Chapter 86

A mighty surge!

At that moment, the Necromancer Undertaker’s body swelled significantly.

His previously gaunt frame became remarkably robust, as if packed with muscle. His pale face flushed crimson with blood, and the tattered hood he wore had long since ripped away.

Crackling—

But then, something even more bizarre occurred.

A strange sound, like bones snapping, echoed, and the scattered bones of the surrounding corpses floated into the air.

Clattering—

And the bones began to gather towards the Necromancer Undertaker’s hand.

Click-clack— Click-clack—

The bones assembled themselves, fitting into place, forming a shape that resembled a long spear.

Ribs connected to ribs, long leg bones solidly clumped together to form the shaft, and for the spearhead, sharply ground shin bones converged, emitting a dangerously keen glint. Beside it, the jawbones of skulls hung, gaping wide.

Kang Yuseong frowned.

The symbol glowing above the Necromancer Undertaker’s head.

Its name was Ghost Spear.

A long spear crafted from the bones of the dead.

Kang Yuseong frowned at it for a moment, disturbed by the aura emanating from the Necromancer Undertaker, who had until recently been a Necromancer fighting purely through his summoned creatures.

‘He’s strong…!’

A palpable warrior’s aura now surged from his entire body.

And the spear in his hand.

That spear, named Ghost Spear, seemed to demand particular caution.

Not only was it made from the bones of the dead, but the eerie and malevolent energy it exuded was beyond words.

There had to be some great secret to it.

However, he no longer had the luxury of contemplation.

Whoosh!

The Necromancer Undertaker thrust the Ghost Spear towards Kang Yuseong with terrifying speed.

Kang Yuseong’s eyebrows shot up.

Flash!

At the same instant, he swiftly dodged to the side.

And his brow furrowed deeply.

‘This speed… and power…!’

It was terrifying.

A power incomparable to even the Shadow Warrior from earlier was now radiating from the Necromancer Undertaker.

‘Is this what Soul Plunder is?’

Based on Kang Yuseong’s extensive experience, this Soul Plunder seemed to involve absorbing the inherent abilities of corpses all at once to gain strength.

Even more frightening was the strong impression that it wasn’t just a simple power boost, but rather like an ability theft, imprinting the deceased’s swordsmanship or martial arts onto the body.

Otherwise, the Necromancer Undertaker, who had been nothing more than a Necromancer just moments ago, could not have become such a master of close-quarters combat.

But if that fact were reversed, it presented a very interesting prospect.

‘Soul Plunder…!’

A corner of Kang Yuseong’s mouth lifted.

It was similar to ability theft, but far more useful for a temporary burst of power.

The Necromancer Undertaker likely couldn’t maintain this Soul Plunder for very long.

During that time, Kang Yuseong intended to experience Soul Plunder firsthand.

Even with Thieving Eye activated, he couldn’t discern the intricate details of Soul Plunder.

Swish!

At that moment, the Ghost Spear lunged at him once more.

Clang!

Kang Yuseong blocked the spear with his sword, intending to rush forward.

But the Ghost Spear moved like a shadow, perfectly blocking his movements and thrusting again.

‘…!’

The speed was so immense that Kang Yuseong had no choice but to falter and stop.

Clang—

Kang Yuseong deflected the Ghost Spear, which was flying at insane speed, with his sword and tried to charge forward.

“Ugh!”

At that instant, Kang Yuseong felt an intense pain袭 his shoulder.

His expression twisted, and as he quickly looked, the skull attached next to the Ghost Spear’s blade had deeply bitten into his shoulder.

Seeing the skull’s fangs, stained with blood and glowing eerily, sent shivers down his spine.

He had avoided the tip of the spear, but as it grazed him, the skull had bitten him with its teeth.

Kang Yuseong swung his sword, deflecting the spear.

Crunch!

But the skull bit down so fiercely that flesh tore away, and excruciating pain flooded him. The skull’s teeth were, of course, laced with corpse poison, and Kang Yuseong was once again engulfed in agony.

The antidote’s effect had just worn off, preventing him from neutralizing the corpse poison.

