Chapter 62: The Oracle of the Deep

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: The Oracle of the Deep

"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future." Oscar Wilde

The last Rift-Core dropped into the Sunken Reliquary with a soft ringing sound.

TINK!

Joel closed the lid and looked around the ruined cathedral.

Everything was finally quiet.

For three thousand years, the cathedral had been filled with strange sounds and the terrifying power of the Leviathan Priest. Now that the creature was dead, an unusual silence had settled over the place.

Roan stood near the altar steps, watching as his damaged ward slowly repaired itself. Sybill examined her bleeding fingers, still feeling the pain from casting the unfinished hex.

Nearby, Vulcan stood among the rubble, his massive armored body gradually cooling as the last clouds of steam disappeared. Nyx had returned to the shadows of a fallen pillar, standing completely still.

Above the black altar, the remaining gray particles from the Priest’s destroyed body continued to drift through the water.

Joel watched them carefully.

Something about the fading remains bothered him.

He had already collected the Rift-Cores and the Sunken Reliquary, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something valuable was still hidden among the Priest’s remains.

It was a familiar feeling from his previous life, when he would check an inventory and notice that something important was missing.

And Joel had learned long ago never to ignore that feeling.

The more Joel thought about it, the more he realized something was missing.

They had won the battle, but the victory had come at a heavy cost. Sybill’s fingers were still bleeding from her hex, while Roan’s ward had dropped as low as nine percent during the fight.

Joel wasn’t in much better condition. His Integrity was only at forty-one percent, and although Juggernaut Vitality was slowly healing his injuries, the damage to his soul was taking longer to recover.

That was a problem.

His legion had enough power to defeat powerful enemies, but neither Nyx nor Vulcan could heal the team. Every difficult battle would leave them injured, and they couldn’t always depend on finding a healer.

Then Joel looked toward the fading remains of the Leviathan Priest.

A Level 45 boss with powerful soul abilities.

An idea suddenly formed in his mind.

"I want its remains," Joel announced. "All of them. Don’t let anything disappear."

Roan slowly turned toward him.

"Wait. You just killed that thing," he said. "Please tell me you’re not thinking about bringing it back."

Joel didn’t answer immediately.

That alone was enough to make Roan nervous.

Sybill looked toward the Priest’s fading remains before speaking.

"If you’re planning to bind its soul, you should be careful," she warned. "A creature that powerful might remember everything you did to it. Even after being bound, its hatred might remain."

Before Joel could respond, Nyx emerged from the shadows.

She silently picked up the severed tentacle she had dropped earlier and placed it beside the altar steps.

Then she looked at Joel.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I’ll take that as your approval."

Vulcan’s deep voice followed.

"The Forge-Lord supports recovering valuable materials," he declared. "Especially from an enemy that required twenty-four torpedoes to defeat."

Roan stared at the two legion members.

"Of course you both agree," he muttered. "Why would anyone here think bringing that monster back is a terrible idea?"

[Ding!]

[ Fate-Bound Legion: eligible vessel detected ]

[ Vessel: the Leviathan Priest, Level 45, deceased, dissolution 61 percent ]

[ Binding a boss-grade soul requires a stake. Cost: 1 Fate Point ]

[ Note: The parish is repossessed. It may now be staffed. ]

To Joel, the decision was simple.

He only needed to spend one Fate Point for a chance to gain a powerful servant from the remains of a Level 45 Stratum Boss.

It was a risk worth taking.

Of course, there was no telling what the system might give him. The Fate Wheel was unpredictable.

Still, he couldn’t ignore such a valuable opportunity.

Without wasting another moment, Joel activated the Fate Wheel and placed his wager.

One Fate Point was immediately deducted.

The familiar wheel appeared before his eyes and began spinning.

Joel watched closely, wondering what kind of creature the Leviathan Priest would become if the wager succeeded.

Around him, the ruined cathedral remained silent.

But for some reason, Joel couldn’t shake the feeling that something deep within the Necropolis was watching what he was about to do.

[Ding!]

[ Wheel of Fate: wager accepted ]

[ Stake: 1 Fate Point. Balance: 22 to 21 ]

[ Application: resurrection, enhanced. Target: the Leviathan Priest ]

[ Spinning ]

[ Multiplier: x20,000 ]

[ Allocation: 20,000 reconstruction units routed. The vessel will be rebuilt above its original grade ]

The fading remains suddenly stopped drifting away.

Then they started moving in reverse.

The gray mist above the altar pulled back together. Dust and broken bits of marble rose from the floor, lifting into the air piece by piece.

For one last moment, the remains of the Leviathan Priest fought back.

A burst of its old pressure power slammed into a fallen pillar.

KRUMP!

It was a final act of resistance, like the last anger of a defeated ruler.

But the brilliant x20,000 light ignored it completely.

The attack broke against the glowing power and vanished as if it meant nothing.

Then the water around the altar turned bright and clear, shining like glass.

The light spread outward in a growing sphere.

The fallen bell rang by itself.

BRONNG.

This time, the sound was clear and clean, with none of the dark weight it had carried before.

A towering column of glowing water rose from the altar.

FWOOSH!

A deep hum filled the cathedral.

VMMMM.

Joel could feel it in his teeth and bones.

Inside the column, a shape began to form.

The wounds on its body started closing, sealing shut with pale, shell-like seams. The torn, ragged mantle unraveled into neat ribbons of water, and those ribbons floated upward instead of falling down.

The light slowly faded, revealing the cathedral’s newest servant above the altar.

She looked human, but only in the loosest sense. She was tall, beautiful, and otherworldly. Her skin had the soft shine of dark pearl, glowing gently in the water. Thin gill-lines curved along her collarbone like elegant jewelry, and long fins flowed from her head and down her back, shaped like the pipes of the cathedral’s organ.

