Chapter 26

Chapter 26. A Model Necromancer (4)

Recalling the scene from just moments ago, Alius clicked his tongue.

‘How on earth can someone fight like that?’

It wasn’t that they displayed superhuman skills. They were far from the transcendent force wielded by aura users who had awakened their energy or by high-level mages.

‘The power of their swordsmanship and magic was clearly at an ordinary level.’

It was just that their experience surpassed imagination.

They read every attack in advance and evaded it, targeted every weakness as if they could see it plainly, and executed all of this without a single mistake, without any sign of tension.

How much combat experience would one need to pull off something like that?

‘And they’re both still in their twenties. At best, they’re around my age. Where did they gain such experience?’

Alius had more experience than most for his age, but even he wasn’t on that level.

‘Could they be hiding their true abilities?’

But that didn’t make sense.

Not only was there no reason for them to hide their skills, but it would also be ridiculous for someone hiding their abilities to display such seasoned combat techniques so openly.

That left only one conclusion.

They were still young and had not yet awakened their aura or accumulated much magical power, but their talent was so extraordinary that their combat instincts alone allowed them to achieve this!

‘Wow, even I was considered quite the prodigy within the Church...’

Although he showed humility in front of others, Alius was honestly aware of his own talent.

It would be foolish not to, when he could easily learn things others struggled with.

Yet, even he felt envious of the sheer talent these two possessed.

‘They said they were from the Zestrad Barony, right?’

These were not talents that should be buried in some rural fiefdom.

And in increasingly chaotic times, talent was always in short supply.

‘I need to investigate them as soon as I return to the Church.’

As Alius momentarily drifted into these thoughts, a voice interrupted him.

“Excuse me, Priest?”

Varos, who had pinned Cleo down, urged him.

“What should I do now? Kill him or spare him?”

Alius snapped back to reality.

‘This is no time to be daydreaming.’

He approached the fallen Cleo and pointed his staff at him.

“I’ll handle this.”

A light began to emanate from the tip of the staff. Cleo, pinned beneath Varos, struggled in fear.

“U-ugh...”

Ignoring him, Alius brought the holy light closer to Cleo.

“Aaaargh!”

A scream erupted as Cleo’s veins darkened and bulged. His skin soon tore open, and a black aura surged forth.

The black aura gathered in the air, then was drawn into a vial Alius had taken out.

Moments later, all the aura had vanished.

Baros and Karnak glanced at Cleo. He had already passed away.

“As expected,”

Alius said definitively after examining the light within the vial.

“It’s the Doom of Darkness.”

Karnak smiled faintly.

‘Oh, so that’s how they deal with it? I learned something useful.’

He had just witnessed firsthand how a priest sealed necromantic power. This was a significant discovery.

Meanwhile, Baros was worried.

[Is this okay? We need that too, you know. Are we just going to let them take it?]

[It’s fine. I’ve already prepared for this.]

[Prepared?]

At that moment, a dark tendril suddenly shot out from a corner of the hallway, aiming at Alius.

*Pa-a-aht!*

“Oh no! There was still a trap left...”

Alius turned in alarm, but he was a moment too late.

In an instant, the tendril began to choke him.

“Ugh! Gah...”

Through his dimming vision, Alius saw Karnak rushing towards him in alarm.

“Priest!”

Even as he was losing consciousness, Alius felt a sense of relief.

Since the necromancer had already been dealt with, he trusted that these people would handle the rest.

‘I’m glad I didn’t come alone...’

As Alius fully lost consciousness, the tendril that had been strangling him also released its grip. Karnak, who had been feigning concern, immediately changed his expression.

“It’s done.”

Baros looked incredulous.

“When did you prepare something like this?”

“Isn’t it a necromancer’s job to pull tricks behind the scenes?”

“Even so, if they start getting suspicious...”

Baros trailed off as he looked around.

“Well, I guess that’s unlikely?”

The Doom of Darkness was sealed in the vial, but the residual dark energy still filled the hallway. And setting traps everywhere was a specialty of necromancers.

“To Alius, it’ll just seem like that guy was up to something...”

“There’s actually a bigger reason than that,”

Karnak said as he subtly drew upon his chaotic magic.

“Look, see? Magic.”

“It’s magic, so what?”

“It means I’m a mage right now. Someone who uses mana.”

Baros finally caught on.

Karnak waved his hand dismissively.

“Not only priests possess holy power.”

There are things in this world, aside from people, that possess holy power.

