How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Key (5)

A small but clear Holy Power was casting white light into the dim space.

“……”

I raised my head and looked at the top of the table located behind the High Priest’s corpse.

On top of the large desk placed alone on one side of the large cavity, various books and miscellaneous magic tools were piled.

They were not worthless items, but what I was looking for was the sphere floating in the middle of the table.

Hundreds, thousands of pieces of glass fragments seemed to be embedded in the sphere, with colors that were difficult to define as one.

It was a sight that evoked an instinctive mystique.

Swish

As a mage, one must always prepare for the unexpected.

Although it wasn’t exactly assuming my current situation, it was something I had prepared in case I couldn’t immediately store Demonic Energy in my body.

The Artifact of the Rift.

I slowly raised my hand.

Unlike its incredibly mysterious appearance, its function is quite simple.

Storing and releasing magical power.

Except for the fact that its capacity is near infinite, it wasn’t much different from the effects of some holy relics or demonic artifacts.

But there was another reason why this artifact could be most useful to me now.

Clang

As my hand touched it, the air began to break apart.

If the High Priest lying dead at my feet had seen this, he would have surely doubted his own eyes. Without any spells or gestures, the artifact began to react.

The key to unlocking the seal of the artifact is the energy of my soul itself.

It’s not something others can activate in the first place. Just like the other legacies I left behind.

Fizzle!

Like thin glass shattering, the sphere emitting a mysterious light began to break down the boundary between the material plane and beyond.

Somewhere between the negative dimension’s hell where demons live and the heavenly paradise where gods reside.

Whoosh!

The mysteriously sparkling stone soon hid itself beyond the material plane, in a space I call the ‘Dimensional Rift.’

Crackle.

And the cracks in the air, which had been sparkling like broken glass, also disappeared smoothly.

“……”

A perfectly vanished presence. The air was clean as if nothing had ever existed.

It’s the same as before. I nodded satisfactorily as I saw that.

Objects that can store and release Demonic Energy, acting as a storage space, are certainly rare, but there are many objects with similar effects.

The reason why this Artifact of the Rift is special is because it just disappeared without a trace.

It can be stored without being noticed by anyone.

Of course, when taking out the artifact from the space between dimensions, that is, the rift, and using black magic, it can’t be helped, but normally no one can notice it. As long as you don’t encounter a god or a Great Demon directly in front of you.

As long as you don’t deliberately take it out, you can store a tremendous amount of Demonic Energy in this artifact and still enter and exit the Holy See or the Inquisition headquarters filled with priests and holy relics, just like now.

In other words, I can now use both Holy Power and Demonic Energy. It was almost the only way to use Demonic Energy while maintaining my identity as an Inquisitor.

An Inquisitor who uses black magic.

Perhaps some of my past connections who might still be alive would be terrified if they saw this.

Having completed the retrieval of the artifact, which was my initial goal, I slowly moved my steps.

I wasn’t going outside. There was still something left to take care of.

“……”

The sacrifice prepared by the High Priest here.

I approached the front of the altar located inside the cavity.

It wasn’t a large scale, but it was an altar that had all the necessary features. No matter how low-ranking a demon is, it can’t be summoned without following the correct procedure.

In the middle of the ominous inverted pentagram pattern and the letters written in the language of hell, there was a very small pit.

The place that serves as a medium for the contract, also known as the ‘Pool of Pehern’.

In order to make a contract with a demon of a certain level or higher, in addition to the sacrifice and the black mage’s own skill, one more thing is needed.

A place imbued with evil intentions, formed over a long period of time.

Of course, in the case of low-ranking demons, a graveyard would suffice, but for a contract with a demon with a fairly useful level of ability, a cursed place was absolutely necessary.

The most famous examples include ‘Rosalyn’s Nightmare,’ where a saint chosen by God long ago died unjustly, and ‘Moivel’s Furnace,’ a deep pit where tens of thousands of innocent citizens were burned to death by a mad emperor.

Perhaps some of the places where I fought five hundred years ago have now become places suitable for an altar for demon summoning.

I looked at the small pool filled with a thick, green liquid, a bit too small to be called a well.

The place where the green marks engraved on the bodies of the Bergecia cult’s black mages originated and the place that acts as the central pendulum of the demonic ritual.

‘The Demonic Energy has become quite strong over the five hundred years.’

I now understood a little why the remnants that I had previously crushed had hidden themselves back in this place.

Of course, to me, who has no intention of making a contract with a demon, it was a meaningless place. No, it would be better to get rid of it.

What I want is the negative dimensional energy derived from the numerous sacrifices, unjustly killed, that the High Priest prepared to make a contract with a higher-ranking demon.

In other words, the sacrifice itself.

‘I will make good use of this sacrifice.’

After confirming what these guys had diligently prepared while hiding underground, I made the sign of the cross towards the High Priest’s corpse lying behind.

Crack.

As I concentrated, a small crack began to appear in the space above my head.

Crackle.

Responding to the will embedded in my soul, the Artifact of the Rift slowly revealed itself from the empty space.

‘Now.’

I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Whoosh.

As in the previous graveyard, natural Demonic Energy began to slowly flow towards me.

To be precise, towards the orb above my head, the Artifact of the Rift.

A large amount of Demonic Energy passing near my body.

“……!”

Although the flowing Demonic Energy and the Holy Power residing in my body did not directly touch, I felt an instinctive rejection and my body tingled. Indeed, it’s different from the previous graveyard where there was no Holy Power in my body.

Sizzle!

Smoke even rose from my raised right arm with a burning pain.

