Killing the Possessor - Chapter 98

When I solved the portrait puzzle, I found the name written on the back: Rudolf Midas. The portrait belonged to none other than Rudolf Midas himself. He was once a respected family head but had now become an evil spirit ancestor of Luipe Midas.

The reason I, with a goldfish’s memory, could remember this evil spirit’s name was because it was derived from ‘Rudolph the reindeer’. He was fond of deer hunting in life and even after possessing his great-grandson’s body, so the association was easy to make.

But what good is knowing the true name? At this rate, I’m likely to die in reality again.

“Camilli!”

At that moment, my blurry vision cleared with a loud voice. Wyner, who had struck Rudolf with a velvet chair to temporarily subdue him, urgently helped me up.

“Are you okay?”

[Affinity: 88]

…Well, how to put it.

Though there was no time to spare, the message that appeared in my sight made me think this: what a consistent idiot. The affinity that hardly drop, how he was still always the first to rush to me while was unable to handle spirits.

Is this why Camilli couldn’t let go of him?

“Annoying pests.”

At that moment, Rudolf Midas, now without his smile, staggered to his feet. Realizing there was no time to waste, I activated the artifact on my wrist.

“Summon!”

A bright light appeared, and a small glass vial dropped into my hand. Feeling the cold glass, I immediately opened the lid and, without hesitation, threw the contents at Rudolf.

“Graaah!”

A sizzling sound like something burning filled the air, and smoke rose. I sharply watched my opponent writhe in pain and threw the empty vial to the floor.

One of the preparations for this chapter.

Holy water.

As a liquid imbued with holy power, it dealt an effective blow to the high-level evil spirit. Though only temporary, it would buy me time to escape.

Ignoring the spirit writhing in agony, I quickly pulled Ilui and Wyner along and silently guided the two confused people toward the stairs.

“Camilli, wait. You…”

Wyner, who had been dragged along unsteadily, suddenly seemed to realize something was wrong. He tightened his grip on me.

Of course, I had neither the mood nor the means to explain, so I cut him off immediately.

“Wyner, there’s no time. Take Lady Hope and get out of here.”

“What? But—”

“Go find priests, paladins, anyone with holy power. Tell them this is a high-level spirit!”

After saying this, I headed upstairs instead of down to the exit. Wyner grabbed me again.

“Then what about you?”

“I have something to do! Go now!”

I shrugged off his hand and gestured for him to hurry. Behind me, I saw a restless Ilui, but I didn’t have time to speak to her.

There’s an absolute limit to fighting evil spirits without holy power. Though Wyner’s intentions to save me were admirable, he was only a hindrance now.

Not being a high-ranking successor, I had no escort. Even if I had someone with me, if they weren’t a paladin, they’d be useless. No guests at today’s party possessed holy power anyway.

Until reinforcements arrive, I have only one option: defeat the spirit myself according to the game’s rules.

There’s no way to reform a high-level spirit, so I must destroy it by the methods I know. I don’t know how this relates to extending my residence permit, but right now, preserving my own life is more urgent than extending my stay permit.

“Study. Study. Study.”

Following a path that felt like a navigation screen, I raced up the stairs two steps at a time. My destination was the study I’d visited earlier, where I needed to solve puzzles based on the clues I’d gathered so far.

The reason Rudolf Midas was so sensitive about the study was simple: it contained the means to defeat him without holy power.

[The evil spirit ‘Rudolf Midas’ has begun the hunt.]