Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The Grave Maw Chapter 56: The Grave Maw Kai sat in the ruined manor’s grand hall, his tools laid out before him.

The flickering glow of enchanted candles cast long shadows as he carved precise sigils onto his undead companions.

The arcane wolves were the simplest.

Kai’s hands moved with practiced ease, overwriting their runes into their bodies.

Ignis, Zephyr, and Voltis barely flinched, their bodies already accustomed to the magic surging through them.

The symbols pulsed, binding elemental forces to their forms.

Joran, Merri, Finn, Rhea, and the newly enslaved adventurers were more difficult.

Their bodies resisted the carvings, their greater willpower and raw strength making the process sluggish and exhausting.

Kai had to force the sigils into their flesh with raw intent.

His mind and magic focused on overriding their innate resistance.

Sweat dripped from his brow as he fought to embed the runes, and even then, some had to be redone as the magic fizzled out.

But Raltia (Ralts) was different.

The first time he tried to rewrite the sigil on her forehead, the rune rejected him entirely, its glow fading the moment he lifted his fingers.

The second attempt caused a surge of unstable mana to explode outward, knocking him flat on his back.

The third warped, twisting into an unintelligible scrawl before vanishing entirely.

Frustration burned in his chest.

Unlike the other sigils, he didn’t understand the one on Ralts’s head.

Its structure was unfamiliar, the symbols intricate and maddeningly complex.

On his fourth attempt, he took a deep breath, clearing his thoughts.

He let his instincts guide him, tracing the rune exactly as it had been before-no modifications, no forced changes.

As the final stroke was completed, a pulse of power rippled through the room.

Ralts shuddered, her skeletal form cracking as she trembled.

A rush of knowledge filled Kai’s mind.

[Mutation Triggered: Chaos Lich.

Developed the Traits: Spell Weaver – Can weave spells together to create stronger variants.

Chain Casting – For additional mana cost, can cast spells without cooldown.] A slow grin spread across his face.

Whatever he had just unlocked… it was far beyond anything he had expected.

[Joran: Strengthening Magic Sigil – Power boosted by 25%.] [Rhea: Command Sigil – Allows for an undead to take command over others.] [Merri: Shadow Sigil – Blends in with shadows.

Uses shadow abilities.] [Finn: Wind Sigil – Bends the air to their will.] [Joe (Joathan): Flame Sigil – Boosts Size and Explosive Power by 10%.] Kael (Kaelred): Lightning Sigil – Boosts Speed by 15%.] [Ralts: Chaos Sigil.

Unexpected parameter.] He sent all of his undead away and brought out a few zombies.

The ruined city stretched before him.

As usual, he marched through the streets looking for more undead to enslave.

It was getting easier.

He understood the attack patterns of the skeletons and zombies, and none of them became a threat anymore.

It became a game of hide and seek.

Kai walked in silence, his boots crunching against the debris that littered the ground.

His mind was focused, calculating.

He had spent days methodically tracking and enslaving the undead that still roamed these ruins.

And now, he was nearing the end of his task.

The remaining stragglers were scattered, broken things that posed little threat on their own.

Soon, this city would be his domain.

His undead followed in his wake, silent sentinels awaiting his command.  And yet, despite his progress, a nagging unease settled in his gut.

Then the air shifted.

The usual stench of decay that filled the ruined city had thickened, becoming oppressive.

A chill ran down his spine as he turned a corner in one of the crumbling streets, only to stop dead in his tracks.

A grotesque abomination loomed before him.

Its body was a fused mass of writhing, rotting limbs-arms, legs, torsos, even skulls barely visible beneath layers of necrotic flesh.

It twisted and convulsed, its many mouths moaning in agony, some whispering, others screaming.

It stood at least fifteen feet tall, hunched over, yet still towering over the nearby ruins.

Kai’s blood ran cold.

Another creature.

He’d read about this in one of Orlin’s books.

This one, though, was more dangerous than any of the other creatures he’d faced in the ruined city.

A Grave Maw.

A creature of twenty or more undead melded together into a single, mindless entity.

It was a necromantic abomination that absorbed anything it killed, growing larger and stronger with each new body.

And it was hungry.

The Grave Maw let out a deep, gurgling howl, its limbs twitching erratically as it began stomping toward him.

Each step sent cracks through the broken stone road beneath its weight.

“Shit.” Kai raised his hand, summoning a wave of lesser undead to intercept it.

The first rank of zombies rushed forward, their mindless moans barely audible beneath the cacophony of the Grave Maw’s writhing mass.

The moment they made contact, Kai’s worst fears were confirmed.

The Grave Maw absorbed them instantly.

Flesh and bone twisted, merging into its grotesque body.

