Necromancer Of The Black Bible (112)

With Belphages’ help, Astarene and Erisia were able to evade Damian’s pursuit in an instant.

A winding, long corridor.

For Astarene, who had a body again after a long time, passing through this corridor was an ordeal.

She felt dizzy as if her insides were twisting, and her mind grew hazy.

After barely making it through, she retched.

“Ugh!”

She puked onto the floor, and Belphages, who had followed, clicked his tongue as he watched.

“Tsk tsk. Of course—taking on an unripe body would do that.”

Astarene wanted to retort, but it was difficult.

Her insides kept wrenching themselves.

After vomiting the contents of her stomach for a long while, Astarene collapsed, exhausted.

Belphages then helped her to her feet.

“Ah, why!”

“It’s not appropriate to lie down here in that body.”

At Belphages’ remark, Astarene looked around.

A choking black smoke.

The smell was familiar.

“Black sulfur?”

“Exactly. It’s deadly to a frail human body.”

Astarene immediately cast a spell and shrouded herself in a shield.

She also cast an antidote spell.

“What a nuisance.”

Every single thing about this irritated her.

From the unfamiliar sensations to the painfully weak body, and the mismatched balance.

As Astarene scowled, Belphages tapped her back and spoke.

“Weren’t you prepared to accept all of this?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Oh ho. I thought you felt the same as them, Sis.”

Astarene didn’t want to continue the conversation at Belphages’ lecherous smile.

She went straight to the point.

“Is this your residence?”

Before them stood a shabby-looking castle.

A crooked, misshapen, unimpressive castle.

At a glance it might have seemed like a work of art, but the finishing was shoddy.

‘It’s like it was left half-finished.’

Astarene sneered, but Belphages bowed politely and introduced his abode.

“Welcome to the Palace of Illusions.”

“The name is fitting.”

“Oh ho, Sister. Don’t judge by appearances only. I put great care into making this place.”

Belphages shook his head at Astarene as if to cut off her reply and led the way.

Erisia, who had been standing dazed, was drawn by Astarene’s mana and entered the castle with them.

Contrary to its exterior, the interior was worth seeing.

Large chandeliers hung upside down with all their candles lit, and the walls were filled with ornate murals.

Though the paintings were complex, Astarene could grasp their meaning at a glance.

“Is this a diary you’ve written?”

“Ha, a diary.”

Belphages shook his head and corrected her.

“A chronicle. A biography. It’s a record of our clan’s glorious past. Isn’t it splendid? It shows the times we all shared. I wanted to leave behind our greatness. Like how Mother wanted to leave her body in this world forever.”

Astarene’s expression hardened.

Because the term ‘Mother’ felt unfamiliar.

‘Now that I think about it, he’s the only one who called the true body “Mother.”’

Astarene looked at Belphages.

Before she knew it, he had prepared a feast.

Beneath the upside-down chandelier a large round table unfolded, and various dishes were summoned onto it.

Belphages invited Astarene and Erisia to sit.

“Everyone, sit. For now, eat something.”

Astarene sat down at once, but Erisia stood there blankly.

She just hesitated, unsure what to do.

Belphages moved beside her and seated her in a chair.

“Don’t be nervous. You’re already dead.”

“…What?”

When Erisia asked in surprise, Belphages grinned and replied.

“Looks like you haven’t adapted yet? No need to be scared of the lady over there. What can anyone do to a soul that’s already dead?”

It was a fairly cheerful joke, but Erisia couldn’t laugh.

Because of the shackles clamped to her feet.

Belphages noticed them belatedly and addressed Astarene.

“Soul bindings? Did our clan have magic like this?”

“I made them. I adapted Degrat’s final technique—the one that separated Belzemon’s soul.”

Belphages’ gaze deepened for a moment.

No wonder—Degrat had been his closest brother.

Degrat had been fierce but pure and upright.

When he faced Belzemon, he had left behind these words.

-Power carries responsibility. If our brothers won’t bear it, I will bear it alone.

Belphages could not capture Degrat.

Such was the firmness in his expression and eyes.

After recalling him for a moment, Belphages smiled bitterly and looked at Astarene.

“When he lived he was dismissed like that… Now that he’s gone, he seems to be useful.”

“At least that’s fortunate.”

Astarene responded coldly, then bit hard into a turkey leg on the table and continued speaking.

“That’s not important right now. Look at this.”

Astarene spread the palm of her opposite hand over the center of the table, and a projection appeared.

The other was Leopold.

Even without the backstory, they recognized it as the body used by the sixth Skaldrem.

But Leopold’s gaze was strange.

Not the crimson typical of the Crimson Dragon, but a hint of greenish aura shimmered.

And the moment he smiled faintly, the second, Bernual, was overwhelmed in an instant.

A metal shell had shot out from somewhere and seized his neck.

“Th-that’s impossible!”

