The temple's stance against immortality may be one of the few things they seem dogmatic about, and it puzzles me a little. I mean, sure, undeath is like a glitch in the system, and it causes quite a lot of issues for the world, but why, exactly, is it considered something heretical?

It must have some relation to the Gods, some deeper reason for why it's so despised by the temple.

"Is the fact that it's a 'glitch' not enough to consider it heretical?" Ciel interjects concernedly.

I shake my head in disappointment and plead, "Please, my love. Glitch, exploit, cheat, it's all in the same category. Just because it wasn't intended by the Gods, it doesn't mean that it can't become accepted. Look at me, look at what I am and how 'warped' my soul is due to my 'cheats.'" I produce a slimy, obscene tentacle just to drive home the point of how "different" I am.

But Ciel narrows her eyes in defiance and stubbornly argues, "Following in the footsteps of a being created specifically to destroy everything doesn't bode well. Even the God of Destruction avoided creating another Ender and gave the Monster King the capability to die, not to mention how undead monsters are also killed on sight by other monsters."

And I meet her eyes with mine. "I need more than that. I need a logical reason."

Now she frowns, showing such a sad face that it pulls on my heartstrings. "We don't know, Wolfy. I just don't want you thinking that you can exploit undeath…"

So I pull back, "I'm not, I just… want to know. You know how I am, I'm a very curious person."

She sighs tiredly and massages her temples as she explains, "I think the temple is just afraid of it. I didn't research too deeply into undeath since it has little to do with my Goddess, but when I asked Arantos about it, I always felt that he was uncomfortable talking about the topic."

And I nod energetically as I firmly state, "There must be some secret glitch with undeath that makes the temple weak or powerless before them. That's why not even this book mentions the true reason for why it's considered heretical."

"That seems likely…" Ciel quietly mumbles and looks away.

"What if their souls are outside of the God of Existence's influence?" Alissa innocently suggests, and that makes us pause.

"Now that's a logical explanation," I whisper, deep in thought.

If they're considered "alien" to the Cycle, then the undead might be immune to all Gods. Perhaps not the Gods of Creation and Change, but those two aren't here anymore.

Ciel seems quite uncomfortable with this conversation, so I think it's time to drop it and continue reading the book.

 

Undead regeneration comes from the ease with which they can manipulate matter, so "willing" their own bodies to return to their unharmed state is one of the simplest things they can do, almost like breathing.

They do lose quite a lot of "Magical Power" once they've become undead since they aren't as well "attuned" to Rupegian mana anymore, so there are some heavy downsides to becoming one. And though they have quite a high compatibility with [Alteration Magic], that school has little to offer in the form of offensive spells, so undeath doesn't translate to any sort of actual increase in martial power.

The writer also hypothesizes that undeath causes insanity, but she's humble enough to admit that there isn't enough evidence to support this claim as it could very well be that the people who seek undeath are already quite insane.

Then we move on to the second book, which describes the Heresy of the Tower of Decay.

Basically, they built a very large collector of energy that affected the whole area of Kold Myr, which is now called the Deadlands. It was supposed to be so subtle that nobody would notice it, but weird shit started to happen, so the temple began investigating stuff.

That was the temple's first contact with undead corruption, and it scared the shit out of them, so they called the empire to bring down the tower because the mages didn't want to stop playing with it since it's what gave them free energy to live forever.

One thing led to another, and one crazy dude turned the dial on the drain up to eleven, so Emperor Cyd just destroyed the tower to stop them, causing a nuclear fallout that made the land uninhabitable. Though, in the last few hundred years, the temple has succeeded in establishing colonies of priests who can live almost normal lives there while helping the land heal.

And that's why both the temple and the empire treat undeath with so much fear.

What's most concerning to me is that it took the temple a hundred years to discover that the Tower was the culprit behind the weird shit in Kold Myr. This is because the undead spells are basically imperceptible to us since their power is from "outside" our Cycle, just like how we couldn't understand what we saw when the "alien" being invaded our world through the [Otherworldly Summoning] experiment.

