Spirit Taming (2)

Aaran opened his eyes, only to find himself in a dark place.

So this is my core.

He looked around, and sure enough, there was nothing but utter darkness around him. It wasn't surprising. After all, his core primarily comprised Dread's darkness.

As much as he wanted to analyze the core, he wasn't there for sightseeing.

"Now, where is that geezer?"

Aaran raised his hand to scratch his head. But stopped when he noticed something strange. His skin wasn't pale anymore, it was a warm, brownish shade.

He looked down and noticed a school uniform he hadn't worn in what felt like centuries. One could see the patches of blood smeared on his clothes.

Just like the day of my accident.

The memory came rushing back. He'd died in a construction site collapse. A building had come down, taking a truck with it. As the truck got wrecked, a tire popped off and crushed him.

But why was he in such a form?

Aaran—no, Park Shinwoo—sighed, remembering Dread's words.

Once inside the core, two spirits will battle to establish control over the necromancer's body. Since it was Shinwoo in Aaran's body, his spirit took the form of the South Korean instead of the Aurelian Prince.

"Ah... you are not the insolent brat I had expected," the old man's voice echoed.

Shinwoo turned around and saw the ghostly apparition he had pulled into the core.

"It appears this matter shall not be as simple as I had presumed, half-blood."

The spirit said, crossing his arm.

Shinwoo shrugged. He had no intention of dawdling with the spirit. He stretched his hand and a flaming sword appeared.

It was the sword he had once used to slay the first dragon in his third incarnation. Killing a spirit should be a trivial matter with the blade. But there was a slight problem.

Obviously, it isn't real.

The sword was just a manifestation within the spirit world.

Shinwoo realized if the spirit realm could manifest his true form, then it could also manifest the weapons he had earned through multiple lifetimes.

But that did not mean the weapons were real. The sword was a mere imitation.

Since Shinwoo did not have any knowledge of how to fight a spirit like a necromancer, he chose the path of a warrior. After all, Dread wasn't there to guide him, so he had to do things his way.

To his surprise, the old man smiled, clapping slowly, as if impressed by Shinwoo.

"The flaming sword, Surtrbrand. I never thought I'd get to see it again."

With that, the man extended his arm, and an axe manifested in his hand. Unlike the flaming sword, the axe was oozing with icy winds. As the old man swung the axe, many icicles appeared around him.

"Behold, Isfell, the blade of winter," the old man announced with pride.

Shinwoo felt a headache coming. He realized why the old man was so confident while being gobbled up by his core. The geezer wasn't an ordinary soul he could tame with ease.

"I, Darius Von Aurelia, third sovereign of the Aurelian Empire, challenge you to a duel!"

Darius didn't bother waiting for Shinwoo's acceptance and charged at him. The latter swung his flaming sword in a wide arc, creating a wall of fire between them.

However, Darius smirked and hit the ground with his axe, sending a storm of icicles crashing into the fiery barrier, extinguishing the flames.

Shinwoo clicked his tongue. The match-up was heavily against him.

But it wasn't just about the weapons. Shinwoo remembered the name Darius Von Aurelia.

Darius was the king whose power had grown so immense that the Runedral Empire had nearly joined forces with the Marki Empire just to bring him down.

Back then, the Aurelian Kingdom had been independent, hence it was a thorn in the side of its neighbors.

But when Darius mysteriously died, everything changed. The Runedral Empire struck a deal with Aurelia, offering to protect it from Marki's aggression—only to absorb it into their own empire later.

That betrayal was the spark that made Runedral and Marki mortal enemies. But that was a tale for another time. Right now, Shinwoo had to defeat a legend.

Darius sent a storm of icicles in Shinwoo's way yet again. But the latter destroyed them all with his flaming blade. At least it seemed like he did, when a faint particle of ice flew past Shinwoo, grazing his cheek.

He wiped the cheek, expecting to see blood. Instead, he saw a glowing silvery liquid. It was the essence of his soul.

Since they weren't fighting with their bodies, their essence was their blood and their soul had turned into their body.

Enraged, Shinwoo grabbed an icicle and hurled it towards Darius. However, he didn't slow down, smashing the icicle with the axe.

"You wield great resilience for a necromancer," Darius laughed, continuing his onslaught. "However, it's all in vain. This vessel shall be mine, no matter the cost!"

Darius jumped high, holding his axe over the head. Shinwoo raised the sword to parry the attack, but the attack never came. Instead, he heard Darius's agonizing scream.

Shinwoo looked over, only to see a towering giant standing over him.

"Dread…?"

"Eyes up ahead, boy," Dread replied.

The giant punched Darius, sending his soul tumbling away. Darius coughed up his essence, glaring at the giant standing beside Shinwoo. It was Dread's true form, just like Shinwoo was Aaran's.

"Now you're finally fighting like a real necromancer," Darius snarled, wiping his mouth.

"I'll handle the defense," Dread announced. "You should focus on attacking."

"There won't be a need for that." Shinwoo shook his head.

The flaming sword in disappeared, and so did the axe. Darius was defiant as ever, but the battle was already over.

With Dread protecting him, Darius won't be able to harm even a hair on Shinwoo's head. The former king understood this all too well, hence retracted the axe. But that didn't mean he would serve Shinwoo.

Shinwoo barely knew anything about necromancy and spirits, but he knew one thing. Those with strong wills or deep grudges became spirits.

Darius, however, was different. He was stronger than the rest because he had both an unyielding will and a grudge that Shinwoo could understand better than anyone else.

The grudge of a wrongful death.

Darius glared at Shinwoo, but the anger turned into surprise when he kneeled before him.

"Be my sword, Darius Von Aurelia."

"What?"

The sudden request took aback Darius.

"Be my blade and cut down your enemies through me," Shinwoo said, meeting Darius's eyes. "Lend me your strength and I will get rid of every grudge you hold."

Dread didn't understand what his master was doing, but didn't intervene. Meanwhile, Darius was lost in his thoughts.

The deepest grudge he had… was against the Runedral Empire, who assassinated him while claiming to be the saviors. He won't lie. The primary reason he wanted to take over the half-blood was for revenge.

Darius wanted to destroy the Runedral Empire.

But can the brat before him do that?

He stared into the Shinwoo's eyes for any hint of malice or betrayal. But there was none. The brat meant every word he said.

In the end, Darius smiled. After being a king, maybe serving a brat won't be too bad.

"Don't forget about your promise," Darius said, taking Shinwoo's hand.

[Coercion successful!]

[Charm points +100.]