Chapter 93 : Chapter 93

Chapter 93 - Miracle (3)

Ben, who was thought to be dead, had returned alive.

…To be precise, Ben, who had died, returned alive.

‘Is that possible?’

Realistically speaking, it was of course impossible.

But this was a world where magic existed. Naturally, it was possible for the dead to return not only through Holy Magic but also through general magic.

‘The problem is, this case is different no matter what.’

Naturally, resurrection magic had its restrictions.

First, the more a corpse was damaged or left unattended, the lower the success rate, and resurrection consumed a considerable amount of mana and gold coins.

A person who died from disease, poison, or a curse could only be resurrected through Holy Magic.

Lastly, those who died of old age could not be resurrected by any means.

In any case, the most certain thing was that there was no one here who could have resurrected Ben, who had been left for eight months.

“You may be able to fool others, but not me.”

Gerard was grinding his teeth.

He looked like a furious wolf.

“It’s impossible for Ben to be alive. What kind of monster are you? Or a Hellmorph?”

A completed Mana Bullet in Gerard's hand flashed as if it would be shot at any moment.

“Heek?!”

“Wait, Gerard!”

As Ben freaked out, Jeina hastily squeezed between the two.

“Move, Jeina.”

“Let’s at least talk first.”

“He is dangerous!”

“We can judge later, can't we!”

At Jeina's words, Gerard's gaze grew sharper.

“Get a grip. A dead companion won't come back just because you act like this.”

“…”

Jeina, an intermediate-grade mercenary, had little experience. So she had an attachment to her comrades, and the shock of losing them was great.

But Gerard had already had his comrades change several times.

Among them, there was one who had become undead, and another who had been mind-controlled and tried to stab a comrade in the back.

“A dead companion is dead for good the moment you give up on reviving them. Especially meeting one near the place of death leaves no room for debate.”

“No, still…”

“In the first place, outside of here is filled with deadly toxic gas even if you drink a little. How could you have survived in a place like this?”

“He could have stayed inside the castle. There’s no toxic gas there!”

“What about food and drinking water? Ben is as ignorant of magic as you are. He can’t use purification magic either.”

“Th-that, I survived with these.”

Ben, who had joined the conversation, took something out of his inventory.

It was water in a leather waterskin and dried rations.

“I was in charge of food, wasn’t I.”

“Am I supposed to believe that now?”

Gerard slammed a Mana Bullet at Ben’s feet with a fierce expression.

“It was food for seven people for a week. Even if one person eats sparingly, three months is the limit.”

“…I went through Deiker’s inventory. He was in charge of food too.”

Ben clutched his stomach and made a desperate expression.

“But I was at my limit. If I ate what I just took out, it would really be the end. But then I saw the leader right in front of me. Believe me!”

“Cut the crap.”

[Gerard casts Arcane Barrage (Lv.4).]

Rumble…!

Gerard immediately swung his hand down.

Gerard's leveled-up Arcane Barrage no longer created ordinary Mana Bullets, but sharp mana arrows.

“Do not insult Ben in front of me any longer.”

With those words, Gerard fired the magic without hesitation.

“Gerard!”

Jeina gritted her teeth and raised her axe.

At that moment, Artier drew his sword and stepped between them.

[Perfect Counter is activated.]

Clang-clang-clang!

Artier blocked all the incoming arrows just by lightly spinning his sword.

To others, it looked as if the sword had momentarily taken the shape of a circle.

“Gerard, stop.”

“Artier.”

“I understand the situation, but this is too much.”

Artier glanced at Ben behind him.

Ben didn't seem to understand the situation.

“A-Artier? What did you just do? How can you, a low-grade mercenary?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Artier quietly stared at Ben.

Before long, an information window appeared.

Lv.4 Ben

Title: Intermediate-Grade Mercenary

Class: The Guardian

Strength: 13

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 5

Available Skills: Iron Wall (Lv.1)

‘What’s with this pathetic level…?’

Ben had the exact same stats set during the tutorial.

Artier, who had thought his stats might have been inflated, was at a loss for words at the naked stats.

‘At this level, he can’t really harm us.’

Besides, Artier had already done a rough data check before stepping forward.

“Reinard, are you sure you don’t feel any traces of magic?”

“That is correct.”

Reinard slightly pushed up his glasses and answered without hesitation.

“I have checked for the possibility of a disguised undead and the possibility of mental magic, but I did not feel any such traces on that person.”

“It could be a Hellmorph’s trick. They could have nullified our detection.”

Gerard did not give up.

As if he had expected it, Artier moved on to the next point.

“To confirm that, we need to take him to the Papal State.”

“To the Papal State?”

“Gerard, what was the second objective of this expedition?”

As Artier's tone of voice changed, Gerard flinched and stiffened.

“To find out the habits or behavior patterns of the Hellmorphs… and their weaknesses.”

“If it really is a Hellmorph’s trick that we can’t confirm, we need to take it to the temple and study it.”

There was a limit to the information they could find out on their own anyway.

The most important thing in researching data was, after all, the sample.

