Chapter 822: The Knot (9)
Lennok’s question referenced the origin of Naimel, the ancient spirit who awakened in Yorta’s underground levels.
But Naimel did not immediately answer. Staring down at Lennok with a cold gaze, Naimel spoke to Oris.
“Oris. Would you mind stepping aside for a moment?”
“What?”
“I have no intention of harming him, but there appears to be a matter of urgency we need to discuss.”
“……”
Naimel looked at Lennok’s Obsidian Mask with an expressionless face and said,
“It is a personal, private matter. It seems to have little to do with Yorta’s affairs.”
“……How annoying. Does this have something to do with the name you abandoned?”
Grumbling thus, Oris obediently rose from his seat at Naimel’s words. Turning slightly to Lennok, Oris said, as if cautioning him,
“I’ve already told the other spirits, but he is a descendant of Onnion. You must not lay a hand on him without cause.”
“Did we not already conclude his disposition at the Grand Judgment?” Naimel replied, not taking her eyes off Lennok.
“Do not worry. What you fear will not come to pass.”
“Damn it, those confined deep beneath the Tower are truly untrustworthy…”
Silence fell the moment Oris grumbled and vacated the area.
Naimel, who had been gazing fixedly at Lennok, bound and unable to move by the chains of mist, spoke.
“His role was significant in suspending your disposition at the Grand Judgment. It seems you’ve earned his favor.”
“He pretends otherwise, but he thinks I owe him a debt.” Lennok replied nonchalantly.
“He is too honest by nature to stand above others. If they intend to entrust Yorta’s power to him, they’ll have to help him well.”
“There’s no reason for you to concern yourself with that—”
“Or perhaps, should I speak plainly about your origins now?” Lennok cut Naimel off instantly, shifting his gaze. “There’s no need to confirm now that you’re from the Cult.”
“……”
Lennok asked, “Were you one of the spirits who held the position of Priestess in the Cult?”
The feeling of something being out of place that Lennok had sensed from the moment Naimel first appeared.
The intense déjà vu emanating from her presence and aura, was clearly similar to that of Priestess Seina Naydree.
This wasn’t mere intuition or groundless speculation stemming from vague suspicion.
Because the Cult’s stigma—the mark symbolizing the High Priest’s authority—was reacting in Naimel’s presence. It was undeniable proof that Naimel was connected to a high-ranking Cult position, specifically that of a Priestess.
Conversely, Naimel herself hadn’t noticed that Lennok possessed the stigma. This was why Lennok suspected that Naimel was someone who had relinquished the Priestess’s position.
As Lennok knew that the position of Priestess was inherited, it was natural for him to assume Naimel was part of that lineage. Furthermore, if such a powerful soul had an affiliation with Yorta, it wouldn’t be strange for her to become a top-tier Military Spirit, like an ancient spirit.
“The Pontiff I know isn’t the kind of person who would simply release his followers without a price.”
At Lennok’s casual words, referring to the Pontiff, Naimel’s shoulders flinched.
Lennok observed Naimel’s expression carefully and asked, “If you were truly the Cult’s Priestess, how did you abandon the doctrine and become an ancient spirit in Yorta?”
“……”
“No, why did you abandon the Cult and join Yorta’s side?”
Without exception, every one of the Cult’s followers blindly served, believed in, and followed the Pontiff. Even Seina, who maintained a relatively neutral stance on doctrine, never wavered in her faith for a single moment.
But Naimel, standing before Lennok, was an entity who had left the Cult to become an ancient spirit in Yorta.
What made her do that, and how was it possible?
Lennok realized what he needed to ask the moment he saw her.
“……You know a great deal about the Cult.” Naimel closed her eyes, a trembling note in her voice.
Was it a mere illusion that even that subtle gesture felt similar to Seina’s, as Lennok remembered it?
Quickly composing herself, Naimel opened her eyes to Lennok. “There are few outsiders who know so precisely the sacred duties and authority passed down through generations to the Priestess, and the Cult’s rules….”
“……”
“However, there is one thing you misunderstand,” Naimel said slowly, opening her eyes. “I am not the Cult’s Priestess. To be precise, I was one of the substitutes prepared to become the Priestess.”
“Substitutes?”
“While the Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade was actively underway, the Cult and Yorta made a certain transaction regarding an Ascendant’s body.” Naimel concisely explained the past secret. “In exchange for storing a sacred relic in Mugan, it was decided that the Cult would assist with the Night Parade ritual.”
