Job Quest: Perfect Doll

When Linton entered Lizer Manor, he immediately felt that something was off.

It was not merely because the surroundings were unnaturally quiet, but because of a necromancer's intuition.

"Someone died here, not long ago."

As Linton's murmur scattered in the wind, he suddenly sensed that there was one more undead he could summon in this area.

"I don't have some Conan constitution, do I?"

Somewhat troubled, Linton walked into the manor, politely knocked on the door three times, and looked into the hall.

It looked as though a fierce fight had taken place here. Broken dinner plates were scattered everywhere, a candlestick had fallen to the floor, and specks of brown stains clung to it.

There were two people inside, a man and a woman.

The woman sat on the filthy carpet, covering her face as she wailed, while the man stood bent over behind a sofa. When he saw Linton, he suddenly straightened up as if startled.

Sensing something vaguely, Linton frowned, but he had no intention of meddling.

He asked calmly, "Excuse me, is Mr. Lizer here?"

Covai's heart pounded so hard that he nearly pointed at the corpse hidden behind the sofa and blurted, "He is. He's right here."

Fortunately, the pain from his wound being tugged by his sudden movement twisted his mouth, and he did not actually say it.

"May I ask who you are? What do you need Hom for?"

Covai tried to seize control of the conversation, hoping to buy time and figure out the identity of the person before him, but Linton clearly had no interest in speaking with him any further.

"Who I am is unimportant. I came to Mr. Lizer only to collect what he was supposed to hand over to us."

"But—"

"Waaah—"

Covai wanted to ask a few more questions, but for some reason, Hailan beside him began crying more and more heartbreakingly.

"My daughter, Iris. Iris."

The interrupted conversation could not be resumed, leaving Covai somewhat annoyed. "Hailan, stop crying!"

Yet Hailan seemed not to hear him at all. She continued weeping loudly, occasionally slapping herself twice and muttering apologies like a madwoman.

"Hailan."

Seeing that Hailan was saying more and more, even mentioning the dead Hom and himself, Covai grew increasingly panicked at the thought of the murder being exposed. He hurried forward, trying to stop her from revealing any more information.

"That is enough, sir," Linton said coldly. "I have no interest in learning about your crimes. Investigating and arresting you is the guard's responsibility, not mine. My task is merely to obtain what I came for, nothing more."

"Now, find it and hand it over to me!"

The cold, oppressive force in his words sent a chill down Covai's spine.

At that moment, he could no longer spare Hailan any attention. He hurriedly said in a fawning tone, "Understood, I understand. But... I don't know what Hom was supposed to give you. Could you give me a little hint?"

"Offering Gold."

"Offering Gold? You're from the church. Sorry, I'll go look for it right away!"

Under that gaze, which seemed capable of tearing a person's soul out, Covai no longer dared to speak nonsense. He hurried upstairs on unsteady steps.

"Hom spent most of his time in the study on the top floor. It should be there... damn it."

As he thought, he forgot that he had just dragged a corpse over. When he turned and stepped forward, he tripped over it and nearly fell to the ground.

"Even dead, you won't let me have any peace, huh?!"

After steadying himself, Covai viciously kicked Hom's cold body, trying to vent all the humiliation he had suffered from Linton.

He kicked Iris as well, and several dirty marks immediately appeared on the girl's snow-white skin.

"And you too! Why didn't you stay properly with the Knights Order? What did you come back for? You smashed my face up like this. It hurts like hell."

Suddenly, Covai felt that his foot had lost control. He wanted to pull it back, but could not do so no matter how hard he tried.

The next moment, his heart violently contracted, as if an invisible hand had tightly clenched it. The circulation of blood within his body instantly went out of control, nearly making him pass out.

The bizarre scene lasted only an instant. Covai then felt his soul, which had nearly flown from his body, get dragged back inside, and he regained control.

"What was that?"

He secretly glanced at the Man in Black standing at the doorway, who seemed to be doing nothing. For the time being, Covai set aside his doubts and headed upstairs.

"Why was I angry?"

Beneath his hood, Linton's expression was calm. No one could tell that his face had nearly twisted with rage just moments ago.

After pondering for a moment, he reached a conclusion.

The necromancer's will was at work.

The necromancer's soul had indeed long since dissipated, but just as a fish's body could still twitch after its belly had been cut open and its organs removed, although he was dead, some obsessions that had become instinct still remained.

And what had the necromancer been obsessed with?

Among the memories Linton inherited, his fanaticism for perfect corpses was no less intense than that of the most devout members of the Truth Society. That was why it had suddenly surfaced when Covai damaged Hom and Iris's bodies.

"Foolish humans have desecrated death. He must, must be given punishment more terrifying than the abyssal purgatory!!"

As soon as that thought arose, it immediately vanished, and Linton suddenly felt his body become much lighter.

The necromancer was probably truly dead now.

"I'm not exactly a good person, but I truly can't understand your fanaticism, so forgive me for being unable to punish someone unrelated to me for that reason," Linton muttered. "But I can find another reason, or rather, leave this matter to someone more qualified and with greater reason than I have."

Linton slowly closed his eyes, found the most radiant soul in the manor, then spread his hands and chanted softly.

Secret Art: Necromancer Summoning

When he opened his eyes, he watched specks of faint light turn from illusion into reality, gradually condensing into the graceful figure of what appeared to be a young girl. Linton instructed, "Remember to wait until he finds the item before you make your move. I still need to go back and report in."

The girl glanced at him without replying, then floated upward on the breeze pouring in through the doorway.

With the girl's departure, the hall suddenly became much quieter. The woman who had been crying had somehow collapsed onto the carpet. It seemed she had cried for so long that lack of oxygen had made her faint.

Shaking his head, Linton stepped around the woman on the floor and went behind the sofa.

He wanted to see whose body had enraged an unnoticed consciousness enough to rise from the dead.

Linton went behind the sofa and saw the silent bodies of the father and daughter lying on the floor.

The father's body was somewhat mangled, while the daughter had almost no other injuries besides the depression at the back of her head.

Just as Linton's gaze fell on Iris, a line of virtual text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

For humans, birth is the formation of emotional connection, while death is the severing of emotional connection. At the beginning of life, humans are the most flawless creations, and the most perfect death is to return as one was at birth, without thought or desire.

Now, a Perfect Creation as immaculate as the beginning has appeared before you. Can you create a forbidden miracle?

[Job Quest: Perfect Doll] activated.

Objective: Create a puppet with a Legendary rating.

Reward: [Skill: Dirge of the End] unlocked, 5 free attribute points, 1 job skill upgrade point