78. Untying the Knot (6)
78. Untying the Knot (6)
- 1 -
Leonis's body had clearly met its end.
However, his soul still remained in this world without departing.
That was because, right at the moment his body died and before his soul and body separated, his body and soul had been frozen through 'Necromancy'.
'This was the best option.'
To harvest all the talents and abilities remaining in his body without damaging his soul, some kind of measure had to be taken.
A soulless body decayed physically over time, but it also decayed magically.
This was a law of fate that even magical freezing could not prevent.
And of those measures, this was the best method.
Some, especially clerics, might call it desecration of the dead, but I hoped they would consider it the best way to honor his will.
- That's why you woke me at the very end, then.
"That's right."
In fact, his intellect and emotions were preserved this fully.
His appearance, summoned through necromancy from his frozen body, was a colorless form that retained his living appearance, though translucent.
As Scarlet had mentioned before regarding soul quality, both his body's talent and his soul were strong and of high caliber, so to speak.
- Then, Miss Sonia. I will answer like this.
"Senior?"
- It goes against the natural order for the dead to meddle in the affairs of the living, so I will say nothing. You will choose well. You are not a weak person.
"But, I'm not that kind of person..."
- ...
Despite Sonia's hesitant words, Leonis said nothing beyond what he had first stated.
Just as he said, the words of the dead interfering with the living were truly against the natural order.
I decided to help Sonia.
"You didn't even finish your will properly. If you have anything left to say, why don't you say it?"
- ... It's awkward when you act so kindly. In the end, you... No, forget it. There's no point.
"What's so hard about conveying a single word from the dead?"
I could guess what his vague words meant.
It must have been about how the misfortunes of Leonis and Sonia ultimately stemmed from my intention.
"Master..."
"It's alright."
"... Thank you."
Sonia looked this way with bewilderment, but I just gently shook my head with a smile.
She too had noticed the meaning contained in the silence between his words and was momentarily flustered.
Having bowed her head to me, Sonia looked back up at Leonis.
He finally let out the remaining words with a sigh.
- ... You are not weak, Miss Sonia. Whatever your choice may be, I will support you. There is nothing to resent.
Whether you kill Eleanor horrifically, or keep her alive to torment her further, or even forgive her.
That meant he would support Sonia.
"Say your final goodbye, Sonia. The measures we need to take for him cannot be delayed any longer."
"... Yes."
Although frozen by necromancy, holding onto the dead was a magically burdensome task.
Now that the magical freezing on Leonis had been temporarily released, his decay was already progressing.
Of course, there was no need to say such things to Sonia or Leonis.
The end should be a comfortable one for both of them.
"Senior. Thank you. Always..."
- As was your presence, Miss Sonia. You made me grateful to have been born into this world.
"... May you go to a good place."
After exchanging their final farewell, Sonia remained in place.
Because she also had to be present to fulfill his will to the end.
"You haven't changed your resolve to use your legacy for the dungeon and for her, have you?"
- Of course. Because to survive now, staying by your side seems the best for her.
"Alright... Let's begin."
- I'm ready.
At his words, I nodded, pointed the tip of my staff toward his soul, and placed my other hand on his body.
I mentioned earlier that what I did to his body might also be seen as desecration of the dead, but what I was about to do now would appear even more so.
The only difference was that I had obtained the consent of the deceased himself.
"... 「Sacrifice Appraisal」."
『Name - Leonis Den』
I brushed aside his information window that had appeared as if by fate.
What I needed now was not the assistance of the system that only I possessed, but the original function of the Sacrifice Appraisal magic.
An eye to intuitively grasp the state of the soul and body treated as sacrifice.
Seureureuk.
In my eyes, I could now see the spiritual bond of fate connecting Leonis's soul and body, and the progress of their decay in real time.
Slowing the rate of decay was impossible.
However, it was possible to make use of that decay.
Tok.
