Chapter 110: New Home, Again
As expected, the mansion was extremely dirty, but it was somehow worse than Lea expected.
Dust covered every surface in thick layers, and furniture lay broken and scattered. The windows were cracked, letting in cold air. The previous owner had clearly left in a hurry, or died here, and no one bothered to clean up.
Fucking perfect...
Lea set down her bags and got to work.
Her Cursed Constructs spread through the building like black veins, checking every room, every corner. She began the tedious process of making this place livable.
She started with the bedroom, a large chamber on the second floor with a view of Lacrosa's stone wall. The bed frame was intact, but the mattress was ruined.
"Uh...", she stares at the skeletal creature in the closet, it doesn't look like a human, so maybe it is just something the previous owner left behind?
Shaking her head, Lea continued her work.
She dragged the mattress out, along with rotted curtains and broken furniture. Her constructs helped lift debris and carry it to a growing pile outside.
When she came back, her eyes fell on the skeleton in the closet. Something was slightly off about it...
"Did it move?", she wondered.
The bathroom came next. Ancient plumbing that barely worked,
Kitchen. Study. Living room.
Each space slowly transformed from abandoned wreck to something approaching habitable.
Lea worked through a dozen hours, her body not needing rest, fueled by determination and the restless energy of her self-imposed curses.
By the time her curses ended, the mansion was... livable. Not comfortable, but functional at least.
Lea collapsed into the one chair she'd managed to salvage, breathing hard despite not being physically tired. The mental exhaustion was real, though. Her thoughts were still about Dream's Grave, and the guilt that she abandoned her friends at the very first challenge.
She pushed them down. Focused on the next task.
Now, spirits or ghosts are haunting this house; she can feel them hiding from her all this time. Especially the skeleton in the closet, she swore it moved every time she went to the bedroom.
For now, in the dimly lit study room, Lea opened up the books she bought. The first was 'Basic guide to rituals'.
Skimming through the book, her accelerated mind grasps the knowledge quickly. And she also felt a chill running down her spine.
The protection of the Steam Bat hit resistance, but it soon faded away.
"So ritual is a type of forbidden knowledge...", she muttered.
Rituals are the art of requesting power from nature, spirits, or higher entities, either by chanting the Honorific Titles of a specific force or drawing symbols dedicated to those beings. Without a Material Path to channel these forces safely, practitioners risk corruption, possession, or worse. A proper medium is essential...
Lea's lips curved into a grim smile.
She had a medium in her own body.
She'd already proven it worked; carving curses directly into her flesh worked. Using her own blood and pain as the foundation for power. Her body was already a vessel for mystical forces.
Why stop there?
Lea read further, absorbing information about ritual circles, chants, offerings, and symbolic components. Most of it was designed for people who needed external tools to channel power safely.
But she was different.
She can carve rituals in the form of curses into her own body. And Lea has more than enough willpower to endure; she has proven herself after all.
Lea ended up weaving a fireball spell onto her hand. It was hot but not that bad; she could curse herself with a coldness curse and neutralize the feeling.
Then she moved on to the next book.
'How to Contract Familiars' was thicker and more detailed. It covered everything from simple animal companions to binding spirits and otherworldly entities.
Most pathstriders contracted familiars that complemented their abilities. Scouts for reconnaissance. Guardians for protection. Elemental spirits for additional combat options.
Lea had something else in mind.
Those faceless demons that came for her in her weakest moments. She wants to make the Servants of the Unconscious her minions, to turn them into her hands...
All she could feel was rage...
The poetic justice appealed to her on a visceral level.
The book warned extensively about binding hostile entities.
'Never attempt to contract beings that bear you malice. Never bind creatures stronger than you can control. Never use your own essence as the primary binding without failsafes...'
Lea ignored the warnings.
She had Cursed Constructs that could contain and restrain. She had the title Faceless Twilight, granted by an alien god. And she had survived Dream's Grave, the very realm those demons called home.
If anyone could bind the faceless demons, it was her.
Lea spent hours cross-referencing the two books, designing a hybrid ritual in her mind, mainly using the Honorific Title. Use her body as the medium, her Cursed Constructs as the containment vessel.
And her blood and curses as the binding contract.
She sketched the ritual design in a journal, refining it, checking it against both texts' guidelines.
By the time she finished, exhaustion finally caught up to her. Real exhaustion. The kind that came from mental effort rather than physical exertion.
Lea looked at her design one last time.
A summoning circle carved into her own flesh. Cursed Constructs are forming a cage within the circle. Blood offerings to attract the demons. And a binding contract spoken with the authority of her new title.
Dangerous. Insane. Exactly the kind of reckless plan Charlotte would call "entertainingly stupid."
Lea smiled.
"Perfect."
She held her hand out to the ritual summoning circle she had made, drawn to look like a dreamcatcher.
"Wanderers of the Mind;
Faceless demons of Dream;
Those who haunt the Unconscious."
