Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 925 - 925: Saintess Of All Those Who Have Died

About thirty minutes after the four teenagers departed, a black shadow spread from the base of a tree. A young woman with raven-black hair emerged from it, her obsidian eyes filled with confusion as she surveyed the area.

“Why is there nothing here? I told those idiots to check for Outsiders… did they just ignore me and let them proceed deeper into the forest?”

Her expression contorted, showing the depths of anger that lay within her.

“And I’m the one who’d have to deal with that bastard Priest’s yapping if anyone gets to the Ritual Grounds!

If not for that cursed Oath, I’d have killed the lot of them.”

Fury blazing in her eyes, she stepped back into the shadow, melding into the ground and vanishing—completely unaware that her targets had been reduced to dust.

◇　◇　◇

In a quiet forest clearing, Arthur, Evan, Artemisia, and Beatrix decided to rest, despite it being only noon. The forest was unusually silent, with Arthur noting that all the monsters gathered in one corner as if imprisoned.

Sensing something more but choosing not to mention it, Arthur suggested they camp.

Beatrix asked why they were stopping so early, to which Arthur simply responded that it “felt like a good time to rest.”

Though confused by the sudden suggestion, the others agreed and they sat down for lunch, chatting about the situation of the war on Plomux.

“The Demons have the advantage. Arthur didn’t participate after the first day, so I was the only one fighting. I stopped before the Aramisians marked me as a priority target and sent Level 700s after me.”

Evan responded to Artemisia’s inquiry about the war, only for one of the drumsticks on his plate to suddenly vanish.

“By then, I dragged him along to come to Plomux-North with me.”

Turning his gaze at the sound of the voice, he saw Arthur smirking while munching on the food he’d just stolen with his X1+ speed.

When Beatrix asked Arthur why he left the fighting, he simply said that he “Had other priorities”, but didn’t elaborate, focusing instead on keeping Evan from stealing his grilled squid.

After losing their playful food battle, Evan accepted defeat, vowing silent revenge, while Artemisia and Beatrix rolled their eyes at the two.

Evan shifted the conversation, asking Beatrix about her little ‘side’ quest to kill a god King’s grandson, and Beatrix grinned before beginning to exaggerate her battle with the god king’s grandson.

Annoyed, Artemisia shut her up and gave a concise summary.

“He was tough, but in the end, Beatrix ended him with her time powers. Froze him in place and then shattered him into a hundred pieces.”

“Arty, you’re downplaying my great achievements too much!”

Beatrix protested, but Artemisia calmly refuted her, picking a drink from the cooler.

“I’m just telling Arthur and Evan exactly what happened.”

Right after Artemisia said that, she froze, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she looked up and around.

Seeing her actions, Arthur smiled and spoke aloud.

“I guess you’ve eavesdropped long enough, you can come out now.”

The other three immediately went on guard as they hadn’t sensed the presence of whoever it was that Arthur was addressing.

“My apologies, I had a hard time deciding when to come in.”

A pleasant-sounding voice responded to Arthur and all heads turned in the direction it came from.

Emerging from the trees was a stunning young woman with long raven-black hair, piercing dark eyes, and a pale complexion that gave her an ethereal beauty.

She wore a flowing, black gown adorned with silver embroidery resembling ancient runes, which faintly radiated divinity.

Arthur recognized the frequency of this divinity as the same one he had sensed earlier—the reason he wanted to investigate this Dimensional Realm.

The dress she wore had a high collar and long sleeves that came down to her middle fingers, where each sleeve was attached to a ring.

“A wonderful afternoon we have here, I offer you my greetings.”

The young woman greeted them calmly, and Arthur raised an eyebrow.

“You’re awfully polite.”

“And so are you.”

She responded to Arthur with a light smile. She knew Arthur had sensed her earlier but hadn’t reacted until Artemisia picked up on something off.

Even Beatrix’s spatial perception hadn’t detected her until she revealed herself.

“I said nothing because I sensed you had zero hostility towards us from the very beginning.”