The third book details the powers that the undead have been known to have. One of the first ones described is what they call [Unravel], and it's what the undead mage from the Praefortis mercenaries tried to use on us when we fought them in the Misty Low Forest.

That spell is frighteningly silent, simply turning anything affected by it into dust in the blink of an eye. The only defense against it is to create enough of a magical disturbance that the undead mage doesn't have enough power to "end" you.

Their magic combines well with [Necromancy Magic]. They both deal with decay and death, so undead necromancers are one of the most common types of heretics found due to the small boost in power the combo provides.

The undead also have an affinity for illusions, the [Double Image] kind, not the [Pacify] or [Vicious Rage] kind. They can alter reality at will, so with enough practice, they can create holograms and do other weird visual shenanigans.

Then I become mildly concerned when I find out that the undead sometimes evolve the ability to produce partially immaterial tentacles as some sort of "soul extension." It's similar to how [Alteration Magic] envelops their target with the caster's "presence," but the undead's presence is visible through some visual glitch.

There's also a warning to never eat or drink anything made by an undead because they can cause even more chaos in their effects than [Alchemicism] can.

"Okay, now I'm frightened," Roxanne's joke echoes inside my mind.

"I wonder what undead alcohol tastes like," Hana excitedly joins in.

"Like not here nor anywhere," I cryptically remark.

"What?" She croaks.

And I smile cheekily while Alissa rolls her eyes. "It doesn't exist while it does at the same time. Schrodinger's alcohol."

"Sounds like it's similar to a dream," Lina ponders.

"Dream alcohol is terrible. I always wake up thirsty and queasy whenever I dream about it," Hana complains, her excitement gone with the wind.

"It sounds like being an otherworldly vampire sucks, actually," I state with a wry smile.

Then we read that it's a bad idea to use summons against the undead. If they cast [Unravel] on the summon, it destroys the small piece of the summoner's soul that was within the summon. The damage can be healed, but the summons receive a small part of the summoner's MP pool, so if that gets destroyed, then the mage's MP is permanently reduced.

There are also mentions of undead using [Spirit Magic] to directly attack the summoner's soul through the summon, but it has to successfully capture the summon, and the summoner can just dismiss it if it's endangered, so it only works with a very well planned sneak attack.

The rest of the book tells of smaller oddities that aren't really a threat to us, so we focus on learning how to counter [Unravel].

[Light Magic] is the direct counter to otherworldly magic, but not everyone has a Heavenly Weapon that they can just pour all their mana into, so we look into the alternatives. Using walls of stones, metals, crystals, and other hard materials are all excellent for making the undead mage waste their power since they're quite hard to "unravel."

In case there aren't any hard materials on hand, chaotic magic also serves to interfere with the spell, especially if they're from different magic schools, so just spamming all of the spells we know will help a lot.

But the biggest counter seems to be to simply not allow them to acquire so much power to begin with. They "leak" whatever energy they drain quite noticeably since undeath is such a glitchy thing, so they need to bring an energy source with them (like living sacrifices) if they're to engage in battle, making for an obvious target.

Easier said than done, though. My brief hesitation before we entered Praefortis' main HQ building gave the undead mage enough time to drain its sacrifices entirely, so they don't need that much preparation to accumulate a deadly amount of power.

I wish I could test [Unravel] so that I could learn with certainty how to resist it.

"I think the spell's effects could be mimicked, but it'd take a researcher mage with an impressive beard to do it," Roxanne chimes in.

She means a very powerful mage.

If only we had an undead person we could study… there's quite a lot of research that's been done on the corruption, but not on the undead themselves. I already know that keeping an undead prisoner is a very dangerous idea, especially since the temple suspects that long term contact with the corruption is detrimental to the mind, but this world really needs its own Marie Curie so that we can learn how to detect and destroy the undead more effectively.

While we study, Hana goes to fulfill one of our obligations as Lords: to preside over the execution of a Wicked man.

