Chapter 29: Temptation

Bodies.

Lots and lots of bodies.

Of different sizes and ages, both male and female. And monsters. All in different clothing and conditions. Riven and Kivara stopped walking and turned to stare at it.

The bodies were hanging from thin metal strings, like goods on display.

“What is this?” Riven said. There had to be more than thousands of bodies hanging from tree to tree, all swaying from invisible winds. Death aura covered them like a shroud, and mixed within the aura was another type of aura that he couldn’t put his hand to. It was like a personal type of aura, as if to say, “Those bodies belong to me.”

Kivara shook her head. “This is like a Necromancer’s collection, but I’ve never heard of one this big.”

“Collection?” Riven asked as he turned to look at her.

“Yes. You Necromancers, your main powers come from the bodies you collect, right? Well, some Necromancers and merchants sell bodies, both humans and monsters. You can go and purchase bodies that you like in the market or such.”

Riven was horrified. It never occurred to him that such things were possible. “So they hang them like this?”

She nodded. “Necromancer sects also have collections like this that they use for training and all that.”

‘…Makes sense, I guess…’ Riven thought. “Then the Necromancer… is still in the Catacomb? Or is this just like a reflection or what?”

Kivara turned to the trail. “There’s one way to find out.”

They began to walk again, faster this time. The many trees that surrounded them still carried the bodies that swayed gently. The ground turned more narrow and rough. They didn’t even know where they were going because, unlike before, the Catacomb didn’t tell them the rules.

Riven had a suspicion that they would find their answers at the end of the trail. He clutched the technique book tight in his hand, ready to quickly use it to call a technique if things went wrong.

But things had been wrong since they stepped into the forest. It just seemed to be more wrong then. The shadows got deeper, and the cold seeped into the skin and coiled around their bones, making movement difficult.

The auras surrounding the bodies swelled into bellowing pressure that continued to sweep the forest. It was as if something was looking out from those bodies, even as their eyes were closed.

And then the trail cut off, and they were staring at the end of the path. In front of them was the biggest tree either of them had ever seen, and it was made entirely of flesh.

Swollen, colored flesh that wept blood and rot water. It was decaying. Each branch of the tree produced a fruit… a whole human. Branches had drilled into their heads and sucked something dry from them, turning them into husks for the tree.

Riven watched. “Those bodies… they don’t look like practitioners.”

Kivara nodded. “Yes. They’re normal humans.”

“There have to be thousands of them up there. Just what is this place?”

Even Kivara shivered. “Catacombs exist naturally or are formed by abandoned pocket worlds, just twisted.”

“Pocket worlds? Where do pocket worlds come from?”

“When you reach certain ranks, you will be able to form personal pocket worlds. The history of our world is long, and there are numerous lost pocket worlds out there, but this one, though…”

“It doesn’t seem as if it was lost,” Riven’s lips tightened. “It’s as if something is controlling it, making us come to it, and I think it’s this tree. How many famous Necromancers have pocket worlds?”

Kivara looked at him as if he were insane. “How am I to know? But this pocket world is big, it even has a sun, and I’m sure there are more layers than the two we have seen. It’ll be of the higher ranks at least. The Necromancer King… well, in our recent era, there is only that name that could fit something like this.”

“The Necromancer King. Someone actually holds the title?” Riven asked.

“Of course. And the Eastern part of the continent was his headquarters back then, where he ruled his undead kingdom. That is why Necromancer sects are more popular here.”

That was news to Riven. He studied the tree again and shivered. What did a Necromancer King want with him?

“But how can a Necromancer King die?”

Kivara blinked at him and then shrugged. “How should I know? But he fits this, unless this place belongs to those ancient, powerful Necromancers. But I noticed the clothing of the hanging bodies earlier… it’s much closer to modern trends.”

Riven was suddenly spooked by the environment.

‘…Maybe I shouldn’t have taken the book… No… I would still take it should the situation present itself again… I won’t turn back from something that will lead to power… I will just have to deal with whatever this is as well…’

“What’s his name? The Necromancer King that you mentioned?”

“Nobody knows his name, but he’s called Wandering Death.”

Immediately she spoke the name, they felt a presence turn its attention to them, as if it had suddenly become aware. The forest shook, and the trees swayed madly as if they would fall over.

The big tree in the middle shuddered, the human skin it was made of squirmed and began to peel back. The tree folded into itself until it revealed the contents inside. It was a man made of shadows, everything about him twisting and writhing.

The only thing they noticed about it was that it was wearing a crown made from small spines. Its head was connected to a long shadowy pipe that was in turn connected to the tree, drawing nutrients through the bodies using the tree.

Kivara took several steps back as she instinctively felt the fear that made her whole body tremble. “We have to get out of here immediately!”

But in turn, Riven was attracted to the shadowy figure. His eyes turned dark as the purple leaked away. He began to take unsteady steps forward.

“Riven! Riven! Shit, you bastard! Come back here!”

Kivara called, but Riven didn’t seem to hear her as he walked towards the figure that floated toward him in turn. For her, she couldn’t even take a single step forward. She kept going backward and could only watch as another naive practitioner was about to get killed.

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