CH 98

[So…]

Russell stammered.

He wondered if the corruption had any effect, since they couldn’t touch the fallen warlock’s corpse, so what was left was, of course, the corpse they were carrying.

Raising a corpse and asking it to guide you to where it came from was simple.

Lucion seemed to want to know who they were and where they were based.

Russell moved on for now.

[At any rate, it’s a dark magic you’ll have to learn someday. There are very few death knights, and they can’t attack ordinary people, so it’s a magic to make up for that shortcoming..]

It was certainly magic that warlocks had to learn, whether they liked it or not.

“Other warlocks use it, so why don’t I learn it too? I’ll learn it. Why do you and Bethel hate it so much?”

Lucion smiled and glanced at Ratta.

Ratta seemed fine.

If it was really weird, she would act like the time when Bethel killed the ghostly assassin a few moments ago.

Bethel hurriedly waved her hands at Lucion’s gaze.

[Oh, you don’t have to mind me. It’s just that raising the dead is still awkward for me.]

[Bethel, I know what you’re thinking. At first glance, it looks like a very vile magic, but except for the fallen warlocks, in reality, all of them are raised with permission from the dead. It’s really unfair.]

[Is that true, Russell?]

Bethel’s eyes widened.

Getting permission.

Suddenly, she felt like bursting into laughter.

[Of course. Warlocks aren’t robbers. How should I say this, when I use that dark magic, there’s a sense of elation? Well, I’m just worried that Lucion will get drunk on that similar feeling.]

Russell fiddled with his earlobes.

When an obedient army suddenly appeared, everyone was bound to be seized by power.

But Lucion pointed nonchalantly to himself.

“I am a man of power in the first place. I just don’t get emotional enough. I actually have the power to move the soldiers.”

The Emperor had given him a card that enabled him to move the soldiers.

[I’ve never been an aristocrat before, so I can’t say anything.]

Russell raised his eyebrows, saying that it was difficult to assess Lucion’s confidence.

[Anyway, Lucion. It’s a dark magic that you can’t use now.]

“Is that so?”

A somewhat regretful voice flowed from Lucion’s mouth.

He sighed and looked at the boat full of dead bodies.

He had to burn them all up.

“You know, Teacher.”

Lucion raised his voice.

He was about to hand this over to Heint, but he just had a good idea.

Which place hated the warlocks the most?

It was the temple.

[…Lucion. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not anything dangerous, right?]

His guess would have been more accurate if he had seen his expression, but unfortunately, Lucion was wearing a mask.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if the temple owed a favor to a warlock?”

[The temple… Did you say owing a favor to a warlock? Is that possible?]

Bethel asked with a quizzical look.

“Bethel, have you forgotten who I am?”

Lucion giggled.

[…Ah.]

She put on an embarrassed expression when she realized it late.

Isn’t Lucion a saint now?

A saint recognized by the Empire, the temple of the Empire, and Eol, the high priest of Nevast.

[Which temple are you talking about?]

Russell wiggled two fingers lightly.

The temple of the Holy Nation of Nevast and the temple of the Empire worshiped the same god, but those two places were different in nature.

“It’s the temple of the Empire.”

Lucion didn’t want to get involved with Nevast.

Weren’t they the ones who make fun of his status as a saint?

Besides, the closer the better.

[So what are you going to do?]

Russell’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I can individually investigate and resolve what has happened, but what if the organization builds a relationship with the temple through this incident?”

[So, you’re going to make ties with the temple first?]

Russell asked, blinking his eyes.

“That’s right. Wouldn’t it be pretty good for the future? Of course, I’m only going to sell the name of the organization. I’ll also refrain from approaching. They’ll be suspicious at first, but if we bring a few, we’ll be able to turn their doubts into favor.”

[Certainly, if it is the temple, they will handle this matter properly. However, the temple isn’t as nice as you think.]

Russell agreed with Lucion’s opinion, but he cut off that idea.

“I know.”

[It’s not that you know it, but you can steal all their actions as if they’ve done it.]

Russell reminded Lucion again.

The image of light was good because the whole world believed in one God, but in reality, it was different.

The light usually manifested from birth and it didn’t increase by believing in God.

Like Lucion, the light was able to grow through training.

“We have Troy in the temple.”

Lucion came up with a solution right away.

Troy, the divine beast of light, already knew that Lucion was a warlock.

Troy said it himself that Lucion shouldn’t die or get corrupted, so Lucion thought he might be willing to lend his strength.

―Troy! That’s right! Troy would be on Lucion’s side.

Ratta smiled broadly.

[Ah That’s right. Troy can mediate. Well, in that case, feel free to build favors with the temple. No, it’s not just good, it’s great!]

The divine beast of light was the face and the symbol of the temple.

Even if it was later revealed that Troy helped a warlock, would they drive out the divine beast which was their symbol and their face?

Rather, it was a good opportunity to change the image of warlocks.

“I need to discuss the details with Kran.”

At the positive response, Lucion voiced his satisfaction.

[…Excuse me, who is Troy?]

Bethel couldn’t keep up with the story.

She had never heard of a priest named Troy.

“He is the divine beast of light. The divine beast who blessed me.”

Lucion pointed to his forehead and looked at Russell nonchalantly.

“Then, Teacher. At least teach me necromancy…”

[…What! S-So, it’s true that the divine beast of light acknowledged you?]

Bethel was surprised.

“That’s right.”

Lucion looked at Bethel again.

[That… Is that possible? Isn’t Lord Lucion a warlock? Aren’t light and darkness incompatible with each other?]

―No, Troy loves Lucion. Ah! He likes Ratta, too.

