Undead Heart

Magnus made a quick calculation.

He realised that winning was not possible unless he bet his life on the line.

"To retreat, or not to retreat?" Magnus muttered with a deadly grin on his face.

He was going to go wild.

"WE FIGHT!" Magnus roared as he commanded gravity and pulled himself to the ghoul. His sword fell into his hands at that moment.

Restiel backed away, and Magnus stabbed into the hole in the Ghoul's chest.

Claws came swiping towards him. Magnus' clothes tore and several wounds appeared around his limb.

But Magnus paid no head to this.

He pulled his sword and stabbed it into the ghoul's eye.

Clank! Psshh!!

The sword snapped as it collided with the ghoul's eye, but it still punctured through. With an agonized groan, the ghoul stabbed his own claws into Magnus' stomach.

"Urgh," Magnus fell back.

His gravity weakened enough for the Ghoul Gangster to leap towards him.

Magnus then watched as his life flashed before his eyes as ten long nails consumed his vision.

"Now!" Magnus felt his skin sizzle as Restiel grew incredibly close to him.

—Sssssssss!

Magnus could feel his skin melting as a fully-powered scythe was swung through the air.

Ssk!

It stabbed into the Ghoul Gangster and properly sunk into its flesh this time.

The Ghoul Gangster growled as it tried to swipe at Restiel, but Magnus did not allow it to do so. He sent out a burst of gravity to alter its strike, leaving the Ghoul Gangster vulnerable.

Ssuk!

Restiel found another opportunity to worsen the wound he had inflicted previously. His scythe sunk deeply and cut through both flesh and skin. The wound grew in since as Divine Energy erupted like a volcano.

"Ha!" Magnus revolved around the Ghoul Gangster to appear at his back. With his stone spear, he stabbed into the wound that Restiel had created.

"Grrrrrrh! Grrereah!!"

The Ghoul Gangster writhed around as Magnus and Restiel backed off.

"Still not enough?" Magnus cursed as he channelled the rest of his remaining Spirit Energy and created a focal point of gravity in the space within the Ghoul Gangster's wound. He then set its characteristic to repulsion.

"Burst!" He cried out as he felt himself fall down.

VWWOOOOOHM!

A huge force burst out from within the 3-star Ghoul Gangster. It blossomed straight from within his body, making it bloated in the blink of an eye.

Blood seeped out from all seven of its orifices and Magnus watched as it fell from the sky with him.

"Victory!" He yelled out as he waited for enough of his Spirit Energy to regenerate.

Thud!

He was only able to slow himself a bit before hitting the ground with a bone-breaking thud. Magnus instantly felt an immense weakness consume him.

"I can't die like this..." Magnus commanded Javelin to appear beside him and carry him on his back.

Javelin rushed towards him from one of the alleyways and instantly transformed into its larger wind leopard form. It bit Magnus' shirt and swung him onto its back.

This all happened within the 10 seconds that Magnus could stay on the ground.

"Haa, haa," Magnus breathed as pain coursed throughout his entire body.

He glanced at Restiel's state and saw how dim his radiance was. Since he hadn't gotten the killing blow, there was no Divine Energy feedback.

Which might be a good thing, as that meant that the corpse of the Ghoul Gangster was intact.

"Kukukukuku~" Magnus began to cackle again as he basked in his reckless, unneeded glory.

"My plans are going to be held back by a few days again..." He muttered in glee.

Klaris emerged from the darkness with an exasperated look on his face.

"Why must you torture yourself like this, Magnus?" He asked, prompting Magnus to laugh.

"You already know and yet you still ask? Very well, I will still answer."

Magnus flinched as he felt his broken ribs.

"It's all for the thrills."

.

.

.

Magnus had Klaris extract the Ghoul Gangster's flesh and Undead Heart.

Magnus dined on the entire body this time, feeding on the soul as he did so. He felt his bones mend at a rapid pace and his body achieved certain traits. His skin hardened and so did his bones.

But his 1.99-star rating did not change.

Magnus also felt his Spirit Energy regenerate to half full. It was enough for him to continue floating by himself.

As for the Undead Heart, Magnus saved it for the last.

When he devoured it, he felt a special change occur within him. His Soul Devourer Art circulated by itself as it hungrily devoured the powers within the Undead Heart.

There were souls aplenty within the heart, and it kept on flowing into Magnus' body. It continued to fill his energy reserves until it was full.

