Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: The Soul Forge – Part 2
Kai stood before the Soul Forge, its swirling mist alive with silent hunger. The ancient runes pulsed gently beneath his feet, casting elongated shadows across the chamber’s walls.

With a steady breath, he reached into his vault and withdrew two of the nameless guard souls. They were simple, flickering things with no identity and barely any cohesion. He held them between his hands, watching them squirm like moths trapped in amber.

“Let’s see if you’re more useful in death than you were in life,” he muttered.

He pushed the two souls toward the mist.

As soon as they breached the fog, the Forge reacted. It sucked them in like a vacuum cleaner.

Brilliant, ethereal light burst outward, painting the chamber in shades of green and violet. Moans hummed from the forge. Soft at first, then rising into a chorus of deathless voices that echoed from the mist. They weren’t cries of pain but the groaning song of souls being unraveled, stitched together by forces beyond mortal understanding.

Kai shielded his eyes. Then… silence.

Nothing emerged.

His heart thudded once, sharply.

But then he felt it. A thrum in his chest. A whisper not with words, but presence.

The soul was still inside the forge.

Whole

New.

Different.

Focusing, Kai reached for it with his mind. It felt like tugging on tangled thread underwater. His soul manipulation guided the motion, tracing the shape of the creation.

With one last tug, it lifted from the Forge like a pearl rising from the deep, trailing strands of mist behind it, and settled in his hands.

[Artificial Soul (Lesser)]

Kai grinned.

“It worked. They went from two petty souls to one lesser soul. But no grand ritual, no excessive use of mana… just dumping them inside?”

The implications were staggering.

He quickly prepared two of the three lesser inquisitor souls, richer in power, and repeated the process.

This time, the Forge roared.

Lights flared violently. The chamber quaked. The song of the dead became a symphony of anguish and glory. For a second, Kai staggered backward. His shadow warped unnaturally on the floor.

When the light dimmed, something heavier rose from the depths. Something more.

[Artificial Soul (Greater)]

“Perfect. It scales with soul quality.”

He cracked his knuckles.

“Let’s push it further.”

Twelve of the Iron Bear souls emerged from his vault—brutal, disciplined warriors even in death. As he guided the first pair toward fusion, something resisted. The souls didn’t want to merge. Their rage clashed. Their will opposed it.

Kai clenched his fists, sweat forming at his brow. His soul manipulation sharpened like a blade, pushing his will between them, forcefully aligning their essence.

They screamed.

The effort was titanic. His breath came ragged, and a dull throb crept through his skull.

“I haven’t felt this tired in years…”

One fusion down. Eleven souls to go.

He didn’t stop.

By the end, Kai was on one knee, panting. Six artificial souls floated in the air around him, each heavier than the last.

[Grand Artificial Soul (6)]

He collapsed back against the cold stone wall, heart racing.

‘They don’t quite feel like Kleo’s did…’ he thought. ‘I guess artificial souls no longer carry their owners’ intents. Just raw force. That’s fine. I don’t need their memories. I need stronger undead to wield them.’

Kai wiped his brow and glanced at the last two souls: the lone remaining nameless inquisitor and the last Iron Bear.

“Let’s experiment.”

He pushed them both into the mist.

But they didn’t sing.

They screamed, and then disintegrated.

Shrill voice entered his mind. And an interface appeared before him in bold red lettering. Something the system had yet to do.

[You have not reached the requirements to fuse souls of different calibers.]

Kai sighed resigned to accept the result.

“That solves that question… Well, I lost two souls, but it was worth a try.”

He pushed to his feet.

“Now, for a bigger test.”

He summoned his two lesser liches from the shadow space. They emerged silently, bone hands gripping twisted staves, faces locked in eternal sneers.

Kai retrieved the greater artificial soul.

‘Eidolon?’ he asked internally. ‘I suppose you won’t tell me if this will work?’

Silence.

“Didn’t think so.”

He rubbed his hands together and positioned the liches. With precise will, he slammed them into each other, using the soul as the binding agent.

The moment they touched, the chamber ignited with necrotic energy. Tendrils of black and green lightning spiraled through the air. The liches’ forms contorted, twisted, melted. The storm raged on until a single figure hovered in the centre of the room.

It descended slowly, robes flapping despite the still air.

[Fusion Result: Greater Lich]

[Spellcasting enhanced. Intelligence increased. Unlocked Necromancy Abilities: Raise Dead, Thrall Control. Mana reserves quadrupled. Equipment: Robe of Necrosis, Staff of the Dead.]

Kai exhaled in awe.

“A greater lich… and it can raise its own undead?”

He smirked.

“I’ll have to see if what they raise counts toward my own army.”

He brought out two skeleton knights next.

Using another greater artificial soul, he fused them.

The result was immediate. Bone against bone, power against power. The explosion of dark magic was brief but potent.

[Fusion Result: Lesser Death Knight]

[Strength multiplied. Durability: enhanced. Loyalty: absolute. Equipment: Death Plate, Undead Sentinel’s Shield, Greatsword of the Last Act.]

Kai tilted his head.

“Lesser? Does the shadow death knight not say ‘lesser’ because it’s a variant?”

To test it, he repeated the process, creating another lesser death knight. He then applied shadow sigils to both, transforming them into shadow death knights.

The titles changed. They were simply listed as “Shadow Death Knight.”

That confirmed it.

“Variant units lose their tiered designation. Interesting. Does that limit their growth, or will they become something even more powerful if I fuse them together?”

Excitement welled in Kai’s chest.

With a pulse of command, he designated the three shadow death knights to serve under one undead in particular.

Joe.

His named death knight emerged from the void like a loyal hound, clad in his obsidian plate. Kai could feel the loyalty radiate from him now.

A fierce, iron-clad devotion.

It startled him at times.

Kai had been worried. In life, Joe had been reckless. Hasty. A man who shot first and forgot to ask questions.

But now?

He knelt without command.

Unflinching. Focused. The soul-binding had done more than tether his essence—it had tempered it.

And Kai was about to test just how deep that loyalty ran.

He pulled out Ralts to examine her chaos rune.

He hesitated for only a second.

Then carved it into Joe’s chest.

Chaos burst from the rune like a geyser.

Laughter erupted from his undead minion.

Kai stepped back as Joe rose to his feet.

‘I guess we’ll see if your loyalty still remains.’