LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 198
Chapter 198: IF ━ If Malak Had Not Responded （3）
Paya grabbed Noah who was inside the cave, and Karon took over her body.
━ Animals are one thing… but possessing the body of a rational being is repulsive. I need to find another Paladin’s body later.
Karon muttered in Noah’s body and read her memories.
Ishtania. Earth. Possession. Demons. Paladins. And lastly, the community. All sorts of memories flowed in, and useful information piled up.
━ Amazing. To think that the Paladins’ true identity was possessed individuals!
These were things he couldn’t find out from Reno Johnson’s corpse, which couldn’t be resurrected as a zombie because its neck was severed.
“…Using the community, we lure in the possessed.”
Paya, after hearing all about the possessed, presented a terrifying idea. It was possible because she saw all Paladins, the possessed, as enemies who killed her Oppa.
Necromancy is basically a magic that takes over a body from which the soul has departed and controls the residual thoughts residing in that body to move it at will.
Residual thoughts refer to various thoughts, such as emotions and thinking, that remain in the body, the vessel that contained the soul. It wasn’t a soul, but it was close to something spiritual.
Such residual thoughts are often close to grudges, obsessions, or unfulfilled desires, and the closer one gets to them, the more they damage the Necromancer’s mind.
Just like Karon who went completely mad from being exposed to Necromancy for too long, Paya was also going mad.
━ That’s a good idea. Let’s make ourselves known in the community and gather the possessed who want to win this war. If they find out about the existence called Ishtania who sent them to this world, they’ll go crazy with a thirst for revenge. After letting them know all of this, if we suggest they entrust their souls and become part of our army…
“No. Then no one will come. It’ll only end up being like announcing ourselves as enemies. The Paladins might flock together to kill us.”
Paya calmly explained why doing as Karon said would only be a ‘villain declaration.’
━ Is that so…! You have a point.
Karon had spent 500 years in a jar, only honing his blade of revenge. He quickly acknowledged that his sense of reality had dulled significantly.
━ Then, what should we do?
“We need to lure them in one by one. I’ll post that I’m living in a place with no demons and abundant supplies.”
━ Oh, I see.
Paya, who could still think like them because she was still human, was a more formidable enemy than Karon who had become an evil spirit. At least psychologically, she was.
Karon wrote a post as Paya instructed.
[Dairy Cow Bikini Dance: The nickname Petit Noah is F*ck hahaha]
[Shotgun Attack: Symphony? It’s too far.]
[Brahmanda: I’m curious.]
Naturally, the response was enthusiastic.
[Close-Range Spy: Hmm… There can’t be such a place.]
There were some possessed who were suspicious, but they were a minority.
[Morning Tent Erection Knight: Do they have erectile dysfunction treatment there too?]
Possessed individuals who were desperate for survival or psychological reasons.
[Fallen Power Knight: Is it real?]
ㄴ [Fallen Power Knight: I sent you a private message. Please check it.]
Possessed individuals with initiative came to Symphony and all became Karon’s puppets.
━ This man is useful. He’ll make a fine new body.
Among them, Karon took over the body of a user called ‘Fallen Power Knight.’ He was a powerful possessed individual, already at Level 5.
[Morning Tent Erection Knight: Symphony is heaven.]
[Petit Noah: You should come too.]
[Fallen Power Knight: There’s plenty of water and food.]
Paya and Karon continued to lure in more individuals using the possessed who had become puppets.
[Brahmanda: But did Morning Tent and Fallen Power really say that? Isn’t that strange?]
[Princess Dina: I used stealth skills to go to Symphony. There were only zombies there.]
[Close-Range Spy: These sons of bitches are really…]
By the time everyone in the community realized something was wrong, it was too late. Over ten possessed individuals had already become puppets.
Just as they were gradually building up the power to confront the demons.
[Abraham: I’m tired now.]
A big problem arose. A Paladin living in Tibera had summoned the Dark Cloud Demon. Tibera was the land located next to Symphony.
━ That… is not something we can defeat yet. We need to avoid it. If it confirms that there are no more demons occupying Symphony, it’ll be the end.
Confirming the dark clouds approaching from afar, Karon and Paya hurriedly fled. The Blue Moss Tribe experienced a sudden march.
That’s when the slowly widening gap between the Blue Moss Tribe and Paya completely broke down.
━ It’s alright. I’ve secured all the useful possessed individuals and zombies. It was about time to move our base anyway. Let’s start again in Difenden.
They made the Difenden region their new base and started expanding their army again, but it wasn’t as bountiful a land as Symphony. They could maintain the zombie army, but there wasn’t enough food for the living people to eat.
