The sky was the color of blood.
Leon Astaroth collapsed onto the wet ground, a human sword still lodged in his chest. His thick, black blood pooled beneath him, staining the already death-saturated soil.
"H-heh... how funny..."
His cracked lips curled into a final smile. In the distance, he heard the triumphant roars of the human army.
"One more filthy demon is dead!"
"Look at that crazy face! Still smiling even in death!"
But what they didn't know—
That smile wasn't insanity.
Three days earlier...
"You were born to die, Leon. At least be a useful decoy."
The demon commander with golden horns kicked him forward into the frontlines.
No weapons. No armor.
Only a coarse uniform and a pair of useless, tiny wings.
"Do your job, young demon."
Leon wiped the fresh wound on his shoulder, still unhealed from yesterday's battle. "Yes, Commander," he replied, with the same smile he always wore.
The smile he used whenever he was mocked by his fellow demons, pelted with stones by middle-class demon children, or abandoned by those who once cared for him.
But this time...
That smile would be the key.
With 12% consciousness, Leon was neither alive nor dead.
In the void between existence and nothingness, he heard a voice—
"At last... I've found you."
It shook him to his very soul—
A voice that echoed with the power of gods.
"Wh-who...?"
No answer.
TING! Atransparent screen appeared.
[NOTIFICATION] SYSTEM HAS IDENTIFIED A PERFECT MATCH WITH PLAYER.
TING! Another screen closed.
TING! Another screen opened.
[NOTIFICATION] CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE NECROMANCER CLASS.
TING! The screen vanished.
Leon, confused, tried to scream—
But no sound came out.
Suddenly, his own blood began to move. It formed a strange symbol on his hand—
A circle etched with nine skulls.
"Rise, Heir. The Eternal War needs you."
Then—
The world exploded in agony.
"AAAHHHHH!"
Leon jolted upright with a raspy scream.
The sword in his chest pulled itself out by an invisible force, clattering to the ground.
"I'm... alive?"
His wounded hands now glowed with a golden mark.
Every breath he took released a thin, black mist.
And the most terrifying part...
He could hear them.
"Awaken us..."
"The new Necromancer... finally..."
Dozens—no, hundreds—of voices from the corpses surrounding him.
Without thinking, Leon raised his hand toward the nearest human soldier retreating in fear.
"D-don't come near me, monster!"
CRACK!
Leon's finger released a surge of uncontrolled power.
The soldier's body exploded—shattered into pieces.
Leon stared, stunned.
Fresh blood splattered across his face.
He had just killed with a single motion.
The once-silent battlefield became a second hell.
Leon didn't hesitate. He unleashed his fury.
In his mind, there was only one command—
Kill everything.
With each life he took, a rib turned into an arrow, a fallen foe's intestines twisted into a barbed whip, and skulls fused to form a walking shield.
TING! A screen popped up.
[NOTIFICATION] LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP
TING! The screen closed.
Leon collapsed to his knees.
His newfound power was too wild, too overwhelming.
Before him lay a corpse that seemed special.
He dragged himself toward it—
A fallen hero of mankind, pierced in the back by a demon's spear.
"If... if only you could…"
With his skill Resurrection of Darkness, Leon poured all his mana into the body.
TING! A notification appeared.
[SKILL] Resurrection of Darkness
Job-Specific Skill
Mana Cost: 45
This skill allows the user to raise the dead using dark power. The resurrected target will return with different abilities, amplified by the strength of darkness.
TING! The screen faded.
"Rise... and become... my strength…"
Black energy burst from his pores.
The hero's bones cracked and rejoined.
His blue eyes opened—empty, yet obedient.
TING! A new screen appeared.
[NOTIFICATION] SUMMON SUCCESSFUL
TING! It vanished.
Leon gave a tired smile.
As his consciousness faded, he heard the heavy footsteps of the resurrected hero now standing beside him...
And the approaching screams of reinforcements—both human and demon.
But above them all, he heard one final whisper—
"Rest now, young demon... for tomorrow, you will change everything."
–FAINTS–
End of Chapter 1