Chapter 150.2

Reshion attempted to maintain a composed facade like earlier, but with every syllable soaked in pain, he failed to pull it off.

When Turan momentarily loosened the restraint, Reshion muttered in a somewhat resigned tone.

“Fine, I am... human. No, at least I believe myself to be human. In truth, I might be a White Elf.”

“...White Elf?”

At the unexpected statement, Turan raised one eyebrow without meaning to.

Why would that come up now?

But now that he heard it, it sounded somewhat plausible.

The snow-white skin and those droopy, tentacle-like ears did meet the typical defining feature of elves, long ears distinct from humans.

Still, wasn’t his appearance far too alien for that to be the whole explanation?

“The Dark Elves I’ve seen before didn’t look all that different from humans, aside from the ears.”

“I too- no, White Elves too- have bodies that, except for the ears, don’t differ much from humans. It’s only in spirit form that we appear like this.”

“I see. So, what do you mean exactly when you say you think you're human but might actually be a White Elf?”

At Turan’s question, Reshion showed a momentary hint of hesitation.

Just for a moment. When Turan slightly moved the chain, he flinched and continued speaking.

“A long time ago, Reshion... no, the one known by the nickname ‘Mechanic’, was terrified due to the sudden deaths of his comrades.”

Listening quietly, Turan realized it was a story from the distant ancient past, the era when the lifespans of the Preah God Tribe came to an end, marking the fall of the Old Empire. His eyes widened.

The tale from that era, one even the librarian, confined to the library, had not properly known, was finally being told.

“At the time, the Mechanic and a few surviving comrades, after many sacrifices, discovered that the problem was related to the soul and age. Unfortunately, their knowledge of soul magic was not particularly deep. Most matters related to that were all but monopolized by the Puppetmaster in the west.”

“Puppetmaster?”

“Yes. Hmm, he seems to have a peculiar ability to detect when information about himself is mentioned. Best not to speak of him outside this place.”

At Reshion’s words, Turan realized that the Puppetmaster he spoke of was the very leader of the Aravion-Nagin faction, the Biologist.

Rather than assume there were two individuals with such abilities, it made more sense that it was the same person known by different names.

‘Puppetmaster...’

Recalling the bloodlines of the Ruler and the Tamer within Nagin, Turan thought it was a rather fitting name.

Both bloodlines possessed powers that governed others or spiritually influenced beings outside themselves.

“Anyway, those who had never held a fond opinion of the Puppetmaster sought an alternative in the White Elf necromancers. Since necromancy itself was deemed a dangerous power and had been hunted down, it wasn’t easy, but they managed to find and gather a few.”

“They tried body transference through necromancy using them?”

“Exactly. However, the White Elves had no intention of aiding the Preah gods, who had once driven them to the brink of extinction... so they intervened in the soul transference using necromancy. To enter the human bodies the gods were trying to possess, in their place.”

“No way.”

Only then did Turan begin to grasp the meaning of what Reshion had said earlier.

“That’s right. I believe myself to be a Preah god, one of the Players, who came to this world in ancient times. But at the same time, I also believe myself to be a White Elf named Afresoiya, born on this land. I have the memories of growing up as both entities, so it’s hard to define my identity as just one. You could call me a spiritual hybrid.”

To think that the rumor Turan had spread in House Aravion, that White Elves had taken control of the upper echelons of the great noble houses, would turn out to be true here?

No, according to those words, it wasn't quite accurate to say that White Elves had occupied them.

The being before him was also a fallen god at the same time.

“You look quite surprised.”

“To be honest, I am. So all those Varaha cronies are half-White Elves, then?”

“Correct. Not only us, Ruvan as well.”

Turan recalled the heir of Ruvan he had seen recently.

He had already felt disgusted at the idea of a fallen god possessing a human body, and now, knowing that it was also partially of another race, the revulsion deepened.

Since relations with Ruvan had already deteriorated through the recent conflict, perhaps it would be worth dealing with them soon as well...

“What about Zahar and the others?”

“I don’t know for sure, but probably not. It seems they have a secret technique that allows them to wield stronger power through the human body alone.”

“Then they don’t know your true nature either.”

“If they did, we would’ve been exterminated long ago. It’s well known they’ve never liked us. Thankfully, since we retained some original memories, even if imperfect, we could maintain the facade of being gods and continue interacting with them.”

Fortunately, White Elf necromancy was a spiritual technique not confined to the body, so even in human form, they could continue reincarnating in the way they did now.

Presumably, the mechanism differed somewhat from the reincarnation practiced by the gods in the western houses.

