Chapter 157: The Headless Horseman. The Weeping Mother, and the Spirit of the One Who Calls.

Unedited*

"I might finally understand what lies behind those pillars," he thought.

"Oh, right. I must be close to evolving too, right?" He looked inward, ignoring his surroundings.

Inside him, in a section of his core, he could see a total of six crystals formed.

’I’m missing four. When I get her to Level 50, then.’ He nodded.

10 Connection Crystals or his beast at Level 50, and he would finally become an Experienced Human, reaching the same stage as Aurora currently was.

Edward returned outside and immediately noticed some spirits intending to attack them.

"These guys never tire," Malakor said.

"And they seem endless," Edward sighed.

It was daytime, so Malakor would have no trouble fighting.

However, seconds later, Edward was once again trapped in an illusion.

"Annoying guys doing annoying things. Tsk, why don’t you just attack directly? Especially since you’re the one pulling the strings from the shadows." Edward complained aloud, knowing that Malakor couldn’t hear him.

However, he received no response from anyone.

He shrugged. "At least they give me experience. Even if it’s not much, it helps pass the time on this long journey."

He leaped over the spirits, and with steady, controlled, and perfect movements, he killed them all...

--

A week later.

Malakor stopped dead in his tracks, and so did Edward.

In a single leap, Edward positioned himself in front of Malakor, assuming the Swordsman–Mage battle stance they had recently trained.

They made a good team, despite their racial differences.

Although the difference in strength was also striking. Edward was far inferior in terms of strength and ability. However, he was far more useful in many ways than Malakor.

You could say they were perfectly balanced.

"Are they spirits?" Malakor asked, curious.

"They are. But it’s strange—they’re not like the ones from before," Edward replied, his gaze fixed on the surroundings.

He sensed the dangerous presence of powerful spirits, quite different from the ones he was used to.

Malakor nodded. "Judging by the trees and the distant mountains, we’re almost out of here. If they attack now, it’s surely the spirits that were behind every attack."

Edward nodded. "You said there were three ruling spirits here, right?"

"The Headless Horseman. The Weeping Mother, and..."

"The Spirit of the One Who Calls."

They both nodded.

"The Headless Horseman and the Weeping Woman of the Earth. The other one is a strange addition... Based on what I’ve seen in the illusions, then, the Headless Horseman is the one who controls the Armed Wandering Spirits. The Weeping Mother controls those female spirits, and the Spirit of the One Who Calls is..."

"The Ritualist."

He scanned a section of his field of vision ahead.

If there was a Ritualist, he had to get rid of him as soon as possible. These weren’t weak spirits like the previous ones.

What he sensed were powerful spirits capable of rivaling them.

They couldn’t be taken lightly when they had so many aces up their sleeves and resources to neutralize them without even fighting.

’But he’s not here.’ Edward told himself after scanning the surroundings, trying to find the Ritualist.

Ta-ta, ta-ta, ta-ta.

Suddenly, the incessant sound of horse hooves echoed in his ears.

"A horse? It’s the Rider," the Archbishop said immediately, and without a second thought, he performed a series of hand gestures to cast a blood spell.

"Be careful. That guy will use a spear, and he’s really..."

Ta-ta, ta-ta, ta-ta.

The sound of the hooves suddenly came so close that Malakor almost went crazy and unleashed his magic in every direction.

"Stop." Edward stopped him immediately and made him look ahead. "The closer you hear it, the farther away it is. Don’t worry about that yet. Just worry about it when you hear it far away, because that means it’s right beside you," he said.

Malakor stared at him. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, completely confused.

"Trust me," he replied without looking at him.

Although Malakor found that outrageous, the reality was that he hadn’t been attacked despite hearing it right behind him.

"If what that mythology says is true, the closer it is, the farther away it sounds. So the opposite must be true as well." Although he didn’t like relying solely on mythology to draw conclusions about reality, it was the only basis he currently had.

The sound of the heels stopped.

That reassured Malakor, but it made Edward even more uneasy.

"Do you know anything about rituals?" Edward asked suddenly.

Malakor shook his head. "Only religious rituals from the Holy See. Will that help you?"

