The dimensional fragment was once a complete dimension. Although it’s now destroyed and fragmented, it’s not lacking as a small world.
So, it could be called more than just a simple subspace.
I can enter that dimensional crack whenever I want.
“I need to do some testing…”
I created dimensional cracks here and there and went in and out of them several times.
And as a result, I discovered a few things: that the dimension that was supposed to disappear after killing the boss recognized me as its owner and was stabilized, that I can open a dimensional crack leading to this dimensional fragment whenever and wherever I want, and that when I enter, the crack disappears, and I can reopen it whenever I want.
“When I come out, I emerge at the place where I first entered the fragment.”
No matter where I create a dimensional crack inside the fragment, the exit point is fixed to the place where I first entered the fragment.
Similarly, when I cross over to the fragment, I emerge at the location where I entered the main dimension.
I can also bring my friends in and out of the fragment at any time, just like before.
“I’ve gone crazy.”
In essence, I’ve gained a new domain.
“Should I create a tower here?”
A place to safely store the dragon’s corpse had been found.
‘No, we still need to build a tower there.’
We couldn’t just settle down and live there.
Even if it was a small world that belonged to me, I couldn’t survive on my own in that desolate place.
It was impossible from the start.
‘That’s as far as we can go.’
It seemed like we could establish a secret research institute at least.
‘No, if we build another tower there…’
There was no way it wouldn’t work.
But that didn’t mean I could abandon my original dimension.
After the dragon’s corpse, another secret that couldn’t be leaked had been created.
Then, I realized my mistake.
To be exact, it was a situation where I couldn’t help but make a mistake.
Anelis. She had been watching me from the beginning, knowing that I had obtained this.
‘Well, I guess you could say it was a mistake.’
I should have expected this to happen.
It was only today that I learned that a dimension’s fragment could completely belong to a human.
‘But if it weren’t for me, it would be impossible.’
I didn’t know that this function was also embedded in this inscription.
‘Can other dimensional fragments also be absorbed?’
It seemed like I wouldn’t know unless I tried.
“An individual dimension, on top of being incomplete…”
Kayla muttered in disbelief.
I could understand her feelings. Honestly, even now that I had the dimensional fragment in my hand, it still felt unreal.
I looked at Anelis with a serious face, and Anelis also realized that she had discovered something she shouldn’t know.
Anelis’s pupils trembled greatly, and our companions finally noticed the strange atmosphere between us.
Kayla’s expression hardened.
It seemed like she was a bit late in understanding the astonishing reality that an individual could completely possess a dimension.
Kayla thought for a while, then drew her sword.
“Stop, Kayla.”
“This can’t be revealed.”
An individual dimension was fundamentally different from a simple artifact like an incomplete space.
In other words, it was like possessing a moving territory.
The internal environment was somewhat different, but if I thought about what a necromancer with their own land could do…
‘A certified black mage could periodically inspect it.’
I couldn’t do anything too conspicuous.
However, if I had an individual dimension, the story was different.
There was no way to know what I was doing.
If this fact were to be revealed, the royal family, who had been favorable towards me until now, would become wary, and the Holy Empire would desperately try to kill me.
“If you had remained unknown like before, there wouldn’t be a problem. But now that you’ve already revealed yourself, you can never be unknown again.”
It’s already difficult to hide your body once you’ve shown your face.
That’s why I acknowledged that Kaila’s words were right.
“I’m aware that killing her would ruin a lot of things I’ve done so far. But that can’t be compared to the safety of our lord.”
Kaila looked at me with a desperate expression.
“Our lord, you’ve always avoided even the smallest risks. You have to kill her. Even if it means making an unfair contract with the dark elves of the interspecies union, you can pay them back. They can’t harm our lord anyway. The distance is too great, and the damage would be tolerable.”
“I’ve obtained an enormous treasure. If our lord’s talent is worthy of that treasure, it won’t matter how long it takes – eventually, you’ll reach a position where no one can touch you. Don’t be swayed by immediate losses.”
Her urgent request didn’t elicit a response from me.
Even if she didn’t say it, the outcome was obvious. If Anelis were to survive and go somewhere else, and if this matter were to leak out, I couldn’t bear the consequences.
Besides, I had always acted according to my own will.
In reality, the decision-making power still lies with me, and the only person who can stop my will is myself.
That’s why Kaila was making such an urgent plea.
“You don’t think I don’t trust you, do you?”
In reality, that’s exactly what I thought.
“That’s how important this matter is, so you’re taking such actions. I understand.”
As a knight, it’s a loyal remark. I wasn’t foolish enough not to understand that much.
“But I can’t let Anelis die. I won’t permit it.”
“Why is that…?”
Anelis’s life was none of my concern. Her life held no value to me.
