Chapter 164
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 164: The Plague Investigation (1)
***
After chasing away the two high-class, Damien headed towards the inner part of the eastern region.
“Do we really need to investigate another village? We’re here to catch the undead, aren’t we?”
Athena asked as she followed him. It was a fair question. The two of them came here to subjugate the undead, not to solve the plague.
“I have something to check.”
When Damien saw the plague-ridden corpses in the castle, he felt a familiar aura.
The problem was that it was too faint to tell exactly what kind of aura it was.
So Damien set out to investigate to be sure.
“Oh, Damien! There’s a village over there!”
Athena pointed to the front. Damien looked at the map. It seemed to be the village that Baron had mentioned.
The two of them entered the village.
It was a fairly large village, but there was no sign of people.
This was because everyone had left the village and evacuated, just as Baron had said.
In the center of the village, there was a large hole dug. The two of them approached the hole.
“…This is terrible.”
Athena muttered in a small voice as soon as she saw the inside of the hole.
The hole was filled with plague-ridden corpses. They all died with expressions of pain.
“They say the castle was still better… That was true.”
Athena covered her nose with her sleeve as if she couldn’t stand the smell of the corpses any longer.
Damien silently observed the corpses.
Although it would be invisible to Athena, Damien could see it.
Dark mana was oozing out of the corpses.
‘So the aura I felt was dark magic.’
This was not an ordinary plague. It was something that had been artificially created by a dark mage.
It wasn’t easy to create a plague with such a high level of contagion and mortality.
Even if several dark mages from the Venom sect joined forces, it would take them years. Even then, there was no guarantee of success.
‘The only time dark mages commit such a large-scale massacre is…’
When they needed a large amount of dark mana, dark mages would cause such horrific events.
After all, dark mana can only be created when souls are in pain.
‘Disgusting bastards.’
They killed so many people just to get something like dark mana.
Even after death, people were not freed from suffering. They were captured by the dark mages and suffered until their souls were extinguished.
It seems I was right. You people cannot be left alive.
Damien looked at the child’s corpse and quietly suppressed his anger.
It was then.
A huge burst of dark mana erupted from somewhere. Damien and Athena turned to the direction where the dark mana was felt.
In the forest far away, dark mana was rising like a storm.
“Athena!”
“Got it!”
The two of them ran to the place where the dark mana was felt. However, it was already too late when they arrived at the scene.
The undead was nowhere to be seen, and only the knights were there.
They were familiar faces to Damien and Athena. It was Opheus and Ballet, who had been beaten and kicked out by Damien at the castle.
“You, you bastard!”
Opheus, who recognized Damien, shouted and pointed at him.
“I thought we’d meet again here! Good! I challenge you to a duel!”
Opheus shouted, grabbing the hilt of his sword. However, Damien had no time to spare for the likes of Orpheus.
Damien could feel a faint dark mana from the two men.
It wasn’t just the two of them. Dark mana was oozing out of the other knights as well.
“Who were you with?”
“Stop talking nonsense and draw your weapon! This time, I will never let my guard down like last time… .”
“Answer me! Who were you with! There must have been someone who approached you!”
Damien shouted.
The dark mana lingering on them was completely different from what he felt from the plague.
It was much thicker and more eerie. It also had a faint smell of burnt flesh.
As far as Damien knew, no ordinary dark mage could possess such dark magic.
Great Dark mage.
Only from those called transcendents could he feel such a presence.
“There was a young man who… found the location of the undead…”
Opheus, who was startled by Damien’s shout, said with a trembling face.
“Where is he?”
“He suddenly disappeared, so I don’t know.”
Damien’s eyebrows furrowed. The situation was suddenly becoming tense.
‘Fenrir already caught their attention.’
Presumably, the dark mage had informed the knights of the location in order to complete Fenrir as a true undead.
The undead is completed by hating something. However, Fenrir was too gentle right now.
So he had the knights attack Fenrir. It was to make Fenrir hate the knights.
‘Judging from the fact that those two are still alive, it seems that the plan failed.’
Judging from the state of the scene, it was clear that the two knights had attacked Fenrir with all their might.
Even so, Fenrir chose to flee instead of attacking the two knights.
What would the dark mage have thought after seeing that?
‘He must have given up on completing it and decided to capture it.’
No matter how strong Fenrir was, he was not strong enough to surpass even the Great Dark mage.
He would surely be subdued in an instant without even being able to put up a decent resistance.
‘He must be killed before they capture it.’
If the dark mage apprehended Penrir and then left the area, it would be troublesome to pursue.
Damien amplified his senses and tracked the traces of dark mana. He felt the faint continuation of the dark mana.
Just as Damien was about to turn, Opheus & Ballet suddenly blocked his path.
“Where do you think you’re going? We have unsettled debts to clear between us!”
“Do you think we’ll just let you go like this?”
Damien looked at the two with a weary expression.
