Chapter 105

What is an immutable factor in distinguishing people?

There are many things, but at least not the face.

Nothing changes as easily as appearance.

With just a mask, one can’t recognize someone.

On modern Earth, one could distinguish people by fingerprints, iris patterns, or various DNA, but this is another world.

A realm where magic has advanced more than science.

There exists a method of distinction befitting this world.

One is magical power.

One is the soul.

One is life force.

Of course, at the moment of death, those will scatter, but if there’s a mage, various things are possible through necromancy.

Like relieving a grudge.

Or comforting a spirit.

However, even if a soul exists, resurrecting the dead is impossible.

Unless the life force, the most basic and essential element that builds life, exists.

Moreover, life force disappears faster than anything else, making resurrection impossible without immediate action, even for a regent.

In that regard, Carami’s life force reversed and vanished in an instant.

Under normal circumstances, resurrection would be impossible.

However, fate’s play. No, the fox’s mischief twists the fate of the corpse that will no longer change.

“You have her life force, don’t you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

The timid Lin responds while glancing around.

Having fallen for the gumiho’s sweet words, Lin secretly drained Carami’s life force bit by bit. That’s the reason she is hated by Carami and has withdrawn inside.

Other life forces were quickly converted to strength as they were absorbed, but Carami’s life force was an exception.

It was something so precious that she kept it separately, like a squirrel storing acorns.

“Then you have life force… Is there anything else needed?”

Since the outcome was already determined from the moment the gumiho began the eclipse, Hekbi took a cooperative stance.

“We need to call the soul into the physical body, but if the ritual is not well executed, the soul will wander in the underworld.”

Unless, like Mirabel’s father Harold, there’s a strong attachment to the living world, the soul will leave for the afterlife.

Carami’s case was different, so it was essential to call the lost soul precisely into the body.

There are difficulties.

How to call a weak and fragile soul.

The second issue is that there are yokai that would eagerly invade if they catch wind of a soul. If not careful, the soul could be kidnapped during the necromancy.

“That’s not a problem.”

“Uh?”

The gumiho shows the soul materialized to the confused Hekbi.

“It’s a magic far worse than ordinary sorcery.”

The gumiho wears a sarcastic smile.

Even though the caster is dead, the shackles remain intact, as if they would not grant freedom even in death, the pitch-black shackles wrap around the soul tightly.

Since the chains of the shackles are connected to Carami’s soul, drawing them in is no task at all.

However, to bring the soul over, the barrier must be dispelled. Prior to that, it’s necessary to prevent Hekbi from doing something reckless.

“Hand it over. Fox bead.”

“…….”

The core of a yokai.

An essential item to use sorcery, the fox bead.

It’s something given neither to parents nor to betrothed…but…

“Not handing it over? Should I pluck your eyeballs out?”

The gumiho threatens, acting like an ruffian senior who robs money from juniors.

Reluctantly, Hekbi summons the fox bead, hesitatingly placing it on the gumiho’s hand. The gumiho tries to take it, but Hekbi puts her strength into holding on.

As a struggle for strength ensues, Lin pushes Hekbi from the side. Hekbi collapses weakly in the process, losing hold of the fox bead.

“What’s taking so long?”

Hekbi, lying sprawled on the ground like a tragic heroine, raises her gaze to see two gumiho glaring at her with fierce eyes.

A full sixteen tails.

Why are there so many gumiho?

Is there no other ally who would support her?

Once this is over, she should raise a fox in peace.

The gumiho, having neutralized Hekbi’s power, dispels the barrier. Lin, fully entrusting the resurrection to the gumiho, steps inside of her own accord.

“Everything is ready, so shall we begin?”

First, the soul of Carami.

The gumiho pulls on the chains with its spirit power.

A place called the underworld.

One of the souls, marching in a line, is suddenly drawn in.

It was the moment the three-headed hellhound, the guardian of hell, was about to rush in to chase the escaping soul.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

In an instant, the gumiho’s spirit power expands.

An enormous pink gumiho materializes, several times larger than the monstrous hellhound.

Spreading its nine tails ferociously and growling, the hellhound whimpering like a mere mutt.

None of the yokai dare to touch the soul in the presence of the overwhelming spirit power of the gumiho.

Thus, with a luxurious escort, the small black soul appears before the gumiho.

“Hello? You’ve become really tiny.”

A shabby soul that barely maintains its shape.

It seems like it could extinguish if it gets a breath of air.

Not much different from a passing horned rabbit.

A testament to how weak Carami is.

Yet, despite that, it ventures into dangerous places.

All for the slaves.

The gumiho knows of the struggles he endured through Lin’s memories.

Not just for Lin, but also for himself.

This time is no exception.

He was told not to come as it would be a hindrance, but he sought her out anyway. At just the right moment.

What would have happened if he hadn’t come?

What would have happened if he had been there in the past?

It’s all uncertain.

A warm, swelling emotion rises deep within.

Whose feelings are they?

Are they his?

