novelaction Chapter 536
Chapter 536
[ You are using Umbra’s Rune. ]
Just like last time, I didn’t do anything special to prepare.
Nothing much had happened with Girad’s rune, either.
And this was a rune given by a Constellation who’d bet on me.
'He’s staking everything on this. There’s no way he’d give me something that hurts.'
So I just used it.
Right after that, a system notice rose.
[ Umbra’s Rune is being absorbed. ]
Shuaaaaa!
Along with the notice, an enormous amount of energy began forcing its way into my body.
Tremendous power.
Comparable to Girad’s... no—more than that.
But it didn’t feel painful or difficult.
If Girad’s rune had felt like getting caught in a raging current, this felt like being wrapped in clouds under heavy pressure.
It was less like enduring it and more like sensing it.
And in that moment, certain memories began playing inside my head.
[ From this point on, the Great Cataclysm begins. ]
A familiar voice, and a guidance window floating in my view.
It belonged to the system.
More precisely, it was the effects that occur when the Great Cataclysm begins for the very first time.
The place in the memory wasn’t Earth.
It was the spirit realm.
“What is this?”
“Save us!!”
“Gaaaaaah!!”
The world fell into chaos.
Gates formed, monsters poured out, and people started dying fast.
Of course, there were those who resisted.
Just like when the Great Cataclysm first began on Earth—when humanity fought back armed with heavy weapons—the spirit realm’s people resisted with cold steel and magic and the like.
Because the spirit realm’s world was a Western fantasy setting modeled after what people usually imagine: medieval Europe.
But their strength didn’t work well against what the system had made.
In the end, the only way to defeat them was with power grounded in what the system provided.
It was a world of confusion and carnage.
The scale of the damage was even worse than on Earth.
Because unlike Earth’s people, who were used to games, the spirit realm’s people weren’t familiar with game systems and couldn’t adapt to being Players.
And that wasn’t all.
This was a society with a rigid class system.
'...Even if the world is ending, the people on top shoving those beneath them into a death pit is the same everywhere.'
The spirit realm shown by the replayed memories was horrifying.
Because terrified royalty and nobles shoved slaves and commoners into the gates as human shields.
And that wasn’t all. To increase the efficiency of black mages who’d been treated like trash—or necromancers whose skills on Earth are restricted for ethical reasons—they casually ground up the lives of the lower class as fuel.
That was when the savior appeared.
Umbra.
Surprisingly, Umbra hadn’t been a mage from the start.
He was an artificial mage—someone who became a Player and then chose the mage class.
But Umbra adapted to the system’s rules quickly, grew faster than anyone, and eventually grew to a scale beyond any other Player in the spirit realm—achieving the feat of becoming the spirit realm’s first to reach the SS-grade realm.
In the process, I could see him developing shadow magic, birthing countless divine beasts, and, in the end, creating Hollow Jack.
'The first SS-grade Player, and the guardian deity....'
Then the memory cut off for a moment.
A black field of view.
And after that, flickering into view like a blink, I saw Umbra—crushed in despair.
[ You have failed all three challenges. ]
A system notice.
Ah. This was that moment.
The moment right before he lost everything after failing the Independence Game challenge.
Umbra wept bitter tears.
Shuaaaaa!
Cold air surged, seeping into my body.
It was so cold my bones ached.
With Girad’s rune, it had felt like my body was about to burst, scorching hot beyond belief—but this time it was unbelievably cold.
And yet, even though the texture was cold, inside that stinging chill, a strangely hot sensation came through.
I realized what that feeling was right away.
It was rage.
Umbra’s rage toward the system.
Rage that was vicious, cold, and hot all at once.
'Rage that goes past a certain point turns cold as ice.'
Thanks to that, I could tell.
Just how much Umbra was enduring.
That was the end of the memory replay.
[ You have succeeded in fully absorbing Umbra’s Rune. ]
The absorption completion notice rose at the same time the replay ended.
[ You have mastered Umbra’s Shadow Legacy (S++). ]
[ By obtaining Umbra’s Shadow Legacy, you have acquired the “Spirit Energy” stat. ]
[ You have used an S++-grade rune for the first time. ]
[ You have achieved a great feat, and the system gifts you 10 bonus stats. ]
I’d thought I’d only mastered a skill, but I’d gained a stat, too.
So without meaning to, I frowned.
Because Spirit Energy was a kind of stat I’d never seen before, and I couldn’t help thinking that if it wasn’t an N-grade stat like Command, it might be a bit awkward to use.
'Getting bonus stats is nice, but this is kind of iffy.'
I’d have to check my Status Window to know the details.
That was when—
[ Due to the effects of New Blood, some stat information is adjusted. ]
[ The Spirit Energy stat is being changed to the True Demon Horse stat. ]
[ The True Demon Horse stat grows even stronger. ]
[ You have achieved a great feat, and the system gifts you 10 bonus stats. ]
“Oh?”
Thank goodness.
The Spirit Energy I’d gained this time got fully integrated into True Demon Horse, just like Demon Energy had before.
That was a real relief.
I’d been worried it would make me start over from the bottom Color grade again.
'Is that the end of the notices?'
Seems like it.
