Chapter 433

Chapter 343 Review

Dorothy thought to herself once again. Soon after, she shifted her attention to the second secret transmission, “The Song of the Condemned.”

…

“The Song of the Rebel Dead” is also a secret transmission about the King of the Underworld. It is a poetry anthology praising the King of the Underworld. According to the introduction, in the indigenous tribes of the Northern Ufeiga desert, some tribes with d*ath worship customs worship a symbolized and abstract god of the dead, which basically points to the King of the Underworld. This secret transmission includes the hymns of praise that have been passed down orally among these tribes.

In these poems, the King of the Underworld is more like a god of the dead than a god of d*ath. In the praises, He is referred to as the rebel of the dead. Many contradictory descriptions can be found in these verses. Among them, there is a line on the surface that He is the first spirit in this world and thus the god of all spirits.

“Father of the Dead! You are the original returner! The immortal first spirit! You bring d*ath and desecrate d*ath! You control d*ath and betray d*ath! You are the desecrator and the rebel of the dead!”

…

‘The one who brings d*ath and desecrates d*ath… the one who controls d*ath and betrays d*ath… It feels like contradictory phrases. What exactly does it mean to rebel against d*ath?

‘Also… this secret transmission claims that the King of the Underworld is the first returner and the first spirit… Does this mean the King of the Underworld is the first existence to return from the underworld back to the mortal world? If so, wouldn’t the King of the Underworld have experienced d*ath before? Since He is the first to return from the underworld, could His actions of desecrating and rebelling against d*ath be referring to this return?’

Dorothy thought to herself, through these two secret transmissions, she had gained some understanding of the King of the Underworld. After contemplating these two secret transmissions, she began to recall the content of the third secret transmission, which introduced a new deity.

…

This third secret transmission was quite peculiar. There was no title or author listed; its origin was completely unknown. Although it looked like a book, when Dorothy opened it, she found that the cover contained a piece of expandable parchment. After unfolding it, she saw a bizarre image.

At first glance, the parchment depicted a skeleton, a black, standing skeleton. However, upon closer inspection, this black skeleton was not simply drawn but written.

Yes! Written skeleton! Tiny black sentences covered the entire parchment. These sentences were arranged in a regular, dense pattern, forming the picture of a black skeleton, which looked extremely eerie.

Upon closer examination, these sentences forming the skeleton were in various languages and handwriting styles, as if they were written by different people. Some of these sentences Dorothy recognized, but most she did not. Among the languages she recognized, what was written were extremely vicious hurtful words, curses filled with deep hatred towards others. The targets of these curses varied, but all wished for the cursed person to suffer a miserable fate.

Therefore, the parchment depicted a black skeleton entirely composed of curse-filled words. On the corner of the other side of the parchment, there were such words written.

“Servant of the King of the Underworld… Cursed Black Remains…”

…

‘Cursed Black Remains… Could this be the mixed-color deity on the path of the extraordinary branch of curses?’

Recalling the terrifying image on the parchment, Dorothy thought to herself, looking at the black skeleton constructed from curses, she judged the identity of the other party in her heart.

‘Servant of the King of the Underworld… Does this mean that this guy is a servant serving the King of the Underworld? If the King of the Underworld corresponds to the pure-colored main deity ‘Cup Mother,’ then this Cursed Black Remains would be a mixed-color deity like the Gluttonous Wolf… In the realm of Silence, apart from the King of the Underworld, there are still other deities…

‘Since there are extraordinary beings in the Underworld Coffin Cult who can use curses, this Cursed Black Remains should also be one of the objects of faith in the Underworld Coffin Cult. I wonder if there are other deities in the other branches of Silence…’

Dorothy pondered, having gone through all the contents of the three secret transmissions in her mind. Now it was time to extract spirituality.

Ultimately, Dorothy extracted 3 points of Silence and 1 point of Enlightenment from “The Immortality of the Soul,” 4 points of Silence and 2 points of Enlightenment from “The Song of the Rebel Dead,” and 2 points of Silence, 1 point of Shadow, and 1 point of Enlightenment from the scroll of the Cursed Black Remains.

Combining the previous consumption, Dorothy’s current state of spirituality is as follows:

10 Cups, 14 Stones, 6 Shadows, 4 Lamps, 23 Silences, 30 Enlightenments.

As for cash, Dorothy still has 6,350 pounds left.

‘Hmm… It’s barely manageable. Neither money nor spirituality is lacking too much, except that the Cups have been used up by 5 points, which is a bit painful. Once Vania finishes reading the secret transmission sent by the Wolf bl**d Association and gives it to me, the Cups will recover a little… Sigh… The consumption of Cups is too fast because of the energy-intensive living puppet. I hope this ability will become more energy-efficient after advancement…

‘Another noteworthy point is that 1 point of Shadow was extracted from the image of the Cursed Black Remains on the parchment. Does this mean that the Cursed Black Remains is a mixed-color deity primarily in Silence with auxiliary Shadow? The branch corresponding to it, the specialized path of curses that Larina excels in, has auxiliary spirituality as Shadow… I wonder if there are any other branches in the Underworld Coffin Cult beyond the path of curses, and if there are any deities at the top of those branches?’

Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy stroked her chin thoughtfully and then turned her gaze to the secret transmission books on the coffee table.

‘I’ve finished reading these three secret transmissions. I’ll show them to Neve next. By the time she finishes reading these three and her grandfather’s notes, I should have enough spirituality to advance to Black Earth. I hope the ritual will be simpler then.’

After organizing everything, Dorothy put the money and secret transmissions into her magic box and stretched out a big yawn.

“Mmm~ It’s time to sleep. I’ve been busy with the Underworld Coffin Cult business lately and haven’t rested well… I need to recuperate for a while. I’ll have to meet my parents-in-law in a couple of days…”

Yawning, Dorothy muttered, then she shifted her gaze to the other side of the coffee table where an envelope was placed.

Picking up the envelope, Dorothy casually opened it and looked at the familiar handwriting on it—Gregor’s handwriting—which danced across the opening of the letter.

“Hey, Dorothy, you must guess where I am now! Let me tell you, I’ve already arrived in Tivyán. We’re in the same city now! Surprised? Excited? You must be eager to see your older brother…”

With a calm expression, Dorothy read the letter she had just received in the afternoon. Just by reading the words and tone of the letter, she could imagine Gregor happily writing to her at his seat.

“I can communicate with you freely now. Looks like… your older brother’s advancement has ended… Your older brother has been in Tivyán for so long, it’s time we meet.”