“……”
“I was one of the souls chosen and offered to the Night Parade to assist with the ritual.”
Not formally given the title of Priestess, but a candidate prepared to be a substitute. Yet, without ever becoming a Priestess, she was offered to Yorta to assist with the Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade ritual.
It was ironic.
Seina Naydree, who had formally inherited the position of Priestess, sacrificed herself and completely perished as a spirit. Whereas Naimel, offered to the Night Parade ritual, still maintained her existence as an ancient spirit.
Should he be surprised that even a candidate who never became Priestess has become such a powerful ancient spirit? Or should he be satisfied with realizing there are more candidates to become the new Priestess in place of Seina?
“Then are you still a follower devoted to the doctrine?”
“……I don’t know.” Naimel turned her gaze away with a complicated expression. “I have no regrets about being offered to Yorta and participating in the Night Parade. Even after moving away from the doctrine, I faithfully dedicated myself to my mission.”
“……”
“But at the moment the Myriad Ghosts’ Night Parade failed and I was forced to choose… I felt the faith remaining within me waver.” Naimel mumbled, confessing as she turned her head away from Lennok’s gaze. “At a point where I neither fully followed him nor achieved the Night Parade, I couldn’t understand what was truly valuable.”
Though her journey didn’t begin by her own will, had her faith in the Cult ultimately wavered, leading her to exist as an independent entity?
While Lennok was pondering this fact, Naimel countered, “It seems you have already met a Priestess of the Cult. Did you deduce my origin by associating me with her?”
“The Priestess knew that the Court of Soul Pacification intended to exploit the Ascendant’s remains for their own ends, and she tried to stop them,” Lennok replied. “She said she could not forgive them for trying to obtain the Ascendant’s body and enhance Yorta’s power.”
“I see… I heard from the Grand Arbitrator about what the Court of Soul Pacification was plotting.” Naimel asked hesitantly, “Where is she now? If she is still near Yorta, then even now—”
“The Priestess is dead.” Lennok said quietly to the silent Naimel. “She offered herself in the collapsing Mugan sanctuary, completely perishing as a spirit.”
“To perish as a spirit….” Naimel lost her words and looked up. “The end I desired long ago, she has already achieved and departed from this world.”
“……”
“Perhaps that is the difference between her and me, who was merely a substitute.”
What meaning did Seina Naydree’s chosen end truly hold? What was clear was that she decided it herself, tying off the knot without leaving any regrets. Was Naimel, upon hearing of Seina’s demise, contemplating similar thoughts and honoring her?
However, instead of becoming sentimental, Lennok immediately rose halfway and opened his mouth again.
“There is one thing I wish to ask about the Cult.”
Unearthing Naimel’s origins and explaining the Priestess’s demise wasn’t for the sake of sentimentality.
“If you were offered to the Night Parade as a Cult affiliate, you would know how the Pontiff’s power manifested during that process.”
“……”
“Before Dorye’s body was enshrined in the Mugan sanctuary, I want to know where in this city the Pontiff left his power.”
There was a secret Lennok still didn’t know, even after facing Dorye’s body in the Mugan sanctuary and delving into its memories.
“You are making a request I cannot grant.” Naimel shook her head with a hazy expression. “Though I am but a humble spirit who abandoned both the Cult and the Night Parade, I am not one without principle. How can you ask me to—”
As Naimel spoke with a troubled look, her gaze fell upon the stigma glowing on Lennok’s wrist, and she fell silent. Lennok looked at Naimel’s expressionless face and flicked his wrist.
Clank!!
Like a lie, Lennok’s hands were freed from the chains.
“I’ll ask again.” Lennok pushed himself up from the bed and walked towards Naimel. “Do you have any idea where it might be?”
“……This is impossible.” Naimel said with difficulty, her complexion pale as she stared at Lennok’s stigma. “The authority of the Priestess cannot be passed down in such a way, how could you—!!”
“Do you have any idea where it might be?”
“……”
Lennok’s question was an open threat to escape and search Yorta further. But instead of dissuading or stopping him, Naimel nodded with a complicated expression.
“There is a ritual site used by Cult affiliates. It is the only relic that was touched by the Cult’s hand at the time—”
“Location?”
“……Yorta’s 19th underground level.” Naimel replied with a small sigh. “It is the crematorium where Yorta’s meritorious subjects and traitors were gathered and burned.”
Rumble!!
Deep within the Headrain River.
