Chapter 805: Incarnation Spellcraft (7)
The Fist Master’s Incarnation and the Cult’s Priestess, beyond the sensless Spirit Realm, perceived each other’s presence.
The Incarnation’s form silently gazed at the Priestess, who stood transfixed.
Lennok heightened his mana sense, silently observing the two ethereal forms.
Lennok knew full well the implications of revealing his Incarnation body to the Priestess now.
And the Priestess seemed to comprehend everything with just that.
“…I see.”
Without surprise, anger, or fear, she merely clasped her hands and prayed.
Her prayer was not directed at the Incarnation standing before her, but toward someone else.
“Understood. If that is your will.”
(…)
With the Incarnation silently looking down at her from behind, she slowly turned her gaze toward Lennok.
“Using my Revelation Ability, I shall bring you across the Spirit Realm to Mugan.”
As the Priestess spoke and gestured, the Guide’s Ghost surged from within the ring and stood before her.
Lennok’s protective Incarnation body, flanked by the ethereal forms of the Guide and the Priestess.
The three ethereal forms, each radiating a distinct presence and brilliance, surrounded and protected Lennok.
“The vast flow of souls located in the Spirit Realm is Yorta’s karmic burden… souls accumulated from the failed Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade, forming a Sea of Resentment.”
The Priestess placed the Guide’s ethereal form forward, then clasped her hands and began to pray.
“Therefore, centered on the Guide’s existence, I intend to forge a new Night Parade here to cross the Spirit Realm.”
At that moment, the Guide’s ethereal form began to step into the soul-waves.
Bringing a few Military Spirits in tow, it moved against the immeasurable currents.
A thunderous roar!
The soul-waves, sensing an impurity, tried to grind it away. But the Guide’s spirit began to emanate an even more intense and vivid will-thought.
The Priestess extended her hand toward the Guide, saying,
“If I make the spirit of the fallen Guide the focal point of the ritual, and here, once again, recreate the Night Parade—”
Kiiiiing!!
Slowly, the number of spirits following behind the Guide began to increase.
From dozens to hundreds, from hundreds to thousands.
Military Spirits, detached from the soul-waves flowing beyond the Spirit Realm, followed the Guide as if entranced.
In an instant, countless souls lined up, forming another current.
Ooooooooh!!!
The song roared by the multitude of souls seemed to echo in Lennok’s ringing ears.
Souls that had been aimlessly wandering the Spirit Realm without intellect gathered, forming a massive procession following the Guide.
And the moment a new path was forged and opened within this sensless Spirit Realm—
His five senses, which he thought he had lost beyond the Spirit Realm, began to return.
Whoosh!!
Before he knew it, Lennok was standing on a colossal bridge, glowing with the light of souls.
Beyond the vast, impenetrable void where not an inch ahead could be discerned, a bridge of souls stood, serving as a beacon of meaning and reference.
The very existence of the Military Spirits, endlessly walking and singing behind the Guide, was what constituted this bridge.
A bridge built to connect the Material Realm with the Spirit Realm, hoping to become the answer to what lay beyond.
That was precisely the objective of Yorta’s Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade.
Whoosh!!
As he stood on the faintly glowing bridge of souls, looking around, the Priestess’s ethereal form settled beside Lennok.
“Let us go.”
“…The Cult’s Priestess, indeed.”
Lennok turned to the Priestess, shaking his head with a slight laugh.
“That’s a talent not permitted to mere humans. Even if you’re born with the qualities of a high priestess, can you truly recreate Yorta’s Night Parade to this extent, on the spot?”
While it was the Guide’s spirit that constructed the bridge of souls and led the Night Parade, it was solely the power of Priestess Seina Naydree that initiated and presided over the Night Parade ritual.
To gather tens of thousands of souls, establish a colossal current, and reform them into a singular meaning.
To organize intangible concepts and procedures, inexplicable by words, into actual laws and manifest them as a ritual.
But he had never imagined that she could even mimic and recreate Yorta’s Night Parade, not just the Cult’s rituals.
The Priestess of the Cult, possessing the talent of a high priestess who presided over all rituals within the Cult.
It was an overwhelming and profound talent, capable of performing not just the Cult’s rituals, but all other rituals as well.
At Lennok’s words, the Priestess briefly raised her gaze and looked at the bridge of souls she had created.
“As the Grand Arbitrator once explained, the Cult and Yorta once harbored the same aspirations.”
“…”
“Regardless of the true essence of the Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade, its form and method bear a resemblance to the Cult’s rituals.”
Saying so, the Priestess slowly stepped onto the bridge.