Artier was now saying that they should secure Ben as a sample.

‘Of course, I say this, but.’

Artier glanced at Ben.

He had his head down dejectedly, as if he had grasped the situation.

“The situation being what it is, I hope you understand.”

“It can’t be helped… Still, thank you for saving me, Artier.”

“Don’t thank me. No one knows what will happen if they find something wrong at the temple.”

“It’s okay.”

Ben glanced around and then, as if his strength had left him, slumped to the ground.

From the outside, he certainly seemed to be alive.

‘When it’s this realistic, it’s hard to kill him even if it’s a fake.’

On the surface, a person’s heart might seem tough, but it gets hurt and cries out in pain just the same.

Gerard had acted cruelly, but it wasn’t because he was a cold-blooded man without dreams or hope.

Artier hoped, even if just a little.

That if Ben had to die, it would be at the hands of a stranger, not a comrade.

“…Understood.”

The venom gradually drained from Gerard's eyes.

Jeina immediately went to Ben and hugged him tightly.

“Making me worry like that!”

“Gack… Cough cough…”

“Hey, barbarian. He can’t even breathe.”

“At this rate, Ms. Jeina will kill him.”

***

As dawn broke, they tidied up their spot and prepared breakfast.

It was one of the few times they could rest, but naturally, the hottest topic was about what Ben had gone through until now.

“Honestly… I don’t really know how I came back to life either.”

A chain made of magic was wrapped around Ben's neck.

He could no longer use any mana, but the expression on Ben’s face as he drank his soup was bright. Rather, it was an expression of relief he hadn’t had until now.

“I woke up about four months ago. When I got up, there was nothing around.”

Not Deiker, not Jeina, not Gerard.

Not a single face that Ben knew was in sight.

He had hastily left the waterway, but what he saw was the viscounty in ruins.

“I wanted to leave, but I couldn't because of the gas. I tried to communicate, but no one answered.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know why, but it didn’t work. I was about to try a few more times, but I stopped because I thought the monsters would find me.”

At those words, Jeina tried to communicate.

“Hmm… it works fine?”

“It was definitely blocked a few months ago.”

“It’s possible the communication jamming was lifted as the main forces moved to the east.”

“Ben, have you seen any suspicious groups moving around here?”

“Uh…”

Ben seemed to be having a hard time getting used to the fact that Artier, who was definitely his junior, was speaking informally to him.

After looking dazed for a moment, he flinched belatedly and opened his mouth.

“Come to think of it, there were people who came here before you.”

“Why didn’t you go to them?”

“It was a bit… unsettling, I guess.”

“Unsettling?”

Ben scratched the back of his neck and spat out a surprising fact.

“Those people, they were all warlocks…”

Warlocks.

They were usually depicted as evil and enemies of humanity, but in <Cross Destiny>, since an enemy of humanity already existed, they were just depicted as one of the ordinary schools of magic.

But that didn’t mean warlocks had a good reputation.

Their magic, such as controlling the undead or using poison, had many elements that induced feelings of aversion.

Because of this, the perception that warlocks were not in their right minds was strong among the common people.

“The members of the Empire's expedition team were all warlocks?”

Artier briefly organized his thoughts.

As he did, a few questions were immediately resolved.

‘The traces of undead that Tersion found were summons summoned by the warlocks. They also made the undead mine the Mithril.’

The fact that they could handle the arduous battles with ease also made sense when looking at the bones scattered around this area. They had overcome the Hellmorphs’ attacks purely through a war of attrition.

“It might be quite efficient.”

As Artier muttered that and raised his head, he found that all his surrounding companions were looking at him.

“What’s with everyone?”

“Leader, I think you need to consider your own position.”

Reinard's expression was the same.

But for some reason, the feeling of pity was plainly readable.

“If what he says is true, it is by no means a matter to be taken lightly. You are not unaware of the relationship between the Rata faith and the warlocks, are you.”

“Ah.”

The Rata faith, which valued the cycle of life, was wary of warlocks.

This was because warlock magic had the property of going against the cycle of life.

Therefore, the Papal State investigated the activities and whereabouts of all warlocks and officially managed them.

“This is clearly an unknown activity. You should report it to the Papal State.”

“Right. I need to contact Ropin.”

Artier took out a golden orb from his inventory.

[Secure Communication Orb Lv.3 (Rare)]

A communication orb developed for military use.

Option: Communication using this item ignores eavesdropping magic of Lv.3 or lower.

It was a communication orb distributed directly by the Papal State for this operation.

When he let a little mana flow into the communication orb and rubbed it twice, the surface of the opaque orb became transparent, and soon Ropin’s face appeared.

Oh, it’s Artier. It must still be a while before you arrive at the barony?

“I contacted you because I obtained important information while on the move.”

The more Artier told him the information he learned from Ben, the more wrinkles began to form on Ropin’s brow.

An expedition team composed entirely of warlocks… Is that true?

Artier was momentarily taken aback.

Ropin’s expression… was filled with elation, as if he had seized an opportunity.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.