บท 94: The Book of the Dead
A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree'' ⬅️
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"You… You are… You are…"
"I am what?"
"Finally… It's over."
Vadim wasn't the kind of guy to believe in myth and miracles, since even in a world of magic, there was a limit to how far a fantasy could go.
Such fantasies include Good Demons, Evil Light Spirits, Friendly Undead, etc.
Well, this was the first time Vadim would hear of… or rather witness a Banshee, an undead of woe, becoming a friendly spirit.
Her horrifying visage wasn't horrifying anymore; rather, she looked like a ghost that lingers in the world of the living. This was even a rarer case than many mythical beasts and storytime monsters.
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{ Rhyme }
[ Revenant Banshee ] < Spectral Undead >
A Revenant Banshee differs from a regular Banshee in a lot of ways, While the Banshee is a being of woe whose emotions are always wild and woeful, the Revenant Banshee is saner and doesn't wail all the time, However, Revenant Banshees are the harbinger of grief that can inspire suicide and negative emotions in the weak of will. She has the following abilities:-
- Death Magic: The creature can use the Magic of Death due to their negative unliving energy and can also use other forms of magic.
- Phantasmal Psyche: The creature can induce strong hallucinations, which can drive a weak-willed target to the edge of sanity and resort to self-harm.
- Leech Life: The creature can drain its target's vitality when passing through them.
- Invisibility: the creature can turn invisible by shutting off its light until it attacks or possesses.
- Incorporeal Nature: The creature is immune to physical attacks with mundane weapons and can only be harmed by magical attacks.
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From a Banshee to a Revenant Banshee, this was what can be called a miracle.
For some reason, unsealing that book made Rhyme turn from one state of undeath to another.
Leon was right; he is somehow linked to that book, but Vadim couldn't even figure anything out anymore.
"Shady?" Vadim thought, "Could that be some sort of alter ego caused by living away from his family for 8 years, or maybe he got brainwashed to think of him as someone else to the point where he can't become the previous Leon anymore?"
Vadim had to stand and watch as Leon sorted through his thoughts.
"The Book of the Dead?" Leon asked Rhyme, "This is… it's a funerary text, right?"
Leon opened the cover of the book, but it was heavy. It seemed that everything in the book was made of a jet-black metal frame and solid gold sheets. Because of that, the book looked like a box when all the pages were sealed together.
The first text he saw was written in Ancient Holy Glyphs, which he can't read.
"Can you read it for me, Rhyme?" Leon asked, but the Banshee was still muttering to herself.
"Rhyme!" Leon called, and the Banshee looked at him.
"You… I was told to wait for you." She said with a very faint tone, "Mother said so."
"Me?" Leon frowned, "Tell me all you know."
His pushy attitude didn't hasten anything at all, as the Undead are cold if not aggressive.
"I don't… it's all… a long time ago…" Rhyme tried to search through her memories, but she only managed to piece together what she said earlier.
Her mother told her to wait for him. He shall open the book without her blood. She was betrayed.
"Please… remember more." Leon wanted to touch the Banshee, but Vadim held his hand away.
"The Dead are unburdened by the matters of the living. Let what they know rest in oblivion and cause no more disturbance."
Vadim's words were wise and sound, but Leon had almost figured out something new about what happened to him and caused him to Transmigrate. A secret that he can't simply ignore.
"What about the ring?" Leon asked, "Do you know anything about this?"
Leon showed the Ring to Rhyme, but her response was almost shocking.
"What… ring?" She said.
Just like anyone else, she saw no ring on his hand. Still, Leon couldn't give up.
"This inscription on the cover of the book, what does it mean?" Leon asked and pointed at the drawing of the Ring of Horus at the center of the book's cover.
"A serpent biting its tail." Rhyme seemed passive about it.
"A serpent biting its tail, ya say?" But Vadim was the one who seemed to have remembered something, "I got a feeling that this had something to do with Alchemy."
Leon turned to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I remember something along the lines of it being a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposites. If ya want to know more, then the best Alchemist I know is… well… Annabelle Dark." Vadim said, shrugging his shoulders.
It was as if all roads lead to Annabelle Dark. Leon sighed inwardly and turned to Rhyme.
"It is okay with you if I take the book." He asked.
"You have unsealed it and freed me from the long wait; it belongs to you." Rhyme said.
"What about you?" Leon asked, "What's there for you?"
"My soldiers have faded; it is time for me to fade as well." She said, "I still have revenge to achieve but seeing the book in your hand is almost just as good… I don't know why."
"Then… Can you tell me anything about the book? Can you help me read it, at least?" Leon asked.
"A page will not turn until a page is read. A book that sees through the Duat. A book that tells various things. It also serves as a record." She said all she knows about the book.
"A record?" Leon asked, "Of what?"
Rhyme tilted her head as if it were the most obvious thing there was.
"Of the Dead."
A record of the dead?
Across the history of Ancient Egypt, there was no single canonical Book of the Dead. They were all a collection of many texts gathered by the Priests of Osiris and sometimes commissioned by people to have specific things in them. They contained magical spells, charms, protection prayers, and such. The most common part about them is the description of the Journey of the Soul to the Duat and, of course, the Record of the Dead.
In this case, each family had its own Book of the Dead, and in each book, the names of the dead were recorded. This was the most basic purpose for a Book of the Dead.
