Chapter 486

Chapter 371: Soul Burial

South Tivyán, Bishop Square.

In the cold night of the new year, within the alleyways at the edge of Bishop Square, Barlett Despenser’s semi-transparent pale spirit floated above the summoning ritual. This deceased soul, under the constraints of the ritual, exhibited a dazed expression and answered Dorothy’s questions without resistance.

‘As expected… The Mirror Moon Goddess depicted on the Mirror Moon Goddess Statue is the pure-colored main deity of ‘Shadow.’ My previous guess was correct, and Barlett actually dug up the ‘Shadow’ holy emblem from his home’s secret room!

Shivering in the cold wind by the roadside, Dorothy felt a surge of excitement upon hearing about the holy emblem from Barlett’s ghost. She had been searching for the ‘Shadow’ holy emblem, and now she finally had a clear lead!

Stabilizing her emotions, Dorothy took a deep breath and controlled the zombie puppet Brandon to continue questioning Barlett’s ghost.

“Your Excellency, where is your manor located? Where exactly in your manor is the Mirror Moon Goddess’s holy emblem?”

Under Dorothy’s control, Brandon continued to question Barlett’s ghost, who responded immediately after a brief pause.

“That is my villa outside Tivyán, southwest of the city. It is specifically located north of Shield Hill and south of Ashgrass Avenue. An artifact suspected to be the Mirror Moon Goddess’s holy emblem is stored in the research secret room of the villa. The entrance to the secret room is at the end of the west corridor on the first floor of the villa.

To activate the hidden passage entrance, you need to open the clock face on the wall at the entrance and set the hour hand to 12, the minute hand to 3, and the second hand to 6. Afterward, the clock face will reset to the correct time, and the secret room entrance will open. The holy emblem is inside the upper right drawer of the main desk in the secret room, and the drawer is unlocked.”

With a still dazed expression, Barlett’s ghost slowly spoke, and Dorothy nodded in satisfaction after hearing such detailed information. With this guidance, she would save a lot of time in her search.

After obtaining the crucial information, Dorothy instructed Brandon to ask Barlett’s ghost some other key questions.

“Your Excellency, do you remember how you died? What happened inside number one Blue Weave Street when you died? Did you see the murderer?”

Brandon asked Barlett’s ghost this, and after a brief silence, the ghost responded.

“The situation was sudden and chaotic. I’m not entirely sure what happened. I remember standing in the hall protected by guards, looking at paintings, when suddenly I heard a scream behind me. When I turned around…”

Just as Barlett’s ghost was about to continue, his spirit suddenly became extremely unstable, flickering and distorting like a poor-quality black-and-white TV, and his voice became choppy with static, making it incomprehensible.

“What’s happening? Why did he suddenly become like this?”

Seeing the anomaly in Barlett’s ghost, Dorothy asked Nephnis, who was conducting the ritual. Nephnis, possessed by Uta’s fragment, replied calmly.

“My fragment can’t hold out much longer. I told you that a summoning ritual performed through a fragment can’t last long. My ability to influence this spirit is decreasing, and the other ritual that summoned him hasn’t ended. That other ritual continues to exert influence on this spirit.

Simply put, because my influence is declining, the other summoning ritual is now competing with mine, causing this spirit to become unstable due to the conflicting forces.”

Nephnis, possessing Uta’s fragment, explained to Dorothy. Hearing this, Dorothy was stunned. Nephnis had previously mentioned that a summoning ritual conducted through a fragment was unstable and wouldn’t last as long as a normal one. That’s why Dorothy had asked for the essential information first.

Due to time constraints, Nephnis’s ritual’s influence was waning, while the ritual from the Eight-pointed faction was still ongoing despite not having summoned a spirit. Now, the influence from both sides had reached equilibrium, causing Barlett’s ghost to exhibit abnormalities and preventing him from answering Dorothy’s questions normally.

Moreover, the inability to answer questions was just a minor issue. The continuous decline in influence from Nephnis’s side could have more severe consequences.

“So… If our influence continues to decline, Barlett’s spirit might be re-summoned by the other side?”

Dorothy asked Brandon to inquire of Nephnis, who nodded wearily before replying.

“Yes… My influence is continuously declining, and the other side’s influence won’t change significantly over time, so I will inevitably lose control.”

“Is there any way to restore our influence? If not, simply stopping the other side from performing the ritual would suffice.”

Brandon continued, and Nephnis replied with a weary tone.

“My fragment can’t last much longer. Providing stronger influence won’t help; the ritual will soon collapse, and this spirit will be summoned away.

However, if we just stop the other side from performing the ritual, I have a method. I can shift the ritual, using the power of a shaman to connect with the Great Soul and create a pathway in the River of Souls. I’ll transform the summoning ritual into a soul-burial ritual, sending this spirit deep into the River of Souls near the Great Soul.

The Great Soul exerts constant influence on all souls. For the living, this influence is negligible, but for the dead, it is significant. Souls enter the River of Souls and return to the Great Soul under this influence.

The deeper into the River of Souls, the closer to the Great Soul, the stronger this influence becomes. Near the Great Soul, this influence is incredibly strong. The spirit will return under the Great Soul’s influence, and no mortal’s influence can compete with it, including mine.”

Nephnis, possessing Uta’s fragment, said wearily. Dorothy understood her meaning. Since they couldn’t compete with the other side’s influence, they would convert the nature of the ritual now, transforming it from a summoning to a soul-burial ritual, sending the spirit to a place closer to the Great Soul. Ordinary mortals’ summoning rituals couldn’t match the Great Soul’s influence, so the spirit would surely be drawn to it. Once the spirit returned, any further summoning rituals would be ineffective.

This way, neither side—hers or the Eight-pointed faction—would be able to summon Barlett again. Barlett would return to the source of his soul, carrying secrets that hadn’t been revealed yet.

“Very well, then please perform the soul-burial ritual now, sending this soul to the Great Soul.”

With his hands behind his back, Brandon spoke to Nephnis under Dorothy’s instruction. Nephnis nodded slowly after hearing Brandon’s words.

Then, Nephnis’s expression hardened. She extended her hands hovering above the magical array and began to make various gestures, silently reciting the incantations in the Spiritual Seal Language.

“Ahh… Source of myriad souls… Final destination of spirits… Eternal order of the underworld… By the name of the burial shaman at the resting place… Guiding me in the River of Souls… Lead me to the bridge to You…”