-Better this way, you say?”
The wraiths circled Count Jinmu in a rage, their voices dripping with disbelief. One of them thrust its face right up in front of him.
-He is the one who ruined the long plan we prepared!
“It was never ‘we.’ It was what you did.”
-Didn’t this begin because you wanted to resurrect your wife and son?
“I was a fool who fell for your temptations. If I had thought for even a moment, I would have known it was impossible.”
-So now, after all this, you are backing out?
Count Jinmu’s lips curled at their words.
“Of course. I have wanted out for a long time. It was you who possessed my body and acted as you pleased.”
-Saying that does not erase your sins. Is this some kind of atonement?
“Atonement? Hardly. I simply regret letting myself, a necromancer, be ruled by wraiths.”
Reason meant nothing to them. The wraiths tried to force their formless spirits back into his body, but each attempt bounced off. Confused, they drifted around him, spitting curses.
The magic circle had been continuously burning through Jinmu’s Mana. When Yuda destroyed its most important core, the ritual failed and backlash ripped through him. The Mana that had nowhere to go rampaged through his body. That shock forced the wraiths out and allowed Jinmu to reclaim his flesh, but left him so damaged that even simple possession was now impossible. With Mana tearing through his insides, it was only natural that any wraith trying to enter his body would be repelled.
Watching them panic, Jinmu burst into laughter.
“Heh… try for as much as you like. Until the moment I die, you will never enter this body again. It feels good. I cannot remember the last time I saw you this furious.”
As he spoke, he suddenly coughed and spat out a heavy mouthful of blood. The dark red stain soaked into his clothes and trickled down his thick beard. He looked exhausted and in pain, yet his eyes were strangely calm.
“Come now, kid. This is your chance. Kill me.”
Yuda held his bastard sword low and walked toward him. The wraiths tried to threaten him away, but none dared approach. In fact, a slight twitch of the dagger in his left hand was enough to make them recoil.
“……”
“No regrets?”
He asked the question as Jinmu closed his eyes, accepting death and leaving himself defenseless. It might have sounded like needless pity, but he was honestly curious. Was he not afraid? Did he really have no attachment to life left? Jinmu opened his eyes and looked at him.
“That is what you wonder? Regrets… of course I have them. Many. But the regrets are drowned by my remorse. There is so much I wish I could undo. I would go back and change the choices I made. But I have gone too far to turn back now.”
He let out a short, dry laugh.
“So I have no desire to live. Death is the only thing left that I can choose. My fate ends here.”
His eyes said the rest: stop bothering me and finish it. Yuda wanted to ask more, but in the end he walked up to him, raised his sword, and brought it down.
The blade cut through the air and severed Jinmu’s neck in a single stroke. His head rolled across the floor with a strangely peaceful expression. Yuda stepped back to avoid the spray of blood and glanced at the hand holding his sword, frowning. Cutting off a person’s head did not feel good, no matter the reason.
At his death, the wraiths bound to his soul screamed and began to appear all at once.
-Aaaaah! Curse you, Jinmu! We should have torn you apart ourselves! If you were going to die so meaninglessly, you should have yielded your body to us sooner! It was so close!
-We could have brought him here, brought our lord into this land! If only Lord Bel-Terza had descended!
Yuda and Jeanne had already defeated hundreds of wraiths, yet even more than that number now filled the cavern. Each one shouted its own complaint, turning the space into a noisy marketplace of the dead. His ears rang from the volume. Then, at the far back, Yuda noticed something: a wraith devouring another wraith.
-It cannot end like this. I will eat you. I will devour you and offer myself to him.
What did they even plan to ask Bel-Terza for? The very idea was ridiculous. A Monarch was a being who might or might not answer even if hundreds of thousands of lives were offered. The few thousand souls here were nowhere near enough to even make him shift in his seat.
Even in the game, Bel-Terza only appeared in the mid to late stages. Monarchs were not beings who moved lightly, and they almost never showed themselves in the middle realm. So Yuda just snorted at their stupidity and watched.
Other wraiths also began devouring the ones beside them, and the number that had seemed enough to fill the cavern dropped sharply. Only a few, swollen with stolen power, remained.
