Chapter 275: Picking Up a Ghost, Family Members
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After the Nightwalker Brigade had left, a thin layer of frost had coated everyone in the group, everyone except Aiwass, who was completely untouched and clean.
As a priest, Aiwass had an abundant mana pool with an affinity for light and fire, which easily dispelled the chill brought on by the dark energy. Now that they had left that strange, cold wave behind, the little life force he had lost was visibly replenishing.
Hayna simply used some force and shattered the frost on her body, her expression as usual—even looking somewhat refreshed, as if she was enjoying the sensation of a stress-relief toy.
After all, she was tough and bursting with vitality.
What surprised Aiwass was that Lily seemed unaffected as well. She casually brushed off the frost that covered her without her face turning white or red from the cold.
One should know that the resistance of the Path of Adaptation was not strong. Both hunters and assassins were frail, unable to withstand damage or control.
However, the resistance of those from the Path of Love was considerably better...
But Sherlock, the poor boy, had been frozen to the point of pallor, shivering uncontrollably. Aiwass couldn't help feeling relieved that he had performed the ritual of initiation for Sherlock first... Even though Sherlock had not officially converted to a Worshipper of Mithra yet, his life force had been somewhat fortified.
Otherwise, he might have given in and cried out just now.
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"But even if you had cried out, it wouldn't have mattered..."
Aiwass sighed, placing a hand on Sherlock's chest, warming him with a glow that dispelled the coldness: "The Wild Hunt King is off-duty today. They won't kill; they just scare you for fun—of course, if you panic and attack them, you'll be taken away."
Hayna, upon hearing such precise details, was stunned for a moment: "Mr. Aiwass, you know about them too?"
She had thought that city dwellers were clueless about these things!
"Of course, I am a priest after all. The haunting ghost armies, the Night Rider Brigade bound by contract with the Great Sage... the intersection of the Great Sage's wisdom and amber power."
Aiwass answered, "They move out with the sound of thunder, orderly sweeping away wandering souls."
In some ways, the Night Rider Brigade was actually beneficial to the world.
They were like vultures or hyenas, an important part of the ecological chain.
The wandering undead—unless exorcised by a priest to "lay them to rest," anyone could potentially be turned into ghosts or undead on nights when Dusk Power was strong.
Mass graves often saw various kinds of undead, as did the wilderness where adventurers died, or soldiers whose bones were not reclaimed… like the Earthbound Spirit Aiwass had encountered before.
These undead wandering outside easily caused harm to people.
And the reason why ghosts aren't usually seen is simple.
If it's in the city, it's because of the constant blessings and exorcisms by priests; if it's the wilderness or villages, it's because the Wild Hunt in the nearby area is harvesting."
On stormy nights, the "Wild Hunt King" would lead his attendants under the cover of darkness, sweeping away all the wild undead they come across. Skeletons fall apart, zombies collapse, their souls all taken by the Wild Hunt King.
"Strictly speaking, they are part of the regular army, temporary envoys of the Pillar God, in a sense...
"They are just a bit heavy-handed, and may kill normal people who shouldn't be killed if they happen to see them."
It's like virus scanning software, Aiwass thought to himself.
If living people attack them, or if they run around chaotically on their marching path and cause a commotion, they are likely to be attacked, killed, and taken away.
"...Soulless individuals divested from four domains, they who have perished but whose souls remain are divested from six domains, and those who have perished with neither soul nor spirit are divested from eight domains. These Night Riders joining the Wild Hunt are merely ghosts, but they received an extra blessing from the Great Sage, freeing them from these constraints. Without bones, they can still possess intellect and the ability to think after death.
"Similarly, they also accepted a treaty from the Great Sage. They cannot attack or enter any room with lights on and doors closed, nor can they approach any area near a cathedral with a bishop, nor assault the sick, pregnant women, or the disabled.
"These Wild Hunt Legions almost exclusively pass through the wilderness on rainy nights. If there's no rain and thunder, the Wild Hunt King is not around, then they're just out running around for fun. After all, they can only appear at night, and they start to dissipate if they stop, so they must keep moving.
"If you're attacked by undead in the wilderness at night, you'd better pray that a Night Rider sees you and comes to your rescue... Even if the Wild Hunt King is absent, they will scoop up any undead they happen to see along the way."
Aiwass explained to Sherlock and Lily.
Children in the village are warned by their parents not to go out on stormy nights for exactly this reason.
However, Eagle Cape Village here is clearly their respawn point, so every night as soon as it gets dark, you can encounter them..."
"...So there really is such an existence."
Sherlock frowned deeply, "I've heard before that some people silently vanish when traveling on stormy nights, and then their bodies are found far away. So, this legend is based on that…"
"It means that's the end point of the Wild Hunt march. Their souls were probably scooped up by the Wild Hunt King upon encounter."
Aiwass shrugged, "In the city, undead are generally handled by priests, so Sherlock, you definitely haven't seen this. There's almost complete coverage by churches in the cities... even slightly larger cities have multiple churches.