“Alright. Then where are your comrades? For this question, I’ll offer a proper price.”

As he said this, Turan snapped his fingers, and the chains binding Reshion’s body unraveled on their own.

Naturally, even without the binding effect, Reshion could not do anything within this place, but simply being able to freely move his limbs again would have brought a significant sense of liberation.

“You’re releasing me without even hearing the answer?”

“Obviously, if the answer isn’t proper, you’ll be bound again.”

Turan gave the reward first in order to let him feel the pleasant sensation of being unshackled.

Once you experience that, you won’t want to return to the tightly bound state from just a moment ago.

“For reference, I already know that it’s roughly somewhere underground. I’m only asking you to save myself the trouble.”

Though he tossed out the words as if it was no big deal, Turan actually regarded the search and confinement of these Varaha gods as a highly important matter.

Even if the chance was low, should they escape the soul storage on their own and possess someone again, it would be a huge ordeal to find and eliminate them once more.

Perhaps due to the difficulty of betraying his own comrades, Reshion hesitated for a long while, sighing repeatedly, before eventually nodding.

It seemed the bluff about already knowing they were underground had worked, and the ominous clinking of chains a few times helped, too.

In the end, he was a prisoner caught in Turan’s grip, unable to enjoy even the barest peace, let alone freedom of the soul, unless he complied.

“Next to the bedroom, in front of the second bookshelf in the study, recite the following incantation: ‘Om Amogha Vairocana Mahamudra Mani Padma Jvala Pravartaya Hum’. Use the same method to close the door.”

“What does it mean?”

“It’s from an old novel I enjoyed. I’m not sure what it means exactly, probably some kind of Buddhist mantra.”

Buddhism, mantra, these were unfamiliar terms to Turan, but he didn’t react to them.

He was now used to godlike beings mentioning concepts and worldviews he couldn’t comprehend.

“Alright, let’s check if this works first, and then move on to the next part.”

“Mhm.”

If it turned out to be a lie, anyone with a brain could guess the consequences would be horrifying.

Judging by Reshion’s composed demeanor, it seemed the method he gave wasn’t entirely false.

*

After finishing the negotiation and exiting the Jewel Box, Turan relayed the conversation with Reshion to the two people waiting outside.

Both were quite shocked, but the one more deeply affected was Solif, who was more directly involved.

“Reshion is... a White Elf? No, all the gods of our house!?"

“It’s hard to say they’re exactly White Elves, but that’s roughly what it is.”

With the stunned Solif beside him, Turan stood before the study he had just mentioned and recited the incantation.

At once, with a humming sound, a spatial door appeared before him.

“This is...”

Back when he went to the Tomb of the Gods, wasn’t this exactly how the entrance to the underground labyrinth had appeared?

It seemed these beings also had the ability to use spatial powers, even if only in limited ways. He would have to ask later how they had managed to create it.

With that thought, Turan stepped through the door with the other two.

Just like when he crossed through Armani’s Jade Mirror, the comforting air of the study instantly vanished and a cold air enveloped them.

“A cave?”

“No, it seems underground. I can sense activity from the ground far above."

Turan could sense creatures moving around several hundred meters up in the sky.

He guessed that this place was located somewhere beneath Helio City.

In the past, he had seen faint spirit bodies drifting downward, so it was just as he expected.

The surrounding area, like the space beyond the door, resembled a well-kept study or a secret residence.

With a smoothly reinforced cave wall, luxurious furniture was arranged all around.

However, while the place was fairly well organized, it was also dusty, and a few household items were even scattered on the floor.

It felt less like the base of a secret organization and more like a poorly maintained vacation villa.

Well, whether gods or White Elves, if it was a place only accessible to those at the very top of the noble houses, it made sense that cleaning wouldn’t be properly done.

They couldn’t exactly bring in an ordinary cleaner, and the users themselves weren’t the type to do a proper job of cleaning by hand.

This, despite the fact that each of them was a top-level wizard who could easily tidy up with a mere wave of the hand.

"Where should we look......"

“No need to look far. That has to be it.”

When Turan looked in the direction Solif pointed, he let out a low “Oh.”

Off to one side of the cave stood a massive stone slab, about three meters tall, positioned vertically.

As he approached and activated his spiritual perception, he saw spirits swirling inside.

Unlike Reshion, whom he had seen earlier, some looked even more alien, while others had spirit forms that somewhat resembled humans.

The rulers of House Varaha were trapped inside this single stone slab, waiting helplessly for his judgment.

"Greetings, friends."

Turan murmured with a sinister expression, reaching out his hand, that it was time for them to leave this place and go to a better one.

*****