Swimming through death feels like trying to swim in an endless swamp.
It was not a particularly pleasant sensation.
Sticky grasping hands from the other side, the countless traces of lives that blame me, and…
“Hmm.”
As I gently opened my eyes, thinking that today my dreams were particularly unsettling, I caught sight of a frame illuminated by a soft orange light.
It was a painting depicting the enormous form of an evil dragon.
A new deity that governs death and loss, Sigarmata.
A tragic parent who became the ruler of the afterlife to welcome her child but ultimately could not meet them, a tyrant who became invulnerable to anyone who dared to oppose her.
However, even she had one weakness, and that was ‘Parvati.’
For a full 5,000 years, Sigarmata, who could not meet her child even in the afterlife, would be more desperate now than ever.
Thus, Parvati’s heart is needed.
With everything in Arinseia ‘forgotten’ now, she was the only key qualified to reach Arinseia.
He gazed at the flickering candlelight and murmured.
“Arinseia is a place I must reach.”
Even to reclaim his lost rights.
“……”
And then, suddenly, he noticed something unusual about one of the rings that shone on his finger.
– Tap, tap.
A foreboding noise began emanating from the red gemstone part of the ring.
As expected, a thread-like gold wrapped around the ring and soon fell off his finger.
He quietly observed that scene and muttered expressionlessly.
“Looks like a finger has been cut off.”
His index finger, Seyeo?
It wasn’t as if he had not expected this to happen.
That guy was the one he had assigned the most dangerous task among his fingers.
‘But, quicker than expected.’
In an attempt to discern the reason behind it, he was sifting through the memories of death from the retrieved soul…
He stopped.
With his eyes wide open, he touched his forehead.
“……It’s a trap.”
As that thought occurred to him, he severed the injection of memories and erased all of Seyeo’s soul and memories.
It was quite a sophisticated contractual trap.
Like a bomb hidden in the soul.
This method… could be considered quite novel.
‘Human dark mages would never be able to counter this.’
However, even though he was not exactly human, this method proved to be quite effective.
If he had accepted it without going through a preliminary screening, completely separating and operating the soul and reading the memories, he would have fallen straight into the trap.
“There’s definitely something in Aires.”
Both in Dylan’s case and now with Seyeo…
It seemed like there was something in Aires that obstructed him.
‘It seems like more fingers are needed in Aires.’
Muttering that, he lightly tapped the table with his finger, and soon spoke aloud to himself.
“Merlin… maybe.”
A fragment of memory he had barely read before realizing the trap of the contracting magic and erasing Seyeo’s memories.
The puppeteer of death, Merlin…
Why did Seyeo remember that name so vividly?
Was she related to the current situation?
His pondering did not last long.
‘Well… it’s better to exclude even one risk factor.’
The puppeteer will be eliminated.
—————-
“Phew, it’s finally done! Good job, Liv!”
With that, Luke placed the neatly put away body of the lich into his pocket dimension alongside Liv, flashing a refreshing smile as he hid the ‘key’ back inside the Moonlight Stone necklace.
It truly is a satisfying and useful artifact, no matter when you look at it.
The ‘key’ is on a completely different level compared to a pocket space that fills up even with a human-sized item.
Once the coordinates were previously fixed for Arinseia, the ‘key’ could open a door to Arinseia anytime and anywhere, as long as there was enough mana.
Simply opening it provides a space of nearly infinite size and mana.
Though, unlike the modern world filled solely with pure mana, the mana of Arinseia has a higher proportion of divine power because of the long era ruled by the goddess, leaving a lot of lingering traces, making it less efficient to directly integrate it into circles.
Divine power is fundamentally similar to mana, but it is mana that has already passed through the filter of a god.
If pure mana is like plain water, divine power is like tea.
It’s fine to drink it as it is, and perhaps tea is healthier, but for someone who simply needs water, the components from tea leaves would be an impurity.
Therefore, mixing it directly into one’s circle could have a significant effect, which is why several filtration processes were necessary, but considering that time, it did not display remarkable efficiency.
It would be more appropriate to draw mana and use it directly; it is unsuitable for being stored in a circle.
