Chapter 529

“...!”

Siegfried and the others were flustered when the Church of Osric barged into the mansion. These cultists were the last people they expected to see right now.

‘

Why the hell are these bastards here?’

Thud... Thud... Thud...

One of the church members stepped forward and looked at Iris.

He revealed a sleazy smirk and said, “The Immortal Alchemist, Acheron.”

He was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Church of Osric, Ghost King Specter.

[Ghost King Specter]

[One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Church of Osric.]

[He is a magician of darkness capable of controlling ghosts. He is not a necromancer! He is different from those corpse manipulators!]

[Type: NPC]

[Level: 300]

[Class: Ghost Wizard]

[Note: He is a magician but he is adept at melee combat too. Caution is advised.]

“You will have to come with us. The church needs your abilities,” Specter told Iris.

“What’s this loser talking about? Hey, how did you find out about this place?” Siegfried asked.

“Siegfried van Proa,” Specter said as his dark yellow eyes flashed. Then, he smirked and asked, “Why are you here? Shouldn't you be back at your weak and tiny kingdom? Are you here to disrupt our church’s plans again?”

“

Ha?!

Who’s disrupting who? Are you blind? Can’t you tell I was here first and we were talking business?” Siegfried scoffed in disbelief.

“How long do you think your childish antics will last? Where do you get the confidence to go against us? You have messed with the wrong people. You will soon live the rest of your life in misery, and that day is coming soon.”

“But I think your head getting smashed open by me will happen earlier than that.”

“You and your arrogant mouth...”

It was then.

Bam!

Siegfried slammed his +13 Horse Fly on the mansion floor and used Splitting Heaven and Earth that shot out in a fan-shape toward Specter and the rest of the Church of Osric members.

Siegfried managed to catch them completely off guard. The attack was so sudden that neither Specter nor the Church of Osric members expected the attack.

“Hamchi!”

“

Kyu!”

“Focus on protecting Iris!”

“Okay!

Kyuuu!”

“Sir Gringore! Support me from behind!” Siegfried commanded before running to the frontline.

Smack, smack, smack!

Siegfried smashed the heads of those who survived Splitting Heaven and Earth without giving them the chance to recover. The ambush followed by the melee attacks killed almost one hundred of the fanatics in the span of merely a few seconds.

Unfortunately, Siegfried couldn't kill Specter. Specter truly lived up to his title as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, as he had survived Splitting Heaven and Earth—no, he did more than just survive—he emerged unscathed from it.

Specter was surrounded by gray translucent spirits.

“

Kyaaah!”

“Kyaah!”

“Kieeeeeek!”

The ghosts shrieked in agony while forming a protective wall around Specter. This was Specter’s skill, and it allowed him to use his ghosts as shields. The skill was extremely inhumane, as the ghosts would experience excruciating agony after absorbing whatever physical damage Specter was supposed to suffer.

It went without saying that Specter did not give a damn whether the ghosts were suffering or not.

“

Ah,

I’m grateful to you, weak king,” Specter said before waving away the ghosts in front of him.

“What did you say?”

“I was thinking I needed more ghosts these days,” Specter said with a smirk. Then, he raised his hand and cast, “Spirits! Heed my call!”

The souls of the Church of Osric members who had died at Siegfried’s hands were forcibly extracted from their corpses. They turned into ghosts with eyes devoid of life and were sucked toward Specter.

The Ghost King, Specter, did not bat an eye even when turning the souls into his slaves. Inhumane was truly the only word that could be used to describe the atrocity he was committing right now.

“Ah... This power never fails to amuse me no matter how many times I use it,” Specter muttered with a smile. Then, he smirked and said, “Siegfried van Proa.”

“...?”

“Allow me to show you what hell tastes like.”

As soon as Specter said those words, thousands of ghosts suddenly appeared and attacked Siegfried all at once.

***

“Mother... Mother...!”

“I feel cold... It’s so cold...”

“It’s too hot! I’m burning!”

The ghosts cried out their last words before they died while they lunged at Siegfried.

‘

Tsk... Why are there so many of them...’

Siegfried clicked his tongue and infused light attribute energy, which was the hard counter of dark-attributed monsters, into his +13 Horse Fly before placing down Blaze Field and Shadow Hell.

The slowing effect of Shadow Hell reduced the Movement Speed of the ghosts, allowing Siegfried to buy time against them.

‘

They’re not living things, so I won’t be able to deal full damage to them. Then my other option is...’

Siegfried knew that he could not kill the ghosts with physical attacks.

Thus, he used Elemental Shower to reduce the resistance of the ghosts, and he immediately followed up by swinging his +13 Horse Fly infused with light attribute energy at the ghost nearest to him.

The result was a resounding success!

Pukeok!

The ghost dissipated like an ember getting snuffed out the moment the +13 Horse Fly connected with it.

Heh.

Siegfried smirked after seeing that. “Oh, that worked?”

Things went smoothly for him after that. The ghosts would dissipate whenever he swung his +13 Horse Fly, but that was not the end of it.

“

Ahhh~ Aaah~ Ah~ Aaaah~”

Gringore used the skill of the Phantom Singer, Requiem, to incapacitate the ghosts summoned by Specter. The song proved extremely effective in rendering the ghosts useless.