Beneath the dark riverbed, where water pressure crushed down, a colossal Ghost Ship twisted as it swam, descending.
Unlike when Lennok first obtained it, the ship’s form was considerably worn, damaged, and broken in many places. Lennok shook his head, looking at the mast, which was snapped in half and dangling.
“……I’ll have to try repairing it separately when I get back.”
Onnion’s ship was useful in many ways, but as something obtained under the alias Victor, he must be cautious in its use. Even for repairing the damaged vessel, it would likely be safer for Lennok to handle it alone rather than entrusting it to someone else.
The moment Lennok spoke, Davi poked his head out as if he’d been waiting.
[Should I download a ship parts procurement catalog?]
“No. The specifications themselves are for something too ancient; modern manuals won’t be compatible.” Lennok said, glancing at the ship. Even with various parts damaged and degraded, the ship’s functionality itself remained largely intact. The fact that it could still sail perfectly even with the mast snapped in half must be due to the inherent power within the ship. That was precisely the part Lennok needed to repair and fix.
“Things would be easier if I properly mastered Military Spirit Spellcraft, but I’m making little progress….”
Lennok watched the Military Spirits, clinging to the ship’s prow, pulling it deeper into the water. However, unlike the Ghost Shark that Oris controlled, the Military Spirits Lennok manipulated could barely exert any strength, only whimpering.
[Ugh…]
Because the Military Spirit Spellcraft Lennok casts remains rudimentary, the Military Spirits that obey his will are also merely weak spirit entities. The problem was that the reason to master Military Spirit Spellcraft wasn’t merely to transport the ship.
Lennok’s Incarnate Body, enshrined in a pure white coffin, had fallen dormant immediately after the battle with Dorye. Because that incarnation no longer moved, having fallen into a state of suspended animation.
‘I did expect some backlash from redirecting the Apostle Consecration Ritual to the Incarnate Body….’
There was no other way to extract the Incarnate Body dwelling in Dorye’s flesh and gain the fist-master’s power, while simultaneously deploying the Domain, Temple of the Naked Unbound Sea. However, Lennok hadn’t anticipated that his Incarnate Body, chosen as an Apostle and transformed through the Consecration Ritual, would become trapped within the pure white coffin it created itself, unable to move.
The remaining options were either to manipulate it directly with manipulation spellcraft, or to forcibly awaken the Incarnate Body through Military Spirit Spellcraft. To find a solution, he first needed to awaken the Incarnate Body and re-synchronize it with himself. It was an incarnation born from Lennok’s own existence. Even if it had been chosen as an Apostle and transformed, its essence would never have changed.
Most importantly, Lennok had no intention of allowing his hard-won Incarnate Body to be taken by anyone else.
‘Only with the Incarnate Body would I truly be free from the problem of coexisting identities.’
Unlike Onnion’s Ghost Ship, the Incarnate Body could be used in various ways regardless of identity, making it even less something he could give up. Thinking this, Lennok manipulated the Military Spirits clinging to the ship’s prow, attempting to pull the vessel deeper into the water. But then…
[Uuuugh…]
The Military Spirits only whimpered faintly, twisting their bodies, failing to properly obey Lennok’s command.
“……The feeling is very different from when I learned the ropes before.” Lennok mumbled, scratching his cheek awkwardly. “It was incredibly simple to copy the principles of Military Spirit Spellcraft and apply them to other spellcraft, but mastering the spellcraft itself proves difficult.”
After gaining conviction that mastering Military Spirit Spellcraft would organically connect his various acquisitions, Lennok had sought Oris’s help and been tutored on its principles multiple times. Yet, he still couldn’t use Military Spirit Spellcraft. He quickly grasped the spellcraft’s principles and methods, but the Military Spirits simply refused to obey his will.
“Look. Just like this…”
Lennok said, and the moment he stretched out his hand towards the Hundred Ghosts swimming beneath the Headrain River—
The Hundred Ghosts, floating below the river with scythes in hand, recoiled in terror and frantically began to flee.
[Ah, ahhhh!! Leave me be!!]
[If I’ve done anything wrong, I apologize, please…!!]
“……”
The Military Spirits, terrified and resisting being placed under Lennok’s control, fled. They simply ran away, or spasmed in fear, desperate to break free from Lennok’s spellcraft.
[Hmm, even if Master is scary, he’s not that scary….] Davi too, tilted his head in surprise, resting his chin on his paws. [If it wasn’t like this before, couldn’t it be because there was a change that made them fear Master?]
