The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-56

“Do you know her?” Seol asked Karuna.

“I… remember her… krgh…”

“What's wrong?”

“Grrgh…”

Because it was getting somewhat loud, the sleeping necromancer was about to get up.

“Urgh… Wh-what?! Gua—”

Bam!

Karuna quickly dashed toward the necromancer and knocked them out.

He moved so quickly that it was difficult to make out exactly what he did, but it seemed like Karuna struck the necromancer’s neck.

“Is he dead?”

“He isn’t. I apologize for making noise.”

“It’s fine, we didn’t get caught anyway.”

Judging by how Seol could hear him softly breathing, the man was still definitely alive.

Seol then turned his attention to the documents again.

- We became sure. All of this was an opportunity for The Church of Death's Truth to defeat The Church of Eternal Life and be reborn again. We immediately went to action.

After that listed The Church of Death's Truth’s actions.

- We attempted to forcibly revive the corpse as an undead but it failed due to the corpse rejecting it. And since the corpse required immense vitality to revive as an undead, we moved the ceremony location to the Great Forest.

But because the undead ceremony was so difficult, the Crystal of Death Pronouncement became a necessity. And thus far, twenty-one people have become trapped in the crystal.

They still had the option of the archbishop directly entering the corpse but if the archbishop became trapped as well, it would result in the end of The Church of Death's Truth. Since they had no other options, they then decided to notify The Church of Eternal Life.

Nothing much was written after that.

Close.

Seol placed the documents where he originally found them.

He then was silent.

‘I have a general understanding of the situation.’

The Church of Death's Truth discovered an unknown corpse in the Mirage Desert.

They tried reviving the corpse as an undead but because the corpse was so powerful, they transported it to the Great Forest.

Also, the ceremony has continuously failed and twenty-one lives have been sacrificed.

‘I doubt they did it voluntarily… did they force them to partake in it? Those evil bastards…’

It was quite a bit shameless for Seol, the founder of The Church of Eternal Life, to call them evil.

Regardless, since the master and archbishop of The Church of Death's Truth was coming either today or tomorrow, there was not much time left.

‘Then where’s Chao?’

She either judged that the situation was bad for her and backed away, or…

‘Did she enter the crystal?’

Seol was starting to feel a bit suffocated as he had no way to check.

Ever since Seol came here, his anxiety has been high.

And two things have been making him especially worried. The first was that the unidentified corpse looked like Karuna when Seol first met him. The second was that Karuna was in pain when he tried recalling his memories.

‘Damn it… Do I have to back off?’

Seol took a glance at Karuna.

Karuna looked back at Seol with a confused gaze.

There was no way Seol could choose any other option once he saw eyes like that.

“Let’s go confirm the corpse.”

“Understood.”

The corpse’s location and crystal’s instructions were written down in the early pages of the documents.

Seol avoided all of the people around him and went to the recorded location.

Rumble…

‘Even the weather’s a mess.’

Not only was Seol heading closer and closer to a place that smelled like rotting corpses, but the dark sky only made his ominous feeling grow stronger.

- It’s cool… a dagger slices the air.

- But I’m fine. Karuna’s Peerless is fucking disgustingly broken after all.

- Worst-case scenario, just blow up the camp lol.

The security was getting stronger.

‘I have to finish everything before the necromancer wakes up.’

Seol had to either confirm the corpse and leave or enter deeper.

“Karuna.”

Nod.

Karuna nodded his head.

Since they had a general idea of what kind of organization they were, they didn’t necessarily need to avoid killing them anymore.

Unsheathe…

“Who are you?!”

“Enemies… Krargh…”

Slash… SLICE…

Splatter!

Karuna killed all of the guards at the ceremony location in an instant. Even Seol was surprised by how swiftly he killed them.

‘He’s become ridiculously fast.’

His destructive power capable of ignoring the enemy’s defense was definitely amazing but the massive increase in stats made it difficult for even Seol to keep track of.

