Chương 11: Skeletons in the closet

Hundreds of years ago, when the first Aedris king was searching for a suitable location to build his capital city, his host of oracles and diviners insisted these islands in the estuary on the shelf of the continent were the most auspicious spot. Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle wasn't the geography, but a dungeon. The Forsaken Crypt was a mausoleum from a past age, the resting place of nameless, ancient kings from a lost empire, and the ambient mana had brought it to life.

The Forsaken Crypt had been an A-Rank dungeon. Over the course of many years, hundreds of past heroes tried to crush the dungeon's core in the name of the new king. Eventually one succeeded. Today, the Forsaken Crypt was little more than a landmark. It no longer spawned monsters, and the city had even started industrializing near it. Everyone thought it was totally safe. Until… Yes, until, in the webtoon, a rival and foil of Rin's took refuge in the dungeon to escape her pursuers.

Inside, she stumbled across the tomb of a corpse-king of old that hadn't been found. The geezer had been severely wounded from the ancient blows dealt to him by the first generation of Aedris adventurers, and couldn't put up much of a fight. The girl didn't have the [Consume] ability that Rin did, so she didn't gain any abilities from him, but slaying an easy target in the 700s had shot up her own level by 100. Not to mention, the king's sword was a decent weapon. Hmph.

In this story, this corpse-king would be Rin's piñata - and she would beat all the levels out of him! Rin and Ophelia stood in front of the Forsaken Crypt now, observing it. The mouth of the dungeon was a simple cave, with overgrown weeds sticking out around it. Yellow caution tape strung across it in multiple lines.

"What is this place?" asked Rin. She didn't seem very impressed.

"An old dungeon," Ophelia explained. She placed her hands on her hips.

"Everyone thinks there's nothing left inside but cobwebs. But due to your Mistress's talent, high level, and centuries of experience as an Archmage, she can tell there's still something good inside." Ophelia [Warped] them through the caution tape, leaving it undisturbed. The sudden action caused Rin's eyes to widen. She resembled a black cat with its hackles raised in response to a sudden threat. A smirk ghosted over Ophelia's lips at her reaction. Pretty cute.

The interior of the dungeon was underdeveloped—er, bland. The entrance led into a massive hole, each floor of the dungeon spiraling down around it. Rin stared over the edge of the railing into the pitch-black abyss below.

"Come," bade Ophelia. They walked through the dusty, empty floors. The countless stone coffins had been shattered to pieces, the skeletons inside killed. Everything that could have been looted, had been taken long ago. Ophelia pointed to a shack set up between two walls.

"Look. That used to be a trading shop for any adventurers that made it to this point. Seems like the shopowner abandoned it when the dungeon was cleared."

"Should we search it, Mistress?" asked Rin.

"No need," she said.

"Anything worthwhile gives off mana. I'd sense it."

"Isn't it said that legendary items don't emanate mana?" Rin inquired.

"They look and feel just like a regular object until they're activated."

"You think there's a legendary item in that shack?" Ophelia almost scoffed before she remembered that Rin was the protagonist, and if anyone were going to find a legendary item in a shack, it would be her. In fact, when Rin was on scene, every shack probably instantly spawned a supreme one-of-a-kind artifact.

"Very well, my apprentice. Go have a look. There's no harm in searching." Rin went to scrounge around in the shack. Ophelia's ears pricked, sensing something. A skeleton charged out from the shack with a rusted knife in hand. The weapon was of modern make, likely something an adventurer had left behind. Ophelia crossed her arms and watched the scene. The skeleton was only level 10. Indeed, in one smooth movement, Rin snatched the knife from the skeleton and kicked the bones away. They fell into a dusty heap.

"Mistress, why didn't my [CONSUME] work?"

"Don't be discouraged. That trash didn't have a soul, there was nothing for you to [CONSUME]." Rin sighed and tucked the rusty knife into her boot. Ophelia hoped the girl wasn't planning on stabbing her with it later. She was already poisoned, she didn't need tinnitus too. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. An army of clumsy, low-level skeletons came running toward them, their bones clashing musically against each other as they stumbled into each other and tripped over their fallen brethren.

