Chapter 148: Hymn of Death Prowess (II)

Practicing for an unknown amount of time, Zen was about to give up trying since there was zero fluctuation of mana flowing in the chimera corpse.

When the tall figure cast the Hymn of Death, there was dark mana looming around the corpse before it manifested into a shadow. However, Zen could not produce the same type of dark mana surrounding the corpse.

'What am I missing?' Zen scratched his head and tried to recall the process that the tall figure did.

Suddenly, like a thunderstrike occurred into Zen's head, he finally realized what he had missed. 

'The timing of the chant and the corpse type.' Zen exclaimed inwardly as he became agitated.

He was only focused on the chanting part of the tall figure but forgot about the time when it paused for a while before continuing to cause the shadow to manifest into being.

Trying once again, Zen took a few deep breaths before chanting the spell carefully this time. Making sure to notice the corpse's movement, Zen was able to see tiny mana looming around and it was at that time, Zen paused the chanting for a few seconds before continuing.

"Summon" Zen shouted loudly and the chimera corpse started to have its shadow forming.

The chimera shadow appeared and knelt before Zen in a subordinate manner.

"Hahaha, success at last." Zen was excited and happy to finally be able to resurrect a corpse into a shadow.

However, his happiness only lasted for a minute before the shadow returned to nothingness, causing Zen to be enraged.

"What the hell?" Zen roared at the tall figure since he was sure it was his doing to cancel his summoning.

The tall figure didn't reply and simply waved his wand slightly. Some texts then appeared for Zen to see.

"The corpse is prepared by us to teach you the Hymn of Death. This was just a simulation to get you familiar with the spell and nothing more."

Zen read it word for word and couldn't help but want to beat someone up. He tried so hard to be able to resurrect the chimera and it was taken away from him right away.

He didn't even get to have a chance to name the shadow or command it slightly besides having the chimera kneel down to him.

"Stingy grimoire spell." Zen sneered at the grimoire before his vision darkens and when he reopened his eyes again, he was back to reality.

Since the Hymn of Death demonstration was over, he was sent back to the room where he was still trapped inside. 

Time slowly passed by when Krista Dragoon arrived at the door and yelled, "Are you there, Zen?"

"Yup, I got baited into this trap and there should be a mechanism around the wall somewhere to activate the door," Zen instructed Krista Dragoon on the method to rescue him.

Cecilia has given him clues about this mysterious room where it can only be opened from the outside while the people on the inside could only be trapped without any way to open it.

In other words, it was a garbage mechanism created by dumb people to trap the people inside for no reason.

Krista Dragoon took the next few minutes to search for the mechanism and Zen was calmly waiting in the room while thinking about the Hymn of Death.

"Since I was able to resurrect once in the simulation then maybe I can try to use it again on those goblins. They would be a great practice when there's numerous of them." Zen mumbled softly.

At this time, Krista Dragoon managed to find the mechanism and activated it. The door slowly trembled slightly as it opened up and Zen hurriedly stood up to run outside.

Being trapped in the room was like being in prison where all communication with others is cut off. 

"Thank you, Krista, I would have gone crazy if I stayed in that room any longer," Zen said cheekily as he tried to lean toward her for a kiss.

Krista Dragoon narrowed her eyes as she avoided his kiss and said, "You owe me a favor now."

Zen merely shrugged his shoulders off to deny her. 

Afterward, he decided to ask Krista Dragoon about the current condition and the aftermath of the goblin's horde.

Krista Dragoon was irritated by his constant change of topic but still replied diligently and informed him of the current situation.

"All the goblins on the 2nd floor have been eradicated by us and we were simply waiting for you before we can go to the next floor." Krista Dragoon said and continued.

"If only someone didn't try to act smart and arrogant into investigating alone, causing him to be trapped then we would have left the 2nd floor already." 

Zen twitched his eyebrow slightly on Krista Dragoon sneering at him for getting himself trapped. Luckily, his emotion was kept hidden as he nodded his head slowly.

"So what about the corpse of the goblins?" Zen asked softly.

"They are gathered up in a single pile and we were about to burn them all into a crisp until Romu came." Krista Dragoon replied and before she even realized it, Zen was already gone from her sight.

Zen was running toward the battlefield in a hurried and panicked manner. Krista Dragoon was surprised by his urgency and followed behind quickly.

"What's wrong?" Krista Dragoon asked in concern since she doesn't know what happened.

"If you burn all the goblins' corpses then I'm really going to cry," Zen exclaimed loudly as he increased his movement.

With the Flash Point technique, Zen vanished from sight, causing Krista Dragoon to be shocked by his swift movement.

"Just how quick is his leg?" Krista Dragoon mumbled softly as she could no longer see his shadow.

Meanwhile, Zen quickly appeared in front of Leila Dragoon who was about to cast some flame with her wand.

"STOP!"

Zen shouted loudly, causing Leila Dragoon to step back in shock as she glanced at the source.

Seeing that it was Zen, Leila Dragoon became confused and asked him what's wrong.

Zen calmly explained his reason for telling her to stop her action and smiled wickedly when he saw a ton of corpses in front of him.

"Z-Zen?" Leila Dragoon asked with a terrified expression since Zen was smiling like a devil.

"Cough, apologies Leila. I was simply too agitated and excited about turning these corpses into my shadow." Zen coughed slightly as he recomposed himself.

Although still a little confused, Leila Dragoon nodded her head slowly as she watched Zen chanting some weird language that she couldn't understand.

With the chant, multiple mana starts to loom around the corpse and some even have shadows popping out.

The scene was spooky as shadows of the corpse continued to appear with some even fully manifesting into a goblin.

Krista Dragoon also arrived at this time and was shocked by the scene in front of her. Without needing another second to guess what's Zen is doing, she could guess he was using the Hymn of Death.

'H-He already managed to comprehend this forbidden spell. B-But the condition needed to learn this spell is impossible to achieve.' Krista Dragoon was shocked that Zen was able to learn and utilize the forbidden spell.

After all, Lady Seraphine has mentioned about the condition needed to learn the Hymn of Death is by experiencing death. 

Krista Dragoon held a solemn expression as she glanced at Zen who was in his own world in chanting the spell. She couldn't believe that the person she was looking at was always holding a cheeky smile and a foul mouth to be someone that experienced death before.

It wasn't just Krista Dragoon who realized this fact because Leila Dragoon also seemed to understand the meaning of this action.

The two sisters glance at each other and aren't surprised that they have the same thinking. Leila Dragoon slowly walks next to Krista Dragoon before holding her sleeve tightly.

"Sister Krista, do you know what happened to Zen?" Leila Dragoon asked softly.

Krista Dragoon could only smile bitterly at this question and stroke her head slowly. "I don't know either and he probably won't tell us about it anytime soon."

Krista Dragoon was smart enough to know that Zen would never tell his secret easily to anyone. He was the same kind of person as her who would keep everything to herself.

Leila Dragoon stayed silent from her reply and lay her head down on her shoulder.

Krista Dragoon wanted to give her a little hug before a shocking scene appeared before them.

Hundreds of goblins shadow suddenly appear in unison and kneel down on one knee at Zen.

"Mwahahaha, I got the hang of the spell. An army of undead goblins at my command." Zen exclaimed loudly and stared at the two princesses who had their mouths wide open in disbelief.

Zen was happy to see their expression as he took advantage of them when they're still dazed.

With a quick movement, Zen appeared in between them and pecked on their cheeks lightly as he said, "A reward for my impressive work."