 

The prison is on the bottom level of Escanso, under the temple and the Templars since there's nothing that the criminals fear more than the faithful with a nose for illegal activities.

The execution chamber is not unlike those of Earth. It's set up like a stage, with seats for an audience and a wall of glass separating them from the raised dais. The dais has a set of sturdy metal bars that the condemned is tied to, keeping them on their knees and their head lowered.

A few commoners show up to watch, but their interest seems to be more from a sense of morbid curiosity rather than from having any actual relation to the wretch. There's also Experience to be gained from watching the execution, so some feel like it's their duty to be present since it's a way for the Wicked to make a small payment back to society, returning some of what they stole.

It makes me a bit uncomfortable to see a housewife with her two children in the seats. The two little ones are likely level 1, so the Experience they'll get from this should give them a few levels, which should earn them enough skill points to start learning crafting skills.

Once the clock hits exactly 4 PM, the event smoothly begins.

The condemned is brought into the chamber, and the audience begins talking with hushed whispers.

It's a man, a human man. He looks rugged, and though his scraggly hair and beard make him look like a hobo, his scars scream of "adventurer."

"The price for making Escanso more attractive to adventurers…" Yunia dryly comments through [Bind].

"Do you regret it?" I question her curiously.

But she categorically denies, "Of course not. The races all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and it's our responsibility to bring about harmony between them."

Hana scoffs and throws some banter, "How noble. It's like you're the most 'unelven' elf in existence."

But Yunia calmly lashes back, "I take offense at you saying that I'm 'unelven.' I may be reasonable for an elf, but I'm still very much a prideful one."

"'Snootiness' is the main characteristic of your race, and you're definitely a snooty elf," Roxanne cheekily "sides" with her, but Yunia doesn't feel like indulging her in sparring with words.

Also, Hana has to keep her face stern while we talk, so the banter quickly dies down.

The guards tie the man to the metal contraption, forcing him onto his knees with his hands behind his back, a gag in his mouth, and his head down. Then they put a helmet on him that holds a stake at its back.

Once his head is secured and completely immobile, an elven priest draws a dagger and makes a shallow cut on the man's shoulder, then he presses a crystal tablet against the wound, and it instantly turns blood red.

"Wicked! Dominic Galatas! You're a murderer! You shame your family and offend Their Highnesses by scorning their protection!" The priest angrily shouts while waving the crystal tablet around.

The Wicked resists and struggles against his restraints, but he's not even given the right to have his last words spoken.

The priest calms down after a few seconds and nods at Hana, then she readies her sledgehammer and immediately strikes the stake, driving it into his brain.

The crowd gasps, and the struggle immediately stops. The guards don't wait even a moment before untying him and dragging his corpse away. He'll be burned, and his ashes will be spread far from civilization over a wide area so that nobody will ever be able to pull his spirit back from Hell.

The whole affair takes only a few minutes, and we gladly move on the moment we're allowed to.

 

We return to our research, and we manage to finish transcribing all the important bits about [Unravel].

The only problem is that I don't really have the time to train up my resistance to this spell. Maybe if I were to fully delegate the baby golem army project to the original golems, I'd have enough time to train this.

If I could teach the golems how to create their own golems… a recursive golem factory.

My Gifts don't seem to be inheritable by the golems, so I need to understand the ins and outs of [Golemancy] myself if I want them to be able to use [Infuse] at the same level that I can.

Eventually, we call Ta'Haa and ask for more advanced books, but they're so obtuse that only Roxanne can understand them. Rupegian magical theory seems quite alien to me, and though I do believe that I'll eventually be able to understand it, for now, I need Roxanne to translate things for me, so it isn't a productive use of my time to continue reading these books.

We return to the castle and check on the golem army. The golem trio reports that the amnesiac golems are very severely brain damaged and not that amnesiac after all, but baby steps. We'll eventually get it right.

I create a few more golems to continue our tests, then we go through a quick session of Gestalt training, and after that, it's bath time.

 

Intermission – Hukarere

 

"Dismissed!" Dame Klein shouts, and the men relax.