I just didn’t want to make enemies with the interspecies union or the dark elves, and I didn’t want to owe the royal family a debt.
Kaila didn’t fully understand my past or my thoughts.
It was natural that she lacked information about me.
And even if I didn’t kill Anelis, there were ways to resolve this situation.
“I agree with you that this information must never leak out.”
“……Yes.”
“You said you wanted to join our party last time.”
A small ripple appeared on her expression, which had seemed to have given up on everything.
“Is that feeling still the same?”
“Why? Do you have to go that far?”
Atina hastily intervened at my words.
When I looked at Atina, she opened her mouth.
“I, honestly, don’t have enough life experience, so I don’t understand why you and our lord are being so sensitive about this matter. But I don’t think you or our lord would do something foolish, so maybe I just can’t sense it.”
That was possible. She didn’t know what kind of things a necromancer like herself could do.
“But didn’t our lord suggest another solution? Of course, the damage would be great. I know that much. However, accepting that would be even more dangerous, I think.”
“That’s believable? If it’s that important information, isn’t it better to have fewer people know about it? What if they betray us? What if they recklessly spread rumors elsewhere? Maybe they’re just pretending to be on our side for now.”
There was logic to it.
Of course, it was undeniable that Atina’s personal feelings were mixed into her words.
But her words weren’t wrong, and since she was considering me and our entire party, I responded to her.
“I can’t trust her completely.”
Anelis’s oath of mana was useless to me.
From the start, it seemed like she was the type of person who could give up to that extent for the sake of living, even if she didn’t have mana and couldn’t use it, or even if she obtained mana later.
As our connection wasn’t good, Athena’s words that we couldn’t trust her were reasonable.
“But it doesn’t matter.”
Instead, we would be able to grow rapidly.
We didn’t owe the royal family, and we didn’t have a reason to confront the interspecies alliance.
“I’ll keep an eye on you for now, but later, I won’t betray you absolutely.”
“…Is there any method like that?”
“You’ll come to realize that not betraying us is the best method.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kailla, you know why I chose the Rynette territory, right?”
“If I become a publicly recognized black mage and achieve my goals there… even a fool would be able to see it. Our potential is that great.”
“…Don’t you think that could backfire? If we grow too strong too quickly, Anelis might try to betray us even more.”
If we become too powerful, Anelis might try to take us down before we grow even stronger.
Or, we might unknowingly harbor resentment deep within our hearts, and it might surface later.
Kailla was thinking along these lines.
“It’s hard to believe.”
No, it seemed like Anelis didn’t think we were on her side at all.
Or, she might hate Anelis to the point where she couldn’t think of her as an ally.
Both possibilities existed.
Perhaps Anelis would never truly be friends with Athena, Kailla, and me, even if I accepted her.
Still, I was leaning towards officially accepting Anelis.
“This way is more beneficial.”
Honestly, I didn’t like Anelis personally.
Individually, I thought that the benefits she had brought me and the treatment she had received so far had resolved our debt.
However, that was a different story from liking Anelis as a person.
But I didn’t want to ruin the momentum we had built up so far.
Especially since we had obtained the dimensional rift and could properly store the dragon’s corpse, losing our current flow would be too great a loss.
“There’s a way to leave it for now and deal with it later, but…”
Then, Anelis would desperately struggle to survive, and if we dealt with her after she became a formal black mage, we would receive strong distrust and suspicion from the royal family.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t want to confront the interspecies alliance.
I gave a reason for not wanting to ruin our momentum, and Kailla quickly retorted.
“As I said, time is on our side.”
“I don’t think time is necessarily on our side. The Holy Empire, which is trying to take advantage of our weaknesses, is a prime example.”
Just looking at the two priests and the holy knight who had hidden their identities, I could tell that they were trying to deal with me.
If we showed them an opening, they would definitely take advantage of it.
“That much is tolerable.”
“For now, maybe. But who knows what will happen in the future? We’ve already clashed with them. We don’t know what they’ll do. On the other hand, if we take advantage of this opportunity, we won’t need to worry about that.”
The kingdom would protect us. Under their protection, we could grow stronger, which was a huge advantage.
The question was whether the risk of saving Anelis was greater or the benefit was greater.
From noble mtl dot com
Kyle and I had different opinions on how to deal with the immediate threat and the future. He wanted to eliminate the current threat and secure the future, while I was willing to take the risk and seize the opportunity now.
After several conversations, Athena intervened and sided with Kyle.
Valdure thought both opinions had merit and said he would follow whatever decision was made.
In a way, it was the first time the two of them had expressed opinions that opposed mine.
However, I didn’t feel particularly bad about it.
The two of them were worried about my future and the future of our entire group, and they were also cautious about someone untrustworthy joining our group.
It was a healthy discussion, and in the end, they couldn’t persuade me.
To be precise, I convinced them.