Her hair was black as ink, yet it did not spread through the water. Her eyes still held the same golden light as before, but the madness and death inside them were gone.

Three glowing rings of water slowly circled around her head and shoulders like floating halos. Their light drifted upward, making her seem even more divine.

The entire nave fell completely still.

The currents stopped. Even the tiny drifting particles in the water seemed to freeze in place.

It was as if the sea itself had gone silent.

For the first time, Joel could feel it clearly.

The water now recognized her as its new master.

[Ding!]

[ Bound unit acquired: designation pending ]

[ Level 45. Grade: boss-grade, purified variant. Class: support and mage, god-tier ]

[ Traits: Fluid Dominion, Tide of Restoration, Hydrostatic Veil ]

[ Legion capacity: 2 of 2 expanded to 3 of 3. Composition: assassin, vanguard and artillery, oracle. The term for this is flawless ]

She slowly descended through the water without creating even the slightest ripple.

When she reached the altar steps, she lowered herself to one knee and bowed her head before Joel.

"Landlord," she said.

"I remember everything. The people who worshipped here, the day this cathedral sank, and the three thousand years that followed."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"I also remember my debt being paid in full. That debt has now been settled."

She raised her head and looked directly at Joel.

"From this moment onward, you are the one I serve."

[Ding!]

[ Designation required for new bound unit ]

[ Note: Names are binding instruments. Choose with intent. ]

The name came from Joel’s first life.

He had seen the word once on a blood test in a pharmacy, long before he ever came to this world. It was the name of a sea-related blood disorder, and for some reason, it had stayed in his memory.

For a moment, he considered a few other names.

One came from his old shift manager. Another was Squidney.

He rejected both immediately.

One was a bad joke, and the other lacked dignity.

Joel looked at the newly born being and made his choice.

"Thalassa," he said.

[Ding!]

[ Designation registered: Thalassa, the Oracle of the Deep ]

[ Note: The word means the sea. The unit is the sea. ]

"What would you like me to do first, Landlord?" Thalassa asked.

Joel looked around at his companions.

Roan was still recovering from his broken ribs, and his protective ward remained damaged. Sybill’s fingers were bleeding, and she looked completely exhausted from using so much mana.

Even Vulcan’s heavy armor had suffered damage during the battle.

Joel wasn’t in much better condition. His body was still recovering, and the soul injury caused by the Priest’s attacks continued to trouble him.

He turned back to Thalassa.

"Everyone is injured," he said simply. "Heal them all."

"Understood, Landlord."

Thalassa raised one hand.

The three glowing rings surrounding her body brightened one after another.

Then she activated her ability.

Tide of Restoration!

FSHHH!

A warm wave of water spread through the cathedral, passing over Joel and his companions.

Roan gasped as his broken ribs healed. The cracks in his protective ward also disappeared, restoring it to its former strength.

Sybill stared at her hands in amazement as the wounds on her fingers closed. The exhaustion weighing down her body gradually vanished, and her mana began recovering.

Even Vulcan was affected.

The dents in his massive armor slowly straightened.

TINK! TINK!

Within moments, his damaged plating looked as good as new.

Joel also felt the healing power enter his body.

A pleasant warmth spread through his chest, reaching the soul injury that had troubled him since the Priest’s first verdict.

The lingering pain began to fade.

Then, to his surprise, it disappeared completely.

For the first time since the battle began, Joel felt whole again.

[Ding!]

[ Tide of Restoration: mass restoration, all allies ]

[ Integrity restored: 41 percent to 100 percent. Soul contusion: closed ]

[ Survival Accumulation: 0 percent. Lethal odds: none. The house finds the quiet suspicious ]

Then, without being asked, Thalassa demonstrated another of her abilities.

She flicked two fingers, and a dome of glowing water formed around the group.

It was the Hydrostatic Veil, a powerful shield capable of blocking attacks against the soul, including the Priest’s deadly verdicts.

Roan reached out and touched the barrier with a finger covered in rune chalk.

He immediately fell silent, realizing how valuable such protection would be during future expeditions.

Sybill walked around the barrier twice, examining it with amazement.

"A god-tier healer who can also create a shield this powerful," she said. "Guild teams would spend years trying to obtain even a fraction of this power."

She glanced at Joel.

"And he got her from a corpse he refused to leave behind."

"The building is no longer damp," Vulcan announced in his deep, metallic voice.

THMM!

"We now have a healer, better protection, and much improved working conditions."

Nyx remained silent in the shadows, but she gave Thalassa a small nod of approval.

Joel glanced at the Null-Band on his wrist. The device continued displaying him as an F-rank, Level 1 Flesh-Guide, completely hiding his true strength.

Just then, the vault key inside his pocket suddenly rang.

Joel pulled it out, noticing that Thalassa was staring at it.

"That key opens the chamber beneath the altar," she explained. "I was created to guard it, Landlord. Even though I now serve you, the lock should still recognize me as its guardian."

Joel’s interest immediately grew.

Before he could respond, Roan checked the return beacon.

"The beacon is getting weaker," he warned. "According to Kole’s schedule, we don’t have much time left to return to the surface."

Joel considered their situation for a moment before making his decision.

"Everyone gets one hour to rest," he announced. "My legion will keep watch."

He looked toward the black altar.

"After that, we’re going down to see what’s hidden beneath it."

For three thousand years, the Leviathan Priest had ruled over the sunken cathedral.

Now, Joel had defeated it, claimed its treasures, and turned it into one of his most powerful servants.

And with the vault key finally ready to reveal its secret, he had no intention of leaving empty-handed.