Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

Chapter 187: Got caught (3)

Lucion hesitated at Ratta’s words.

He wasn’t sure, but if the darkness itself was corrupted, did it need to be purified?

The undying, or corrupted ghosts, could be returned to the boundary between death and life through the darkness without purification.

‘…Last time, it melted.’

When he caught the black hand that was reaching towards him with his hand covered in darkness in the sea of death, the hand melted.

Considering that the corrupted darkness was not a person or a soul, where would it go if attacked with darkness?

“Can you do it from a distance?” Lucion asked.

He never wanted to bring Ratta close to the corrupted darkness.

―Yes! Ratta can do it now!

He wondered if his decision was correct, and this time he wavered a little.

[Purification itself is not a dangerous act.]

“I know that too.”

[Think about giving it a try if you can do it from a distance. If the purification succeeds this time and it really is darkness, then all the corruption in the sea of death will be called darkness.]

“…Are you suggesting that someone intentionally created the Sea of Death?”  Lucion suddenly felt choked.

Why would the darkness that naturally existed become corrupted?

If nobody had interfered, they wouldn’t have become corrupted.

[That’s right. We may not know who did it for what purpose, but we can consider it a more significant and dreadful act.]

[A more significant and dreadful act…?] 

Bethel, who had been listening quietly, spoke up, causing Russell’s expression to stiffen.

[Black magic is magic that uses darkness, and if the Sea of Death is actually made up of corrupted darkness, I wonder what kind of terrible black magic could be created from it.]

“Is that… possible?”

Lucion hadn’t even thought about it.

Since he was currently merged with Bethel, he had to be careful.

[Hence, we need to confirm it here. Hopefully, it’s not true, but if it is… Honestly, I don’t have the answers.]

Russell sounded uncertain.

The example he provided was quite shocking, should it prove to be true.

Though he had never feared anything in his life, this was different.

Black magic was powerful, and with a price, it could bring about magic to an unimaginable level.

If that were the case, could it even resurrect the dead?

Lucion looked at Hume.

“…I am against it.”

Hume clenched his fists.

“I strongly feel that we should not intervene with it at this moment. It’s my instinct telling me so.”

Was it Hume’s instinct as a guide or something else?

Lucion’s mind grew calmer.

[I… think we should give it a shot].

Bethel cautiously spoke up.

[It would be much better to confirm it here now rather than going back to the sea of death for confirmation.]

―Ratta wants to help!

The opinions were leaning toward one side.

Lucion focused his attention on the approaching corrupted darkness, even though he had an uneasy feeling about it. 

Going back to the sea of death for confirmation would be even more dangerous.

“Ratta.”

―Yes!

When the opportunity to confirm arose, they had to seize it.

“Go ahead,” Lucion made his decision.

―Yes! Understood!

Ratta’s tail wagged, and for a moment, Ratta rolled her front paws.

As the wind swirled around Ratta, a similar gust of wind formed near the corrupted darkness.

―Return.

With a voice so solemn that it could hardly be believed to be Ratta’s voice, the wind that had surged around the corrupted darkness descended like black snow.

Poof.

When the corrupted darkness hit the black snow, not only did it turn into sand, but it also sparkled.

The brightness of the sparkle caught everyone’s attention, despite the absence of any actual light.

As the spherical form of darkness revealed itself, resembling what they had seen at the boundary between life and death and on the pilgrimage route, everyone exclaimed in unison.

Run away!

“…?”

Jingling jingling!

Lucion, startled by the voice of the darkness, was momentarily interrupted by the bell ringing crazily on his wrist.

[What…? Why is the bell ringing now…?]

Russell stopped talking.

No, time had stopped.

Lucion swallowed hard, feeling the surge of pain in his abdomen, the weight on his body, and the heat engulfing him completely.

Even though he hadn’t released the possession, Bethel, who had merged with him, appeared.

At this moment, it didn’t matter that the possession had not been released.

‘…Was it him?’

Lucion had encountered him while following the traces of the owl.

Just like now, time had frozen.

Click.

He heard the sound of a door opening, just like now.

And then that guy appeared.

―… Lucion?

Ratta’s voice startled Lucion.