“……That’s true.” Lennok replied, looking put out. “The problem is, there are so many possibilities that it’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause.”
[……]
Just counting the new spellcraft and authorities he’d acquired since arriving in Yorta, there were more than a few. The acquisition of the Incarnate Body. The High Priest’s authority transferred from the Priestess. The awakening of Kashuin, the Archangel of the Old World. Not only the Ninefold Dorye martial arts learned from Dorye by observation, but also the Military Spirit Spellcraft he’s learning from Oris. There were too many elements constantly changing Lennok himself, making it difficult to narrow down the cause to a single one. Since he wasn’t in a situation to research this problem right now, he was simply repeating trials and errors in vague fashion.
Davi too, gave up contemplating Lennok’s words and sprawled out inside his robe.
[Well, what can you do~ How would I know something Master doesn’t?]
“Yeah. I didn’t expect much to begin with….”
Thump!!
At that moment, the Military Spirits submerged and pulling the chain at the ship’s prow couldn’t endure and vanished. They had become too weak to maintain their forms in the intensifying water pressure. The Ghost Ship instantly lost its guiding force and came to a halt.
Lennok, searching for Military Spirits to pull the ship in their stead, performed a magical perception scan and shook his head.
“Troublesome. Perhaps because we’ve come too deep, there’s no presence to detect around here.”
The ship was the legacy of Madrich Onnion, a Military Spirit Wizard, and was almost incompatible with any spellcraft other than Military Spirit Spellcraft. Lennok might be able to forcefully manipulate it with his magic, but its efficiency would drop, making it unsuitable for long-distance voyages.
Standing on the deck of the stopped ship in the dark water, Lennok’s gaze, deep in thought, fell upon the spirit tumbling around in his arms.
[……]
“……”
[Master. I don’t even have fins.] Davi replied exasperatedly, but Lennok simply scooped him up with both hands.
The limp fox spirit, dangling its front paws, stared back at Lennok with a look of utter disbelief.
“The 19th underground level Naimel mentioned is right ahead. Let’s give it a try, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll stop.”
[……]
“You don’t have to if you don’t feel like it. It’s all just using magic anyway, so I can do it.”
[No. It’s not difficult, so I’ll give it a try.]
Whoosh!!
The cybernetic spirit, instantly growing to Lennok’s size, leaped onto the ship’s deck, bit down on the chain, and curled its front paws.
[My dream is to ride on a palanquin and be praised, but instead, it’s the opposite….]
Grumbling, Davi gathered his magical energy, swelling his entire body and slowly began to walk down into the river. His five tails stiffened and began to rotate, spinning like propellers.
Whoosh!!
The ship slowly began to move forward with Davi’s swimming. While a spirit’s existence is distinct from a Military Spirit’s, they can be compatible with the Ghost Ship as they are both categorized as spirit entities.
Whoooooong…!!!
As Davi gathered more magical energy, the ship’s speed increased, and both the spirit and the ship glowed. Lennok, watching from the deck, frowned at the strange sense of unity he felt for a moment.
“Wait, this is….”
As the spirit’s magical energy resonated strongly with the Ghost Ship, their will-thoughts were merging, blending into one. The moment Lennok, sensing this unusual will-thought resonance, was about to call Davi back to stop—
Whooooooooong!!!!
The radiance emanating from the ship’s chain began to be entirely absorbed by Davi. Following the spirit’s will as it led the ship from the prow, the entire vessel seemed to respond and throb with life.
Onnion’s entire ship spun as if being sucked into Davi, then vanished. Davi’s will-thought, with Lennok on its back, instantly sped through the 19th underground level, instantly breaking through the colliding barriers from all directions and landing on a dry plain in the middle of the water.
CRAAACK!!
[Master!!]
As the ship’s form was absorbed by Davi, Lennok fell, and the enlarged Davi caught him with his front paws. Davi, startled, whipped his tails around and rolled, hugging Lennok, then stood up abruptly, holding Lennok in his paws.
[Are, are you okay?!]
“Yes. I can shrug off minor bruises.” Lennok coughed lightly, getting out of Davi’s arms.
Lennok stood on the barren plain, surrounded by piles of ashes. Before him, Davi waited, wagging six tails with a worried expression.
Thinking this, Lennok walked past Davi, intending to search for the ruins and the vanished ship.
“……Wait. The sixth?”
Lennok quickly seized the sixth tail, which floated like a ghost at the end of its five tails.