To be honest, since coming to this world, the most practical thing Ileya had obtained…
was probably this “Underworld” she had scavenged from Veil’s possession.
When she had just begun on the path of the Necromancer, it hadn’t mattered much, but the further she progressed… the more death energy she found she needed.
Just like ordinary cultivation requires finding a place rich in spiritual energy to make a breakthrough.
The path of death was the same.
From the beginning to the second rank, Ileya had relied on the death energy and magic power obtained from restoring magic with Veil to make her breakthroughs.
But now, she did not intend to continue demanding from that foolish goddess as before.
Instead, she planned to break through to the third rank within the “Underworld.”
Without the help of Veil’s cheat-like assistance, Ileya had actually prepared herself for the possibility that the breakthrough would take a very long time, or even fail.
“Anyway, I have to try everything…”
She was the one in charge. She wanted Veil to be unable to leave her, not the other way around.
Thinking this, Ileya slowly closed her eyes.
And the moment she focused her mind and circulated her energy…
Whoosh!!
The death energy within this broken “Underworld” instantly formed a terrifying vortex centered on her.
Above, Ileya’s soul floated like a colossal whale dominating the heavens, its mouth constantly opening, voraciously swallowing the swarming death energy…
However, the lady herself seemed completely unaware of all this.
In her perception, everything was going remarkably smoothly.
Smoothly entering the state, smoothly absorbing the death energy, smoothly breaking through.
It all felt as ordinary and routine as eating or drinking.
By the time she closed her eyes and opened them again, Ileya had already completed the breakthrough, becoming a third-rank Necromancer.
“Looking at it this way, my talent is actually… not bad?”
Feeling the surging, icy death power within her body, now several times greater than before…
The lady’s lips unconsciously curved upwards in a slight smile.
Whoosh—!!
And at that very moment, the black mist that Ileya called the “Boundary” began to dissipate in vast swathes…
Unlike the first time, this “Underworld” now held not just Ileya, but countless undead creatures as well.
Sensing the black mist continuously receding around them, waves of intense excitement rose from the depths of their souls…
The undead creatures that had developed some level of thought immediately looked up, gazing towards the sky above…
Towards that will that seemed to perpetually stand amidst the clouds.
Rustle…
Instinctively, these undead creatures prostrated themselves, kneeling as if devout believers bowing before a fearsome god residing in the boundless heavens above!
And at that moment… a profound, mysterious feeling suddenly arose within Ileya’s soul…
It felt as though she wasn’t merely a lowly third-rank Necromancer, but had truly become a deity overlooking this world, sweeping her gaze—filled with both compassion and majesty—over everything below.
The tens of thousands of undead creatures below… it seemed she could wipe them all out with a mere wave of her hand…
“Hiss…” But this feeling came and went quickly, leaving behind only a wave of dizziness for this “deity” who had just been surveying all living beings.
Taking a deep breath to steady her mind, Ileya began to assess her surroundings once more.
Hmm?
This death energy… why has it suddenly become so much thinner?
Her red eyes scanned the area, and Ileya immediately noticed the changes her own breakthrough had brought to the Underworld.
First was the area. The surrounding boundaries had receded by nearly a thousand miles…
A rough estimate suggested the freely traversable space within the Underworld was now more than ten times larger than before.
Moreover, these newly opened wilderness areas were different from the previous ones…
They weren’t the super-flat ground, but rather… featured naturally formed mountains, rivers, and valleys.
Except the water in this world was a pale black. Anyone not out of their mind would definitely not think this water was drinkable…
Of course, that wasn’t all. Ileya even discovered… the ruins of many cities in some places.
However, these ruins were even more dilapidated than the abandoned city of Lande she had visited before, reduced to just a few broken sections of city walls and roofless houses…
Could it be… that before she inherited this World of the Dead, it had other masters? Even its own civilization?
Ileya didn’t know. And these… weren’t things she should be thinking about right now.
Because at that moment, countless withered hands were extending from the surrounding boundary. They were the “Coffins”!
It was time to pick skills again…
Though she really wanted to choose the skills she desired, unfortunately… she had no method to identify the skills within the Coffins, so it could only be random selection.
Just like last time, Ileya walked to the boundary and randomly touched the arms of three Coffins…
Intermediate Flesh Magic [Corpse Bomb]
Turns a corpse fragment touched by the caster into a flesh bomb. Upon explosion, it produces “Corrosive Blood,” causing corrosive damage to enemies hit by the splash.
Ancient Magic [Blood Manipulation]
Manipulates one’s own or another’s blood. Prolonged use can cause the negative effect “Bloodthirst.”
If Bloodthirst is triggered too many times, there is a chance it becomes a permanent negative effect.
Intermediate Mental Magic [Blood Slave Brand]
Uses blood as a brand to enslave those unable to resist.
Once the Blood Slave Brand is implanted, the enslaved one’s mind undergoes irreversible distortion and influence.
Without prolonged contact, they become the caster’s puppet.
Whoosh… With the three magics drawn, the arms of the Coffins slowly retracted into the black mist.
And at that moment, Ileya felt pleasantly surprised…
She had originally thought the drawn magics would match her current power level, but she hadn’t expected two intermediate magics, and even one… ancient magic.
Although she didn’t know what level that was, the name of the magic alone—[Blood Manipulation]—was enough.
But… these three magics all seemed to have some connection to “blood.”
She remembered last time she drew skills it was similar… the skills drawn were Bone Spear, Bone Armor, Soulfire Infusion.
They all seemed to be necromantic magic skills.
Perhaps her intuition… really could influence what she drew?
Well, thinking too much about it is useless. I should first test my new abilities…
With that thought, Ileya began a series of experiments.
The results… actually left her feeling somewhat bewildered.
The power of [Corpse Bomb] was quite good… The explosive force of an entire first-rank Zombie detonating, if not dodged, could definitely not be withstood even by a White Silver Rank warrior.
It was just that turning a normal human-sized chunk of flesh into a bomb consumed a bit too much magic power.
However, the strength of this magic lay in its flexibility. Regardless of size, as long as there was dead flesh, it could be used, so it had potential for development.
There wasn’t much to say about [Blood Slave Brand]. It required her own blood as material to enslave the target’s mind…
But while testing this skill, Ileya thought she might as well test if [Blood Manipulation] could draw out some blood without her having an open wound.
However… after testing for a long time, the lady could only manage to make her blood flow a bit faster through her veins…
And with Ileya pushing it with all her might, the final result was…
She got a nosebleed.