—Ratta is ready!
With Ratta’s enthusiastic voice, Lucion immediately activated the ‘Black Wave,’ a swirling darkness effective against warlocks, which emerged suddenly from the shadows of his enemies.
Silent, soundless darkness surged upward, spinning with enough force to shatter the warlocks’ jaws while simultaneously disrupting the darkness they wielded.
‘It worked.’
Wind rose around Lucion.
It was due to the assassins moving at Quate’s signal.
There was no easier prey than the warlocks, who couldn’t move in the darkness.
In an instant, Lucion saw blood spurting from the enemies’ necks.
Without hesitation, Lucion grabbed Kran and Quate, using Shadow Movement to transport them to the location where the corrupted warlocks were imprisoned.
‘I’m glad I didn’t bring Hume.’Lucion felt the turmoil within his own darkness.
At the same time, he was overwhelmed by an encroaching sorrow, as if it might consume him completely.
[Are you okay…?] Bethel asked.
Being in a state of possession, she could feel the same emotions Lucion was experiencing.
It was an unfamiliar sadness.
If corruption is said to be chaos of darkness, could the sadness Lucion felt now be because he was sharing the emotions of the darkness?
Lucion slightly nodded and sharpened his senses.
One.
Three.
Seven.
There were seven corrupted warlocks.
Three priests were shining light to capture them.
From just below, he felt six priests trying to stop the corruption.
‘You can’t leave the underground out when it comes to warlocks.’
While Lucion faintly smiled, two arrows, filled with aura, pierced through a priest’s head.
Kran followed Quate’s movements with his eyes.
Behind the priest, Quate emerged and severed the priest’s neck.
“It’s safe now.”
With the priests who had restrained the warlocks eliminated, Quate’s lips curled into a smile.
As soon as the barrier of light disappeared, the corrupted warlocks moved like broken puppets.
With death looming over them, they gazed at Lucion with hollow, vacant eyes, blood trickling down their lips.
Their desperate, pleading looks flickered like candles about to be extinguished.
[…Their time has come. Their bodies have reached their limit.]
Russell expressed pity while looking at the corrupted warlocks.
A corrupted warlock’s death meant complete annihilation—no soul, no body, nothing left behind.
“…You…”
One of the corrupted warlocks managed to speak.
Then, quietly, he smiled—like a lost sailor who had finally found a lighthouse in the vast, dark sea.
—Ratta will make it so they can’t use the darkness. Ratta can do it.
Ratta’s tail, hidden in Lucion’s shadow, stood tall.
—Hey! Stay still!
As the darkness extracted by the corrupted warlocks vanished at Ratta’s command, Lucion unleashed the Black Wave from the shadows of his enemies and struck.
Groans escaped from the enemies.
“It’s still too early to celebrate. There are six priests below this place.”
“Yes. I’ll cut them all down and deal with them.”
Quate, gripping his dagger, was ready, but Lucion shook his head and pointed downward.
“There’s been a disturbance upstairs, so the priests will move. Deal with the priests first.”
“No.”
Kran tightened the bowstring, refusing Lucion’s words.
“I can’t kill people. Well, I can, but there’s a price. The more I kill, the more negative energy builds up. When it overflows, that’s how you become a corrupted warlock.”
Recalling Lucion’s words, Kran kept his eyes on the warlocks.
The area around their eyes showed black veins, and completely different from Lucion’s, an unpleasant sensation passed over his skin.
The corrupted warlocks.
They were losing their sanity and becoming more violent, relying only on their instincts.
He couldn’t let Lucion end up like that.
“Kran, did you see me talking nonsense?” Lucion’s voice sharpened slightly.
“What do you plan to do?”
Quate hesitated for a moment.
“I can still revert them.”
Lucion’s voice was filled with confidence as he looked at the corrupted warlocks.
He could see it now, something that hadn’t been visible before—like a wound in the shape of a hollow chest, as if they were not meant to die.
He knew what needed to be done to fix it.
[Is that true?]
Russell was shocked.
[“Yes. I’m not so shameless as to boast about things I can’t do.”]
