"No wonder it's a fourth-tier elemental crystal. It only took a short time, and I've already condensed death mana within my body.
With my current strength… I should barely be able to protect myself now."
Feeling the newly strengthened power flowing through him, Hel couldn't help but feel a strange sense of confidence.
If he were to face the Underworld Queen again, he still wouldn't win—
but at least he wouldn't die as quickly.
He'd gone from being a small, helpless ant to… a slightly bigger ant.
At the very least, his death-attribute mana now completely outclassed the original body's water magic.
Now that he had some power, it was time to find proper equipment.
Hel searched the area again, rummaging through ashes and corpses, and before long he came across several items of value.
[Name]: Spatial Ring
[Grade]: Purple · Rare
[Entry]: Storage Space (Purple)
[Description]: A storage ring with a capacity of 1,000 cubic units. The user must imprint their soul mark to use it.
He found two such rings—one from the Underworld Queen, the other from Rosé.
They were identical in design, clearly crafted by the same maker.
However, both still bore the spiritual imprints of their former owners—two high-ranking magi.
With his current power, Hel had no way to erase those imprints.
So, for now, he simply pocketed the rings, intending to deal with them once he grew stronger.
Then, from Rosé's thigh holster, he pulled out a crimson, leather-bound grimoire.
[Name]: Book of Blood
[Grade]: Red · Sacred Artifact
[Entries]: Blood Feast (Red), Blood Magic Inscription (Red)
[Description]: One of the Seven Sacred Relics of the Blood Clan. Stores blood energy and allows instant casting of inscribed blood-type spells.
It was a terrifyingly powerful magic item, and its connection to the elusive Blood Clan made it even more dangerous.
However, when compared to another relic he found on the Underworld Queen's body, this book looked almost trivial.
[Name]: Sacred Coffin of the Dead
[Grade]: Pink · Semi-Divine Artifact
[Entries]: Undead Catastrophe (Red), Undead Space (Pink), Undead Fusion (Red), Triple Seal (Black)
[Description]: A sacred coffin once used by the Goddess of the Underworld in the mortal realm, infused with traces of divine Nether energy.
[Undead Catastrophe]: Allows the user to create undead creatures without cost. The undead's strength depends on the quality of the corpse.
[Undead Space]: Opens a storage dimension for undead. Within it, undead slowly recover, and corpses do not decay.
[Undead Fusion]: Enables the fusion and evolution of undead with other undead or materials.
[Triple Seal]: Contains three layers of seals. Each requires a life sacrifice to unlock.
[Current Seal: 2/3 unlocked. "Undead Catastrophe" available.]
[Next Seal Progress: 1,000,000 / 10,000,000.]
Despite being called a "coffin," the artifact actually took the form of a pendant—
a small coffin-shaped necklace, intricately crafted from countless intertwined bones, exuding a dark, gothic elegance.
"...Seals, huh?"
Hel frowned as he studied the pendant in his hand.
With a thought, he removed the [Triple Seal] entry using his "Extraction" ability.
For inanimate objects, the extraction function wasn't restricted—
so unlike the Underworld Queen, he didn't need to sacrifice his own life to unseal it.
Still, just looking at it, he knew this was not the kind of item worn by "good people."
If the Inquisition ever found him with this thing, it'd bring nothing but trouble.
Maybe once he survived this mess, he could try transferring the entries to a less suspicious item.
But that was for later.
Right now, he had no idea how many enemies remained in the castle.
He needed every bit of power he could muster.
Be it the Death Witch entry, this semi-divine artifact, or his death magic—
Hel was in no position to be picky.
With his current strength, he could now use a much safer method to scout his surroundings:
Summon a helper.
Or rather… a disposable one.
For example—
the corpse the Underworld Queen had dragged in earlier.
He decided to turn that into his first undead.
[Name]: Lems
[Rank]: Tier 1 · Intermediate Knight (7 Stars)
[Entries]: — , [Ducarne's Servant (Black)]
[Ducarne's Servant]: Loyalty +60. A devoted servant of the Third Young Master Ducarne.
Ducarne… full name Ducarne Mandora.
The third son of the Mandora family—
and, incidentally, Hel's "third brother."
In the original Hel's memories, Ducarne was a lazy, decadent noble scoundrel.
But apparently, that was just a façade.
The man had secretly planted his own loyal agents—even among his "least favored" little brother's guards.
Lems, it turned out, had been one of Ducarne's personal knights.
Every noble's personal guard was chosen for loyalty above all else—the ones who kept them safe in their sleep.
Because no matter how powerful someone was, they still had to sleep sometime.
And now Hel realized—Ducarne had kept a knife pressed to his throat all along.
One that could strike the moment things turned hostile.
But all of that was in the past now.
Hel knelt beside Lems' corpse and lightly touched it.
Instantly, all the corpse's entries were extracted.
Then, a glowing, complex magic circle formed on Hel's palm.
[Basic Death Magic: Raise Undead]
Thanks to the Sacred Coffin's abilities, even a weak necromancer like Hel successfully cast the spell.
Moments later, Lems' blood-soaked corpse suddenly sat upright—
Like a proper jump-scare zombie.
Which, technically, he was.
Sir Lems had now been "honorably promoted" to the ranks of the undead.
Unfortunately, with all his entries stripped away, his strength had dropped significantly.
And upon becoming undead, he'd gained three black entries—
the most troublesome being [Mindless]: Knowledge -60.
Knowledge, in this world, encompassed rationality, intelligence, experience, and learning.
A negative value meant the creature could only act on instinct—completely devoid of independent thought.
Which explained why low-level undead tended to be… brainless.
Not that it mattered. Hel didn't summon him for conversation.
He just needed a meat shield—someone to check if the coast was clear.
So he gave the command, and zombie Lems shambled off.
Once the knight had wandered around and confirmed there was no danger nearby, Hel cautiously crept out of the dungeon.
The dungeon itself wasn't large. Exiting the cell, Hel stepped into a wide corridor.
There were six prison cells lined up on either side—
and he had just emerged from one of them.
But the sight that greeted him made his stomach churn.
The floor was littered with corpses.
Blood mixed with chunks of flesh painted the hallway red.
Not a single living soul remained.
For someone who'd grown up in a peaceful, modern world…
The scene was nothing short of horrific.