When I pinpointed a decaying part of Leonis's soul and extracted it, something like black paint clung to my fingertip.
In the end, this was a negative energy born from the decay of soul and body.
It was a power similar to the demonic energy of the demon tribe, and something a necromancer ought to be familiar with.
Thanks to that, I was able to manipulate it like this.
- Why did I have to die...
- I don't want to go alone...
What I felt from there were emotions that Leonis, normally, would not have put into words.
It was full of a heartfelt curse, so dense it made even me feel unpleasant.
A normal necromancer would have amplified this state, making the soul rot more 'appropriately' and strengthening these emotions to use them.
But what I was about to do was the opposite of that path.
Keuaaaak!
Using the peeled-off 'decayed soul' like a surgical knife, I cut out all the existentially rotting parts from Leonis's body and soul.
It was a process of slowing the decay and increasing the power I could use.
- ... This is.
"Senior. You've gotten a bit younger."
- Haha. I suppose so.
As a result, there was the side effect of Leonis's soul becoming several years younger.
The voices of the two, who didn't know exactly what was happening, brushed past my ears, but I left them be and continued the process.
Knowing would only cause panic.
"「Soul Refinement」."
Seuak!
As I chanted the spell, the separated decayed soul simply severed the cord connecting it to Leonis's original soul and body.
Magic that purely separated the decayed fragments so they could no longer affect the original soul or body.
Since the influence of another's mana on a soul is limited unless significant time and mana are invested, this magic could only be used immediately with the consent of the subject.
Of course, necromancers usually extract talents from both to create summons, so they never put a sacrifice in this situation.
This was purely a creation born from my own thinking and imagination.
- ... I feel free.
An ill-timed, funny thought came to mind.
It was because his words just happened to remind me of a meme from Earth.
Fortunately, no laughter burst out, and I called the system window back up to check the situation I had created.
『Attributes - Stamina X Technique 5 Durability X Mana 14 Resistance 11』
『Attributes - Stamina 24 Technique 36 Durability 29 Mana 40 Resistance 35』
『Traits - Special-grade Specialization: Detection Magic, ...』
『An adventurer mage with abilities superior to their grade. The body is top-grade, and the soul is supreme-grade.』
『During processing by the caster's will, the soul experienced a one-step rise in caliber.』
Though I minimized the toll the soul took from the body, it couldn't be completely without effect.
And the feeling of 'freedom' Leonis's spirit felt was probably an emotion that arose during the process of the soul rising one step in caliber.
If this had happened while he was alive, wouldn't it have been a trigger to immediately raise his realm by one level?
It was only possible in death, so perhaps it's meaningless to speculate.
"Sonia. Are you ready?"
"Ah... Yes!"
Anyway, all preparations were now complete.
Preparations to show Leonis that his will would be carried out before he passed on.
This was a method of 'transferring the abilities of a dead sacrifice,' applied using the 'transfer of abilities through contract' that was available after becoming a high-rank Dungeon Lord.
"Though I already explained, what happens from now on will be different from the strengthening you usually experience using the spirits and flesh of orcs."
The 'Sacrifice Strengthening' I had performed until now was conducted without the subject's consent.
Because of that, I had used the power of the soul to suppress the lingering will in the body in order to forcibly seize the sacrifice's resources.
This wasn't because I wanted it, but simply the mechanism of the Sacrifice Strengthening magic itself.
However, the strengthening from now on was different.
"You said I would become much stronger."
"It's possible because Leonis consented to having his body used for you. I can predict the result to some extent, but there may be some side effects."
Since the dead agreed to use their entire body, and the soul itself consented, even the resisting will was fully used as sacrifice.
Literally, all of Leonis's remaining resources would be used for Sonia's strengthening.
As for the extent of that strengthening, I could only predict.
- Wait. Didn't you say it would be safe?
"I meant that since I'll be beside her, she won't get seriously harmed no matter what. Leonis."
- ...
