Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 155

Chapter 155
Creak… Crack… Crack…

The floor Ravelstir was standing on began to crack as a terrifying amount of mana gathered around him. He replied, “You want me to convert? How long has it been since I received such an exciting proposal? So, what religion do you want me to convert to?”

“The Church of Madness,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“The Church of Madness?! Then you must be that famous Skeleton Church Leader. Is your church so great that I have to convert to it?” Ravelstir asked.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Then why are you asking me to convert?” Ravelstir asked.

“I’m not asking,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he pointed out the window, where three dragons were breaking down the defensive walls surrounding the cathedral. He continued, “I’m threatening you.”

He had to convert Ravelstir to the Church of Madness before the moon rose; religious unification would be achieved the moment Ravelstir agreed to convert.

Ravelstir smiled and said, “I’m disappointed that you actually thought I would even consider accepting your threat.”

A burst of mana spread throughout the room, and Ravelstir shouted, “Die!”

Ping! Clack! Crack!

The windows shattered, and Kang Yoon-Soo was thrown out of the window by the powerful mana burst. He was flung all the way over to the defensive walls surrounding the cathedrals, but he immediately recovered and flew up. All of his bones had visible cracks on them, but they were still slowly mending by themselves.

‘My immortal power is running out,’ he thought. He looked up at the top of the cathedral, which was now surrounded by sinister mana. ‘As expected, it’s not going to be easy.’

Ravelstir had begun casting powerful black magic.

‘Ravelstir is strong enough to contend against the three dragons with his black magic,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

Ravelstir had devoted his entire life to black magic, and he was a terrifyingly powerful lich that the likes of Mini-Lich would not even be worth comparing to.

Kang Yoon-Soo had to further corrupt Ravelstir and forcefully convert him to the Church of Madness, but he would not be able to achieve that through conventional ways. He looked toward the three dragons.

“Kraaaaaa!”

“The scales on its neck are thin! Aim your arrows there!”

“The Templar Knights are to climb the dragon’s neck and cut it open with their swords!”

The army of the Church of Sylphia was unfazed despite facing the terrifying dragons. This trial was set in a time period when the Church of Sylphia was at its peak in terms of strength. The followers of the church fought with a zeal that approached madness, and they were so tenacious that they would rather die than admit defeat. Additionally, while they were in the cathedral, their divine power was quickly restored and they received various buffs.

‘But the dragons will still overpower them,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

The momentum of the battle remained unambiguously on the dragons’ side. The Church of Sylphia might have a lot of advantages and buffs, but dragons were on a different level from humans. As planned, the cathedral was gradually being destroyed.

‘Destroying the cathedral is easy, but my aim is to convert Ravelstir to the Church of Madness,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. There was something he had to find if he wanted to make Ravelstir admit defeat and convert. He had to find the one and only weakness of a lich. ‘Life vessel.’

Liches were powerful immortals, but they had one critical weakness, which was the fact that they would die if their life vessels were broken.

[You have descended from the top floor of the cathedral.]

[The right to pass through the cathedral’s barriers is granted to those who have reached its pinnacle.]

[You are now able to enter the restricted zones of the cathedral.]

‘It was the right call to go up to the top first,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

It was at that moment that Ravelstir completed his spell.

A giant black chain materialized atop the cathedral, coiling itself around the necks of the three rampaging dragons.

“Kruuuuuwaaaah!” The three dragons roared as they struggled to break free. However, the chain dug deeper into their necks the more they resisted.

“Now’s our chance!”

“Kill the dragons!”

The troops used the opening to launch an all-out attack on the three dragons.

‘I’ll find the life vessel while the dragons are distracting them,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He entered the cathedral once again and went to find the secret passage that led to the basement, which he knew was located in the back of an old storage room.

[You have the right to pass through the barrier.]

[You have entered the forbidden basement.]

Creak…

The moment Kang Yoon-Soo opened the door, he was met with the stench of blood. He flew through the door and into a blood-stained prison, which contained the offerings to be sacrificed on the altar found past it.

“H-Human? No, it’s a skeleton!”

“Skeleton? N-No, forget about that. It would be fine even if it were the devil himself! Please! Please save me!”

Kang Yoon-Soo paid no heed to the offerings’ desperate pleas as he flew past them, and he soon reached the bloody altar. The altar was incredibly large, befitting the size of the cathedral.

