Chương 56: Soul Ledger

"Lord Erebion...? The titan...?" Drazira stared in disbelief at the child before her. Cerys, meanwhile, had bent forward until her head was so close to Erebion that, if Nerez had not grabbed her by the collar, she would have bumped into him.

"I want a rematch! I didn't use any of my skills before!" Nerez let out a sigh and pulled harder, finally separating her from the titan.

"And thank goodness you didn't, or that stone chamber would have turned into an oven. First of all, why are you even on your feet? You should be recovering." Cerys turned to him and, grinning from ear to ear, flexed her arm as if trying to show off some muscle, though nothing stood out on that deceptively delicate figure.

"I'm completely recovered already! Rematch! Rematch!" Chop.

"Ugh..."

"This is not the time for rematches... and seriously, what are you made of?"

"Power and beauty? Sexiness?"

"And you say that while rubbing your head..." Nerez let out another sigh and placed a hand on Drazira's shoulder, making her stiffen, visibly flustered.

"Erebion, do you remember this woman?" The titan, now in a child's body, shook his head.

"No... but I feel like this isn't the first time I've seen her." Drazira lowered her head, hurt.

"Is my presence really that weak...?"

"And what about a man with the same messy orange hair, only shorter?" Nerez continued, ruffling Drazira's hair, which only made her blush even more.

"The same scarlet eyes too."

"Mm..." Erebion lowered his head and touched his chin in thought.

"She has them hidden right now, but think horns, wings, and a tail too."

"Lord Nereziel, please don't say it like that. It sounds indecent..."

"What?! Why?!"

"Nerez, you're indecent!" Cerys repeated, laughing. Chop.

"Why is it always me..." Then Erebion raised his head.

"Yes, I remember him... He talked a lot, and then died." Only then did Drazira and Cerys realize something was off, and they looked at the titan curiously.

"Well, I think a few pieces are missing, but at least you remember something..." Nerez then turned toward the two women.

"You see, it's a side effect of taking on that body. His memories are a little mixed up."

"Hmm, he doesn't need memories for a rematch... In the future! In the future!" Cerys hurried to correct herself when she saw that Nerez was already raising his hand again.

"So my presence isn't that weak after all?" Drazira asked, her eyes shining.

"I think you have plenty of presence. That hair can be seen from a kilometer away..."

"Thank you, Lord Nereziel!"

"... Changing the subject... why are all the demons preparing to march? Can the wounded move already?"

"Most of them can, thanks to Lady Avelle," Drazira replied.

"But the main reason is that I'm worried about the camp. I don't want to leave the demons there abandoned for too long. After all, it's not as if we know the underworld all that well... and from the looks of it, we can't ask Lord Erebion either." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Even if my memories were not mixed up, this underworld probably isn't the same as the one I knew," Erebion replied.

"After all, Nerez and the rest of you did not exist here. That much is clear to me." Nerez nodded. It would probably take some time for everything to stabilize.

"And what do you plan to do after that?" Nerez asked.

"We want to find a place to establish our city," Drazira replied.

"This valley is large enough for us and the visiare, but we would prefer somewhere a little warmer, preferably near lava." And that would only be a little warmer?

"If you're going through the settlement before leaving, could you take Erebion with you and get him some clothes? Those rags he's wearing could fall apart at any moment."

"Even if I had no reason to go, I would go at once if it was a request from you, my god!"

"Don't call me 'my god'."

"Lord Nereziel..."

"Not perfect, but better. Good, then I'm leaving Erebion in your care." Nerez then placed a hand on the titan's shoulder.

"I entrusted you with guarding the Chasm of the Deeps, just as you had been doing until now, but you can visit the Last Valley or the future demon city whenever you want. Also, take the chance to introduce yourself to Avelle when you have time." Erebion nodded.

"Of course, Nerez. As you wish." Nerez glanced at Cerys from the corner of his eye.

"What?"