“Ra… Ratta?”

Ratta was moving.

―Why is everyone acting like this? Trying to startle Ratta right now…

“Ratta! Move!”

Lucion urged urgently.

―Where to?

“To the hill we passed earlier!”

―Got it!

Ratta also raised her voice and used shadow movement.

* * *

As the darkness receded, Lucion felt a ringing in his ears, accompanied by the pounding of his heart.

Cold sweat trickled down his body, and he struggled to catch his breath. He looked up at the sky and saw leaves suspended in mid-air, frozen in time.

Everything had come to a halt.

This wasn’t a dream.

‘…Think. Think, Lucion.’

Was Ratta’s act of purifying the corrupted darkness a call for ‘him’?

But why?

―Lucion? I don’t really understand what’s happening, but something feels off.

Ratta glanced around before folding her ears.

Lucion stopped his thoughts and asked immediately.

“Ratta, how are you able to move right now?”

Ratta ceased her movements as well.

Aren’t we both trapped in the same frozen world?

―Um, was Ratta not supposed to move?

There was only one difference between him then and now.

‘Black orbs.’

The difference allowed Ratta to move.

Lucion staggered and barely managed to stand in place.

The real issue now was ‘him’.

If he stayed here, would ‘that guy’ be able to find him?

‘Troy told me to run if I encountered ‘that guy’…’

Where should he go?

The surroundings felt distant to Lucion.

His heart pounded violently, and he struggled to catch his breath.

But he had to think.

Crack.

He heard the sound of the television breaking down.

―… behind.

The tattered letters faded away, and a black thread appeared before his eyes.

Lucion immediately picked up Ratta.

“Ratta, let’s go anywhere…”

Eerie silence engulfed them.

No words could escape his lips.

Thud.

Lucion gritted his teeth.

“Just running away won’t work.”

Creak.

The sound of a door opening accompanied a voice from behind.

Merely listening to it sent a chill down his spine.

“I’ve finally found you.”

Lucion felt his mind go numb as he heard the sinister chuckle.

―Lu, Lucion!

Ratta clung tightly to Lucion.

A strange man with long, black hair so long that his face was barely visible was pointing at Ratta.

It was incredibly terrifying.

“With the divine beast of darkness.”

The man’s finger then shifted its aim towards Lucion.

“The vessel.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Suddenly, the man clapped his hands together.

“Finally. Finally!”

Whoosh!

In that instant, sharp black thorns sprouted from the man’s abdomen, and a scream of darkness filled the air.

Don’t interfere!

Don’t touch him!

I’ll kill you!

He turned his gaze towards the darkness that screamed at him.

“What do you expect to achieve with this? Your attacks won’t work on me. Why are you doing this when you already know?”

‘What is that?’

Lucion watched as the darkness silently absorbed something flowing from the person’s abdomen, taking small steps forward.

“I am.”

In an instant, the person appeared right in front of Lucion.

“…!”

“I never told you to move.”

The man extended his hand, darkness shrouding it heavily.

Ting!

Defensive magic appeared around Lucion and bounced off his hand.

It was a ring containing defensive magic, given by Miella and Peter.

“Wow.”

Through his disheveled hair, the man grinned widely.

“This is interesting, isn’t it?”

Lucion summoned all the darkness within him.

That person was dangerous.

Undeniably dangerous.

“Well, well. It seems like the darkness didn’t teach you much, did it?”

Mocking him, the man clenched his fist and shattered the defensive magic.

Clang!

The darkness surged toward Lucion.

No!

Absolutely not!

Don’t touch him!

The man chuckled, raising a finger and flicking it to the side.

The darkness obstructing Lucion’s path and the darkness unleashed by Lucion himself vanished completely.

“…!”

There was nothing in front of Lucion.

Rather than realizing that everything he had learned was useless against him, Lucion focused his attention on the man.

‘It’s not me he’s after; it’s Ratta.’

“I am the King of Darkness, you see.”

As the man spoke, Lucion made a final desperate move, throwing Ratta aside.

Toss!

“Ugh…”

The man’s hand penetrated Lucion’s abdomen.

Thud.

Lucion felt the hot blood flow and freeze against the cold touch of the man’s hand, overwhelming his senses.

