Chapter 11: The Return of the Sword King (2)

The newly summoned Skall had the body of a human and the face of a toad. He was half man, half beast, and stood barely a meter tall. He was a spirit that belonged to another world, and according to the entries in the Magical Spire, he was a special spirit that fell under the ‘special division’ category.

“Long time no see.”

Henry was the first to speak. Skall opened his eyes and stared at Henry, before opening his mouth.

- ‘Long time no see’? Do I know you?

Skall spoke bluntly. Since Henry’s appearance had changed, it made sense that Skall failed to recognize him. Henry responded calmly.

“I put my name in the summoning ritual, did you not see it?”

- That’s right! I only came here because I was curious to see which bastard dared to use that name! Who are you?

Skall began to snort even more vigorously.

- Someone actually dared to use the name 'Henry Morris' for this spell?

Hearing Skall’s response, Henry laughed.

“You always pretended not to care, but judging by how much you care about my name, it seems like you were fond of me all along.”

- W-what? What the hell are you babbling about, you bastard!

“It’s me. Henry Morris of the Magical Spire. Due to some unforeseen circumstances I have taken on a new form, but I’m still the Henry Morris you know.”

- W-what? What kind of bullshit is this?

“Wendragora Communion.”

- What?

“Didn’t you exchange the tree struck by lightning for the Wendragora Communion? Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about it?”

- H-how did you?

“That’s not all! You even exchanged the fangs of a Phantom Liger and Unyo’s flute for it.”

Afterwards, Henry recited all the trades he had made with Skall in his previous life.

And as he did, Skall’s jaw dropped further, expressing his surprise.

- H-how? But I’m sure he died… You bastard! If you’re really him, then reveal your Magical Insignia! His Magical Insignia was one of a kind!

Magical Insignia.

Wizards all had their own unique magical signature called a ‘Magical Insignia’. Since they were unique to each user, they were commonly used to prove one’s identity.

Henry grinned and held out his right hand. He clenched his fist, then slowly extended his fingers back out.

Whoosh.

As he opened his palm, blue flames appeared over his hand. Within the flame was Henry’s unique Insignia, the Dragon.

- D-dragon!

Most Insignias took the form of plants and animals, but only Henry had one in the form of a dragon.

Now convinced that Henry was telling the truth, Skall trembled in shock as he spoke.

- T-this… this makes no sense! Y-you… What the hell happened? Only the 5th Circle? And look at the state you’re in, what the hell?

“It’s a long story. Anyway, nice to see you again.”

- No way, no way! I’ve seen people resurrected as undead creatures, but to be resurrected as a complete human being like this? Are you willing to go as far as using your own death to play tricks on me?

“Well I wasn’t resurrected just to shock you, but… Anyway, I didn’t summon you just to chat.”

- Oops, I was so elated to see you again that I forgot my manners. So, My resurrected old friend and patron, tell me what you want!

Finally, the old toad let down his guard. With a satisfied smile on his face, he began conducting his usual routine. Skall was the Spirit of Exchange, born from the earnest feelings and greed of humanity. He was a spirit based on the ‘law of equivalent exchange’. The Magical Spire was responsible for categorizing Skall as a spirit. Before, he was sometimes called a god, or even a devil.

In addition, only a mage with five Circles or more was capable of summoning him. He was difficult to summon, but his abilities warranted it. As a being from another world that spied on the realm of humans, he had the ability to obtain anything that existed in the human world.

Henry spoke.

“Do you remember the Sword King, Hector Meyer?”

- Of course I do! Wasn't he the only man who could make Golden kneel?

“That makes this conversation easy. I need a memento of his, can you get it for me?”

- A memento? You sure are asking for something strange. Are you going to perform a wake for him or something?

“Let’s say it’s something like that. Anyway, can you help me?”

- I, Skall, am born to make exchanges, and there’s nothing in this world that I can’t obtain. But seeing the state that you are in, I don’t think there’s anything that you can offer that will satisfy me.

Skall’s words implied a certain price for his deals, but he appeared honest.

“You’re looking down on me too much.”

- Oh ho, so you do have something for me? I’m not going to give you any discounts just because we’ve not seen each other in a while, you got it?

In his characteristic, raucous voice, Skall then gave a passionate explanation about how rare any traces of the Sword King were. But Henry already knew all of this.

‘Still as feisty as ever.’

Even though equivalent exchange was one of Skall’s principles, another factor that was responsible for his creation was greed. What Skall was doing was nothing more than a solicitation to inflate the price of the deal.

“As for the price, as long as it’s enough to pique your interest, that’s all that matters, right?”

- You know me so well. So, let’s hear you out. What do you have for me that makes you so confident?

The greedy toad rubbed his hands together as he began looking forward to a good bargain.

“Aren’t you curious about how I was resurrected?”

