Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 166: Willow’s Contract Quest

Willow’s father was buried only a few feet away. But what made Percival’s chest tighten was the positioning of the bones. The skeleton’s arm was outstretched, the bony fingers reaching desperately toward the spot where his wife had been crushed.

He had died trying to hold her hand.

Percival stared at the outstretched hand for a long time, imagining the terror and the love that had filled the fisherman’s final moments.

Somehow, it felt like an alien emotion to him now. Love. In this timeline, he couldn’t think of anyone who he held that feeling for.

Well, except—

Percival’s brows creased. Lowering his head, he immediately chased the thought away, then turned to his Soul Soldier.

"Thank you, Mercius. Return," Percival said softly.

Mercius bowed and dissolved into blue smoke.

Percival gathered the two skeletons, carrying them with profound care to a quiet clearing behind the village, where a grove of newly planted pine trees was beginning to bloom.

He borrowed a shovel from the old man—rented rather—and dug a wide, deep grave into the soft earth. Then, he laid the couple side by side, ensuring their hands were finally touching.

He covered the grave, packing the earth down tight, and placed the heavy granite tombstone, hammering it firmly into the soil at their heads.

He stepped back to inspect his work. It was done.

Ding!

⸢Contract Quest Completed⸥

⸢Willow Lockhart can now be contracted.⸥

⸢Requirement: 6 Summon Spaces⸥

As he stood there, he felt the air beside him condense. Silently, Willow’s soul appeared, standing on the grass of the village she had lived in as a child.

She wore her spectral Gilded Lionheart Plate, her short dark hair flowing gently in the physical wind.

She stared down at the granite stone, her glowing blue eyes reading the words: The Lockharts. Rest At Last.

Glistening tears of blue mana spilled over her eyelashes, falling to the earth and vanishing. "You may rest now, Father, Mother," she whispered, her tender voice trembling. "I love you."

Percival stayed completely silent, standing tall like a sentinel over her grief.

After a long time, Willow wiped her face, and slowly, she looked away from the tombstone to Percival.

"Do you remember your parents, Master?" she asked softly. "Were they great Awakeners like you, the Lord of Bones and Souls? Or were they simple people, like mine were?"

Percival hesitated. Family was a topic he never enjoyed engaging in. Not when he was Percy, and especially not now.

"I don’t know," he answered honestly, his blue eyes staring into the distance. "I never knew them. They could be rulers, gods, or beggars. It makes no difference to me."

He looked back at her. "I envy you in this regard, Willow. Perhaps feeling sadness over one’s parents is better than feeling nothing at all."

Willow studied his face, her sad eyes softening to something even sadder, yet intruding. Something that was trying to understand him, her apparent new Lord.

"Is that what you are now, Master? Numb?"

"Maybe," Percival admitted, the cold wind carrying his mane. "Perhaps I have to be numb. It is the only way to carry the burdens of you and my other Soul Soldiers. To resolve your regrets. To absorb your pain. How else can I handle my own pain while carrying others?"

Willow’s eyes widened slightly, the blue fire in her irises flickering with profound realization. "By being strong," she said quietly.

Percival turned his gaze to her.

"That is what you are, Master. You are strong."

He stared at her, watching as her hair whipped around her face. Her eyes were as blue as Mercius’s but they were significantly different.

She has this unadulterated admiration burning in them, causing a sudden, unfamiliar pressure in his chest. She felt so incredibly real, so full of conviction, that he almost forgot she was a ghost tethered to his soul.

Percival was overwhelmed.

Right then, Willow took a step back and lowered herself to one knee, bowing her head in ultimate submission.

"My life was bound by oaths that cost me everything," the Knight’s voice echoed, ringing with absolute clarity. "I traversed the afterlife, bearing the heavy chains of a daughter’s failure. But in death, where duty is usually silenced, you gave me a chance to fulfill my final vow, Master Percival. You gave my family peace."

She raised her head, her tempest eyes locking onto his.

"Know this: I am your shield from this moment until the end of time. I have laid down the burdens of my past. I only have one purpose now. The purpose to serve and protect."

"I hereby pledge this: I shall be your loyal and choiceless vanguard. I will be a wall to stand against your enemies, a fortress to absorb your pain, and a blade to carve your path forward.

"My Skills and Attributes are extensions of yours. So are my Artifacts, Relics, Aspects, and Equipment. The strength that could not save Worthsville, I surrender entirely to you in death. Where you walk, no harm shall reach you, even if my soul must shatter a thousand times to ensure it."

Percival looked down at the Knight, fighting with his own torrent of emotions. Even after Mercius, he was yet to get used to such unlimited devotion.

Ding! His interface blinked to life.

⸢Do you accept Willow Lockhart as your Soul Soldier?⸥

"I accept," Percival said.

⸢...⸥

⸢Summon Contract has been completed⸥

⸢You have contracted a Soul Soldier⸥

⸢Cost: 6 Summon Spaces⸥

⸢...⸥

⸢Soul Soldier: Willow Lockhart (Lvl 107)⸥

⸢Class: Knight⸥

⸢Talent: Talent of Battle Supremacy - Legendary⸥

⸢Innate Talent: Severed Fate - Legendary⸥

⸢Experience: 250,000/250,000⸥

⸢Health: 28,500/28,500⸥

⸢Mana: 4500/4500⸥

⸢Defense: 8100⸥

⸢Attack: 7450⸥

⸢Attributes:⸥

⸢Strength: 620⸥

⸢Agility: 890⸥

⸢Speed: 2010⸥

⸢Constitution: 1450⸥

⸢Intelligence: 600⸥

⸢Dexterity: 815⸥

⸢Luck: 410⸥

⸢Perception: 630⸥

⸢Charisma: 900⸥

⸢Skills: Shield Bash (E-Grade) / Aura of the Martyr (A-Grade) / Heavenfall (A-Grade) / Vanguard’s Resolve (S-Grade)...⸥

⸢Equipment: Gilded Lionheart Plate (A-Grade) / Oathkeeper’s Bastard Blade (A-Grade) Oathkeeper’s Sunlight Shield (A-Grade)⸥

⸢Inventory: Artifacts / Relics / Aspects⸥

⸢Summon Ranking: Mid-High Cost — Summoning Willow Lockhart requires a moderate amount of mana cost for both activation and sustenance outside the Summon Space⸥

⸢Summon Role: Do you wish to allocate a specific role to this summon? Yes / Later⸥

Once again, Percival selected later.

⸢Congratulations on your second Soul Soldier!⸥

⸢Rewards: + 400 EXP / + 2 Summon Space / + 1 Skill Point⸥

⸢Special Reward: First Fight: No Mana Cost on the first battle your undead summon fights for you⸥.

The blue screens faded into the ether. Willow stood up, her form solidifying to become a true Soul Soldier before she dissolved seamlessly into his shadow, taking her place beside Mercius.

...

Seconds passed and Percival remained still, standing alone by the grave. He closed his eyes, feeling the crisp, cooling air wash over his face.

Then he opened them.

A new dawn was coming. A dangerous one. He had two Soul Soldiers now, he had Demons and a waiting Dragon, but in time, it would be impossible to hide from the politics and the overwhelming powers of this world.

The Elven Throne would soon realize Liraeth was dead. He had no idea how they would react, but whatever it would be, he couldn’t sit back and wait.

He had to prepare, and he had to do it faster.

Percival turned away from the graves. It was time to turn the city of Luvengart to a simple memory.