309 Chapter 226: Morgue

...

2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 14.

Tingen's sky was covered with dark black storm clouds, not even the crimson light of the moon could pierce them making the night darker than usual.

Heavy drops were falling and showering the streets, the homeless sheltered as best they could from the rain while parents comforted children in their homes due to the loud white thunder.

Zouteland Street was blocked after the events of a few hours earlier...

 In the basement of Blackthorn Security Company, in the morgue.

Corpse Collector Fry let out a long, heavy, sad sigh. His expression was dark and his gaze was sad. 

Gas lamps illuminated the room with orange light.

Lying on the autopsy table in front of him and with only the white sheets covering them, the bodies of his colleagues rested.

Dunn Smith's cold body rested with his eyes closed, a serene expression on his face as if he was just sleeping.

The sheet reached up to the back of his neck covering the hole in his chest.

To the right of his captain and with the sheet covering him completely, was the headless body of Klein Moretti.

Although the Red Glove Spirit Medium helped, they were unable to reconstruct his head.

The person who had been behind it, who everyone now knew was the Traitor Ince Zangwill, had used his powers to make Klein's body impossible to restore.

Clenching his fists tightly, Fry pursed his lips and could not stop tears from falling.

Despite how much helplessness he felt, despite the hatred that poisoned his insides, Fry knew that what he was feeling was nothing compared to what Daly Simone was feeling.

She had seen it all after all...

Despite the severity of Daly Simone's injuries, she was not in mortal danger, the Punishers who arrived as soon as it was all over managed to save her life. Had they not arrived, Daly would have bled to death.

The woman was now in the hospital of the Saint Selena Cathedral being treated for her more serious wounds.

The same with Leonard, who even with so many bruises and a face full of bandages decided to be the one to break the news to the Morettis...

He was able to convince them that they should not see their brother's body and in tears, the remaining Moretti siblings accepted the closed casket.

Shaking his head softly, Fry looked at the clock that was taped to the wall, and seeing the time, he only sighed heavily again.

It was time for his break. One thing he quickly learned when he became a Corpse Collector was that it wasn't a good idea to hang around corpses for too long. His mind would start to play tricks on him and his sanity would slip.

Looking down at the body of his captain, Fry carefully grabbed the sheet and covered the man's face.

Turning to look at the Clown's body, Fry gave a nod full of respect.

"At ease Captain, Klein... I'll be back in half an hour to dress you..." Bidding farewell to his partner and captain, Fry left the morgue...

Barely three minutes had passed since he left when the air vibrated for a moment and a bronze-skinned man walked in and appeared in the middle of the room.

Brown eyes that were filled with sadness and a gentle face that frowned in pain at the sight of the covered body on the right table.

Azik Eggers let out a long sigh and grabbing his tall hat, he took it off and placed it on his chest.

"Sorry for not being on time Klein..." The man apologized full of sadness and disappointment with himself.

Klein had used the copper whistle to contact him and warn him of his dire situation and ask for help.

He had stayed on the outskirts of the city before leaving in search of his memories so as soon as the distress letter arrived, he had sped to his student but before he could get there a strange woman stopped him.

'If only I had my memories...' Gently shaking his head, Azik let out a soundless sigh and looked painfully at his student's body.

The grip on his hat tightened as soon as he saw the state of it and he had to suppress the anger burning in his heart.

Shaking his head, he shook his head. Placing his hat on a nearby table, Azik extended his hand into the air.

From the floor, a giant skeleton formed in a kneeling position. Although it looked to be easily taller than Azik, the skeleton shrank back and with its head lowered, extended between its bony hands a small box.

Azik took the box and as soon as it left its hand, the skeleton sank to the ground and disappeared.

Looking at the small box, Azik let out a small sigh.

When he saw the body of his son, this was one of the little things he remembered.

The box was small, easily fitting in one hand, and made of an unknown reddish wood. Mysterious and unknown symbols covered it completely. In the middle of the lid of it, the number 3 was framed in it. 

From what little he could remember of his past, this was something that had always accompanied him.

Lifting the lid and resting on a yellowish pad, an orange crystal sphere with 3 reddish stars inside reflected his face.

Although he did not remember the name of this strange sphere, Azik knew how valuable it was because, despite his poor memory, he remembered its ability.

Resurrection. 

The only requirements were to have the person's body and that the person had not been dead for more than 24 hours, if this was exceeded, the sphere would still revive the person but the awakened person would no longer be the same.

This ability could only be used once.

Looking at the body of his student, Azik grasped the sphere carefully with a determined look on his face.

He would revive Klein. Not only because the young man had helped him before but because he felt that the opportunity to recover his memories was enormous!

This was something that came from his spirituality and the depths of his soul!

Looking at his student, Azik was relieved to have a change of clothes for the man.

Just as he placed the sphere on Klein's body and was about to activate it, his eyes widened.

His stunned gaze lowered to his pupil, his eyes twitching.

