Translator: Wan ED/PR: Fan
Lucion’s Darkness moved.
Unlike when he moved it, he didn’t hear any whining.
‘What the hell is the difference?’
Lucion focused on Russell’s movements.
The one moving the Darkness was Russell, but Lucion saw what kind of method Russell used to control it.
‘It’s gentle.’
The method Russell used was to guide the Darkness in an even line, like a navigation.
It quickly differentiated between the Darkness which followed orders and the Darkness which didn’t, and forced the Darkness that followed orders to drag the rest of the Darkness.
‘… When I do it, they don’t move like this. Bad guys.’
Lucion pressed his lips.
[First, send Darkness into the opponent’s head. The direction you send it doesn’t matter as long as it reaches the head.]
Even when Darkness was sent to the man’s head, he didn’t see anything.
He was just shocked and surprised like a moment ago.
Zzap.
Lucion was startled for a second.
The moment the Darkness entered the man’s head, he was struck by a tingling sensation as if he was struck by electricity.
[You can remove your hand now. The Darkness already entered the man’s body.]
Lucion quickly took his hand away.
“What was that sensation just now?”
[Everyone has willpower. It activates their defenses to block the Darkness. It happens when you pierce it.]
He paid close attention to the Darkness that penetrated the man’s head, and while he was observing, it penetrated the man’s brain.
‘…!’
Lucion was surprised, seeing the Darkness change shape quickly and naturally.
Didn’t it look like it was shaped directly by hand?
[Look closely now. The Darkness only you can see will bloom in the man’s eyes.]
Russell pointed at the man’s eyes.
The man was confused just like before, and seemed to be curling up, praying for this hell to end.
When his eyes met Lucion’s for a brief moment, just like Russell said, he saw Darkness bloom in the man’s eyes like a flame.
[On the outside, it wouldn’t look like he is compeled, but that’s the state of compulsion.]
— Latta’s eyes see it too. It feels like Latta just became really great for some reason. That’s a strange feeling.
Latta giggled at the strange feeling.
“He doesn’t look like he is under magical influence.”
Lucion said.
“It also seems so to me. Is he really under magical influence?”
Even Hyum asked, feeling like nothing had changed about the man.
[That’s why the chances of compulsion being discovered are low. The person influenced doesn’t realize it. Anyway, that was the difficult part. The rest is easy.]
“I just command him?”
[Yeah. But, there is a limit to what you can use him for in this state. Raise your hand, open the door, bring something. You can usually issue a command with one or two actions, three is the maximum.]
“Is it because my Darkness is insufficient?”
[No. It’s because the target of Darkness is a human, not a ghost. The Darkness in the head disappears pretty quickly, and if there are too many commands, the risk of being found out rises while maintenance time becomes shorter.]
Russell checked the flame slowly burning in the man’s eyes while deciding to leave a curse.
[He’s in a perfect state to use a curse now.]
“You mean I have to do all of this to use a curse?”
Lucion’s voice was mixed with embarrassment, and his mask was dyed purple.
[Yeah. You use the Darkness that penetrated the opponent’s head as a price for the curse. That’s the most basic price without a sacrifice that you can use a curse with.]
“What curses can I use right now?”
[Trip at the sight of a pebble, make chicken noises at the sight of light. Together it would be quite miserable, right? The price is insufficient for anything beyond that.]
“It’s better than I thought for that price.”
[Right. It’s not to be laughed at. What would you do if such a situation repeated over and over?]
Lucion’s mask was dyed yellow.
“That’s not a joke.”
[In exchange, those curses don’t last very long. A month at most. Two weeks is the shortest. Even then, they’re pretty useful.]
Lucion looked at the man under compulsion.
‘Let’s save a curse for now.’
He planned to use the curse on the chief of Ratmen.
“Bring me your master’s most treasured possession.”
Lucion saw the Darkness that penetrated the man’s head wrap like a curtain at his command.
The man nodded and stood up.
He didn’t seem to have any problems, and his expression wasn’t stiff. He looked and acted like normal.