Rin grabbed out her new knife again, a vicious light entering her red eyes. Yeah right. What was this show of strength for? Did Rin really think she was going to fight an entire army of skeletons? They both knew what was going to happen here. The least Rin could do was be cute and hide behind her. Ophelia put out her hand, a slicing chill skirting the tips of her fingers." [Mass Warp]." She grinned, sly as a fox, as the horde of skeletons instantly vanished from sight.

A rush of air swept across the floor, her dress billowing slightly as space adjusted to the displacement of mass. Distantly, she could hear the sound of their bones hitting each other as they fell into the abyss, to the very bottom of the dungeon. Her satisfaction deepened when she looked over at Rin, the girl staring at her with undisguised awe.

"What do you think?" Ophelia couldn't help but ask.

"Spatial magic isn't as flashy as beams of radiance raining down from the sky, but it gets the job done." Rin ducked her head.

"Mistress… your magic… is plenty flashy…"

"Hmph. Good answer." Ophelia was about to dig into Rin a little deeper, to see if there was any more ego stroking to be had, when the air on the back of her neck stood on end. Her golden eyes flashed. Danger. Incredible danger.

"Get behind me," hissed Ophelia, shoving Rin behind her. Could it be the zombie they were here for? But wasn't it supposed to be fatally wounded? Also, even if it was at max strength, Ophelia should be able to, as the kids say, "style on it". What was she sensing? The stone coffin in the middle of the room began to rumble. Unlike the other coffins, it looked remarkably intact. Which was strange. Had someone come down and repaired it? Ophelia was prepared to [Warp] her and Rin at any moment.

She watched like a hawk as the lid to the stone coffin slid down to the ground with a loud 'bang'. In the next moment, she was blinking in shock. A slim girl sat up in the stone coffin with a loud yawn, stretching her arms. A straight cut of silver bangs hung down to the bridge of her button nose, a black veil covering the rest of her head. A thick, fluffy silver braid hung over her shoulder. If the girl stood up, Ophelia knew the top of her head would barely clear the five foot mark.

She knew this because she recognized her character design."' Phelia?" the girl asked, her tone soft and befuddled. She scrubbed a fist over her eerily green eyes.

"What are you doing here? You didn't even knock." She paused in her eye-rubbing.

"Wait.

'P-phelia? Oh… no!" she squeaked.

"'Phelia is here, and it's so dusty! My home is not ready for guests!" The girl leapt out of the coffin, tripping over her own feet. She was wearing a Victorian dress, modest and all black, with white lace peeking above the collar, the end of the sleeves, and out of the numerous ruffles. She looked like a creepy little Victorian child suffering from tuberculosis. Except, she wasn't. She was Lucrezia Starling. [Necromancer - Level 1000]" Home?" scoffed Ophelia.

"This is a crypt!" Lucrezia's ridiculous bangs completely covered her eyes, but she put a finger to her lips, as if in thought.

"Precisely."

"It's public property! Anyone can go inside!" Lucrezia shook her head.

"No it's not. There were signs all over the entrance forbidding people from entering."

"You know what I mean," Ophelia said.

"Besides, you clearly ignored the signs too."

"I've been ignoring the signs longer than you have. I have squatter's rights."

"Will the Royal Court agree?"

"I'm a Level 1000 Necromancer. So, yes, probably." The sudden sight of such a powerful character had startled Ophelia, which was why she had verbally lashed out at her. Now that she'd had a second to calm down, her face settled back into its cold, haughty mask. She had to remember - she was also a Level 1000 character. Although, it was odd. Aside from Ophelia herself, there were only two other Level 1000 characters in the city. Bianca Albini and Lucrezia Starling.