Nodding, I checked my newly updated Status Window.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv : 311
Class : Blood Cardinal
Rank : Middle Player
Betting : ＜Umbra＞
Traits▲ : ＜New Blood★＞＜Hercules▲＞＜King of a Ruined Nation＞＜Grid’s Partner＞＜Sun-Moon Body＞
Mighty Strength(S) : 9
True Demon Horse(S) : 116
Senses(P) : 96
Command(N) : 130
Bonus Stats : 81
Including the bonus stats I still hadn’t assigned, the total was pretty substantial.
I started distributing them.
The first distribution was, of course, raising Senses first to match the others.
[ Your Senses stat has reached 100. ]
[ Your Senses stat grows further. ]
[ Congratulations! Your Senses stat level has increased and has become Silver grade! ]
At last, even my Senses stat had become Silver grade.
But... was there no other perk?
As I was thinking that—
[ As your Senses stat has become Silver grade, it evolves further. ]
[ Congratulations! Your Senses stat has been changed to the Super Senses stat. ]
[ Your sense of energy becomes even more sensitive. ]
[ You can now detect things ordinary Players cannot perceive. ]
[ You have achieved a great feat, and the system gifts you 10 bonus stats. ]
“Huh?”
My Senses stat upgraded a step and became Super Senses.
I hadn’t expected that at all.
Because I’d never raised Senses to this level before—and I’d never even seen something called Super Senses.
And on top of that, I got another ten bonus stats.
'Good grief.'
Well. Good is good—I couldn’t help laughing.
After a brief hesitation, I invested all my remaining bonus stats into True Demon Horse.
'Now that all my stats are Silver grade, it’s right to dump everything into True Demon Horse—the source of power.'
And there was something else I wanted to confirm, too.
After that, I refreshed the Status Window again.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv : 311
Class : Blood Cardinal
Rank : Middle Player
Betting : ＜Umbra＞
Traits▲ : ＜New Blood★＞＜Hercules▲＞＜King of a Ruined Nation＞＜Grid’s Partner＞＜Sun-Moon Body＞
Mighty Strength(S) : 9
True Demon Horse(S) : 203
Super Senses(S) : 1
Command(N) : 130
Bonus Stats : 0
True Demon Horse was now 203.
Unfortunately, I guess the max stat for Silver grade wasn’t 200.
I’d been hoping, but it took the wind out of me.
At the very least, I’d thought there’d be something—like how Senses became Super Senses—but there was jack shit.
'How much more do I have to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) raise it to reach Gold grade?'
No choice.
Since even Grid doesn’t tell me, all I can do is keep raising it for now.
'Then now...'
I’d sorted everything I needed to sort, so the most important last step had finally come.
It was time to try using Umbra’s Shadow Legacy skill I’d just mastered through the rune.
I activated the skill immediately.
[ Umbra’s Shadow Legacy is activated. ]
Swaaaaaaah!
As the skill activated, True Demon Horse surged, and wind blasted out centered on me.
Then my shadow stretched long like a sunset shadow, and inside it, two eyes appeared—flickering like the same blue flames I’d seen in Umbra.
[ In accordance with the covenant with Umbra, the king of the shadow divine beasts answers your call. ]
The identity of those two blue-flickering eyes—
They were none other than the eyes of Hollow Jack, the king of shadow divine beasts.
Soon, from within the expanded shadow, Hollow Jack revealed himself: a shadow giant about one and a half times my size, wavering like black flame.
- Ssssssip...! Haaaaaaah...!
Jack, who’d been “digested,” breathed in the outside air and breathed it out like a prisoner getting released after a very long time.
Jack had the silhouette of a savage warrior—massive, broad shoulders tapering down, a heavily muscled inverted triangle. And thanks to the pitch-black color unique to shadows and that wavering, flame-like effect, he gave off an oddly mystical yet overwhelming presence.
'He looks like that character Venom from an old movie.'
After finishing his little entrance ritual, Jack finally greeted me.
- Heh-heh. You couldn’t hold back because you wanted to see me so badly, so you went and used it right away?
“Could you not say creepy crap? I considered your opinion, sure, but I didn’t use the rune because I missed you.”
- Heh-heh. How shy. But I’ll prove with my own body that your choice was the best choice.
“Before that, let me ask one thing. Umbra said he’d hand over all of his shadow magic to me, but when I use the skill, the only thing that comes out is you. So do I need you every single time I use shadow magic?”
- Strictly speaking, it’s not you. I detect your intent and use it for you.
“What?”
- Exactly what you heard. But isn’t that better? No matter how great a Player you are, suddenly using someone else’s power like a veteran would be difficult in a lot of ways, because you lack the proficiency and understanding.
“How would you know that?”
- Sure, you might be a genius. But a shadowmancer’s power requires you to take a lot of things into consideration. Well, that’s why I was made in the first place. Don’t worry. I’ll always hide in your shadow, protect you more than anything, and support you with a perfect grasp of everything.
“So... it’s like an automatic AI assistant?”
- Automatic AI? What’s that?
“There’s something like that. But if you put it that way, it doesn’t really click. Is there anything you can do right now that’ll let me really feel your power?”
- Of course there is! Then since you’re asking, may I freely spend a whole lot of your mana?
“Of course.”
- Good. Then I’ll show you. The true power of a shadowmancer.
After finishing, Jack lifted one hand.
And in that instant, I felt True Demon Horse draining out of me in chunks.
[ The king of shadow divine beasts, Hollow Jack, summons the Black Army. ]
That moment—
Hwaaaaaaak!!
A fierce black wind spread out centered on me.
At the same time, my shadow broadened, and from within it, countless shadow soldiers began sprouting up in swarms.