Summoning a familiar is easy; you just need to chant something that is related to the being you want to be your familiar. So the more specific the better, all within three lines.
"I hereby call upon you, bind yourself to me."
The circle lit up in a pale blue light, sickly and unnerving.
"To forge a Contract of give and give!!"
Her Cursed Constructs began to rise, surrounding the circle. Lea's smile grew even wider.
Boom!!
A flash of pale blue light burst forth, but Lea didn't look away; she burned the sight into her mind.
A pale grey naked monster with bat wings, two horns on its head, and bearing no face. And the Name of the monster entered her mind.
Twilight Gaunt...
The Servants of the Lord of Abyssal Depth.
=0=0=
In the New World.
After a long time of negotiating with the tribes of the New World, the date for the expedition toward the North Pole is on the way.
Under the divine protection of the Goddess of Madness, all the high-ranking clergy members had learned of the Fog Wall. It is a literal fog wall encompassing the entire North Pole, blocking out any information about it. Even trying to learn about it is impossible under normal means.
Eric was busy packing up stuff and utilizing his power of Madness, supported by Transfiguration, Ash, and Order to create high-quality armors from the beasts of the New World, transforming the still living creatures into living equipment.
That was when he heard a commotion.
"Who are you to step onto the sacred land of the Goddess?!"
A gigantic burst of power erupted from the edge of the Land of Crimson Tree, knocking him back. And that voice... that was Saintess Olivier.
He dropped what he was doing and ran toward the commotion. Many other people, clergy and tribal men alike, also came with him.
But once he laid eyes upon the intruder, he could not help but widen his eyes.
Silver hair that flows beautifully in the wind, azure eyes adorned with white eight-pointed stars in each. Wearing a blue and silver trench coat fluttering in the breeze, she wields a spiraling silver lance that seems to embrace her.
Charlotte Silvi, the Heretic who brought mysticism to light. An uncaring murderer and monarch of another world. The "master" of that monochrome library.
And she was casually choking the Saintess.
"Sularao is quite impatient, isn't she?", the Heretic spoke in a casual tone, "It isn't the right time, yet."
With ease, Charlotte threw the Saintess to the side, who was grasping for air.
Then Krima walked forward as the crowd parted for him with reverence and respect.
"Who are you to stop Mother's grand plan?", the Savior narrowed his crimson eyes, readying for conflict.
Eric could only watch as an inevitable fight was about to break out.
Charlotte's eyes dart around. She was slowly being surrounded by the followers of the goddess... but she only sneered, it was a fair fight...
For the believers, that is.
"Who am I, you asked?", she walks forward, raising the tension higher.
"I am Charlotte Silvi, the Monarch of Humanity."
Then she added...
"But not this world's humanity."
Seemingly recognizing something amiss, Krima shouted, "Stay back!!"
Boom!!
Something landed right in front of Charlotte, making Krima jump back. Olivier had already recovered and jumped in between the Monarch and the Savior, raising her golden sword in defense.
When the smoke cleared, everyone saw what was next to Charlotte...
A coffin, a silver coffin bearing the symbol of infinity.
"Stop this expedition, or something unfortunate might happen.", that was her warning.
Charlotte kicked the coffin upward, then began swinging the coffin around like a flail before anyone could even speak.
The silver coffin carved through the air with a horrifying whoosh, the chain rattling as it spun.
"Wait—!", Olivier barely got the word out before the coffin slammed toward her.
She raised her golden sword, channeling divine blessing into the blade.
CLANG.
The impact sent shockwaves through the ground. Olivier's arms buckled, her feet skidding backward across the dirt. The coffin didn't even slow down.
It spun around for another pass.
"Scatter!!", Krima screamed.
Too late for some.
The coffin crashed through a cluster of tribal warriors. Bodies exploded into crimson mist on impact, painting the sacred ground red. The silver surface remained pristine, unblemished.
Charlotte continued swinging with casual, almost bored precision. The coffin carved deadly arcs through the air, forcing everyone back.
Olivier charged again, sword blazing with golden light. She aimed for Charlotte herself—
The coffin changed trajectory mid-swing, intercepting her blade. Another devastating CLANG. This time, Olivier's Judgement Blade shattered.
"Impossible...", she gasped, staring at her weapon, before being sent away by the impact.
"Stop wasting my time.", Charlotte said flatly, still spinning the coffin, "I gave you a warning. Accept it or die."
Krima's eyes blazed crimson. Flesh-vines erupted from the ground, trying to ensnare Charlotte's legs, the chain, anything—
The coffin smashed through them like paper.
Eric watched in horror as more followers were caught in the spinning death trap. Blood sprayed, bones shattered. The Heretic didn't even look strained.
"This is your final chance.", Charlotte announced, halting the coffin's momentum with impossible ease by just holding it, "Cancel the expedition to the North. Or I'll kill everyone here and salt the earth so nothing grows again."
Her azure eyes held no mercy.
"Choose quickly, I'm getting bored."