Pretending not to hear, Diret opened the door.

A cold breeze blew from beyond the empty doorway, where nothing could yet be seen, swallowing the prepared reagents.

As the triangular golden bone and the spirit tracker’s spine vanished, the empty space beyond the door transformed into a scene from the Undead Realm.

“Can you see it?”

“Yes. Amazing.”

With an artifact like this, it was possible to explore the Undead Realm without entering it personally or sending a projection.

The door acted as a kind of intermediary.

“If we approach this way, the spirits won’t get startled and run away.”

“...You want to use an artifact like this just for that?”

Diret looked flustered by his junior’s reaction.

Among all the dangers one could encounter in another dimension, spirits fleeing in fear was an extremely minor issue.

Honestly, it barely even qualified as a problem. Spirits attacking you was the real problem.

Lee Han spoke in a slightly disappointed voice.

“So it would be a waste of reagents?”

“No! You can absolutely use it!”

Diret hurriedly reassured his junior.

Knowing how much trouble spirits had already caused him, Diret couldn’t bring himself to respond coldly.

If it had been some other junior from the dark magic school, he would’ve snapped, “Stop whining and deal with it.”

But the junior standing before him had already done far too much for the school.

“The reagent costs still seem expensive.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just take them from the professor’s reagent vault. He won’t notice if a little disappears once or twice.”

Naturally throwing Professor Mortum’s reagent vault under the carriage, Diret resumed the exploration.

Unlike traveling through regions of the Empire, other dimensions couldn’t be navigated with ordinary maps.

And that was especially true of the eccentric Undead Realm.

Diret took out a scroll-like map and cast a spell.

“O pale horse of eight legs, guide us to the place where heaven and earth are reversed and poison fog runs thick.”

At the incantation, an eight-legged ghost horse emerged from beyond the doorway.

As the horse carried the artifact on its back, the scenery abruptly flipped upside down. Lee Han watched with fascinated eyes as the rapidly shifting landscape of the Undead Realm streamed past.

Far away, a colossal skeleton dragon swam through the black sky, spewing frost in every direction, while nearby, a swamp devoured all surrounding darkness before inverting and becoming a new sky.

Without extensive knowledge and quick judgment, most regions of the Undead Realm were lethally dangerous.

“O pale horse of eight legs, guide us to the place where smoke pours forth.”

Holding the map personally drawn by Professor Mortum, Diret cast another spell.

This wasn’t merely a map. It was closer to a simple artifact containing fragments of Professor Mortum’s memories and intentions.

To navigate the twisted complexity of the Undead Realm, preparations on this level were practically mandatory.

“Found it.”

Diret gestured toward a cluster of obsidian mirrors spewing smoke beyond the doorway.

The palace beyond them continuously shifted shape, exactly matching Professor Mortum’s description.

“From this point onward, we need to be careful, Junior.”

Even with the artifact protecting them, negotiating with powerful beings of the Undead Realm remained dangerous.

One careless word or gesture could provoke hostility and trigger an attack.

“I’ll keep that in mind. What should I do?”

“You only need to observe.”

Diret answered confidently.

He wasn’t cruel enough to dump responsibilities onto a second-year student using the artifact for the first time.

His junior merely needed to provide support from the side.

“Now then. O fierce beast that rules death and darkness, greetings.”

-Get lost.

“...”

“...”

The fierce beast’s growling voice echoed from within the palace.

For the first time in quite a while, Diret felt embarrassed.

To be rejected so coldly in front of his junior...

‘No, wait. This is strange!’

Something felt off.

Powerful beings usually didn’t immediately drive away those who shared a contract or connection with them.

At the very least, they would normally ask why the visitors had come.

“Senior?”

“Th-this is strange. Haha...”

“Since it’s a being from the Undead Realm, acting rude and eccentric is only natural. Someday I’ll definitely get revenge.”

Lee Han glared toward the being that had insulted his sky-like senior.

No matter how powerful it might be in the Undead Realm, how dare it treat Diret like that?

“...No! There’s absolutely no need for revenge!”

Diret panicked even more when his junior immediately started planning retaliation against a monstrously powerful otherworldly being.

Embarrassed or not, he definitely didn’t want his junior entering into a hostile relationship with some terrifying existence from another dimension. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“In the Undead Realm, words like that are practically greetings. Understand? Don’t think about revenge.”

“Hmm. Understood. Then should we withdraw?”

“If you have anything to ask, ask it now.”

From Diret’s perspective, they probably only had enough room for one final question before retreating, whether they received an answer or not.

“I’d like to ask whether Sharkhan is doing well.”

“Understood. If you answer us about Sharkhan’s condition, we’ll withdraw peacefully.”

No response came.

Diret shook his head slightly.

“It looks like we should leave. Sorry, Junior.”

“It’s fine. The other side is clearly at fault.”

Lee Han’s grudge deepened even further.

Just wait and see.

At that moment—

The constantly shifting palace abruptly stopped changing and settled into the form of a massive gate.

Then a gigantic four-legged beast burst out from within.

“!!”

“?!!”

‘Did it read my thoughts?’

Lee Han was startled.

Unless it had somehow sensed his intention to take revenge later, there was no reason for the palace’s owner to suddenly come charging out.

Reading his thoughts despite him remaining safely at Einroguard...

-GRRROWL!

