Chapter 439: Elise and Esther-I

Ian snapped his finger and in cue Maroon whose presence was as thin as the paper in the room presented a scroll for the men to see and their eyes widened after viewing how similar the drawing of the two scroll was.

"They are the same person," said the man who sat beside Dalton with a deep frown, "May I ask where did you have this portrait drawn and why Milord?"

Elise didn't know why there were two similar portrait and she looked at Ian to meet his eyes and hear his reply, "A few weeks ago Elise and I went to visit her family's graveyard when we heard of a very eerie comment from the caretaker of the graveyard who said that Elise had came and visited the graveyard for two times after her last visit which had never took place. We learned later that it was a dark sorcerer taking figure of her and had took his younger brother."

"And this portrait belongs to?"

"The man who was said to came once with fake Elise in the graveyard," Ian answered with his tone steady. "What did the witness said about the man?"

"Other than his name being Thomas, we knows little," Dalton sighed at the information that reached to a wall.

Thomas? Elise wondered why she felt like she heard the name before when it dawned to her where she heard the name. "I remember Barner speaking Thomas's name before," whispered Elise to Ian as she wasn't sure whether she can tell this aloud or not.

"So they knew each other," Ian hummed, tapping his finger on his thigh. He raised his gaze to the church members, "I can tell Kyle is planning to search for this man, wouldn't he?" and when Dalton nodded his head promptly a grin came to Ian's lips, "Then I suggest you to search for a well known drawer and have this portrait posted all over the town and city in Warine and Runalia." 

Knowing that the dark sorcerers wanted Elise's power too like any others, posting that portrait in his land would save him some time from searching the man.

"But Milord, if I am not mistaken I heard the dark sorcerers can take up figures of others just like what they did to Lady Elise's," asked Dalton who wanted Ian's knowledge in this.

"It's better than nothing. We can peel one of his skin so he would need to find another skin to wear and see whether anyone would see the man. If he lives in the land there must be at least one person who had seen him before and perhaps knew where he lives at," Elise heard Ian spoke, laying his trap. "One other thing Dalton when Elise was in the village she seemed to witness something that your group would know, it is a key with a cross carving."

"A key with a cross carving?" Dalton questioned with widened eyes, "It must be this, isn't it, milady?" 

Elise was taken aback Dalton knew about the key based on her short description and the man soon enough pulled a key with a cross carving on the head toward her. "Can I take a closer look?" and Dalton nodded, passing it to her hand. 

Taking the key closer Elise frowned at how similar the key was to what she saw. Her sight was vague during the time she watched the death shadow from Warren but she was sure the key was similar, "It is the same key," she announced, having the other church member whispered and gasped, "What is the key used for? Is it only you who posses this key, Mr. Dalton?"

Dalton Lone raised both his hand and hurriedly shake his hand as he sensed it would be terrible if Elise was to suspect him, "No! This is the key for a few Church member of the captain title to have. This key connects to the old cellar inside the Church's building and some other secret rooms there. It is one of a kind which only Church members captain have, and me being one is included to the list."

So it wasn't Dalton, thought Elise. Of course finding the dark sorcerer she saw in the death shadow wouldn't be that easy which she knew already, and she was somewhere relieved that the Dark Sorcerer wasn't the man as he seemed to be a person who couldn't even harm a fly. "How many people have this key and how many is it distributed?" she then asked again, seeing the man humming.

"If I am not mistaken, there is only a few key order made to fit the numbers of the captain in the Church and there would be around twenty three. Can I ask why do you wish to know about the key, milady?"

"I saw a person who is a dark sorcerer hold this key," said Elise and Dalton narrowed his eyes.

"There is no way a captain of ours would be a dark sorcerer," the man was in disbelief with what he heard, thinking how impossible it is.

"I think what you wish to say here is that, maybe there is actually one of you who is a dark sorcerer or perhaps a dark sorcerer taking disguise of one of the captains in the Church. Anyhow, it is the same and you should begin serving holy water to your members. That would be the fastest method to know who is who and whether they live up to the person they posed to be," Ian stated, "Seems like even a mouse can crawl inside the Church. A deadly and poisonous mouse."

While the conversation continues, when the Church members were talking to themselves about the cause and reason for the attack, Elise whispered to Ian, "Seeing the numbers of death, do you think the dark sorcerers were performing resurrection magic?"

"Considering how their mind often work, we can say that," Ian's eyes then rolled to the side, "Now I wonder who is it that they are bringing back to life."

Elise hoped it won't be someone dangerous but then why would the dark sorcerer bring the kind people from the dead? They would need someone evil as them in order to achieve their goal and do their dirty work. She can only hope whoever it is that have been brought back to life was not any stronger than the people they met.

Far from the White Mansion, a person raises from the coffin, her hair was brown in color and eyes colored in the same blackness as an ink where her pupils seemed to have disintegrated to mix with the puddle of black.

"We succeed!" Rejoiced one of the men who was standing there near the coffin where a large spell markings were drawn beneath the coffin. After sleepless night he costed, he was overjoyed with the fact that he had successfully casted the most taboo magic on the world and was able to put it into practuce. "We have successfully brought back a soul using Angelica's method, sir."

Thomas who was standing near pushed the man aside by his leg, coming closer to the coffin with a fast move. He first studied the woman who didn't move even though her soul should be in her body now. A frown crease on his forehead as he raised his hand, trying to shake off the woman's daze when in an instance he found his hand twisted.

A sharp grunt of pain came from Thomas who knelt on the ground from the pat and pressure the woman added, "Don't touch me," said the woman, her eyes sharp and her voice deadly. "Who are you?" She demanded for answer, her eyes not losing its fierceness as the black color begin to pick a bright red color. 

Thomas cursed himself for being humiliated by a new soul who had just came back to life but he reminded himself that this was Demons who he had brought back to life and unless he was ready to lose his neck, he cannot forgo his politeness, "I-I am Thomas, the one who had brought you back to life! Wh-who are you?"

The woman's eyes lowered without bringing her chin down and she sank into a brief thought before her lips slowly parted and move to say, "L-Lilith. Lilith Salyn. What year is it? How long have I been dead for?"