The Requiem proved fatal to the weaker ghosts, as they crossed over to the afterlife after hearing it. Well, by fatal meaning they were finally freed from their enslavement and managed to rest in peace.

The combination of Siegfried and Gringore proved extremely effective against the Ghost King.

“I-Impossible!” Specter cried out after seeing Gringore’s song dispatching his ghosts. They were supposed to latch onto his enemies and debuff them while forcing the memories of their final moments into their target’s mind, inflicting excruciating mental agony on their target.

But his ghosts were actually powerless against them?

However, that was not what was important right now. The important thing was that all of the ghosts were gone and that meant...

“Damn it!” Specter cursed before turning tail and running.

“

Neiiiigh!”

He summoned his Phantom Steed and rode it like the wind. The only thing he could do now that his class’ main strength had been neutralized was to retreat as quickly as possible.

“

Eh...?”

Siegfried was at a loss after seeing the big-mouthed Ghost King suddenly turn tail and run.

However, he agreed that Specter had made the right decision. He knew that the Ghost King’s class relied heavily on his ghosts, and he would have made the same decision if he were in Specter’s shoes.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you go...” Siegfried muttered with an insidious smirk before throwing his +13 Horse Fly at the back of Specter’s head as hard as he could.

Swoosh! Bam!

The +13 Horse Fly flew like a boomerang and struck the back of Specter’s head, causing the Ghost King to fall face first on the ground.

Bam! Crash!

The Ghost King fell from his Phantom Steed and rolled on the ground.

“

Kyu!

Hamchi will catch him!” Hamchi exclaimed and ran, growing in size at the same time. Then, he used his large paw to step on the Ghost King.

Kwachik!

And that was how one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Church of Osric, the Ghost King, Specter, lost without being able to show off his true skills.

***

Unfortunately, Siegfried did not obtain any useful piece of information from Specter.

“I don’t know.”

“Haa...”

Siegfried let out a sigh after asking more than a dozen questions.

Specter replied with the same answer whenever he was asked a question. Some would think that the Ghost King was resolved to keep whatever information he knew to the grave if he had to, but that wasn't the case.

The Ghost King was not feigning ignorance or anything. In other words...

‘

He doesn’t know anything,’

Siegfried recalled the time he interrogated Ingrid with the Oscar’s Sword of Truth.

Ingrid was also one of the Four Heavenly Kings, but she didn't really know anything, which meant that Specter would probably be no different.

This proved that the Church of Osric was a very secretive organization. The way they operated while keeping their grassroot branches—no, even their executives in the dark was truly terrifying.

“So you really don’t know anything?” Siegfried asked.

“Yes,” Specter nodded. Then, he explained, “The only thing I know is my mission and our church’s vision. I received orders to bring over the Immortal Alchemist, Acheron, and I don’t know anything else aside from that.”

“Where were you going to bring her?”

“Our higher executives will make contact with us. Even I have no idea where to go...”

“So I guess it will be difficult to use you as bait then. They’re probably watching from somewhere, right?” Siegfried asked while looking around.

“They probably are.”

“Then I guess you have no value.”

“What? I’m one of the Four Heavenly Kings of—”

Siegfried cut him off, “Yeah yeah, just die.”

Pukeok!

He swung his +13 Horse Fly and smashed Specter’s head open.

“

Tsk...

I can’t get anything out of these bastards. Do I have to catch someone of a higher rank than them?” Siegfried grumbled.

Iris approached him and asked, “Who are these people?”

“Ah, they are called the Church of Osric. They aim to destroy this world, and they brainwash talented people they abducted to achieve their goals. It seems your name was included in their list, too.”

“They sound like a scary bunch.”

“I suggest you be careful from now on. Can you fight?”

Iris shook her head and replied, “I am an alchemist. I am useless in combat.”

“Then I think you are in danger...? These bastards are very stubborn, and they will keep coming for you.”

“Then...”

“I will protect you. I cannot let your abilities fall into their hands, as that would be quite the headache for me.”

“I will be grateful if you would do that.”

“Ah, but before that,” Siegfried suddenly remembered. He showed her the Ignite Soul and asked, “Do you know how to destroy this?”

“That... does not look like something of this world.”

“Yes, you are right.”

“There is also a fragmented soul in it,” Iris added while inspecting the Ignite Soul. The eyes of the Immortal Alchemist were truly different from the eyes of an ordinary individual.

“To destroy this...”

“...?”

“You need to use something with the same property as it and destroy it from within. By within I mean from its atoms.”

As expected, Iris’ answer was exactly the same thing as Deus' answer.

“How would I accomplish that?”

“But I think even that would not be enough.”

“Why?”

“The fragmented soul inside it will do everything in its power to stop the destruction process.”

“Then what other option...?”

“You will have to gather all of the fragments. Hmm... I think this split into five...” Iris muttered while inspecting the Ignite Soul closely. Her eyes had a green hue to them.

“You can destroy it as soon as you gather all five fragments. And I think that is your only option.”

“Gather all five fragments?”

“Yes, and you will need a very special artifact.”

“By a very special artifact you mean...?”

“You will need the Fated Censer.”