‘That’s the compulsion?’
Lucion thought it was a pretty good magic to learn.
“Latta.”
— Ye.
“Contact No. 15 and learn where the chief of this place is. We will go there shortly.”
— Got it! Latta will talk.
The caves were pretty complex, and if the vanguard party they sent didn’t return, the enemy would send the follow-up party.
He planned to go straight to the Ratmen’s boss with Shadow Movement without losing unnecessary time.
“Once the man returns, we’ll go straight to the boss. Take out everyone but the boss.”
“Understood. I’m a bit confident in my fighting technique now.”
Hyum showed a smile.
After a moment, the man walked in, limping.
Perhaps he fought someone. His body was covered in blood.
The man handed Lucion a bunch of documents.
After receiving the documents, Lucion checked if the compulsion hadn’t worn off yet.
It was small, but the flames of Darkness remained in his eyes.
‘Once it all disappears, the magic will end.’
As the culprit who stole the documents had to live, Lucion planned to leave the man alive.
“Go get treatment.”
At Lucion’s command, the man was about to turn around, but flinched.
“Spa-spare me!”
As if he lost his memory, he crouched down again and trembled.
‘… Ah. Is that how it works?’
After confirming what happens after the compulsion ends, Lucion quietly told him:
“Go.”
“Tha-tha-thank You!”
The man ran without looking back.
Now, it wasn’t his business.
“Lenteal. Memorize it.”
Lucion handed the documents to Hyum.
He should memorize the important information within it.
“Yes. I’ll copy it later.”
“Okay.”
Lucion looked at Latta as he answered.
After mumbling ‘beep-beep-beep’ like dialing a number, she perked up her ears.
— Latta got through!
“Did you memorize everything?”
Before using Shadow Movement, Lucion asked Hyum.
“Yes. I memorized everything, so don’t worry.”
Hyum handed Lucion the documents she received earlier.
Watching Lucion put his hands on the documents, Russell held back a chuckle.
He thought about what kind of curse Lucion was going to use, and it seemed that he planned to use the cruelest curse in the world.
“Then let’s go, Latta.”
Lucion’s mask was dyed yellow.
***
Tap.
The moment she checked the changed surroundings, Hyum quickly fixed her gaze.
One enemy.
Perhaps the other enemies were quite far from here, perhaps in another room.
Her eyes met the eyes of the bastard.
The bastard’s pupils grew larger and trembled violently.
This was a feeling of fear.
The bastard’s mouth opened so quickly that his Adam’s apple quivered.
Hyum didn’t miss that opportunity.
She quickly moved her leg and kicked the man’s abdomen.
“… Keuk.”
The man screamed in pain, but because he couldn’t breathe properly, the noise was quiet.
Hyum realized this simple fact through a fight a moment ago.
Based on how you cause pain, the person’s screams differ.
Hyum grabbed the bastard’s neck, so he couldn’t make a sound, and made him kneel in front of Lucion.
“Is that the right bastard?”
“Yes.”
Seeing the red thread connecting him with this punk, it was certain.
Lucion put his hand on the bastard’s head.
He deliberately chose the shortest distance from the head.
With his current abilities, it was difficult to freely change the shape of Darkness like directly molding the Darkness.
Because it was like using a second hand to shape it, he would have to work on it, like where his hand is and how he should move his fingers, to get the shape of the Darkness.
‘I can’t do it like Master-nim yet.’
That didn’t mean there was no way.
Lucion twisted the Darkness.
[That’s a good application?]
The corners of Russell’s mouth raised.
He was truly proud that he didn’t try to copy him, but tried to use his own method.
“Hamel-nim is always good at everything.”
Hyum smiled brightly in contrast to the situation.
Lucion briefly licked the corner of his lips.
Though he was quite anxious about his first attempt, he was also pretty excited.
Lucion twisted the Darkness a few times, sharpening the tip.
Before the Darkness dispersed out of boredom, he made it take on the sharpest shape it could, and stabbed it at the willpower protecting the head.