"There are too many villages, and the churches don't have enough bishops to send out, but they can at least help perform funerals to let the deceased rest in peace. As for the undead... we have to rely on nearby Wild Hunts to clean up.
"Ordinary villagers might not encounter the Wild Hunt for years, or even decades... after all, not many fools run out of their homes on stormy nights.
"Anyway, there's a very simple way to survive—if you see the Wild Hunt in action, just hunker down and cover your head on the spot, and you'll be fine. If you're standing and get scared enough to go weak at the knees and bump into someone, that's not so good."
"Then how do you know about it?"
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Sherlock retorted, "You haven't left Glass Island either, have you?"
Aiwass smiled, "I am a Priest, my great Detective.
"The scope of The Wild Hunt will eventually grow larger and larger... When the scale of The Wild Hunt in a region gets too high, a bishop will be dispatched to hold large-scale intercessory rituals during the day to bury the nearby souls and diminish the scale of the Wild Hunt. This is the true nature of the so-called 'festival'."
"After all, these Night Riders are essentially restless spirits who are not free. Only by being purified can they be released from endless wandering and toil."
Of course, if the bodies could be found, even the lowest acolyte could carry out the crossing.
But the problem is, who knows where these Knights joined the legion from!
Their bodies could be anywhere. They might even have decomposed or been eaten by wild animals on the roadside.
If their bodies can't be found, the masses must be mobilized and multiple Blessing areas set up within the region—placing the items blessed by the bishop in specific locations, like on windows.
When the Wild Hunt Legion passes by and touches these blessed items, they'll ignite into white flames and be dispelled.
Since they are not malevolent spirits, they are very easy to disperse.
In a game, this would translate to having Holy Vulnerability and Banish Vulnerability, wherein a Priest's banish could deal four times the damage of a regular banish. And figures like Legal Mages or Inspectors could also deal effective damage with Light attribute skills.
Moreover, these Undead will not change their route for any reason—which means if you run fast enough, you can retreat to the side of the road after knocking down a few Undead. Only those knights with ranged attack capabilities would launch symbolic attacks.
So, Sir Helquinn was here...
Aiwass was somewhat tempted.
—If he remembered correctly, Sir Helquinn was an Elf Knight, and a well-known hero.
At that time, this small island was still a territory of the Giants, and Arthur's Round Table Knights had not yet been established. Arthur was only a Crowned Celestial Marshal and had not yet come down to the mortal realm...
Back then, Helquinn was the first to stand up, uniting humans and elves against the rule of the Giants—he was neither noble nor even human. But because of his bravery, he was posthumously knighted by the Heracel Empire.
Of course, the end result was failure.
He and his subordinates left no remains—the dead were merely cooked and eaten, while those captured endured inhuman torture. The execution grounds left behind the haunting cries of aggrieved spirits for centuries.
...Now it seems Eagle Cape Village is likely that unnamed execution ground of old.
Though he failed, being the first rebel gave his actions special significance—hence the Great Sage chose him as the Wild Hunt King.
The war aura carried by Helquinn was an extremely powerful area buff.
An effect equivalent to "Source War Song" was only graspable at the sixth Energy Level of the Path of Beauty—a burst Spell.
Not to mention his combat strength.
As an Undead blessed by amber, Helquinn possessed strong Earth attributes—contrary to common belief, in this world, Undead typically have Earth rather than Darkness as their primary attribute.
Because Earth encompasses properties such as solidification, stagnation, Silence, and encapsulation, which are closely related to amber. Only those who loathe the living, or evil spirits that have killed living people, have the Darkness attribute.
Aiwass just so happened to be in need of an Earth attribute Phantom Demon.
If he missed out on Helquinn... he would have to catch a Phantom Demon level Son of the Moon from the Iris Flowers. But even a Son of the Moon at the seventh Energy Level would definitely not be as strong as Helquinn. He might not be the strongest Wild Hunt King, but he certainly has the best aura.
—Found a ghost, family!
He wants to come home with me!
...The only problem is, Aiwass cannot take him away right now.
If Aiwass went over to take a look now, it might turn into a scenario of "Sir Helquinn found a person, home ghosts."
His true level is unknown, but during the 60 level era, he was a Superior Phantom whose level overflowed and was balanced to a neat 60, which suggests his level is at least above 60.
Now his level is balanced to 50, which corresponds to the sixth Energy Level—on the same level as the Eternal Pope.
Aiwass would definitely lose in a fight. Even bringing Ligeia over wouldn't help.
If he could bring the Pope over, the restraint would make it possible; after all, Helquinn's desire to attack is weak, he's the kind who goes easy—as can be seen from the rewards he offers, Helquinn has never really fought seriously. He has always maintained goodwill towards humans and elves.
But how could he possibly bring the distinguished Pope to a place like this...
Aiwass shook his head repeatedly, dismissing this absurd idea.
But even if he can't catch him, it's rare to find a fixed spawn point for a rare monster... he should at least mark down this location.
On another note.
Since this is the site where Giants once executed criminals... the fact that his grandfather chose this place to retire probably wasn't just a random decision.
—There might be something else here.