Chapter 55

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 55

Chapter Title: The Lion's Truth Church

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Scratches marred every oddly shaped tree.

Kang Seol figured these marks might have been left by Chao, the one he was tracking.

'Follow the traces.'

Along the way, the cart wheel tracks could have split off from the scratches carved into the trees, heading in different directions. But for now, they seemed to be pointing the same way.

Kang Seol walked on, pausing now and then to verify the traces.

He could've easily detected any suspicious presence, so he focused solely on the search.

A strange sensation was nagging at him.

The deeper he ventured into the forest, the more ominous it felt. Especially the stench wafting in from afar—it was enough to make his nose wrinkle.

'Smoke? No, it smells more like corpses.'

Since arriving in this world, he'd seen more than his fill of bodies, and their reek was seared into his memory. The stench had been so overpowering it was etched into his brain.

The traces were thinning out.

Either he'd taken a wrong turn, or he was nearing the destination.

Kang Seol's golden eyes picked up on the anomaly.

Thin wires barely visible to the naked eye, laced with spells and waves of curses.

'Double traps aren't something you set up carelessly—especially with such a potent curse woven in.'

Even detecting just a curse or a spell through Insight would put an intruder on high alert.

This trap had been laid by someone inexperienced in trap-making. Or perhaps someone of low skill.

The optimal play from the setters' side would've been to target just one.

Either curse the intruder or trigger an alarm spell to alert them to the breach.

'With Insight Eye, I won't fall for any sloppy traps ahead.'

Insight had triggered first, but Insight Eye did its job admirably in warding off danger.

Satisfied with his golden eyes' prowess, Kang Seol checked the prompt that appeared.

Kang Seol lacked the talent for trap disarming, nor was his class Dark Sorcerer. Triggering it would give away his intrusion, so bypassing was the obvious choice.

'The trap's manageable, but this curse is the real issue. Dodging it won't be easy.'

Touch the wires directly, and the trap wouldn't go off. The problem was the curse overlaying it.

This was an area curse—cross the line carelessly, and it'd sweep over you without fail.

'Gotta find the Curse Mark.'

Locate and destroy the Curse Mark anchoring it, and he'd slip past the trap with ease.

Using his current spot as a baseline, Kang Seol moved sideways, scanning the surroundings meticulously.

Sss...

Thanks to Insight Eye, he spotted an object glowing golden in outline, distinct from everything else around it.

'Got it.'

An owl figurine hidden near a rock outcrop.

This was the source emitting the curse's waves.

Whip!

Splat!

Crack!

His whip lashed out, shattering the figurine to pieces.

Kang Seol skirted the trap and pressed on inside.

Anyone else probably wouldn't have dodged the curse like he did—they'd have evaded the trap and gotten hit with the curse instead.

That would've complicated the adventure from the start.

Kang Seol moved even more cautiously toward the source of the stench. The closer he got, the worse the smell and chill became.

'Something's definitely going down.'

Chao's words.

The Great Forest was a treasure trove of resources and a cradle of life force, so it naturally drew scavengers like flies.

But up until now, none of their schemes had inflicted serious damage on the forest.

'The adventure name screams Necromancer, so yeah, probably Necromancers.'

Necromancy was a branch of dark sorcery, just like Shadow Summoning. Dark sorcery was the pinnacle—and origin—of such sinister arts.

That arrogance was why Dark Sorcerers strutted around like they owned the place.

As he moved, Kang Seol kept replaying Chao's note in his head.

The info was a jumble of facts and questions, so not everything was usable. But the possibility of Immortal remnants was worth noting.

'Immortals... still kicking around, huh?'

Kang Seol's ties to the Immortals ran deep.

Not just tangled—they were knotted tight.

He'd been the founder and leader of the Immortal Church.

'Immortal's long gone, so why...?'

The Immortal Church had rocked the continent.

Their words, their dark sorcery lord Immortal, had been its master.

'If the Church is behind this, I shouldn't stick my neck out.'

The Immortal Church was dangerous.

To his loyal servant, Immortal, they were obedient. But to Kang Seol, who had no connection, they'd be ruthless villains.

A group you weren't supposed to tangle with until mid-to-late adventure. Clashing now could turn the whole journey into a game of cat-and-mouse with their hunters.

'That'd stunt my growth. Better confirm if they're Church first.'

Chao mattered, but not enough to derail the entire adventure.

Lost in thought, Kang Seol stumbled on a hidden campsite. Tents scattered haphazardly everywhere.

'Approach slowly.'

He crept toward the nearest tent. Right on cue, voices drifted to his ears.

"...riya!"

"...settled."

"Has it calmed down? We're already months behind schedule!"

"What can we do? You wanna crawl into that corpse's head instead?"

