Chapter 87

[‘Of course, it should go according to Lucion’s plan.’]

Russell reached out his hand to close Lucion’s eyes, which were still open, but Lucion closed them.

“I’m going to sleep now.”

[Right. Don’t think about anything when you sleep. The enemy won’t come for you right away.]

For some reason, Russell went outside not to disturb his student’s sleep.

Still, Lucion thought it was fortunate that Russell didn’t get bored at night because he had a ghost comrade.

Lucion opened his eyes again after a while.

Listening to Ratta’s gentle breathing, he looked out of the moonlight window.

As he reflected on Peter’s words, a question kept lingering in his head, making it difficult to sleep.

‘How did Lucion in the novel become the Hand of the Void’s middle boss?’

Isn’t something strange?

If the Kingdom of Nevast was targeting him, the Hand of the Void that held hand with them would also have a similar purpose.

What kind of stupid group targeted their own member?

The gap between Lucion’s eyes narrowed.

‘No way…’

For a moment, his stomach burned hot.

If the target, Lucion, had been intentionally handed the middle boss position by the Hand of the Void, for what reason it could be?

‘They must have used Lucion on purpose to finish Cronia.’

But at the same time, a question was raised.

In the novel, Lucion lost Russell after being denounced as a warlock by a priest in public.

As a result, Lucion in the novel turned corrupted.

‘No matter how bad my relationship with Teacher was in the novel, Teacher must have threatened the priest. No, I can’t imagine how much light they used to destroy Teacher.’

Lucion carefully stepped out of bed.

He muffled his footsteps and walked to the window to lean against it.

‘It can be said that Lucion in the novel didn’t listen to Teacher’s words because of his rebellious spirit, but Teacher’s disappearance is completely incomprehensible.’

Two conditions were needed for the latter to be established.

One, they had to know that Lucion was a warlock.

Second, they had to be aware of Russell’s existence as well.

Only then the priests would be able to prepare.

‘Is there anyone who can satisfy these two conditions at once?’

Russell was able to hide from warlocks.

Likewise, he was able to hide from the ghosts controlled by warlocks.

Lucion took a deep breath.

Regardless of the reason, if his hypothesis was correct, Lucion in the novel was a stupid man who died after being used by others for life.

‘…That’s who I am.’

He could see his face distorted in the reflection of the window.

* * *

Purr.

Lucion petted Shandra and got off at the nearby village where the Chefran mansion was located.

Novio didn’t like the series of outings, but Lucion confidently went out with permission today.

‘By now, Luminos’ location must have reached the Emperor’s ears.’

There was no way the diligent Heint wouldn’t report it to the Emperor after receiving the letter.

‘And that information would have gone into my father’s ear.’

There was no better news for Novio now than the fact that he had found out about Luminos’ hideout.

He thought it was probably for that reason that he was allowed to go out again today.

Lucion left Shandra at the inn for a while, then moved into the woods near Chefran’s mansion using shadow movement through Ghosts No. 18 and No. 19, which he had dominated on his way home yesterday.

It didn’t feel too good to be sucked in by the darkness due to the long distance, but he still had to use it one more time, so he breathed and waited for the darkness to rise.

‘When I go home, I’ll look at the documents Peter gave me.’

Lucion thought as he pulled out his costume.

After dinner, Novio suggested taking a walk, and he wasn’t in a state to look at the papers due to the fatigue from sorting letters and walking around during the day.

He couldn’t sleep when he was lying on the bed.

Lucion changed his clothes and looked around.

After signing a contract with Bethel, thanks to the increased darkness, he now clearly felt where Ghost no. 19 was.

‘The mansion is alright.’

―Ratta is ready! If Lucion speaks, we can use shoong quickly!

Ratta ran around Lucion, fluttering.

She looked like a fluffy fat fox and walked around like glutinous rice cakes.

“Wait a minute, Ratta.”

Lucion sat down and took a deep breath, waiting for the darkness to gather quickly.

[Take your time. We still have time.]

