Chapter 159

Chapter 159

Spendthrift Necromancer (159)

After the light filling the room faded.―Coo.

Snowy looked at him.

Its tiny size remained unchanged.

But…….‘Interesting.’Not only had its color changed from white to pale green.[Bloom complete.][Divine Beast ‘Snowy’ gains the potential of the World Tree.][World Tree Adaptability and World Tree Assimilation are added.][World Tree Adaptability][Attribute limits increase greatly. ‘Deepening’ Attributes are unlocked.][World Tree Assimilation][You can now assimilate with your master.]

Messages appeared.

“Deepening Attributes?”

He opened Snowy's Status.[Name: Snowy][Species: Seven-Colored Bird][Attributes Possessed: Ice 100%, Fire 50.2%, Wind 49.31%, Lightning 51.11%, Earth 53.23%][* An Attribute exists that can advance to the ‘Deepening’ stage.]

Snowy possessed five Attributes in total.

Since he'd fed it all those Legendary items from the Sky Auction House last time, each Attribute had risen considerably.

But…….

“Deepening.”

One Attribute was glittering.

Ice, which Snowy had raised all the way to 100% by eating the Fragments inside the Orc Gate.

Originally, that was the maximum it could absorb. Snowy simply couldn't absorb anything beyond 100%.[Would you like to advance ‘Ice’ to the Deepening stage?]

But.

Now it could?[Advancing to the Deepening stage!][Ice grows into ‘Absolute Zero’!][Attributes Possessed: Absolute Zero 1%, Fire 50.2%…….]

Absolute Zero.

Just looking at the name, it sounded far stronger than Ice.

“Snowy. Ice.”―Coo![‘Snowy’ shares an Attribute with its master!][You can use the ‘Absolute Zero’ Attribute!][Ice Attribute Resistance increases by 120%…….]

Whoooosh…….

Bitter cold rose over the sword. It was so cold that every piece of nearby furniture froze over.

Even the water inside a cup froze solid. Considering how far the cup was from the sword, the cold was beyond imagination.

“This is fucking amazing.”

Its performance had clearly become incredible compared to Ice at 100%. Enough to justify the name Absolute Zero.‘Then the other Attributes too?’Ice couldn't be the only Attribute with a Deepening stage. If he raised the others to 100%, they would probably gain Deepened forms as well.

“Then what about Assimilation?”

That was when.

Flutter!

Snowy flew over and planted its feet on his shoulder, and green light began exploding from its body.[The Divine Beast assimilates with you!]

Snowy scattered like pale-green energy and disappeared into his body as though melting into him.[Assimilation complete!][Duration: 30 minutes!][From now on, you may use all of the Divine Beast's Attributes.]

“Snowy?”[Coo.]

This time, the answer came from inside his head. He understood the effect of Assimilation immediately. Before, he could only use the single Attribute Snowy granted him.

Now it was different.[Converting Attribute…….]

The instant he willed it, the Attribute changed.

Lightning, Earth, Wind, Fire, and more. Unlike the previous method of transferring an Attribute, the conversion was extraordinarily fast.‘Excellent.’Switching Attributes every second while attacking?

An enemy would get dizzy just thinking about it.

Assimilation's effects didn't end there.

Countless memories suddenly surfaced inside his mind.

They weren't his.

These were Snowy's memories.

Faint, fragmented memories.[Coo.]

He saw two enormous Divine Beasts with beautiful seven-colored feathers.

Judging by their appearance, they seemed to be adult Seven-Colored Birds.

Snowy was riding on the back of one.

It was tiny as a bean, apparently still a hatchling.

Then the scene changed.

A dark sky.

The two Seven-Colored Birds flew while covered in terrible wounds.

Snowy was still on one's back.

Some time must have passed, because it had grown slightly larger.

A pitch-black figure pursued the three Seven-Colored Birds at terrifying speed.

A strangely familiar silhouette.

When he looked more closely, he thought he recognized it. The jeweled crown on its head was the giveaway.‘Don't tell me…….’His guess was exactly right.

That was the Death Lord.

Before long, one Seven-Colored Bird turned around. It roared loudly.―Go. Far away!

As though intending to buy time, one Seven-Colored Bird charged while its entire body blazed with radiance.

The Lich extended a hand.

Clatter!

Thousands of pitch-black chains erupted from both ground and sky, binding the Seven-Colored Bird. Meanwhile, the one carrying Snowy widened the distance.[Coo…….]

The scene changed.

Inside a tiny cave.

A blood-soaked Seven-Colored Bird collapsed and set Snowy down. Then came the sound of it immediately leaving the cave.

Rumble!