Are they Lin’s?

What this is, the gumiho could not comprehend.

Such emotions were something it had never experienced in an eternity.

Whatever it is, it could be asked by resurrecting Carami.

The gumiho extracts Carami’s life force kept within and returns it to where it should be. Although the amount isn’t much due to Lin stealing little by little, it was sufficient for resurrection.

Similarly, the soul is carefully immersed into the body.

All the preparatory work is finished.

What remains is the final phase.

“Ritual.”

Hekbi encapsulates Carami’s remains in a precious vase.

Changing the fate of the deceased is a forbidden domain.

Moreover, ordinarily it would not warrant a reversal.

It’s nearly impossible to exactly trace back from death to the original life.

However, here lies his soul, his body, his life force, and a bond that even death cannot sever.

At the end of the myriad branches divided into billions, the life of the man named Carami shines brightly, causing all other paths to vanish, leaving only one line.

The beginning and the end.

A clear point of symmetry.

All the requirements for reversal are met.

Hekbi reverses the death.

No dazzling spectacle erupts with light emanating.

It is simply serene.

Like sunlight pouring through dark clouds.

A dim hue settles into Carami’s hollow pupil.

Carami, who had been staring blankly at the sky, begins to blink slowly like someone just waking from a deep slumber.

He focuses on the blurred pupils.

The first thing Carami, who returned from the underworld, encounters is the gumiho, who peers down at him with a smile.

“Hello, master? Did you sleep well?”

“Well… just about.”

“How does it feel to have traveled freely as a soul?”

“I was just about to go to paradise, so it’s a bit disappointing.”

Is this the response of someone who has died and been resurrected?

With an audacious attitude, the gumiho bursts into laughter.

“Paradise, my foot. You’re confirmed for hell. You raised a gumiho.”

“Raising a gumiho doesn’t make it hell, does it?”

“The world is inherently absurd. Why? Regrets?”

“If I raised the prettiest gumiho in the world, I guess I’d have to endure hell.”

“How do you always find the most beautiful responses to give? I almost want to devour you.”

Now it’s clear why Lin was draining Carami’s life force.

This man is a remarkable being.

More so than a gumiho that toyed with women’s hearts.

He waves a tail that doesn’t exist.

Getting eaten by a woman is entirely his karmic retribution. Reaping what he sowed.

As Carami exchanges trivial conversation with the gumiho, he soon spots Hekbi.

Hekbi, avoiding his gaze.

Her demeanor is one of being thoroughly embarrassed.

This meant the gumiho had won.

“Looks like things went well.”

“From a results perspective, yes. Thanks to someone who defied death and sacrificed.”

“For a slave, that’s nothing.”

That’s a lie.

In truth, Carami had not expected to die.

His plan was merely to provoke Hekbi into sending the celestial bead inward.

‘Did you really think I’d suddenly get a death sentence?’

He thought if Hekbi used force, he would just get hit a bit, but instead he received a sudden death cheat of ‘split in half and die.’

From his memories, he seemed to have blurted out “What?” as his last words.

He didn’t even feel like he had died unconsciously.

It felt more like he had just fallen asleep and awakened.

And Carami realized one important fact.

‘If I die, that’s the end.’

Being possessed by a game, he had wondered if dying would just send him back to reality like linking out, but it was nothing like that. Death meant it was all over.

It seemed he’d have to take more care of himself from now on.

Carami struggled to push himself up from the ground, propping himself up with his arms. Seeing how unsteady he looked, the gumiho supported his back.

“Don’t overdo it. Your life force is still quite lacking.”

Such a gentle demeanor.

Her gaze was also soft, as if looking at an old lover, tinged with bitterness.

‘What’s with this sudden change of attitude?’

A surprising shift in demeanor.

Well, it’s better than being glared at as if she wants to kill him. If viewed positively, any warmth is welcome. As long as she doesn’t actually want to eat him.

But more than that, it was imperative to wrap things up.

“If everything is done, then it’s time for the settlement, right?”

The gumiho’s purpose for seeking the ritual was for the power of the Moonlight Bead she took, as well as the power of the ritual itself.

A colossal amount of spirit power is required to retrieve the gumiho’s strength, but absorbing the power of a yokai like Hekbi would be a quick task.

With Hekbi’s fox bead already in the gumiho’s possession, there was no hesitation.

The final step toward the wish.

The gumiho shattered the black fox bead.

Crack!

As the fox bead broke, the power of the ritual and the strength of the Moonlight Bead burst forth. They were entirely absorbed by the gumiho.

The gumiho’s fox bead, which had been half gold, now started to shimmer with the deep blue hue of the evening sky on the opposite side.

Sky, sun, moon, and darkness.

The forces of the three yokai finally converged in one place.

Bang!

A brilliant burst of light erupted from the gumiho.

A pink column shot up into the sky.

From the dance of the tails, a pink tail shot out.

The tails swayed gracefully.

Finally, the ninth tail of the gumiho emerged.