Chapter 279: The Rothschild Family (4)

[The Queen of the Dead? This little girl? You must be joking. You can barely handle me yourself, and now you want to entrust me to this kid... Ridiculous.]

Zarka Hochi scoffed, pointing at Kay Rothschild.

“I appreciate the help you provided at the Frozen Spring, Zarka, but it seems you’ve forgotten your place since then. Shall I remind you?”

[Wh-What...?]

Karyl frowned slightly at Zarka’s prompt complaining, clearly unimpressed.

“If this is about age, I’m not much older than her. Besides, who was the one who got bested by that kid? If it weren’t for me, you would’ve been erased from existence.”

Zarka gritted his teeth.

“This is for your benefit as well. Do you really think you can track down the one who destroyed Aerial Woods as a mere spirit tethered to a sword? One breath from Narh Di Maug and you’d be obliterated.”

[...]

Zarka had no retort for Karyl’s harsh but accurate assessment. The destruction of the Ghost Castle meant that, however powerful he was on his own, the source of his power was gone.

“The one who revived you shares the same bloodline as her. Granted, talent isn’t always passed down with blood, but I can see it in her. Just the way she handled those puppets showed enough.”

[You talk a good game, don’t you...]

Still, Zarka’s tone was filled with skepticism.

More than enough, actually. In her previous life, she used other souls within this puppet. The world even hailed her as the eleventh hero, so there’s no need to elaborate on her prowess.

But Zarka had no way of knowing that. He simply didn’t like the idea of being bound to a puppet that looked exactly like him. After all, he had once been the master of the Ghost Castle, and being placed inside that puppet meant obeying the commands of Kay Rothschild, a young necromancer. The thought of following orders from a mere human, especially one so young, was naturally off-putting to the elven lich.

“Don’t think you’re the same lich you once were. As long as you stay with me, you'll remain bound to the Freezing Talon, nothing more. When I heard from Nain Darhon about the Rothschild family, I realized I didn’t need to learn necromancy myself.”

[Why not?]

“It would be a waste of time. It’s better to have someone who can handle it better than me, like Kay here.”

Karyl continued, “And don’t you agree with what Allen Javius said? If you're going to seek revenge, do it right. If you’re going to stab with a dagger, make sure it’s fatal. Sticking with me won’t help you regain the power you had at the Ghost Castle.”

Sensing Zarka’s reluctance, Karyl pressed further.

“And honestly, wouldn’t it be better for you to align with her instead of me? I mean, just imagine what

I

might put you through. In any case, it’s your choice. Do whatever you want.”

[...]

Though it was phrased as a joke, Zarka knew Karyl wasn’t entirely joking. He responded with a sullen expression, [You call that a proposal when there isn’t really a choice? You really are something else...]

Despite his disgruntled attitude, Zarka understood that Karyl’s offer was indeed the best option. Puppetry offered a distinct advantage over other forms of necromancy, namely a physical body. Even if he were to be revived through necromancy, he would still be nothing more than a spirit.

The bones that formed a lich were merely vessels for the spirit; they didn’t grant any particular power. However, being revived through puppetry would not only allow him to retain the strength of a lich but also grant him physical prowess.

“It’s not a bad offer, is it? What do you say?”

Zarka had already seen an example in Allen Javius, who had obtained a special kind of flesh through his contract with Duat, the Dark Spirit King. In comparison, Zarka’s new body could potentially be even more powerful.

[Fine.]

Zarka Hochi nodded in agreement with Karyl’s proposition.

[Hey, kid.]

Zarka then turned to Kay Rothschild.

[Make a pact with me. I will impart to you the knowledge of a thousand years of elven history.]

His commanding voice filled the chamber, the powerful magic radiating from him prickling the skin of everyone present.

Anthem was in awe as he watched the scene unfold, his expression tense.

“No.”

[...What?]

The magic that had been emanating from Zarka dissipated as if someone had blown out a candle.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[Are you serious? Do you really think you’re in a position to refuse?] Zarka Hochi shouted, now appearing more desperate and looking nervously at Karyl.

“No, what I mean is that I can’t,” Kay explained.

[Can’t? What do you mean,

you can’t

?! You need to find a way! If that sinister man changes his mind and seals the entrance, you’ll be trapped here to die!]

“...I want to leave too.”

[Then why?!]

Kay let out a sigh.

“Because I can’t break the seal on this puppet. You two don’t understand the situation. It’s not me who’s clueless. It’s you.”

“Is there a problem?” Karyl asked, recalling how she had once brought the puppet to the capital in his previous life.

“Try touching the puppet,” Kay urged as she gestured to it.

Fwoosh—

As Karyl reached out to touch it, a faint wave of energy rippled from the spot where he made contact, pushing his hand away. The sharp pain made him jerk his arm back as if he’d been thrown off balance.

“Hmm...?”

“The greater the power, the stronger the seal needed to contain it. I don’t know when, but this puppet, hailed as the masterpiece of the Rothschild family, has been sealed.”

“But it’s just a puppet made 250 years ago.”

