24 Hearts

[We’re already starting to stock pile chapters today. We just didn’t get a chance to get them edited. However, the release rate for this series will increase significantly very soon. We will either match or surpass RIM’s upload rate in the future.]

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Calypso’s Nightmare

Jinmu, under the control of a hundred ghosts, moved happily as they looked at Judah. The Count’s aura turned into something sinister like he was a different person entirely. This wasn’t him anymore.

“Thank you, kid. Thanks to you, I got my body back.”

“You say that like the body belongs to you originally.”

Possessed by the ghosts, Jinmu erupted into laughter.

“Kahaha! That’s right. It’s not my body! But see, this guy took our bodies— Ah, let me correct that. This guy controlled us too for such a long time. Isn’t it justified that we can control him as well?”

“How many people are inside his body? The voices are overlapping. It’s hard to understand you.”

“Well, well, how many people, you ask? 200… 300… 400? 472 people. That’s a lot of people in one tiny body.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Thank you again. For now, I have a job to do.”

“Do what?”

“Yes, something important for our great king and eternal monarch. We are preparing for a ceremony to summon Bel-Therja into this land! We’re almost at the end. All preparations are almost finished, but this Jinmu guy just had to push us out of his body.”

“Bel-Therja? That name… Isn’t that the sixth lord of the demon world? Wait, are you saying you’re going to summon such a dangerous creature into this land?”

When Jeanne stepped in, Jinmu cackled.

“You know him well, but you are to address him according to his honorific name. He’s a different person from you.”

At that time, Jinmu’s body spat out blood. He looked down at the pit spilling on the floor and grumbled.

“Oh, dear… You can’t die right now. We know you’re dying, and you’re fragile. In this state, it’s difficult if Jinmu pushes us back, so we have to go.”

“We just heard a ridiculous story about summoning a monarch. Do you think we’ll just let you go?”

He smirked, “Oh, but we’re letting you go too. If you’re going to follow, then follow us. That is, if you can survive. I wonder if that’s possible. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see us complete the ritual.”

He waved his hand lightly as a goodbye and then turned his back. The ghosts that had been hovering from behind blocked the way as Jinmu left. They looked down at Judah and Jeanne, drooling. With a loud screech, they rushed toward them.

They seemed to be conscious of Altemia’s liberation skill, and in an attempt to avoid it, the ghosts kept a distance from each other. However, even if hundreds of ghosts kept their distance, their withdrawal did nothing in the narrow area.

Judah threw Altemia to the front, in the middle of the crowd of ghosts. He activated Liberation, and the blood energy cut the spirits into pieces. They cried out an ear-piercing scream as they fell under the mercy of Altemia. But as they vanished, another cluster of ghosts began to appear through the ceiling, walls, and the floor.

“Jeanne, we have to go.”

Jeanne couldn’t answer him right away. Instead, she continued fighting with her lance and shield. It wasn’t that that she didn’t hear him through all the sounds of their fighting. However, Jinmu’s name held weight for her as a Blue Lancer. Jeanne took a deep breath after facing countless ghosts. Judah guarded their surroundings in case there were any ghosts left so that she could catch her breath. Unlike her, Judah didn’t move too much due to Altemia’s power. Still, she had no answer for Judah, and her conflict was clear in her eyes.

But she needed to do this for Judah.

「Save the Cherryu village 3.」

[You have entered the mansion of the honorable commander of the Baekje Empire -Count Jinmu-, and I met him.]

[You were lucky to meet the real Count Jinmu, who has had control of his consciousness, and had a little conversation with him.]

[Whether it was your fault or not, you inflicted an attack on him that triggered the ghosts to control his body.]

[He was weak, and his mental barrier was even more weakened by the Altemia, allowing the ghosts who had resentment against him to control his body again.]

[They are almost finished with their ritual for the great Lord of the dead, -Bel- Therja-, by sending ghosts to a nearby village to possess many people and bring back their bodies alive.]

[Of course, one does not simply summon one of the seven lords of the demon world.]

[It was unknown if he will respond to the summoning. However, Count Jinmu’s soul will be torn to pieces in the aftermath of the failure, and the remaining ghosts will run away and scatter in all directions. Furthermore, A small passage connected to the demon world will open, which will bring forth an overwhelming amount of monsters into this land.]

[There will be a lot of sacrifices to close it. You can decide here.]

[Will you risk your life to stop Count Jinmu, despite gaining nothing in return?]

[Or will you retreat to safety?]

[Either way, nobody can dictate to you what to do.]

[Because you stumbled upon this scene on accident.]

[But if you defeat Count Jinmu in this mansion, you will completely save the village of Cherryu.]

That alone was enough reason for him to pursue the quest, and this was the reason he came here anyway. So he waited patiently for Jeanne to respond. Then suddenly, they heard several footsteps coming toward them.

