Zogarth
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Chapter 1246 - The Concept of Death
🕑 Added 2025-11-06 12:18:53 +0000 UTC“Then I guess I shouldn’t disappoint,” Casper answered with a smile as he began walking towards the in-construction Grand Labyrinth. His steps were slow and steady at first, but after a couple, a familiar dark energy began emanating from his body right as he disappeared.
He reappeared in the distance, having used some kind of movement skill. Once there, he crouched down and touched his hands to the ground while speaking, and after a solid minute, he got up again, threw Jake a glance, and used his movement skill yet again.
Jake had already activated his Unseen Hunter skill by now, so while Casper could still see him due to already being aware of his presence, the B-grade Casper was about to engage wouldn’t be able to.
He watched with interest as the Risen picked out his target and raised his hand to summon a large black wooden stake, which emanated curse energy. Jake didn’t question that Casper still used wooden stakes, as hey, if it worked, it worked.
Casper took aim at one of the Construction Golems that were more isolated than the others, and without further ado, he released his attack. It flew straight for the B-grade robot, which only managed to react at the very last moment before getting hit.
He’s got a stealth attack skill… yet he didn’t bother with a powerful opening strike, Jake noted. He didn’t believe this was because Casper didn’t have any better way to start the fight, so he guessed this was part of the Risen showing off what he was capable of.
The wooden stake slammed into the golem, smashing it into the ground as the stake exploded into splinters that embedded themselves in the metal body of the B-grade. They didn’t actually penetrate the metal exterior, but simply phased into it as if they had, making Jake guess that these splinters weren’t physical in nature, but closer to fragments of pure curse energy.
This initial opening attack didn’t seem to have done much damage, though, as the golem was quickly back on its feet and located Casper. Without any hesitation, it sprang towards the Risen with impressive speed from what looked like spring-loaded legs.
At the same time, its arms also transformed into weapons. Well, more construction tools, really. The right hand turned into a spinning drill while the left became a pickaxe, both tools perfectly capable of also serving as weapons, though Jake did question how these two were useful when constructing a labyrinth well.
Not wanting to waste mental energy in thinking about stuff like that, Jake kept watching as the golem approached Casper. As it flew towards him, the Risen summoned black stakes around him and shot them towards the B-grade, landing several, though it looked like they didn’t do much besides embedding more of these black splinters.
Casper quickly began retreating as his foe got closer, continuing his barrage of attacks that did little to slow down his foe. Being a golem made of metal, this construction worker surely had a high level of toughness, despite being a bottom-tier B-grade, leading Jake to question whether Casper was struggling to do any meaningful damage. He also wondered exactly how the Risen would overcome the fact that curses tended not to work very well on things like golems and elementals.
Fortunately, he would get his answer soon, as Casper retreated straight back to where he’d spent a minute setting something up earlier. The golem naturally continued simply to chase after him, even shooting a few laser beams on the way to try to stop its foe, though it was clear that the construction golem had little going for it when it came to ranged combat.
When it went above where Casper had made preparations before, the Risen finally made him move. He stopped and placed his palms on the ground, and just then, a magic circle lit up under the B-grade.
A restrictive force stopped its movements as Casper’s body exploded with an odd turquoise energy, and behind him, a projection of a female ghost appeared. The magic circle also took on the same color as the energy Casper and Lyra released before it started funneling into the golem, which had its flight stopped in its tracks, as if suspended in zero-gravity.
All the small splinters absorbed the ghostly energy and began glowing, before suddenly, all at once, they all explosively grew into full stakes. In an instant, the Construction Golem turned into what looked like a very failed attempt at the Sword Box magic trick, where someone had forgotten the box and switched the swords for wooden stakes.
However, upon closer inspection, Jake realized these stakes weren’t physical. They were ethereal and had a ghostly aura, making Jake frown as he began to think the attack hadn’t proven as effective as he first thought. Perhaps he was right, but what happened next let him know that this was most certainly still a bad time for the B-grade.
The golem tried to move, but as it tried to reach forward, its arm instead distorted weirdly before folding at a one-eighty angle, breaking it in the process. The same happened with its leg as the body of the golem warped and broke, its limbs twisting and distorting as Casper controlled the magic circle.
Unfortunately for the Risen, he wasn’t capable of finishing the B-grade that easily, as it erupted with energy as its feet transformed into what looked like thrusters that then proceeded to shoot out fire down into the magic circle, exploding it.
Casper looked more annoyed than perturbed as he quickly raised his hands before putting them down again… only for a second magic circle to appear, this one shooting up a ghastly light before equally ghostly chains shot up to wrap around the golem.
