Chapter 135: Funeral
Instead of responding, Raven looked at Marcellus, took a spear from his inventory, and said,
"Strike."
The next moment, Marcellus unsheathed his sword, gripped the hilt tightly, and slashed while aiming at Raven's neck.
As soon as the blade left the sheath, it glowed with a reddish aura and flashed toward Raven's neck in the blink of an eye.
"Shadow Swift," Raven added calmly as his body dissolved into shadows.
He reappeared at the spot where Evelyne was.
Meanwhile, Evelyne stood where Raven had been, and a sharp pain suddenly struck her nape.
The world began to spin the next second.
Then darkness clouded her vision.
She didn't even understand what had happened to her as Marcellus decapitated her head smoothly.
On the other hand, Raven—now back in Evelyne's former position—took a step back and plunged the spear straight into the old lady's chest.
The old lady looked at him with a horrified look and staggered.
"W-Why?" She stuttered as Raven retracted the spear, which caused her to fall.
The young man named Reginald froze at the sudden change in events. In a panic, he tried to escape by casting a movement-type spell.
But dark chains slithered out of nowhere, coiling around his body and binding him completely.
"Shall we kill him too, My Lord?" Rebecca asked as she walked toward the immobilized man.
Just then, Quincy dashed forward, covered her spear in a yellowish aura, and plunged it directly into Reginald's chest.
"When you ambush someone, always go for the kill," Quincy said, pulling back the spear. She turned her gaze to the two middle-aged men nearby.
"P-Please spare us!" one shouted in panic while the other turned around to run.
But Quincy swept her spear in an arc and decapitated them in one stroke.
Their headless bodies staggered as the heads flew into the air, spraying blood everywhere.
With loud thuds, the corpses and severed heads hit the ground, leaving a chilling silence.
"Rebecca, if the enemy had remained calm and calculative, he could have escaped or even killed you," Raven said, eyeing the corpses.
"Clean this up, too."
"How can you kill people without even a warrant?" asked Florence, the reporter, staring at the horrific scene.
Killing those who illegally occupied a noble's land was justified under the Empire's Law. But she could tell Evelyne and her group hadn't shown any intent to resist.
"If you follow me to the dungeon, Miss Florence, I'll tell you why I killed them," Raven replied, then turned to Jacob and Quincy.
"Sir Jacob, you and Quincy should come along too."
He walked toward the narrow hallway in the mansion's eastern wing.
"Please wait, Mr. Holmes," Florence said, hurriedly capturing images of the massacre before following him.
Quincy and Jacob trailed closely behind Raven, walking through a gloomy hallway filled with torn portraits. They entered a spiral staircase hidden behind a concealed door.
Before long, they stood in an underground chamber, facing an eerie black door.
"Why are we here, My Lord?" Jacob asked.
Instead of answering, Raven moved to the hidden door and slowly opened it.
The stench hit them instantly. Everyone covered their noses; Florence even vomited.
"What in the world is this place?" Quincy asked, covering her nose with a handkerchief.
"Is this the work of the Necromancer? Is he a serial killer, My Lord?" Jacob whispered.
Raven said nothing.
He walked silently to the center of the chamber and muttered,
"Elapsed Illusion."
The next moment, a strange ripple of power emanated from Raven.
Everyone's bodies began to turn invisible.
Jacob and the others looked at their hands, astonished to see them becoming transparent.
Suddenly, Jacob and the others found themselves alone in the hall. Though Jacob could sense the others nearby, he could no longer see them.
But what he saw horrified him.
"What kind of monster did this?" he muttered, covering his mouth.
Though he had fought in wars and seen mountains of corpses, nothing had terrified him like this.
"Don't panic. Let's find out who's responsible," Raven said, glancing at the area where Florence stood.
"How many photos can you take with your box camera?"
Florence paused, then answered with a pale face,
"This camera carries a roll with 100 exposures. I already used 30 when filming the battle at the outskirts and ruins."
"More than enough. Be ready." Raven nodded.
Seconds later, they saw Thomas Holmes, their young lord, walking into the slaughterhouse alone. He looked around for a while, appeared shocked, and soon vomited from the stench and the gruesome sight.
He quickly left, his face pale.
"My Lord?" Jacob called out but received no answer.
"That's an illusion from the past," Raven replied from his invisible form.
The scene began moving backward in time.
They soon saw a small mouse enter the chamber and squeak loudly.
It quickly enlarged and transformed into a 130 cm humanoid with a grotesque yellowish goblin face, sharp tail, pointy ears, and clawed hands.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spine.
"W-What is that creature?" Even Jacob looked shaken.
"A Demon Imp," Raven replied.