Bethel responded in Lucion’s stead.
“Understood. Then, I will take care of the priests.”
Kran no longer asked any questions.
If Lucion had a method, that was all that mattered.
“There are corruptions below. You have to be careful not to touch them.”
At Lucion’s warning, Kran swallowed dryly.
“I’ve never actually seen corruption…”
“I know because I’ve seen it. Oh, and Mr. Kran, you don’t need to worry since you won’t be getting close, right?”
Quate chuckled, as if he found something amusing.
If the arrows shot by Kran touched the corruption, he would already have been consumed by it.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be watching.”
Darkness whispered to Lucion.
They didn’t reveal themselves.
It seemed they were conscious of Veronia.
“Be quiet. This way.”
Kran, bewildered, took the lead.
After watching Quate and Kran head down to the underground, Lucion immediately rushed toward the corrupted warlocks.
“Ratta, keep holding them so they can’t use the darkness.”
—Okay! Ratta is smart, so I won’t miss a thing!
Violet darkness blossomed in Ratta’s eyes.
At the same time, violet darkness flared up in Lucion’s hands.
[…Hah.]
Russell let out a dry laugh.
He realized for the first time that if the corrupted warlocks couldn’t use the darkness, they would only swing their fists awkwardly, like a poor dancer.
Lucion, with Bethel’s help, deftly avoided their punches and filled the hollowed-out area in their chests with his own darkness.
“…Kugh.”
The corrupted warlock vomited black blood, as though expelling something foul.
‘More.’
Lucion struck each one’s abdomen, injecting violet darkness into them.
‘One more!’
[Is this really right?] Bethel asked, concerned about the last strike.
It had started with good intentions, but wasn’t Lucion becoming increasingly forceful in his strikes to their abdomens?
“…Ah.”
Just as Lucion was about to deliver one final powerful blow to the abdomen, he hesitated.
“I got a bit carried away after feeling the thrill of hitting again.”
Lucion’s mask turned a shade of yellow.
But his hands wouldn’t stop, as he packed the violet darkness and stepped back.
With every drop of black blood they spilled, a terrible stench filled the air.
Ratta’s ears perked up.
[…Huh.]
Russell was taken aback.
Though it was inevitable that the corrupted warlocks would be in pain from the heavy blows to their abdomens, their corruption was actually being purified.
The corrupted darkness that had gnawed at their bodies was, in fact, saving the warlocks on the brink of death.
This was unimaginable.
—The darkness in those people is smiling again! Ratta can hear it!
Ratta smiled as well.
“See?”
Lucion felt a bit proud.
Whether it was due to the ability gained from absorbing the four black orbs or not, it didn’t matter.
The most important thing was that he had saved the warlocks.
“I have saved you.”
Lucion firmly stated, making it clear who he was to the warlocks, who were slowly regaining their senses.
To purify the Sea of Death, losing even one warlock was a tough situation.
“I will purify the corruption, so please stay here quietly.”
The corrupted warlocks, who had been staring blankly at him, slowly nodded. Lucion moved toward the secret door where Kran and Quate had gone.
There was no time to wait for the corrupted warlocks to fully regain their senses.
—Ratta’s favorite secret place!
Ratta’s tail wagged energetically.
* * *
“Did you really have to come down so quickly? You could’ve taken your time, stretched, and caught your breath.”
Kran grumbled slightly as he released his bowstring, glancing up at Lucion as he descended the stairs.
Whoosh!
Kran’s arrow pierced precisely through the priest’s forehead.
From his high vantage point, Kran’s archery shone brighter than ever as he held the high ground.
“What about the corruption?”
Lucion slightly shifted his foot and pierced through the priest’s shadow with darkness, aiming for their shoulder.
How dare they target Quate?
Quate, taking advantage of the moment, beheaded the priest and took a breath.
With the speed of mana, the light—a speed unmatched in darkness—he barely managed to avoid getting his throat pierced.
‘Thank you.’
Quate raised his head slightly and mouthed his gratitude.
“Over there.”
Kran pointed to the bottom of the stairs.