The golem tried to escape as it increased the output of its thrusters, and as it did, the chains started breaking one by one, but Casper had evidently only tried to slow it down temporarily anyway, buying him time to make a follow-up attack. Or, more accurately, for Lyra to make a follow-up attack.
His locket began glowing again as the full body of his ghost girlfriend appeared. She emerged from Casper’s body after floating behind it before and shot towards the golem. As she did so, Jake also finally saw what kind of monster Casper was harboring, and her aura was enough to make Jake frown slightly.
Stronger than I expected, he noted, and upon using Identify, he realized how she could appear so strong.
[Blightwraith – lvl 349]
It seemed that Casper was holding Lyra back and not the other way around. Seeing her at this high level did confuse Jake, though, as he’d assumed there would be some restriction limiting her level to Casper’s own or something similar, but evidently, that wasn’t the case.
Then again, Jake admittedly had no idea how the bond between Casper and Lyra worked or how it was even possible. He knew that Lyra essentially counted as a guardian of Casper, meaning she didn’t register as her own individual when it came to things like dungeons or system events.
In that vein, it was reminiscent of beast masters or certain other classes that could have a limited number of creatures under their control. A tamed beast naturally still had its own Truesoul and existed as an independent creature for the most part, but this kind of existence always came with severe restrictions.
Progress would be tied to the master in the relationship, and perhaps most importantly, should the master die, so would all creatures tied to them. That’s also why targeting the summoners or beast masters themselves tended to be the best strategy when taking them down.
Of course, there were also those who didn’t form that kind of bond with their companions. Those with relationships closer to the one between Jake and Sylphie, where they simply worked together and, over time, developed skills that worked in concert with one another. Thinking about it, this seemed to be the kind of Path Hawkie and Mystie had chosen to go down.
Whatever was going on with Casper and Lyra didn’t really fit into what Jake knew. She was both one with Casper and yet entirely independent. Moreover, from what Jake understood, she was actually bound to the locket around his neck, with the locket itself then being bound to Casper. So, there was a degree of separation there.
This separation seemed minor as it was just one extra step, but Jake wondered if that didn’t mean Lyra could potentially live on even if Casper died. Moreover, perhaps it meant that it would one day be possible to separate herself from the locket and become a fully independent entity.
Obviously, Jake could only speculate about all these things, and as he did, he had to remind himself why Lyra even existed. The Blightfather, the Primordial who had created the entire race of Risen and was known as the God of Death, had personally created the locket and “resurrected” her. For a Primordial to create something Jake couldn’t even begin to understand was only, well, understandable.
Shaking his head to get all these distracting thoughts out of his mind, Jake decided to just enjoy the show as Lyra closed in on the restricted Construction Golem. Jake was watching carefully to see what she would do or what kind of attack she would unleash, but rather than do anything flashy, she simply flew into the golem… disappearing.
Jake frowned before he understood.
Bold… but effective.
The golem’s body instantly began emanating a sense of decay, and as it still struggled to get free of the chains binding it, death came for it. Its body began to rust and corrode as parts of it fell off, the chains tore into its body as its metal turned brittle, and the energy it gave off started dwindling at a rapid rate.
Despite everything, the B-grade continued struggling, but there was no escape when the attack was quite literally coming from within. Lyra had directly entered the body of the golem, turning herself into pure energy that encompassed everything.
Casper, for his part, stopped channeling energy into the magic circle as he stood up with a sigh. Cracking his neck, he held out his hand and summoned a long wooden stake that may as well have been a simplistic spear.
He walked toward the golem that was slowly being destroyed by Lyra, and when it noticed him, it jumped to attack the one tangible target within its reach. It erupted with the last of its power, but Casper gladly met it as he stabbed his spear-like stake into the ground, angled toward the charging golem.
Jake saw the Risen smile as the Golem flew straight toward the sharp tip of the stake. From the looks of it, the B-grade tried to dodge, but Jake guessed Lyra messed with the golem, making it unable to avoid impaling itself.
The stake easily broke through the brittle black and rusting metal as the B-grade was stabbed right through the head and skewered out its back. Right then, Lyra also exited the golem, Jake scanning her as best he could.
Consumed a lot of energy, that one, Jake noted. Entering the B-grade’s body had indeed been bold and quite energy-inefficient. Lyra had essentially turned herself into a toxic mass of energy that entered the body of the golem, destroying it from within. A strategy that had worked well on a golem like this with a weak body and soul, but if she tried the same thing on Jake… yeah, she wouldn’t like Jake flooding his own internals with destructive arcane energy. She would definitely do some solid damage, but in the end, would likely be able to do more using other ghost magic methods.