Arthur explained, earning a brief look of surprise from the woman, but it disappeared when he posed his next question.

“So? Who are you and why were you spying on us?”

Arthur asked, though Evan had already appraised her and shared the details with the group. Still, Arthur pressed for an introduction and she obliged.

She gave a light bow with one hand in front of her chest and the other pinching her dress as she introduced herself.

“I am an inhabitant of this Dimensional Realm, who is unfortunately saddled with the curse of being Iklaque’s Guardian.

You may address me as Idrilla Ivy-Rose Rivera, the Saintess Of All Those Who Have Died.”

She spoke no lies, as her words matched the names and titles Evan had seen in her status.

|Name-Idrilla Ivy-Rose Rivera

Race-Arch Human

Gender-Female

Age-23

Level-750

Existence Level-Legendary (Intermediate)

Titles: Saintess Of All Those Who Have Died, Saintess of Death, Deathlord, Unholy Child, Unwilling Guardian of Iklaque, Cursed Child, Bound by Oath […]

Class-Saintess of Death

Health–X1

Energy-X1+

Strength–X1-

Agility–X1-

Durability–X1

Intelligence-X1+

Condition- Lightly Exasperated

Magic Tiers- Death Tier 5, Darkness Tier 4, Wind Tier 3, Ice Tier 3, Shadow Tier 4, Spiritual Fire Tier 3, Space Tier 2;

Skills- Death Magic (T), Necromancy (T), Soul Manipulation (T), Life Drain, Corpse Puppetry, Death’s Embrace, Deathly Aura, Dark Empowerment, Eternal Servitude, Reaping Slash;

Unique Skills- Unholy Resurrection, Soul Harvest. |

She was the Guardian that Arthur and Evan had learned about from their earlier attackers, and she appeared not to be in her role willingly.

After addressing Arthur’s first question, she quickly moved on to the next.

“Dear Travellers, sorry that I ask this but I do hope I’m misreading the situation.

I noticed that our realm had some guests earlier and sent some scouts to look around through here, and they may have wound up before you.

Through the years, the treatment from our uninvited guests is seldom warm, so I’m asking just to be sure.”

With her gaze locked right onto Arthur and Evan, she asked.

“Did you do something to them?”

In response to her question, Arthur leaned back with a smile.

“Who, me?

All I did was turn a few people who attacked me without a word to dust.”

“You turned them to dust…you say?”

Idrilla’s eyes widened slightly, followed by a resigned sigh as this confirmed her conjecture.

“I sincerely hoped this was not the case.”

“Why? You want to avenge them?”

When Arthur asked this, Idrilla’s calm expression briefly cracked, revealing a flash of disgust, which she concealed immediately.

“Personally, I do not wish to do so. However…”

She tried to step back, only to find herself immobilized by an invisible force that prevented her from leaving at will. With a sigh, she pressed her fingers to her forehead, then looked at the teenagers before her and asked.

“Do you have any intentions of proceeding further into the forest?

And is it possible for you to turn back and exit this realm?”

“You want us to leave?”

Evan asked and Idrilla responded with a “Yes”, but before the Rogue Hero could say any more, Arthur spoke up.

“There’s something inside here that I’m very curious about and I’m not leaving until I sate my curiosity.”

“That may be a problem…”

Seeing her expression turn difficult at his reply, Arthur questioned exactly why, despite having already pieced things together.

“If you intend to proceed any further, then I am duty-bound to stop you in your tracks.”

As she spoke, death energy slowly seeped from her body, blackening the grass at her feet. Arthur seemed impressed by this, then turned his gaze back to her obsidian eyes where he could see a pleading look in them.

“You’re strong, Idrilla.

And precisely because you are strong, you should know that you cannot win if you choose to use force.”

“I know.

Unfortunately, I am ‘Duty Bound’ to stop you…even if it costs my life.”

She spoke calmly and her words made Evan frown.

“You’re going to die if you fight him, he’s killed beings higher levelled than he is without much effort.

If you die, that’s it. The end of the line. There’s no continuation.

