747
[Chapter 191]
[Soul-Returning Ceremony (3)]
It felt like he had slept for a long time.
In his dream, he became various beings and experienced their lives.
Then he forgot what kind of being he was.
Who am I, and where is this?
The initial question soon faded away in the totality of will that rushed in.
─Please save my brother.
But when he was about to wake up from sleep.
He became aware of his existence.
My name is─
─Please resurrect my brother.
Sindorim.
Shin Yeon-su's older brother.
Her only family.
He heard a voice calling him from the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness.
He opened his eyes following the voice.
Even then, his consciousness was incomplete.
The consciousness that had been asleep for a long time remained hazy even after awakening.
Something is lacking.
Then he felt thirst.
And following his instincts, he devoured his younger sister's soul.
─I am Sindorim.
Himself as remembered by his younger sister.
Sindorim defined his existence while eating his younger sister's soul.
"..."
And when he finished digesting the soul.
Fully awakened, he realized what he had done.
"Ugh...!"
He killed his younger sister.
Realizing he had strangled his younger sister to death, he retched.
But his body, which was still finding its normal functions, didn't vomit anything.
"I, I..."
To think I killed my own younger sister.
How could this happen?
He couldn't grasp the situation.
Fortunately, there was exactly one person in that place who could resolve his questions.
"─Your younger sister sacrificed her life to resurrect you."
"..."
"It seems you don't properly remember that you died either. Yes, from your perspective, it must feel like you naturally woke up from a long sleep."
"Wh-Who are you?"
"Never mind who I am. How does it feel to wake up after dying once?"
There was an old man wearing priest's clothes.
The old man chuckled.
☆
"I... Did I really die?"
"Yes, search your memories well. Your memories must be jumbled now, but something should come to mind."
Sindorim accepted the situation.
Then he followed the words of the old man who introduced himself as the Deputy Leader.
Though his memories were hazy.
He could recall that he died saving his younger sister from monsters invading Gangbuk.
But why are the memories...
Why are they from someone else's perspective rather than my own?
Such a question suddenly arose, but.
Sindorim decided not to think about it.
An indescribable 'instinct' forced him not to think about it.
Soon he─
"─So Yeon-su used the environment of the soul-returning ceremony to revive me."
"Ho-oh. To think you know that... As expected, the knowledge your younger sister had must have been transferred when you resurrected."
Sindorim could naturally recall everything about mana studies.
The knowledge his younger sister had in life.
Sindorim realized he had absorbed her knowledge while absorbing her soul.
The Deputy Leader seemed to welcome that, but.
Sindorim's face was only gloomy.
You fool.
If I saved you, you should have lived happily, why did you dedicate yourself to reviving me?
This isn't why I saved you.
When you think about it, he had regained life by killing his younger sister.
He was deeply filled with self-loathing.
What's the point of someone like me living?
He just wanted to die like this.
Just thinking about living on by sacrificing his younger sister's life made him want to take his own life.
It was then.
"Do you regret it? Can't you forget your younger sister who killed herself to save you?"
The Deputy Leader saw through his heart.
He spoke in a serious tone.
"...Yes. I wonder what's the point of someone like me living. Is there any value in me being alive?"
"The value of living is something you find and create for yourself. Is there really a need to despair just because you don't have it now?"
"Still... I don't think I can live in place of Yeon-su. If only I could sacrifice myself again to bring Yeon-su back to life..."
"Then what if there was a way?"
"...!!"
"Couldn't you create value in living with that?"
"Is there a way?"
He can save his younger sister.
Sindorim jumped up from his seat.
The Deputy Leader grinned.
"Of course there is. If you have the child's knowledge, it's not impossible."
"..."
"What's needed to revive a person is that person's soul and a vessel to contain it. But the child's soul is now mixed inside your body, and the vessel remains intact like this."
Hearing the Deputy Leader's words.
Sindorim's eyes widened.
His words were correct.
All the materials were prepared.
The problem is─
"─A will needs to be implemented for that. Since you don't have
"...But you're saying there's still a way?"
"Of course, of course."
"Please tell me."
"This is just my hypothesis, but
"..."
"If you know that theory, wouldn't it be possible to recreate
"How..."
Saying he just thought of it himself.
The old man cackled and spoke.
"You just need to reduce the scope of the world will and implement a small-scale world will. Both macrocosm and microcosm are 'cosmos' in the end, aren't they?"
"..."
"You unify the wills of the people gathered here with your will. Then a small-scale world perceived by you and them will be created. At that time, you strongly wish as the subject."
"...It's not theoretically impossible. But how can I unify their wills? How is that possible?"
"Why is that impossible? The environment is already somewhat prepared."
"..."
"People who share the same pain as you are gathered here. You become the saint of the Mana Religion and gather them under one banner."
"Still, it would be difficult. No matter how much I become their spiritual existence, people's thoughts will be different, how can unification of will be possible?"
"So you bind even their souls so you can perfectly control them."
"...!"
"You use them and devour many people's souls. Then your body will be filled with countless souls."
As if a devil whispering.
The old man patted Sindorim's shoulder and spoke quietly.
"What do you think will happen then? A true macrocosm will unfold inside your body."
"..."
"A world will be created inside your body. The totality of the world will would exist inside you too."
"..."
"Then at that time, you earnestly pray and resurrect your younger sister. How about it? It's not theoretically impossible, is it?"
"...It doesn't seem theoretically impossible."
"Would you like to try it?"
"I'll do it."
With the sole intention of resurrecting his younger sister.
Sindorim fell for the Deputy Leader's proposal without a moment's hesitation.