“Grrrrr…!”

There were hideous-looking creatures roaming around that had mutated after drinking the corrupted blood spilled on the altar. They had enough strength to rip through shields made of pure gold[1], and they displayed exceptional agility and speed.

Kang Yoon-Soo hid behind a pillar and thought, ‘I’m almost out of immortal power. I have to preserve myself from now on.’

He had no way of killing the hundreds of creatures lurking around the altar, but he definitely had to get past them in order to have any chance at stealing the lich’s life vessel. Thus, he returned to the prison.

“S-Skeleton! It’s that skeleton from a while ago!”

“Please! Please help us!”

The offerings started to plead desperately for help once again.

Kang Yoon-Soo gathered dark divine power in his hand.

Bam!

The prison doors exploded one by one, and the prisoners ran out while crying tears of joy.

“W-We made it! We’re alive!”

“Thank you! Now I’m free!”

“You might look like a skeleton, but you’re a warm person inside, aren’t you?”

Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and replied, “No.”

The divine power coiled itself around the prisoners, and it was only then that they finally noticed that something was wrong.

“H-Huh?”

“I’m floating!”

“Where are you taking us?”

Kang Yoon-Soo lifted the people and dragged them toward the altar.

The prisoners screamed in horror.

“D-Don’t tell me—!”

“N-No! Don’t!”

Kwachik!

The prisoners were crushed, and the altar was covered in blood.

[512 innocent people have been sacrificed at the altar.]

[192 Templar Knights, 167 Mercenaries, 147 Magic Knights, and 3 Thieves have been sacrificed.]

[The abilities of the sacrifices have been absorbed by your bones.]

[You have become an evil monster.]

[Your evil deeds have made you an enemy of mankind.]

This power was supposed to have been shared among the Templar Knights of the Church of Sylphia. However, Kang Yoon-Soo monopolized all that strength alone.

‘I can now fight,’ he thought as he pulled out one of his ribs. His body had been granted such overwhelming power that one of his own bones would be a more effective weapon than anything else. Thus, he flew around and smashed the hideous creatures in the head, one by one.

Kwachik!

The creatures’ heads exploded in one hit, killing them instantly.

“Grrrrrrr…!” The remaining horde of creatures growled simultaneously and charged at Kang Yoon-Soo.

Kang Yoon-Soo took another one of his ribs in his other hand and swung it mercilessly at the creatures.

[You have inflicted fatal damage to the corrupted creatures.]

[The bone in your hand is more durable than reinforced steel!]

[You have destroyed three heads in a single strike!]

Kang Yoon-Soo made sure to kill every single one of the creatures. As he continued the slaughter, the ceiling of the basement shook. He thought, ‘They must be fighting quite a battle up there.’

He did not have much time left. He thought, ‘Ravelstir hid his life vessel somewhere in the basement.’

Liches usually hid their life vessels somewhere within reach, but always chose places where nobody would ever find them.

Kang Yoon-Soo went deeper into the basement, and he eventually reached a dead end. He placed his hand on the wall, and then…

Creak… Crack…!

He broke down the wall, revealing a clean white space; it was a magical corridor that had countless doors on either side.

Creak…

Kang Yoon-Soo opened the first door, and a bright light flashed before his eyes. The room was filled with shining vessels. He thought, ‘All of the rooms are stacked with life vessels.’

It was the same for each door he opened. Every single door was filled with hundreds or even thousands of life vessels stacked in them, and within the corridor, there were hundreds of doors. Ravelstir had prepared hundreds of decoys as a countermeasure, just in case an intruder arrived. It would take Kang Yoon-Soo a whole day to go to every single room and break each vessel.

‘I don’t have time for this,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He waved his hand and channeled his dark divine power. He broke down every single door, and the life vessels behind each door poured out from their respective rooms. He lifted the vessels into the air and thought, ‘The life I lived as a Master Craftsman…’

Kang Yoon-Soo observed the life vessels one by one with a sharp-eyed gaze, and soon found a single one that was infinitesimally thicker than the others. He grabbed the vessel and thought, ‘So this is the real one.’

He returned to the surface with the lich’s life vessel in tow. The sun had already set and night had fallen, and as the Full Moon of Darkness would rise soon, his time limit was almost up. However, the fierce battle on the surface still continued.