And she'd encountered them both so quickly since she'd transmigrated. In Slayer's Requiem, Rin barely met anyone over the Level 100 for two-hundred chapters. Maybe the saying 'like attracts like' was true. Since Ophelia was high-level, naturally, she would run into more powerful individuals. But surely the original person who had stumbled into the Forsaken Crypts and killed the high-level zombie hadn't run into Lucrezia of all people? They would've mentioned it to Rin. Right?

Ophelia craned her neck, peering into the stone coffin. A desiccated corpse was laying inside. Ew. And Lucrezia had just been napping next to it? Why was she even surprised? The Necromancer did such things even in canon. A crown of obsidian thorns decorated the corpse's forehead. Ophelia wondered if that guy was who she was here for. She cast [Observe]. [Great Skeleton King - Lvl 780] Before the Kingdom of Aedris, there was the Empire of the New Moon.

Its kings ruled with cruelty, causing endless suffering to their citizens. In these lands the sun never dared to rise. Darkness reigned. And the moon… sang strange songs. King Ballah the Lunatic ruled for only thirteen years before he was deposed by his own son. During his reign, the histories say he never once slept. He would sit on the shore, staring at the moon in rapturous silence, listening to things he never shared with others.

His children suspected he was being transmitted secret knowledge by the Goddess Erisina, and in their greed, tried to cut it out of him. Inside his body, they didn't find texts inscribed on his bones, but a sword pale as the moon. The Sword of the Grand Moon. Yeah, that must be the high-level zombie that the one side character had killed.

"Lucrezia," Ophelia said, pointing to the corpse of King Ballah the Lunatic.

"My apprentice needs to kill that thing." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The girl blinked at her.

"Oh. Is that all? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Lucrezia seemed baffled.

"I thought you were trying to get me to leave this nice crypt."

"I don't care where you live," said Ophelia.

"But, speaking of, don't you already live in a morgue?"

"Yes, but this is my vacation home. It's much quieter. Lets me think." Now it was Ophelia's turn to be confused. A morgue wasn't quiet enough?

"I'd like his sword too," said Ophelia. Lucrezia picked up a milk-pale sword from the stone coffin, her bony wrist bending as she tried to awkwardly hold it. The blade wasn't made of metal, but a slice of bone so thin it was nearly transparent, and it was faintly luminous, ancient glyphs in a forgotten tongue running along the inside of the groove.

"This one?"

"What other sword is there?" The girl sniffed the blade.

"It isn't one of the seven legendary blades from the Age of Divinity, but its been blessed by the Divine. A rare artifact. I truly do not want to give it up, even to you, 'Phelia." Wariness curled in Ophelia's stomach. The Necromancer's words stank of her usual games - favors, fetch quests, pinky swears.

"Speak, Lucrezia. I don't have all day." The girl coyly brushed her bangs to the side, a flash of her green eyes briefly appearing. She clasped her hands behind her back, the sword protruding from her tiny frame in a comical fashion, and scuffed the tip of her shoe against the ground.

"If you would indulge me a personal request, 'Phelia, I might be able to relinquish this artifact…" Ophelia narrowed her eyes, the gold of her irises becoming even more prominent in the shadowy darkness.

"I've always wanted to see you in a coffin… you would look so lovely… dead…" Of course the creepy girl would never fail to be creepy.

"You want to kill me?" asked Ophelia casually." Never. You would never agree to that," Lucrezia was quick to correct.

"I just want to see you in a coffin. Just to picture it." Ophelia crossed her arms, mind spinning. All she had to do was lay in a coffin for a bit? That was the deal of the century. She observed Lucrezia for a moment longer, the girl fiddling and twitching. That was when Ophelia realized that Lucrezia expected her to refuse. After all, the two women had some history. Perhaps the Necromancer had brought up her desires before, only to be viciously shot down by the Archmage. Actually, she was sure of it.

Bianca had made mention of it when she requested that Ophelia speak to Lucrezia about Azazel, seeming uncomfortable. Right, there was also the matter of Azazel… Ophelia didn't want more attention drawn to the matter of the Demon Lord, considering she was apparently tangled up with him. At the same time, as per the webtoon, Azazel would eventually worm his way into Rosenarte even without her help and cause untold damage. She had to stop him.

