Creak!
The black iron door slowly creaked open and we entered inside one by one.
Looking around, the room was a stone clamber reminiscent of a library, filled with books and shelves. Certainly, It didn't like like a place where leader of a cult would reside.
However, books was not the only thing littered around.
"Arck!"
Yoo Rin screamed and jumped back like a frightened cat.
At the same time, Angelica and Yoo Jinsung turned pale.
A torn human corpse lay in front of Yoo Rin, with bodies strewn across the room like discarded trash. From eyeballs to fingernails to intestines had been extracted from the bodies of the dead.
I frowned as a familiar strong foul odour assaulted my nose. Nobody needed to tell me where that nasty smell had originated from.
My gaze focused on the corpses littered on the stony floor.
From their clothes to how they physically appeared, It was obvious that the identity of those corpses were that of the prisoners that were executed at the sacrificial ritual.
Why were their bodies brought here after they were killed?
Wouldn't it have been easier for the cultists to dispose of the bodies or burn them to erase any evidence of their involvement?
The answer was rather simple.
"Are you the prisoners that ruined the ritual?"
A calm yet subtle voice was heard.
Everyone shifted their gazes elsewhere, at once.
In the center of the room stood a man dressed in the dark robes worn by the black apostles, with his blood-stained hands busy with something on a long, cluttered table. Given the corpses strewn across the room, it wasn't hard to guess what kind of twisted project he was working on.
"You're actually the first among the prisoners to step into my chambers. I can't quite understand why, but I suppose there's a first time for everything."
Creak!
The man said as he stood up from his chair and looked this way.
Angelica and the twins instantly went into fight-or-flight mode, raising the weapons they carried.
It was understandable.
Unlike the other black apostles who wore a mask that covered their face apart from the mouth region, this man wore a black crow mask which covered his entire face and excluded a unique presence.
He appeared slim and far from athletic, with his pale skin contrasting starkly against the dark fabric. To be completely honest, he looked like he would lose a fight against a high-schooler even if he was given a melee weapon. Yet, his straight posture exuded an overwhelming amount of confidence, as though he possessed a power beyond humanity.
He reminded me of the first time I encountered the owner of the World, Ollerus Izzard.
My gaze dropped down to the book he was holding on one hand. It seemed like an ordinary old book. In fact, it looked worn and faded, with its cover barely holding together by a chain. But there was an unmistakable aura around it—a faint, dark energy that pulsed like a heartbeat, as though the book itself was alive.
A Grimorie.
The source of the masked man's strength and confidence.
I said, while looking at the cult leader. "Isn't it obvious we would come here since you're the leader of the black apostles?"
"That's strange. Wouldn't it make more sense to just leave?"
"I suppose that's true."
Looking at the corpses in the room, I asked. "By the way, I expected the leader of a black cult would be performing sermon, not studying anatomy. Didn't peg you for the scientific type."
"Is it really that strange? We, as black apostles, values 'Mysteries' above anything else. The secrets of the universe and the human body are among those mysteries. To truly grasp power, one must understand the vessel that wields it. Don't you agree?"
For some reason, I felt the man was smiling behind that mask.
"You bastard? Is that why you killed all those people— for such a shallow reason?" Angelica asked, with her voice trembling with anger. It seemed as If she was trying to burn the sun.
"Shallow?"
The masked man tilted his head slightly as if confused.
"What exactly do you mean by shallow? Taking another person's life is a big sin, you know. If we're going to kill someone, then our reason must be grand and have meaning, a purpose that justifies the act of violence. Otherwise, we're no better than mindless beasts, which are driven only by impulse and hunger."
"What reason could ever justify taking the life of another person? By that logic, can't I kill someone for stealing my candy?"
"If that's the case, that means you must be aware of this item. I'm not sure how or where you managed to learn about the existence of grimoires from, but it's fortunate I took precautions for a scenario like this. I hope you understand."
He was right. The grimoire in his possession was far too dangerous and valuable for him to risk losing carelessly.
Book of Da'at Abyss.
It was a grimoire created by the Witch of the Night, containing the power of Void Magic within.
Anything in the world—whether it be physical phenomena, supernatural occurrences, or even abstract concepts like Keikoku Amane's antimatter—would be utterly annihilated and returned to nothingness the moment it came into contact with Void Magic (0).
Fortunately, the book the masked man was holding was a cheap copy of the original grimorie. Even so, that didn't mean the magic itself was any weaker.
"Seriously, are you going to use that to catch me even when we're surrounded? Wouldn't you be unable to use that for a long time?"
"That may be the case, but you're far too dangerous to leave alive. Of everyone in this room, it's clear that you pose the greatest threat. I would prefer to eliminate any unknown variables with the most reliable method of securing victory rather than risk everything on a gamble."
"Umm."
I smiled bitterly after hearing those words. This man was far too intelligent to be deceived by mere rhetoric.
"Ex profundis nihil, ego invoco vacuitatem,
Ubi umbrae saltant et silentium loquitur,
Abyssus aeternus, dona mihi potentiam tuam,"
The masked man began something in a language I could not understand. An unpleasant sweat started to drip from my entire body.
Damn it. That bastard was saying the chant for Void Magic.
"Everyone! Don't let him finish that chant!" I shouted and aimed the tip of the revolver at his forehead.
However...
Step! Step! Step—
The controlled zombies blocked the path towards that man's skull. Using zombies as decoys to buy time, huh? That bastard was undoubtedly smart.
In fact, It was unrealistic to fight a prepared magician in his own territory.
Slash! Bang—!
We tried cutting down the approaching zombies one by one, with Angelica and the Twins wielding melee weapons while I used the revolver. But our actions turned out to be meaningless in the end.
"Erasus existentia, sin realitas frangatur,
Per nomen invisibile, commandum tenebras,
Omnia revertantur ad originem—
Nihilifica!"
The masked man finished the chant for his spell, and at the same time.
[Void Magic (0) has activated.]
An unknown mass emerged from the grimorie. A liquid thicker than blood yet darker than black. That unknown liquid scattered around and an unbelievable object began to take shape
It was the savage, two metres long jaws of a beast only seen in legends, the head of an alpha predator.
The creature let out a deafening roar and flew towards me with its jaws agape as if to devour me whole.
Kwakwakwang!
It was the manifestation of a black power that could delete anything in an instant without remorse.
Undefeatable, unstoppable and inescapable.
I sighed. It seemed the Goddess of Misfortune really loved me, huh?
My eyes fell upon Angelica, who stared at me helplessly with a mixture of horror and terror. I realized this might inflict some lasting trauma, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
It truly couldn't be helped.
I said with a faint smile. "I'm sorry, but It seems you'll have to finish this on your own after all."
Angelica shouted something at me, but everything went black before I could register her words. There wasn't even time for the pain to register in my brain.
My body was erased in an instant, with no delay in space-time.
[You have died.]