"Corpse?"
Kurose Akira stared at the descriptor hovering above the dried remains, a flicker of confusion rising in his mind.
He couldn't quite understand it. Why was [Corpse] classified as a rare trait? Even [White Rose & Vowbound Knight] was only rare, and [Elf] was merely a common descriptor. On what grounds did [Corpse] deserve to stand alongside them?
Still, if he wanted answers, the first step was obvious—he had to obtain that corpse.
"Ivsha, is there any way to destroy those crystal spheres?" Akira asked.
As long as the magic array lost its source of power, it would naturally collapse. And those crystal spheres were clearly the reservoirs storing its magical energy.
Moreover, judging by the traces in the surroundings, those crystals had been here for many years.
"Of course," Ivsha nodded. Then she added cautiously, "But these crystal spheres seem to be protected by some kind of restriction. If triggered, it might cause a large-scale explosion."
"Don't worry. I can locate the restrictions."
A faint golden glow flickered in Akira's left eye. Since these were marks left behind by a witch, his demonic eye could naturally sense the faint magical fluctuations inside the crystals.
After a quick scan, he used his limited magic to mark the crystal spheres that contained restrictions.
Then he turned to Ivsha. "Leave the marked ones alone. Destroy all the others."
"Understood!"
Ivsha immediately followed Akira's command. She invoked holy magic, summoning several blades of light that sliced through the air. The unmarked crystal spheres shattered with ease.
The moment they broke apart, the glow of the magic array instantly dimmed.
The remaining marked spheres, having lost the protection and balance provided by the others, began to fall one after another, shattering across the ground.
"Is that enough?" Alice asked curiously.
"Not yet." Akira shook his head, his gaze fixed on the corpse at the center of the array.
Information began to flow into his vision.
[Corpse of Unknown Identity (?)]Level: 25 (0/7500)Race: UnknownStrength: 300 / Agility: 300 / Mana: 300 / Constitution: 300Growth: ? (Gain ? points to all attributes per level)Skills: (Expand)Trait: [Corpse] (After killing it, obtain this trait)
"Ivsha, attack the corpse with holy magic," Akira ordered without hesitation.
"As you command~"
Ivsha immediately began chanting. In the blink of an eye, the radiance of holy magic condensed into a blooming rose of light, which plunged violently toward the unknown corpse.
"ROAR—!"
Bathed in holy radiance, the corpse let out a series of low, guttural roars.
Due to the suppressive nature of holy magic, it took only a few seconds before the corpse was completely reduced to ash. At the same time, a notification popped up in Akira's field of view.
[You have obtained the rare trait — Corpse!]
[Corpse]: A docile corpse. It seeks nothing in return. A trace of warmth still remains within it.(If a suitable soul or material is found, it can be fused.)
"This trait is seriously bizarre…"
After reading the description of [Corpse], Akira froze in place.
And this so-called "fusion"… what exactly did that mean?
A magic card?
At the very least, there was no way in hell he would ever consider fusing [Corpse] with the [Saintess] trait.
A saintess's corpse—still warm?
What would he even do with something like that?
Just imagining it made his scalp prickle.
"The mission's complete. Let's head back."
Akira spoke to Ivsha and Alice as he prepared to activate the teleportation array.
But just then, something caught his attention.
"There's something here?"
With a frown, Akira walked over to where the corpse had been annihilated by holy light.
Only a pile of black ash remained—but within it, he faintly saw a glimmer of blue light.
Carefully, he reached out and picked it up. The moment he did, a brilliant crystal came into view. It shone like the purest heart of a glacier, emitting a blue crystalline glow.
"This is…"
[Ice Crystal (Elite): A magic crystal condensed from the power of the Icefield Witch, containing a bone-chilling aura of frost.]
"Could that corpse have belonged to the Icefield Witch? No… impossible."
Akira immediately dismissed the thought.
The Icefield Witch—an existence powerful enough to freeze an entire nation—how could she possibly have died here?
Besides, that corpse had only been level 25. There was no way it could have been her.
More likely, one of her followers had borrowed her power here to conduct some kind of ritual.
"Are there just… a lot of witches in this world?"
The thought suddenly occurred to Akira. He'd encountered far too many already.
The Moonlight Witch.The Witch of Night.The Icefield Witch.
And every single one of them was absurdly powerful.
Maybe this game should've been called Age of Witches instead.
With that thought, Akira stored the Ice Crystal in his inventory and left the area with Ivsha and Alice.
They still had other missions to complete—there was no time to linger.
Two hours later, Akira returned to the guild covered in dust and sand. They'd run into a sandstorm during one of their missions. Though the objectives were completed successfully, they were filthy from head to toe.
"I need a bath—now!"
Akira hurried toward the bathing room. Ivsha followed closely behind.
Bathing together—her favorite activity~
Alice watched them enter, curiosity lighting up her eyes as she followed after them.
Helping her master bathe was part of a maid's duties, after all!
After the bath, Akira emerged looking thoroughly exhausted, weariness etched across his face. Ivsha, by contrast, was all smiles. The magic sigil on her lower abdomen pulsed faintly, as if whispering of her satisfaction and delight.
Alice spun around happily as well. Her beautiful maid outfit shimmered with a crystalline sheen, her white stockings pristine and radiant.
Master cleaned her body very thoroughly!
"Loserine and the elf sisters still aren't back?" Akira asked.
Noticing their absence, he felt a twinge of concern—but he trusted Loserine's leadership. With her in command, the team shouldn't be in any real danger.
As he pondered, he immediately summoned the light screen.
The moment it activated, Akira saw Loserine locked in combat with a fanged demon.
"A demon?"
He frowned. According to their mission briefing, demons weren't supposed to be involved. Why were they encountering one mid-mission?
As the question formed in his mind, Loserine swung her vowbound sword, its blade blazing with radiant light.
The golden power of her oath poured down like a pillar of light, completely erasing the demon's body.
"Damn…" Akira couldn't help but exclaim.
That demon had to be at least level 30—but in front of Loserine, it stood no chance at all.
After dealing with the demon, Loserine and the elf sisters immediately returned to the guild.
"What was that demon about?" Akira asked at once.
"We don't know either!" Beafli explained anxiously. "The target was supposed to be an evil cultist—but after he gouged out his own eyes, he suddenly turned into a demon!"
"Yeah!" Flor added quickly. "If it weren't for Senior Loserine, we might've been in serious trouble!"
While the elf sisters were clearly shaken, Loserine herself remained calm.
She spoke succinctly. "That cultist likely formed some kind of connection with a demon recently. The commission details weren't updated in time, causing the difficulty to spike unexpectedly."
"I see…"
Akira frowned slightly. Missions truly were full of uncertainty. Descriptions were often finalized days in advance, and if the client failed to update them—or didn't even know the truth themselves—the actual difficulty could far exceed what was stated.
"Oh, right. After killing that cultist, he dropped something."
As she spoke, Loserine handed Akira a stone tablet.
"?"
Akira accepted it, puzzled. But the moment he examined the carved image on the tablet, his expression hardened.
The figure engraved on it—
It looked exactly like Ivsha.
No—wait.
Akira's eyes narrowed. Subtle differences stood out now.
This wasn't Ivsha.
It was Ithys.