Belphages widened his eyes, but even more absurd events followed.

The eldest, Krasedra, gathered all his might and exploded mana to barely protect Astarene, but he couldn’t handle whoever was subduing Bernual.

What was most surprising was Krasedra’s response.

Despite having the strongest fangs of them, Krasedra couldn’t stand up to the opponent.

He barely evacuated Astarene and then made himself bait, heading into the subterranean grand cavern.

The projection ended there.

Belphages, watching it, spoke.

“What next? What happened to the eldest?”

“Ask that girl.”

Astarene, who had by now devoured the entire turkey, pointed to Erisia with a picked-clean bone fragment.

Belphages’ gaze turned there, and Erisia flinched and spoke.

“I-I don’t know how to.”

She meant she didn’t know how to project memories as Astarene had.

Belphages chuckled softly and stroked her head.

“Don’t worry. I’ll look myself.”

Belphages then pulled Erisia’s memory out.

Erisia’s pupils vanished and her spirit form began to tremble,

and simultaneously her memories were projected into the air above the table.

The first scene showed a man.

Pale skin and eyes tinged with red.

Deep within those eyes lurked an ominous green light.

Erisia had a conversation with him.

Erisia’s voice was indistinct, but the other’s voice was clear.

-Your body was taken. Originally the one you call Mother intended to take it, but circumstances changed.

-Then… who on earth…?

-Your mother’s brother.

‘……’

-He fears me.

-Why?

-Because I wiped them all out.

At those words, Belphages turned to Astarene and asked.

“So this is what you meant—everyone but the two of us was taken out?”

“Yes. Why don’t you watch a bit more?”

Astarene picked up the wine in front of her and took a sip.

She frowned at the sharp taste, but soon began to drink it down.

Belphages watched the projection with a serious expression.

A man with a chilling countenance.

He was creepier than any demon they’d met in hell.

Especially when his voice came through clearly, their spines chilled.

No one could leave such vivid memories in a spirit.

Belphages was a demon who dealt with memories.

Having survived by using that specialty, he could more accurately gauge the other’s true nature.

Then in the next projection, Belphages’ mouth dropped open.

Beyond the man’s shoulder, a presence loomed.

It was a giant Sand Dragon.

The Sand Dragon chewed something and spat it out.

A massive bone.

It was surely a dragon’s bone.

The Sand Dragon kept spitting bones to one side, and they piled up like a mountain.

When a huge skull appeared, Belphages immediately recognized whose it was.

“Mother…”

Eckhart, the Crimson Dragon of absolute authority.

She was being consumed by a mere Sand Dragon.

Something writhed within Belphages’ heart.

Emotions he had sealed when he became a demon.

Those feelings he once treasured but later deemed unnecessary broke their seal and took hold of his heart.

And again the man appeared in the projection.

He spoke directly to Erisia’s face.

-Astarene. Wherever you are, I’ll come for you soon.

Seeing that, Astarene understood why he had summoned her and why he had asked her to evacuate.

After finishing the memory projection, Belphages heaved a long sigh into the air.

A red breath surged up once into the high air.

It meant he had unleashed the power of a dragon.

He looked at Astarene and spoke.

“We can’t defeat this one with just the two of us.”

“I know. That’s why I brought this child.”

“This child?”

Belphages looked down at Erisia’s spirit.

Erisia, after the projection, was trembling all over.

Though she had no body, she was completely consumed by fear.

Studying her intently, Belphages spoke.

“Oh ho. I see. So you had no intention of giving this child to me, did you?”

“I would have given her if you saved me.”

“What a joke.”

Belphages smirked and patted Erisia’s head.

“Not a bad idea. The spirit of the Eckhart family’s heir would be a prize even the Demon Kings here would covet.”

“Now we’re talking.”

Astarene drained her cup, set it down on the table, and continued.

“Is there a Demon King left here who could take him down? Someone like Belzemon might be worth a try…”

“Tsk tsk tsk. This is why our clan is a problem. They think they’re great but don’t learn. Think about what happened to that mighty Belzemon.”

“Hm?”

When Astarene asked, Belphages continued, delicately stroking Erisia’s shoulder.

“Belzemon was sealed. Have you already forgotten what we did then?”

Astarene couldn’t answer, and Belphages grinned and spoke.

“We gathered power. We called together insects like humans, filthy dwarves, and unlucky elves and tormented Belzemon. We were born to do just that.”

“Get to the point.”

“So what I mean is.”

Belphages conjured a new projection in the air.

It was a castle.

A foreboding, massive castle beyond comparison to his ‘Palace of Illusions.’

Belphages pointed to them and spoke.

“Let’s summon the Demon Kings. If we gather all the Demon Kings of the subterranean netherworld, we can exact our clan’s revenge.”

A smile flickered at the corner of Astarene’s mouth.

It was the first smile she’d worn since receiving her new body.