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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It wouldn’t be difficult.
Since we were the ones betrayed, we could easily retrieve whatever we wanted.
“Is there a need for that? She might reveal information about the ruins. It’s dangerous.”
“That’s the official procedure. And don’t worry, she won’t be able to utter a word from now on.”
I intended to curse her permanently.
‘It would have been difficult at 4th class, but it’s possible now.’
As a mage’s circles increase and their class level rises, their capabilities grow exponentially.
One of the things I gained upon reaching 5th class was the ability to leave behind permanent curses.
The reason for going through this official procedure was simple.
‘After all that trouble, I should at least take what I came for.’
I had anticipated facing unnecessary hardships due to being a warlock, but I never imagined things would become this twisted.
“You’re going to silence her with a curse?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to cut out her tongue?”
“That’s not a bad idea either. But she might die from that.”
Plus, with a curse, I could even inflict psychological torment.
There was nothing better for torturous hope.
I immediately cast a silence curse on Annelise.
‘She must be a mixed-blood…’
Her magical resistance was strong for a human.
Still, she couldn’t resist my curse.
‘Reaching 5th class certainly makes things easier.’
The types of magic I could use had significantly increased, and above all, the number and types of undead I could control and create had greatly expanded.
‘Moreover, at 5th class, I can apply and modify existing knowledge.’
I could specialize existing undead or even drastically improve them.
‘I can also handle souls now.’
5th class was a level where one could even become a master of the magic tower.
Of course, without significant achievements, one would usually be ignored, but the fact that it was even possible was impressive in itself.
In terms of skill, I could be considered a mid-level expert among mages.
Meanwhile, Tildi, having gathered his companions’ bodies, approached me.
“The work…”
“It will take time.”
“…Can I leave my companions’ bodies near the base camp?”
To be precise, it was only parts of their bodies.
Most of them couldn’t even be recovered, leaving behind only personal belongings.
“Go ahead. I’ll be staying in the central hall for a while anyway, as it seems it will take me some time.”
Tildi frowned slightly upon seeing Annelise.
“I brought her back. She didn’t make it far.”
“…What do you plan to do?”
“I’m going to have her punished through the Mercenary Guild.”
When I said I would follow legal procedures instead of taking direct action, Tildi nodded understandingly.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping me.
‘After all, he was betrayed too.’
I instructed Baldur to help move the remains and belongings.
I also told him to bring Annelise to the base camp.
Tildi smiled bitterly and expressed his gratitude.
He seemed to have realized this wasn’t simply an act of kindness.
‘It’s surveillance.’
Baldur would be tasked with monitoring both Tildi and Annelise.
I took occasional breaks while working on partially tainting the robe and the cup with demonic energy.
The divine power in the hall had almost completely dissipated, and the robe was the first to reach its critical point.
‘Let’s stop this for now.’
I focused solely on the cup, and it too reached its critical point.
At this point, I stopped working and called over Athena and Kayla, who were resting nearby.
“What’s Tildi doing?”
“Nothing.”
I spoke to Athena.
“Can you prevent him from coming this way if he tries?”
“Huh? That’s not difficult, but…”
She looked at me curiously, wondering what I was up to.
“I’m going to create some Soul Shadows and explore the hidden space you found.”
“Soul Shadows…”
“The ones I used to make the Specter.”
“You’re going to make more?”
“Not now. I reached 5th class, remember? I plan to use them to enhance the existing undead.”
“Got it. I’ll keep watch.”
“It won’t take long.”
The divine power in the hall had also weakened significantly.
As Athena left to keep watch, Kayla spoke to me.
“It seems you really disliked them.”
“Well, I was annoyed that they tried to run away… but that’s not all. They were useful, and they would have been helpful to me.”
Kayla’s remark stemmed from the fact that the individuals I intended to turn into Soul Shadows were Cereo and his party members, who were now deceased.
They were the only humans who had died recently in this area.
Tildi had some parts of their bodies.
However, most of their flesh had been scattered and blown apart during the explosion.
‘It’s strange that we even rested for a day in this place.’
To be precise, it was mostly me who rested, while Kayla and Athena stayed to protect me.
We had left the place as it was because we intended to destroy it anyway, and cleaning it up would have been pointless.
Honestly, I didn’t hold any particular grudge against the remaining members, except for Cereo.
They had tried to escape but had died as a consequence.
However, I still intended to retrieve them since they were useful.
‘It’s time to start expanding my forces.’
Once a necromancer reaches 5th class, their true potential begins to emerge.
They become known as a one-man army.
Although they can’t single-handedly wage war against a nation, they can wipe out a rural domain on their own.
Of course, it takes time to build up such a force, and even with that ability, actually wiping out a domain would make one a public enemy, so it was something that should never be done.
