Looks of relief graced the faces of the father and daughter — or maybe grandfather and grandchild — pair. The Door of Conundrum had always maintained its ground that there was no knowledge too sacred or profane to be learned, hence a Great Sage possessing a certain degree of forbidden knowledge was not out of the norm.
The Duke started to feel lucky that Baiyi wielded a certain forbidden power that had now become the only power that could save him, so he stated, “Of course I believe the Church, and I believe in the Apostle, and most importantly, I believe you, Master Hope.”
‘Gosh, the Cleric’s lasting reputation sure was the best tool I have ever had! Of course, the man himself has become corrupted that he has no dignity left at all!’
Yet, even if Baiyi could come up with a reasonable excuse, most of the world still would not accept the notion of him using such an evil technique. This was especially true if one considered the societal position that Baiyi now possessed, so this particular secret, to the Duke, was good enough to be used as a bargaining chip.
The Duke felt much more relieved now that he held one of Baiyi’s darkest secrets — a secret that could easily destroy his reputation. With that newfound confidence, the Duke was willing to continue their bargain. ‘In the end, everyone is always trying to protect their reputation. This is a fair trade, after all.’
However, the Duke was merely trying to see the Fifth Walker through his own lens. The truth was that the latter did not give a damn about reputation, which is something a man, such as the Duke, who had chased after fame his whole life would not understand. He certainly had no idea that this “secret” held no value to Baiyi, so he had not minded the Duke knowing at all. Compared to the real secrets the Fifth Walker held from the world, the fact he knew necromancy was nothing.
They continued their parley, clashing on the temporal terms. Baiyi wanted the procedure to be carried out immediately, but the Duke wanted to wait until his sons had returned home. ( Updated by NovelFull.Com)
The Duke was so easy to be read, and Baiyi was not going to let him have his way. He clapped on his shoulders a little harder and said, “Hey, Vidomina is right here, isn’t it? If I wanted to harm you, I would just leave you as you are now, right?”
The Duke nodded, admitting his reasoning, but he still wanted to wait for his sons to return before starting his procedure.
Baiyi was getting impatient, so he stood up. “So, lemme guess, you think you got a hold on me just because you know a little secret of mine? You probably have forgotten the fact that your pathetic life is now in my hand; maybe, you think that only the money and power owned by the Wright family would be able to fulfill all of my needs, or maybe, you are thinking of finding another docile necromancer to heal you. Well, whatever floats your boat, then.”
Baiyi turned and moved towards the door, but before he opened it, he added, “Oh, just to fill you in: the curse your wife left is quite mysterious; it is nothing like I have ever seen. I am not sure if she can increase the might of the curse in a manner of seconds — from wherever she currently is — or if she could just make the curse activate immediately. Hmm, maybe you can take that wager using your own life? That way, at least, I would be able to garner some firsthand information about this curse from you. Good luck!”
The Duke was drenched in cold sweat because of Baiyi’s comment; he had no idea that his thoughts would be read completely by the soul armature. He summoned every last strength he had and shouted behind his back, “Master Hope, no! Come back! I’ll do as you say!”
Baiyi returned to the Duke’s side. “Oh, that’s good. Trust is the foundation of every cooperation, right? We should really trust each other,” Baiyi said jokingly. “Alright, let us begin.”
Just like that, he placed his hand on the Duke’s neck and started squeezing. The old man’s eyes widened, and after his body convulsed for a few times, he died.
Vidomina watched in terror, stepping back a few times. She struggled to keep quiet, placing her hand over her mouth so that she would not scream out loud.
“What are you scared of? You don’t believe me either?” Baiyi said, crossed, as he grabbed the Duke’s soul, which was quickly escaping his body, using his necromancy technique.
“S-sorry, Mentor, it’s… it’s just kinda s-s-scary…” The girl muttered in a low voice.
Baiyi ignored her as he examined the Duke’s body.
After making sure that the curse was subsiding after the Duke’s death, Baiyi heaved a sigh of relief. If the curse stubbornly clung to the body, it would have been problematic; the Duke could only become a Soul Armature, then.
Seizing the moment, Baiyi drew a sinister formation on the ground and tossed the Duke’s body at the center of, finalizing his preparation.
Before Baiyi started his spell, however, he inspected the soul in his hand again; or more specifically, he sensed it carefully. The Duke had only died minutes ago, so his soul had not fully awakened.
In other words, the man’s soul was completely vulnerable, like a cattle awaiting its fate. ‘I could do so many things to him right now…’
It was almost dawn when the ritual was completed. The Duke opened his eyes and stared at the same ceiling he had been watching for years.
