Necrophobia

Necrophobia is a death-linked status that makes Victor Dalton's corpse and soul resistant to the resurrection methods available to Vainqueur Knightsbane's forces and to Infercorp. Applied at the moment of Victor Dalton's murder, it leaves him unable to be restored as a living person, raised as an undead, or reincarnated into another form until the status is dispelled. The condition therefore functions not merely as an ailment but as a seal on Victor Dalton's continued existence, turning death into an administrative, magical, and emotional emergency.

Infliction and Immediate Effect

Necrophobia appears during the confrontation between Victor Dalton and Melodieuse. After accusing him of having taught Vainqueur Knightsbane the secrets of the Class System and thereby making the planned recovery of Outremonde more difficult, Melodieuse declares that Victor Dalton will not live long enough to witness the consequences. Her [Darkest Fear] manifests as a dark aura that swallows him before he can retaliate, drains his life and vitality, and gives him the terrifying sensation of viewing the scene from above.

The status is presented through an abrupt mechanical collapse as well as through subjective terror. Victor Dalton's HP and SP fall to one, while he receives both [Terror] and Necrophobia. The reduction leaves him functionally defenseless. Although Savoureuse runs toward him, she is too far away to intervene, and Victor Dalton resorts to [Monster Insight] in an attempt to find a weakness in Melodieuse. The system provides no usable answer. His attempt to negotiate also fails when his charisma check does not succeed, after which Melodieuse raises her hand and uses [Death Spike]. Ice spears rise beneath him, and the status is already in place before the killing blow lands.

A Barrier Against Resurrection

Necrophobia's decisive property becomes clear after Victor Dalton's death. Vainqueur Knightsbane orders his minions to make Victor Dalton immortal, then commands Rolo the Golem to fetch Chocolatine, a healer, or even the dryad if necessary. Rolo answers that nobody can cure death, but Vainqueur Knightsbane immediately turns to Corpseling Jules and orders him to raise Victor Dalton in the same manner as the kobolds.

Corpseling Jules explains that ordinary reanimation is impossible because Victor Dalton's killer applied Necrophobia before murdering him. The status prevents Victor Dalton from being reanimated even as an undead, and it must first be dispelled. This restriction is particularly significant in a world where death can otherwise be negotiated through healing, necromancy, undeath, or the intervention of supernatural powers. Necrophobia interrupts all of those familiar routes at their foundation: it does not simply kill Victor Dalton, but prevents his body from entering the systems that normally make death reversible.

The condition also blocks a spiritual alternative. Malfaisant states that he cannot claim Victor Dalton's soul and incarnate him as a fiend. Thus the status reaches beyond the corpse. It obstructs both physical restoration and the appropriation of the soul by another supernatural power, leaving Victor Dalton suspended between available forms of existence rather than allowing him to pass cleanly into one of them.

Vainqueur Knightsbane's Failed Cure

Vainqueur Knightsbane attempts to remove the status himself with [Spell Purge], placing his hand on Victor Dalton's remains and relying on his favorite Perk. The attempt fails a charisma check, and the system confirms that he cannot dispel Necrophobia. The failure shocks him because he regards himself as the most charismatic dragon in the world and as the destroyer of Furibon. His confidence in personal power collides with a status specifically designed to resist the authority on which he depends.

The failed purge does not leave the curse entirely untouched. Vainqueur Knightsbane realizes that his magic has weakened the crystal curse Melodieuse placed on his princesses without dispelling it, suggesting that her sorcery exceeds even Furibon's. He also notices the nearby scythe and takes comfort in the fact that Melodieuse did not have time to break the seal containing the evil within it. This comparison places Necrophobia within a larger hierarchy of hostile magic: Melodieuse's work is strong enough to defeat Vainqueur Knightsbane's immediate attempt, while the sealed scythe remains a possible source of danger that she did not fully control.

The status consequently exposes a limit in Vainqueur Knightsbane's sovereignty. He can command minions, invoke magical Perks, and treat resurrection as a matter of price and logistics, yet Necrophobia makes those powers insufficient. His first response is managerial and imperious, but the failed check forces him to recognize that Victor Dalton's death cannot be solved by command alone.

Afterlife Consequences

Victor Dalton later confronts the condition from the perspective of the afterlife. Miel explains that Infercorp has offered to reincarnate him as a demon mortal consultant, but the organization lacks the power to dispel the Necrophobia status. As a result, Infercorp cannot give him a new shape. His soul would end in Hell exactly as it is, helpless rather than transformed into the promised demonic body.

The prospect is made more disturbing by Victor Dalton's comparison with the people Isabelle Maure tortured during his previous visit. Miel strongly advises against accepting the offer, presenting Hell not as a neutral destination but as a place where his restricted spiritual condition would become permanent vulnerability. Necrophobia therefore preserves the violence of Melodieuse's attack beyond the moment of death: even an institutional afterlife offer carries the same disabling status forward.

Victor Dalton is not left with only Infercorp's proposal. Miel identifies claims on his soul from Dice and the Moon Man, and reports a surprise third offer from Camilla, the goddess of death, for exemplary service to the undeathstrial revolution and continued friendliness toward her church. These competing claims show that Necrophobia does not erase Victor Dalton's value or make his soul inaccessible to every power. Instead, it makes the terms of his continued existence unusually dangerous. He must choose among deities and institutions while still unable to inhabit a new body, and the status turns an afterlife decision into a continuation of the crisis created by his murder.

Narrative Function and Significance

Necrophobia transforms Victor Dalton's death into a reversal that ordinary fantasy resurrection cannot immediately repair. The scene initially treats death through familiar game mechanics: HP and SP are displayed, ailments are applied, checks are rolled, and a resurrection attempt is treated as a possible service. Yet the status defeats that logic. The same system that makes magical recovery measurable also reveals a condition beyond the reach of the characters' usual remedies.

Its horror develops in stages. First comes anticipation and helplessness as the dark aura drains Victor Dalton while Savoureuse cannot reach him. Then comes the visible violence of the ice spears. Finally, the deeper horror appears after the killing, when Corpseling Jules explains that even undeath is unavailable and Infercorp admits that reincarnation cannot change Victor Dalton's form. The status thus moves from fear of dying to fear of being trapped by death, and from a personal injury to a structural denial of every expected escape.

Necrophobia also gives later events a material cost. Vainqueur Knightsbane realizes that if he had waited for the wizard to dispel the status, Corpseling Jules or Malfaisant might have revived Victor Dalton more cheaply. His regret reveals how thoroughly the condition has entered the political economy of the story: the barrier is magical, but it also changes timing, expenses, bargaining power, and the value of intervention. Even a ruler who can command a kingdom must calculate around the curse.

The status remains consequential after Victor Dalton returns to ordinary life. Later, Charlene hides beneath a blanket and pretends to sleep when Allison enters the room, while Allison praises Victor Dalton for taking her lessons about worship of Cybele seriously. Victor Dalton explains that he decided to worry about his afterlife as soon as possible. The remark carries the residue of Necrophobia: after being killed and finding that his soul could be claimed by several powers while his body could not be remade, afterlife planning has become an immediate practical concern rather than an abstract religious matter. Necrophobia's lasting significance is therefore not limited to its prohibition against resurrection. It changes the meaning of survival, making Victor Dalton's continued existence dependent on navigating the same supernatural institutions that his death had temporarily placed beyond his control.