Failed Possession Chapter-64

## Ch-64.

—

The clergy of the Order perform miracles through divine power. They can heal illness, raise the crippled to their feet, open the eyes of the blind, and mend wounds.

But even such priests cannot resurrect the dead. The corpses, dismembered and sealed inside glass jars on display, were pitiable—but there was no way to save them.

“They must be the countless missing people from this zone.”

Surely they had not gone so far as to kidnap innocent citizens from outside the zone. The Sword Dragon did not bother to hide his displeasure and disgust as he surveyed the room.

“There are quite a lot. No wonder that old witch was commanding so many souls.”

Muttering to himself, the Sword Dragon stepped inside and began examining the room.

“I’ll look around too.”

“If you find any information about the cultists, let me know.”

“And besides that?”

When Yuri casually probed, the Sword Dragon turned back with a puzzled expression.

“Besides that? What do you mean?”

“Money or jewels. Spellbooks.”

“Ah.”

Only then did the Sword Dragon understand, nodding.

“Thunder Cloud, are you properly studying magic as well?”

“Not as much as martial arts, but if I can learn it, I do. Magic is convenient.”

The Sword Dragon recalled Yuri flying through the sky like the Sword Emperor or moving freely through the air as though it were nothing. Certainly, magic was convenient—if one could use it.

“Are you planning to learn even Rudella magic?”

“I find this sort of thing disgusting too.”

Yuri began as he looked at the rows of containers on display.

“But magic depends on how it’s used.”

“Do you need my permission?”

The Sword Dragon grinned.

“The Old Crone. That old witch wasn’t killed by me alone. You and I, the Young Cult Leader, and Haryeong… nim, killed her together.”

He found it difficult to call her *Noona*. When the Sword Dragon subtly glanced at Haryeong, she lifted two fingers in a V sign with an expressionless face.

“I was of no help at all in killing that old witch.”

“Is that something to boast about?”

Yuri muttered. The Sword Dragon and Haryeong ignored him.

“You have the right to the spoils as well.”

Said by someone who had been born with too much already to covet such things.

“What I want from this unpleasant mansion is only the roster of the cultists in this zone and information about the Chaos Cult. Of course, if you want it, I’ll share.”

“Is that fine?”

“I haven’t heard your detailed circumstances, but you’re also hostile toward the cultists, aren’t you?”

“There are few in this world who aren’t.”

“Exactly. Those cultists deserve to be wiped out entirely.”

The Sword Dragon replied, his smile twisting at the corners.

“So, Thunder Cloud. If you wish it, I’ll share the cultists’ information. If someone of your ability seeks to exterminate them, it would be good for the world. If the Young Cult Leader had come with us, we would have had to divide the spoils with her—but she did not. So if there’s anything you want from this mansion, take it.”

At the refreshing answer, Yuri grinned.

“Thanks.”

He left the room filled with display cases alongside Haryeong.

“He’s quite a good kid. A real gem.”

“For a young master of a prestigious family, he does seem rather simple in some ways.”

After that, he and Haryeong searched the building. The other rooms on the ground floor also held many similar display cabinets.

Not all contained dismembered corpses. There were rooms filled with unidentified reagents as well.

“Poison.”

Haryeong said after taking out various vials, shaking them, and smelling them.

“There are quite a few potions too, but it would be best not to use them. They don’t appear to be made through proper alchemy.”

From that point on, Haryeong took the lead in searching the building in Yuri’s stead. She examined rooms here and there, running her hands along walls and floors, tapping them, checking behind furniture.

She was searching for hidden rooms. Yuri left that task to her and changed floors as he continued exploring.

Finding the library left openly in the building was easy. Yuri shut himself inside and pulled out books one by one, opening them.

Most were about magical research. The Rudella Magic Tower’s pursuit—and the Old Crone’s desire—of immortality. In particular, not merely suppressing aging, but achieving magical rejuvenation at the Sixth Circle. Transcending the extension of a mortal’s lifespan to abolish lifespan itself—denying not only aging, but death altogether…

An obsession with an immortality that would not perish even when killed.

‘No help at all.’