And you’d willingly walk to your death because of your ‘duty’?”

Evan had discerned a few things about Idrilla from her words and her status board.

She bore the title of ‘Unholy Child’, something that he and Arthur had discovered earlier to be what children born outside ‘Specified Holy Years’ in Iklaque were called.

From her title they had learned about Iklaque, Evan didn’t believe she truly wanted to risk her life for this.

“…”

Idrilla did not answer Evan, instead, she turned to Arthur and looked at him in silence for a few seconds.

Finally, she spoke.

“As far as neither you—Evan—or Arthur are the ones dealing the final blow, I am fairly confident I can Reincarnate myself.”

“?!”

Idrilla’s unexpected reply left everyone quiet for a moment.

She wielded power over Death, fairly obvious given her titles and skills.

But Reincarnation magic was dangerous territory for anyone below Transcendence. Evan knew this well—his predecessors had suffered under Causality’s punishment for meddling in flawed Reincarnation Magic.

While he analysed Idrilla’s skills, she did the same to them, sensing Arthur’s Destruction power and Evan’s Esoteric flames—forces that could damage her soul beyond the Reincarnation threshold.

“The Commandments of Iklaque order its citizens to ‘Reject All Outsiders’. I know not why this commandment was established, but since it exists, I have no choice but to abide by it.

I am Bound by Oath to this land, after all.

If I were to break that Oath, then even the chance of Reincarnation I hope for would be lost forever.”

“Is there a way we can sever it? The Binding Force that compels you to follow that Oath.”

When Evan asked this question, Beatrix, silent until now, added.

“Unlike those fools from earlier, you’re being civil with us so I’d like to try if there’s a way.”

Idrilla’s lips curled into a small, genuine smile at their words, a contrast to the guarded expressions she had worn earlier.

“Thirteen years. I have been this place’s guardian for 13-odd years, and you are the first Outsiders who have ever brought up the option of freeing me.”

Idrilla’s smile disappeared as she spoke grimly.

“Sadly, I cannot be freed from it.

Any attempts to sever the Binding Force would be considered as me ‘Breaking My Oath’, as such-“

“You die, and lose your chances of reincarnating.”

Arthur finished her statement, and she glanced at him, noticing a faint glow in his eyes.

Though unaware, she was the only one who noticed that glow—the glow of cosmic energy. This marked her potential for Cosmic Superiority, but sadly, she didn’t even know of its existence.

Arthur, on the other hand, had infused his eyes with his Pseudo-Authorities, allowing him to see the law energy lines binding Idrilla to the ground beneath them.

“…”

He was silent, internally conversing with his Ego Weapons who told him that there was no hope and this prompted Arthur to sigh in pity.

“You’re not the first I’ve tried to persuade to turn around. When I finally gained enough power that I didn’t need to scheme and set traps to kill off any Outsiders, I had an encounter which impacted me deeply.

It was because of this I began asking the Outsiders I encountered to turn around. A certain insufferable bastard chief priest did not like this but I did it anyway.

Regardless of whether they were weaker or stronger than I was, I kindly asked them to leave.

Some obliged and turned back, while the majority refused.”

Idrilla paused, then flared her Legendary Realm aura before she continued.

“The fact that I now stand before you, wielding such power at my young age, should tell you their fates.”

“So, there’s no other option, huh?”

To Arthur’s question, Idrilla shook her head solemnly.

“Unfortunately, the only option is the one where you kindly turn-?!”

Her words were cut short as her body trembled violently. Grabbing her shaking right hand with her left, she took deep breaths to steady herself.

“…I was trying to hold it back so I can persuade you to turn around.”

As an invisible force pressed her forward, they heard her bones creaking from the strain as she tried to resist it.

This sight made Beatrix wince and turn to Arthur.

“Arthur…we only found this place by accident. We have nothing to lose if we turn back now, let’s just go.”

She packed their belongings into her inventory and rose to her feet, but Arthur’s gaze remained filled with pity as he looked at Idrilla.

“It’s already too late, Beatrix.”