He had a spare antidote, but the Necromancer Undertaker’s attacks were relentless.

When infected with corpse poison, the skin begins to necrotize, producing fatal toxins in the body. If it enters the bloodstream and flows into the nervous system, it’s over.

All nerves become paralyzed, eventually leading to death.

Flick!

As Kang Yuseong’s movements became sluggish due to the corpse poison, the Ghost Spear struck again, tearing a long gash across his shoulder.

Unlike before, there was no way for him to avoid it now.

The insidious thing about corpse poison was that it constantly hindered movement and even slowed down his thought process. Moreover, the rate at which his skin was rotting was terrifying.

A dreadful poison that caused bleeding, nerve paralysis, and even induced hemolysis.

Indeed, the Necromancer Undertaker had held back a trump card.

It was the power of Soul Plunder and the Ghost Spear.

The Ghost Spear’s terrifying hardness, which pushed through even when colliding with his Crydesicle sword, was chilling, and the body enhanced by Soul Plunder was formidable.

Furthermore, the Ghost Spear’s deformed structure was so menacing that it could instantly fell Kang Yuseong, despite his vast combat experience.

Clang! Clang!

Even at that moment, the Ghost Spear flew at him like mad.

Kang Yuseong swung his sword, sometimes deploying his Iron Armor, effectively blocking the attacks, but he felt his movements becoming increasingly sluggish.

‘Think… I have to think!’

Even in moments of crisis, he didn’t stop thinking.

If only it weren’t for this damned corpse poison, he could have fought…

At that moment, the Ghost Spear lunged at him with insane speed.

This time, it was a speed Kang Yuseong couldn’t possibly react to.

Clang—

Crash!

Kang Yuseong was sent flying backward by the attack and slammed into the ground.

In that fleeting moment, he deployed his Iron Armor, but the Ghost Spear struck it precisely, and he was flung away, unable to withstand the immense force.

Kang Yuseong, having been slammed down, could no longer move.

Had the corpse poison completely consumed him?

A thick, black energy steadily oozed from his body.

The Necromancer Undertaker approached him, holding the Ghost Spear.

And intense killing intent erupted from his eyes.

He raised the Ghost Spear high above his head and plunged it down.

Clang!

At that moment, rough sparks flew around, and the Ghost Spear abruptly stopped in mid-air.

“Heh heh… that was close…”

What blocked the Ghost Spear was none other than Kang Yuseong’s sword.

His eyes glowed with a fierce, blue light.

The Necromancer Undertaker frowned as he looked at him.

Only then did he realize.

The change that had come over Kang Yuseong.

Shuaaa—

The black energy that had been emanating from Kang Yuseong was now, on the contrary, continuously being absorbed back into him.

The Necromancer Undertaker’s face twisted into a scowl.

“You bastard…”

Kang Yuseong grinned at him.

“What? Are you upset because it’s your technique?”

It was Soul Plunder.

A formidable technique that absorbed the energy of the dead and made it one’s own.

Kang Yuseong slowly rose to his feet.

Then, with a satisfied expression, he said,

“This… this is good, isn’t it? The power left by countless spirits…”

He was genuinely impressed.

Numerous techniques had appeared in his Chakra Cultivation window.

Swordsmanship, spearmanship, martial arts, weapon techniques…

Even cooking skills, if it came to that.

And that wasn’t all.

Soul Plunder also absorbed the physical abilities of the corpses.

His strength had greatly increased, and his stamina rapidly improved.

Thanks to this, despite being poisoned by the corpse poison, he could endure quite a bit.

The timer next to it was ticking down by the second, but for Kang Yuseong right now, Soul Plunder was an incredibly useful skill.

The only difference from the Necromancer Undertaker was that the enhanced power from Soul Plunder would only last for 15 more seconds for him. After that, all of it would likely vanish.

‘That’s enough.’

Kang Yuseong took out the last remaining antidote from his leather pouch at his waist and brought it to his mouth.

Gulp—

After swallowing it, Kang Yuseong looked at the Necromancer Undertaker.