"That's..."

"Get a grip. That devil's already devoured over twenty members with nothing but its mind. You saw it with your own eyes."

"Ugh..."

Kang Seol pondered as he eavesdropped on their heated exchange.

'Devil? Corpse's head?'

Chewing over their words, a certain artifact flashed in his mind.

'Death Sentence Crystal!'

Necromancers didn't need much effort to raise undead at their own level.

But if the corpse's level was way higher, or it fiercely resisted undeath, that changed everything.

'They're forcing a Necromancy right now.'

The Death Sentence Crystal let you invade a corpse's memories, dismantle and break them down. Through that, the Necromancer understood the undead, while the corpse accepted undeath.

In short, a terrifying artifact that brute-forced corpses into undeath by hijacking their minds.

The voices continued.

"That devil ate all those people and didn't even flinch! Isn't it too risky? We don't even know what it is, and we're..."

"I know, it's overkill and sketchy. Especially since we can't be sure of controlling it even as undead."

"That's why if we keep delaying..."

"That's why His Grace the Archbishop is coming himself."

"What?"

"He's pissed about this mess. Thinks the Immortals have been ignoring us, and won't help with something this crucial."

"But... the Immortals said to wait..."

The man paused, then murmured lowly.

Kang Seol's ears caught it.

"His Grace might be planning to cut ties with the Immortals."

"What? Then the Immortals will..."

"I know, turn us into pig feed. But what if His Grace turns that corpse into a Death Knight?"

Gulp...

A swallow answered in place of words.

"The Church of the Lion's Truth gets reborn that day. No more scraps from the Immortals!"

"So when's His Grace arriving?"

"Any minute now. Latest, tonight at camp."

"Finally, that damned devil bastard kneels."

"Just hold the fort till then."

"Hmph, who's coming all the way deep into the Great Forest? We've got layers of traps anyway—no one's getting in."

"Anyway..."

Their talk dragged on, but nothing more useful.

'So they're basically the Immortal Church's subcontractors, the Church of the Lion's Truth... Hm.'

Church of the Lion's Truth.

Never heard of 'em.

Probably a diocese crawling with Necromancers. Facing them left Kang Seol with mixed feelings.

Like a former mega-corp CEO eyeing grunts from a bottom-rung subcontractor.

To them, the Immortal Church loomed gigantic. To him, it was just a tool he'd forged out of necessity—nothing more, nothing less.

True to its massive size, the Church had tentacles everywhere. Naturally, similar dark sorcery groups fell under its sway.

The Lion's Truth Church seemed like one of those recent recruits.

'Tied to the Church means they're no saints.'

Feeding on villains' scraps made you a villain too.

'If they become a problem, wipe 'em out.'

Still, finding Chao came first.

Kang Seol sought a tent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that might hold more precise intel.

'That one.'

The largest, flashiest tent in the camp caught his eye. He headed there.

"Grooo... Haaah..."

The occupant seemed out cold.

Just in case, he brought Karuna along and slipped inside swiftly.

Inside, just a bed with a fat guy snoring away. Nothing special otherwise.

Except the suspicious stack of documents on the desk and a weirdly shaped crystal.

'Jackpot on the first try.'

His search skills must be top-notch—he spotted what he wanted in seconds.

He touched the crystal pulsing with dark red light.

'Normally pitch black, but it's eaten a ton of people.'

Red swirls meant plenty of souls trapped and dead inside.

Next, the document stack.

Bizarre runes and explanations.

And densely packed pages on spells, plus why the Lion's Truth Church was here: the mystery corpse.

'Spells are standard... yeah, forcing the corpse into undeath. But what's with this body?'

Chao had been intrigued by this corpse too.

She'd guessed it held immense power.

Kang Seol read on slowly.

- The spot where the Church of the Lion's Truth found this corpse was the Mirage Desert, far from the Great Forest.

Mirage Desert.

A vast wasteland distant from the south, closer to the continent's heart.

No one knew its origins or what civilization birthed it.

Not even Kang Seol, who'd played as Great Sage Milan, the all-seeing.

- We had to endure a sandstorm for quite a while. When it cleared one day, the corpse stood rigidly before us in armor. Its power was immense, origin unknown. We couldn't fathom where it came from or why it was there.

Intriguing stuff.

Kang Seol curled his lip and scanned ahead.

- When we first found it, we recorded its appearance.

A magically enhanced sketch, photo-like, was pinned to the papers. Kang Seol's pupils shook violently upon seeing it.

'Ka... runa?'

The corpse's initial state was so like Karuna, it could fool anyone.

Karuna, peering at the report beside him, had his eyes flicker for a moment.

"This ba..."

He seemed to know the corpse.