However, this time it was different. Gone was the feeling of chaotic agony and helplessness; this time, he woke up with a brand-new sense of clarity and control. Even his mind was completely crystal clear, and the pain that had latched on his body and tormented him for years was nowhere to be found — as if it had never happened.
He was so exhilarated he could sing!
“I… I can sense it! A breath of life coursing, pumping, rejuvenating me from the inside! I felt like I’d been given a new life!” The Duke declared in ecstasy.
“Nope, ” Baiyi replied snippily. “The curse may be gone, but most of your organs are already disintegrated or broken down. The only reason why you can still live right now is because you have the money to craft this entire life-supporting system which has always been good at situations like these. As long as you’re still alive, these things would be able to keep you alive. That feeling of vitality you’re experiencing? That’s the Life Recovery Formation working.”
“Uh, still… Thank you, Master Hope.” Although the Duke still had his reservations about the deal they had struck, the gratitude in his voice was still apparent.
“Good. Now you’re gonna have to be confined to bed for a few months before your organs are all fixed. My job here is done,” Baiyi said. “Now, as the first phase of payment, get me some materials. That Angelic Feather is mandatory, while the rest — well, I trust that you would do your best.”
Now that he had relieved the man’s disease perfectly, Baiyi had every authority to ask for payment.
“But Master Hope! My sons! What about my sons?”
“Why are you worried? They are just feeling a little under the weather — nowhere near your past state, are they? Look for me again when they are finally close to death,” Baiyi replied nonchalantly. “Shouldn’t deals be carried out in phases?”
“T-this won’t do!” The Duke started to panic. He even managed to sit straight up on his bed. It seemed that with his curse lifted, the man had more strength to spare.
“Why not? If you ask me, having them all endure the torment you had makes for good character building. Might make the world a little safer for the girls,” Baiyi snapped. “Besides, do you really think it’s a good idea to have me come in contact with the souls of every Wright family member?”
That last line really set off the Duke’s deepest fear. His face darkened instantly as his sharp eyes bore through the Soul Armature. “You! What have you done to my soul?!”
Baiyi did not deny nor affirm his accusation. He just gave a knowing smile and said, “What do you think?”
The Duke went speechless. The anxiety and terror of this uncertainty swirled in his heart prompted him to not ask for Baiyi’s favor on lifting his sons’ curse again. After all, he knew the technique to cure themselves already; he could probably just hire a lich to do that for them.
Maybe that was not a good idea. Maybe he could instead find some dependable idiot to learn those necromancy techniques!
Yet, although it may be easy to find an idiot, it was still hard to find an idiot who had learned necromancy well enough to perform what Baiyi had performed.
Furthermore, how would he explain away the connection between a necromancer and his family? And when the idiot had finally finished learning the techniques, could he still be trusted? ‘What about this powerful man right here… what is he thinking now? What about that witch? What would she do?!’
The more the Duke thought about it, the more terrified he became. Baiyi’s simple “What do you think?” had successfully triggered the fear and insecurities every man who had held power for a long time secretly harbor — a technique more potent than concrete threats.
In the Duke’s mind, Baiyi had become synonymous with the Devil.
Watching the Duke sweating cold like that almost made the Fifth Walker laugh.‘Have I become like the Devil now?’ Not that it mattered; the real Devil was even scarier than the Duke could imagine, as well as being so much more clever in striking a deal…
“Alright, for the rest of your time, I’m gonna yield it to Vidomina so that she may have a word with you,” Baiyi finished as he politely pushed open the door, and left the girl and the Duke alone.
It took a while before she came out from the room, with her head lowered. Quite surprisingly, her eyes were dry.
She held onto his hand gently and said very softly, “Mentor, take me away from here please.”
“Alright! Let’s go home.” He nodded. He did not ask her about their conversation because he did not need to.
Vidomina returned to her own room and undressed right in front of Baiyi, putting the robe she got from the Doors of Conundrum back again. She looked back longingly at the gigantic closet that had occupied her entire wall, and her eyes gazed at the beautiful dresses and shoes.
She examined them, but she did not take any of them out and closed the closet quietly.
Finally, from her inner pocket, she grabbed the Wright family emblem and placed it on top of a table.
She looked at Baiyi, forcing a smile that looked surprisingly relieved and said, “Alright, Mentor, let’s go.”
She had said that she wanted to pack some things up in her room, but she never took anything from her room. She left the country estate with nothing from her family. Even when the distance between the coach and the house she once called home got farther and father, the girl did not even look back at it.
She just leaned on Baiyi’s side closely, like a kitten, for this man was the only one she could trust.
The Archmage could only exclaim in the Void, “She’s stronger than you gave her credit for.”