Episode 55:
Scratch marks on each unusual-looking tree.
Kang Seol thought that this trace might have been left by the Chao he was looking for.
‘Follow the traces.’
Along the way, the traces of wagon wheels and carvings in the trees could have diverged into different paths, but now they appeared to be moving in the same direction.
Snowfall walked, checking the traces from time to time.
He could have easily sensed any suspicious presence, so he focused only on the search.
He was feeling strange.
The deeper you go into the forest, the more suspicious it becomes. In particular, a stench that made my nose wrinkle was coming from afar.
‘smoke? No, it smells like a corpse?’
When I came here, I saw a corpse to the point where I would bite it, and I also remembered the smell. It would be more correct to say that the smell was so terrible that it was imprinted in my mind.
The traces were gradually disappearing.
This means that you took a wrong turn or are almost at your destination.
[Seeing eye is activated.]
[Crude magic is installed.]
[Seeing eye is activated.]
[Insight eye is activated.]
[I can feel the energy of the curse.]
Snowfall’s golden eyes detected an abnormality.
Waves of magic and curses contained in a thin, invisible wire.
‘Double traps are not set up carelessly, and what’s more, the curse contains something quite powerful.’
Even if only one of the curses or magic is detected, the intruder becomes alert.
This trap was set up by someone who is not skilled in setting traps. Or maybe they are low level ones.
The most appropriate action on the other side should have been to aim for only one of the two.
Either the intruder is cursed or an alarm spell is activated and the opponent notices the intruder’s presence.
‘I have insight, so I won’t fall into a sloppy trap in the future.’
Although the insight was activated first, the insight was also excellent at preventing danger.
Snowfall was satisfied with the effect of the golden eyes and checked the options that came to mind.
[Double traps have been set up. How will you act?]
1. Activate the trap.
2. Avoid traps.
3. [Required: Trap disarming] Remove the trap.
4. [Required: Warlock] Remove the curse.
…
Snowfall did not choose disarming traps as a talent and was not a warlock as a profession. However, if the trap was activated, the intrusion would be discovered, so it was best to avoid it.
‘Apart from the trap, this curse is the problem. It’s not easy to avoid.’
If you don’t touch the line directly, the trap won’t trigger. The problem was an overlapping curse.
Since this curse was a territorial curse, it was clear that if you carelessly crossed the line, you would be swept away.
‘I have to find the plinth.’
If you find and destroy the plinth that is the medium for the curse, you will be able to easily get over the trap.
Snowfall moved laterally from where she was currently standing and carefully looked at her surroundings.
[The Insight Eye is activated.]
[The medium of the curse is captured.]
Slurp…
Through the effect of the Insight Eye, I found an object with a golden outline that was different from other objects around me.
‘found.’
A sculpture of an owl hidden around a stone beak.
This medium was the culprit that unleashed the wave of curse.
Whilick-! Sigh!
Quick!
His whip lashed out, shattering the pieces.
[Seeing is activated.]
[The curse encroaching on the area is lifted.]
Snowfall went inside, avoiding only the trap.
If it had been someone else, there would have been a high probability that he would have been cursed while trying to avoid a trap, rather than avoiding the curse like Kang Seol.
If that happens, things will go seriously wrong from the start of the adventure.
– The Snowman is truly enjoyable to watch. The progress is ordinary, but extremely meticulous
– if it were me, I would have asked Jamard to ride the wooden horse and rushed forward.
– It’s not frustrating because it’s meticulous
– The insight plan is a scam. It catches all the traps and all kinds of shit.
– ㄹㅇ
Snowfall approached the direction from which the stench was coming, moving more cautiously than before. The closer we got, the worse the odor and dreary feeling became.
‘There’s definitely something going on.’
– There are those who try to exploit the vitality of the great forest. Life force is the source of life and is especially used by those who want to reject death.
Chao’s words.
The Great Forest was a treasure trove of resources and a cradle of vitality, so those who coveted it were infested like flies.
However, so far, these actions have not caused much damage to the forest.
