Chapter 68

The reason why Rats joined the Hand of the Void was simple.

They seek attention.

They chose the Hand of the Void because evil could receive more attention than good.

In the novel, they achieved their purpose by becoming an official group designated as evil by the country.

Lucion opened his mouth.

“You guys are attention-seekers who think you are on the good side. That’s why you’re messing with the nobles. I’ll set the stage for you. I’ll also help you build deeper, wider, and more complex caves.”

If the villain stopped being the villain, there would be no greater turning point.

The red thread tightened as if to say that it was the correct answer.

But the man’s eyes became fierce.

“You don’t like it?”

Swift.

Lucion didn’t hesitate to tear up the documents and put the pieces in front of him.

Like a madman, the man rushed toward the documents and tore them with his hands, chewing them with his mouth, and carving them into pieces.

Then the man’s eyes widened.

“I don’t know how many years you’ve collected this information, but looking at how thick it is, there’s a lot to tear up. But no matter how many times you tear them, it will eventually end, right? Let’s see how long you can last.“

As Lucion touched the paperwork again, he pointed to the darkness that quickly covered the man’s mouth.

Lucion asked, confirming that the red thread was tightening.

“You want me to take it off?”

The man nodded at the remark.

“You’re going to scream. Do you think I’m stupid?”

His head moved violently from side to side.

“You won’t?”

Lucion clasped a huge amount of paper.

At first glance, he had taken about half the amount.

“I’ll trust this amount as collateral. What do you say, don’t you agree?”

It was Lucion who took the initiative.

If you don’t agree, I’ll tear this apart, that’s all.

The man nodded knowing that.

He didn’t even have time to think about how the warlock in front of him knew this place and why.

Lucion winked at Hume.

Hume grabbed the man’s back, and only then Lucion pulled back his darkness.

“Who… are you?”

The man opened his mouth cautiously.

“A person who wants to be obeyed by you. That’s all you need to know for now.”

“Can you tell me why?”

“Oh, you want me to tell you why? Good.”

Lucion’s mask turned blue.

“No reason.”

“…What?”

“Why do I need a reason? I just want to do it.”

The man asked with a bewildered look.

He asked if the warlock really had come into someone else’s business for no reason.

“It’s so funny. Empty vessels make the most noises.”

Lucion burst out laughing at the man’s appearance.

“Then why are you doing this? You want to be officially recognized as evil by the country? Or drunk on your greatness?”

[…Wait. I got goosebumps.]

Russell felt an unbearable cringe when he considered the reasons Lucion brought up might be real.

“Just accept what you have to accept. I am above you. You failed. You might have thought you were a king in a maze of caves, but I caught you. Along with this document, no, your life that you cherish most”

Lucion waved the papers.

The man’s prized papers.

The power of the Rats was information on other people’s weaknesses, and it was the foundation that supported everything.

There was information in the previous cave too but there were far more groups that could move flexibly and fully own it.

For that, the Rats were worth using.

“So I’ll use you guys. Weakness? Catch it. Touch whoever you want. I’ll pay you the money you need.”

Swallow.

The man swallowed his dry saliva without realizing it.

“Really… Are you really interested in us?”

“Would I have come all the way here if I don’t? I came like this to see you.”

Lucion spread his arms.

“So you’re really going to take me?”

Lucion stared at him at the question.

The sudden change of attitude was so suspicious.

“I knew this day would come.”

The man smiled as if he was really moved.

“The day someone will appreciate us! Because we are great!”

[That’s… Are you serious?]

Russell gently raised a finger and circled it around his head.

[Yeah, I thought so too.]

Even Bethel nodded her head agreeing with him.

“But there is a limit to growing an organization with my own strength. I’ve been feeling the limit these days, so I finally touched the Luteon Bank, which is on the rise, just to have a big bang.”

‘…What? You just want to touch it before you could perish?’

Lucion was ashamed of himself for taking this matter seriously.

“The result was satisfactory. I got my hands on the list of Luteon Bank customers, and now it’s the perfect time to announce that Luteon Bank has been robbed by the Rats!”

Words that were filled with pride and joy didn’t sound like a lie.

Lucion was frankly embarrassed.

What kind of fool lay out their plans one after another?

‘…This trend is not good.’

But apart from that, the tight red thread sank.

Lucion had no intention of letting it continue like this.

“It’s so much fun! Once in a lifetime. How fun! We only have one life. Wouldn’t it be fun to live a happy and tense life?”

The man licked his lips.

“Tension. Yes, I needed this tension. It’s so creepy that I feel like I’m alive.”

Lucion waved the documents at the sight of the man smiling broadly.

“Then I’ll do what you want. If you rip everything with your hands, it’ll be full of tension, right?”

“…What?”

The man’s expression, which had been lively, cooled down at once.

Seeing that he couldn’t understand why the story suddenly turned out like that, Lucion laughed at him.

“There’s only one option I gave you. To obey me.”

Swift.

Lucion tore up the papers and threw them at him.

“What I want to say is…”

As soon as he saw the documents, the man tore them apart like a madman.

Swift.

Lucion tore the documents again right when the man came back to his senses.

“Tension? I’m not playing right now. I’m gambling my life.”

Lucion tore the papers and threw them.

After that, he made the man watch what he was doing.

He kept repeating it until the number of documents decreased visibly.

The man’s eyes, which glistened with strange tension, became increasingly frightened.

“Wait a minute.”