As Lucion leaned over to look down, he saw a massive, sludgy black liquid wriggling in a puddle larger than a lake.
“I don’t know if I should say this, but it’s incredibly unpleasant. I feel like I want to leave immediately,” Kran expressed, licking his dry lips in disgust.
[There’s more corruption than I expected?]
Russell’s forehead creased deeply.
[What the hell did they gather all this for? At this rate, it’s a miracle if the priests don’t get corrupted, and now I understand why madness spreads so quickly.] Russell pondered.
[To gather this much corruption… how long would it take?]
Bethel’s voice tinged with regret.
[It would need more than ten years. This is already reduced because it’s on a national scale.]
As Russell answered, he looked at Lucion.
[Are you… really going to purify it?]
—Ratta thinks that if Ratta and Lucion combine our strength, we can do it.
Lucion nodded slightly in agreement. Then he spoke as if murmuring.
“There’s something over there.”
It resembled some kind of holy relic.
‘Could it be? No way.’
The thought of a ‘divine beast’ crossed Lucion’s mind, a disturbing possibility.
Kran’s anxious voice broke through his thoughts. “Hamel-nim…is it possible?”
“I’ll try. No, I have to.”
“Should we ask for help from the corrupted warlocks who are about to be rescued?”
“It’s a good idea, but I might not be able to handle it. Moving many people at once is something I’ve never done before.”
There wasn’t enough time to get help from the corrupted warlocks who hadn’t yet regained their senses.
The divine beasts still imprisoned remained.
It might be better to work with Ratta to conserve his darkness.
[I agree with that idea.]
Bethel agreed, understanding the amount of darkness Lucion had left.
Though not as much as Lucion had just consumed, it was nearly half that amount.
“Let me know when you hear from him.”
From Brother Heint.
After telling Kran, Lucion surrounded himself with darkness and leaped down the stairs.
Thud.
“We’ve been waiting a long time.”
Lucion understood the sorrow of the corrupted darkness.
At the same time, Bethel felt the sadness as well.
They couldn’t withstand the indiscriminate killings caused by Nevast and were consumed by grief, losing themselves in the process.
As Lucion moved his fingers, the violet darkness lit up like a lantern.
It seemed as though it was guiding them, telling them not to wander any longer, to come this way.
“It’s been a long wait.”
Corruption crawled toward Lucion.
—Ratta is… sad.
Ratta sniffled, looking as if she wanted to embrace them immediately.
“We endured for so long. So, so long.”
Despite the sorrowful voices, the corruption extended its black hands toward Lucion.
Every hand was aggressive and sharp.
Swish.
Lucion drew his sword and sliced through the black hands surrounding him.
This time, without hesitation, he pricked his own finger.
Drop.
—Hop!
Ratta’s eyes widened as she watched the blood fall.
—Ah, doesn’t it hurt, Lucion?
“It doesn’t hurt.”
He felt a brief wave of nausea, but he was fine.
In exchange for his blood, Lucion expanded his darkness, kneeling and pressing his palm to the ground.
From his palm, the violet darkness spread outward.
The sluggish corruption was dyed in a soft violet hue.
Sizzle.
Rather than one mass of corruption melting away, the individual darkness of each corrupted soul began to emerge.
Numerous souls trapped inside began to rise like white mist.
Grateful voices, filled with joy, echoed in his ears.
As the sounds quieted, the darkness gazed at Lucion.
“It was so sad.”
Ratta folded her ears back at the voice of darkness, which was tinged with resentment and sorrow.
Lucion opened his mouth.
“You… held on well.”
“We had to extinguish the flames of life with our own hands.”
“Each time that flame went out, the final screams of the poor souls filled with despair seemed to blame us.”
The darkness, as if keeping a promise, leapt toward Lucion. With its tiny hands, it embraced him, shedding tears.
“That’s why it hurt so much.”
“That’s why it was so s… sad.”
Slowly, Lucion raised his hands to hug the darkness back, comforting it.
“…Thank you.”
“Thank you for helping us escape from our sorrow.”