The Duchess Who Sees Ghosts - Chapter 15

Translator: Yonnee

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Julia concentrated. With her senses sharpened, she felt the presence of the evil spirit that could harm her in any second, and at the same time, she was trying to listen to the voices of the others screaming within it.

As she danced, she avoided the evil spirit’s attack as it exuded unstable energy.

Unlike knights who dodged attacks through quick, disciplined movements, she gracefully avoided the evil spirit’s attacks as though she was going with the flow of a river’s stream.

“Damn it…”

Julia cursed under her breath. Sweat dripped from the sides of her face.

The chaotic energy was distracting her too much, and apart from that, this evil spirit was far more powerful unlike others.

“Disappear!”

Julia used her fan to scatter the evil spirit’s energy, and as it turned away and tried to slip away, she frowned and hurriedly took out her talismans and stuck three sheets side by side on the wall.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

When the talismans worked to block off the evil spirit’s escape, it took on a more solid form and glared at Julia. Then, it dispersed again and attacked her.

Julia swung her fan and dispelled the energy it shot out, but at one side of the room, she saw Leo and Patrick. She tried to run to them in a hurry, but the evil spirit blocked her.

It didn’t make any sounds, but its red eyes stared eerily as if to say that she couldn’t leave either. There was no time to think. Julia bit her lower lip, then took out a talisman and threw it right away. With a distinct sound as if it was cutting through the air, the talisman was flung towards the evil spirit.

But the evil spirit itself moved to the side and seemed to be taunting her. Julia gritted her teeth at this, then folded her fan with a sharp clack—at the same time, the evil spirit’s energy quivered for a moment, but then it suddenly fled towards Leo and Patrick.

Shocked by its sudden behavior, she looked back and saw Leo pointing his sword towards Doria, who was backing away while clutching his shoulder.

“Sh*t…!!”

Doria cursed with a low voice, and it seemed that the evil spirit heard him because it headed straight towards Leo’s direction. Julia threw the fan as hard as she could to hit the evil spirit as it went to Doria’s side.

Leo rushed towards Julia and brought her back her fan, then said, “What is he doing?”

“…It’s troublesome. He’s trying to run away and go outside.

“Outside? Why?”

Julia’s gaze turned sharp.

“To find more victims.”

“Victims? Truly?”

Julia nodded. Stunned, Leo looked at Doria, who had a crazed look on his face even as he was bleeding.

“To eat more souls.”

Taking a living person’s life force was the greatest transgression of all. A soul that couldn’t move on to the six realms of existence would cease to exist and would not be able to reincarnate to the next life.

Furthermore, the entity that would kill and absorb life force in this way would not escape suffering, rather they would spend the rest of eternity in endless torment and agony. The weight of this crime was incomparable.

However, evil spirits that had already lost rationality and acted only according to instinct would think only of their own survival. And their survival would be entirely based on the injustice of taking the souls of others.

“This is the cause for the spirits’ disappearances. When a spirit’s connection to earth disappears, which is their body, it will no longer be able to take form here again. That’s why Doria dug out the dead’s remains, because it’ll be food for the evil spirits that he wanted to make… and to satisfy a deplorable hobby.”

“That’s terrible…” Leo murmured as he stared at Doria. “I can’t let him continue doing that on my land.”

Leo clutched his sword once more. Patrick still had his ears tightly covered due to the multitude of voices he was hearing. Julia looked at him worriedly, then turned to Leo, but he reassured her.

“I’m fine.”

Julia narrowed her eyes as she saw his smile, then she nodded. Doria took out the blade that was stuck on his shoulder and threw it to the ground. Soon, he licked his own bloody hand and giggled.

“It doesn’t taste good.”

“If blood tastes delicious for you, then you’re not human.”

At that moment, Leo rushed towards the other man, but the evil spirit blocked his pursuit. But when Leo swung his sword at the evil spirit, it swayed in the air and instantly lost its shape.

Leo handled his sword adeptly, but it only grazed Doria’s clothes. Doria smiled and reached out again—then, an unnerving energy gathered at once and took the shape of more evil spirits. They weren’t as strong as the first evil spirit, but they were still dangerous.

“Be careful!”

Leo cut down the evil spirits that surrounded him, his teeth clenched, but he couldn’t pin them down.

As Julia watched tensely, she spread out her fan and caused the wind to blow stronger. The evil spirits were slowed, but they retaliated and sent Julia flying back.

In the meantime, Leo had redirected his sword towards Doria again and swung it near Doria’s neck, but another evil spirit materialized and made Leo’s sword miss its target.

Leo grimaced as an invisible energy prevented his sword from moving. Julia swung her fan once more to shake off one evil spirit, but it jumped right back and fiercely countered Julia and Leo.

Doria’s cackles grew louder. The evil spirit began to release a resonating negative energy. With this, the morgue became shrouded with shadows. Leo faltered back, but at this, Julia released her energy as well.

Julia’s energy was a warm, positive energy, and it blocked the cold, negative energy of her opponents as Doria joined the evil spirits and released a stronger force.

Leo faltered but approached Julia and whispered.

“What will happen if we touch that dreary energy?”

With her brows furrowed as she concentrated on drawing her energy, Julia replied to him.

“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”

“No… I was just wondering if there’s something else.”

“…”

Julia stepped forward.