The Demon Imp sniffed around, grabbed an iron axe from a shelf, and waited.
Soon, the door creaked open. Muffled sounds followed, along with a woman's cry.
Evelyne and her group entered, carrying a young woman, perhaps 20 years old, and laid her on a wooden table.
The young woman looked terrified and struggled to move. But her limbs were tightly bound, and her mouth was gagged.
"Remove her clothes," the Demon Imp ordered.
Evelyne ripped off the woman's clothes, leaving her naked.
The Demon Imp ordered everyone to leave and began carving a hexagonal symbol into her chest.
It placed candles at each edge of the table, lit them individually, and chanted a strange incantation.
After the five-minute ritual, the Demon Imp raised the axe and struck the woman's neck.
Her head rolled away, blood gushing everywhere, while her body twitched violently.
What shocked everyone most was the appearance of a foggy figure rising from the corpse.
It tried to flee, but the Demon Imp pulled out a golden jar engraved with a sparrow symbol on top and opened it.
The foggy figure was sucked in.
Without caring about the blood on its face, the creature began skinning the corpse.
The surroundings shimmered and shattered into fragments, like broken mirrors.
Florence and the others became visible again, looking around anxiously.
"The demon's not here," Raven said to calm them.
"I-I now understand why you killed them, Mr. Holmes. I never expected them to betray humanity itself," Florence finally said.
"But what was that foggy figure?" Quincy asked.
"Possibly the woman's soul," Florence replied, pulling a notebook and pen from her leather bag.
"Even if you write a detailed report, I doubt anyone will believe you," Quincy said solemnly.
"I captured it all on camera. And this illusion spell resembles what we heard during Lady Shirley's trial. Are you related to the Rebel Prince, Mr. Holmes?" Florence asked, storing her camera and beginning to write.
Raven only smiled.
"If we reveal this, the Empire will link you to the Rebel Prince, My Lord," Jacob warned.
"The Royal Family might target you," Quincy added.
Florence thought for a moment.
"If you're fine with it, I can say I came to investigate alone and was captured by the demon. You and your knights rescued me. It'll boost Legacy News's reputation too."
"That would be helpful," Raven nodded. He glanced at the corpses.
"We need to give the victims a proper burial."
With that, he turned and started toward the dungeon exit.
…
Jacob and Quincy quickly followed Raven, while Florence lingered for a moment, glancing at the remains of the slaughtered young woman.
She tightened her grip on her notebook and hurried after them.
The group ascended the spiral staircase in silence, their boots echoing against the cold stone steps.
When they emerged into the ruined mansion, the stench of blood still hung thick in the air.
Rebecca and the young knights were already cleaning the hall, moving bodies to one side of the room and stacking them like firewood.
Marcellus stood guard at the entrance, sword in hand, while Reece sent his crow-like familiars to scout the surroundings.
After confirming there were no signs of humans within a mile of the ruined town, Reece informed Rebecca and went off on his own to explore the mansion.
"Oh, they've returned," Marcellus said, looking toward the corridor.
Seeing Raven approach, Rebecca stepped forward and bowed slightly.
"My Lord, all clear. No other enemies spotted within a mile radius."
"Good." Raven nodded, then turned to Quincy and Jacob.
"Let's bury the bodies first."
"These corpses, too?" Quincy asked, glancing at Evelyne's and the others' bodies.
"No. They don't deserve a proper ritual. Where is his corpse?" Raven asked.
"His?" Florence tilted her head in confusion.
Ignoring her puzzled look, Quincy touched her ring and responded,
"I stored it in my spatial ring, My Lord. Should I store these corpses as well?"
Raven nodded.
"Tracking spells will reveal their location if we bury them among the others. It's better to cremate them. Do it in the woods."
"Yes, My Lord."
"What about the outlaws? Should we do a mass burial?" Jacob asked.
Raven shook his head.
Mass burials often lacked dignity. Though he didn't mind doing it for enemies killed on the town's outskirts, the ones who died inside the dungeon deserved more.
"To calm the dead, we should at least give them a proper burial," Raven said solemnly.
"We're in a ruined town, My Lord. We don't have coffins or enough manpower to dig all the graves," Jacob pointed out.
"Then we'll make coffins. Since we have a carpenter with us, building simple ones shouldn't be a problem. As for digging, it's a hard task—but doable before nightfall."
Raven then ordered the knights to gather wood from the town's outskirts.
"Marcellus, can you go to the mountain and slice some rocks for gravestones? Quincy, accompany him and carry out the cremation."
"Yes, My Lord," Quincy replied.
"Slicing rocks, huh?" Marcellus chuckled. "I haven't tried it since reaching Expert Rank, but I think it'll be a piece of cake."