-This will be a noble sacrifice, to call him into this place!
The remaining wraiths hurled themselves into the magic circle. Yuda still had no idea what they hoped to accomplish by bringing Bel-Terza here. Did they want to be resurrected? They would have been better off just possessing some healthy human.
As he wondered what could drive them to sacrifice even their souls, Yuda decided not to take chances and pulled Jeanne off the circle. The thousands of wraiths devoured one another and threw themselves in as offerings, but of course nothing happened. The magic circle briefly shone as it absorbed their souls, and that was all.
“…Is it over?”
“Seems like it.”
Count Jinmu was dead and no wraiths were left. In the game, an item would have popped up with a bright effect to mark the clear, but here, aside from Codes, nothing ever dropped. So yes, this was the end.
「The Nightmare of Kalypso」
[You have defeated Count Jinmu.]
[Once a necromancer, he lost his body to wraiths and committed unforgivable acts.]
[Several villages became ruins under rampaging wraiths, and their residents were used as sacrifices in a ritual to summon Bel-Terza.]
[Had you come any later, had you failed to defeat Count Jinmu, the ritual would have been completed.]
[The summoning was destined to fail, but a gate to the Demon Realm might still have been created.]
[If that had happened, not just the nearby villages but a part of Kalypso itself would have become a land of death, overflowing with wraiths and monsters.]
[What you and your companion have done is a great deed, yet sadly, there are no witnesses. No one will know of it.]
[But do not worry. If you report this to the Adventurer’s Guild, Kalypso’s mages will be dispatched and offer you some recognition.]
[Your level and your companion’s level have increased by 5.]
[Among Strength, Health, Agility, Mana, and Mana Resistance, your lowest stat increases by 3 and your highest by 2.]
[Proficiency in Shadow Sorcery / Shadow Swordsmanship has increased by 2.]
Right on cue, the rewards flowed in.
They were not material items, but far more satisfying.
Five levels, five total stat points, and two points of Sorcery/Swordsmanship proficiency. More than fair. It would have applied to Jeanne as well. He glanced around. All that was left was to loot what he could and leave the dungeon. Just then, something glittered on the altar in the center of the magic circle.
“Yuda? Where are you going?”
“Just a moment. There’s something on the altar. I’ll check it. Take a rest.”
Jeanne nodded and began removing her gear. It was unpleasant knowing Count Jinmu’s severed head was lying not far away, but fatigue outweighed discomfort. She had never imagined she would end up fighting a senior Blue Lance Knight in a place like this.
She walked over to the stairs, dropped down heavily, propped her chin on her hand, and watched Yuda climb the altar.
Fragments of shattered orbs lay scattered on the flat surface. They were tinged red, the same color as the orbs Altemia had devoured.
──────────────────────
[Name: Fragment of a Mana Core Filled with Countless Victims]
[Grade: Rare]
[Effect]
Upon consumption, restores Health, Mana, and cures disease and abnormal status.
[Description]
This was once the core of a sinister black magic ritual. It can only be formed when blood and souls are offered as sacrifices, which makes intact cores extraordinarily rare and valuable. However, this is merely a small fragment, too weak to be used in complex magic. Still, since it was forged from condensed life force, consuming it grants effects superior to most potions, making it practically a universal cure. However, before using this item, you must remember one thing: should someone who knows what this fragment is ever see it, they will report you, suspecting that you may have sacrificed countless lives and souls to obtain it.
──────────────────────
Is this part of the quest rewards too?
After skimming the description, Yuda realized this would be perfect for Edsen’s daughter. All he had to do now was return to the capital, 〈Aslan〉, and everything would be neatly resolved. Everything was going smoothly. The only thing left was to loot anything useful in the mansion and go back to Cheriu Village.
He put the fragment into his 〈Inventory〉 and was about to step down from the altar when the magic circle flared to life.
“…!?”
What?
The ritual had definitely failed. He didn’t even have time to run down the steps. A dark light rose from the entire circle, along with an enormous presence. His mind went blank. His body would not move.
Kukukukung─!
The unknown pressure pouring out pressed down on his body. Something tugged from beneath his feet, locking him in place. Instinctively, Yuda looked toward Jeanne. She was still sitting on the stairs, but her body shook violently under the same presence.
