Chapter 502: Saintess Of All Those Who Have Died [Monthly Bonus 3]
"A wonderful afternoon we have here, I offer you my greetings."
"You’re awfully polite."
"And so are you."
The young woman responded to Arthur’s words with a light smile. She knew that Arthur had long since sensed her presence, but hadn’t done or said anything about it till Artemisia’s senses picked up on something off.
Even Beatrix’s spatial perception didn’t detect her until she revealed herself.
"I said nothing because I sensed you had zero hostility towards us from the very beginning."
Hearing Arthur’s reply, the young woman revealed a little bit of surprise, but it quickly disappeared when Arthur spoke once more.
"So? Who are you and why were you spying on us?"
Arthur’s question was one Evan had already gotten an answer to. He appraised the woman the moment she appeared and had already shared copies of her status with the other three.
Even so, Arthur still asked and she obliged.
She gave a light bow with one hand in front of her chest and the other pinching her dress as she introduced herself.
"I am an inhabitant of this Dimensional Realm, who is unfortunately saddled with the curse of being Iklaque’s Guardian.
You may address me as Idrilla Ivy-Rose Rivera, the Saintess Of All Those Who Have Died."
She spoke no lies, as the name and titles she had called out were the exact same ones Evan saw in her status.
|Name-Idrilla Rivera
Race-Arch Human
Gender-Female
Age-23
Level-750
Existence Level-Legendary (Intermediate)
Titles: Saintess Of All Those Who Have Died, Saintess of Death, Deathlord, Unholy Child, Unwilling Guardian of Iklaque, Cursed Child, Bound by Oath [...]
Class-Saintess of Death
Health–X1
Energy-X1+
Strength–X1-
Agility–X1-
Durability–X1
Intelligence-X1+
Condition- Lightly Exasperated
Magic Tiers- Death Tier 5, Darkness Tier 4, Wind Tier 3, Ice Tier 3, Shadow Tier 4, Spiritual Fire Tier 3, Space Tier 2;
Skills- Death Magic (T), Necromancy (T), Soul Manipulation (T), Life Drain, Corpse Puppetry, Death’s Embrace, Deathly Aura, Dark Empowerment, Eternal Servitude, Reaping Slash;
Unique Skills- Unholy Resurrection, Soul Harvest. |
She was the Guardian that Arthur and Evan had gleaned information about from the attackers earlier, and it seemed she was not in that position of her own will.
Looking up, she quickly addressed Arthur’s second inquiry.
"Dear Travellers, sorry that I ask this but I do hope I’m misreading the situation.
I noticed that our realm had some guests earlier and sent some scouts to look around through here, and they may have wound up before you.
Through the years, the treatment from our uninvited guests is seldom warm, so I’m asking just to be sure."
With her gaze locked right onto Arthur and Evan, she asked.
"Did you do something to them?"
Hearing her question, Arthur’s lips curled up into a smile and he leaned back on his chair and replied.
"Who me?
All I did was turn a few people who attacked me without a word to dust."
"You turned them to dust...you say?"
Idrilla’s eyes widened ever so slightly when she heard Arthur’s words, a sigh escaping her lips right after as this confirmed her conjecture.
"I sincerely hoped this was not the case."
"Why? You want to avenge them?"
When Arthur asked this, Idrilla’s calm expression twisted a bit and they all caught sight of the clear look of disgust in her eyes that she just barely held back.
"Personally, I do not wish to do so. However..."
Idrilla attempted to take a step back, but her body stiffened, unable to move an inch. It was like there was an invisible force preventing her from stepping backwards.
The young woman pressed her fingers to her forehead and stopped trying to force her body backwards. Looking at the four teenagers before her, she asked.
"Do you have any intentions of proceeding further into the forest?
And is it possible for you to turn back and exit this realm?"
"You want us to leave?"
"Yes."
Idrilla replied to Evan’s question, but before the Rogue Hero could say any more, Arthur spoke up.
"There’s something inside here that I’m very curious about and I’m not leaving until I sate my curiosity."
"That may be a problem..."
Seeing her expression turn difficult at his reply, Arthur questioned exactly why it was going to be a problem, despite having pieced things together.
"If you intend to proceed any further, then I am duty-bound to stop you in your tracks."
When she spoke, her death energy slowly poured out from her body and all the grass at her feet turned black and withered away in an instant.
Arthur looked at this and was lightly impressed. His gaze moved back to her obsidian eyes and he could see the pleading look in them.
"You’re strong, Idrilla.
And precisely because you are strong, you should know that you cannot win if you choose to use force."
"I know.
Unfortunately, I am ’Duty Bound’ to stop you...even if it costs my life."
She spoke calmly and her words made Evan frown deeply.
