Chapter 85: Impure World Reincarnation
“This is John, the young master of a rather influential official who lives near the top of Heaven’s Reach. His kind wouldn’t normally be caught dead in these parts, but John here decided it would be a good time to sneak out for a night of carousing with only a few servants behind him. Most of these trips went fine, the most recent one ended in a double murder. The servants went to the noose weeks ago, but John’s Father has made enough noise to keep him from joining them in death.”
“Exactly! Release me at once, and see me home; I’ll make sure you’re well rewarded for your deeds!” John interjected, having cottoned on to the fact that we weren’t his hired help and thus resorting to bribery.
“I wanted someone who wouldn’t be missed,” I hissed, ignoring the fop entirely. “The son of some big-wig upstairs is the opposite of that!”
“Stop ignoring me, and let me hear what you’re saying! I demand to be included!”
“Shut it,” Kyle grunted, and to my disbelief John actually obeyed; or not, as his lips continued to move, while no sound came out.
What actually happened was that Kyle had extended his Stealth effect in both directions; John already hadn’t been able to hear us, but now we were spared his whining as well.
“It would be problematic for most people,” Kyle agreed, grinning at my displeasure. “But if you’re looking for a sacrifice, then you aren’t most people. See, the Warden could easily make John disappear, and even dispose of the body, but the problem he has is that there’s no way to deal with the soul, so it would only take daddy dearest a single consultation with a Priest of the Dead, and everything comes out.”
“But if the right ritual is used, or the soul is consumed, that invalidates attempts to interrogate the dead,” I concluded, connecting the dots.
Nothing I’d read about the Priesthood had indicated the ability to commune with the dead, but it was a logical assumption given the inherent link between deities and the afterlife.
“Exactly. You get the sacrificial lamb you wanted, the Warden has a headache taken off of his hands, and we get a lead on your lost friends. Everyone wins.”
“...Let me talk to my Contact.”
[Amelia Dawn - Level 30 Necromancer
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Placing a call, please stand by.]
“Have you got the sacrifice?” Amelia asked, picking up almost immediately this time.
“I do, but there’s a complication. The man selected is a bit sensitive, so we’ll need to get rid of any trace of our involvement; both the body and the soul need to be unreachable afterwards.”
“Is that all?” Amelia scoffed, sounding almost offended. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, Will. Barring literal divine intervention, nothing will remain of him.”
“In that case, there’s nothing to worry about.”
At least, nothing for me to worry about, because even if this didn’t go as planned, I’d called Amelia beforehand and gotten her approval. Whether in corporate life or in crime, the importance of ‘cover your ass’ could not be overstated. Not that I was overly worried; we weren’t even planning to stay in Heaven’s Reach for long, especially in light of recent events. More likely that not, we’d be rushing out of the city to avoid the ensuing crackdown, and would never interact with the Father in the slightest.
“Good. Keep the call open while you kill the sacrifice, and make sure to dedicate the kill to me. That should be enough for the ritual to take hold of him.”
“Dedicate how?” I asked, having little experience with ritual murder, surprisingly enough. “Is there a particular invocation I need to follow?”
“Mention the name of the victim followed by my own, and be sincere. These are the key points, the exact wording is unimportant so long as the criteria are met.”
“Alright, I have word that the ritual is good to go,” I turned to Kyle as I said this, looping him in fully. “How do we get inside the cage?”
I could’ve stored the padlock, but I preferred not to display that particular ability if I could help it; Kyle should have believed me either a Merchant due to the caravan, or a Soldier from killing the Changeling, and I saw no reason to disabuse him of such notions with an ability more suited for a Thief. That proved the right choice, because Kyle promptly produced a key that I never saw him receive, unlocking the heavy iron door with a single flick of his wrist.
John rushed at me the moment the door opened, a surprisingly decisive move likely driven by desperation. He was slow as molasses, so I needed no tricks, just a simple punch to the head dealt with him nicely. I searched his body as he groaned on the floor, quickly finding a Blackened Bracelet similar to my own.
[John Joy - Level 1 Civilian]
Pulling it off, his full name was revealed to me; I could’ve gone with just his given name, but there was no point taking chances over something so easily resolved.
[Knife withdrawn.]
“John Joy, I claim your life today, in the name of ______ ____.”
Somehow, sound refused to carry Amelia’s name, even as I spoke it aloud while dragging my knife across John’ throat; likely a protective measure on the Necromancer’s part. That little surprise aside, the dedication went exactly as planned; I gave it the bare minimum to meet the requirements, as I’d never been the most verbose when it was unneeded. Amelia hadn’t mentioned what would happen next, but I was reasonably sure I’d succeeded when John’s blood turned to black smoke and his body began to crumble into dust. The smoke continued to grow and congeal, turning into an opaque ball the size of my head as the last of the corpse disappeared. Finally, it solidified into a midnight black marble, a glowing red eye visible on its surface and staring right at me.
[Adjudicator - Level 25]