Edward turned to look at him. "Can they summon powers or something holy?"

"They used to. Now they’re just decoration with pretty effects. The Venerable Aleskra stopped listening to us many years ago," he replied bluntly.

’Tsk. Damn Aleskra, why the hell do you stop listening to your followers when they’re most important?’ Although he wanted to curse out loud, he wasn’t one to swear often, so he held back.

"Those rituals are no use to me. I just want you to try to find a Ritual Spirit. Its magic is similar to what I showed you before, but focused on rituals. If you don’t succeed, we’ll be in...

Ta-ta, ta-ta, ta-ta.

The sound suddenly rang out so far away that it startled Edward. He grabbed his sword and spun around immediately.

His sword, raised to neck height and angled at about 45°, was perfect.

CLANK!

The impact sent him sliding several meters across the ground, leaving grooves in his wake.

In front of him stood a skeletal horse about two meters tall. Its thighs were long, and it wore metal spurs on its hooves. Its body was completely surrounded by cursed energy, which had consumed it.

It was an undead horse.

Above him loomed a headless man with long arms. Even though he had no eyes, being near him sent chills down your spine, as if an intense gaze were fixed on your shoulders.

The spear in his right hand was enormous, and though it was rusty, it looked powerful.

[The Headless Rider, Kikom.]

That was the name the system had given him.

However, he wasn’t the only one who appeared.

Behind them, a dangerous mental attack suddenly came. The vibrations in the air warned Edward and Malakor to brace themselves for the impact of a scream.

Edward knew he had to shift his attention away from the Headless Rider and focus on this.

However, at that moment, Malakor snorted and raised his right hand, which was covered in blood as usual, only this time he didn’t attack with blood.

Instead, a powerful energy barrier shot out from there. It rapidly closed in on the incoming mental attack, and soon a small explosion occurred as the two neutralized each other.

Malakor’s barrier was destroyed, along with the female spirit’s mental attack.

Above his head, the system displayed the name: [The Weeping Mother, Anem.]

’Even though I’ve grown stronger, he’s still in a different league,’ Edward thought, seeing that Malakor had won the previous clash between that female spirit and Malakor.

The Weeping Mother on the other side was forced to take several steps back just from that clash of abilities.

Just then, a massive ritual magic formed beneath both of their feet.

’Oh, no.’ Edward tried to do something, but since he was so preoccupied with the Rider, he couldn’t do anything.

"Why are you playing games with me? I think you’ve got the wrong enemy." Malakor roared and slammed his foot down hard on the ground. "I’m not someone you can just offend."

His powerful stomp caused the ritual beneath his feet to waver. It didn’t break, but it still affected the one who had cast it.

From the shadows of the distant rubble, another spirit appeared.

[Spirit of the Caller, Czen.]

Malakor frowned at the sight of the three of them together. "This is the first time you’ve decided to band together for an attack. It seems you really do hate us."

CLANK!

CLANK!

Two clashes between Edward’s sword and Kikom’s spear made Malakor decide to stop playing around.

He resolved to fight seriously.

The last thing he expected was for these three spirits—who are never together—to show up. Since he brought them here... he had to get them out.

However...

"Malakor, leave these to me," Edward said suddenly.

Malakor, taken aback, turned to look at him. "What are you talking about? These three spirits are stronger than the Sanguines you faced before."

"It’s okay," Edward replied. "I’ll take this seriously this time."

Mainly because he didn’t want them to steal his experience points. These spirits were much stronger than the ones he’d faced before. If he killed them... maybe he’d level up again, since he wasn’t far from doing so.

Malakor immediately took interest and looked up at the sky before smiling. "You have several hours before my pain begins. Let me watch you."

Edward glanced at him sideways and smiled. "All right. Since you insist. Just don’t get scared," he joked.

At that moment, he stepped back a little from Kikom and summoned his Komodo Dragon to appear around him.

It was gigantic, with a powerful tail, and its crimson eyes seemed to be ablaze at all times.

The moment it appeared, it somehow intimidated the cursed energy around them and Kikom’s Horse, which even trembled.

"I didn’t know the undead felt fear or pain..." Edward whispered.