Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 87

Chapter 87: An Enslaved Soul and a Feast
Kai dropped from the rooftop silently, as the thugs left the girl and walked back inside the nearby building.

He let his concealment unfurl and stepped toward her.

She backed away fast, scuttling like a crab until her back hit a crate. He lowered his veil.

She looked malnourished and tired, but not out of breath, even though he chased her across half the citadel.

Her breath caught in her throat. “Who… what are you?”

Kai gestured, and Ralts rose from the shadows behind him.

“Now, this magic is dangerous to me, believe me, I’ve tried, but I’ve never used it on someone before, so stay still, okay?”

She nodded rapidly, eyes wide, body trembling.

“Do it.”

Ralts lifted her arms. A soft, unnatural glow pooled between her palms before spilling over the girl’s bruises. Bone knitted. Flesh reformed. Scars faded.

‘Would this be enough to heal Vepice? It couldn’t restore their ears, at least. Maybe the scars would fade, but disappear? No. Vepice deserves to be whole. I need Mari’s divine magic.’

She sat up, blinking.

“…Why?”

“I need information. Do you know much about the dark side of this city?” Kai asked. “If you want revenge, I’ll kill them all. I just ask that you follow me and help me.”

“All of them?”

He nodded. “Every last one. I just need you to accept that I will take your soul.”

“For my sister, you can have anything you want.” She looked up at Kai with an expression that said, ‘take me’.

Her eyes softened. She looked at him like someone staring at a noose and finding peace instead of fear.

Kai stared back, trying to understand her mind.

‘What the fuck is she thinking? She has to be, what, sixteen? Surely that’s not what she’s implying. Is it like the middle ages when girls become women when… No. I’d rather not think about this.’

His cheeks flushed. In both his lives, he’d been alone. And though the thoughts that often flooded a teenager’s mind rarely broke through the haze of necromantic study, sometimes, just sometimes, they did.

She frowned. He cleared his throat quickly.

“Your sister?”

“They’re keeping her. These assholes. I’m a pretty good thief, and she’s… well… very pretty…” Her voice cracked. Tears fell like small stones.

‘What’s with people in this world taking kids sisters? And for that? Disgusting. There are better uses for people than forcing them to use their bodies.’

“I can try to help you find her. And the soul… you’ll get it back when it’s over. I don’t need anything else from you.”

She nodded. “Okay. Then take my soul or whatever. It’s probably not worth much anyway.”

‘This kid…’

“What is your name?”

“Kleo. Just Kleo. And you?”

‘With what I’m about to do, honesty should be okay.’

“I’m Kai Tensen. Hold still.”

He reached inside her with a breath and found the soul’s edge. He tugged, gently at first, then all at once.

[Soul Destruction skill and Tether the Fallen have merged into a singular skill. You may now use the skill: Soul Manipulation.]

“I felt like that was coming.”

Kleo looked at him with a face full of confusion.

[Soul Manipulation – Bend the souls of others to your will, remove them, and destroy them. The weaker and more willing the target is, the easier Soul Manipulation will become.]

He held her soul. It flickered violently.

[The soul in your possession is of the Grand Rank.]

Kai forced his heartbeat to steady. ‘A grand soul? This kid? She’s more valuable than everything I’ve drained combined.’

Kai inscribed his rules upon her soul within his mind. It felt much like sigilcraft, and worked easily.

–

1 – Always use the name Mirlin Orth instead of Kai Tensen.

2 – Never disobey the one you call Mirlin Orth unless it’s at the cost of your own life or dignity.

3 – Never be dishonest with the one you call Mirlin Orth.

4 – Never disclose any information you learn about Kai Tensen or Mirlin Orth to anyone.

–

And then, with a thought, he sent it back.

She gasped, jolting upright.

“I don’t feel any different.”

“Hop on one leg.”

She did as he asked, but only once.

“What?”

‘It seems like commands are quite literal.’

“Hop on one leg until I say stop.”

She did so, hopping until she almost burst out in tears.

“Okay, please say stop! My leg hurts!”

“Stop.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, piss yourself.”

“No! No, please don’t! Don’t make m-”

There was a pause. She lifted her shirt and lowered her slacks, almost revealing everything underneath while she checked her underpants.

‘I’ll have to teach this one some common sense, while I’m at it…’

“Well?” Kai asked.

“They’re not wet! I didn’t obey you!”

“Exactly. It would ruin what you see as your dignity, right? I can’t make you do anything that’s so against your sense of self that you’d lose your dignity. Or your life, for that matter.”

“But why? Surely you could have just made me your slave?”

“I was a slave to games, a slave to a goddess, and I’m a slave to misfortune. I’m not going to put you under the complete control of something, especially if you have no say in the matter.”

‘I’ll have to see if I can touch Mari’s soul like this. If I can control her, that would work better for my plans.’

Kleo interrupted his thoughts.

“How… old are you, Mirlin?”

“I’m old enough. This isn’t my first life, and I intend to live for as long as possible. So…”

‘That feels so good to admit…’

Noises sounded from inside the building where those two thugs came from. Someone was approaching the door.

“Wait right here,” Kai ordered.

“What are you-”

Kai slipped into his state of concealment and opened the front door of the building Kleo was assaulted in front of.

And he did not open it quietly. He used as much physical strengthening on his body to flick the door off its hinges.

Blood sprayed, and he watched as a piece of shrapnel took part of a thug’s head with it.

‘Dammit, they need to be alive for me to take their life essence. I guess any I kill can just become my undead. Either way, this will be a nice meal.’