Smoke surrounded everything.
Because of this, it became impossible to see around. The beautiful spot with grass and trees near the entrance of the house turned into hard, barren land where no grass could grow again. Even the small trees by the roadside burned to ashes. Although it was winter, the area from the gate to the house looked as if a summer forest fire had passed through—completely flattened.
Valorant looked around.
There was nothing left from the skeletons except for bones scattered on the ground. He became certain there were no bones near him. Then he began searching for the necromancer who was controlling the skeletons.
"If the necromancer is still alive, killing the skeletons is useless. He will just raise more undead."
The smoke slowly began to clear. Valorant approached the house gate. He stopped just before reaching it. He thought he saw something through the smoke. Raising his sword, he got ready to fight. Through the smoke, something burning appeared. It was a grimoire.
The necromancer stood still, holding the book open in his right hand, unmoving from the spot where he had been standing. There wasn't a single burn mark on his body. He stood just as he had been before Valorant used his technique.
It was as if Valorant's strike had passed right by him.
Valorant looked closely at the necromancer, then glanced at the ground around his feet. He saw that the snow beneath the necromancer's feet was only slightly melted but still there. That's when he understood what had happened.
Valorant:
"Hey, who are you? You're definitely not inside a dead body anymore. I can see that."
The necromancer began flipping through the grimoire to summon the dead again. Seeing this, Valorant began looking for a weak spot. He tried to approach.
At the same moment, the necromancer summoned skeletons from the ground.
Valorant crushed their bones and attacked the necromancer.
The necromancer created a mana-based spherical shield around himself and blocked the sword strike.
He kept flipping the grimoire and summoning skeletons, forcing Valorant to retreat.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Gustav was fighting the skeletons that had entered. He killed all of them. Then he came outside and saw Valorant fighting. Gustav ran toward him to help. Together, they destroyed all the skeletons. Only the necromancer remained.
Valorant drew his sword and got into a battle stance.
"Flaming Wrath, Stage One—Flame Mana."
He attacked the necromancer from above.
The necromancer formed a mana shield again. But this time, Valorant's sword pierced through the mana shield and stabbed into his heart.
When Valorant pushed the sword into his chest, the necromancer didn't resist. It was as if he wanted it to happen.
Then, Valorant pulled the sword out of the necromancer's chest, and the necromancer fell to the ground. Gustav came to where Valorant and the body were lying.
"Is the necromancer dead?" he asked.
"I think so," Valorant said, exhaling deeply.
"What was that thing he did at the end?"
"That was a mana shield. He created it to block my strike—but it didn't help."
"If it was supposed to block the strike, then how did your attack go through?"
"A mana shield is mostly made to block physical attacks. That's what he tried.
I struck with a sword, yes, but at the same time, I used Flame Mana—so it was a magical strike too."
"A mana shield is a spell used by a mage to protect themselves from external danger. It surrounds them or takes the form they desire and blocks incoming attacks. But a mana shield cannot block everything. For example, Valorant's Flame Mana not only protects the user's body, but it can also cancel or weaken spells to a certain level."
"So, you struck with both physical power and magic at the same time?"
"Yes. 'Flame Mana' can destroy or reduce the effect of other mana."
"What do we do now?"
"We need to find out who this person was."
"This person?"
"Yes. He was a living person. If he weren't, he wouldn't have tried to defend himself.
Did you see any skeletons trying to defend themselves during battle?"
"No. They all only attacked."
"Yes. They were ordered only to attack, not to protect themselves or fight with strategy."
While he was saying this, the necromancer's black robe started breaking apart and flying into the air like black ashes from a burned cloth.
"What's happening?" Gustav asked, wondering why the necromancer's clothes were flying into the air.
"The black magic is leaving his body. Unlike skeletons, necromancers contain a large amount of dark mana.
So when they die, you can see that magic leaving the body."
After the black robe was gone, they could finally see his face.
Gustav looked at the dead man's face and was shocked.
Valorant noticed Gustav's reaction and asked:
"Do you recognize this man?"
"Yes… his name is Fermak. He was my lord's doctor."
"How did he end up as a necromancer?" he wondered aloud.
"I had called him earlier today because my Lord's condition had worsened. He came during dinner time."
"Did he touch Alaris?"
"Yes, to find out what was wrong with him."
"Then it makes sense. When he touched Alaris, the dark magic inside Alaris might have passed into him."
"But I touched my lord every day too…"
"There's a difference between his touch and yours.
He touched the patient, using mana—to see what was going on inside.
At that moment, along with his mana, the dark magic passed into him.
That's why he became a vessel for the necromancer. You didn't."