Expanding one’s forces required a lot of resources, and human souls were one of the good resources for that purpose.
‘Of course, corpses are the best.’
Especially the corpses of powerful monsters or humans or demihumans who had reached a high level are the most valuable.
However, such things were hard to come by, so souls were the most readily available material.
There was no risk of leaving traces even if you took them immediately after death.
Although you couldn’t retrieve a soul if a high-level priest conducted the funeral, Tildi’s level was low, so their souls remained.
I immediately began drawing a small magic circle at the spot where Cereo’s group had died.
Normally, a soul lingered around its former body, but since most of their bodies had been destroyed, their souls remained at the place where they had died.
‘It’s been a while since I directly handled souls.’
I had indirectly handled them when creating the Specter.
However, that was dealing with already-made Soul Shadows.
This was the first time I directly handled raw souls in this life.
The presence of souls.
It was a sensation that any priest or warlock of a certain level could easily feel.
Training was required, but most people easily opened up this sense unless their compatibility with soul-related magic was exceptionally poor.
I heard there were people who couldn’t do it no matter what, but even then, it was not a big problem thanks to auxiliary magic.
With auxiliary magic, you could handle souls even at a lower class… but the efficiency plummeted, making it worse than not doing it at all.
Fortunately, I didn’t need such a process.
‘It was the same in the past.’
As soon as I reached 5th class, I naturally felt the presence of souls.
It made me realize once again how extraordinary my body was.
‘If time passes like this, they will naturally dissipate.’
That took anywhere from a few days to 50 days, but I had no intention of letting that happen.
I completed the magic circle and trapped the souls within it.
The souls, having lost their bodies, couldn’t resist.
Or rather, they couldn’t even react properly.
Only Cereo’s soul seemed to struggle slightly, but even that was easily suppressed by me.
Their souls then became tainted with demonic energy.
-Ahhhhhhhhh!
Tick, tick…
Accompanied by a horrifying scream inaudible to ordinary humans, the souls turned into gray orbs one by one and fell to the ground.
There were four in total.
One of them was slightly larger than the other four.
Of course, even that was incredibly small.
They were about the size of small glass beads.
Incomparably smaller than the ones used to create the Specter.
‘It means the quality of the souls is low.’
Therefore, it didn’t take long for them to solidify.
There was no need for extensive preparation either.
If it were a powerful soul, the difficulty itself would have been different.
Priests claimed that human souls were of incomparable value, but that was a joke from a warlock’s perspective.
Especially for a necromancer, souls were just a resource, and their value varied depending on the individual.
‘…Well, it seems warlocks don’t necessarily devalue souls themselves, though.’
It was not called ‘Soul Shadow’ for nothing.
They say they use it as an energy source, but they still showed some respect.
‘I also think it’s just deception.’
I put away the Soul Shadows with such thoughts.
They were so small that I could hold all four in one hand.
As soon as the work was finished, Kayla approached me.
“Should I call Athena?”
“No, there’s no need for that. I can open it myself.”
Discovering it was difficult, but the opening method was quite outdated, probably because it was so old.
“It might be dangerous, so be careful.”
However, her worry was unfounded.
There were no traps inside the hidden space we entered through the secret door.
‘Honestly, I was expecting something like a dungeon…’
Perhaps a place for inquisition.
But it wasn’t.
Interestingly, this place was a prayer room used by a priest in the past.
‘Or rather, is it closer to a private chamber?’
It was presumed to have been used by a priest of very high status.
‘Considering that it’s a space right beneath the sacred relic…’
It certainly made sense that a high-ranking individual would have used it.
“…It seems to be a very old place, but it’s amazing that it’s still intact.”
Kayla seemed quite surprised.
“…Is this… a scripture?”
As expected of a prayer room or private chamber, there was nothing particularly valuable.
Just an altar and two books were all that remained.
‘Well, we already obtained a sacred relic, or perhaps a holy relic, and a robe…’
Since it was a satisfactory outcome, I felt a little disappointed while picking up the books.
However, the moment I opened the book, I started to focus on it without a word.
Kayla called out to me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the book.
‘This is… history?’
I had thought it was a scripture since it was found in what seemed to be a prayer room.
But that was only half correct.
One book was indeed a scripture.
However, the other book was a diary and a history book at the same time.
What was written inside…
It was a history documenting the Radiant Church, or rather, the Goddess Religion’s persecution of other religions.
It was written in an ancient language, but I could still read it.
Mages usually learned about ancient languages to decipher old magic books and the contents of ruins, and I had also learned it to better loot ancient warlock dungeons.
‘…These bastards, they were truly scum.’
The contents of the book were quite shocking.
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[Bro we got Inquisition lore before GTA 6]
Church = S##M