‘It would be horrifying if he were my enemy.’

That sentiment usually also meant that they were incredibly reliable as an ally.

“I believe they were all of the guards here,” said Karuna.

“Got it. Let’s go in.”

The closer he got to where the ceremony was held, the stronger the corpse smell became.

Seol eventually arrived at where a strange magic circle was set up.

“It’s here.”

A stake had been planted in the ground on top of the magic circle. And on that stake was a corpse wrapped in steel chains.

“Karuna, do you see it?”

“...I do.”

“If I'm not mistaken, the armor that the corpse is wearing is not too different from the armor that you were wearing when I first met you.”

“......”

The corpse was a female.

Her armor was completely destroyed and even her sword at her side was cut in half. Despite all that, Seol couldn’t get the feeling of the two being alike out of his head.

‘It isn’t difficult at all to enter the crystal, but… the question is whether I enter it or not.’

The best outcome was finding Chao without entering the crystal and the worst outcome was being unable to find Chao despite entering the crystal.

‘What should I do…’

The fortunate thing for Seol was that entering the crystal also made your body enter the crystal as well. Since The Church of Death's Truth would kill him if he left his body here, it was a beneficial condition in this case.

‘The chances of surviving the crystal changes depending on the corpse’s rank.’

If the corpse was an unimportant existence, you could enter it without any worry. But if the corpse was stronger than Seol thought, it would create a huge problem when he tried to return to the original world.

This was something that Seol knew definitely because he used the Crystal of Death Pronouncement before.

‘What should I do if the corpse is too strong?’

Even if it was, there was still a way to come back alive.

Especially since Seol had two powerful summons as well.

“Fuu…”

Seol let out a sigh and turned around to look at the corpse. Karuna had approached it while he was looking away.

But then… something that Seol didn’t expect happened.

“Who… Who are you?” said Karuna.

Karuna was suddenly talking to himself.

“Wh-why… are you here?”

“Karuna?”

“I… Who am I?”

The situation was getting worse.

Karuna’s energy suddenly escaped his body.

It was almost like he was facing death.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Karuna!”

Even though Seol didn’t know what was going on, he knew he didn’t have time.

Seol instinctively ran to Karuna.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Flash!

Rumble!

As lightning struck the earth and the sound of thunder filled the skies, the Crystal of Death Pronouncement in Seol’s hand radiated light.

[Crystal of Death Pronouncement activates.]

[You are transported into the corpse’s mind.]

[The main contents of ‘Necromancers' Secret Ceremony’ have changed.]

[‘Necromancers' Secret Ceremony’ has changed to ‘Promise’.]

‘Damn it…’

Seol’s vision went black.

Both he and Karuna were sucked into the crystal.

Drop.

Pitter Patter…

The only thing that remained where Seol and Karuna stood was the Crystal of Death Pronouncement being hit by the rain.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

As Seol pulled himself together, he slowly concentrated on one place.

“Karuna!”

“Master.”

And there, Karuna was standing still.

Seol was relieved after seeing that Karuna was no longer in pain. He was also relieved that they didn’t get lost and were able to safely meet each other.

Even so…

“Where… Where are we?”

“We’re probably in the corpse’s mind.”

“I know that. I was talking about the specific location in it.”

“......”

They were standing by themselves in the center of a massive city. The city was lively and full of vigor.

“Hahaha! So as I was saying…”

“I would’ve just run out immediately if I were you. You’re such an idiot.”

“But isn’t that why we’re friends?”

Countless people passed by them.

They wore different types of clothes and spoke different languages.

The problem was... Seol and Karuna could see them, but they couldn’t see the two of them.

They simply passed through Seol and Karuna.

‘Ghosts?’

Seol looked at Karuna, and Karuna simply nodded.

They had become stranded here, in the corpse’s mind.

‘That’s a bit worrisome… we should try to leave as fast as we can.’

Seol first checked the contents of the changed Adventure.

