Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Clue

 

The falling rain gradually tapered off. Although the dark clouds above had lightened somewhat, it would still take some time before the sun’s rays reached the ground.

 

“Haa. . . haa. . . .”

 

Luganes, who had belatedly realized the pain, let out a groan. He then raised the staff in his right hand and attempted to attack Russell.

 

Bang!

 

Russell kicked Luganes, causing him to fall heavily into the mud and create a deep rut. However, Russell, who had done the kicking, had a grim expression. It didn’t feel like he had hit a human body. It was more like he had kicked a cotton blanket.

 

Luganes, who had instantly wrapped his magic around him to block Russell’s attack, slowly raised himself from the ground, using his staff as support. The rain was still falling.

 

“. . . . . .I guess I got too greedy.”

 

Then he laid his staff on the ground and quickly ran his right hand over his severed shoulder. A pained groan escaped his mouth.

 

The impact had pushed his hood back. To his surprise, the face beneath it was that of an ordinary young man.

 

He would not have looked out of place in any territory, city, or village with his common brown hair and slightly haggard face.

 

However, the crimson pupils glowing within the sunken eye sockets seemed to suggest that he was something other than human.

 

“I’ll kill you.”

 

As he swung his staff, Luganes growled, his crimson eyes blazing. Once again, dark magic surged forth, combining and beginning to manifest.

 

All of this became a valuable experience for Russell. There couldn’t be only one warlock in this world. No; there must be many.

 

Obtaining the truth about magic through normal means required time and talent. Without exceptional talent, one could only taste a glimpse of the truth when one was close to death.

 

On the other hand, making a pact with the devil was much simpler and easier. It didn’t require much. If one could murder their parents who had raised them, betray a friend who had saved their life, and destroy all the relationships they had ever known, then they could offer them as sacrifices.

 

The devil would grant them power. Many individuals were indifferent to the pawning of their souls, which ultimately led them to purgatory. For them, the world they were living in was already hell.

 

Since the pain they would suffer after death felt so distant, the contracts with devils continued unabated.

 

Russell didn’t bother to search for familiar faces among the dead bodies scattered around the village.

 

In order to avoid feeling this foul mood in the future, he needed to memorize the attack patterns and the flow of magic of that bastard warlock.

 

The five steel rings hanging from the warlock’s staff rattled violently, creating a deafening noise. The warlock had unleashed all the stored dark magic.

 

“Bloom!”

 

He uttered the incantation a second time. Everything within the radius of the spell was the remaining three chimera corpses were all within the spell’s range.

 

Kwaaa!

 

Magic erupted explosively from the corpses that should have been lifeless, and the humanoid circular shape of twenty-odd humans collapsed.

 

The magic attracted more than just chimeras. Luganes also attracted the corpses of the villagers he had killed up to this point.

 

The flesh and blood, flowing like liquid, gathered together to form an indescribably gruesome mass of flesh.

 

The fleshy mass roared as it transformed into a massive monster with three legs and four arms, dripping a sticky liquid that was neither water nor blood.

 

Grrrr!

 

Is it appropriate to label it as an anomaly or a freak? In any case, Russell calmly observed the warlock’s magic and spells, which were creating such bizarre forms, while observing his own body.

 

In the future, the possibilities for what he could do with his increased control over magic would be endless.

 

It was like spreading his magic wide to create a realm of his own, as he had done earlier.

 

He instinctively knew that this’realm’ was the foundation of the basics that would allow him to recreate the space he had fought in when he had faced Iscalia.

 

It was still just a baby step. However, if he continued to move forward, he might one day be able to establish his own absolute and boundless realm.

 

“Die by being crushed!”

 

A gigantic mass enveloped the sky.

 

Bang!

 

As the fleshy giant slammed its palm into the ground, a thunderous shockwave sent the surrounding buildings flying.

 

The ground, pushed back, continued to collapse without stopping. Rainwater, which had nowhere to flow, poured into the sunken ground.

 

Luganes frantically looked around, his eyes wide.

 

“What? Where did he go?”

 

He didn’t think that Russell’s physical abilities, as he had seen them so far, would have allowed him to withstand that attack head-on. However, even after scanning his surroundings with magic, he couldn’t sense Russell’s presence.

 

The answer was nearby.

 

Paaaaat!

 

The fleshy giant trembled, frozen in the position of slamming its palm into the ground. Soon, the giant’s entire body began to freeze. A fresh coat of pure white paint covered the skin that had been dripping with water.

 

As the giant froze, all the nearby liquids also froze, turning pure white. Raindrops fell on top of it, and with each drop, blunt icicles appeared.

 

“What the!”