The gigantic beast suddenly threw itself onto the ground and began rolling back and forth.

Confused by the incomprehensible behavior, Diret shouted,

“What in the world is it doing?!”

“...It looks like it’s playing? Senior, may I ask directly?”

“Go ahead. But never reveal your name or location. If you’re careless, you could face retaliation later.”

“Understood. ...Sharkhan?”

The moment Lee Han spoke, the giant beast joyfully sprang to its feet.

Diret looked even more bewildered.

“That’s... Sharkhan? Your summoned creature, Junior?”

“I think so...”

Honestly, Lee Han was just as confused.

What stood before him was clearly a powerful undead existence, not an ordinary summon.

But the behavior...

No matter how he looked at it, this was unmistakably Sharkhan.

Rolling around excitedly and digging at the ground...?

THUD!

The four-legged beast ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) abruptly froze.

Then it rose with forced dignity and slowly walked back into the palace.

-Get lost.

“...What was that just now?”

Naturally, no Einroguard student was going to obediently leave after witnessing something like that.

Lee Han stood firm, determined to get answers.

-I told you to get lost.

“I won’t leave until you explain.”

-Mage. How dare you test the patience of the fierce beast that rules death and darkness—

Its words abruptly stopped as the beast burst out of the palace again.

And just like before, it barked while frantically searching for Lee Han.

“...”

“...”

THUD!

The four-legged beast regained its senses once more.

True to being a mighty being of the Undead Realm, it still tried to preserve its dignity even after humiliating itself like that.

-Get los... GRRROWL!

Unfortunately, that dignity didn’t survive a third round.

After rolling around on the ground again, the fierce beast finally stopped telling them to leave.

-...You despicable mage. You trapped the fierce beast that rules death and darkness with such underhanded methods!

“?!”

Lee Han was completely dumbfounded by the absurd accusation.

***

In the end, the fierce beast reluctantly explained.

As a projection grows stronger, the main body recovers strength alongside it.

Every time Sharkhan absorbed mana, the fierce beast itself steadily regained power as well.

The quality of the mana had been so pure and exceptional that the recovery process, which should have taken far longer, accelerated dramatically.

The problem was that Sharkhan had also developed self-awareness during the process.

Originally, the fierce beast that ruled death and darkness had only intended to lend out a fragmentary projection lacking consciousness, not create an independent projection with its own personality.

Up to that point, things had still been manageable. Even if the projection had gained individuality, the fierce beast could generously accept it as its subordinate self.

The problem was that Sharkhan turned out to be far more stubborn than expected.

-You are Sharkhan. You are a projection split from the fierce beast that rules death and darkness. Carry yourself with dignity and tear your enemies apart.

-GRROWL!

-...You are Sharkhan. I understand feeling attachment toward your contractor, but the fierce beast that rules death and darkness bows to no one. Reconsider.

-GRRRROWL!

-...GRROWL! I treated you generously and you dare?!

Eventually, the fierce beast abandoned persuasion entirely and imprisoned Sharkhan within itself.

The plan had been to release him after he reflected on his behavior and lowered his tail.

That was also why the fierce beast had responded so coldly to the visiting mages.

If it interacted with them and Sharkhan learned news about its contractor, wouldn’t that only prolong the rebellion?

However, Sharkhan exceeded expectations not only in stubbornness, but also in ability.

It had stayed quiet long enough for the main body to believe it was reflecting obediently—

Then the moment its contractor appeared, it suddenly went berserk and temporarily seized control.

Ordinarily, such growth would deserve high praise.

For a projection to become this powerful within the dangerous Undead Realm filled with countless enemies—

That alone was worthy of pride.

...Unfortunately, the only thing it used that power for was embarrassing itself in front of its contractor.

-Do you understand now, despicable mage? Your gift corrupted the fierce beast’s projection.

“It’s not like I forced you to absorb it. You could’ve stopped halfway.”

Lee Han protested naturally.

It happily devoured all that mana to restore its own power, and now it was complaining afterward?

Even shamelessness had limits.

‘Do all undead lack consciences?’

The fierce beast let out a low growl.

Ordinarily, it would’ve dismissed such protests outright, but the current situation was difficult.

Having only recently recovered its strength, it couldn’t continue fighting against its own projection forever.

-Mage. State your demands. In return, I will persuade Sharkhan.

“Can you return Sharkhan to me?”

-Impossible. Understand that Sharkhan is no longer the insignificant undead creature it once was.

Weak undead creatures could be summoned relatively easily, but powerful undead beings had difficulty crossing dimensional barriers.

Now that the fierce beast’s main body had recovered and awakened, Sharkhan was both projection and fierce beast alike. Summoning it would require an enormous price.

“If it’s mana, I can provide it every time.”

-...

The fierce beast growled deeply after being struck in an unexpected weak point.

Come to think of it, its opponent was a mage who had somehow restored the fierce beast itself with overwhelming amounts of mana.

Perhaps this mage truly could pay the required summoning cost through mana alone.

Suppressing Sharkhan’s attempts to burst free from within by sheer force of will, the fierce beast spoke again.

-Mage. If you forge a new contract, you may regret it. The price required to summon the fierce beast that rules death and darkness would ordinarily demand treasures scraped from the depths of your soul... Never mind. Mana will suffice.

“???”

Lee Han stared blankly as the other side abruptly surrendered.

What was that supposed to mean?