Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?-Chapter 68: Perfect Son (1)

The Empress barely had time to react before everything was swallowed by Aaran's darkness. As her mighty domain crumbled, so did her strength. She got visibly smaller and weaker.

"You look surprised," Aaran said.

The Empress clenched her fists. This wasn't possible. The demon reassured her nothing could be done to her while she was inside Eleanor's body.

Little did she know, they weren't in Eleanor's body anymore. The powers that the demon had given her weren't of any use to her.

"Your Highness, if you would."

Aaran extended his hand towards Eleanor. She hesitated, still unable to comprehend if Aaran was real.

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"Don't you dare, Eleanor!" Silvia, the empress, roared. "You can't let a stranger's touch defile you!"

At her words, Eleanor retracted the hand she had hesitatingly offered Aaran. They weren't in Silvia's world. She had no control over Eleanor. But after four years of relentless beatings and control, Eleanor instinctively obeyed her mother.

This was what Aaran was worried about.

Potions would heal Eleanor's physical wounds, but she would be destroyed mentally. Recovery would be a long and driven-out process. That said, it made Aaran realize how important it was to get her out of there.

"Princess… your father is waiting for you," Aaran whispered, so as to not scare her. "You don't know me, but you remember these, right?"

Aaran showed her the rings the Emperor had selected for their engagement. He gave them to Aaran to use for a moment like this.

After all, Eleanor had selected those rings herself, not long before she got cursed. No one but her and the Emperor knew about it. The Emperor would only give the rings to her future fiancee.

"Y-You. My father chose you…?"

"What? Am I not good enough?" Aaran said sarcastically.

"N-No, I didn't mean it that way!"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I won't force you into marriage. I'm only here to save you because the Emperor asked me to. Nothing more."

Maybe she didn't want to show it, but Aaran saw her sighing in relief. He had already expected such a reaction and didn't pay any heed to it. Besides, if she refused the engagement, she would do him a huge favor.

But it wasn't the right time to discuss those things.

Without a word, Eleanor took Aaran's hand and hid behind him. Silvia, however, was enraged the moment Aaran touched her hand.

"HOW DARE YOU DEFILE HER!?"

"Can you stop yelling? I can hear you just fine."

"Unforgivable! This is UNFORGIVABLE!"

Aaran sighed. The spirit was unhinged, and he wanted nothing to do with her. But before that, he turned towards Eleanor.

"You might want to close your eyes for this," he said.

Instead of closing, her eyes widened.

"…I'm not going to do anything to you."

"I-I knew that!"

Eleanor blurted out, closing her eyes. Evil spirit or not, Silvia was still her mother, and Aaran didn't want her to see him kill her.

He retrieved his gun, aiming at Silvia. A shot rang out, hitting her between her eyes. Silvia flopped over, dead, literally and spiritually. Or that's what Aaran thought.

Wait… did I fire the Abyssal round instead of the Judgement round…?

He indeed made a mistake. Silvia absorbed the darkness, which he generously gave her, and got up slowly. Before Aaran could fire another shot, her body began growing. Soon, she was standing twice as tall as Dread's ape form.

[Damn, boy! She is thick!]

"Really? Are you that desperate? Wait a minute—!"

Aaran rolled his eyes before turning around. Dread was standing there in his frost giant form.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Aaran yelled.

In response, Dread gave him a creepy smile, like he was a statue in a double dungeon.

"…I'll kill you one of these days."

[There's no need for harsh words, boy.]

"Now that you're here, go kill her."

[The Goddess of Salvation nods, urging her priest to vanquish evil.]

However, Dread had a different opinion.

[…you don't want to absorb her?]

Aaran raised an eyebrow. He thought once the spirit was inside his core, he could either kill them or tame them. He didn't know he could still absorb them and gain mana.

[You won't get mana.]

"She's a spirit… of course, I'll get mana for absorbing her."

Dread sighed, smacking his head.

[That spirit, don't you feel anything from her?]

"…"

[The spirit is a construct created through darkness, probably by a demon. It should be enough to fill half of that locket of yours.]

Aaran stopped. If he got that much darkness, then he would be one step closer to summoning the entity trapped within the obsidian.

[The Goddess of Salvation nods rigorously, urging her priest to absorb the darkness.]

…that was a quick turnabout.

Never in all his incarnation had Aaran seen a goddess urging her subject to walk on the path of evil. Just then, a strange thought appeared in his mind.

"Wait… are you the one trapped inside the obsidian?"

[The Goddess of Salvation whistles absentmindedly.]

"It is you!"

It made sense why she was eagerly helping him and even took the backlash from using the grimoire on herself. She wanted him to restore her to her former glory.

[The Goddess of Salvation frowns, asking the priest to hurry.]

***

Meanwhile, seven hours had passed outside. Neither the Emperor nor Donovan had slept a wink, their eyes fixated on Aaran and Eleanor. It was then the Emperor walked over to Aaran, concentrating on his darkness.

"Your Majesty?" Donovan whispered as the Emperor reached for Aaran's obsidian locket. "Disturbing Prince Aurelia might cause complications—"

"Eleanor is safe," the Emperor replied.

Donovan looked confused until he noticed Eleanor. Something changed. The sickly pale color of her skin was fading. She was looking healthy again. Still, that didn't explain what the Emperor was doing to Aaran.

"The boy did something even I couldn't," The Emperor mumbled. "The locket will turn him into my loyal subject over time. But why waste this chance? I can make him my puppet while he's vulnerable."

"…You're imprinting on his soul?" Donovan asked.

The Emperor smiled. He was grateful that Aaran saved Eleanor. But the boy's skills scared him. If Aaran turned against him in the future, it would be dangerous. The Emperor couldn't let that happen.

"He's the son I always wanted," the Emperor said, pouring his darkness into the locket. "And when he wakes up, I'll be the father he deserves."