Flash—

At that moment, the power enhanced by Soul Plunder disappeared.

The instant the surging power vanished, Kang Yuseong smiled.

“This way, it’s fair.”

Concurrently, his eyes blazed with light.

Boom—

At that moment, he pushed off the ground and charged towards the Necromancer Undertaker.

Flames blazed fiercely from his sword.

Swish!

The Ghost Spear flew madly towards him.

Clang!

But Kang Yuseong, now completely free from the influence of the corpse poison, knocked it aside with his sword and plunged deep towards the Necromancer Undertaker.

Swish!

His sword flashed with silver light in the air as it descended.

Clang—

But the Necromancer Undertaker swung the Ghost Spear, blocking it.

Clang!

Kang Yuseong brought his sword down once more.

Again, the attack was blocked by the Ghost Spear, but Kang Yuseong, without hesitation, lunged again.

“Haaaaat!”

Clang!

Another collision erupted.

Thud-thud-thud—

But this time, to his surprise, the Necromancer Undertaker was being pushed back.

Kang Yuseong stood before him, a grim smile playing on his lips.

Clang!

He swung his sword wide, pushing the Necromancer Undertaker back once more.

The biggest drawback of Soul Plunder was its extremely short duration.

And the fact that its power didn’t remain constant, but weakened over time.

Kang Yuseong had been targeting precisely this point.

Boom—

Having pushed back the Necromancer Undertaker, Kang Yuseong launched himself into the air.

A mighty roar—

At that moment, a fierce beast bared its teeth and charged savagely towards its prey.

Chakra, Beast’s Strike!

Flash!

The ferocious kick struck the Necromancer Undertaker directly.

Crash—

The Necromancer Undertaker raised an arm to block it, but the beast’s fangs were far stronger than he had anticipated.

“Ugh!”

Snap!

The force of Kang Yuseong’s kick directly pierced through the Necromancer Undertaker’s forearm, shattering the bone inside, and sent him stumbling backward.

“Cough!”

Before the Necromancer Undertaker could regain his balance, Kang Yuseong spun in the air and brought his fist down.

By the time the Necromancer Undertaker realized it wasn’t an ordinary punch, the fist was already upon him.

Crash!

The Necromancer Undertaker was slammed into the ground along with the punch.

Whoosh!

Crash!

But Kang Yuseong gave him not an inch of respite and brought his fist down again.

Flinch!

The Necromancer Undertaker could be seen trembling violently.

Crash!

At that moment, Kang Yuseong’s fist exploded once more.

The Necromancer Undertaker’s face, already losing the power of Soul Plunder, was brutally shattered.

Crash!

But Kang Yuseong showed no mercy.

His fist struck, and struck, and struck again.

Then he grabbed the Necromancer Undertaker by the collar, who was barely breathing and utterly mangled, and pulled him up.

A chilling smile was on his lips.

“Alright… now it’s party time.”

Shuaaat!

Crunch!

Kang Yuseong mercilessly plunged his sword into the Necromancer Undertaker’s shoulder.

The Necromancer Undertaker was impaled, his body pinned against the wall behind him.

Kang Yuseong looked at him and said,

“There’s still something I need to take from you. Until then, you can’t die.”

Now that the power of Soul Plunder had vanished, the Necromancer Undertaker looked like he would die if Kang Yuseong so much as wiggled a finger.

But Kang Yuseong, with cruel precision, had beaten him just enough to keep him alive.

Thud—

And at that moment, someone stood behind Kang Yuseong.

It was the corpse he had made a contract with.

The creature had returned after slaughtering all hundreds of the other corpses.

Kang Yuseong wore a satisfied expression.

“What’s your name?”

The corpse’s mouth slowly opened.

“My… my name… my name is…”

“No, I’ll name you.”

Kang Yuseong continued,

“Blood. You are Blood. A slaughterer born from a pool of blood. That is your name.”

“Bl… Bl… Blood.”

Blood bowed its head.

Kang Yuseong nodded.

And then looked back at the Necromancer Undertaker.

“Shall we begin?”

He was smiling.