“We can’t go on any longer.”
“Priestess Paya. It’s time to stop. This is all pointless.”
“At least let us go. We’ll return to the tribe.”
Tribe members came and protested, saying they wanted to return to the tribe, but Paya only said it was dangerous outside and sent them back.
In the end, what was bound to happen happened.
“Chieftain Una. What is the meaning of this?”
Una, who was trying to assassinate Paya with the warriors, was caught.
“Priestess Paya. …No, you infidel who’s hungry for blood. It’s regrettable that I can’t kill you.”
It wasn’t just Una and the warriors’ will. The public sentiment had turned against Paya. Saving the world, avenging her Oppa. No matter how many flowery words she used, the horrible things she had done wouldn’t be erased from people’s minds.
And the fact that she abandoned everything and left Symphony in the end played a part. A reign of terror ends the moment the object of fear crumbles even once.
“…Traitor.”
The bright Paya of the past would have regretted and blamed herself, choosing the right path. But she was now someone whose mind was broken from being exposed to too many residual thoughts.
━ What will you do?
“I’ll turn them into zombies.”
The Loa who wouldn’t respond. The possessed individuals who killed her Oppa. The gods who called those possessed individuals and turned the world into a mess. She was filled with thoughts of killing them all.
Paya wasn’t even of age yet. One is easily influenced by their company. It’s an age where one is easily exposed and easily tainted. Especially now, after experiencing so many shocking events. Unfortunately, the one who tainted Paya was Karon.
“Ugh…!”
Una and the warriors rose as zombies. In a horrifying appearance filled with fear and anger. Paya turned around.
Kanto was standing behind her.
“Ugh.”
Paya was startled, but she soon realized that she had given Kanto the order to ‘protect her from behind.’
“Oppa. Unni Una tried to kill me.”
Even though she knew Kanto’s soul was already gone, Paya spoke to him.
“I told her I would save the world, that I would appease your soul, but she wouldn’t listen. Why did she change?”
Naturally, there was no answer.
“…Did the tribe members instigate her? Because I suggested we go to Dubenheim, because you lost your life, are they angry?”
Paya, who had gone half-mad, could no longer understand people.
“This won’t do. I can’t trust them anymore. So everyone…”
She couldn’t understand them, so she became afraid, and because she was afraid, she wanted to get rid of them.
“Everyone…?”
As her thoughts reached that point, goosebumps suddenly erupted all over her body.
“What am I saying.”
Paya looked up at Kanto. Her beloved Oppa had turned into a monster. Not just her Oppa, but the warriors who were protecting her were also the same.
“U, Unni Una…!”
Paya, who regained her senses, lamented. But it was too late, she had come too far to turn back.
“How, how could this happen.”
Paya fell into deep regret. All the things she had done after learning Necromancy became sharp blades, piercing her heart.
‘P, Please spare me! Please!’
She remembers the time when the young Paladin, Noah, was crying and begging. She was also not even of age, just like Paya.
“I shouldn’t have gone when Oppa objected…”
The tears that couldn’t flow when they should have now streamed down Paya’s cheeks.
“Now, I have to stop.”
Paya, wiping away her tears, looked around.
Karon wasn’t here. Now, while he was away in another region to increase their army, was her only chance.
▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄
━ Priestess Paya. What is the meaning of this?
Karon, who had arrived leading the possessed individuals whose souls he had stolen and the demon zombies, glared at Paya. Paya, who had seized control of all the zombies in Difenden, was waiting for him.
“Something I should have done a long time ago.”
━ A foolish decision.
Just as the two Necromancers were about to clash in the plaza of Difenden Castle.
Bang!
The castle walls crumbled.
“You sons of bitches! We finally found you!”
The Paladins appeared. It was a subjugation force organized to kill Karon and Paya. They had followed Karon’s zombie army.
Normally, they wouldn’t have gathered like this, but unlike demons, the Necromancers who could even interfere with the community were the biggest threat to the Paladins now, making this possible. Above all, there were too many victims.
“I told you I’d kill you!”
“It seems there’s been an internal conflict!”
Led by the Paladin in black armor and the female Paladin with platinum blonde hair, the attack began. It was Close-Range Spy and Princess Dina.
Thus began a chaotic three-way battle.
And in Symphony.
━ …?
The altar of the Blue Moss Tribe, where everyone had left. A blue light entered the eyes of the Malak totem.
━ …Hello?
The man, who arrived too late, looked around the ruined tribe.
━ There’s no one… What the fuck! I don’t have any limbs!?
The man screamed, but no one heard him. It was a truly tragic event.