Before long, a tremendous noise thundered outside.[Cooo…….]‘Haa…….’Kim Minwoo's face twisted as though he'd bitten into shit.

Come to think of it.

He'd heard Seven-Colored Bird feathers were used to create Cedric's Golden Skeleton body. Considering the personality of the Death Lord he'd seen at the Academy, he didn't need to watch a replay to know how the bastard had obtained those feathers.

Another memory surfaced.

Snowy had grown larger.

About the same size it was now.

It was eating insects.[Cooo.]

Even then, it seemed to be forcing them down simply to survive.

The memory changed again.

This time, he saw a burning forest.

Snowy flew through the sky.

The scene before it was horrific.

It wasn't only the forest burning.

The entire continent was in flames.

Collapsed buildings.

Corpses scattered everywhere.

They weren't human.

The corpses belonged to undead.

As Snowy continued flying.

A familiar scene appeared.‘That's the Fortress.’The First Arrangement.

The Battlefield of Eternity, the battle of Hrulunif.

The place where Cedric and Mutakta had fought, and where Minwoo himself had suffered magnificently. A familiar war was unfolding there.

Orcs climbed the Fortress while the undead desperately tried to stop them.

Snowy hurriedly flew away.

But a short while later.

The same scene played again.

Flying through the same place once more, watching the Orcs charge.

It kept repeating endlessly.‘Was it trapped in an endlessly repeating time period like Cedric?’Its luck had truly been horrific.

The memories began accelerating as though someone had pressed fast-forward. After the same scene repeated thousands, no, tens of thousands of times, something new finally appeared. Himself fighting Mutakta.

And Snowy flying toward him after he'd collapsed with his arm severed.[30 minutes have passed!][Assimilation ends!]

Snowy was suddenly sitting on his shoulder again.

“……

S-Sorry. Daddy's sorry.”―Cooo.

Snowy shook its head.

He wanted to do something for it…….

He recalled the Seven-Colored Birds from its memories.

If the Death Lord had captured them, nine times out of ten they were probably dead.

Still…….‘There might be at least one chance to see them again.’The Death Lord's Arrangements.

They worked by sending him into the past to complete Missions. Then wouldn't there be a chance the Seven-Colored Birds were still alive at the point when an Arrangement began?

Of course, there were things to consider. The stage given by the Arrangement.

Such as how far he was allowed to travel within it.‘And what happens if the Snowy of the past meets the Snowy of the present?’Things like that too.

But…….‘It really loved its parents.’The memories made that clear.

Snowy had adored its Seven-Colored Bird parents. Minwoo called himself its dad, but he couldn't exactly compete with its actual biological father.

“Snowy.”―Coo.

“Do you want to see your family?”―Coo.

Coo?

“Yeah. Your real family. The ones from your memories.”―……

Coo!

Snowy nodded violently.

“I'll try to find them. I don't know if it'll work.”―Coo!

It rubbed its face against him.

The Death Lord had four Legion Commanders in total.

In other words, two Arrangements remained. He would have to search every corner when the time came.

That was when.

A message arrived.[Mother]―Come downstairs. Someone came to see you.When he went to the first floor, he saw the screen beyond the intercom.

It was Isabella.‘At least she came during the day this time.’He opened the door.

“How did you know I was back?”

“I asked your mother to tell me when you returned.”

Ah, so that was why his mother had looked so meaningful earlier?

Either way.

It had been nearly half a month since he'd seen Isabella.

“It's been a while. Why are you here?”

“I've thought about it a great deal. About what I could give you that would make you want to teach me Mind Fist.”

“Did you find an answer?”

“No. I couldn't. So I want you to tell me yourself.”

“Hmm…….”

His gaze settled on Isabella. Conveniently, there was somewhere he could make use of her.

“You know the Korean Academy, right?”

“I've heard of it.”

“Come with me.”

He happened to be planning to grab Germany by the hair.

If France lent a hand too, the picture would look rather beautiful.* * *Korean Academy.

Its purpose was simple.

Gather talented elite Awakened. Then raise them into pillars of the nation.

Those two things.

Kim Minwoo suddenly showed up at that Academy. With Isabella in tow, no less.

As a bonus, he visited the principal's office.

“Pleasure to meet you. I'm Kim Minwoo.”

“Hoho. Welcome. I'm Principal Han Seongil. I was quite surprised when I heard you were coming.”

“What's there to be surprised about? Other Guild Masters visit this place all the time for the same thing. Recruitment.”

“That's true, but…… Spendthrift Guild is rather famous for being small and elite.”

Strictly speaking, even small and elite didn't describe it.

Extremely tiny and hyper-elite would be more accurate.