"Fine," Ophelia agreed silkily. The sword clattered to the ground as Lucrezia's head snapped up in shock, her mouth open in a little 'o'.

"T-truly?"

"But I have one further condition."

"A-anything, 'Phelia!"

"I have a secret project I'm working on. You and your abilities could be of some use to me. However—" Ophelia paused dramatically, her gold eyes cold as ice.

"You're forbidden from telling anyone about it. Even Bianca. If she inquires, you'll tell her whatever I tell you to say. Understood?" Lucrezia nodded her head frantically.

"I swear it. On the soul of Saintess Lucia."

"Good." Ophelia's gaze slid to Rin for a second. She should speak to Lucrezia in private, but the story was strictly Rin POV. And wouldn't introducing a big threat make for a perfect Chapter Two?

"Get that zombie out of the coffin, and hand the Sword of the Grand Moon over to my apprentice," continued Ophelia.

"Then I'll tell you the details." Lucrezia tossed King Ballah the Lunatic's corpse out of the stone coffin like it was yesterday's trash. She scurried over to Rin with the sword, almost tripping and falling several times in her haste.

"Thanks," muttered Rin awkwardly as she accepted the sword. She seemed to remember something, and cleared her throat.

"I mean, I'm blessed to receive your generosity, Lady Necromancer." Lucrezia paused, turning her head. She swept her bangs out of the way of one eye.

"Oh. You're a delightful little thing." Her voice turned soft, wispy like smoke.

"Your soul is so… fraught." Rin lowered her eyes.

"You can see my soul?"

"Yes. It's old," whispered Lucrezia. Her hand reached out, as though to softly caress Rin's cheek.

"And red as blood." Ophelia grimaced as she went over to the cold, dusty coffin, running her finger along the edge of it. Tendrils of death magic clung to her skin - icy and clammy and stinking sweetly of rot.

"Scaring my apprentice wasn't part of the deal, Lucrezia." She began to lower herself inside the coffin. This is absurd.

"I wonder what you see when you look at her, 'Phelia," commented the Necromancer, instantly retracting her fingers.

"You always see so much."

"Yes," drawled Ophelia, laying down in the cold, hard stone coffin, leaning her head back until the back met the surface.

"I should hope so, considering my S-Rank [Observe] skill." Lucrezia went quiet for a moment.

"The Divines give us our Natal Skill based on our inherent qualities. Are you observant because of your Natal Skill, or were you blessed with your Natal Skill because you were observant?" Ophelia didn't respond, choosing to close her eyes inside, dark lashes brushing against flawless porcelain cheekbones. Surely, it was the former. Lady Vyx's downfall happened because of how horribly unobservant she was. First, despite possessing the ultimate infodumping skill, she had still been fatally poisoned.

Then, she never bothered to [Observe] Rin, noticing her terrifying backstory and potential, continuing to use her as a subject in her experiments. She also never noticed that Rin's chains had been weakening. Nor that the girl had been plotting to kill her. [Observe] didn't make her omniscient, but it could get close enough if she was inclined. She'd been casually testing it during her excursions to the city, [Observing] people. If she concentrated to the fullest… there was little that escaped her.

Instead of a few lines of system text, full insight was instantly beamed into her brain. She immediately knew the entirety of someone's skill tree, down to how many points they had invested into each skill. She knew their web of relationships. She knew if their hearts were good. She knew what every micro-expression meant. When she really strained, she could even hear fragments of their thoughts, but that was when her mind began to fatigue. That was her limit.

Stretching an ability so far past its limits it began overlapping with a different one. Mind reading. [Reveal Thoughts]. It wasn't a spell in her repertoire. Though, she did possess [Mind Shield] and [Mass Mind Shield]. With such powers, Lady Vyx should never have died."' Phelia," came the Necromancer's soft voice - so soft, as to not disturb the dead.

"I've never told anyone what my Natal Skill is. But you can see it, right?" Ophelia kept her eyes closed.