Ratta, who had risen from her spot, widened her eyes.

Ratta was left speechless.

Lucion was dying.

Lucion.

Lucion.

A violet light flickered in Ratta’s eyes.

“Cough… ahh!”

Despite the blood pouring from his wounds, Lucion tightly gripped the man’s hand.

His hand and his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

He felt as if someone was tugging at his consciousness, but he resisted.

He had to resist.

At least for Ratta.

“Es… cape.”

Lucion attempted to speak, but the blood pooling around his mouth made it difficult to articulate his words.

“Damn.”

The man clicked his tongue.

“I should have killed that troublesome divine beast first. Well, it can’t be helped. I suppose I’ll take a look at what you look like before you die. It’ll make things easier next time.”

The man giggled and tried to retract his hand, seemingly responding to the despair-filled emotions of the darkness.

However, his hand didn’t budge.

Had all the darkness within the vessel been sucked out?

Thud.

The sound of something falling caught his attention.

The two holy relics were taken out by Lucion, and the incomplete holy relic fell to the floor.

He could sense the man panicking.

‘It seems you’re weak against light, whether you’re the King of Darkness or not.’

Lucion grinned.

“…You… lose.”

In response to the darkness emanating from him, the relics emitted bursts of light.

Between Lucion, who possessed resistance to light, and the person who likely lacked such resistance, who would prevail?

Yet, even after being struck by the light, Lucion strangely felt minimal pain.

Instead, he gradually fell backward, accompanied by a warm sensation.

‘Am I dying…?’

No.

Ah.

It is Troy’s blessing.

In that warmth, Lucion felt Troy’s presence.

“Ahh! You! You!”

The man covered his face and shouted, as if his eyes were burning from the light.

Sorry.

Sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything.

You can’t die. Hold on.

Darkness enveloped Lucion.

He felt like someone was staunching the blood gushing from his stomach.

The pain inexplicably subsided.

Thrrr.

One of the darknesses dropped something.

‘That is…?’

Isn’t this something that came out a little while ago when the darkness attacked that guy?

Tuk.

Whiirr.

Lucion felt his own darkness, which had withered away, rapidly replenishing.

It was a sensation similar to when he absorbed the black orbs.

Fwoosh!

With the sound of something burning, the violet darkness that had appeared around his body before flickered.

It was warm.

However, he couldn’t prevent his consciousness from slipping away.

―Lucion.

Ratta’s voice was heavy.

―Ratta is the one who protects Lucion.

Anger laced her words.

‘No, Ratta. Do not be consumed by anger.’

Lucion couldn’t voice his thoughts.

He heard Ratta approaching.

In response to that movement, the violet darkness surrounding his body expanded greatly.

I cannot forgive.

The violet darkness whispered.

―Ratta feels the same. But I will not be angry. Because Lucion does not wish for it.

Ratta replied.

―Lucion. Hang on. Please.

Ratta, in particular, appeared larger, and her eyes were filled with violet darkness.

Suddenly, the violet darkness spread across the sky, transforming into a sharp blade.

“Ugh!”

The violet darkness surged towards the guy like flames, causing him to scream in agony.

―Lucion.

Ratta called out to Lucion.

―Speak through me. No, you must speak.

Although it was Ratta’s voice, different from Ratta herself, Lucion strained to hold onto his fading consciousness.

―Return through the door.

‘Return through the door.’

Lucion commanded the darkness as if giving an order.

Creak.

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening was heard.

“What the hell! What is this? What is this?”

Amidst the countless violet swords and piercing lights, the man couldn’t regain his composure as the darkness converged and pushed him towards the door.

I’m sorry.

Please don’t die.

Please, don’t die.

The darkness sobbed, unable to call Lucion’s name.

He could feel the soft fur.

―Don’t die, Lucion!

Though it was far too large to be Ratta, its size gradually seemed to diminish.

―Lucion! You can’t die! Ratta, ugh. Ratta…!

‘…I’m not dying, I’m not dying.’

Lucion desperately tried to hold onto his consciousness.

No matter how hard he struggled.

No matter how much he fought to survive.

But he couldn’t prevent his eyes from closing.