“Hup…!”
After passing through space, a sensation he himself didn’t quite understand, Iris Lune landed on snow.
She had used ≪Mass Teleport≫ to transport to a forest near the town of Wesala. In the darkness of the night, the trees were even blacker, blocking out even the faint light of the moon and stars. It was the kind of place where something seemed likely to appear… though, in this case, Iris Lune himself was the one “appearing.”
Slightly after Iris Lune’s teleportation, corpses still dripping with blood rained down around him. She had teleported them together using magic.
Among them were the bodies of the Duke and, after much searching in a roundabout way, the leader of Night Python.
“Now then, come out.”
After Iris Lune called out, several bluish-white will-o’-the-wisps floated in the air.
As they gathered, the bluish-white light gradually took on a human form.
A pale, semi-transparent woman was there.
Her eyes seemed wet, filled with sorrow. Her hair and lips were glossy. While not strikingly beautiful, even in her traveler’s clothes, there was a palpable sensuality about her.
It was Miriam, the prostitute who had died harboring a grudge against Night Python.
From the moment he’d made a contract to fulfill her revenge, Miriam’s soul had been bound to Renée. She could summon her wherever she wished.
“Here is, as you requested, the corpse of Night Python’s big boss.”
When he pointed to the corpse of the monstrous old man who had died with an expression of agony, Miriam’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You really did it…”
“Oh, it was a lot of trouble, a lot of trouble.”
“Thank you. With this, the souls of my parents will be able to rest in peace. …No, surely justice has been brought to many people living in this country. My younger brothers and sisters may also be saved.”
“Haha… justice, huh.”
She could only manage a wry smile. It was definitely not an act done for justice.
Even if it temporarily benefited many people, in the end, Iris Lune’s ultimate goal was to destroy everything. At the very least, he would destroy Ciel-Terra.
She had simply needed Miriam’s soul to do so.
Iris Lune observed Miriam again. Not visually, but with a magical sense.
It was like her skin was being burned.
She felt the potential hidden deep within her soul… the surge of immense power that had never been unleashed until the end of her life.
—This girl had amazing talent. If she hadn’t become a child prostitute and had trained as a magician, she might have become the best in the country…
She had heard that skilled magic users were rare. There were few who possessed the aptitude.
But if that were the case, Iris Lune wondered if it wouldn’t be possible to implement a system to find those with aptitude… for example, testing the magical aptitude of all citizens, like a health checkup… It would be a great loss to let those with valuable talent remain buried, unknown even to themselves.
Well, that’s precisely why she was convenient bait for Renée. If she could consume a soul of this magnitude and turn it into power, the effort of doing something like undercover investigation would be worth it.
As Iris Lune looked at her, Miriam shrank back, seemingly a little frightened.
“Well then, it’s time to collect my payment.”
“Ah…”
Miriam took a slight step back.
It was like a “ghostly step backward.”
“W-what exactly will happen when my soul is eaten? What will it feel like…?”
“I don’t know what it feels like since I’ve never been eaten, but I can explain what will happen. Your soul will permanently lose its individual identity as a person and become a part of me. Souls don’t normally disappear or lose their form so easily. Even if you lose your memories in reincarnation, you continue to exist as an ‘individual’. But I will now decompose your soul, absorb it, and use it as material to strengthen my own soul and body. Your existence will be permanently erased from this world and from reincarnation.”
“…!”
A clear expression of fear and loathing appeared in Miriam’s eyes.
In this world, the souls of deceased humans are said to return to the Great God and eventually be reborn into the present world. It is the reincarnation ideology that forms the core of their faith. It might be more accurate to call it a “theory” rather than an “ideology” since it is magically verified.
That’s why the evil god who steals souls from there to create demons and undead and make them his own army is detested. However, the temple preaches that even souls that have become demons can return to the Great God if they repent of their actions. Iris Lune’s words, saying that he would devour her soul and erase it even from reincarnation, were the ultimate blasphemy. It was more blasphemous than burning scriptures, insulting saints, or even doing Ia-Ia from the window.