Swift.

“I have something to say.”

Sizzle.

“Now, wait a minute.”

Squeak.

“Now, now, wait…”

Squeak.

He stared blankly at the torn papers.

Tension?

It didn’t mean anything now.

Documents that he had dedicated his life to would disappear.

“Wait a minute. Please, wait a minute…!”

He spoke out desperately.

His voice was so cracked that anyone could hear it.

“What? Are you afraid now?”

Lucion’s voice was slightly mingled with laughter.

As if mocking him, the color of Lucion’s mask turned yellow.

“I was… I was a fool.”

The man trembled and admitted defeat.

Perhaps this was the first time he bowed his head in fear.

There was nothing more terrifying than the fear of having his entire life robbed.

Lucion instilled that fear in him on purpose.

“This document. I can restore it again.”

Then, Lucion threw a rope.

A rope to escape the fear he was feeling right now.

“Now, will you obey me? Or are you going to tear up your future and everything with your hands?”

“For me… You walked here?”

Only then did the man realize this mysterious behavior.

He was a warlock, and he could also use the black magic known as the curse.

“Yes.”

Lucion replied.

The laughter mixed in his voice sounded like a monster’s roar to him.

“Obey… I will obey.”

He lay flat like a dog.

Crisp.

When the red thread was cut off, it became clear that his obedience was true.

‘It’s working.’

Lucion suppressed his laughter.

The Rats belonged to him now.

“Name.”

“It’s… It’s Heroan.”

Thud.

Lucion handed over a contact item.

“Then, take this and leave immediately with all your men.”

“But in here I will…”

“Heroan.”

Lucion uttered heavily.

“Do you want to start again alone?”

Hearing that he would kill them all, Heroan swallowed his breath.

That warlock could do it.

“Heroan.”

“…Yes.”

Heroan didn’t look at Lucion.

“I won’t say it twice, so listen.”

Lucion’s mask turned red.

“I am Hamel.”

Heroan felt overwhelmed by the darkness rising around Lucion.

He was scared of that existence.

“Betrayal is death.”

“I… I’ll keep that in mind.”

Heroan involuntarily uttered.

“Don’t be too nervous. As long as you don’t betray me, and you don’t mess with me. A rat should stay in the ground like a rat, right?”

Lucion’s red mask turned yellow again.

Thud.

Lucion threw a pocket.

“I’m leaving the Central right now, and I’m temporarily taking the seat. Don’t forget to hold your breath until I contact you.”

“Can I open it?”

Heroan’s eyes changed when he found out that it was a money bag.

Lucion was pleased to find that his desire for money was certain.

Isn’t that the most honest desire?

“That money is now yours.”

Heroan carefully opened the purse at Lucion’s whispered words.

As the jewels sparkled, Heroan’s eyes changed at the same time.

He proved his wealth at once.

The organization needed money to grow.

The fact was the same for any organization.

But now the important thing was that this money bag was handed to him by the warlock.

This was proof of trust.

How broad-minded is that person named Hamel?

“What is it that you want?”

Lucion asked.

“I want to dig up people’s shady secrets. When I told them the secret, the distorted look on their face was really unbearable.”

“What do you need?”

“We need strength. The strength to protect us so that we can dig up more secrets.”

“Yes, I’ll give it to you.”

Lucion’s words changed Heroan’s gaze at him.

Using this experience they had, they tried to enter the nobility.

Apart from personal desires, the other side would be able to keep the organization safe and strong.

“Don’t you think I’m gross?”

Heroan asked.

“That’s your strength. Do it. Find secrets as you like. But when you want to spread the secret, ask me for permission. You can do that, right?”

Heroan’s eyes shook for a moment at the casual voice.

The nobles he had visited spoke together one by one.

Don’t do useless things, and go quietly looking for information.

He was not a dog.

He was a rat crawling in dirty places.

Hamel didn’t ask him to be a dog.

He said he could live, being a rat.

“That much is tolerable. Tension. Yes. you can think of it as tension.”

Heroan licked his lips.

The mere thought of it gave him chills.

“Let’s go.”

At Lucion’s instruction, Hume let go of Heroan.

—Can Ratta move now?

Lucion nodded when Ratta asked.

—All right, here we go!

“As Hamel-nim said, we will quietly wait for you to contact us.”

Heroan bowed to Lucion, who was eaten by darkness.

It was the creepiest moment in his life.

* * *

“Brother.”

“Yes, Lucion.”

Carson breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he saw Lucion back in the villa.

“I was just going to find you after I heard from the coachman.”

“Lady Tella is in danger. There’s a place I need you to go with me.”

“Yes, get on the carriage.”

Carson nodded without asking why.

While riding the carriage on the way to the central square, Russell opened his mouth and purposely turned around.

[Isn’t that Roberio?]

—Where? Where? Ratta wants to see it, too.

Ratta responded, and Lucion looked out from the carriage window.

“It’s today.”

Carson spoke out.

“What do you mean today?”

“Count Roberio was arrested yesterday, and he was going to be executed in the square today, but it seems that the ceremony is already over.”

In an instant, Lucion’s eyes were filled with mischief.

“Don’t be disappointed, I didn’t tell you because it will only make you nauseous.”

“I never thought of that.”

Russell once said that for a dead person and become a ghost, it took an hour or a day at most.

‘Shouldn’t you be a ghost by now?’

Lucion put one macaron in his mouth and mumbled.