Russell calmed Lucion down.

He had no choice but to be nervous before an important event.

Russell looked at Hume.

He was opening his eyes and waiting for Lucion to move.

[‘I can’t find any sign of nervousness.’]

Then Russell turned his head and looked at Bethel.

Russell was startled when their eyes met, and Bethel smiled.

[Russell, you have a lot of worries about Lord Lucion.]

[I have to be worried.]

It was an organization created by his one and only student, so he was worried about everything.

[Just a month and a half ago, he was a very demanding child.]

A faint expression crossed Russell’s face.

“Teacher, why don’t you talk about that in a place where I’m not around?”

Lucion said in a flabbergasted tone.

[I said it for you to listen, but it’s weird to say it behind your back.]

Russell shook his head and giggled.

What was the use of having a student if he couldn’t tease him?

[Lord Lucion…?]

When Bethel reacted in disbelief, Lucion half gave up and moved his mouth.

“Yes, it’s true. Everything Teacher said is right.”

[I’m the only one who knows.]

Russell pointed proudly at himself.

―No, Ratta knows too!

Ratta shook her front paws.

―Ratta was Lucion’s darkness, so Ratta knew what Lucion did to Russell. What Lucion did to Russell was…

Lucion grabbed Ratta’s mouth in a hurry.

“Bury it in your heart.”

―How can Ratta bury it in her heart? Ratta doesn’t know how to do it.

When Ratta asked, Lucion thought it was a mistake.

Ratta’s voice rang in his head, not his ears.

[Right. Ratta knows too. Hey, I am glad to have met you!]

Russell held Ratta’s front paws tightly with an excited face.

Ratta didn’t know what it was about, but Russell was happy, so she wagged her tail with a bright face.

“Let’s go.”

Lucion looked at Bethel.

Bethel, who had been laughing with them for a while, hurriedly erased her laughter and nodded.

[I’m ready, Lord Lucion.]

Lucion was worried about a possible threat, so he was going to enter the mansion after using Bethel and the possession.

* * *

“…Does it make sense that you still haven’t found where the girl is? No, the fact that I just found out that the ring is an imitation in the first place…”

The middle-aged woman stopped getting angry and her head moved involuntarily at the door that suddenly opened.

“What is this…”

“My Lord…”

Before she could move, a knight hurriedly stood in front of her.

It was an intruder.

Shh!

Something sparkled along with the sound of the wind, and the knight’s hands fell to the ground with a ‘pop’.

Before they knew it, there was blood on the sword held by the masked man.

Before the knight could grunt in pain, a girl jumped out from behind the man and grabbed the knight by the throat.

Crash.

The sight of the knight’s bones being crushed like paper in the hand of a slender-looking girl seemed so unrealistic.

The middle-aged woman was speechless.

“Ah… It should have been one person, but I didn’t know there was one more.”

The masked man uttered in a voice full of regret.

Tap tap.

There was a loud sound of footsteps.

The girl closed the door with a nonchalant face and stood behind the man.

“Ah… Ah…”

When the middle-aged woman screamed, something covered her mouth.

It was dyed black, like darkness, and her eyes widened.

But it was impossible.

There were four light objects in her room, and a warlock could enter here?

‘…Wow.’

Lucion struggled to hide his trembling hands.

He ate ratcho in the morning and got the light from the bracelet, but the light here was stronger.

He felt nauseous.

He felt anxious as if the darkness and possession he had brought out would be released.

[Are you alright, Lord Lucion?]

Bethel hesitated and asked.

[Hume. This and that. And…]

Russell hurriedly pointed to the objects with light.

At that gesture, Lucion looked at Russell.

‘…I feel like I’m going to die, but Teacher is fine, right? Just what kind of light that could wipe out Teacher?’

Crack!

Lucion sighed as the light objects in Hume’s hand broke into pieces one after another.

At the same time, Bethel also exhaled deeply.

[Thanks to Lord Lucion, I wasn’t affected by the light, but is Lord Lucion okay?]

“It’s bearable.”