"You’re going to die if you fight him, he’s killed beings higher levelled than he is without much effort.
If you die, that’s it. The end of the line. There’s no continuation.
And you’d willingly walk to your death because of your ’duty’?"
The boy felt something was very wrong with this situation. From Idrilla’s words and her status, he had discerned a few things about her.
She bore the title of ’Unholy Child’, something that he and Arthur had discovered earlier to be what children born outside ’Specified Holy Years’ in Iklaque were called.
If she was an ’Unholy Child’, then given how they were apparently treated, he did not believe she would risk her life for a ’duty’ that was probably forced on her.
"..."
Idrilla did not answer him, instead, she turned to Arthur and looked at him in silence for a few seconds.
Finally, she spoke.
"As far as neither you—Evan—or Arthur are the ones dealing the final blow, I am fairly confident I can Reincarnate myself."
"?!"
Now that was a reply no one expected.
Idrilla had power over the law of Death, that much was obvious given her titles and skills. Still, Reincarnation magic was not something existences below Transcendence should ever dabble in.
After all, they did not have the necessary ’qualifications’, and even if they succeeded, then Causality would punish them.
Evan knew this more than anyone else, after all...his Predecessor Heroes in the future had perished because of Causality’s punishment for dabbling in flawed Reincarnation Magic.
While he was analysing Idrilla’s skills to find the source of her confidence, she was also doing the same to him.
She was analysing the energy that both Evan and Arthur passively emanated; energy that contained the powers of Destruction and Esoteric flames.
Two things that could damage her soul past the Reincarnation threshold.
"The Commandments of Iklaque order its citizens to ’Reject All Outsiders’. I know not why this commandment was established, but since it exists, I have no choice but to abide by it.
I am Bound by Oath to this land, after all.
If I were to break that Oath, then even the chance of Reincarnation I hope for would be lost forever."
"Is there a way we can sever it? The Binding Force that compels you to follow that Oath."
When Evan asked this question, Beatrix who had been silent since the beginning finally spoke up.
"Unlike those fools from earlier, you’re being civil with us so I’d like to try if there’s a way."
Idrilla’s lips curled into a small smile when she heard Evan and Beatrix’s words. A genuine smile, not the fake one she had been giving them since the beginning.
"Thirteen years. I have been this place’s guardian for 13-odd years, and you are the first Outsiders who have ever brought up the option of freeing me."
Idrilla’s smile disappeared as she delivered the grim news.
"Sadly, I cannot be freed from it.
Any attempts to sever the Binding Force would be considered as me ’Breaking My Oath’, as such-"
"You die, and lose your chances of reincarnating."
Arthur completed her statement, and she turned towards him and saw his eyes glowing with a faint light.
Little did she know, that she was the only one who noticed that glow...the glow of cosmic energy.
Idrilla had the potential to attain Cosmic Superiority, and just like Alvey, she was capable of faintly noticing Cosmic energy traces.
But she is not cognizant of what Cosmic Energy is, as such, she did not realise how coveted her talent was.
Anyway, Arthur had infused his eyes with the power of his Pseudo-Authorities, allowing him to ’See’ the Universal laws around and he could see the Law energy lines that bound Idrilla to the ground beneath them.
[Master, even if you use Null...It’d still kill her.]
Celestia spoke up to advise him against using his power and the boy heaved a soft sigh of pity for her.
"You’re not the first I’ve tried to persuade to turn around. When I finally gained enough power that I didn’t need to scheme and set traps to kill off any Outsiders, I had an encounter which impacted me deeply.
It was because of this I began asking the Outsiders I encountered to turn around. A certain insufferable bastard chief priest did not like this but I did it anyway.
Regardless of whether they were weaker or stronger than I was, I kindly asked them to leave.
Some obliged and turned back, while the majority refused."
Idrilla released her aura, her Legendary Realm power radiating as she continued.
"The fact that I now stand before you, wielding such power at my young age, should tell you their fates."
"So, there’s no other option, huh?"
Shaking her head, Idrilla replied to Arthur’s question with a solemn voice.
"Unfortunately, the only option is the one where you kindly turn-?!"
Her speech abruptly cut off as her body began trembling. Grabbing her violently shaking right hand with her left, she took deep breaths to calm herself.
"...I was trying to hold it back so I can persuade you to turn around."
They all heard the creaking of her bones as an invisible force tried to push her forward while she resisted with all her might.
Seeing this, Beatrix winced and turned to Arthur.
"Arthur...we only found this place by accident. We have nothing to lose if we turn back now, let’s just go."
The goddess packed up everything they had set out into her inventory and got to her feet, but Arthur’s gaze remained pity-filled as he looked at Idrilla.
"It’s already too late, Beatrix."
