Orion replied calmly, "Don’t worry. If they don’t arrive in two days, I’ll handle it myself. And if things get worse... I still have a magic scroll."
Harold’s eyes widened.
A magic scroll wasn’t something you could casually possess. Even most E-rank adventurers would never see one in their lifetime.
Orion, however, had earned it by saving an injured mage during a past mission.
"But—" Harold tried to speak again.
"Enough," Orion cut him off firmly. "This is my home village. If I can’t protect it, how can I face my elders again?"
His tone left no room for argument.
After watching the E-rank adventurer leave, I also began roaming the village in search of useful information.
There was no library here. Not even a small one.
Strange, considering the village had an adventurer guild, an auction house, and even a merchant guild.
The auction house caught his attention first.
**"Blackveil Auction Hall."**
The name sounded impressive, but I couldn’t help thinking—what exactly would a place like this even auction in a border village? Sadly, it only opened once a month, and it had already opened a week ago.
Next was the merchant guild.
**"Silver Route Guild."**
It’s a branch of the larger merchant union—**Seven Routes Union**, a continental trading organization.
That explained the scale. Even a small village like this had connections beyond the region.
I also learned something useful: the village chief and his hunting party regularly cleared F+ rank monsters within a 100km radius.
That explained why I hadn’t seen any F+ monsters during my hunts.
After finishing my rounds and finding nothing else useful, I returned to the inn.
It was already night.
I had a warm dinner with Lily serving me as always, her usual cheerful smile lighting up the place.
Then I returned to my room and slept.
### Morning
I woke up early and immediately checked my system log with anticipation.
[HOST HAS GAINED 400P BY DEFEATING FOES]
I quickly calculated.
Eight F- rank undead wolves, plus Vargan.
They had been farming continuously for nearly 20 hours.
On average, that was about 20 points per hour.
*So it matched.*
Then another notification appeared.
[CONGRATULATIONS HOST: 8 F- RANK UNDEAD WOLVES HAVE RANKED UP TO F RANK]
I smiled and check my death releam.
A pile of F- rank cores lay neatly stored inside the grey space.
I froze.
"...They can open portals on their own?"
That realization hit me like a hammer.
So even remotely, my undead could transfer loot into my realm.
My expression slowly shifted.
"...This is broken."
AFK farming had just reached another level entirely.
I calmed myself and checked Vargan.
No evolution message.
"No cores consumed?"
I frowned.
Either there were no suitable enemies... or Vargan’s presence alone had driven them away.
I exhaled.
Then checked my resources.
**1121P** and **356 F- rank cores** (including earlier stock and some points given by system for clearing dungeon).
"...Not bad."
Without wasting time, I absorbed everything over the next thirty minutes.
Warm energy flowed through my body repeatedly, each core strengthening me bit by bit.
My growth is steady—but I still couldn’t measure how much stronger I had become.
Only one thing was clear.
I needed **634 more cores** to reach the next stage.
I stood up, freshened myself, and left the inn after breakfast.
My next destination is clear.
**Silver Route Guild.**
But before that—
I stopped at a small stall and bought a simple black mask for 20 copper coins.
No unnecessary attention.
No mistakes.
When I reached the merchant guild, I noticed something immediately.
The guards at the entrance radiated pressure.
**F+ rank.**
My eyes narrowed.
"...Even a branch has guards like this?"
Then the core thought struck me:
If guards are F+, then the real power inside must be at least E rank.
I walked inside without being stopped.
"Tch."
No dramatic encounter. No interruption.
Boring.
The interior of the guild is vast, filled with constant movement—traders coming and going, escorts negotiating, and adventurers exchanging goods.
I approached the receptionist.
A young woman greeted me politely.
"Hello, sir. How may I help you?"
In a low voice, I replied, "I want to sell F- rank fire cores."
Her smile remained professional.
"Of course, sir. We are currently buying F- fire cores at 1 silver per core."
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"...I want to sell 100."
For the first time, her expression cracked—but only for a moment.
"P-please follow me to the VIP room."
Inside the private room, tea was served.
I sat calmly as negotiations began.
A short bargaining session later, the deal was finalized.
**105 silver coins.**
Not bad.
I also received a **Silver VIP Card**, granting 5% discounts across all branches of the Silver Route Guild.
The receptionist smiled warmly.
"Sir, would you like to sell anything else? Or perhaps make any purchases?"
I didn’t hesitate.
"Buy me normal cores. 634 F-, 20 F, and 20 F+."
For a brief moment, her professional mask slipped again.
"...Understood, sir."
Tea continued to steam beside me as workers hurried in the background.
The guild clearly had deep storage reserves.
Five minutes later, everything was delivered.
Total amount comes out 93.4 silver coins.
I paid **88.7 silver coins**. after 5% discount.
Just like that, I became broke again.
But it didn’t matter.
I left the guild and headed straight toward the forest.
"Rank-ups are taking too many cores..."
My gaze hardened.
"...I need a safe place for this."
After 30 minutes of travel and avoiding scattered monsters, I found a cave.
A bear lived inside.
Now it didn’t anymore.
I cleaned the area and blocked the entrance using stones and leaves.
Then I summoned all my undead to guard the perimeter.
