Ch.390Sorcery (4)

The results of the sorcery were somewhat ambiguous, but calling the soul was a success. Judging by the traces left behind, it was clear that the soul had definitely come here.

But if asked whether even this was a success, it’s too ambiguous. Normally when a soul is summoned, it should remain in place, but this one left only incomprehensible words before disappearing.

Usually, the soul would stay and converse with the sorcerer, but there was none of that. It just said what it wanted to say and left.

“That’s how he always was. Even before he left, he would just say what he wanted and go.”

Father seemed unbothered by the storm that had just passed through. His attitude was essentially “come if you will, don’t if you won’t.”

Still, he couldn’t hide his bitterness. Though their relationship was poor, the news of Grandfather’s death must have been quite shocking.

Father said that despite his terrible temper, Grandfather had the most reliable back of anyone.

Even now, he said, Grandfather would be the strongest warrior of all. If Father himself said so, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how strong he must have been.

“I wish he’d at least explained what he was doing before he left. And I don’t understand what he meant by coming here. Sigh… it’s frustrating.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait and see?”

“Let’s do that for now. There’s no point in worrying about it constantly. And child.”

“Yes? Yes?”

Father called for Leona, who had conducted the ritual. Leona’s eyes widened in surprise.

Then Father smiled gratefully, slightly bowed his head, and expressed his thanks in a gentle voice.

“Thank you. Though it’s bitter, at least the frustration is gone.”

“Um… do you really think that soul was your father?”

“I can tell instinctively. Saying what he wants and leaving—that’s his signature move.”

Swish- Swish-

As he spoke, Father stroked Leona’s head with his thick hand. Leona smiled brightly at his touch.

Seeing her tail wagging happily, she must have been pleased by the praise. I watched the scene contentedly before shifting my gaze to Ariel.

Ariel was the only one among us who had seen the soul presumed to be Grandfather. But we couldn’t be certain.

“Ariel.”

“Hmm?”

“That soul you saw earlier. Was it just a floating mouth like last time?”

The demon worshipper’s soul had only a mouth, like an egg ghost, with the rest being completely blank.

So I wondered if the soul presumed to be Grandfather would be the same.

After pondering my question, Ariel tilted her head cutely and answered.

“No? This one had everything. Eyes, nose, mouth, and hair. Though it was all pure white.”

As soon as I heard Ariel’s explanation, I checked everyone else’s reactions. Sure enough, all eyes were on her.

Everyone here knew that Ariel could see souls. They also knew she had quite deliciously consumed the demon worshipper.

Father’s face grew somewhat serious, and he spoke in a rather cautious voice.

“Child. Could you perhaps describe what the soul looked like?”

“Hmm…”

At Father’s question, Ariel closed her eyes and tried her best to think. She seemed to be combining words in her head to provide an explanation.

But with her limited vocabulary, a proper explanation would be difficult. After all, Ariel was a newborn who was just about to reach one month of age.

Father belatedly realized this and was about to give up when Ariel suddenly opened her eyes and looked at me.

“Daddy. Daddy.”

“What is it?”

“Have this? This, this.”

Ariel made a drawing gesture with her hand, seemingly asking me for something. It looked like she wanted a pen and paper.

Understanding her intention, I handed her the magic pen and notebook I always carried.

After receiving them, Ariel began drawing something with surprisingly fluid hand movements.

“…Ariel?”

“Hmm?”

“Have you ever learned to draw before?”

It was impossible, but I asked just in case. What Ariel drew wasn’t just good—it was extraordinary.

It wasn’t merely a scribble with a pen; it was vibrant and even captured detailed shading.

I have some skill in drawing and occasionally include illustrations in my books, but Ariel’s level far surpassed mine.

“No? I just drew what was in my head?”

“You just drew it?”

“Yes. It’s not difficult.”

“This would make professional artists cry.”

As Marie said, Ariel’s skill was not at all inferior to that of master painters. If aspiring artists heard this, they would despair.

My astonishment was brief, as Ariel looked at me with sparkling eyes, seemingly seeking praise. I smiled and stroked her head.

Pleased by my praise, Ariel smiled brightly and hugged my leg tightly. How can she be so adorable?

“…”

Meanwhile, Father was carefully examining the drawing she had made in the notebook. His brow was furrowed deeply, as if in deep thought.

I picked up Ariel and slowly approached him to check the drawing together. And as soon as I saw it, I had only one thought.

“…Were his thighs really that thick?”

Being a soul, it didn’t matter that he was drawn naked. After all, in soul form, even the private parts were absent.

But even setting that aside, the thickness of the thighs was particularly striking. No exaggeration, but his thighs were thicker than a woman’s waist.

And what about the upper body? The lower body was impressive, but the upper body was far beyond merely robust.

It’s a bit disrespectful to say about Grandfather, but he looked less like a human and more like a scaled-down ogre.

Moreover, with his spiky, long hair resembling a lion’s mane, he overall reminded me of a wild beast.

‘His body reminds me of fighting manga from my previous life.’

