Chapter 1280: Father and Daughter

「Oi! Holy Mother! M-Mom!」

「Hehe…」

With tears in her eyes, Sibylla called out to the Holy Mother. The scene felt exactly like a daughter witnessing the death of a parent.

「Ascension.」

At the very moment when the Holy Mother’s last bits of mana dissipated, a pillar of light enveloped her body.

She dissolved into particles of light, gradually melting away into air.

「May the lingering remnants of a wandering soul rest in peace.」

This was a necromancy spell that purifies the grudges of the undead and returns them to the heavens, liberating them from their resentment and granting them a peaceful slumber.

「So pretty.」

「Woof.」

We quietly bid farewell to the Holy Mother alongside a dance of beautiful lights like fireflies. The scene was breathtaking.

「Phew. I think we managed to give her a proper send off.」

「Jean! Are you okay?」

Naturally, the one responsible for the spell was Jean. That said, we saw his heart torn out earlier. Jean may be strong, but his body was still mortal, as far as I know.

How in the world did he come back from death’s doors?

「Indeed. I somehow managed thanks to this.」

Jean took out a pendant shaped like a zombie’s face from his pocket. However, the pendant had a cut down the middle and was completely devoid of mana.

「I think I’ve seen that before.」

「Of course you have. I lent it to you when we visited the Floating Island.」

Oh right. If I remember right, it was an item that restores half your HP and MP upon taking a fatal wound.

「Well about that, there seems to be a side effect where the user is submersed in a mass of grudges upon activation. That startled me slightly.」

A mass of grudges…? That might be fine for a necromancer like Jean, but Fran could easily have died if she used it back then!

Damn. It’s been over a year since the incident, but I’m glad we avoided using such a cursed item!

Either way, it seems that’s how Jean clung onto life when his heart got torn out. I seriously thought he was a goner.

Fran was simply relieved that Jean was okay, but Sibylla stared at him with a gloomy expression. She even seemed to be a bit angry.

「Oi.」

「What is it?」

「…Thank you.」

No, maybe she was just a little embarrassed. Still, who could have imagined that the Holy Mother would be Sibylla’s birth mother. We heard she was created through some kind of experiment, so I didn’t think she even had parents.

Not that Sibylla herself knew either. The Holy Mother was one of the Black Skeleton Corps’s best kept secrets, so it only makes sense that we were unaware.

Furthermore, the Holy Mother’s “Kin Intelligence” skill had an effect on Sibylla because they were mother and daughter. That said, it was a pretty distorted parent-child relationship.

Sibylla was the product of an experiment in implanting monster factors in humans. The undead Holy Mother was merely lending her womb as a cultivation tank.

And as it turns out, the effectiveness of her skill ended up proving the mother-daughter relationship.

「Thanks to you… my mom was able to pass away without leaving any regrets. You have my gratitude.」

「If only I had been a bit faster, there might have been another way…」

Jean seemed to be expressing regret, a very rare occurrence, before he continued.

「You see, this one proved to be more durable than I thought.」

Jean held up a single skull. One might think that all skulls looked pretty much the same, but even I realized the difference.

「Is that skull what’s left of that bastard Nameless?」

「Indeed. When an undead disappears, they sometimes leave behind vast amounts of grudges. And in rare cases, those grudges can possess and inhabit another vessel.」

Eh? Does that mean Nameless can revive himself?

However, this phenomenon is apparently not quite that convenient.

「Since only a fraction of the grudges remain, the new undead is reduced to a mindless ghost only capable of flailing about. There is no such thing as a complete revival.」

In essence, the lesser undead will likely inherit only a tiny portion of the original’s powers and memories.

That must be how Nameless inherited the power and memories of the Lich from the Floating Island.

We should probably do something about that. Considering Nameless’s strength, even a fraction of his grudges would be bad news.

However, it seems Jean already cleansed Nameless to prevent that. I was worried about his condition since he hardly said anything, but it seems he had been quietly fighting in the background.

「Avenger-kun. I appreciate your support.」

「Fuhahaha! We are already old comrades!」

Now that I think about it, Avenger was pretty quiet too! Looks like he was assisting Jean in that endeavor.

「Oh, looks like it’s about time.」

It wasn’t only the Holy Mother that we had to bid farewell to.

「Old man, your hand is turning see through. You’re becoming a full-fledged ghost!」

「Hahaha! If you have enough energy to joke around like that, then you should be fine without me.」

「…Tch. Yeah, I’m fine. Hurry up and pass on already.」

「Yeah. My liege, thanks for everything. We got a chance to show our spirit in the end, and I even saw my daughter again. I’m truly grateful.」

「Yeah! Scorching that disgusting duke certainly felt good!」

「Right! I had plenty of fun!」

Apollonius, Begareth, Violetta, and other Red Knights came up to me and expressed their gratitude. Teiwas and Wilepho were also starting to turn translucent.

Those two didn’t use a special technique, but it seems they transferred all their mana to Apollonius. His tremendous flame attack was powered by his comrades.

The Red Knights really take self-sacrifice to the extreme.

「Sibylla. Take care of Raydoss for me.」

「Leave it to me.」

「…Sorry for making you send off both your parents in one day.」

「Don’t be stupid. Considering my history, I’m glad to even have parents. I should be thanking you.」

Sibylla responded with a smile. Seeing that, Apollonius let out a sigh of relief as if a burden was lifted from his shoulders.

「I see.」

「Yeah.」

「Well then, I might as well give you this. Eat it.」

「Eat what…? This is literally just a ball of flame!」

「Knowing you, this should be plenty appetizing, right? It’s what’s left of my mana. Think of it as a memento from me and take a big bite.」

「Who eats their parent’s mementos!?」

「Come on, hurry it up! I’m disappearing as we speak!」

「Ugh, fine! I’ll eat it!」

「Hahaha! You actually ate it!」

「You’re the one who told me to, dammit!」

The quarrel-like exchange was the last conversation between the father and daughter. Apollonius faded away while wearing an idiotic grin that seemed completely out of place.

「…Later, old man. I promise to protect the land of Raydoss so you can rest in peace.」