Inside the coffin lay a completely naked female corpse.
Her skin was pale as paper, yet showed no signs of lividity or decay.
Beside the corpse's head, several yellowed notebooks were stacked.
And the notebook containing the black magic Marie Laveau sought rested quietly at the bottom as well.
"Ah!!"
Behind him, Caroline craned her neck to look, and upon clearly seeing what was inside the coffin, she let out a terrified shriek and stumbled backward several steps.
Sephirot ignored her. This corpse exuded a pervasive eeriness; he figured it was best not to make direct contact.
Violet light surged from his right shoulder, and the Devil Bringer reached out toward the corpse.
When Caroline saw this gigantic hand appear out of thin air, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted dead away from fright.
Sephirot heard the commotion and glanced back. After confirming the woman had simply passed out, he paid her no further mind.
He turned his head to look at the Devil Bringer he had summoned.
Compared to its earliest form of pure energy, since his bloodline breakthrough, the Devil Bringer had actually grown an internal skeletal framework. He did not know whether this was because it had merged with the Demonic Essence.
Sephirot estimated that the skeleton alone could withstand some small-arms fire.
He manipulated the Devil Bringer to gently prod the female corpse inside the coffin.
The Devil Bringer had no sensation and could not gauge the temperature of the body.
But he could see that where the skin was depressed, it quickly rebounded.
This indicated the blood inside the corpse had not yet coagulated.
"Fresh kill?"
Sephirot once again manipulated the Devil Bringer to swipe open the corpse's eyelids.
The female corpse's pupils were dilated and clouded, appearing as though she had been dead for a very long time.
This strange phenomenon made Sephirot withdraw at once and abandon the thought of further exploration.
This thing looked like some unknown witch or warlock's sinister creation; if he inadvertently triggered some curse, it would not be worth the risk.
It would be better to have the Voodoo Queen come take a look and see if she could determine any specifics.
Just as he was closing the coffin lid again, an agonized wail erupted from the direction of the villa's front yard.
"They're here?"
Sephirot stood up, walked out of the greenhouse, and returned along his original path to the front door of the villa.
There, a man who appeared to be in his thirties was kneeling on the ground, clutching a corpse and weeping bitterly.
When the man heard Sephirot's approaching footsteps, he suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. "You killed my wife?!"
Before he could finish, the man felt his vision spin.
After landing, he saw that familiar body, still maintaining its kneeling posture.
"My body... how can this..."
The man's head rolled twice on the ground, his lips slightly parted, before sinking into endless darkness.
"An old married couple who've both lived for hundreds of years, and you're still putting on a show of dying for love?"
Sephirot flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed it cleanly.
He took out his phone and dialed Marie Laveau's number.
Not long after, a black sedan stopped outside the estate.
Marie Laveau pushed open the car door, stepped out, and strode quickly inside.
She stopped in front of the villa, looking at the two headless corpses lying on the ground, one old and one young, and one of her eyelids twitched violently.
The enemies who had tormented her with black magic for nearly a century had been dealt with in just half a day?
Marie Laveau drew a deep breath, composed herself, and looked at Sephirot as she asked, "What did you call me here for? Where's the notebook?"
"Follow me."
Sephirot led her to the large greenhouse in the back garden and pointed at the coffin buried in the earth. "There's a corpse inside here. It's a bit strange."
Marie Laveau stepped forward and looked at the coffin before her, but sensed nothing unusual.
She teased with a smile, "What, you can kill two people so easily and yet you're afraid of a coffin?"
Sephirot stepped forward and lifted the coffin lid with one hand. "See for yourself."
Marie Laveau looked, skepticism on her face.
A single glance was all it took for her smile to freeze instantly, her expression turning to utter disbelief.
"This... this is impossible!"
She cried out in alarm, her hands gripping the edge of the coffin.
"Do you recognize this corpse?"
Sephirot asked.
Marie Laveau stared at the pale face, drawing several deep breaths before she calmed down.
She did not answer Sephirot immediately, but leaned down and began examining the corpse with practiced efficiency.
Sephirot stood to the side, watching in silence.
A section of the female corpse's tongue was missing, a bit of skin still connected at the torn edge.
It looked as if it had been brutally severed by a blunt object, a hammer perhaps.
Moreover, the bones at the corpse's wrists and ankles were shattered.
When Marie Laveau squeezed lightly, the bones shifted visibly beneath the skin.
"No doubt about it."
Marie Laveau stood up, her voice tight with suppressed excitement.
"This dates back to the sixteenth century."
"Back then, a group of witches and warlocks proficient in black magic captured this innocent girl and used her as a living test subject."
She pointed at the girl's flawless skin and continued, "They carved a vast array of voodoo secret arts and vicious curses, one cut at a time, beneath her skin and into her flesh."
"Then they sewed the skin back together with special sorcerous needles and thread, using secret elixirs to keep her hanging on by a thread."
Sephirot listened to this and nodded slightly.
No wonder the corpse seemed long dead, yet still carried a faint trace of living breath.
Marie Laveau picked up the notebook beside the corpse, flipped through it, and went on, "Later, several self-styled righteous priests discovered this atrocity."
"Unable to stand by, they forcibly rescued the girl and attempted to use holy rites to relieve her suffering."
At this, she let out a scoff. "Unfortunately, those fools didn't understand the fundamental logic of black magic at all."
"Their spellcasting not only failed, but triggered a violent conflict with the various spells already inside the girl."
"Countless unintended reactions intertwined, directly turning the girl into a living dead who could neither die nor wake."
"And if an ordinary person without protection came into contact with the girl, they would witness an endless torrent of illusions, ultimately dying a gruesome death amidst those visions."
"Sounds like a comatose patient with her own radiation field."
Sephirot looked at the female corpse, stroking his chin as he spoke.
Hearing his peculiar analogy, Marie Laveau was momentarily stunned.
She could only nod, closing the notebook in her hand. "This girl is now a living voodoo grimoire."
"Countless people have searched for her. Beneath her skin and flesh lie far too many spells whose traditions have long since died out."
"I truly never expected such a treasure would be found by these two foolish thieves. Judging by their notes, they've been hiding in the estate studying her all these years."
After Marie Laveau finished, she suddenly turned her head to look at Sephirot, her eyes filled with desire.
"Sephirot, this corpse is extremely important to me."
"If I can decipher the magic upon her, I will be able to accomplish many things previously beyond my reach."
"For example, the person you asked me to divine earlier."
Sephirot looked at Marie Laveau. This corpse held no particular value for him.
Since it possessed such irresistible value for her, he might as well use it to strengthen their alliance.
"I can give you the corpse."
Sephirot's expression was flat, betraying nothing of his inner thoughts.
"But this is not a gift. We need to sign a contract between us."
Marie Laveau's gaze instantly became guarded.
The reason she had lived so long was precisely because she had signed a contract with a certain demon.
And contracts often required one party to pay the other something precious.
"Relax, it's not the kind of contract you are imagining."
Sephirot knew what she was thinking. "It is solely to ensure our upcoming collaboration proceeds smoothly."
"It will place no restrictions on either of us, only make cooperation easier."
Seeing her expression ease slightly, Sephirot continued to state his demands.
"In exchange for this corpse, I need to choose any single item from your vault."
He did not know what treasures were hidden within the voodoo vault, but as a witch who had lived for centuries and ruled the underground world of New Orleans, she should have amassed some collectibles over that long passage of time that might pique his interest.
(Translated by yourtl.app)