She forced herself up and started toward him, her legs trembling like the branches of a poplar in the wind. The way she staggered forward felt completely unlike her.
“Yuda, come here quickly!”
Her voice shook, but she still managed to shout clearly. The next moment, Mana exploded out of the circle in a shockwave. The force swatted her away like a toy, slamming her into the wall and knocking her unconscious.
It happened so fast he didn’t even have time to shout. Yuda tried to force his unmoving legs to move toward her.
『Where do you think you are going?』
A voice resounded behind him, vibrating through the cavern. The words were simple, yet they dragged up a primal fear from somewhere deep inside. The moment he heard it, all the hair on his body stood on end, and cold sweat streamed down like rain.
But none of that compared to the terror that crushed his heart and forced it to pound.
If not for his 〈Player〉trait, he might have gone insane on the spot. He knew he shouldn’t look back. Even so, his body moved on its own, ignoring his will, and turned.
Yuda saw a gigantic skull shrouded in black cloth.
The presence was translucent, more like a projection than a solid body, but its form perfectly matched one of the illustrations engraved into his memory.
It was the 〈Sixth Monarch, Bel-Terza〉.
* * *
─────────────────────────────
「Status Window」
[Name: Yuda Arche]
[Title: Little Hero of Serenia Castle (2)]
[Level: 30]
[Class: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]
[Revival Count: 2]
[Strength: 42 (C) / Potential A]
[Health: 45 (C) / Potential S]
[Agility: 46 (C) / Potential SS]
[Mana: 44 (C) / Potential B]
[Mana Resistance: 54 (C) / Potential S]
[Charisma: 5 (F) / Potential A]
[Knowledge: 17 (F) / Potential B ] ◀ Special
[Luck: 84 (A) / Potential S ] ◀ Special
[Remaining Points: 15]
「Traits 4/10」
[Player] – Rank: S
[Warrior’s Spirit] – Rank: S
[First Ruler’s Blessing] – Rank: C
[The Chosen One] – Rank: A
「Skills 3/10」
[Shadow Sorcery / Swordsmanship] – Rank: A
[Mercenary-style Left-hand Dagger Technique] – Rank: C
──────────────────────
「Status Window」
[Name: Jeanne Atruare]
[Title: None]
[True Name: Wolf of the Blue Moon]
[Level: 26]
[Class: Blue Lance Knight (B)]
[Race: Human]
[Strength: 34 (D) / Potential A]
[Health: 38 (D) / Potential S]
[Agility: 30 (D) / Potential B]
[Mana: 37 (D) / Potential B]
[Mana Resistance: 55 (C) / Potential S]
[Charisma: 8 (F) / Potential A]
[Knowledge: 18 (F) / Potential B ] ◀ Special
[Luck: 56 (C) / Potential C ] ◀ Special
[Favorability: 35 (Interest)]
[Trust: 70 (Trust)]
「Traits 3/5」
[Blue Moon] – Rank: A
[Wolf’s Blessing] – Rank: A
[Trainee Blue Lance Knight] – Rank: D
「Skills 4/5」
[Guardian Spirits of the Realm] – Rank: A
[Chivalry] – Rank: B
[Imperial Shield Arts – Blue Lance Knight] – Rank: B
[Imperial Lance Arts – Blue Lance Knight] – Rank: B
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
***Author’s Note***
1) Aaaah, I do not want to go to school!!!
School starts tomorrow, and I have to go. Me, to school…!
2)
Q. If you keep collecting Fragments, does your innate talent limit also increase?
A. Innate talent itself does not rise. However, even if your innate talent is low, you can push your actual stats beyond it. For example, if your talent is A and your natural limit is 89, you can still raise that stat to 99 (S) through stat points or certain items. You cannot go past 99 unless you accomplish some special achievement. But if you possess Fragments, it becomes possible to push the stat beyond 99.
Q. I am holding your chicken coupon hostage, so please post consecutive chapters within 24 hours, author.
A. The last chapter was posted at 2016.08.30 01:37. The current time is 2016.08.30 01:19. Since 24 hours have not passed yet… does this count as consecutive posting!?