"Of course."

"You must've known the moment we met," said the girl quietly.

"But you never judged me for it."

"It's an S-Rank skill. How could I judge it?" Ophelia didn't need to [Observe] Lucrezia. The author had revealed the skill in the final arc of the webtoon, when the Necromancer gave up her life to save Rin's. Her Natal Skill was the S-Rank [Death's Door]. It was one of the more complicated Natal Skills in the story, and so specific it basically gave a young Lucrezia no choice but to pursue necromancy. It was a passive ability, something she couldn't turn off.

In short, the skill turned Lucrezia into the door between life and death. She had been cut out of her mother's womb, stillborn. Yet, because of this Natal Skill, she was able to live despite being dead. In her skill tree, any abilities that weren't related to death magic were greyed out, unable to be activated. When Goddess Erisina trapped Rin in her Pure Moonlight Domain, intent on mentally torturing her until she died, Lucrezia grabbed Goddess Erisina and fell through the door of life and death with her.

The Necromancer's soul permanently returned back home to the underworld where it was meant to be. And the Divine, killed. Honestly, it had been one of the coolest moments in the story. It was also one of the few times where the author's idea had outshone all expectations. Throughout the years, the fandom had collectively agreed that Lucrezia's S-Rank Natal Skill was surely [Mass Resurrect].

Because of a few throw-away lines and her connections to the Church, the general consensus formed that Lucrezia had been a god-tier healer before experiencing something traumatic, turning her toward necromancy and the dark arts. The best healing skill inverted into a tool of darkness. Truthfully, Ophelia had liked the idea of [Mass Resurrect], not even bothering to deviate from it in her own fics. But when Lucrezia's actual Natal Skill had been revealed? Just too damn cool.

Her thoughts broke when she felt a lock of foreign hair curl on the side of her face. Her eyes snapped open, startled. Lucrezia was leaning down so close her nose almost touched Ophelia's. Her bangs were hanging off her forehead and Ophelia got the full brunt of those eerie green eyes, which seemed so flat, despite being so bright. The eyes of a dead girl. Ophelia shoved her away. Lucrezia went flying, skittering across the floor like a stone skipping over a lake."

'Phelia," the girl moaned.

"Owie."

"What did you expect?" drawled Ophelia, sitting up in the coffin.

"I said you could look. Not touch." She was a little rattled to see just how far Lucrezia had flown. Yes, the girl looked as tiny and fragile as a baby bird, but she was still the Shadow Queen. Were Lady Vyx's paltry strength and constitution stats really this powerful?

"I didn't! It was just my hair…"

"Just hair?" argued Ophelia.

"Shall I enlighten you with what a mage can do with even a single strand of hair?" Lucrezia scraped herself up off the floor, half-heartedly brushing the dirt and cobwebs from her black dress. She fixed her askew veil.

"Perform divinations?" Lucrezia answered in a strangely hopeful tone.

"Control me? Hurt me? Curse my entire bloodline?"

"Yes. And more." The girl sighed wistfully.

"You were so beautiful, 'Phelia. We must do that again. Sometime soon. I'll carve a proper coffin for you, dark as your hair, lined with black silk. And I'll have black lillies..."

"Perhaps. If you follow my orders correctly."

"Absolutely. Please, tell me about your project." Ophelia glanced at Rin. She had been afraid the protagonist had gotten bored waiting for so long, but she needn't have worried. Rin's ruby red eyes observed them very intently, absorbing every single word. If Rin hadn't been born with [Consume], then surely it would've been [Observe]. Ophelia stood up straight with perfect posture, as though cameras were pointed at her from every angle.

"The Demon Lord Azazel… has returned." Lucrezia gasped, placing a delicate hand over her small mouth.

"Really? How intriguing." Ophelia paused at her response." Are you surprised?"

"No. Not remotely."

"Then tell me what you know," demanded Ophelia.

"Remember, you made a promise to me, Lucrezia." She twiddled her thumbs together.