But what about this version?
It can't be that it was commissioned by a certain individual since it was passed to him and he is meant to learn something from it. It must serve a different purpose.
"What happens when I record a name in the Book of the Dead?" Leon asked.
"If the name belongs to the restless, this dead gets bound to the book. But you should know that it is not a forceful contract but rather a way of summoning." Rhyme replied.
"Like in your case."
"Yes."
"And how do I write a name in the Book?"
"I am not aware, but I believe you will know eventually."
Leon thought for a few seconds before closing his eyes and touching the book.
"Would you mind if I recorded your name in the book… If I can?" Leon asked.
"But…" Rhyme became hesitant, "That would bind me to you?"
"Exactly." Leon replied, "There's still much I need to learn from you and ask you."
Rhyme was an opportunity Leon could not give up. If he can write her name in the book, he may have her by his side for as long as he needs.
Still, Rhyme seemed hesitant. She doesn't belong to this world and may be at peace leaving it now.
"And you said you wanted to punish your traitor." Leon said, "I doubt they are alive to punish them, but we can at least find their graves together and piss all over them."
Rhyme smiled, maybe for the first time in long, long years, and replied.
"I think you are right." She said, "Fine, record me if you can."
Leon smirked and only needed to do one thing after that. He put his palm on the book and took a deep breath.
"Bad idea, lad." Still, Vadim held his hand, "This would make you no different than some unholy necromancer."
Vadim was serious, but it only caused Leon to smile.
"If you were trying to persuade me, you wouldn't have said it better than that."
Unholy, necromancer, he won't shy from any opportunity presented to him, and so he started writing.
"Write!" He called for his unique Knowledge Magic spell, and as he felt connected to the magic of the world, he spoke the magic word, "Rhyme!"
***
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[ The Book of the Dead ] < Spiritual Text >
Look into the Duat for it to look back at you. Those who look back are…
- Rhyme (Banshee, Revenant)
- Will o' Wisp (x4)
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Not only did he record Rhyme's name in the Book of the Dead, but he even recorded the other four Will o' Wisps, who were the last remaining soldiers in her army of Wisps.
The Duat is the afterlife of Ancient Egypt, a term Leon never thought he would hear in this world. Still, there were too many connections between this world and Ancient Egypt to ignore. The Ring of Horus, the story of the Gods, the Obelisks, the Light worship, which is insanely similar to the Aten worship, and finally this Book of the Dead and the mention of the Duat.
Still, as soon as he recorded them, the four Wisps faded from existence, and only Rhyme remained.
"It seems like I am burdening you with figuring out more about the past." Leon spoke to her.
"It is not a burden compared to the long years I have waited." Rhyme replied, "I will serve you until your mortal soul passes to the other side, which is only a mortal glimpse. And who knows… those who tread the deadly paths, as you are not meant to live long anyway."
"BAH!" Vadim finally had it, "I am tolerating conversing with the dead but this… Banshees are bad news. She'll cause you demise and misery!"
"I have already hit the lowest low once, Vadim. I don't fear death." Leon turned to Vadim.
"Death is the sweetest embrace." Rhyme spoke at the mention of death, but it seemed like it was a monologue with her thoughts as a Revenant Banshee who entices suicide.
"See?" However, Vadim wasn't cutting her any slack.
"Ignore it. It's her nature." Leon said and turned to Rhyme, "You said you would serve me, right?"
"Until your death." She said.
"It is my lucky stars, then." Leon smiled, "Can you teach me the Magic of the Dead and the Holy Glyphs of your time?"
"I can…" Rhyme seemed passive about it but Vadim jumped in.
"Absolutely not!" Vadim shouted again, "It is dangerous! This is not simply Shadow magic we're speaking about. It is the magic of meddling with what shouldn't come back to life."
"I will just ask her to perform some spells while I read them." Leon said as if it were not a big deal.
"Just don't do it when I tell you not to. Even Dark Mages get trialed before the Light but Necromancers face immediate execution. It is absolutely dangerous." Vadim kept insisting.
"Fine." Leon rolled his eyes, but at the back of his head, he'd just do it away from the worrywart Vadim.
At the end of this, Leon asked Rhyme if she had anything she would like to take before leaving this place for good. She didn't say anything, but Leon said that he would recover her remains for her and keep them if she ever wanted a proper burial for her bones.
Rhyme then retreated to the Book of the Dead, where she would stay from now on, and told Leon to call her if he ever needed her services.
After that, Leon and Vadim doubled back on their traces after ensuring that nothing of value was left behind and left the bunker for the cave and the cave for the outside.
"Fresh air! Beautiful sunlight!" Leon stretched his body and enjoyed the blessing of life.
"Aye! We haven't slept the night, so we need to hurry." Vadim nudged him on the side as he strode forward.
They left their mounts deep in the forest. Vadim's dire wolf and Leon's Assassin Bison, Diesel, were kept separately, and it took Leon some time to figure out where he left his. After a few minutes of searching, Leon resorted to casting "Mystic Link", the spell he copied from Erielle, to communicate with his mount.
With that, they were on the road again, and the next stop was the Marth Bridge, the checkpoint between the heartland of the Amber and the Eastern Duchies.
It is at this bridge that all allies and enemies will meet.
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree'' ⬅️
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