It was a wish close to impossible. The Old Crone’s level had been far too low to accurately aim for and research such an ambition. In the end, the research volumes filling the library were nothing more than the delusions of someone who had not even achieved true magic.

That was why the Old Crone had become a cultist. She had tried to add a miracle to the magic that was impossible for her. Over ten years, her actions had been sufficient to earn the Cult’s recognition—and thus she had become a bishop.

‘There’s nothing about her connection to the Chaos Cult itself.’

He had hoped for spellbooks from the Rudella Magic Tower, but even those were absent.

‘Well, they say she was already Sixth Circle when she fled. There’d have been no need to take basic spellbooks.’

The spells were already in her head; there would have been no need to carry physical tomes. Yuri let out a long sigh of disappointment as he looked around the library. In the end, there was nothing to gain from this spacious room.

“Ahem.”

As he stepped out after sighing deeply, Haryeong stood there with both hands on her hips.

“What is it?”

It was a question that hardly needed asking. The slight upward curve on her usually expressionless face. Her hands planted on her hips as if showing off. Chest and shoulders proudly spread. Chin subtly raised.

“Ahem.”

Haryeong made the sound again. Yuri looked at her silently, then clapped his hands together in applause.

“As expected of Lady Haryeong. Truly impressive.”

“It is insufficient.”

“What is?”

“Praise me more.”

“As expected of Lady Haryeong—cruel, merciless, and fearsome assassin, yet at times possessed of a warm heart.”

“More.”

“Skilled not only with daggers but with concealed weapons in general, and though an assassin, your martial prowess in open combat is also exceptional.”

“And?”

“Your appearance is beautiful as well.”

“Pass.”

Haryeong nodded, turned her body, and beckoned Yuri with a finger.

“Follow me.”

She led him to the staircase on the first floor. Tap, tap, tap. She knocked along the steps in order, then pulled the handrail.

*Clack.*

With a grinding sound, the floor beneath the stairs opened, revealing steps leading underground.

“How did you know?”

“A proper assassin must know how to kill those hiding in secret rooms.”

Haryeong said proudly.

They descended the stairs into a small chamber.

“What is this?”

At the center of the room sat a large crystal orb on a desk. Yuri picked it up and turned it around in his hands. Small red dots appeared and vanished within the orb.

“Hmm…”

After a moment’s thought, Yuri turned his body while holding the orb—toward the place where the cultists’ gathering had been held and where the Old Crone had died. Roughly aiming it in that direction, gray dots appeared.

“It seems to be a tool for tracking the cultists in this region.”

The dead appeared as gray dots; the living as red ones. It was precisely the item the Sword Dragon, desperate to hunt down and kill every fleeing cultist, would long for.

“Now then, what else…”

Was there a way to contact other bishops in different regions, or the main seat of the Cult of Chaos? In truth, he did not expect much. They operated in cells. If capturing a single bishop allowed one to sweep up the others and the main headquarters in one net, they would have been hunted down long ago.

“…”

He found a sheet of paper.

At a glance, it appeared to be a directive issued from the Cult’s main headquarters.

How this region—this parish—was to be managed. How many believers to recruit, how to expand their influence, and toward what end that growing power should be directed.

‘A riot?’

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the directive plainly ordered them to incite a riot. After recruiting enough followers, they were to expand into other zones and, in the end, raise a riot against Panteleon itself.

Naturally, such a riot could never succeed. No matter how united the residents of this parish were, if the Orsian Knights and the Selvis Magic Tower acted in earnest, it would become nothing more than a one-sided massacre.

From the Cult’s standpoint, whether the riot succeeded did not matter. This kind of “chaos” itself was enough to destabilize the continent’s political climate.

‘They’re truly insane.’

They were the sort who would carry out suicide attacks for the sake of an evil god. Yuri let out a hollow laugh as he turned the page.

“…”

There was mention of Possessors.

Recruit Possessors into the Cult as much as possible. If a Possessor refused to join, force them. If they resisted, capture and torture them to extract information.

On the final page, it was written that priority should be given to information regarding the Cult’s Saint—“Lord Pad-lip Immune.”