"It would be better if I showed you… Miss Rin, can you please kill that undead?" Rin nodded.

"Yes, Lady Necromancer." When Rin brought up the pale, gleaming Sword of the Grand Moon, she stole a glance at the two legends behind her before slicing through the neck of the undead like a kid cutting the first slice of their birthday cake. Her [Consume] activated. Her eyes, corneas and all, turned pitch-black as she gasped in one of the Great Skeleton King's skills. Ophelia and Lucrezia both clapped as Rin was flooded with levels. [Rin - Lvl 103] [New Skill: A-Rank Moon Reaver's Song]"Huh.

You took my minion's best skill." Lucrezia pouted.

"Next time, I'll specify no skill stealing." The black-haired girl looked down at herself in amazement, likely feeling the power rushing through her.

"Mistress… that got me a hundred levels," she said reverently.

"I have so many points. What stats should I put them into? What abilities should I unlock?" She paused, remembering herself.

"I apologize, Lady Necromancer. Please continue your conversation. I hope the demonstration was informative." Even though Rin was pretending to be calm and solemn, Ophelia nearly broke character when a system message appeared. [Congratulations! You have been redeemed in the protagonist's eyes. +10, 000 points!] Oh my god. She did it! She actually did it! She - Hm. The protagonist's opinion flipped completely because I got her some levels. Does she like me, or does she like what I'm able to do for her?

Isn't that a bit… transactional? Ophelia considered the thought for a second before pushing it away. No! This was a victory! And if Rin's opinion of her was contingent on Ophelia being able to give her levels, then that was a good thing. She was an Archmage with knowledge of future events! Getting levels for Rin wouldn't be hard at all! Lucrezia snapped her fingers.

"[Rise]." King Ballah the Lunatic groaned, the deep tone reverberating through the crypt and causing small rocks to dislodge from the ceiling and fall to the ground. The crown of obsidian shards on his forehead began to glow with unholy light. The Necromancer delicately cleared her throat.

"Do you see now, 'Phelia?" Ophelia blinked at Lucrezia. Then at the Great Skeleton King. Oh. Was she supposed to use her [Observe]? Ophelia did. She worked past the general description of the mob, slithering deeper into the abyss of information. Finally… The Great Skeleton King's soul has been recently yanked back from the rivers of the underworld, though a strange, resentful energy coats it. It seems something has polluted the waters of death…

"Polluted the waters of death…" murmured Ophelia, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead against the back of her hand. The edges of her mind felt strained.

"But Azazel's the Demon Lord of Many Forms. Even if he was at full strength, his powers can't pollute the waters of death. That would have to be…" She paused as the weight of that information hit her. That would have to be something much stronger. A Divine. Were they speed-running this story!? First, Bianca told her that she was aware of Azazel's return, years before anyone in the original ever had an inkling. Next, Lucrezia was revealing the Divine Conspiracy?? That arc happened halfway through the entire story!!!

What was happening???? Had all these high-rank characters actually been aware of these plot points this far in advance? And of course, they didn't bother to clue Rin in, because why would they. Ophelia had to refrain from walking up to the nearest wall and bashing her head into it. Don't tell me these high-ranking characters were actually competent this whole time, and they were acting in the shadows, and things might've been ten times worse without them… even fanfiction could never pen such blasphemy against Rin.

The powerhouses actually being intelligent? The good guys actually being good?? In my grim-dark revenge fantasy??? Lucrezia nodded at Ophelia, confirming her suspicions.

"The Wheel has made its full turn, and this current era of peace is at its end. Death God Nyxian has reentered the Cycle." Ophelia didn't have to wonder, because she'd already read the plot twist in chapter 674.

"Death God Nyxian is pulling his subjects back into his orbit. Likely, he found whatever survived of Demon Lord Azazel and is forcing him to enact his will on the mortal realm," she said. She'd like to say the words had been more for the reader's benefit than her own. She really would. Yeah. The big bad demon lord was a puppet for an even bigger, badder evil entity. Who could've guessed. Maybe only the director of Supernatural.