“Exposure to strong negative energy can dramatically weaken your bodily functions and reduce your resistance to diseases. Then, due to the onslaught of diseases that you’ll be vulnerable to, your body would become a mess, and sooner or later you’ll die due to one of those diseases. Should I explain more?”

“…So people won’t die right away.”

“It’ll bring the worst of diseases. If it becomes too much, you can get all kinds of transmitted diseases. Or, your bones could go brittle while you’re rotting from inside out. So be careful.”

Leo looked grim as he pulled Patrick, who was squatting next to them, closer to his and Julia’s side. He bit his lips as he thought of how to deal with Doria as quickly as possible.

“Is there a way?”

“…”

Julia’s eyes had reverted to red once more, then she glanced once towards Leo then to Doria. She looked worried for a moment, but when she opened her fan and swung again, the concern on her face lessened.

Julia confirmed something herself, then slowly opened her lips.

“Doria.”

“What is it? Are you going to surrender now?”

“Absolutely not.”

Julia smirked and closed her eyes. Then after she opened them again, they turned back to white.

“Did you know?”

She suddenly asked a question, at which Doria scowled.

“When the balance of yin and yang* becomes tilted to one side, it’s bound to collapse rapidly. Right now, this cold place is full of negative energy, and it sits where the north influences it.”

“What nonsense are you saying?”

This was common knowledge for Julia because the principle behind it had been accepted as the natural order in her previous world, yet it wasn’t acknowledged here at all. But despite being in a new world now, Julia knew that there were some things that wouldn’t change.

“I’m letting you know about the truth right now, but are your ears not working?”

“The truth?”

“Yes, the truth.”

Julia grinned as her energy blossomed further. As she did so, Doria became uneasy, then Doria drew his energy around him again.

The evil spirits gathered and defended Doria, releasing even a stronger aura to block Julia’s energy. Their negative energy resisted well.

Julia looked around the darkness, drew her hand up with a gentle motion, then quickly swung it down. The darkness was split as though a line cut it in half.

“…What the hell.”

When Doria cursed, Julia answered softly.

“This is what harmony means.”

“Nonsense…!”

“Watch carefully.”

Julia picked up the sword that Doria discarded, the one that had pierced his shoulder. Julia’s gaze elegantly fell to him as she faced him once more.

“As a humble being who connects the providence of nature, it is my duty to exact divine punishment unto those who harm this balance.”

The energy from within her surged. What drove out the darkness was not a pure white energy, but a powerful red energy. It burned like fire and engulfed the negative energy that the evil spirits had emitted.

As Julia moved her hand, her fan fluttered. Her energy spread out even more intensely according to her graceful movements as she danced, as if she were walking on air.

“What… what the hell is this!!”

Doria thought that he had gone through a lot of things already, but he had never seen anything like this before. Without being able to resist, the evil spirits were forced back.

Julia opened her eyes and stared directly at the trembling evil spirits.

“O, dear gods who sing of the noble truth of the universe… I beg of you, embrace these poor souls. Please remember the distant peace of the olden days that you embraced, please forgive their evil deeds. Take these souls who have been unjust and lead them to paradise.”

Julia’s low voice resounded. The screams of the distressed evil spirits decreased, and soon, the darkness began to fade.

As her dance came to a halt, Julia walked slowly towards them and pointed the sword she had in her hand towards the center of one evil spirit, then slashed upwards. From bottom to the top, a bright light shone out.

She took a step back and the light grew even bigger and brighter, then soon, countless orbs of light rose to the sky. Julia watched them, then slowly closed her eyes.

As the orbs ascended, the bright light’s intensity gradually decreased. Soon, only one final black shell was left, which Julia had cut down with her sword. Now, the evil spirits were gone.

Julia’s eyes were still white even after she opened her eyes once more.

“Wh…at… just what… is this…!!”

Julia looked down at Doria, who was screaming hysterically, then slashed down her sword.

“Huuk!!”

With the sword falling only next to him, Doria gasped and trembled. Julia stared at him with something akin to pity behind her eyes, then spoke.

“If you thought you could do whatever you want, know this—you shall be sent to Surado, but I’m sure that you will one day step foot in hell. Go to the next world and never forget the precepts of the land.”

As Julia finished speaking, she looked up blankly as Leo approached her and raised one hand. But—

“Huh?”

His hand reached out to her shoulder, but it paused mid-air. Her red hair suddenly turned white.

Leo froze in surprise, then Julia looked at him.

“This is why I didn’t want to use that energy.”

“Th, this…?”

Julia smirked.

“I used up too much, that’s why I changed like this.”

“H-How is this even possible…?”

“All old people have gray hair. Think of it that way.”

This was the bitter price of using Crone’s energy and not her own. Any human channeling a god’s power always took a toll on the body.

Julia looked at Leo, then glanced at Doria.

“…Can I ask you a favor?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll settle all of this.”

“…No.”

Her eyes met his. As Leo tilted his head, Julia fell forward at the same moment.

Julia collapsed and Leo hurriedly caught her despite his agitation.

“I’ll just… sleep for three days.”

“What?”

Without being able to say another word, Julia closed her eyes.

“Ju, Julia? Julia! Julia!!”

Leo panicked and shook her shoulder, shouting for her to wake up repeatedly, but no matter what he did, she wouldn’t wake up.

And just as she said, she laid quietly on her bed like a sleeping princess, and she did not wake up for three days.