It barely needed to be mentioned, but the B-grade was well and truly dead after impaling itself, and Jake watched as the rest of its body fell apart into rusty bundles of metal.
After confirming their success, Jake took a step as he teleported towards them, and shortly, he appeared in front of the two.
“Not bad,” Jake said with a smile as he couldn’t help but go over and poke the pile of metal with his foot. It crumbled even more at the mere touch, all material integrity entirely gone.
“Thank you, and sorry for not properly introducing myself earlier,” Lyra answered as she bowed her head. “I would shake your hand, but, you know.”
Jake chuckled a bit and shook his head. “A pleasure, and it sounds like you’re taking good care of Casper. I know he can be a handful.”
“Hey, I also take care of her,” Casper protested, crossing his arms. “Anyway, any deeper thoughts on the fight?”
“It seemed a bit too easy for you two,” Jake praised the ghost and Risen pair. He knew that Casper continued to grow in power and that, with Lyra by his side, he also had certain unique advantages of his own, but he still surpassed Jake’s expectations with how easily they had slain a B-grade, even if it had been a weak B-grade.
“I won’t lie and say it was hard,” Casper shrugged.
“I guess that title of Ghost King wasn’t entirely unwarranted,” Jake said with a small smile. “Though I do have one question. When killing that golem, I naturally noticed plenty of curse energy, but besides that, I mainly detected death affinity magic. This may just be me speaking from ignorance, but it seemed way more effective on a non-living entity than I thought it would be.”
Casper looked at Jake a bit as he considered the question. “Yeah, I would say you’re pretty spot-on when you said you may be speaking out of ignorance.”
Jake was very tempted to punch the guy in the throat, but luckily for Casper, his girlfriend saved him just in time.
“Death is a far more complicated concept than merely being the antithesis of life energy,” Lyra explained. “Death is both a state of being and a transformative process. Yes, while it’s true that the most common expression of death is through the layman’s definition of the end of life, the concept is far broader than merely that. It’s the process of something ending, changing into a state of nonexistence. Death is when stars burn out and disappear, when a river evaporates and turns into a canyon, or when metal rusts and corrodes, turning brittle before eventually falling apart. In some ways, you can say death is not only the transformation of life, but the transformation of existence into a state of death. Compared to many other concepts, it just happens to be primarily focused on erasing the one thing all entities share that allows them to be classified as alive: souls.”
Jake had expected a brief answer that would leave him with plenty of follow-up questions, but instead, he got a far more in-depth explanation than he’d imagined. It definitely gave him some food for thought, though it still left him with some questions.
“If death is the end of existence, how come undead beings can even exist?” Jake asked, knowing this was definitely a far too complex question for C-grades to possibly know the true answer to.
Casper looked in thought for a moment, and as Jake was fully prepared for another semi-joking answer, he got a very genuine one that also allowed the Risen to get around knowing the answer to something that complex himself.
“While I would love to sound as knowledgeable and insightful as Lyra, I’ll just parrot what my Patron said instead: the Risen are not dead; we are undead. Beings who once met death, embraced it, and found existence after the fact. But being undead still means we are susceptible to death. That we exist. We are not immune to the concept; nobody and nothing is. Everything can die, even the gods and Primordials, and one day, perhaps even the multiverse itself shall experience the true finality of death.”
Comments
Nicole Sparks
“one of the Construction Golems that were more isolated” should be “was more isolated” since it refers to “one”.
Chase Burleson
I don't think Casper would very much like Lyra getting any of Jake's juice 🤣🤣
Chase Burleson
Tftc!
Rachel Clements
TYFTC!
Chloe
Tyftc
Michael Click
❤️❤️❤️
frotes
the Risen finally made him move the Risen finally made [e]his[e] move
Shadowessence
its limbs twisting and distorting as Caleb controlled the magic circle. (Should be casper right?)
A Flashy BR
Tyftc!
Abhishek
I feel like it’s been so long since anything major happened. Cannot wait for the start of world wonder event.
Tamathon
Lyra is awesome:) I know this will sound weird, but do you think she’ll get some “Jake Juice” and become a cool super ghost zombie overlord lol?!
joel southard
Thank you for the chapter
Jose Mora
Tyftc
Zogarth
Fixed some stuff
Asher Mack
Only if Casper also does is my guess
Daniel
So Lyra upgrades to B grade at end of dungeon?