Their moans were swallowed, their forms reduced to nothing but additional mass.

The creature grew, its bloated form surging with newfound strength.

It absorbs anything dead near it… even the undead I control?!

Kai flicked his hand up, summoning his arcane wolves from the shadows.

Three bestial forms leapt from the darkness, each adorned with their elemental sigils-fire, ice, and lightning.

“Spread out!

Attack the limbs!

Keep your distance!” The wolves lunged forward, but the moment the fire-wolf bit into the Grave Maw’s leg, its form began to wither.

A pulse of deathly energy rippled out from the abomination, sapping the very life essence from the creature.

The fire-wolf yelped as its body cracked apart, turning to ash before Kai could even react.

The Grave Maw slid over the crumbling remains of Ignis and absorbed it into its body.

A wolf’s face appeared within the mass of corpses and a weak flame faintly rippled across the creature.

His stomach lurched.

‘Ignis?’ There was no response.

Like Tecton, the link had been permanently severed.

While Kai was distracted, the Grave Maw swung a bloated limb, sending Zephyr flying into a crumbling wall.

Kai barely managed to sidestep a second, massive fist, rolling to the side as the ground split beneath the impact.

He checked on Zephyr, but it was still intact.

Still connected.

“Should I bring everyone else out?

It does seem to have a cooldown to absorb new undead.

This is bad, though.

This is really bad.” He flicked his hands up, chanting a spell.

“Withering Touch!” A pulse of necrotic energy shot from his fingers and struck the Grave Maw’s chest.

The magic sizzled and hissed against its flesh.

Something horrifying happened.

The magic didn’t weaken it.

It absorbed the energy.

Kai’s eyes widened.

‘It’s feeding off necrotic magic too?’ The Grave Maw’s grotesque form twitched, convulsed, then expanded.

It had gotten bigger.

Kai clenched his teeth.

Alright, new plan.

His shadow stretched unnaturally beneath him.

“Gravebound!” Ghostly hands erupted from the earth, latching onto the Grave Maw’s limbs.

The abomination lurched forward, struggling against the magical binds, its many mouths chattering in a horrifying chorus.

But it wasn’t enough.

The creature ripped free with sheer brute strength, sending a shockwave of force through the street.

Kai stumbled back, breathing hard.

If necrotic magic makes it stronger… then what the hell am I supposed to do?

The lightning-wolf darted between the Grave Maw’s legs, leaving bright arcs of energy in its wake.

Kai’s mind raced.

Maybe that was the key.

Overwhelming elemental damage.

‘But I need to stop it first.’ Kai reached into his shadow space and brought forth Joran.

Without a word communicated, Joran sprinted forward and unleashed a quick barrage of attacks.

It didn’t absorb him.

The magical negation that Joran used prevented even that.

‘Good.

This could work.’ Kai pulled forth a dagger inscribed with four runes: Shadow for sharpness, Flame for power, Strengthening for durability, and Ice for damage over time.

Lightning surged.

The dagger was struck.

The creature convulsed violently, its grotesque form seizing up.

Every limb, every fused corpse, every shrieking mouth froze as raw electricity coursed through its flesh.

Then, with a final, agonised howl, the entire abomination collapsed.

A heavy silence fell over the ruined city.

Kai wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Undead Enslavement!” The mass of undead stirred.

Now under his control and five times taller than Kai, a Grave Maw awaited instructions.

“Shadow Space!” The giant undead creature fell into a hole of darkness.

He allowed his arcane wolves and Joran to follow.

Then, a slow, deliberate clapping sound echoed through the empty streets.

Kai turned to see Orlin standing atop a broken wall, watching him with amusement.

“Well done,” the old necromancer said, his skeletal fingers still applauding.

“You actually survived.” Kai scoffed, sheathing the dagger.

“That thing was insane.

It absorbed necrotic magic like it was a damn meal.” “Indeed,” Orlin mused, hopping down effortlessly.

“A common mistake of young necromancers is assuming all undead are alike.

Some, like the Grave Maw, feast on death itself.

But…” He gestured to the space where the Grave Maw disappeared from.

“You adapted.

You learned.

That’s what matters.” Kai exhaled, shaking out his sore limbs.

“Yeah, well… next time, how about warning me about things like that in the city before you send me out to enslave everything, as if it will be easy?” Orlin chuckled.

“Where’s the fun in that, my dear disciple?

I did give you appropriate reading materials to learn what you might be up against.

I just failed to mention that some of those undead creatures exist here.” Kai groaned.

He was never going to get used to this old man’s teaching methods.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Jhaydun First Tecton, now Ignis…

At least he’s trading his original undead for stronger ones, but I feel a little sad about it.

Anyway, he’s got a Grave Maw, now!

That should come in handy!