When Ratta added the explanation, Bethel couldn’t understand at all, and her expression quickly crumpled.

No matter how much he tried to make her understand, it would take time, so Lucion left her alone.

Russel, who had been glancing at Bethel, fiddled with his ears and uttered.

[It’s a bit risky, are still you going to do it?]

“There is no other way.”

All the ghosts who wanted to inform the people of this situation would have either fled from the warlocks or ascended to the sky.

[…Necromancy, it’s a rather difficult magic. It’s a step before the death, and it’s not high-level magic, but it requires a bit of a price.]

“Do I have to send darkness through the head again?”

[No. It needs a lot of darkness and your blood, which is a signpost.]

“…!”

Lucion was genuinely surprised.

Darkness was a given, but blood?

In the novel, there were a lot of scenes where warlocks cut their wrists, and he wondered why they did that at that time.

―That hurts!

Ratta freaked out.

“Is it really necessary?”

Even Hume, who was quiet, spoke out.

[Yes. There is no price cheaper than blood to raise the dead.]

“Does it need blood continuously?”

Lucion asked impatiently.

He didn’t like being sick.

Of course, he didn’t like getting cut.

[Hmm.]

Somehow, Lucion didn’t want to feel bitter so Russel purposely didn’t say anything, but now he thought Lucion should know.

[That’s right.]

As soon as Russell answered, Lucion exhaled deeply.

[It is mainly used for necromancy or causing death. Other than that, it’s used sparingly, and, ah, it’s absolutely necessary when temporarily strengthening black magic. But it can hurt and cause anemia, so it’s best to train the darkness diligently when you have time.]

‘Blood can strengthen the dark magic…’

Lucion thought it might be faster to shed blood compared to Heint’s strength that came from his collection of holy relics.

When is he going to go around and collect things?

‘It would be nice if there were items that could strengthen the darkness…’

For a moment, Lucion remembered the black orb that the death knight, Broson, had.

Is there a law that says there must be only one bead existing?

Lucion’s gaze turned to Hume for a moment.

‘When he got closer to the bead, Hume’s eyes changed, right?’

[Okay, let’s stop explaining here and do it right away. The way to do it is simple.]

Russell clapped his hands lightly.

So far, Lucion had shown a crazy learning ability.

To be honest, it was impossible.

It was different to understand it with words and to do it directly with your body.

But he thought Lucion would learn quickly this time too.

[Lucion. Don’t worry about getting caught by Anthony. Focus.]

Lucion flinched for a moment.

“I’m listening.”

In fact, the scariest was Anthony.

Why, isn’t it very scary when a person who always laughs gets angry once?

[The first thing to do is to fill the body with darkness.]

At Russel’s words, Lucion looked around and found a body rolling on the ground.

With Ratta’s assistance, he put darkness in the body first, following Russell’s words.

[But the darkness will say they hate it. Of course, anyone would hate going into a corpse…]

Russell thought that Lucion’s darkness wouldn’t listen to him this time but he soon withdrew his thoughts.

[Yes, in life, there can be a darkness that obediently listens. Of course, you are the first.]

In his eyes, Lucion’s darkness was as assertive as any other darkness.

But no matter how much Ratta told them to keep up the pace, would they just listen to him like that?

‘It’s weird. They’re calmer than before.’

Lucion felt the strangeness first.

No matter what he did, their voice sometimes muttered ‘No!’ and disappeared a lot.

―Oooh. Lucion’s darkness seems to understand Ratta and Lucion’s feelings now. They’ve gotten better.

Ratta, who was helping the darkness to move, said with touched feelings.

[Now that you’ve filled the body with darkness, let your blood flow. It’s not unconditional, but the amount of blood is proportional to the strength of the corpse when it was alive, so if you’re going to summon the soul of a strong person, you’ll need a lot of blood and vice versa, right?]

Russell pointed to the body.

[This body looks like an ordinary person, so three or four drops should be enough.]

Lucion listened to Russel and took the dagger out of his pocket.

He had it for self-defense but he didn’t know it would be used like this.

[The reason for offering blood has a price, to entice them to come this way with your location. The response is from the corpse, and you have to wait.]

‘That’s very unreasonable. You’re saying that the fallen warlocks don’t go through this process and can call them however they want, right?’

Lucion grumbled and cut his finger with a dagger.

Squeak.

Lucion felt disgusted rather than sick at the horror of the dagger coming into his fingers.

Suddenly his heart pounded.

―Ugh.

Ratta groaned as if in pain and turned her head away.

Slash.

Maybe it had cut deeper than he thought, but the blood was dripping.

Russell looked surprised when he saw the falling blood.

[Lucion? Isn’t it too deep? Just three or four drops will do.]

[He cut it too deep. It’s because he put too much strength in his hands due to the tension.]

Bethel said.

[Take a slow and deep breath, Lord Lucion.]

“It’s all right.”

Lucion seemed to be startled by the horror he felt for the first time in a long time.

He would grab the sword from now on, so he couldn’t be swept away by fear.

“You can keep telling me.”

Lucion said and swallowed his dry saliva.

Russell glanced at Lucion and let out a small sigh.

It bothered him, but the necromancy came first.

[Do you see this?]

Russell pointed to where Lucion’s blood had fallen.

The darkness was bubbling like boiling water.

[This phenomenon happens when the soul bites the bait. To be specific, it means it’ll accept your necromancy because it’s a good price. See how they like it with a lot of blood on it.]

“I remembered.”

[Well, now you can order them three times to come to you. Whatever you say is fine as long as you keep that feeling alive.]

Lucion nodded and ordered.

‘Come to me.’