He then asked Jacob to store the gravestones in his spatial ring and headed toward the mountain.
Meanwhile, Raven gave various orders to the others.
No one questioned him.
His knights, wizards, and Sepoy mercenaries—Jacob, Leona, and Felicity—went outside to gather wood.
They chopped down trees for the next two hours, processed them into timber, and brought them back to the town.
Under the guidance of the carpenter from the Lucas Company, they began building simple coffins.
Raven returned to the dungeon and stored the corpses in his spatial ring. He also spent some time analyzing the Agith door and tried to search for more clues, but found none.
Afterward, he left the mansion and found his knights and others assembled outside.
He saw that Marcellus and Quincy had returned from their tasks.
"Gravestones are ready, My Lord. But we don't know their names," Marcellus reported as he approached.
"I'll handle that," Raven said, walking toward Jacob and the others.
"Where should we dig the graves, My Lord?" Jacob asked. Over a hundred coffins had been prepared.
"Outside the town. We'll make it a public cemetery," Raven answered.
Following his instructions, the knights and mercenaries carried the coffins to the outskirts of the ruined town.
It was already around 2 P.M. as they started digging graves.
"Dig wide and deep. Space them properly," Raven said, pointing to an open area filled with cracked earth and dry grass.
It was more than 500 meters from the river, in a quiet, isolated location.
Jacob, Quincy, Rebecca, and the others got to work.
They used shovels, spades, and other tools to dig the graves.
The rhythmic thud of digging and the clink of shovels striking rock echoed through the silent town.
Raven approached a nearby coffin and retrieved a corpse from his spatial ring as they worked.
A foul stench filled the air as the body fell into the coffin.
Since the corpse had been completely skinned, no one could identify it.
"Mr. Marcellus, please place a gravestone near this coffin," Raven instructed.
Marcellus complied, then asked, "Are we engraving their names?"
"Yes. For now, mark each gravestone with a number. Later, we'll hire a skilled stonemason to engrave the names," Raven replied thoughtfully.
Marcellus moved to the first gravestone and carved the number "1" with a knife.
"Please write 'Beatrice Ashdown' on the first gravestone," Raven said as he handed over a notebook and pen from his inventory.
"My Lord?" Marcellus looked surprised.
"How did you know?"
Instead of answering, Raven walked to the next coffin and placed another corpse inside.
"Celeste Langston."
"Wait, my Lord! Let me write the name first."
Marcellus quickly jotted it down in the notebook, then marked the second gravestone and recorded the name.
By the time the others had dug graves for 100 corpses, Raven and Marcellus had written down all the victims' names.
Meanwhile, Quincy and Florence walked between the coffins, using brushes to clean the faces of the deceased.
Now covered in white cloth, the victims appeared peaceful under the fading light.
"Hope they rest in peace," Quincy murmured.
Seeing his actions, Rebecca whispered to the others, "Treat the dead with respect."
They washed the bodies with water brought from a nearby river, then wrapped them carefully, preparing them as if for sleep rather than death.
Some knights found wildflowers near the ruined houses and placed a few on each coffin.
Once the graves were ready, Raven stepped forward and began to chant:
…
"Beloved spirits, guardians of Eclipse Land,
We gather here under the watchful eyes of the stars to honor the dead,
Who have journeyed beyond the mortal veil.
We call upon the Four Winds, the Earth Mother, the Celestial Waters, and the Rebirth Flame.
To guide and protect them during their passage to the next life.
O Spirits of the Beyond, hear our call.
Grant them peace and safe passage through the celestial realms.
In the East, where the sun rises, we ask for clarity and wisdom to light their path.
May the dawn's light guide them.
In the South, where the Rebirth Fires burn bright, we seek the warmth of love and courage.
May the fire's warmth comfort them.
In the West, where the Celestial Waters flow, we pray for cleansing and renewal.
May the water's purity cleanse them.
In the North, where the Earth stands firm, we hope for strength and protection.
May Mother Earth's strength support them.
O Mother Twilight, Keeper of Souls,
We entrust the dead into your care.
May they find rest among the stars, their spirit and heart at peace.
We release them into the arms of eternity.
May they soar higher and dance with the stars—
Until we meet beyond the stars."
…
As Raven's voice faded, the mourners silently bowed their heads.
Even the wind seemed still, as if listening to the solemn farewell.
One by one, the coffins were lowered into the freshly dug graves.
A number was carved with each burial, and a wildflower was placed atop.
Then the earth was returned to its place, covering the dead in a final embrace.
The funeral ended quietly.
Afterward, Raven and the others returned to the ruined town.
…