“Who said that?” Kay Rothschild responded with a question of her own.

“...What?”

“Don’t generalize what you think is true. There are stranger things in this world. The Rothschild family has existed since before the Magical Era. This puppet was made over a thousand years ago.”

“Before the Magical Era...?”

[That can’t be right. That puppet clearly has my face. That means it’s the work of the one who made me a lich.]

“I don’t know why that is either. But this puppet has been around since the time of my ancestors’ ancestors, and even before that. It only awakened once, but since then, it’s been sealed.”

[Someone who looked just like me existed in the past...? That’s impossible,] Zarka muttered to himself in disbelief.

“It only woke up once? When was that?”

“In the Mythical Era, there was a war between gods and humans, known as the Great Cataclysm. You wouldn’t know about it, though.”

“I see.” Karyl nodded, now piecing things together.

Meanwhile, Kay looked at him with a mixture of confusion and unease.

“Your explanation makes it clear that you should definitely join me. I may not know why this puppet resembles Zarka, but I do know what the Rothschild family was up to.”

“What does the legacy of my family have to do with you?”

“It’s the reason you were trapped here and the reason you should come with me. Kay, I didn’t expect you to be a descendant of the Bladers. I don’t like using the word ‘fate,’ but this really seems like fate.”

“...Bladers? What’s that?” Kay Rothschild cocked her head.

“I’ll explain later. But for now, Ramine, it seems there’s another being sealed here besides her. You know what that is, don't you?”

[...]

“The frozen ancestor I saw in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave, Mael, Agnel’s scabbard, and the Rothschild family—all of them were sealed as a consequence of losing the war long ago.”

Karyl’s eyes swept over the puppet lying before him.

“When you first mentioned it, I thought the Frozen Spring was her seal, but I was wrong. It may be divine irony, but seeing this, I now understand. Kay, let me ask you something. Does the puppetry of the Rothschild family involve both necromancy and spirit magic?”

“...How do you know that?” Kay asked back, startled by Karyl’s question.

Karyl chuckled bitterly.

“I’ve heard about the necromancy of the Rothschild family. It’s not just about extracting souls but also about preserving the bodies themselves, which is why your family developed a unique preservation technique.”

It was no surprise that such secrets of the family were shrouded in mystery and not widely known. Karyl only knew because, in his previous life, he had witnessed Kay summoning the undead. Trapped within the ruins, Kay had no knowledge of the outside world and thus had no reason to doubt what Karyl was saying.

“The best way to preserve a body is by freezing it. The Rothschild family has a deep connection with water spirits, after all. It is said that after the Spirit War, the losers had to abide by the rules set by the victors. And now I understand the punishment the gods inflicted on her.”

Karyl placed his hand on the puppet’s forehead as he spoke.

“If this puppet, the Blader in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave, and Agnel’s scabbard were all sealed by her power... then the gods inflicted the most cruel punishment on the Queen of Tides, forcing her to imprison her allies with her own power.”

Crack—!! Craaaack...!

The puppet’s shell began to crack like a dried-up riverbed.

“What... What’s happening?!” Kay cried in shock, but Karyl only intensified his efforts.

In my previous life, the reason she followed Narh Di Maug wasn’t just the fact that he destroyed the golems and freed her. It was because she brought this puppet with her when she came with him.

Karyl gritted his teeth.

Someone must’ve broken the seal back then.

The suspicions that arose when Karyl first descended the stairs had only grown stronger the deeper he delved into the ruins.

The one who had first set foot in this place—the Platinum Dragon.

Narh Di Maug must have been the one to break the puppet’s seal.

As Karyl kept concentrating his magic, the puppet’s forehead began to glow red-hot.

If the seal had been broken, it meant that the shackles of the Queen of Tides had been destroyed as well.

From the reason he hid the box at the Gray Training Ground to everything else, it’s all becoming clear now. He hid the Water Spirit King from us.

More than betrayal or anger, Karyl now found himself consumed with curiosity about the relationship between Olivurn and Narh Di Maug.

Narh Di Maug, were you ever truly fighting for humanity?

For some reason, Karyl remembered when Allen Javius had asked if he trusted the Platinum Dragon during their first encounter.

“Stop!!” Kay Rothschild shouted anxiously as she watched the puppet tremble, but the intense heat radiating from Karyl prevented her from approaching.

The flames swirling around him were thicker and heavier than those of the Flame King.

[This...]

Ramine recognized the familiar flames, as those were what had once sealed him.

[The flames of the Flame Dragon...] Ramine muttered in awe as he observed the vortex of searing heat surrounding Karyl.

“If a dragon could break this seal, there’s no reason I can’t do the same.”

Crack... Crackle...!

The layer of ice encasing the puppet began to melt and bubble like water, then boiled furiously.

“And she will kneel before me just like the other Spirit Kings who have already submitted. Isn’t that right, Ramine?”

[Aaaaaaahhhhhh...!!]

At that moment, a ghostly wail echoed as white smoke rose from the puppet, as though a spirit had escaped from within.