Lucion replied.

But despite how quick it had been, he was a little short of breath.

‘There’s a lot to clean up.’

Lucion looked at the dead knight and the broken light object.

He knew that there were objects imbued with light from the moment Ghost no. 19 screamed in pain but he hadn’t known about the knight.

[The timing was slightly off.]

Russell expressed his regret.

“That’s all right. My purpose hasn’t changed.”

Lucion’s plan was simple and clear.

In front of everyone’s eyes, the current Chefran family’s head announced that they would hand over the family head position to Miella.

The black magic that made it possible was the delusion.

No one would bleed and the house would be in Miella’s hands intact.

‘Just in time, the real ring that symbolized Chefran’s head is in Miella’s hand.’

Lucion checked the clock in the room and looked at the dead knight.

“Take it off.”

“Understood.”

Now was the moment for Chefran’s mansion to greet its real master.

Lucion wore the knight costume that Hume had taken off and grabbed the head of Chefran’s family head.

He twisted the darkness like before and sent it to the family head.

Sting!

In an instant, Lucion felt the heat rise up to his throat.

Just now, the light turned his insides upside down, and a sight shock came to him.

“…Cough!”

He slightly took off his mask and spat out blood from his throat.

―Lucion?

Ratta was surprised.

“Go on.”

Lucion shook his head and continued to push the darkness toward Chefran’s family head.

The first time was difficult, but the second time was easier.

Thrush!

Once he put the darkness in her head, a flame of darkness burned in her eyes.

“Go to the front door.”

At Lucion’s direction, Chefran’s head moved.

Lucion was satisfied with the natural walk and gave an order to Hume.

“Clean it up.”

“Understood.”

Since Lucion was possessed, Hume trusted Bethel and began to clean up the body and the room.

‘…Sigh.’

Even though he took only one step, Lucion’s legs were shaking under the heavy weight of the armor.

In addition, it was very difficult to see through the helmet on top of wearing a mask.

[Don’t worry, Lord Lucion. I will walk.]

As Lucion continued to stumble under the weight he had endured for the first time, Bethel walked instead of Lucion.

Feeling the heavy pressure on his shoulders, Bethel moved Lucion’s feet as if she was used to it.

“Teacher, do I look weird?”

Lucion asked.

The knight was bigger than him, so he wore it over his clothes, but he was worried that it would look strange.

[Don’t worry, the armor itself is crazy so no one would know it’s weird unless they look at it closely.]

Lucion was suspicious when Russell spoke as if he was holding back his laughter.

[It’s okay, Lord Lucion. It’s not awkward at all.]

Bethel comforted Lucion who had an important task ahead so that he wouldn’t be bothered.

―To Ratta, it may or may not be a little big. It’s big when you look at it this way, but it’s okay when you look at it that way.

Ratta wandered around Lucion.

“Go inside for a second.”

Lucion pointed to the shadow at the sign that Bethel, not him, had noticed.

Ratta nodded and went into Lucion’s shadow, and a moment later a loud sound of footsteps was heard.

“M-My Lord! There’s trouble! Right now, Lady Miella visits the mansion with a bunch of soldiers.”

Despite the butler’s urgent words, Chefran’s head only followed the mission Lucion had ordered with an expressionless face.

“The Lord knows already.”

Lucion made his voice sound as deep as possible, just like the knight who protected the Chefran’s family head.

The situation itself was urgent, so the butler didn’t notice it and followed Chefran’s family head with a firm face.

As the knights naturally followed the footsteps of the family head, it became an imposing procession.

Lucion closely attached himself to Chefran’s family head and continued to breathe darkness as thin as possible so that the magic of delusion wouldn’t be broken.

“My Lord, you can’t go outside now. Lady Miella is waiting for you outside.”

The butler stood in front of the front door and stopped Chefran’s head.

However, Chefran’s family head, who had the magic of delusion maintained inside of her, didn’t stop.

It was impossible to stop the footsteps of the family head.

The front door, which had been firmly closed, opened.