Becoming an adventurer by copying monster abilities

Chapter 71 The Long Sleeper

The black-robed mage who once appeared in human form.

Now, having completely abandoned the last vestiges of dignity in life, he has become a spirit driven purely by negative energy and resentment.

Accompanied by a terrifying, mournful howl, the extremely dense magical particles mixed with death energy within the barrier began to run rampant.

Centered on the skeletal man, a visible black storm spread outwards.

It began to indiscriminately sweep over all matter within the barrier.

Veronica gritted her teeth and pressed her hands to the ground.

Ignoring the danger of depleting her magic, she continuously summoned thorny brambles and hard wooden walls.

They were trying to use this to withstand the endless onslaught from the other side, which was like a storm.

The death storm completely engulfed everything.

The giant rat carcasses on the ground were transformed into living corpses by the impact.

Veronica's vine wall, which had just sprouted from the ground, withered instantly and turned into a puddle of mud.

As the boundless darkness gradually swallowed everything in her field of vision, Veronica turned back to look at Luca with a hint of apology:

"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this."

There seemed to be no chance of survival left, and these were her final words.

Luke then reached into his pocket.

Sitting idly by and waiting for death is not his style.

The medicine he had just taken had somewhat restored his physical condition.

He prepared to take out the dagger he would use to cut the spoils and activate [Stealth Evasion] one last time.

It would be best if you could kill the opponent directly.

Even if they can't kill them, a sudden attack might be able to break the storm that's sweeping everything.

His hand, which was groping in his pocket, quickly sensed something was amiss.

The dense deathly aura permeating the barrier seemed to cause something in Luke's hand to react.

Open your palm and look.

The ring that had been found in front of the black stone tablet and identified as requiring a special method to break the seal was now trembling slightly.

The instant the death storm swept over the two, a halo of light emanated from the ring and spread outwards.

The world seemed to have come to a standstill.

Luke felt a blinding white light burst forth before his eyes, so intense that he could not look directly at it.

Immediately afterwards, the scene in my field of vision underwent a dramatic change.

The towering dome is inlaid with colorful stained glass windows.

Sunlight, or rather, a kind of sacred radiance similar to sunlight, is pouring down through these windows.

A faint, tranquil scent, reminiscent of a mixture of incense and dried roses, filled the air.

This appears to be a church.

But where the statue should have been placed was an unmarked tombstone made of simple, even somewhat rough, gray stone.

Beside the tombstone, a man was sitting casually on the ground.

Beside him was a strangely shaped hand-and-a-half-sword.

The sword blade is pure black, but the guard is made from a smooth, white arm bone, carved into the shape of a balance scale.

Upon seeing Luke, the man looked up; he appeared to be quite young.

Judging by human appearance, he's probably in his early thirties.

He has short, neat brown hair, strong facial features, but a very gentle and kind look in his eyes.

He lacked the aggressive edge of a high-level professional, and instead resembled an honest farmer who had worked in the fields year-round and had just put down his hoe to rest.

However, his imposing physique and fine armor revealed that he was no ordinary person.

"I've finally waited for you. If you had come any later, I might not have seen you again."

The man greeted Luke first, his voice deep and resonant, befitting his appearance.

Do you know me?

"I don't know him, but for some reason, I can't enter the underworld with peace of mind, so I'm waiting for someone who can help me."

The man pointed to Luke's palm: "You should be that person."

The bronze ring in Luke's hand was emitting a white light, its patterns constantly rotating, making it look like a sophisticated instrument.

Are you still alive?

Luke asked, after all, he had obtained the ring from a piece of hand bone.

"If things were as they are now, I would probably be dead. Look at this tombstone; it's what I prepared for myself."

The man stood up, patted the gray stone tombstone behind him, then crossed his arms and gave an elegant bow.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Derian SilverAsh, a member of the Longsleeping Guides."

"The One Who Sleeps?" Luke chewed on the unfamiliar term.

"That's not important. What's important is your situation, my friend."

Derian pointed to the ring on Luke's hand.

"This thing only awakens my remnant soul when it encounters the invasion of powerful undead death energy, and this death energy is very familiar. It seems that the bad guy we encountered is the same one."

That's really bad.

Luke sighed, "So, do you have any solutions? You can't just pull me in here for a casual chat, can you?"

Despite asking this question, Luke didn't hold out much hope.

After all, from the conversation, it was clear that the man named Derian in front of them was also killed by this necromancer.

Sure enough, Derian shook his head:

"My strongest form in life was only enough to severely injure my opponent. Now, I'm just a remnant soul on the verge of disappearing. How could I possibly be a match for him?"

"but......"

The man changed the subject, "Although this guy's magical fluctuations have become exceptionally powerful, he seems to be in a state of superposition between the undead and the human."

"But the undead are beings that can be defeated!"

At this point, Derian grasped the oddly shaped hand-and-a-half sword.

With the sword tip pointing upwards and the scale-shaped guard resting against his chest, he solemnly addressed Luke, asking:

Are you afraid of dying?

Luke answered without the slightest hesitation:

"Of course I'm afraid of dying."

Derian nodded:

"Only those who fear death can truly revere life. But many people, because they are too afraid of death, do not live life to the fullest. So I want to ask you again:"

Are you afraid of dying?

Although it was the same question, Luca's thoughts were stretched out considerably by the sudden sharpness in the other person's eyes.

Death is something that most living things will face.

But in this world, death is not the end.

The soul of every dying being leaves the material plane to begin a brand new journey.

Whether it's the underworld or the divine realm.

They became a mournful, fleshy brick on the wall of the faithless.

Or they will be led to a strange land to start a completely new life.

Therefore, death sometimes doesn't seem so terrible?

Luke pondered for a long time before speaking again:

"I'm still afraid of dying."

Derian seemed to have heard a very satisfactory answer and burst into hearty laughter.