In fact, the divine power spread in the air is a far more sensitive matter to the lich than to himself.
If dark magic is purified by divine power…
It wouldn’t feel pleasant at all.
‘Well, the lich has been properly treated for preservation… I suppose I need to finish my research before it is all purified in the air.’
For now, this was the best option.
He couldn’t very well carry a corpse around.
At that sight, Liv nodded in agreement.
Despite the fact that a dirty lich’s corpse had entered the beautiful homeland of Arinseia, if the master was happy, what did it matter?
Now that there were no queens or subjects he needed to protect.
Lightly stretching his body, Luke soon took out his phone to check the time.
Looking at the time, there was still quite a while until the last bus.
If he left now, he could board the bus with ease.
“All right, then, let’s hurry back. Pyris is waiting.”
“……”
As Luke started to walk, Liv quietly followed behind him.
——–
Luke’s expression as he walked through the Rienne forest, filled with good feelings, had somehow darkened as much as the night.
Because there had been too many civilians sacrificed in this affair.
The conclusion of battles is not always filled with exhilarating outcomes.
He found another corpse slumped against a tree.
Among the corpses, only a few summoned the black flames due to forced sacrifice.
The greater number greeted Luke with every step he took.
Perhaps these were the ones that Liv had ambushed and dealt with.
Among them was someone Luke recognized.
Someone who had listened to his performance, someone who had been sitting next to him at the PC bang sneaking glances at his game, someone he had brushed past at the market, someone who had bought sausages while sampling at a department store, someone who had been standing in line at the bakery after buying melon bread, someone he had seen on the bus while commuting…
Though they never had a conversation, merely fleeting encounters, Luke’s mind held onto all their faces.
After walking a bit more, he saw another familiar face.
“Such a pity.”
Luke sighed.
He was someone who always hurriedly ran away after listening to just a few songs and dropping a few coins into the bag.
One day, when Luke had caught him and asked why he was always rushing, he apologized profusely for being late to work and for not being able to donate much, saying he had to support his family while working a regular job and also taking on a part-time job.
He was a father, exhausted from life, who was struggling because of a debt he had mistakenly incurred in the past.
Despite his tired smile, he said it was all because everyone was suffering because of him.
“……”
Though he seemed like a passerby, if asked where he was headed, he would surely be able to answer.
Every person walking down the street has their own purpose.
But what could I do? I couldn’t save them.
I am a mage, not a cleric.
In this modern world, there are neither goddesses nor saintesses.
So divine power is naturally hard to find.
They died unjustly, but there was nothing I could do.
Luke closed his eyes and prayed.
May their souls be guided to the right path.
That is all I can do…
‘But can I truly say that for sure?’
Luke opened his eyes.
No, could this be something that only he could do?
Though he held the identity of a mage, he was a vessel of the goddess.
Like the last saintess remaining until the modern era.
To leave these poor victims as they are would mean the ruin of countless families.
That could in no way be called heroic.
At least at a time like this, he had divine power prepared and the qualifications to handle it.
So now the issue is whether he has the ability to do so.
And the time Luke spent contemplating that was incredibly short.
If he wanted to do it, he could certainly accomplish it.
If a lost coin is in a wallet, and there’s a beggar wanting charity, all he has to do is open the wallet and take the coin out.
Isn’t it extraordinarily simple?
Resolved, Luke set down his bag and spoke.
“Liv, wait here for a moment. I have something to do.”
“……?”
Liv tilted her head, looking confused.
Didn’t they intend to head for the bus?
“From now on, I plan to execute a large-scale resurrection.”
“……???”
Liv’s confusion seemed to amplify.
Her shrug and the way she waved her fingers was as if protesting, ‘Wasn’t my master a mage?’
Luke scratched his chin, pondering her reaction.
‘Honestly, I’ve never dealt with divine power before…’
What opportunity would there be for a mage to handle divine power?
Naturally, he had no experience.
But still, Luke’s thoughts did not change.
“Still, I think I can do it.”
Thinking back to how well he had managed with the rather foolish Renie, what couldn’t he accomplish?
This matter had now become an issue of pride.