“Oh, chains of darkness. Bind mine enemies down!” Ravelstir cast a spell, sacrificing his followers instead of mana.

“Aaaahk!”

“Oh, goddess Sylphia!”

The followers died one by one, while powerful black magic enveloped the three dragons.

“Kruuuuwaaah!” The three dragons roared while resisting stubbornly.

The Ignus Dragon and Ice Dragon unleashed their dragon breath at the same time, destroying even more of the cathedral.

“I see that this corrupted creature has no sense of fear!” The Dust Dragon roared as it spewed out acid toward Ravelstir. Ravelstir tried to avoid the stream of acid, but he was caught up in it.

Shwaaaa…!

“This is starting to annoy me…” Ravelstir muttered even as his skin melted from the acid. What emerged from the acid spray was a lich clad in robes. Ravelstir looked at the destroyed cathedral and his dead followers before grumbling, “A bunch of lizards destroyed everything I’ve built. I don’t know why you lizards that always boasted of your neutrality suddenly decided to ambush me, but this isn’t over!”

Ravelstir began casting teleportation magic, and his figure slowly started to fade. He was running away from the dragons after suffering defeat at their hands. However, he said with a spine-tingling laugh, “I shall return, and I’ll definitely hold the entire continent in my hands!”

Right at the very moment when Ravelstir was about to disappear…

Kwachik!

“Kuheok!” Ravelstir winced in pain as his teleportation spell was canceled. He was extremely confused, never having experienced such pain in his entire life.

It was then that Kang Yoon-Soo walked up to him with his life vessel in hand.

“Y-You… You bastard…!” Ravelstir cried out.

“Believe in the Church of Madness,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he struck the life vessel with the back of his sword.

Kwachik!

“Kuheeeook!” Ravelstir groaned in pain as a crack formed on his life vessel.

The three dragons squinted and decided to watch from the sidelines.

Ravelstir glared at Kang Yoon-Soo with eyes filled with hate, then suddenly exclaimed, “Snitch!”

It was a high-grade magic spell that allowed the user to steal from the target, and the life vessel in Kang Yoon-Soo’s hand trembled for a short while… but that was it.

“Believe in the Church of Madness,” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated as he struck the life vessel once again.

Kwachik!

“Damn it! What did you do? Why is my magic not working?!” Ravelstir screamed angrily.

“You’re still too lacking to call yourself a lich,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“W-What are you talking about?” Ravelstir asked.

“A lich’s magic power starts being reduced the moment their life vessel is cracked,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“That can’t be!” Ravelstir exclaimed in horror. He gritted his teeth and snapped back, “A lich is a higher species that has achieved the pinnacle of black magic! What the hell can a lowly skeleton like you know about being a lich?!”

“I know since I’ve been one,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

“…What the hell are you talking about?” Ravelstir asked in confusion.

“None of your business,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he struck the life vessel continuously.

Kwachik!

Kwachik!

Kwachik!

Ravelstir squirmed in agony, completely at the mercy of a lowly skeleton.

“What is it that you want?! Is it money? Or is it black magic? I’ll give you whatever you want!” Ravelstir shouted.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the lich and repeated, “I said, believe in the Church of Madness.”

The moon started to rise in the night sky. Right as the Full Moon of Darkness was about to fully rise in the sky, Ravelstir’s weak voice escaped through his lips. “I… will abandon the Church of Sylphia… and believe in the Church of Madness…”

[The head of the largest church on the continent, Ravelstir, has converted!]

[The religious unification of the monsters on the Sylphia Continent has been achieved!]

[The werewolves have started to despise the Church of Madness for some reason.]

Loud cries erupted from all over the continent. They came from none other than the monsters praying.

“Keruk! Kyaruk! Urnokra!”

“Kyaruruk! Urnokra…!”

“Urnokraaa…!”

The monsters’ cries reached all the way to the cathedral nested high atop the cliff.

The dragons disappeared and the cathedral crumbled as the entire world turned white.

[You have cleared the third trial!]

[You have obtained the additional reward for killing Bone Dragon Rawelkan.]

Reward: Dark Stone

Additional Reward: King of the Underworld’s Bone

1. In real life, gold is actually very soft, but this is a fantasy novel and gold on the Sylphia Continent is apparently very strong. ☜