‘Seriously?’

Point Ignition had told him that Pad-lip Immune was regarded as a Saint within the Chaos Cult, but had it reached the point where such an open directive would be issued from the headquarters of the Cult of Chaos?

‘Do these bastards really think I’m the Evil God’s Apostle?’

A question arose. The Goddess of Order was in deep slumber and could not communicate with her priests—but wasn’t the Evil God perfectly active? His followers were calling an innocent Pad-lip Immune an apostle and a saint. Why didn’t the Evil God step in and clear up that unfair misunderstanding?

‘…Because there’s no reason to?’

The Evil God was mad. His divine name was Chaos. True to that name, he had sown all manner of chaos across the world for decades, and his followers continued to do the same.

The misunderstanding surrounding Pad-lip Immune? Why would the Evil God bother to resolve it? Everything entangled in that misunderstanding was chaos.

‘Perhaps… that bastard Evil God is targeting me too.’

It felt like gilding his own face with gold, but Yuri seriously considered the possibility. If talent were judged by game clear times, then Yuri—Lee Su-hyeok—possessed the greatest talent among all Possessors who had crossed over so far.

That was likely why Lorellia had insisted on taking charge of Lee Su-hyeok and personally teaching him the Evil-Quelling Heavenly Principle Technique and Blazing Burst Fist. Since it was the Evil God who had summoned the Possessors into this world, perhaps he was targeting the most outstanding among them.

“What does it say?”

“It’s nothing much.”

“Your expression says otherwise.”

“I’ll tell you later.”

For now, he could not show the entire directive to the Sword Dragon. Yuri gathered aura into his hand and destroyed the final page that mentioned the name “Pad-lip Immune.”

“Haah…”

While searching the room again, he found a single book.

<Corpse Dissolution Reversion>

A name he had never heard before. There had been no skill by that name in the game.

<Withered Eternal Source>

As he skimmed past the opening pages and saw the name of the spell written within, Yuri muttered without realizing it.

“Crazy.”

He did not recognize the name *Corpse Dissolution Reversion*, but *Withered Eternal Source*—that spell, he knew.

[Harein Rudella, the Immortal spirit, uses the Curse of Withered Eternal Source.]

The mid-boss before meeting the Heavenly Demon—the Immortal spirit—would cast it immediately at the start of battle. A debuff that turned HP and MP regeneration negative. If one failed to avoid Withered Eternal Source, simply standing still would steadily drain both health and mana.

The book was fairly thick, yet it contained only this single spell. The level of understanding and formulas required to manifest it far exceeded Yuri’s imagination. Even reading it in deep concentration, the “comprehension” that had occurred with common magic did not arise.

This was a spell of absurdly high level.

Yuri swallowed and read again.

Withered Eternal Source.

This spell harvested vitality from a designated area. Not only natural energy, but the very life force possessed by living beings. Those of higher Rank could resist it, but trees and grass lacking resistance would wither and die the moment they were designated.

And the vitality thus harvested became the caster’s own.

‘This is insane magic.’

The highest-level magic Yuri had learned so far was the Heinderga formula created by Elena—said to be capable of reaching beyond the Sixth Circle. Yet it could not even be compared to Withered Eternal Source from Corpse Dissolution Reversion.

This was true archmage-tier magic. Not a spell learned to become a great mage—but one created anew at that very realm.

‘The Old Crone couldn’t use Withered Eternal Source.’

Naturally. No matter how hard a Sixth Circle Old Crone struggled, she could not directly wield it. The spells she had used in battle had merely begun from Rudella’s magic and imitated the spells of Corpse Dissolution Reversion. Not a single spell she cast had surpassed Corpse Dissolution Reversion itself.

No matter how much of a genius Yuri was, at his current level it was impossible to comprehend Corpse Dissolution Reversion and use Withered Eternal Source. But if he reached the proper Rank one day, he would be able to.

‘To think I’d obtain one of the Immortal spirit’s spells.’

Corpse puppetry had been too grotesque for him to want to learn. What had tempted him more was necromancy—the ability to command spirits. Though instinctively unpleasant, it had been attractive in that consumed spirits could restore health.