"What is this..." Azik muttered stunned.

His power was still far from what it was but he could see things that others could not...

He could see how Klein's body was in the process of Resurrection!

'Although it is extremely slow he should 'wake up' in the early hours of Wednesday morning!' Azik thought as he moved the sphere away from Klein's body.

It was no longer necessary to use it.

Placing the sphere in the box, just as his fingers touched the lid to lower it, his vision was drawn to the other body in the room.

"..." 

Squinting, Azik thought deeply about what to do.

He could see how on the table where he was lying there was a card with a name on it.

"Dunn Smith..."

He could not speak to the man's spirit to judge because he had already been purified.

Closing his eyes, Azik let out a long soundless sigh and let his spirituality be the one to guide him.

<Do it... He still has a lot to do...>

Opening his brown eyes, Azik looked at Dunn Smith's body and let out a sigh.

He could see that the man had been a mid-sequence Beyonder. Sequence 7 to be exact.

This made things difficult.

'His body already expelled his characteristics. If I revive him now he would immediately lose control as soon as he wakes up...'

Although the characteristics were no longer in the body that did not mean it was the body of a normal person. If he revived Dunn, he would return to an incomplete body.

This would be easy to fix if he had the man's characteristics...

Thinking about what to do, an idea crossed his mind.

He could feel the Pathway the man belonged to by looking at his body.

'Sleepless...'

'It's risky but using a replacement is possible... The sphere can make it work but everything else would depend on him...'

Nodding, Azik closed and put away the box, put on his hat and respectfully lifted the covered body of Dunn Smith in his arms.

If he wanted his plan to work, this was not the place for what he wanted to do.

Looking at Klein's covered body, Azik gave a respectful nod and turned away.

In two steps, Azik disappeared with Dunn Smith in his arms.

...

In the secret basement of the Baron Lamud Castle.

Checking that everything was in place for the second time, Azik nodded in satisfaction.

On an altar surrounded by white candles lay the uncovered body of Dunn Smith.

The candles burned with slow-dancing white flames.

This ritual was not necessary to use the sphere but to increase the chance of success of what came next.

Lowering his gaze to his hand, a black stone returned his gaze.

This was the Sequence 5 Gatekeeper characteristic of the Corpse Collector Pathway or as he knew Death Pathway.

This characteristic is from Sequence 9 to Sequence 5.

This was one of the few characteristics he had in his possession after recovering some of his memory.

The others are Clown and Planter...

'Unfortunately, this is the only one I have. Even if the Death Pathway and Sleepless Pathway are interchangeable, this is still extremely risky... Dunn Smith in life was the Nightmare of Sequence 7, upon awakening he will be the Gatekeeper of Sequence 5...'

'If I were to give him only the Gatekeeper he would die upon awakening, so he also has to consume the previous sequences which increases the danger...'

If he had the characteristics of the same sequence it would be much safer but unfortunately, that was not the case...

The whole purpose of the ritual is to help Dunn Smith's body take the characteristics at the moment of resurrection by using them as a replacement for the lost ones while reducing the possibility of rejection.

Letting out a sigh, Azik placed the stone on Dunn Smith's chest.

Taking the sphere back out of the box, he raised the sphere over the body. His spirituality went to the candles causing the white fire in them to grow.

As far as he remembered it was not necessary to imbue the sphere with spirituality, just reciting the incantation was enough.

Opening his mouth, Ancient Hermes roared.

"Shenlong fulfill my wish! Bring Dunn Smith back to life!"

Immediately after saying that, the reddish stars in the sphere began to spin with great speed.

The orange sphere decayed into golden dust that fell into Dunn's body. The black stone on his chest melted into his skin at the same time as the hole in his chest closed.

From his chest, black veins sprang up and spread all over his body, which began to convulse wildly as foam poured from his mouth.

This lasted only a few minutes, the black veins disappeared but the man's body kept its pale and cold tone.

In Azik's eyes, the body became a little transparent for a moment before returning to normal.

Bump! Bump!

With the beating of a heart, gray eyes opened in shock as a person took a deep breath of air...

At 2:40 a.m. on August 14, Dunn Smith rose from the dead.

...

Finishing his half-hour break, Fry returned and before he even took a step into the morgue his expression broke as he saw the empty table where Dunn Smith once lay.

Quickly confirming that Klein's body was still there. Fry turned and ran for help.

At nine o'clock in the morning, two graves were buried.

Those present are all of the Blackthorn Security Company and the Moretti siblings.

Leonard looked at the graves with teary eyes as he stood behind a wheelchair-bound Daly who had a flat expression but her eyes were teary and shiny.

The Moretti Siblings were standing a little away from them carrying a bouquet of yellow flowers.

Unbeknownst to those present, two robed figures also observed the funeral.

_______

He he

You didn't expect this, did you?

I decided to publish this chapter first before the others to give you time to digest it.