Chapter 136: Under the Church's Shadow
"Thanks for leaving him for me," Zaroth said as he walked over and pierced the man's head with one of his daggers.
His eyes widened as he felt more power flowing into him.
A second later, Midnight bit down on the man's neck with her fangs as she began to drink.
Zaroth didn't bother her as she fed, he observed the church. Now that he wasn't in the middle of a fight, he was able to pay more attention to the surroundings.
The more he looked, the more his expression changed.
Everything was spotless, beautiful, pristine… expensive.
How could this small church afford so many expensive items? The only money they should have been receiving were supposed to be donations meant for the less fortunate.
He got closer to the body of the dead woman that Silverfang had killed.
The first thing he noticed was that she was beautiful… the next second, he realized that she was wearing a heavy amount of makeup.
On her neck, there was a golden necklace with a diamond in the middle. At her wrists, there were bracelets made from gold and decorated with gems as well.
It was clear that this woman hadn't spared expenses for buying luxuries for herself.
With the amount of money she had spent on these things, there was no doubt in Zaroth's mind that these jewelries would have been enough to supply at least a dozen starving families with food for more than a year.
And yet this money was used on something so meaningless…
He wouldn't have cared if not for the fact that this money would have come from donations. There were surely a lot of people who were giving money to the church, thinking that they were helping the less fortunate, while in actuality, the money was just being pocketed by high-standing members of the Purifiers.
He felt rage deep in his soul. He had been one of those less fortunate ones, maybe if the church actually did its job correctly, his mother wouldn't have died… or at least, she wouldn't have had to endure so much hunger in her last days. Maybe if he hadn't been starving for so much of his childhood, he would have grown taller.
And the worst part was that if the church didn't exist at all, then there was a possibility that those who really wanted to help would have gone out of their way to do it personally… but due to the church's existence, no one bothered. Why would they? Just give money, think that you've done good, and now you're considered a good person.
Before he realized it, his fists had clenched tight as his fingers began to pierce his skin so deep that he began to bleed.
Was it because the Purifiers were connected to the gods that he felt so much rage against them?
"Zaroth?"
Midnight's voice broke him out of his trance. He shifted his gaze to her.
The bodies of the men looked white as ghosts, most likely as a result of losing most of their blood.
"Are you done?" he asked.
"Yes, we better get out of here. Even if no one has seen us, it isn't smart to linger at the scene of the crime,"
Zaroth nodded as he put his hood back on his head and quickly left the church with Midnight.
They walked far, making sure to remain unseen by the few people who were still on the streets at such late hours.
Finally, making sure that they were far enough, they took a rest at a bench.
"Thanks for coming," Midnight spoke. "It would have been difficult to get rid of them alone."
Zaroth simply nodded as he shifted his gaze to the back of his hand, making sure that there wasn't anyone nearby. He made his symbol appear.
He wasn't completely sure, but it seemed that it shined brighter crimson than before.
"So, you've killed three humans, is there any defect?" Midnight asked.
"I think so," he muttered as he used Darkveil, and the surrounding darkness wrapped around his body.
"But it is pretty hard to tell," he admitted.
She scanned his body for a moment or two, then put her hand on his head, making his hair messy.
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"The change is little, but the darkness seems more potent around your body. It really seems that just killing makes your demonic skills stronger."
Zaroth smiled a little.
"So any demonic skill I learn from now on should be empowered, right?"
"Yes, but to have any significant change, you will have to kill much more."
His eyes widened for a moment. He imagined killing more of these Purifiers, and at just the thought, a smile appeared on his face.
Was there something wrong with him? He didn't mind killing before… but now just the thought made him excited? When had this happened, or was he always like this and just figured it out now?
His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a pair of eyes on him.
Shifting his gaze to the cause, he saw a girl with a white mask and shoulder-length blonde hair. She was walking around with a beautiful woman with blue eyes and hair.
A second later, he recognized them as Vera and Sofia. Considering that Sofia had been the one to lead the Epic Beast Master to his fighters during the hunting competition, he couldn't say that they were on good terms with one another, but they weren't on bad terms either.
Zaroth knew that if he were in their situation, he would have done the same, so he couldn't blame them.
Once the girls saw that Zaroth had sensed that he was being watched, they took a step backward and went on their way.
"That was weird," he muttered under his breath.
A second later, he forgot about it as he decided that it wasn't worth remembering.
*****
"We just had to meet Zaroth during our night walk!" Sofia complained as she marched forward.
She knew that Vera disliked looking at the man, so she was now probably in a bad mood.
'And just when she was starting to get better!' Sofia cursed as she shifted her gaze to her friend.
"Forget about him alright? We are here to relax, so don't-"
"He seems different," Vera spoke softly.
Sofia raised an eyebrow, "different how?"
"Like… I know that he's a human, but at the same time, he looked like something different."
Sofia sighed as she nudged Vera with her elbow, "We know that he's weird, so just don't worry about him," she advised. Then stopped as she saw that Vera was trembling.
"What is it?"
Vera's voice trembled a little as she spoke, "That woman… the one with crimson hair and eyes… I think she isn't human."
Sofia put her hand on Vera's shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"She… gave off a feeling similar to a demon… a powerful one at that. And I think that Zaroth was giving similar but much weaker energy."
"Vera, listen to me," Sofia spoke as she went in front of her, preventing her from walking forward.
"Do not discuss this with anyone, okay?"
"But we-"
"Are too weak to do anything about it even if it is true," Sofia interrupted.
She didn't like the idea that if her friend was right, there was a demon in the capital walking freely, but there wasn't much that she was able to do.
Even if she was a princess, without her father's support, she was nobody—less than nobody. So all she could do was grit her teeth and pretend that she hadn't witnessed anything this night.