"Thank you. Senior."
Sonia, speaking to Leonis who looked at her with concern, smiled and then turned a resolute gaze to me.
And so I performed the final procedure.
"「Sacrifice Strengthening」."
Shuwaaak—!
As soon as the words left my mouth, black mana covered Leonis's body.
However, its appearance was different from usual Sacrifice Strengthening. If the normal one was much murkier and stickier, what covered his body now was much... 'cleaner'.
It wasn't blazing or slimy.
It flowed cleanly like ink, transformed into a single sphere, and the 'residue' left behind was absorbed into the dungeon more quickly.
"Uh..."
"It is larger than usual. Proceeding."
The power of the sacrifice created this way was much greater than usual, and even Sonia, who had undergone Sacrifice Strengthening several times, seemed to hesitate for a moment.
After all, it looked extraordinary.
But I didn't wait any longer and immediately moved the sphere to her.
Seureureuk!
"Huh... ah?"
Even the absorption of the sphere, which looked clean on the outside, was faster than usual.
Sonia, startled by the mass of liquid that vanished into her body in the blink of an eye, touched herself here and there, but there was no way the traces of the departed Leonis would show.
Though it was clearly visible to my eyes.
『Attributes - Stamina 19(◀ 7) Technique 29(◀ 11) Durability 31(◀ 16) Mana 50(◀ 34) Resistance 41(◀ 27)』
The increase in values was about half of what had remained in Leonis's body.
Physical ability values had risen more than the mana-related ones.
『Traits - Advanced Specialization: Detection Magic, Advanced Specialization: Curses, ... Mana Overadaptation』
Also, the Detection Magic he originally possessed was absorbed with its realm slightly lowered.
Plant and illusion-type magics were all consolidated into curses upon absorption, raising their realm.
And finally, the grade of Mana Overadaptation rose another step.
Perhaps some of the magical talent she couldn't absorb now had gone in that direction.
At this level, it was an ability so high that the grade still marked as 'formally' by the mage guild, due to lack of recognition, was bizarre.
I should visit the demon realm soon to obtain what's necessary.
"I... Ugh. I feel nauseous..."
- That's a wound.
"I'm sorry to you, senior... Ugh."
Perhaps due to that effect, Sonia's face turned pale. It was probably because of the sudden surge of mana.
"It seems that special talent you originally had returned to its original state by one level. Since your constitution has changed, it's only natural to feel that change."
"What? Then..."
"Now that your abilities are sufficient, that mana will no longer be a problem."
"Haa..."
Sonia, greatly relieved at my words, placed her hand on her chest.
... Come to think of it, as her body returned to normal, that part was also growing a lot. It had been quite small originally, I thought.
No. Enough of that.
- I'm glad, Miss Sonia.
"Yes, senior. ... Senior?"
I saw Sonia's eyes shake greatly as she raised her head.
It must have been because Leonis's soul had become noticeably transparent compared to before.
Now it was time to part.
- Don't make that expression. For someone involved with a dungeon, few in this world meet such a gentle end. I think it's an achievement to be proud of.
"That doesn't seem like something to say in front of the master of that dungeon."
- Endure it. It's the last time.
Leonis's expression was incredibly clean.
As if he had truly cast off all the bonds and fetters of the world.
Even in the way he looked at Sonia, though there was affection, there wasn't a single trace of obsession to be felt.
"Senior..."
- Farewell. Miss Sonia.
And so, Leonis departed.
'In a way, could this also be considered resolving what I started?'
For, in the end, I had cast him into the abyss, and with my own hands sent him to where he originally should have gone.
- 2 -
"Her... I want to give Eleanor a chance too. A chance to learn a proper heart."
Perhaps it was inevitable that Sonia, having faced a proper end with Leonis, would make this decision.
"Alright. Do so."
Of course, I also allowed it.
'As expected, she...'
I now felt like I knew a little.
About the feelings Sonia held toward me.