Another day, another successful dungeon purge.

Back in Whakamutu, I never entered dungeons as often as I am now. The land dwellers are truly plagued by them. Well, in return, we had to deal with a lot more huge monsters than we do around here. For some reason, flying monsters have to be big.

As I reach for the door's handle, I notice a small dark hand also coming to grab it, so I stop, and Klein and I stare at each other in confusion.

"Oh, are you going to the castle, too?" She kindly asks with a gentle smile.

"Uh, yes…" I hesitantly respond. I feel a small amount of embarrassment because she must be thinking that I'm going to the castle just to suck Wolfy's dick.

Well, I am, it's just that I also want to spend some time with his harem. They're fun people.

Klein looks back and spots her father as he walks away, then she turns to me and grins like a smug little shit.

The men are already far enough away for me to speak freely, so I bark back, "What are you smiling about, you cheeky little monkey?"

Her smile quickly vanishes from confusion. "W-what?" She stutters and squeaks like the cute little animal she is.

I narrow my eyes in fake reproval just to fuck with her. "Flirting with the gay boy while the big dragon is away is quite bold of you."

"I-I'm not flirting!" She hisses and opens the double doors, then boldly walks away, straight down the path to the castle. Good on her for not taking the bait.

"Sure…" I hum softly.

We walk in silence, still winding down from the long day of fighting monsters, but then we meet Kaatohe on the way. The kitty seems to be quite distracted, staring at the flowers that flank the path with a worrying amount of fascination.

"Hey there, cat. Are those Nepeta flowers?" I ask amusedly.

"Hey, uh… what?" She mumbles absentmindedly and turns to us, frowning in confusion.

"Nepeta. Cats love it, for some reason."

"I'm not a cat, you dog, my Aspect is that of a leopard!" She hisses angrily, back to her usual self.

I grin smugly, exactly like the little monkey just did a minute ago. "Uh-huh… You still have a big cat head, though."

"Are you alright? Do you want to talk to Ciel?" Klein concernedly interjects, and I frown as she interrupts the verbal coitus again.

Kaatohe sighs and waves her hand dismissively as she declines, "Please, spare me, I'm fine. I've just been contemplating my reasons to continue living."

Klein and I share a look. That's not what someone who's "fine" should be thinking about unless they're a scholar like Wolfy, and Kaatohe is definitely not one of those.

"I'll tell Ciel that you're being weird again," Klein mumbles as she gives her an odd look.

And the cat rolls her eyes. "Ugh… I'm a noble, Klein, but I'm dead. What's the purpose of nobility if I'm not able to have children?"

"Adopt," the monkey immediately replies with a flat tone.

Now it's Kaatohe and me who look at her oddly.

Her eyes fly between the two of us, and she takes a step back, feeling a bit shy under our intense gazes, then she hides her long tail behind her body in a defensive gesture. "What? That's what the priests say. Blood isn't everything, so adopt a child and have Wolfy be the father. Or have him impregnate someone else, and then buy the child."

I let my jaw hang loose as I grunt, "Uhh~… I didn't expect that you would ever say something like 'buy a child.'"

And she pouts annoyedly. "Hey, that's something a noble would do, not me."

"Alright, but anyway…" I turn to Kaatohe and grin teasingly. "Cat, you're really not yourself if you're taking advice from the monkey, so go talk to Ciel either to fix your mind or to… discuss adoption like she suggested." Then I shrug and chuckle.

Kaatohe grunts as she rolls her eyes and turns her back to us. "How shameful of me to be in such a state that a dog thinks that they can give me advice."

"So if I say that you shouldn't jump off the ship, you'll do it just to spite me?" I ask accusingly.

She gives me the side-eye and hisses, "Would you kindly go fuck yourself?"

I laugh out loud and sling my arm around her shoulder, then I pull her forward and force us to walk together towards the castle. "How about we just ask Wolfy to do it for us?"

 

Intermission end.

 

Hukarere and Kaatohe come to join us, and I feel quite pleased with the fact that they're increasing the time they spend with us.