Henry knew that he could use his resurrection as leverage. When he revealed his end of the bargain, Skall’s nostrils widened.

- R-resurrection! O-of course I’m curious!”

“You are, aren’t you?”

- But this is a memento of the Sword King we’re talking about here, they are incredibly rare…

Skall protested, but he had already taken the bait, and was very interested in the mystery of Henry’s resurrection.

“I could say the same. Have you ever seen anyone in history succeed in a resurrection?”

- N-no…

“Well, that settles it. After you deliver the goods, I will reveal to you the secret behind my resurrection.”

- Urgh… As expected, I can best everyone but you.

Skall pinched his forehead as he spoke.

After settling on the terms, Skall quickly inflated both his cheeks. He spat out a small ring from his large mouth.

- The Sword King’s engagement ring. You do remember that he was engaged to the princess, right?

“Of course. This is exactly what I need.”

Hector had turned down an offer to become Henry's comrade in order to remain loyal to the princess and the king. There was likely nothing else that would evoke more emotion in the Sword King than this engagement ring.

After wiping the ring soaked in saliva on the hem of his robe, Skall held it out to Henry.

Seeing this, Henry cast a spell.

“Clean.”

- Tch, pretending to be a clean freak.

“Come on, saliva’s a bit too much.”

Soon, the ring shone like new.

Henry took the ring and, as promised, began to fulfill his end of the bargain.

“It was black magic.”

- What was?

“The secret behind my resurrection. After I was executed, I suddenly woke up in an unfamiliar room.”

- A-and?

“When I came to my senses, I saw a book of necromancy and the carcass of a hen on my lap. This body I am in now is the body of the caster who attempted that necromancy. He must have failed, which cost him his soul. Somehow, my soul was summoned and attached to his body instead.”

- S-something like that is possible?

The startled toad listened intently.

“Later, I completely restored the book and checked its content, but it wasn’t anything like what I had experienced. I guess what happened to me was a mere coincidence.”

- And?

“That’s it.”

- What?

“It was due to the mistake of a young magician that I was resurrected. That’s all I know.”

When Henry finished speaking, Skall’s eyelids began to tremble. Henry had not lied, but Skall could not help but feel that he had gotten the short end of the stick.

- Y-you bastard! Again!

“What? I simply told you the truth. Were you expecting some kind of massive secret?”

- Hmph… It’s been so long, I had forgotten how tricky you were.

“Haha, you should be more careful, my friend.”

- Shut up! I suppose people never change, even after being reborn.

“Heh, that’s one more lesson you’ve learned then.”

Skall stared at Henry for a long moment before he spat on the floor and disappeared. Skall must have lived a lot longer than Henry had. Despite this, his behavior was bordering between that of a child and an old man.

“Cute.”

After Skall disappeared, Henry took out the engagement ring and held it in his hand.

“I just hope there’s no bad emotions tied to this.”

As far as the Sword King was concerned, he had been murdered. Regardless of the reason why that had happened, the fact of the matter was that he had been killed. So, what Henry had to do now was appease any lingering ill feelings of the dead. Henry began the preparations to summon him.

“Clean.”

Henry erased the magic circle he had used to summon Skall and started to draw a new one. After completing the new magic circle, he inspected it several times, checking for any mistakes. Finally, he placed the engagement ring in the center of the magic circle.

After sharpening his nails with magic, Henry made a long cut on his forearm.

“

Kurgh

.”

Blood began to drip heavily from the wound.

‘Luckily the book was full of errors. If it hadn’t been…’

In the damaged book, it was simply written that what was needed for successful necromancy was ‘blood’, when in fact, it should have been ‘caster’s blood’. If the caster had used his own blood instead of his hen, Henry would probably not be alive today.

‘Sure needs a lot.’

Henry started to feel a little dizzy as he continued to squeeze out as much blood as needed. He hastily closed his wounds and prepared for the next step. Finally, everything was ready.

“

Phew…

”

Now, all he had to do was recite the spell and the magic circle would be activated. However, Henry was nervous, and had to calm himself down. Not only was he using black magic for the first time, but he was also summoning none other than the Sword King.

After taking a deep breath, Henry began to recite the spell.

“dks skdhaus cjemfdjrksek znd Wkfk znd Wkr.”

Whoosh!

As soon as the spell was cast, the crimson magic circle that was filled with Henry’s blood began to activate.

Gulp.

Henry found himself gulping without even realizing it. He took a step back and stared at the magic circle with trembling eyes.

Whoooosh!

Even though the window was closed, a strong wind blew through the room. Henry took a few more steps back and looked at the magic circle. Finally, the crack in the Underworld that only opens on a full moon appeared, revealing its pitch-black darkness.

‘Those are the gates of the Underworld!’

It was the first time Henry had seen them.

And in the pitch-black darkness, two red dots flashed.