[ Adventure 9-1. ‘Promise’

You have tracked down the necromancers’ trails in hopes that it would lead you to Chao.

You have also uncovered a few secrets during your pursuit.

The necromancers were hiding in the Great Forest for some sort of plan. Their plan was to use the vitality of the Great Forest to revive a powerful corpse as an undead. twenty-one lives have been sacrificed so far because of it.

You have arrived at the unknown corpse, the origin of all of the problems, and are also carrying the Crystal of Death Pronouncement. And for some unknown reason, you were sucked into the corpse’s mind in an instant.

There is only one way for you to safely escape from the corpse’s mind. You must understand the corpse’s mental world. Or, you must uncover what the corpse desires.

Death is the only ending if you fail.

Objective: Investigate the corpse’s mental world.

Remaining Time [N/A]]

Judging by how Chao wasn’t mentioned in the Objective, it seemed like saving her wasn’t the goal here.

“Do you have any ideas where this could be?” asked Seol.

“I’m… starting to remember some things…”

“Really?”

“Yes, this place is likely…”

Karuna looked around and became sure of himself.

“The place where I grew up.”

Fwoooosh…

Crackle…

Suddenly, the world was distorted.

The people disappeared like they were a mirage, and it became silent.

Seol and Karuna tensed up as they watched the scenery.

‘It’s massive.’

If Seol had come here alone, it was possible that he also wouldn’t have been able to escape like the twenty-one people who were sacrificed before him.

The scenery that Seol and Karuna watched slowly returned to focus.

‘A palace?’

It was a place filled with many retainers and knights, as if it were the throne room of a palace. And there, Seol spotted a massive chair in the tallest place.

Seated on top of the throne was a handsome man looking down from his throne.

“So you’re the children.”

“They are lowborns, Your Majesty! They have been sold as slaves, why do you—”

“Silence!”

“Urgh…”

The retainer shrank at the man’s cold voice. A woman wearing a mystical crown next to the Emperor then spoke.

“They are still children, Your Majesty. Why not relax some of the grandeur you are exerting?”

“Haha… right. I made a mistake.”

“Your Majesty does not make mistakes.”

“Ah, right. Another mistake.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Could you maybe stop now? I don’t think we’ll be able to progress like this.”

The retainers all bowed their heads and did their best to hold back their laughter. Despite that, the Emperor only laughed.

The Emperor’s gravitas had vanished into thin air. He then looked at the children with a comical expression on his face.

“What are your names?”

Seol’s gaze followed the Emperor’s.

And there, there were two children.

Their ears were different from a human’s ears, and they were considerably good-looking. There were also bruises all over their bodies, as if they had been beaten. Their skin was stuck to their bones from malnourishment.

Seol then turned to Karuna and looked at him with a questioning gaze.

“Yes, that was me when I was a child.”

“And who’s the person next to you?”

“......”

The two children then answered the Emperor.

“No… names.”

“Nothing like that…”

The Emperor thought to himself while placing his hand on his chin, then spoke.

“The blue-eyed child will be named Karuna, and the red-eyed child will be named Karen. What do you two think?”

“......”

“Since you aren’t answering, I’ll take it that you like the names.”

Karen was tightly holding onto Karuna’s hand.

Though they were different genders, the two were twins and looked considerably like each other.

The Emperor then asked them a question.

“Is there something you want from me?”

Karen, despite hiding behind Karuna the entire time, started to walk forward as if she had something to say.

“No, don’t do it,” said Karuna.

He was trying to stop her.

“What’s wrong? It looks like she has something to say.”

“......”

The moment Karuna stopped preventing her from going forward, Karen immediately stepped before the Emperor and spoke in a clear, articulate voice. With a soft voice… With an expressionless face…

With burning eyes…

“I want you to die, Emperor.”

Unsheathe! Unsheathe!

Despite it being the words uttered by a child, the knights pulled out their swords in that instant.