A staggering body emerged from the end of the corridor. The magic lamps hanging on the ceiling began to falter.

“Ghouls…” Jeanne muttered, eyes fixated on the figures.

The bodies continued to stagger. Their bodies withered like everything had been drained from them. It walked slowly, its mouth hanging open as if its soul had left the body. They wore clothes that of a normal villager, and their muddy feet told them that these were the owners of the footprints on the entrance.

The ghosts didn’t care if they were a man or a woman, nor did they spare the children or the elderly. The spirits attacked them and left them there to die, and now they came up to Judah and Jeanne without even getting a peaceful rest.

‘After the ghost, we get these zombies.’

They weren’t zombies; they were ghouls. But the idea of them being zombies made him smile, remembering the zombie movies he watched back in the real world.

Oh well. Jeanne watched him silently with her shield out front.

“I’m sorry for the late answer. I’m conflicted. I don’t know why I worry about this… I could die, but I don’t know if I qualify as a knight after running away when I know the disaster I turned my back on. So… I’ll be with you, Judah.”

Finally, when the ghouls recognized the living beings before them, they jerked into a hunch, then they started running. And before Judah could throw Altemia, Jeanne ran forward and heaved the ghouls with her shield.

The shield protected with magical power exploded into a bang the moment it hit the ghouls. The running ghouls slammed onto her shield and bounced away, and what a spectacular sight it was. Lifting her lancer, she swung the blunt weapon and stomped forward, trampling the head of the ghoul wriggling under her feet.

Quazzik!

The sound hissed, but no blood came from the corpse. The only thing that came from it was the terrible sound of broken bones. Jeanne was going to defeat them by herself. Judah stood there, blinking at her as she continued to attack. Jeanne atoned for the minutes she stood there when she hesitated for an answer.

She lifted her lance over her head and struck it towards the ghoul in front. After being squashed, the ghoul crumpled to the ground. Then Jeanne quickly turned to her left, pushing a ghoul straight to a wall with her shield, and shoved it heavily to the concrete. The ghoul, whose whole body was crushed into grains, had no chance to budge. All Judah had to do was just stick behind her and deal with the other ghouls she left. Suddenly, the remains began to move together. The detached limbs and cut ghouls wiggled on the floor, but they crawled too slow to reach Judah and Jeanne.

“I’ll hold them back. Do you want that?”

“I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“This is nothing I can’t handle.”

Pretending not to worry about her, Judah went ahead. But, unlike what she said, Jeanne seemed to be quite exhausted as she took her breath. Exhausting her magic power on her armor, weapon, and shield had worn her down.

“Let’s take a break and go. I think you’re tired.”

“No. If we rest, they could be done with the ritual.”

“Fine. I’ll take the lead.”

“…Okay.” She seemed to think of it for a moment, but she nodded softly.

The corridor Jinmu walked down to was longer than expected, with ghosts and ghouls emerging from its end. They defeated what felt like a hundred ghouls, but the lack of blood felt like they faced off against monsters rather than human remains. They stood there in confusion, staring blankly at the empty end of the corridor.

“Is this done by magic?”

“Probably, but there must be a way to go down to the basement. The mage couldn’t have made a room like this by himself.”

Judah racked his memories of the game.

‘This goes down to the third basement level.’

There were several steps to getting to the second basement level, but the way down to the first basement level should be simple. He walked up to the wall, pushed his mass against it, and then walked back and forth, searching for something. At some point, a ripple broke out from the wall, swallowing Judah’s hand. As Jeanne stood there with her eyes wide open, Judah pushed himself further and poked his head inside before turning back to Jeanne.

“This way. Let’s go.”

“…”

Jeanne could only stare at him for finding the way so easily.

They found a staircase leading to the second basement level, and when they came down, they found several tools and books they had to deal with but did not know what to use. Judah felt embarrassed, absolutely at a loss of what to do.

‘It can’t be like this.’

Just as there were ghouls and ghosts on the floor above, there should have been a semi-boss fight with a monster and a few more ghosts and ghouls in this level… But everything was too quiet. There weren’t any traps either, but it was odd that not a single monster was coming at them like they hadn’t eaten in days.

‘Why is nothing happening?’

He was confused and couldn’t figure out a reason why. Judah walked down the quiet hallway, and as if he realized something, he stopped in his tracks. It was simpler than he thought.

‘This is crazy… It’s because I arrived early!’

He wasn’t Kain, the main character. He possessed the body of Judah! And Kain had yet to come to the mansion, at least after a few dozen days. He would go slowly, but eventually, his quest would lead him here, so he was yet to arrive.

If Kain came here, he would, of course, follow the game’s story and timeline. The village would be ruined, and he wouldn’t encounter the priest named Ahril, and there was no way he could chat leisurely with the conscious Count Jinmu.

That was how the story went, and he felt like a fool for not realizing it sooner.