Chapter 85: Securing the Base
Magical power began to surge from the silver body of the [Butcher's Hook].
The magical power seemed to find its own place and naturally formed a special magic circle.
[The unique effects of the S-rank weapon 'Butcher's Hook', 'Proof of Slaughter' have been activated.
// Proof of Slaughter: The power of necromancy spells increases by 100%.]
Necromancy magic was indeed stirring. Therefore, [The Butcher's Hook] amplified my spell efficiently.
I plunged the hook into the Hollow Lord's body.
"Argh... Aaagh...!"
Fizzzzzzzzz!!!
Sparks of eerie green light jumped out.
Through the sensation at the blade's edge, I could feel the pattern of magical power flowing through the Hollow Lord's body.
Hollow Lord was a non-human being born under the protection of a great old being.
As expected, the pattern of magical power is quite bizarre.
The Hollow Lord's magical power moved in an alien and ominous manner.
It would have been a serious challenge if we had faced each other head-on.
Through the Butcher's Hook, I began to channel my magical power into his body.
"Ah, no! Stop...! How dare you...!"
It seemed the Hollow Lord had realized what I was about to do.
[He Who Comes from the Darkness]
The one trapped in the eternal prison, the eternal prisoner, the lord of the dark night, the king of the night sky, the one with a thousand mouths, the raiser of the dead, the leader of suffocation, the darkest being in the abyss.
A minor one who isn't that famous.
This bastard was also one of the great old beings watching me from the abyss.
Deep within the Hollow Lord's body, or rather, in the depths of his soul, was embedded a fragment of this great old being.
I intended to take it from him.
"Stop! Stop it! Enough!"
Hollow Lord cried out but I quietly continued my task.
My magical power began to resonate and adapt to the form and flow of his magical power and soul.
Swallowing it whole was not an option.
I used the same method I had applied when I removed the blessing of [The Black Goat of a Thousand Young] from Lee Chang-hyeok.
[The unique effect of the S-rank accessory 'Ring of Corrupted Flame' has been activated. 'Red Element Concentration' and 'Legacy of Fire Knowledge' has been activated
// Red Element Concentration: Increases the effectiveness of all fire-type spells by 50%.
// Legacy of Fire Knowledge: Enhances understanding of 'fire-type magic'.]
Whoosh!
A white flame, devoid of heat, started to forcefully purify Hollow Lord's body.
The Hollow Lord's body, having lost most of its magical power, couldn't resist my magic and crumbled.
Hollow Lord's expression momentarily relaxed.
"Is this... the end...?"
It was different from the previous distorted voice... somehow, it sounded closer to human.
This situation was different from Lee Chang-hyeok's.
Removing the blessing from the monster Lee Chang-hyeok turned into was enough to save him.
But Hollow Lord was a being that was inherently tied to the abyss from the beginning.
A monster that lived for roughly 150 years, give or take.
His body was as abnormal as his lifespan, but as soon as he lost the source of his magical power, he would lose the power to maintain this miserable life.
Now, only a little remains.
Hidden in the deepest part of his soul...
A fragment of a great old being...
Begins to reveal itself.
Shining so brilliantly it's dazzling...
Unspeakably malevolent...
I channeled all my magical power into the butcher's hook and drove it deeper into the Hollow Lord's body.
The blade eventually pierced not his flesh but his soul.
"———!!!"
Hollow Lord screamed a bizarre shriek that exceeded the limits of human hearing.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwa!!!
The sound of the link to [He Who Comes from the Darkness] being severed echoed.
Stop interfering and stay buried underground!
Pfffffft!!
With a dry noise like something bursting, the pressure that had been weighing down on my soul vanished.
The [Dancing Flames] that had disappeared beyond my control began to rekindle.
No, these flames had never truly vanished in the first place.
It was merely the shadow cast by the great old being that had obscured the light.
Have I done it?
The dense darkness that had filled the room, the living shadows, and the giant maggots that had filled the room had completely disappeared.
"Huff...."
I slowly raised my hand to brush away the sweat that had formed on my forehead.
There was no more resistance.
Stripped of the authority of being the bastard child of a great old being, the Hollow Lord had lost all his magical power and will.
The Hollow Lord was dead.
No, he had never truly been alive in the first place.
He was nothing more than a bizarre mass that moved by distorting the laws and causality of reality.
The flesh entwined in his body was slowly melting away.
If it were like in the [Cthulhu World] game, Hollow Lord would vanish completely while leaving behind only a few pieces of bone.
I conjured my magical power to pull towards me a grotesquely shimmering black flesh from among the pile of corpses.
"After all that trouble..."
Is this just a mere fragment?
A small piece that was too much to call a piece of flesh.
It was more like a drop of blood or a fragment of a fingernail.
But it must not be underestimated.
Even as a very small part, it was a fragment of a great old being.
It contained alien magical power, profound knowledge, and endless possibilities.
A realm utterly unreachable by mere mortals.
It is the key that leads there.
[Echo of Suffocation (Legendary Elixir): A fragment of the power from the great old being, 'He Who Comes from the Darkness'
Effect: Consume it. You can become a greater being.]
Look at the effect. Seems like he liked becoming a great being.
The twisted form of the Hollow Lord, barely recognizable as human.
Even if he tried to prevent such a transformation with his feeble willpower, he would only become a bastard child of that great old being.
"Well, still, there's no elixir quite like this."