There was no time to deal with them now. He needed to chase after the dark mage as quickly as possible.
“It seems urgent.”
At that moment, Athena asked Damien.
“Is there a reason why we need to find the undead quickly?”
“Yeah, we can’t afford to delay.”
Upon hearing that, Athena brandished her spear and said,
“Then go ahead. I’ll handle these guys.”
Damien looked at Athena with surprise. He hadn’t expected her to be this cooperative.
With Athena’s skills, there was no need to worry. Damien decided to entrust everything to her.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”
Damien left Athena behind and pursued the dark mana.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Stop right there!”
The two knights tried to chase after Damien. At that moment, Athena used her lighting power.
With a flash of lightning, Athena appeared in front of the two knights. Athena drove her spear into the ground.
As lightning struck from the sky, the ground shattered with a loud noise. The two knights recoiled in surprise.
“You can’t go any further.”
Athena pulled her spear out of the ground and said,
“Damien entrusted me with this. I can’t let him down, can I?”
The two knights glared at Athena.
“You’re so arrogant… Thinking you can take on both of us alone?”
“Even though you’re the child of the Mercenary King, you’re incredibly arrogant!”
Athena sighed as if she was tired of their words.
“I’ve encountered people like you before. People who underestimate me even though they haven’t experienced what I have as a member of the purebloods.”
Athena used her lighting power again. White currents enveloped her body.
Under the oppressive aura, the two knights could do nothing but stiffen their expressions.
“After today, just hearing the name of the Fafnir Mercenary Company will make you crawl on the ground.”
***
Fenrir stopped a considerable distance away.
His whole body was covered in wounds. Dark mana oozed out from between the cracked wounds.
“Kkiiing…….”
Fenrir licked the wounds and groaned in pain. The wounds cut by the silver-like thing didn’t regenerate quickly. It took quite a while.
“Kkiiing…… Kkiiing…….”
Fenrir lay down on the ground. He whimpered in pain, waiting for the pain to subside.
Master…… It hurts…… It hurts a lot…….
Whenever he was in pain, the master would hug him tightly with both arms. The pain seemed to subside when he felt that warmth.
Master…….
It was then.
Once again, the master’s scent wafted through the air. Fenrir jumped up in surprise.
Master? Is it master?
Fenrir turned his body in the direction of the smell. However, the person there was not the master.
It was another human male.
“To travel this far in such a short time. You’re really a great creature.”
The human male looked at Fenrir and smiled brightly.
Fenrir could also recognize that the human male was smiling.
But why was it? Even though he was smiling, he felt a sense of foreboding.
“The wounds are already regenerating there? You’re definitely not an ordinary undead. At this rate, even that person will surely be satisfied.”
Fenrir had no idea what the human male was talking about.
But even if he could understand, he wouldn’t have cared.
The entity’s gaze was fixed on the back of a human male.
“Ahh! Stop it! Please!”
“It hurts! It hurts! Aaaah!”
“Please! Spare me! Please! Please!”
Thousands of souls were bound in a dark line, suffering in agony.
They all screamed in painful cries, pleading to be killed.
The entity’s gaze fell upon one soul.
– ……
Can that be called a soul?
Unlike other souls, its form was indistinct. It looked as if it were just a lump of ashes.
Facial features were nonexistent, and it was impossible to tell where the head was.
Yet the entity could recognize it. The scent was telling.
Master!
With joy, the entity wagged its tail vigorously.
Master! I miss you!
But the master didn’t respond. He just floated silently in the air.
“What are you looking at? Were you looking at this?”
The man grabbed one of the dark lines. The master, who had been floating in the air, was pulled towards the man.
“Oh… so the soul has been destroyed, leaving only debris? That’s why I don’t like children’s souls. They don’t last long.”
The human male shook the master violently with his hand. As he did, the master’s body began to disintegrate into dust.
As the master’s body dispersed, the scent faded. Eventually, no scent remained at all.
……Master?
Fenrir stared blankly at the scene. The human male spoke to the entity in a cheerful voice.
“Well, it’s all over now. Thanks to you, I was able to find the trash quickly. Now that there’s one spot left, I’ll need a new soul……”
Dark mana erupted from the Fenrir’s body.
In its aftermath, the ground cracked open. The trees around shattered into pieces. The clouds in the sky tore apart.
Master.
People often said that Fenrir looked stupid whenever they saw it.
The Fenrir agreed. It knew nothing. It was a foolish idiot who didn’t even know why its master was suffering.
Master.
Even such stupid Fenrir could understand what had happened to its master.
My master.
That man killed the master. Not only did he kill him, but he also tormented him to the end. He erased him without leaving a trace.
My precious master.
No longer can Fenrir see its master. It’s because of that man. That man took him away! From me! My master!
In this moment, the undead completed itself. It established the purpose of its existence.
Kill.
Kill the man who tormented my master.
Tear apart the man who took my master away, leaving nothing behind.
The entity threw back its head and let out a wail.
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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