And it didn't stop despite being full. Magnus then felt his Spirit Energy flow into his Blessing, strengthening it as it cycled in and out in an ethereal manner.

Catastrophic Planetary Architect was undergoing a change at that moment. But the change was just the start.

After triggering the change, Magnus felt that the energy had died down by a large amount.

"The evolution will still take time..." He wistfully muttered to himself as he felt his overflowing strength.

As a person who had yet to breach the 2-star level, Magnus benefitted a lot from consuming a being of the 3-star level.

Magnus then went and collected the rest of his rewards, which were the Ghoul Gangster's fangs and claws.

"It really takes a perfectly coordinated team to beat enemies at a level higher than one's self," Magnus smiled.

That was where Master of the Hivemind shone.

He was a one-man army.

Someone who can challenge beings stronger than himself.

"And I haven't even used all my members to the best of their abilities!" Magnus boasted, earning a few headshakes from Klaris.

"Javelin is for stealth, and I am here for thievery. Our abilities are already being put to good use. You just haven't filled your member count with combative personnel." Klaris commented.

"...That is true," Magnus scratched his head, "But there's nothing I can do about that. Without you two, we would have a harder time surviving on Thare."

.

.

.

Magnus went about to hunt more ghouls. This time, he avoided killing Ghoul Gangsters as the next ones that came seemed to be stronger than the first one he had encountered. The handbook he had bought was correct.

It made Magnus wonder how many lives had to be lost to figure that out.

After killing enough ghouls over the days, Magnus decided it might be time to change his targets.

He went to the skeletons and had Restiel continue running wild. The skeletons here were weaker than the ones on Tyrm. But some seemed capable of using their weapons better.

When Restiel was in the sky, arrows made out of rusting metal almost caught his wings.

If Restiel got close to the ground, he had to fight the skeletal swordsmen who could actually oppose him through sword skills alone. His scythe was parried, blocked, and simply resisted by their rusted blades.

Magnus found it mesmerising how their movements were so fluid despite being skeletons. All of the handbook's accounts were proving true.

The ghouls were all about physical superiority. Skeletons had skills. While the zombies had access to their Blessings and Curses.

Magnus wanted to study the skeletal skills he had been shown so as to apply them to his own. He sent Restiel to go to the zombies to see if there was anything that could be done there. The zombies were good targets for Restiel because his Blessing was superior.

Few curses could harm the angel, so any unknowns are severely restricted. Any trickery, poison, or mental-clouding ability, would be purified by Divine Energy. Only pure power or skill can win against Archangel of Divine Judgement.

Utility-based abilities are rendered useless.

Staring at the crowd of zombies below him, Magnus who had split his focus, cackled. Restiel and Magnus both smiled an eerie smile.

"I am the warrior of the Heavens,

The seeker of light,

The judge and jury,

And the image of perfection.

Bow before my grace and glory!"

Restiel chanted, as a great divine light consumed the scythe in his hands. Magnus had yet to use this ability given the huge amounts of Spirit Energy consumption.

But with the Soul Devourer Art in his hands now, he felt that it was alright.

That, and Restiel had recovered a large amount of Divine Energy in his recent hunts.

If he could cull these zombies, he would be earning so much profit at a moment's notice that he would be able to invoke his blessing again.

Thus,

Restiel's wings grew. Four more wings create out of Divine Energy appeared on his back as a halo shone above his head. Restiel looked even more heavenly at this moment.

Holding his scythe, he looked like an angel of death. An angel that would grant these walking dead beings eternal peace in purification.

Swaaaaaaaaaah!

Restiel paled as a large amount of Spirit Energy spread out, covering the entire area he was in.

The people in Hummolus saw a bright light consume their night, creating a moment of day in the darkness.

"What's happening?" Many people were startled and couldn't help but glance in Restiel's direction.

Even Magnus had to stop what he was doing.

"...Yep," He chuckled to himself, "Using that while my main body is around is a bad idea... I would have to unsummon myself if I do..."

Restiel then involuntarily muttered the words,

"Light of Purification."

VWHOOOOM!

The Divine Energy that had been spread out suddenly burst. Pillars of light sprouted wherever there was a zombie, annihilating them and refilling Restiel's empty reserves.

Hundreds of zombies perished in one moment.

But there were still more that survived. At least thousands, as they hid behind their shields and crowded Hummolus' wide streets.

Magnus knew of this as he duelled a sword-wielding skeleton.

He sighed,

"It looks grand, but it lacks power."