Zzap!
For a moment, Lucion’s hand trembled, feeling as if electricity spread from his fingertips, but he still focused on the Darkness, controlling it.
— Latta is holding onto it. Don’t worry, Lucion.
Latta perked up her ears.
[As expected, you have good willpower.]
Russell was satisfied that Lucion’s concentration didn’t scatter.
Peuk.
Without worrying about his hand, Lucion pushed the Darkness forward, piercing through the bastard’s willpower.
Peeuk!
After a few attempts, the Darkness got into the bastard’s head, and flames of Darkness bloomed in his eyes.
“… Wow. No joke, is it?”
Lucion felt blood drip from his nose.
Throb, throb.
Perhaps the action of influencing the mind of another was also affecting his own mind. He had a headache.
[It’s always difficult at first, but mental magics are especially difficult. A headache is unavoidable.]
“Now, please teach me how to use the curse.”
Lucion spoke, enduring pain.
He knew that to use a curse, a special incantation was needed.
That incantation was exactly the same for all warlocks.
Because it appeared in the novel, Lucion also knew that incantation.
[A curse is standardized magic. All warlocks have to say the same incantation to use a curse. Repeat after me.]
Lucion waited for Russell to speak.
[I’m one of the Darkness’ doted servants.]
“I’m one of the Darkness’ doted servants.”
[I humbly ask the Darkness to grant my small request. I humbly ask the Darkness to help me use Your divine power.]
“I humbly ask the Darkness to grant my small request. I humbly ask the Darkness to help me use Your divine power.”
[I offer You this.]
“… I offer You this.”
The moment he repeated the last part of the incantation, Lucion felt an unexplained chill.
At the same time, he felt a fierce cold, like when he first felt Darkness, come over him, and his teeth chattered.
My dear child, what do you want?
Someone whispered in his ears.
Darkness.
However, not his own Darkness.
It’s a pity, but we can’t make an exception for you. For the price you offer, we can only give this much.
It wasn’t just one voice, but several overlapping voices.
Speak then.
It felt like the Darkness was stroking his face.
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
Rather, he felt comfortable like being in bed.
‘I wish this bastard would destroy the thing he treasures the most with his own hands.’
Good, good. We will make it come true. As much as you like, as much as you like.
Crackle.
The Darkness that stabbed into the bastard’s head turned into writing.
Destroy what you treasure the most with your own hands.
The writing became a brand, and the brand was left as a curse.
A black star was stamped under the bastard’s left eye.
[The curse was activated.]
Russell said.
“Let go.”
At Lucion’s order, Hyum released the hand that was gripping the man’s neck.
“Cough, cough!”
The bastard fell to the ground and broke into a hacking cough.
Lucion walked up to him and waved the documents the bastard cherished in front of him.
“I want you bastard to submit to me. Nod if you like it.”
“You damn fucker! I….”
Rip.
Lucion took out one page from the stack of documents and threw it in front of the man.
At that moment, the Darkness in the black star on the bastard activated.
Riiip!
The bastard ripped the page like he faced his archenemy.
[Yeah. That’s what I thought.]
Russell nodded.
You must have no mercy for the enemy.
Because, in the end, that mercy will stab you in the back.
“…?”
Belatedly realizing that it was the paper he cherished and contained the information he dedicated his life to gather, he was flooded with despair he couldn’t endure.
He couldn’t hold back the scream that escaped him before he even had a chance to think why he had torn it.
“Ssh.”
But Lucion blocked the bastard’s mouth with Darkness.
At that moment, the bastard’s eyes grew bigger.
It was a warlock.
Warlock…!
“Like I said a moment ago, I hope you will submit to me.”
Lucion waved the documents in front of the bastard.
“Do you know what these are? Ah, you tore it with your own hands a moment ago, so of course you know.”
Lucion’s mask was completely dyed with a very playful yellow.
*~*~*
Translator’s note: Ah, my favorite sack of misery in this novel is here. Hello, Mr. Ratmen Chief, even if no one likes you, know that I do.
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