‘Seeing as the name of the adventure says it’s a necromancer, I’m pretty sure they’re necromancers.’
Necromancy, like shadow summoning, was a type of black magic. Black magic was the pinnacle of these magical techniques and the origin of these magical techniques.
This was also the reason why warlocks were arrogant.
As Jiang Seol moved, he kept thinking about the phrase Chao left behind.
– Someone has sneaked into the forest. Are they remnants of eternal life, or are they something else entirely? No, if you can use them, you might be able to obtain a powerful shadow. Those who have gone into hiding are clearly necromancers, those who refuse to die.
Because information and questions were mixed, not all of the information was usable, but at least it was worth mentioning that it could be a remnant of Eternal Life.
‘Eternal life… is it still there?’
The relationship between Yeongsaeng and Kangseol was very deep.
If it were just that they were somewhat intertwined, I wouldn’t have said it was deep.
Kang Seol was the leader and founder of Yeongsaenggyo.
‘The immortal must have left, but why?’
Yeongsaenggyo, which brought chaos to the continent.
Snowfall’s words: The immortal master of black magic was the master of the Eternal Life Church.
‘If this is something the Yeongsaeng Church has planned, I don’t think we should tread lightly.’
Yeongsaenggyo was dangerous.
Although they were obedient servants who were absolutely loyal to the cult leader, Bulsa, they were ruthless villains to Kang Seol, who had no contact with the Yeongsaeng Church.
A group that it is normal to encounter at least after the middle of an adventure. If I ran into them at this early stage, my future adventures could have been spent only trying to avoid their pursuit.
‘Then their growth is slow, so I’ll have to check first if they are Eternal Life Church.’
Of course Chao was important, but not to the extent that it could change the direction of the entire future adventure.
While continuing her thoughts, Snowfall discovered a hidden campsite. A place where tents are spread out here and there without any order.
‘Approach slowly.’
Snowfall first approached the nearest tent. Just in time for this, the sound of words caught his ears.
“…Liya!”
“… Decide.”
“Does it look real? “We’re already months behind schedule!”
“Then what do you do? Would you like to go inside that corpse’s head instead?”
“That’s…”
“Come to your senses, that devil has already devoured over 20 members solely with their minds. “Is that true when you saw it with both eyes open?”
“Ugh….”
Kang Seol was lost in thought while listening to the shouting conversation.
‘devil? ‘A corpse’s head?’
As Kang Seol pondered their conversation, an artifact passed through his mind.
‘Modification of death sentence!’
It didn’t take much effort for necromancers to create a necromancer of the same level.
However, the story is different when the level of the spirit is much higher or when it stubbornly resists being reborn as a spirit.
‘They are now trying to forcefully bring about the evil spirit.’
The modification of the death sentence enters the corpse’s memories, dismantling and disintegrating them. In the process, the necromancer comes to understand the necromancer, and conversely, the corpse accepts the necromancer’s request and becomes a necromancer.
In short, it was a terrifying artifact that infiltrated the mind of a corpse and forcibly created a ghost.
The voices continued to be heard.
“That devil doesn’t even move a thing even after eating so many people! Isn’t it too dangerous? Like this, with a corpse whose identity I don’t really know….”
“I know, I’m overinvesting and I’m also anxious. “Especially because I’m not sure if I can control it even if I turn it into a necromantic entity.”
“So, if my words continue to be delayed like this…”
“So the Archbishop decided to come instead.”
“what?”
“I think the Archbishop is very angry about this incident. “I guess he decided that Yeongsaeng has been ignoring us for a while and that even though this matter is quite important, he doesn’t seem to have any intention of helping us at all.”
“But… in eternal life, you have to wait…”
The man paused and spoke softly.
Snowfall’s ears caught the sound of his words.
“The Archbishop may now be thinking of severing his link to eternal life.”
“what? If you do that, eternal life….”
“I know, they will crush us and feed us to pigs. But what would you think if the Archbishop turned that corpse into a ghost?”