Burkholt
It's been a while since we had a description of both Casper and Lyra. A reminder of how they look would be helpful.
brjenness
how many planets does groot control by now? I had guessed he might work with the united tribes to integrate the beast controlled planets into the milky way under him.
brjenness
when there's something strange in the labyrinth, who you gonna call? Ghost girlfriend!
brjenness
we still have ss handling the groups making trouble for the noburu clan to look forward to.
charlesgers s
I'm not gonna lie but is it bad of me to want next chapter that Jake just starts singing the Ghostbusters theme tune
Matthias
tftc
BuckleYoPants
What book number would this chapter be in?
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Wen L.
Didn't expect to get a lecture on Death and existence from Zog.
Kaladin
Not for Primal Hunter, but many authors make their series or each book into a collection. If you find and read older chapters from the collection tab above at the very bottom of the page is a nicer index that helps to get to the next chapter easier.
Carl Never
You guys have tricks for using site better to reread the older chapters? Its so much scrolling to find the chapter im on every morning. If i type it in i can only read that and maybe 8 more before i have to do it again?
Trumangolorian
Awesome chapter zogi tyftc Glad we got to see Casper fight. Kinda want to see an update on hawkie and misty as well.
Trumangolorian
I think they become a world of their own and are wonderous. Therefore world wonder. But could be completely talking out my ass on that one lololol.
Gregory Schmitt
Honestly not sure what I was expecting but the metaphysical conversation about death wasn't on my bingo card. That said, I'm stoked about it I think it fits with their dynamic, and Lyra makes it better cus she's there to keep the boys from spending too much time teasing one another. We haven't gotten to learn much about her directly other than her circumstances.
Fitzgibbon
Excellent shitpost.
bioticisbasic
Tyftc!
Asher Mack
Hey zogarth I noticed that the seventh sentence in the fourteenth paragraph was slightly off center and that you also misspelled 276253 words which I've attached a PDF to show exactly which ones and also my own personal fanfic of how I think the story should be written. Just a humble suggestion!
TallyOne
With Casper and Lyra giving details on the concept of death after a few chapters ago we got Eron attempting to create immortal life. This exposition sounds like it's going to play a large part in the next conflict. 🙄
Jeryd Greer
Great chapter. Thanks Zogarth!
GeneticSloth
tftc!
zozzy the beast
I've been wondering why the author doesn't call the seat of the exalted prima and the others universal wonders. Only one per universe and they are the wonders of that universe. From what I've read they aren't bassed on worlds either. So calling them world wonders always sounded way off to me.
brjenness
The shadow clone of the primal hunter that escaped through time and space when the primordials hunted down and attempted to erase the ruthless god who had gone insane after the death of his family gained enough strength to take control of Jake. Hiding in the depths of Jake's soul, he slayed the primordials and then turned his sights on the only opponent of worth remaining...the multiverse. Jake's eyes opened wide after reading the final chapter of the first sage's book. The greatest hunt of his life began as he returned to his domain to hunt down the primal hunter.
Hayden Leech
Sound as knowledge Sound as knowledgeable
Dakota gleason
Yknow i thought that myself maybe if she released mana on her hand he might
brjenness
I wonder if the order has an intelligence department with a team that puts together a daily briefing for jake.
brjenness
It's a test to see if we took zog...errr...minaga's advice to heart.
SinCinnamon
Good showing! Now Jake can one shot the next one. For giggles.
Hayden Leech
What is a golem but a magic robot.
Jason Bates
You referred to the golem as a robot once. It was a bit jarring as it didn't seem like it belonged.
brjenness
Random thought...maybe the two people doing the dungeon with the lucent mage were both level 30X minagas.
Lesley Holmes
Was a bit confused with Caleb becoming a friendly ghost 😂
Zogarth
Rewrote and fixed the sentence.
Carl Never
Shadow realm at work
Carl Never
Well lyras cool huh body tempature lower than you humans
Exaiter
golem warped and broke, its limbs twisting and distorting as Caleb controlled. Yooo, Caleb's here 😂
Matrim Knotai
Just one? I figure Jake will just wipe a group out quickly.
Matrim Knotai
"For him to possess meant Jake couldn’t even begin to understand was only, well, understandable. " Im confused on what was meant to be said here.
SirbBrownFluffles
Aww, Jake does keep up with what happens with his friends. Guess I shouldn't be so surprised, but it's still nice to see.
JW Saxby
Awesome 😎 Tftc 🍻
Tobias Guzek
Thanks
Josie
Well I enjoyed the Caleb cameo!
Andyr98
I really want the bright father to look in at this
Lynderyn
So that’s how the series is going to end, Jake doing something that kills the multiverse
Grey Grick
I wonder if he released stable mama, he could give her a handshake
Rewdan
Thanks Zogarth, great chapter.