"It's nothing. I was just thinking someone here could learn how to behave from a good example."

"Did you hear that, Drazira?" the redhead asked, pointing at the demoness.

"You'd better learn from my example and show more guts in the future."

"..."

"..."

"..." Even Erebion just stared at her.

"Lord Nereziel!" Nerez was greeted by three visiare speaking in unison, their long, drooping white ears trembling slightly. They were clearly nervous. Avelle had led him to a room where the body of the former Archonte rested, dressed in a simple white tunic. She had preserved it with magic, just as Nerez had asked her to some time ago. The room was not very spacious, so Avelle decided to step out for the moment so she would not get in the way. Cerys, of course, followed Nerez inside without caring in the slightest.

"Lord Nereziel? Is it true?" Sae asked with tears in her eyes as Nerez approached the altar where Thaelor's body lay.

"Can you give my grandfather back to us?"

"Give him back to you? It's not as if I kidnapped him or anything..."

"All souls are your property, Nerez, so Sae isn't wrong," Cerys pointed out, despite no one asking....

"Anyway... I do think I can do something about it now."

"Please, Lord Nereziel, I'm counting on you!" Ily exclaimed.

"Lord Nereziel!" Osvel bowed his head. Without further ado, Nerez approached Thaelor's body and opened the Book of Death. Inside it, he reached the section of pages now occupied by 'Soul Ledger'. The names were arranged alphabetically, but something told him he could spend days turning pages before reaching the name he was looking for. Fortunately, as if reading his mind, the book's pages turned on their own and stopped with the name "Thaelor" before him.

"Nerez, how did you do that trick with the book?!" Cerys asked excitedly, while Ily also peeked out from behind her.

"By being patient, staying calm, and thinking before acting," he answered without blinking.

"Maybe one day you'll be able to do something similar if you behave."

"Sounds boring." Nerez touched the letters spelling Thaelor's name, and his intuition proved correct, because the name began to glow. Then he placed his hand on Thaelor's forehead. The idea had come to him while thinking about how 'Death's Touch' worked. Thaelor's entire body began to shine, and once the glow faded, his chest was visibly rising and falling. He was breathing. [Proficiency UP!] [Soul Ledger] [Proficiency E -> D] [Souls need only be called, and they shall answer] That's pretty literal.

Does that mean I don't have to go around touching corpses? Because that would be great... Mmm, maybe if I keep raising the proficiency of 'Soul Ledger', I might not even need a body... It's worth testing.

"Grandfather!"

"Old man!" At that moment, Thaelor opened his eyes, and the two girls threw themselves at the former Archonte to hug him, nearly knocking him off the altar.

"Ily..." Osvel chided her.

"What? He's just an old man now..."

"It's 'Atre Achonte', not 'old man'."

"That's too complicated..." Nerez looked at Cerys.

"What now?"

"Are you sure you aren't cousins?"

"I don't have mortal cousins!" Nerez could not help letting out a small laugh. Maybe the cheerful mood had rubbed off on him.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"Girls, girls, let me breathe!" Thaelor complained, trying to recover his composure.

"Ah, Lord Nereziel! How indecorous of me to appear before you in such a state!"

"Don't worry about that, Thaelor. I'm glad your memories seem to be intact."

"My memories? Now that you mention it... An army of green creatures was attacking me... What happened?"

"Osvel is the one who can best explain that," Nerez said, turning to him.

"I'll leave it to you."

"Of course, Lord Nereziel. I will bring the Atre Achonte up to date."

"Atre Achonte? Was there a rebellion?" Thaelor asked, completely lost.

"But at least Sae is all right..."

Not long after, Nerez left to give the visiare some privacy, since they could not help feeling somewhat nervous with him present. Cerys followed close behind.

"I hope you really are recovered," Nerez said to her, his expression turning serious.

"Of course! I'm not a liar!"

"Good, because tomorrow it's finally time to set out and explore the Chasm of the Deeps."