Finally—
I placed my hand on the first batch of cores.
"Vargan first."
I used 20 F-rank cores.
The cave filled with energy as Vargan’s body began to change.
Bones creaked, Muscles expanded.
Its size surged from **4 feet to 6 feet in height**, and from **6 feet to 8 feet in length**.
My eyes narrowed. "...Good."
And then I spoke—
"Both of you... make sure nothing disturbs me."
Vorak and Vargan immediately straightened.
Their crimson eyes turned vigilant, as if they truly understood the weight behind my words.
I smiled faintly.
Then I waved my hand.
Hundreds of monster cores poured out from my inventory and scattered across the ground like glowing crystals.
634 F-Rank cores.
The dim cave instantly became flooded with pale white light.
LuIke sat down in the center of them and took a deep breath.
"Let’s begin..."
I grabbed a core.
Then another.
Then another.
The cores slowly crumbled into dust as streams of mana entered my body.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
The atmosphere inside the cave gradually became heavier.
Mana surged wildly through my veins like an uncontrollable flood.
My body temperature rose rapidly.
Steam began rising from my skin.
Veins bulged across my arms.
My blue eyes slowly turned blood-red.
Pain.
An overwhelming pain unlike anything I had ever felt before.
"Ghh...!"
I clenched my teeth.
The mana inside me suddenly changed.
The originally white mana darkened into pitch-black energy — the same terrifying necrotic mana when I raise undead.
And then...
It exploded outward.
BOOOOM!!!
Black necrotic mana burst from my body like a storm.
The entire cave trembled violently.
Vorak and Vargan remained standing silently beside me like loyal guardians.
But their eyes never left me.
Crack.
I froze.
A horrifying sound echoed from inside my own body.
Then another.
Crack... Crack... Crack...
My skin began splitting apart.
Blood leaked through the cracks.
My muscles started tearing.
Even my bones began breaking apart from the inside.
My pupils shrank.
"What... is happening...?"
Fear finally appeared on my face.
Then—
My mana core cracked.
My breathing stopped for a second.
"No..."
The cracks spread across the core rapidly.
Until—
SHATTER!!
My mana core exploded into fragments.
My vision blurred instantly.
My entire body collapsed apart piece by piece.
Flesh.
Bones.
Blood.
Everything shattered and floated in the air, held together only by the black necrotic mana surrounding me.
At that exact moment—
The sky of Origin Land changed.
BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!
A black lightning bolt split across the heavens.
No.
Not just one sky.
Every sky.
Every being across Origin Land saw it.
It didn’t matter whether they were inside kingdoms, ancient ruins, underground civilizations, oceans, forbidden lands, or isolated dimensions.
Everyone saw it.
Black lightning.
Endless black lightning.
The world itself trembled.
Then—
A colossal figure slowly manifested within the storm.
A skeleton.
An existence so enormous that it seemed capable of crushing heaven itself.
It stood silently amidst the darkness.
A black crown rested upon its skull.
A staff darker than the void itself remained in its grasp.
Its hollow eyes contained no light.
Only endless darkness.
And beneath it...
Shadows.
Infinite shadows.
No—
An army.
An endless legion stretching beyond vision itself.
Silent.
Motionless.
Yet every single one radiated death.
Only their hollow eyes glowed faintly within the darkness.
Then—
The stars themselves distorted.
Twelve enormous thrones manifested high above the heavens.
Each throne radiated absolute authority.
Existences seated upon them slowly opened their eyes.
The rulers of Origin Land.
The true apex beings.
A terrifying pressure descended upon Origin Land.
Weak creatures instantly collapsed.
Some fainted.
Some screamed.
Even powerful beings felt their souls trembling.
And for the first time in countless years—
Their expressions changed.
Fear.
Not fear of death.
But instinctive fear.
Like prey standing before a natural disaster beyond comprehension.
Even the strongest beings in Origin Land felt their status screens trembling violently.
An invisible pressure crushed down upon all existence.
A message without words.
You are beneath us.
Bow.
Many weak-willed beings across the world instinctively knelt.
Even kings.
Even monsters.
Even ancient races.
The twelve throne rulers looked downward simultaneously, trying to locate the source of this anomaly.
But then—
A mask appeared.
Silently.
Slowly.
Hovering above Luke’s destroyed body.
A completely black mask covered in faint silver cracks, resembling shattered space itself.
No eyes.
No mouth.
No expression.
Just endless darkness.
The moment the twelve rulers looked at it—
Their souls trembled.
The mask seemed to gaze back at them.
A silent warning echoed through their minds.
Dare to look at me.
The atmosphere froze.
For the first time—
The rulers hesitated.
Then one by one...
The thrones disappeared.
The black mask slowly descended.
And the entire anomaly vanished with it.
As though reality itself had hidden Luke from the eyes of the world.
Silence returned.
Inside the ruined cave—
Luke’s shattered body slowly began reconstructing itself.
Bones.
Organs.
Veins.
Muscles.
Skin.
core.
Everything rebuilt piece by piece through black necrotic mana.
Then—
Luke opened his eyes.
Eyes completely devoid of life.
Pitch-black.
As though death itself had awakened.