Now that he had become a martial fighter who battled bare-bodied, he needed as many durability-reinforcement methods as he could gather.

That aligned with the character concept of <Pad-lip Immune>.

A build centered around a penalty skill that abandoned armor.

Stacked bonus stats. Blessings granted depending on the flow of battle. Evasion rate beyond system limits. High-power skills that consumed health.

To maintain that build, one relied on the HP regeneration and lifesteal triggered during berserk states at near-death.

If he secured Rudella’s necromancy, which restored health by consuming souls, he could replace HP regeneration and lifesteal.

Now, necromancy was no longer necessary.

Withered Eternal Source from Corpse Dissolution Reversion was a superior version of necromancy. He could not use it yet—but once he could, he would be able to harvest vitality itself over a wide area.

In other words, even if struck, he would not die easily.

“Yuri-nim, that expression of yours is creepy.”

As he grinned while holding the book of Corpse Dissolution Reversion, Haryeong spoke up. Yuri quickly composed his face and began memorizing the contents.

The book was thick, and there was much to memorize.

But he had to memorize it.

The Sword Dragon had said he could take the spoils, but if he saw a spellbook of this value, he might change his mind. In the worst case, if Corpse Dissolution Reversion were taken from him, Yuri needed to have every word committed to memory.

Fortunately, though he could not comprehend the spell, he could memorize it. Yuri felt his head spin and grinned. The sensation of the formula melting into his brain.

He silently thanked the talent of a Possessor and closed the book.

“Are you that happy?”

He had just composed himself, yet the grin returned. As Yuri smiled like that, Haryeong once more placed her hands on her hips.

“Whose doing is it?”

“I like you.”

The words slipped out because he was too pleased.

Haryeong’s eyes widened. She stared at Yuri with parted lips for a moment, then cleared her throat softly and stepped back.

“That is troublesome.”

“Pardon?”

“I owe loyalty to my Lady as well. A forbidden love. A sinful love. The fruit of taboo that would prevent me from calling her ‘My Lady.’ If I were to become involved with you in such a relationship, my Lady would not become Mad Thunder—but Madwoman. Hmm… that is rather interesting and charming in its own way.”

“That—that’s not the kind of interest I meant.”

“Love is love. Is there some other love? Are you the sort of bastard who speaks of love lightly?”

“No…”

“Of course, I am not a foolish woman who leaps at a single word, gives away everything she has, and later remains alone suffering heartache—failing to comb her hair, to open the curtains, to eat properly, to sleep soundly. Therefore, I refuse your confession, which holds no sincerity.”

“I’m sorry.”

Yuri apologized again.

“I understand that you are pleased enough to confess outright. So—whose doing is it?”

“It’s thanks to you, Lady Haryeong.”

“Be grateful.”

Haryeong nodded and lowered her hands from her hips.

They searched the room further. Having obtained the epic skill Corpse Dissolution Reversion—which had not even been implemented in the game—he wondered if there might be more.

‘Perhaps an elixir?’

He had never liked hearing things like “the man of 3.5 billion” or “fortunate one,” but after obtaining Corpse Dissolution Reversion, he began to feel as though luck truly might be on his side.

No matter how much he searched, however, no elixir appeared. Instead, he found the jewels and money the Old Crone had amassed.

“This seems to be everything.”

Suppressing his disappointment, Yuri stuffed the jewels and money into his bag and held the crystal orb and the directive in his hands. Frankly, just handing over these two items would make the Sword Dragon ecstatic.

‘But where is he?’

Surely he wasn’t searching each display case one by one?

Having found all there was to find, Yuri left the basement and returned to the first floor.

“Sword Dragon?”

No answer came.

Tilting his head, Yuri checked the rooms.

“…”

The room filled with unknown potions and poisonous reagents.

The Sword Dragon lay collapsed in the middle of it.

“…Is he an idiot?”

Haryeong, who usually kept such thoughts to herself, muttered aloud without realizing it.

Several reagent bottles lay rolling near the fallen Sword Dragon.