“By traveling through the city with you, I glimpsed the failure of the Night Parade, which is why I can crudely mimic it.”
“That’s…”
That wasn’t something that could be dismissed as crude or a mere imitation.
An ascension ritual, attempted by gathering all power and resources from across the Military Spirit City.
It meant that she could reorganize Military Spirits and mimic it with just her talent and will.
Even if the Guide’s spirit served as the focal point, where could one find a talent capable of such a feat in the first place?
Even if the direction and magnitude of her talent couldn’t compare to Lennok’s, in terms of rarity, the high priestess’s talent was comparable to his.
Only then did Lennok realize why his Incarnation body had sought to summon the Priestess’s spirit to this place.
That Priestess Seina Naydree would exert her full power to aid Lennok only after seeing his Incarnation body.
The Incarnation body had known this from the very beginning.
“To be honest, I knew it from the start.”
The Priestess murmured softly, averting her gaze.
“That I arrived in this city in such a manner… perhaps it was all part of their arrangement…”
“…”
“The lack of discomfort typically felt towards a renegade, your unfathomable talent, the sudden sense of déjà vu.”
Tilting her head up so Lennok couldn’t see her face, she murmured.
“Even your skilled handling of the Revelation Ability… it all had a reason, didn’t it?”
As expected, she had realized everything the moment she saw Lennok’s Incarnation.
The fact that Lennok and the Pontiff were connected by an inexplicable bond.
And that the pale halo surrounding him, as if protecting him, bore a striking resemblance to that of the one the Priestess served.
And even the fact that the Priestess herself had vaguely suspected it.
Only after confirming the undeniable truth did the doubts and confusion, buried deep within her heart, surface and gain new meaning.
Even though the Priestess did not wish to accept that fact, she believed this moment might be the outcome he had arranged,
And so, she used her granted Revelation Ability with all her might to open a path for Lennok within this Spirit Realm.
“What do you think?”
Lennok unconsciously asked the Priestess in return.
The connection between him and the Pontiff. Lennok’s existence mingled with absolute faith.
He wanted to understand what impressions the Cult’s Priestess harbored regarding it.
“…Are you disappointed, because it’s different from what you expected?”
No, that’s not it. Only after asking did Lennok realize his true intentions.
Through the Priestess, Lennok was trying to gauge what the people around him might think.
He wanted to know how those who trusted and relied on him would react when he eventually shed all his masks and revealed the truth.
Worried that they might be afraid, disappointed, or angry, he had unconsciously wished to ask for her feelings.
He had vowed countless times to rely on no one and find the answers by himself.
Yet, even with the absolute rationality of a wizard, his heart did not move as he wished.
He hoped even when he tried not to, and relied even when he tried not to.
Somewhere deep in his heart, he found solace in that fact alone.
“…I don’t know. I have never sent my faith while considering such things.”
Just as Lennok realized his true feelings and unconsciously touched his mask, the Priestess spoke.
“And to give a proper answer to your question, the situation is no longer favorable.”
“…”
As she said, the Priestess’s ethereal form was flickering precariously, as if about to vanish at any moment.
Like a candle nearing the end of its wick, it flickered faintly, swayed, and began to scatter.
The Priestess’s ethereal form, which had not wavered for a moment while with Lennok, was suddenly losing its will and presence.
Even with the high priestess’s talent possessed by the Priestess, presiding over the Night Parade alone and creating a bridge connecting the Spirit Realm was an immense burden.
Moreover, wielding her Revelation Ability as an ethereal form, having lost her physical body, was a feat that far surpassed the capabilities granted to her.
“Sir, I do not have much time left.”
The Priestess’s ethereal form, now much fainter than the bridge of souls, looked at Lennok and offered a faint smile.
“As promised, will you help me fulfill my mission for them?”
“…”
Seina Naydree’s final mission as a Priestess.
As she had promised Lennok before, she intended to perform her final role beyond Mugan.
What truly motivated her, even after dying by the curse of an Ascendant’s Spell-Word, with only her soul wandering the nine heavens?
He had often scoffed at and disparaged misdirected faith as fanaticism, but Lennok now understood just how powerful and dangerous that will truly was.
By now, the Guide’s ethereal form had gone far ahead of them, transforming into a faint light in the distance.
Beyond the bridge, formed by countless gathered souls, the space of the Spirit Realm folded, leading to a colossal black entrance.
The entrance to Mugan, emerging through the reverse gate, past the Spirit Realm, to the boundary of the Material Realm.
After arriving in Yorta, exploring the Memorial Tower, and much time passing, he finally stood before this place once more.
From escaping after his conflict with the Court of Soul Pacification, reaching the Ghost Dragon’s Fortress, acquiring the Incarnation Spellcraft, and finally returning here.
