Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?

Aaran expected Eleanor to follow suit with annulment papers. To his surprise, she didn't appear before him. Perhaps Trantua was worried he would turn her against him and didn't want to take that risk.

Either way, the night fell. The guards noticed Aaran mumbling to himself and brought a priest to scan the cells, thinking there was a spirit in there. However, the priest didn't find anything. He even scolded the guards, pointing at the cuffs.

Those cuffs were made to sever a dark mage's connection to their core. How will Aaran summon a spirit to talk? The guards understood Aaran was toying with them. One of them almost walked in to teach him a lesson, but others stopped the guard.

"He'll die tomorrow regardless," one said. "Just forget about him."

The guard spat in anger before leaving. Aaran chuckled at the reaction. It was true he was talking to someone, but that someone wasn't a spirit or an undead. It was quite the opposite.

[What are you laughing at?]

"Nothing, goddess. I was just reminded of your beautiful self."

[…p-pervert priest!]

"Pervert or not, I'm all yours, goddess."

[Hmph! Your sweet words won't work on me.]

"I know, I know. I apologized for leaving you, did I not? Besides, I left you in the palace so you'd be comfortable while I rot in this prison."

[I can break you out…]

"Don't worry, I'll walk out of here tomorrow. Trust your priest."

[Do you think I'd have descended if I didn't? Fool! Go rot in your cell, blegh!]

Aaran couldn't see the goddess, but he could imagine her sticking her tongue out at him. It made him laugh, unlike the sight of the floating ghost before him.

"Kiara."

"Oh, you can still see me!" Kiara laughed, snuggling next to Aaran. "I thought you couldn't see me with your severed core."

Aaran didn't bother answering her, but he was curious as to why she was there. He had a hunch, but he didn't think the Covenant would be that big of a foolish organization.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to free you, silly! Show me your hands. I'll take off the cuffs."

Aaran waited for Kiara to unphase before grabbing her wrist and pinning her under him. In the last decade, they had grown closer. That's why she didn't hesitate before hugging or feeling him up.

But that Aaran was different, and this one was different. His entanglement with the Covenant would only last a year, and that's why he thought it was better to clear their ambiguous relationship.

However, Kiara's cheeks flushed as she phased through the floor, only to return after turning sideways.

"I'll grant your wish," she said, dodging Aaran's eyes. "But I like this position better."

Without another word, she lifted her leg, phasing through Aaran. Her skirt was flipped, given Aaran the view of her forbidden place. He immediately closed his eyes and got off of her.

Kiara quickly put her legs down, wondering if she should have shaved or if it was something else that Aaran didn't like.

"Kiara… please show some decency," he said, looking away.

Kiara's face flushed as she realized her mistake and covered herself up. She thought Aaran wanted to burn some steam before going and presented herself.

"L-Let's go… we can talk about this later—"

"I'm not leaving."

"…why? They will kill you!?"

Aaran smiled. Everyone he met seemed confident that he would die. Whether it be Trantua, Leon, the guards, or Kiara. It made him wonder if he had done a poor job of showing his skills to the word? Why did everyone keep doubting him?

Oh well, no one would dare doubt me after tomorrow.

Aaran went over the plan in his mind and smiled. Kiara saw him and thought he had lost his mind. She floated over him, perhaps trying to peek inside his skull to see if it was still there or not.

After confirming Aaran's mind was in place, she appeared before him. She thought at least his eyes would show a hint of fear. However, Aaran's eyes were even calmer than before.

"Y-You really have a plan to get out of here?"

Aaran nodded.

"I assume you won't tell me about it."

Aaran shook his head.

"Argh… sometimes you're too frustrating, cute, but frustrating!"

Just like that, she floated out of the cell, only to return a few moments later.

"Don't be scared to ask for my help if you need me."

However, Aaran didn't reply and merely gestured for her to leave. Kiara took a page out of the goddess's book and showed him her tongue before disappearing for good.

Women…

Aaran sighed.

***

The next day, holy knights arrived to take Aaran for his execution. His cuffs were checked, and he was blindfolded as they led him to the execution grounds.

As expected, it was brimming with people cursing him out. Aaran couldn't see, but he could hear their voices just well enough.

A moment later, the knight took off the blindfold, forcing Aaran to cover his eyes. Other than the natural sunlight, artificial lamps had been installed all around the arena. There wasn't a single shadow to be seen there, another way to deter Aaran's dependence on darkness.

Was cuffing me not enough?

Aaran shook his head and noticed the magic barrier overhead. It was a soundproof barrier, meaning Aaran could hear the audience's curse, but they couldn't hear him. It was set up so Aaran didn't spill Trantua's truth.

Aaran couldn't help but smile. It was good to know what Trantua genuinely thought of him. He saw Aaran as a threat, even though he didn't let it show during their meeting, and that was enough to please Aaran.

"Quite a few people showed up," Aaran said, stretching his legs as his arms remained cuffed. "I guess it's because no executions have happened recently."

After saying so, Aaran looked at the podium as saw the Emperor sitting with Eleanor next to him. It seemed she had been crying and hadn't slept the entire night. Other than them, various nobles were also present, including Vericia and Seraphina.

However, unlike everyone else, Seraphina smiled when she saw him and even blew him a kiss, only to be rebuked by Vericia. However, Seraphina didn't care and even glared her mother into silence.

Yeah… she had definitely regressed.

Aaran didn't know how she accomplished it, but he had no doubts Seraphina was a different woman from the past, he remembered. She wasn't someone who would go against her parents, yet there she was, openly blowing him kisses.

"Stop looking at my daughter," Leon warned Aaran.

"I'm not. I was looking at your wife. You should too. She looks lovely for a despicable witch," Aaran replied. "Besides, I'm surprised you volunteered to kill me yourself, pathetic hero Leon."

It wasn't surprising that Trantua chose Leon to fight Aaran. Leon had support of the people as he was a Virtue. Unfortunately for him, things were about to end badly.

"Any last wishes?" Aaran asked him.

Leon frowned, but didn't react any further. Instead, he curled his fists, planning to end the fight in one blow. But before the signal was given, Aaran did something that shocked everyone.

The cuffs around his wrists cracked and fell to the ground with a thud. Entire arena turned silent as Aaran copied Leon's posture, only difference was that he was using both his hands like he was going to yell Kame-hame-copyright.

"Shall we get started?"