Gulp…
The sound of swallowing was heard instead of the answer.
“The Shinrikyo Church of the Lion is born anew from that day on. “We will no longer be the ones who accepted the dregs of eternal life!”
“So when is the Archbishop coming?”
“You’re almost there. “I think you’ll probably arrive at the campground by tonight at the latest.”
“Finally, even that damn devil bastard will kneel.”
“Until then, we must protect this place without any problems.”
“Hmph, who comes deep into the forest anyway? And there are traps set up everywhere, so you can’t come in.”
“Anyway…”
Their conversation continued, but there was nothing more worth discussing.
‘They are the Lion’s Truth Society, which is like a subcontract of the Church of Eternal Life… Hmm…’
The Lion’s Truth Church.
It was a group I had never heard of.
It was probably a parish with a large number of necromancers, but Kang Seol’s feelings when facing them were strange.
I wondered if this was how the former chairman of a large company felt towards the employees of a low-level subcontractor.
To them, Yeongsaenggyo seemed enormous, but to Kang Seol, it was nothing more or less than an organization created out of necessity.
Yeongsaenggyo, befitting its enormous size, had spread out to many places. Naturally, similar black magic groups were under its influence.
Perhaps the Lion’s Truth Society was one of the new organizations recruited in that way.
‘Anyway, if they’re involved with the Yeongsaeng Church, they’re not clean people.’
If he accepted the remnants of the wicked, he too would eventually become a wicked person.
‘If it becomes a problem, I’ll have to clean it up.’
Still, finding Chao was the priority.
Kangseol looked for a tent that might have more accurate information than these people.
‘There it is.’
Fortunately, the largest and most colorful tent in the campsite caught my eye. Snowfall approached there.
“Keuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu heruuuuu her her her heri she heri she her her her she her her she her her her her she her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her her not her but not
her or its or or it it or or it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it? it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it/ it it H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H M M H H H H H H H H H H H H M H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H HE HE HAS HAD.
Still, just in case, I quickly sneaked into the tent, accompanied by Karuna.
There was nothing special in the tent except for the bed where the fat man was sleeping.
Except for the suspicious bundle of documents on the table and the unusual-looking crystal.
‘I never thought I would find it all at once.’
Perhaps because Kang Seol had mastered the search, he quickly found the items he was looking for.
He placed his hand on the crystal that glowed dark red.
‘It was originally a very black crystal, but it ate a lot of people.’
The fact that the crystal had a red aura meant that there were quite a few people who died trapped in the crystal.
[A correction to the death sentence was obtained.]
Next was a bundle of documents.
Bizarre patterns and their explanations.
And a stack of documents filled with information about magic and the mysterious corpse that is the reason the Shinrikyo Church of the Dead gathered here.
‘The technique is no different… As expected, they are trying to forcibly turn a corpse into a phantom. But what on earth is this corpse?’
Chao was also interested in this mysterious corpse.
She guessed that this corpse contained great power.
Kang Seol slowly read the relevant information.
– The place where the Shinrikyo of the Dead discovered this body was in the Mirage Desert, far from the Great Forest.
Mirage desert.
A huge desert located far from the south and closer to the center of the continent.
No one knew why this desert was created or what kind of civilization it had formed.
The same was true for Kang Seol, who played Milan, a great sage who was said to see everything.
– There was a time when we had no choice but to endure a desert sandstorm for quite a long time. The body stood upright in front of us, wearing armor, one day after the sandstorm had cleared. The power contained in the corpse was powerful, and its history was unknown. Not even where it came from or why it was standing there.
The content was interesting.
Kangseol curled his lips and looked at the following.
– We recorded the appearance of the body when we first discovered it.
A drawing close to a photograph with magical processing remained in the document. And when Kang Seol confirmed this, his pupils shook greatly.
‘Karuna?’
When the body was discovered, it looked so similar to Karuna that people mistakenly thought it was Karuna.
Karuna’s eyes, who were checking the report next to him, momentarily wavered.
“Isa…”
He seemed to know the corpse.
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