This isn’t just a simple comparison—it’s genuinely like that. I doubt whether this is truly a body a human could possess.

Of course, our father also had an incredible physique no less impressive than Grandfather’s in the drawing. It’s just not as noticeable because he rarely undresses like in the picture.

I carefully examined the figure in the drawing presumed to be Grandfather, then turned to Father.

Father was still furrowing his brow, but his expression seemed somewhat complicated.

“Is this my grandfather?”

“Yes.”

“What’s his name?”

“Clark Mayshall.”

My name is Issac, and Grandfather’s name is Clark. Combine the two, and you get a name that sounds like someone who could defeat monsters with just one tool.

Setting that aside, I wonder what Clark Grandfather was doing when he passed away. He was said to be a wandering swordsman traveling the world, but he doesn’t seem like someone who would die away from home.

If he did die away from home, it must have been a catastrophic accident. I stared at the drawing for a while and tilted my head.

‘What did he mean by coming soon?’

Does it mean the soul will come here again?

******

The investigation team examining the secret temple of the demon worshippers was facing an unexpected crisis.

They had sprinkled holy water everywhere as a precaution, and not satisfied with just that, they had also spread divine power.

Skeletons and zombies are beings revived through necromancy, a malevolent power. Naturally, they should be vulnerable to divine power.

Yes, that should be normal.

Crash!

A glass bottle containing holy water hit the skeleton’s skull directly. Simultaneously, the glass bottle shattered into pieces, and its contents spilled out.

The holy water, glowing faintly golden as proof of Luminus’s power.

[Ah.]

“W-what? It’s not affected at all!”

“Holy water! Bring more holy water!”

“Where’s the priest? Where’s the priest! Hurry and chant the spell!”

But the holy water had no effect on the skeleton that had suddenly revived in the temple. The holy water just flowed down the skull like sweat, and that was it.

The shattered glass bottle fell unceremoniously to the floor. Naturally, the investigation team that had thrown the holy water was shocked.

What kind of skeleton was this that even divine power had no effect? And what kind of being could speak?

While everyone was panicking at this unexpected situation, the skeleton touched its smooth skull and looked at its hand.

Its hand, with only bones remaining. It was clearly dead, yet strangely alive.

[This feels quite strange.]

The skeleton muttered as it moved its hand, which was nothing but bone. First, it began removing the sword embedded in its ribs.

Clang-

The skeleton started removing the weapons embedded throughout its body, one by one.

One could roughly infer how fierce a battle it had fought until its death, and there were even weapons piercing vital points.

Furthermore, there were traces of the right arm being torn off by a strong force. It had been reattached by archaeologists for analysis, giving a hint of his condition.

Clang-

After removing the last sword embedded near the heart, the skeleton looked ahead.

It saw the investigation team that had thrown the holy water earlier, along with reinforcements.

Knights, mages, and even priests.

It was clearly a hostile situation for anyone to see. Well, it’s a natural progression since it revived as a skeleton.

Still, shouldn’t they talk? The skeleton cleared its throat out of habit from when it was alive and spoke politely.

[Excuse me. Let’s talk for a moment…]

“There it is! Priest! Hurry with the blessing!”

[No. Just listen to me for a moment…]

Flash!

Before the skeleton could speak, the priest chanted a spell and unleashed a blessing.

The priest must have had quite strong faith, as the entire temple was bathed in golden light.

“Divine punishment!”

Boom!

With the final cry, a pillar of gold struck down on the skeleton’s head. If it were an ordinary skeleton, surely…

[I said, listen to me.]

“W-why?”

“What on earth…”

It had no effect. Rather, the bones, including the skull, seemed to gleam more, as if they had absorbed the divine power.

While the investigation team was shocked by the fact that divine power had no effect, the skeleton spoke in a slightly angry voice.

It wasn’t really a voice, as it wasn’t produced vocally, but rather sounded like a recording.

[I have just one question. Hawk Ducar Mayshall.]

“…What?”

[And Issac Dukar Mayshall. Do you know where these two are?]

Despite asking very politely.

“Ah, it must be the demon worshippers using their tricks! We must stop it!”

“Mages, prepare your spells! If necessary, we’ll collapse this temple to prevent it from escaping!”

It had the opposite effect. From the investigation team’s perspective, it was a perfectly reasonable reaction, as the skeleton had mentioned Issac’s name.

Anyone would think that the demon worshippers had used some trick, and that the skeleton was trying to kill Issac.

It’s not a short-sighted thought at all. From their perspective, it’s a completely natural conclusion.

[Sigh…]

Of course, for the skeleton, or rather Clark, it was exasperating.

As the investigation team began to arm themselves one by one, Clark shook his head as if he had no choice.

He would have preferred to leave quietly, but it seemed impossible now.

[I have no choice.]

Clark firmly gripped a double-bladed axe with both hands. He looked at the investigation team in front of him and slowly raised one leg.

Just as the investigation team, having completed all preparations, was about to attack, Clark moved first.

Boom!

As he stomped the ground with his raised foot.

Crash!

A massive mound of earth rose like a tsunami and engulfed the investigation team.