‘This is quite, stinging.’

I bit my lip.

My right arm ached as if it had been burned, but I didn’t stop absorbing the Demonic Energy.

This much is a small price I can bear compared to using both Holy Power and Demonic Energy.

Rumble.

As the Demonic Energy perfectly prepared for the ritual was forcibly pulled out, the altar began to shake little by little.

As the small structure shook, I heard a faint scream of a demon, enraged at having the sacrifice prepared for him being snatched away, which sounded like a noise, and I smiled.

Anyway, now that the ritual is not complete, the demon located beyond the boundary cannot come over here. It wouldn’t even be able to see this place in the first place.

‘To make me hesitate even a little with the faint anger sent from afar, it would have to be at least a Duke of the Pandemonium.’

If it had been a ritual to summon a demon of that level, I would have given up without hesitation. There was no need to leave any traces behind, especially since I still have a long way to go.

But with the level of the Bergecia cult’s High Priest here and this level of sacrifice, it’s not even close. At best, it would be a demon that barely escaped the lowest rank.

I can kick away such a guy’s dinner table with a smile.

A moment later.

Around the time I could no longer feel my hand, the absorption of all the Demonic Energy prepared as a sacrifice was over.

Compared to the past when I was directly supplied with high-quality Demonic Energy by the Great Demon, it was a minuscule amount, but it was an incomparably large amount compared to what I had barely obtained in the small graveyard before.

This much would be enough to use high-level black magic a few times.

Apart from finding the first legacy, it was not a bad harvest.

Smoothly.

The Artifact of the Rift, having absorbed all the Demonic Energy, once again disappeared without a trace.

Now, lastly.

I put my right hand, which couldn’t properly exert force, into my pocket.

“Now, I have to finish things as an Inquisitor.”

I chuckled and threw three or four bottles of holy water towards the small pond that was bubbling and vibrating in front of me, along with a considerable amount of Holy Power.

Bubble, bubble.

Reacting immediately, the green pond started to boil and the altar began to shake.

🔹🔹🔹

“……What is this.”

Inquisitor Lephra was muttering the words she had repeated several times again.

In order to teach a lesson to, no, to save the clueless rookie Inquisitor who was most likely in danger, her steps towards the inside of the cult continued to slow down.

It was all traces of battle.

No, it would have been a one-sided fight that couldn’t even be called a battle.

She was a skilled Inquisitor with considerable experience, and she could easily imagine the fight that had taken place here just from the remaining traces.

Accurate and clean handling of Holy Power that was hard to believe came from a candidate who had just entered his youth. High-level swordsmanship that could be seen from the cross-sections of the monsters.

“……”

She sheathed the two rapiers she had been tightly gripping in her hands and sighed.

It wasn’t the recklessness of a hot-blooded young man.

Unfortunately, she had to admit it.

The child named Luciel, brought in by Chief Inquisitor Anton Lebecht, was not ordinary.

‘……He brought in a remarkable one.’

Shaking her head, she continued her steps.

It was something to admire, no, praise, but anyway, it was true that he had disobeyed the Inquisition’s orders.

Ignoring the original plan to join and explore cautiously, he had jumped into enemy territory alone, which was a clear reason for disciplinary action.

He needed a definite warning. Especially if he was someone with high potential.

No matter how outstanding his talent was, she had seen too many cases where Inquisitors lost their lives due to the heretics’ despicable tricks or a moment of carelessness.

“……Is this it.”

Lephra, who had entered the innermost part of the cult through the already wide-open door, stopped walking.

“Ah, you’re a little late.”

“……”

The guy turned towards her and waved his hand, acting nonchalant, no, shameless.

“Huh?”

A dumbfounded laugh escaped Lephra’s lips.

‘Late? Me?’

She had arrived half a day early in order to consider the rookie and intentionally find the way first.

It was a different kind of annoyance from Anton Lebecht, the one who brought him in and his mentor.

She tried to calm her twitching lips, writhing with anger, and moved towards where the guy was standing.

Maybe a flick on the forehead of that arrogant bastard……

‘……Huh?’

Lephra, who was taking angry steps, only then noticed that the guy’s right hand had turned black.

It was a sight she had seen countless times from many Inquisitors.

Traces of dealing with excessive Demonic Energy.

The guy was standing there nonchalantly pretending to be fine, but the pain must have been considerable. It was a wound that would take at least a week to fully heal.

“You……”

Annoyance and admiration, anger and frustration, and yet pride and a little worry about the injury of a junior who had safely completed his first mission.

In the midst of complex emotions, Lephra, who was glaring at the guy and choosing her words, soon let out a deep sigh.

Unlike the heartless Anton Lebecht, he was still young. Even if she couldn’t be kind, she should treat him as a proper Inquisitor.

At that moment.

Just as she was about to open her lips to say something like, ‘Not bad. Good work,’ her gaze shifted to one side.

Bubble, bubble.

“……?”

A sound as if something was boiling.

Rumble.

And the sound of something shaking.

Lephra blankly raised her head and looked up. In her eyes, she saw the ceiling slowly starting to vibrate.

Lephra lowered her gaze again and looked at the young man staring blankly at her from the front.

Meeting her gaze, Luciel naturally opened his mouth.

“What are you doing? Run.”

Rumble!

Lephra stared blankly at the back of Luciel, who had already started running to avoid the fragments of the ceiling that were falling one after another after finishing his words.

Crash!

A large fragment fell next to her.

“……Hey!”

Finally, letting out a shout filled with anger, she started to run outside hurriedly, following Luciel, avoiding the collapsing ceiling.

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