"Then I'll give you the artifacts I've made to help you. Oh my, if I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have hidden them in the Academy library. They might be weaker than those, but with your sister's knowledge added, it should still be worth trying."
This will be a very interesting experiment.
The old man couldn't hide his smile.
☆
The Mana Religion leader died.
With the saint and Deputy Leader gone too.
Now there was no one who could control this situation.
Eun-ha clicked his tongue.
I need to get outside first.
With ordinary people mixed in, I can't even attack properly...
The reactions caught in his detection net were far from normal.
Strong mana energy was felt outside the National Assembly building.
It seemed like bias was occurring, taking advantage of that gap.
"Parang hyung! Tell the people in the hall to go outside right now!"
"Got it! I'll do as you say!"
"I'll handle that guy, so oppa focus on telepathy."
Eun-ha shouted to Jin Parang.
Jin Parang, who was dealing with a ghoul that had jumped on a desk, responded.
He distanced himself from the ghoul.
Hoshimiya Kaede quickly jumped into the gap that opened.
Too close to aim Wind Barrage Arrows.
She thrust the tonfa held in both hands straight at the ghoul.
Fierce wind imbued the tonfa.
Kaede randomly struck the ghoul with a greatly swollen abdomen.
Guh...urgh....
Each strike delivered a heavy blow.
The wind imbued in the tonfa peeled off the ghoul's skin one by one.
It finally pierced through the ghoul's abdomen.
Nevertheless, the ghoul that felt no pain finally stretched out its fist towards her.
The Lord said,
No one can touch my people.
Right after, her body was enveloped in light.
A blue barrier defended against the attack.
Iriya's protection magic.
The effect didn't stop there.
Kaede could attack while protected by the barrier.
When she swung her tonfa, the barrier transformed to match.
The tonfa wrapped in wind and barrier struck the ghoul's temple.
Wind Barrage
The ghoul's size seemed to exceed 2m.
But it had to lower its upper body in the process of attacking her.
Thanks to that, she could easily blow away its head.
"Iriya, can you cast protection magic on the people in the hall? To prevent those guys from eating more people."
"Yes, Lord! I can do it."
Meanwhile, Jin Parang spread the word to people through telepathy.
However, there were still people who didn't listen to his telepathy and tried to be eaten by ghouls.
Eun-ha detached such people and instructed Iriya.
The Lord said,
I will kill death.
Iriya faithfully carried out the instructions.
Furthermore, she protected people and scattered deadly magic around the ghouls.
The white ripples spreading from her center collapsed the ghouls' bodies. Or their functions were reduced.
It's fortunate I brought Iriya.
She's effective against ghouls.
No damage to allies.
Magic that harms ghouls.
It was magic convenient to use in places where people and ghouls were mixed.
Eun-ha praised Iriya and confirmed people were leaving the hall guided by players.
"Kaede."
"Yeah."
"Take Parang hyung and Iriya and lead the people leaving the hall. A similar situation is probably happening outside too. Be careful."
"Okay, I'll do that. Then what will you do?"
Among the party members in the National Assembly building, she was the only one who could command the party instead of him.
Eun-ha entrusted her with command.
Then he answered her question.
"Of course I need to find the cause of this disaster."
It might not be Sindorim.
But there was a high probability that a
Right now the ghouls were rampaging freely and killing people.
But before long, when
So he had to find and defeat
"Okay, got it. Be careful."
"I'm counting on you."
Then where is that
Kaede didn't bother to ask.
She had noticed too.
Her gaze momentarily turned towards the direction of the altar. The place where
The cause must surely be there.
She judged the situation herself without seeking an answer from Eun-ha.
Soon Kaede left her position.
Eun-ha decided to leave the evacuation of ordinary people to them and the players.
And he decided to go down directly below the altar's position with the remaining people.
Sonic Waves
Eun-ha used Ye-gyeong's principle.
He touched the altar and sent ultrasonic waves below ground.
He grasped the structure below ground.
He fell into thought.
...It goes down to the 3rd basement floor.
The outer wall is thicker than other floors, is it an air raid shelter?
The ultrasonic waves were blocked by the outer wall of the 3rd basement floor, only managing to grasp the size of the space.
It seemed the outer wall was not only thick but also resistant to magic.
That made the 3rd basement floor all the more suspicious.
"Samra Clan Lord."
"Yes, what should I do?"
"Please make a hole down to the 3rd basement floor."
"You're using a person like an excavator."
There was no need to dig up the ground.
Fortunately,
She activated magic.
Rumble rumble rumble!!
A hole opened in the ground instantly.
He looked into the hole large enough for three people to pass through.
It was too dark to see anything.
"The outer wall of the 3rd basement floor was quite thick. Anyway, I've cleanly pierced through to there."
"Thank you. Then let's go in."
Eun-ha sent Hunter down first.
Next, he jumped in.
He snapped his fingers to light up the darkness of the hole.
─Is this it?
He activated magic to soften the impact.
Eun-ha immediately turned his gaze.
An ominous energy was felt.
─It's Sindorim.
Eun-ha recognized his identity at a glance, wearing a black robe.
It was exactly the face widely reported in the media in his previous life.
The two looked at each other.
""...""
Why Sindorim was alive.
Such things were no longer important.
What was important was that Sindorim was the cause of this disaster, and it needed to be resolved quickly.
He must be defeated soon.
Sindorim seemed to feel the same.
The two who met eyes recognized each other as 'enemies'.
Right after─
─Destruction
Burst Counter
The two people's magic clashed.