Chapter 64

Chapter 64 is the sixty-fourth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Official Blurb
Civil's malice unnerves the Corpse God, but that's not the only thing...

Synopsis
In the corridor outside the divination room, the mood of Corpse God's milling clients abruptly shifts for the worse: a man confusedly mutters he must go home, a woman complains of nausea, and another apologies to Misaki Sakimiya that she will have to cancel her appointment—she feels as if she has forgotten something. Misaki watches in bewilderment as the crowd shuffles toward the exit, all oblivious to the eldritch spirit pointing them along. Soara Habaki, who has not moved despite her unease, asks Lulu what has caught her attention; Lulu replies that she "can hear it." Inside the divination room, Corpse God reaffirms that he can only detect one elemental and that Civil, at minimum, does not possess the Evil Eye. He reaches out with his skeletal monstrosity—thus assured Civil cannot see it—for Civil's soul with the intention of giving Civil's "senses a shake"; the spirits haunting Civil resist as Corpse God's skeletal hands pry them apart, but not because they fear Corpse God—no, they are trying to protect him. Upon touching Civil's soul, Corpse God discovers dense magic swirling throughout Civil's body. Such sheer power alone puts Civil on par with the Imperial Court Sorcerers, and causes Corpse God to further doubt Civil is a 'local' human

As Corpse God frets over 'messing up' and whether or not his meddling was detected, Civil, meanwhile, puzzles over why the magic within him has just 'burst'—over what exactly has just happened to him. His astonishment at this "sensation [he's] never experienced before" soon morphs into fascination, and he suspects all the more—with this new feeling, and the 'flock of hands' video—that the fortune-teller may truly hail from the Other World. However, such a case would still leave unexplained the mystery of Polka Shinoyama, whose birth Civil researched beforehand. Civil privately speculates as to whether Polka is an illusion, decoy, stand-in, the "descendent of a stowaway," or even a puppet manipulated by someone else; then, intrigued, he asks whether Corpse God 'did' something to him.

Willing himself to stay calm, Corpse God decides to "take over the spirits of the dead" so as to keep an eye on Civil, and otherwise allow Civil to leave so as not to arouse suspicion—though he supposes outright "uprooting [...] and stealing" the haunting spirits for magic replenishment purposes would not go unnoticed by his client. With this in mind, he reaches out his palm and requests permission to search Civil's soul a tad deeper, suggesting Civil felt his 'dormant fate' awakening. Civil hums his approval, stating he is "eager to know what's lurking inside [him]"; Corpse God warns that Civil might be happier to remain unware of his 'true self', fingertips nearly brushing the spirits— —at which time Lulu, followed by Soara, bursts into the room with her own warning for Civil: according to a guidance she has received, this place is under attack. It is dangerous. Lamenting that the session was just now "getting to the good part," Civil asks if his companions cannot handle the attack themselves; Soara vouches for Lulu with a reminder that Lulu's ears are "never wrong," positing that for all they know, "the Bug's people" could be setting the building ablaze. Corpse God briefly wonders if she means Fire-breathing Bug, but he must focus on a more immediate matter: the stone elemental hovering by Lulu's head. No random elemental at that; this is one he recognizes.

A memory surfaces of Easlies Swordfrail presenting Corpse God—her new pupil—to Byandy Empire Chancellor Leuf Vellize. While Corpse God had stared at the stone elemental floating by Leuf's head, Easlies had concluded her account of Corpse God's acquisition with the remark "His family should naturally be able to see elementals...but apparently the Evil Eye was too much for them." She then inquired whether she was right in remembering Leuf is limited to hearing the elmentals' voices; Leuf had replied that although the Evil Eye is concurrently both "the eyes and ears," those like her who only have one or the other do not have life as difficult as those who have both—such as Easlies' new pupil. Patting his head, she encouraged Corpse God to live on in strength before formally beseeching him to support the Empire in the process. In light of Civil's magic, Lulu's familiar elemental, and the color of Soara's soul—specifically, in light of the fact these are three people at once simultaneously "deeply clad in the colors of the Other World"—Corpse God concludes that this was inevitable: that these three are visitors from his homeworld.

Flanked by his two companions, Civil rises and says that the next time he visits Corpse God, it will be as a friend. Corpse God refrains from stopping the trio, hesitant to spark trouble, and so bids them farewell through the veil of his False Face spell. Besides—despite his spirits leading the clients out of the building, there remain the individuals who constantly monitor the purlieu.

Upon exiting into the corridor, Soara takes the unexpected brunt of a palm's heel smashing into her side. The force of the blow sends her hurtling past Civil on a collision course with a wall; the person who delivered the blow, Taipei, accuses her of being the assailant who has been popping up everywhere as of late. Witness to all this is Kochou Eightport, peeking around a corner as Taipei adopts an offensive stance.

Referbacks

 * The skeletal monster with which Corpse God scrapes Civil's soul is the same skeletal monster Corpse God embodied in Chapter 1.
 * Leuf Villize was previously illustrated in Chapter 56's title image.
 * Elementals have previously been mentioned in Chapter 56 and Chapter 20.