ABTelford
Thoroughly enjoyable read, thx
Bartlomiej Głowacki
Caleb controlled the magic circle. Should be Casper
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Alexander C Hyde
“While I would love to sound as knowledge(able) and insightful as Lyra, I’ll just parrot what my Patron said instead: the Risen are not dead; we are undead.
Dan
I'm so glad we get to keep Casper for a little bit, I love his and Jake's interactions. It's nice to learn more about his and Lyra's situation too
Meir Banon
Tftc
Alexander C Hyde
The same happened with its leg as the body of the golem warped and broke, its limbs twisting and distorting as (Casper)Caleb controlled the magic circle.
dash w
Thanks for the chappy
James Lucas
Jake not understanding something is understandable
Xander
Dont forget Caleb :D
Jayce Sul
Nobody and nothing are? Shouldn’t it be ‘Is’ ?
Beemoss
Tftc
Bruno Alencar
I'm not sure if I find this "invasion of another multiverse/death of the multiverse" flag interesting or not. I'm anxious to see what will go wrong... I'll pause my reading here for two or three months as usual. Happy reading to all, and see you next year, Zogarth.
Ben Cox
Tyftc
IntenseSushi
Tftc
granndfunk
"For him to possess meant Jake couldn’t even begin to understand was only, well, understandable." ... What?
Fdrugc
Tftc
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter! I’m starting to wonder if Jake is going to end up teaching Casper something about using Curse Energy instead of the other way around.
Daniel Brian
May just be me, but this sentence is a little wonky. "For him to possess meant Jake couldn’t even begin to understand was only, well, understandable."
wulfie le bard
A lot of typos in this one
Jarrett Glass
I didnt even realize the name swap, good eye
Devillelouch
B grade Casper and Caleb were the two mistakes I noticed but I will leave the wordsmithing to a wordsmith.
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Xander
TFTC :) Ok i have to admit, for a second, I was expecting Lyra to possess the golem like the ghost doctor from Hellboy 2 :D Suggested edits: "His *steps were* slow and steady at first, but after a couple of *steps*," repeated "steps" I suggest "pace was" or "paces" to replace one use. "as an independent creature of its master" this doesnt make sense to me grammaticaly, it should be " a creature, independent of its master" or "a dependent creature of its master" "For him to possess meant Jake couldn’t even begin to understand was only, well, understandable." no clue what this is supposed to mean, I cant make sense of it at all. "Shaking *his head* to get all these distracting thoughts out of *his head*" Repetition. Reword to something like "Shaking his head to clear the distracting thoughts," "quite energy-*ineffective*. " should be "inefficient" since the attack was effective but wasteful. "expectations with how *easy* they had slain" should be "easily" "While I would love to sound as *knowledge* and insightful as Lyra" should be "knowledgeable" "nobody and nothing *are*" should be "is" One i missed but was mentioned elsewhere: "its limbs twisting and distorting as *Caleb* controlled the magic circle." Caleb aint here buddy its Casper :D
Cory S.
Next chapter, Casper asks Jake to kill a golem to see what he can do and instantly regrets it when Jake nonchalantly draws his bow and sends an arrow into on and it drops dead. Would be hilarious to see the “dead”pan look on his face as he says, “well shit man, at least pretend it requires some effort.”
Shadowind
Tftc
Miotara
I wonder what would happen if Jake used his origin energy to help Lyra get a better evolution. I bet it would be an interesting result, most likely Lyra would be an independent entity
Violet
Tftc
Derrick Blacketter
"ts limbs twisting and distorting as Caleb controlled the magic circle."
William WIlson
The same happened with its leg as the body of the golem warped and broke, its limbs twisting and distorting as Caleb controlled the magic circle. Casper not Caleb
Benjamin Davis-Lorton
interesting
Abriel Blauer
as Caleb controlled the magic circle --> as Casper controlled the magic circle
Fyrtue
I usually don't comment on typos as it's just part of the process but there were a few sentences in the middle with a structure that was pretty hard to make sense of. Also Caleb made a surprise appearance.
LemonPerson
Just an average thursday for me😂
Eric Shivak
TFTC
Matthew
Great now I’m having a existential crisis about death lol 😂.
GeneralBlack
Go lyra and Casper!
Loststar7
TFTC there were a couple of typos others have noted and one wonky sentence noticed. (Not sure where this sentence was going) - For him to possess meant Jake couldn’t even begin to understand was only, well, understandable. - “While I would love to sound as knowledge (knowledgeable) and insightful as Lyra
Jeff
You said Caleb instead of Casper once, great chapter!
Misa
Tftc
Sylphie
Ree!!
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
FocalLocket
Second
Jacob Piccard
Tyftc!
Levi
Nice
Nimuie
First