Either way.

“Our guild needs a Mage.”

“Certainly. If you wish, I can even provide a list of students we've been watching closely…….”

The principal was almost excessively cooperative. There was good reason.

Becoming a pillar of the nation didn't necessarily mean belonging directly to the state.

Sending students to major guilds counted as both achievement and ability.

And those guilds strengthened the nation in turn. Of course he would cooperate enthusiastically.

However.

“No need.”

“Excuse me?”

“There's a student I've already been watching. She's all I need.”

“Who is it? Is there some hidden gem even we haven't noticed……?”

“Han Sia. Third year, Magic Department. You should have a student by that name.”

“…….”

The principal's face stiffened.

Only briefly.

Then he spoke.

“Why her……? That student doesn't have particularly good grades or exceptional talent.”

Minwoo knew.

That wasn't because Han Sia lacked talent.

Even after the family head had sucked away part of it, her talent had originally been enormous.

Even half of it was enough to overturn Korea.

Then why wasn't she famous in Korea?

Why hadn't she built any name for herself?

Because she never revealed her talent.‘That's what the Griff family wants.’Obviously.

If Han Sia joined a guild or other organization, extracting her would become far more difficult.

They only tolerated the Academy because it was a short four-year program, and because she needed at least a minimal amount of social experience.‘That's why she still doesn't belong to a guild.’Grades?

Near the bottom.

And because the Griff family's Shadows had followed and monitored her since childhood, her personality was extremely withdrawn.

Social skills?

Also terrible.

She had every trait that made guilds avoid recruiting someone.

“Did Griff make a fuss? Tell you to let her graduate quietly and nothing more?”

Han Seongil stared at Kim Minwoo in surprise. He knew there was a connection between the German Griff family and Han Sia?

Granted, Han Sia was mixed-race and had distinctive features.

But even taking that into account, knowing about her connection to the Griff family was astonishing. Hadn't even Han Seongil only learned after Griff contacted him separately following her enrollment?

“……

How did you know?”

“I'm Kim Minwoo. Do you really think there's anything in Korea that Ilseong can't find out?”

The principal sighed and nodded.

“That's right. Given how constantly they interfere, there does seem to be some complicated situation…… anyway, they warned us very strongly. If anyone recruits her, there'll be trouble…….”

“Let there be. Perfect timing, actually. Principal. Let's make this board a little bigger.”

“……

Excuse me?”

“No matter what anyone says, I'm recruiting that student into my guild. Even if I have to destroy Griff to do it.”

“Why in the world are you doing this?”

The principal looked at Kim Minwoo as though he were about to cry.

The Griff family wasn't some pathetic third-rate family from around the corner.

It was the magical family that ruled Germany.

A family so powerful that even Korea felt crushed by its weight.

And its infamy was just as great.

Secret human experimentation was practically routine, along with every kind of vile experiment imaginable.

The fact that they still held Germany firmly in their grip despite that revealed just how capable they were.

If Han Sia had at least shown overwhelming talent, he might've understood.

But she'd never displayed anything like that.

So of course he couldn't understand why Minwoo was charging in so recklessly.

That was when Kim Minwoo answered.

“Because I want that student's talent very badly.”

“……

You're saying she's exceptionally talented?”

“The world doesn't know Han Sia's talent yet. Does that answer your question?”

“Then she was hiding her talent…….”

“The family head probably ordered her to.”

“……

Even the family head is personally watching Han Sia?”

“Why do you think their Shadows came to Korea to monitor her in the first place? Because the family head ordered it. Han Sia is his illegitimate daughter.”

“I-Illegitimate daughter?”

“Yes. And this is a fight that won't end until either the Griff family or Han Sia dies.”

“Wh-What do you mean……?”

“The family head drained her talent and then released her. He wanted her to recover so he could drain her again later.”

The principal's eyes trembled at Kim Minwoo's words. Even someone as worldly as Han Seongil found such grotesque facts difficult to imagine.

Drain someone's talent?

Then release her?

So he could drain her again?

Was that really true?

Yet he had no choice but to believe it.

There was the way Griff had behaved until now.

If Minwoo's words were true, everything suddenly made sense.

A chill swept through his body at the dark, horrifying secret surrounding Han Sia, and he swallowed painfully.

He'd thought Kim Minwoo had merely come to recruit a student, yet the scale of the conversation was exploding beyond control.―No matter what anyone says, I'm recruiting that student into my guild. Even if I have to destroy Griff to do it.

Destroy Griff.

He'd wondered why destroying a German family had suddenly entered a conversation about recruiting one mere student.

Now Han Seongil sensed a storm coming.