Chapter 85: The Necromancer Kahn stood with a gobsmacked expression on his face after seeing the possible merged skills that the system listed to him. Past half an hour already gave him two small heart attacks and now the system gave him the 3rd one. The new merged skills were the very reason for that. [The host can acquire the following merged skills : Darkblade (S Rank) (Upgradable) : A combination of Shadow Blade & Windcutter sword skill. Allows the host to attacks and shoot waves of 3 meter height long-range and highly compressed dark energy blades through the sword. Current range : 60 meters King of the Dead (S Rank) (Upgradable) : Ability created by merging Dead Summoner under Synthesis divine ability. The Divine Ability has undergone a transformation. The time required to create new subordinates has been reduced by 50%. Allows the host to directly create subordinates without touching them. As long as the host provides monster cores or mana ores to the system, the host can directly create new subordinates in 500 meters radius. The host has gained the ability to impart or grant the Dark magic & Darkness element to the newly created subordinates. Command word to activate this skill is required.] listed the system and gave him the details on his newly gained skills. "Bloody hell." said Kahn and made a gesture of drinking his imaginary coffee. There were only two merged skills available but they were top-notch in every aspect. Darkblade was simply too overpowered because it had the same effects as the Shadow Blades that the Lich used to kill Kahn. Those were the same blades that even Kahn's Somir scales failed to defend against. And that ability was his best defense skill. Even the Windcutter attack could barely make a scratch on those scales. So he understood how strong and destructive those shadow blades were. But to use them in combat through the sword was far useful as Kahn won't need to spend any time on casting them or cite any incantation. He could just use his sword to launch those blades that could easily cut through boulders with ease and that too for 60 meters range. Just through description alone, this ability had become his most powerful long-range offensive skill. He clearly lacked such skill. Although the Grappling Extensions had 30 meters of range, he couldn't use them in a fight without appearing like a monster to onlookers. Even though the Dark magic was forbidden, he could still make do with Windcutter in front of the public eye and use Darkblade when he had to fight multiple enemies. Kahn was now certain that the Darkblade skill could cut through armors and shields like a hot knife through butter. He could cut through a dozen enemies with just a single attack of the Darkblade skill because with Hero of Darkness title in effect, the output damage of all his dark magic spells and darkness element attack skill will be tripled. And then the King of the Dead was a life-saving skill for him. Because he was tired of always having to put his hands on the creatures and standing there like an idiot and wait till the new subordinates were created. And since the system couldn't function outside of his body, he always had to do the job manually. With the increase of subordinates.. This had become a tiresome chore. And one of the reasons why Kahn hadn't created hundreds of subordinates already despite killing so many people and monsters. "Merge them." commanded Kahn and waited for his new skills. [Synthesis complete. Please decide a command word for the King of the Dead skill to activate.] replied the system. "Arise." [[Author : Oye!! Do you want me to get sued? Think of something original, you dumbass!]] "Uhmm.. Wait. Let me think of something else. How about 'Awaken' ?" [Command word accepted.] affirmed the system. Kahn then moved to the 2nd thing on his to-do list. He thought for a while about his possible options as he looked at the body of the undead Lich. "Ceril!" he called out the Enchanter subordinate. Currently, it was his only best choice to merge with this undead. Because no way he was going to let go of the powerful enemy who managed to completely overpower & kill him. The Undead Lich already gave him a lot by accidentally awakening his Hero of Darkness title, granted him the OP dark magic spells and skills and now it was going to give him another powerful subordinate. "System, I can skip on needing a subordinate with Evolution skill unlocked given how the Lich was made of dark magic & darkness element, right?" [Yes. But the host will need to impart all the dark magic he currently has in order to successfully merge the bodies along with 30 A Rank monster cores. The Dark magic reserves will be restored with time. The resultant subordinates will possess the skills & spells of both subjects but the Dark magic will have a more prominent influence on its characteristics.] replied and commanded the system. "I see. Impart all my current storage of dark magic to the synthesis process and take the cores." said Kahn and took out 30 A Rank monster cores from his space ring. [The host still needs to give the command.] reminded the system. "Awaken." said Kahn and suddenly, all the cores in his hand were absorbed and Ceril's body started to merge with the bones of the undead Lich as both the subjects turned into shadows and mixed without Kahn having to touch them. Even with the 50% decrease in the Synthesis procedure, it still took 30 minutes before the new subordinate was finally created. A Skelton mage that had a crown embedded in its head and a 10 meter tall body. It was nothing but white bones and its eyes glimmered red. Ceril's humanoid structure was gone and now he appeared very similar to the undead Lich in many ways. However, his rib cage had a red fire orb in the middle and his aura was plain red unlike the dark summoner who emitted a purple aura. Kahn took out long white and red mage robes and some light armor from his space ring and gave them to Ceril. To cover the majority of his exposed bones. With a wave of his hands, Ceril now summoned the 5 Grimoires that once belonged to the Lich and they connected to him by red and tangible mana threads. Ceril then wore the mage robes and knelt in front of Kahn. "Thank you, my lord. I shall serve you with all my strength till the end of days." said Ceril who could finally speak. "System, show me his stats." commanded Kahn. [Following are the statistics for the subordinate named Ceril : Name : Ceril Species : Necromancer (Variant Undead Summoner) Rank : Lord Level : 53 Strength : 186 Agility : 193 Dexterity : 361 Defense : 137 Mana : 782 Active skills & abilities : Darkness Barrier Undead Summoner Shadow Blade Firestorm Lightning Bolt Wind Blade Frost Pike Water Blade Silence Barrier Void Space Note : Some abilities that are no longer suitable for the subordinate after merging with Dark magic have been removed. Passive skills/abilities : Mana Recovery (A Rank) (Upgradable) Dark Magic Absorption (A Rank) (Upgradable) : Allows the subordinate to absorb dark magic energy from other beings. Commander of the Dead (A Rank) (Upgradable): Allows the subordinate to summon undead creatures and command them as part of its army.] Kahn was stunned after hearing the results and exclaimed in surprise. "Holy mother of God!"