It reminded me of the martial arts novels I used to read during my leisure time.
If we're talking about elixirs, there's nothing better than this.
Of course, it comes with its own set of risks.
But I trust my talent.
I sat down cross-legged on the floor.
Kim Shin-Hwa. The Mage Gazing into the Abyss is a character I created.
All talents, abilities, and traits were chosen by me.
I laid the Butcher's Hook horizontally across my knees.
Through the sensation at the tip of the blade, I could feel the magical power pattern of the [Echo of Suffocation].
It possessed its own magical power and will.
In order to accept this without any problems, I had to alter my own magical power pattern.
My magical power began to resonate with the fragment changing its form and flow.
I must not stop at merely accepting it.
In the midst of playing the game, I might have no choice but to follow the flow provided by the game, but there was no need for that now.
My intelligence stat was 30, which afforded me an almost supernatural sensitivity and control over magic.
I could work with magic more precisely, intricately, and perfectly than I ever could while playing the game.
Buzzzzzzzz....
I could hear the air around me vibrating.
I was not merely synchronizing with the magical pattern of the fragment; I was creating a flow that was superior and more immense.
[Echo of Suffocation] might become a part of me, but it could never encompass my being.
And unnecessary interference was unwelcome.
There are already too many of them waiting in line without this bastard.
Three of them had already been sending spam to my dreams every night.
This time, I was determined not to leave any room for ambiguity and to fully absorb and digest it.
The extent of my reach was not going to end merely with being an incarnation of some old being.
To survive in this world to the very end, I had to become a more transcendent being.
From the body of the Butcher's Hook, a previous green glow began to emanate.
Through that blade, the small fragment that the being of the abyss had embedded into his family's lineage flowed into me.
[He Who Comes from the Darkness].
His fragment left the Hollow Lord's soul and began to take root in mine.
What followed was quite straightforward.
During my time playing the game, I had absorbed magic from characters who possessed even lower and more ordinary talents.
Back then, it was a task I was almost prepared to die for, but now, the task was not as challenging as I had expected.
As expected, an intelligence stat of 30 is remarkable.
Furthermore, the Butcher's Hook which was acquired through an unexpected route proved to be of great help here.
I had thought it would at most serve as a high-tier artifact for psychic abilities... but this exceeded my expectations.
I meticulously dismantled and melted everything within the Echo of Suffocation and integrated it into my own magical power while maintaining my seated posture.
All around, hundreds of magic circles naturally bloomed and vanished in turn.
The magical power of an alien nature merged with my own, transforming into a more potent form than before.
My mana core, which seemed to have an infinite capacity, was endowed with new properties and newfound strength.
How much time had passed?
I suddenly became aware that the rain outside the window had stopped.
The sky which had been pitch black and distorted has now turned a bluish color.
"Is it dawn already...?"
My body, which was worse than that of an ordinary person to begin with, was already exhausted but my mind was not.
I felt an unprecedented surge of vigor and vitality.
I realized that all my senses and thoughts were now more vividly active than before.
At the same time, a new message window appeared before my eyes.
[You have defeated the master of the Hungry Mansion, who hides behind unspeakable curses and blasphemous secrets. Although you were faced with challenges unlike any you had ever faced before, you were able to overcome them all with every tool and strategy you had prepared. But in doing so... you exposed your full power to the beings of the Abyss.]
"Hmm?"
Just when I thought it would end with some off-topic praise, a slightly different message began.
[The number of abyssal beings who are interested in you is gradually increasing. Especially since 'He Who Comes from Darkness' has had his temple taken away, what will they think of you? How long will the 'Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young' who has been stripped of her blessing remain silent? That is unknown. Soon, the judges who represent the will of the Abyss will...]
"Ah, the judges."
It's a title for particularly powerful NPCs in [Cthulhu World].
The Hollow Lord also bore this title.
What was it again? A rather long and cheesy name...
Was it the judge of the dark cult that worshipped darkness and the void?
Anyway, since I killed the Hollow Lord, who had the title of Judge, it's likely that the other Judges would be interested in me anyway.
[You have completed the quest!
<Secure Base Quest: Hungry Mansion> Reward: 250,000XP + Ownership of the Mansion]
"What's this? No more to say? Ends with 'judges, dot dot dot'?"
Seems like an attempt was made to create a meaningful atmosphere, but it's not the least bit interesting!
Finish what you started!
[You have accumulated enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]
[You have defeated 'Hollow Lord, the Bastard Child of a Great Old Being.' Your understanding of the abyss increases.]
[You have defeated (27) 'Corpse Golems'. Your understanding of the undead increases.]
[You have defeated (48) 'Necromancy Golems'. Your understanding of the undead increases.]
[You have subdued 'Fanatic - Heo Sang-hyeon'. Your understanding of the undead significantly increases.]
[You have accumulated enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]
"Ah, fine then, have it your way."
It seems the message window decided to end with a dramatic cut-off and an attempt to set the atmosphere. What an assh*le.
[System: 'The Hungry Mansion' has become your base.]
[Achievement unlocked! You have acquired your first base. You have obtained the 'General Achievement: My Home!'
As a reward for the achievement, you gain the 'Home Management' trait and additional experience points.]
"Alright, base acquired anyway."
With the completion of the quest, the ownership of the mansion has been transferred to me.
Had this place been an ordinary residence, that would have been the end of it. However, there's a reason the message window went out of its way to include the Hungry Mansion.