Holy relics, for instance.

“They may sound grand, but in reality, holy relics are surprisingly common.”

Things like holy water sold by the church, talismans for dispelling evil, and protective charms are all technically holy relics. They’re so common that they don’t even feel like holy relics.

“I’ve got plenty of money, so I should gather a bunch of those and use them to refine magic power. Things will be easier from now on.”

He had already extracted all the information and magic he needed, so there was no longer any use for this bottle of darkness.

Karnak placed the bottle back into Alius’s possession.

Even if Alius checked the bottle, he wouldn’t find anything strange.

The corruption and foul energy would still be present, and extracting magic power from necromantic energy was something most wouldn’t even imagine.

“It’s like extracting nutrients from excrement—something you wouldn’t normally think of.”

Varos wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“That’s a pretty filthy comparison, isn’t it?”

“That’s how dirty necromancy is. Especially to priests.”

“Are we really that despicable?”

“Why do you think we’ve been living with the world’s hatred?”

Now, all that was left was to wake up the unconscious Alius.

After composing his expression, Karnak began to urgently shake Alius.

He raised his voice, filling it with concern and worry.

“Priest! Are you alright, Priest?”

“Ugh...”

Alius let out a faint groan and slowly opened his eyes.

Karnak sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness. You’re safe.”

Watching the scene, Varos could only shake his head in disbelief.

[Wow, he’s really good at faking it without even batting an eye.]

[Keep your expression in check, Varos!]

[Ah, yes, sir!]

***

When Cleo died, the necromancy cast over Gelfa Village was also broken.

The villagers, freed from their delusions, realized the inconsistencies in their memories and were horrified.

“My God, why did I think that person looked so young?”

“Why did we think he was handsome?”

“Even the priest from the church was under the spell?”

Fortunately, thanks to Alius’s swift follow-up actions, the panic subsided.

First, they coordinated with the village church.

The village church hadn’t been idle. In fact, they had been suspicious of Cleo all along. This is why Priest Gras had secretly invited Alius to deal with Cleo.

This was how the announcement was made.

With this, trust in the church was restored.

Moreover, the fact that the villagers hadn’t suffered any significant harm played a big role in this.

Cleo had indeed been preparing to use the village maidens as sacrifices. To set up for this, he had spread money around the village, trying to win everyone’s favor.

But, right before he could carry out the sacrificial ritual, he was caught by Alius.

From Gelfa Village’s perspective, it was like they had just pocketed the money and wiped their hands clean of the whole affair.

“Phew, that was a close call.”

“We’ll need to be more careful in the future.”

Though the atmosphere in the village had become somewhat grim, they eventually regained stability.

After wrapping up the aftermath, Alius set out for Derat City with Karnak and his group.

Throughout the journey, he peppered them with questions.

“Where did you both learn your swordsmanship and magic?”

“You seem to have a lot of combat experience. Is the Zestrad Barony a particularly harsh place?”

“Have you ever fought a necromancer before?”

He seemed to have a great deal of interest in them.

Well, after seeing their performance, it was only natural.

Karnak responded with carefully chosen answers.

“I was fortunate enough to come across the legacy of an old court magician. Sir Varos has mastered the Delphiad Swordsmanship.”

“Our territory is rather rough, so we often encounter monsters.”

“Recently, a necromancer fled to our land, and we had to borrow the Latiel Church’s power to deal with him.”

By skillfully blending truth with lies, they managed to keep the conversation flowing smoothly.

Finally, they arrived in Derat City, and it was time to part ways.

“Are you both returning to your territory now?”

At Alius’s question, Karnak shook his head.

“No, we plan to stay in Derat City for a while.”

“I see.”

Alius gave a graceful bow and offered a formal farewell.

“May Hatoba’s blessing accompany you on your journey.”

As he watched Alius walk away, Varos muttered nonchalantly.

“Feels like we’ll see that priest again, don’t you think? He seemed pretty interested in us.”

“There’s no harm in building connections with the Church of the Seven Goddesses. The situation has changed, after all.”

They were bound to continue searching for the Doom of Darkness. The more avenues they had to gather information, the better.

Karnak changed the subject.

“Alright, let’s get back to our business.”

Varos cheerfully followed behind.

“Yes, sir! Let’s finish that food tour we started!”

“Hey, our main goal is to investigate the Doom of Darkness, remember?”

“So? Does that mean you’re not going to eat?”

“Of course I am, it’s food!”