Now, beyond this point, he hoped to find the meaning Lennok had sought.
Only wishing to obtain the unfulfilled purpose and unknown knowledge.
The moment Lennok slowly drew a breath, passed the Priestess, and stepped beyond the entrance to Mugan—
Whoooooosh…!!
Lennok stood within a dark cathedral, where a dry wind blew.
“…”
The colossal and vast scenery of a grand cathedral, its width and area impossible to fathom.
Countless candles flickered precariously from the floor and walls, illuminating their surroundings.
A lonely and silent space, devoid of any human presence, as if untouched by anyone for a very long time.
Was this truly the ancient sanctuary that observed the flow of all curses on the continent? The interior of Yorta’s Mugan?
The cathedral seemed to have been erected for someone to pray to.
Within it, the forms of countless candles.
Lennok slowly walked into the cathedral, then paused, gazing at the candles illuminating the surroundings.
“Orokhne’s Debilitation”
“Maldion’s Curse of Senescence”
Beneath each silently melting candle holder, something was written on a small nameplate.
“Headwing Eldarsar’s Resentment”
“Edmond’s Contamination of Transfer Ritual”
“Onnion’s Seventh Soul Sealing”
“…”
Ominous words were inscribed on each candle’s nameplate.
Forms of concepts defined not only by curses, but by all sorts of negative terms like resentment, regret, and contamination.
The candles bearing nameplates burned with varying sizes and lights, slowly illuminating and brightening the cathedral.
The Priestess’s ethereal form, now much fainter than before, murmured from behind Lennok.
“Every candle illuminating this place… refers to a curse observed from Mugan.”
The countless candles illuminating the grand cathedral.
Did this mean that each of those candles was the materialized result of curses observed at the boundary between the Material and Spirit Realms?
Lennok silently gazed at the candles, then slowly quickened his pace, beginning to traverse the cathedral.
If this sanctuary observed and reported all the curses and resentments of the continent, then the Demolding Curse must also exist somewhere here.
The Demolding Curse afflicting the Guardian Spirit Beast. Would he just need to find its name and extinguish the candle?
As Lennok thought this and unconsciously walked toward the center of the cathedral—
Whoosh!!
Beneath the grand cathedral’s nave, surrounded by countless candles, he discovered something and stopped.
Kwoooong!!
Enveloped by countless candles, a colossal black throne emitted a subtle glow.
Its overwhelming size made one mistake it for a structure tens of meters tall, seemingly built for a giant, not a human.
At the innermost part of this colossal throne, a man leaned back weakly, as if about to collapse.
“…”
Dozens of thick soul chains were bound over his body, which leaned back as if asleep.
Thick chains, such as those used to moor a battleship, bound all sides of the throne, connecting to the entire space of Mugan.
Tens of thousands of talismans densely covered the dozens of chains, forming a seal so powerful it could be felt at a glance.
“…So you were here.”
The Priestess’s monologue, as if choked up while gazing at the sight.
Only upon hearing her words could Lennok be certain of what he was facing now.
A scene he had glimpsed before, peeking into Mugan beyond the Memorial Tower.
The form of a corpse, so still that time seemed meaningless, left as if etched into the very space.
The Ascendant Dorye.
Lennok had finally come face to face with that corpse in the heart of Mugan’s sanctuary, the grand cathedral.
“At last, the promise we shared—Sir?”
Lennok ignored the Priestess’s words, striding boldly toward Dorye’s corpse.
Lennok moved to a spot where Dorye’s remains, obscured by countless chains, were most clearly visible, and raised his will-thought.
Wooong!!
Responding to his will, Lennok’s Incarnation body materialized and stood directly before Dorye’s remains.
“What… are you doing?”
“From the moment I confirmed the form of the Incarnation body, there was one thing I had to do upon facing Dorye’s remains.”
“It is to ascertain if I can imbue meaning into Dorye’s remains right here.”
“…Imbue meaning into a vessel, you mean…?”
Lennok offered no reply.
Instead, the pale Incarnation, as if responding to its caster’s will, slowly began to walk toward Dorye on Lennok’s behalf.
The Incarnation body passed through the misty chains effortlessly, and the moment it stood before Dorye’s remains and looked up—
Paaaaat!!
The Incarnation body vanished, as if seeping directly into Dorye’s remains.
“…!!!!”
The Priestess gasped at the utterly unexpected development.
And just as Lennok watched the scene with his arms crossed, nodding his head—
“…”
The Ascendant’s remains, eyes closed as if in slumber.
Its heavy eyelids slowly trembled and began to stir.