Translator’s Note
“Ia-Ia” is maybe a reference to “Cthulhu fhtagn!” from the Cthulhu Mythos. In this context, shouting something blasphemous and nonsensical.
There are quite a few spells that use souls, but that’s “use” in the sense of, for example, making broth. Tampering with or erasing the soul itself is the domain of the gods. It was something that only Renée, who had received a divine blessing cheat directly from the evil god, could do.
Miriam seemed to understand now, belatedly. She realized what she had gotten herself into in her hatred.
She realized. She had clung to something she shouldn’t have clung to, and wished for something she shouldn’t have wished for.
“You see, this is framed as a ‘contract,’ but in reality, it’s exploiting a security hole called ‘a grudge so strong that it prevents passing on,’ and hijacking the soul.”
“Eh…? Eh…?”
“I pry open the hole through the process of fulfilling that grudge, and then I deliciously consume the contents… well, in short,”
Dozens and scores of thin golden chains sprang from Iris Lune’s body and wrapped around Miriam’s.
This wasn’t an actual chain. It was merely a visualization of the connection between Miriam’s and Rune’s souls.
“No matter how scared you are, you can’t escape anymore, so feel free to cry and scream.”
“—!!”
Miriam let out a voiceless scream.
She turned her back and desperately tried to run away from Iris Lune, but her feet only moved in the air and she didn’t move forward at all. The moment the contract was fulfilled, Miriam’s soul was already captured by Renée.
“That’s right, there’s a phrase for times like this. A feeling of gratitude for those who become nourishment.”
“Wha, what…?”
This world… or at least Ciel-Terra, doesn’t seem to have that kind of culture, but even so, Iris Lune dares to put her hands together in a style familiar to her former self.
“Itadakimasu.”
“No, no… no…! Noooooooooooo!!”
A wind arose as if in response to Miriam’s scream.
It wasn’t a real wind, but a gravitational pull on the soul.
Like a leaf caught in the wind, Miriam was swept up, wrapped in the golden chains, and flew towards Iris Lune.
The scream was abruptly cut off, and Iris Lune felt something warm spread throughout her body.
Miriam’s existence had become nourishment and disappeared.
“That fear, sweet in the mouth… fufu, thank you for the meal.”
Tasting Miriam’s death throes and the fear released from her soul at that moment, Iris Lune clasped her hands together in a good mood. It was a characteristic of her Abyss Spirit nature to find the fear and despair of others “delicious.”
Inside her body… or more precisely, in Renée’s soul, which was his true body, a sense of elation at the increase in power was filling her.
—Yes, my assessment was correct. This is quite good! If consuming a normal soul is like getting experience points from a Slime, this was like defeating a Metal King!
Iris Lune felt the flow of magical power within herself.
She felt a torrent of power flowing like a raging bloodstream. Roughly speaking, it felt about twice as strong as before.
It’s difficult that this doesn’t directly translate to double MP or double magic damage, but instead, she’d obtained the new skill she’d been aiming for. As if she’d had it since birth, the new ability was familiar to her body.
In any case, there was no doubt that Renée had taken a significant step up as an undead.
—Now I can win. Against that Lawrence… in other words, against this country!
“Well, I’ve achieved my initial goal with this, but…”
Just because she’d leveled up didn’t mean she was going to rush straight to the royal capital. She would make appropriate preparations first.
Duke Gerald was necessary for that. It didn’t necessarily have to be him, but since she got him along with the boss of Night Python, she would consider it good.
Iris Lune looked at the scattered corpses and thought about her future plans.
But suddenly, she sensed an approaching emotion and braced himself.
—Who is it…? Coming out of the town… straight here? Did they notice something? Did they hear that scream earlier? …That’s impossible. This forest is also surrounded by a barrier item.
Someone was heading straight for the forest, as if they had sensed something, even though sound and presence should not have leaked out.
There were three of them.