 

Luganes, horrified, tried to control the giant by swinging his staff, but it didn’t budge. He continued to pour magic into it, but the result was the same.

 

A more powerful magic was blocking the warlock’s power.

 

The master of that magic, Russell, was supporting the gigantic thing with only one hand from underneath its palm. The surroundings were covered in frost.

 

“Haaa. . .”

 

White breath condensed in the air before disappearing.

 

The ground completely buried Russell’s lower body.

 

Nevertheless, he held his upper body upright and gazed intensely at the palm.

 

It had been months since he wielded the axe that controlled the cold. He now knew about the cold attribute, and he also knew how to shape it with his magic.

 

However, he had chosen not to use it because it was much simpler and more convenient to emit it through a tool. He had been able to give the impression that he could only use the cold through the axe, so he hadn’t used it until now.

 

The bastard’s magic had now diminished to less than half. He probably had to pay for it by forcibly triggering the red crystal that had been inside the chimera’s body.

 

With his fist, Russell gave the frozen palm a sharp punch. The shock was small, but it contained electricity. A sharp, rotating electric drill-like shock pierced through the fleshy giant.

 

Kuku. . . . . .

 

The fleshy giant crumbled into pieces, and Russell shot out of the crater, high into the sky. Behind him, ice shards trailed like a comet’s tail.

 

Luganes frantically swung his staff, raising his magic. Thorns of magic rose up, gathering the pieces of the fallen fleshy giant’s corpse and wrapping themselves around him like armor.

 

When he saw him, Russell’s eyes filled with disappointment.

 

“Is that all you’ve got?”

 

He condensed the moisture in the air to fire like bullets, creating shockwaves.

 

He was able to manipulate chimeras, as well as revive corpses with dark magic.

 

But that was all. However, even someone who could do only that much was a disaster for ordinary people.

 

A blue electric current flashed from Russell’s raised right index finger, then suddenly shot upward. The blue lightning pierced into the clouds that were gradually thinning.

 

Rumble.

 

The heavens responded. And then there was a discharge. There was a radiant glow in the dark gray.

 

A torrent of furious force entered Russell faster than sound. A guttural sound escaped his mouth involuntarily.

 

“Ugh.”

 

He had opened the door, but what came out of it was the light and echo of light that the clouds had held for a long time—the sky’s most violent question and answer to the earth.

 

Even Russell couldn’t hold the lightning in his body for long. It wasn’t something he had created with his own magic. The pure power of lightning was so strong that even a moment’s carelessness could burn his magic circuits, muscles, and nerves.

 

That’s why he quickly descended, his whole body wrapped in lightning. The warlock’s desperate attempt to gather up the collapsing corpses came to an end.

 

Luganes, who had looked up briefly, had his scream swallowed by the thunder.

 

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

 

The rain had stopped completely. The sky’s clouds were now gradually clearing. On the distant horizon, Russell watched the rays of light sweeping across the plains.

 

The village had become a complete ruin. It was because the warlock had created a fleshy giant at the last moment, using up all of his magic.

 

As he looked at the ruins, he crouched down again and looked at what he had been poking with his fingers until now.

 

“Grrrr. . .”

 

A worm-like creature with all of its limbs completely torn off made a meaningless groan. Russell had pulled out the warlock’s torso with his own hands. A shattered staff lay next to it.

 

He had kept his promise not to kill him easily. In the moment of agony that seemed to stretch for an eternity, Luganes despaired that the time that had passed was not even an hour but only a few minutes.

 

“Do you want to die?”

 

Luganes nodded slowly in response to Russell’s question. He would have liked to nod more quickly, but the tingling sensation of the scorching electricity caused him immense pain even with that small action.

 

At that sight, Russell removed the finger that had been supporting him from his body.

 

“Huk, gasp, gasp!”

 

As Russell’s finger fell away, Luganes gasped desperately. Blood, tears, snot, and saliva mixed together and streamed down his face.

 

“Did you make that red crystal?”

 

“Red crystal. . . You mean the Stone of Life.”

 

‘So that’s what they called it.’ It wasn’t an incorrect name, considering that it was a substance made by sacrificing human flesh and soul.

 

“Stone of Life. . . . . .It’s one of the pieces of knowledge I received from the devil.”

 

“What’s its purpose?”

 

“Chaos on the continent. . .”

 

“What’s the name of the devil you serve?”

 

The guy, who had been talking so well until now, suddenly shut his mouth. Even in the face of death, a flicker of fear crossed his eyes. However, it was not Russell’s. Russell had infused his eyes with magic.

 

Luganes, staring into those glowing eyes, involuntarily opened his mouth.

 

“Speak.”

 

“Ge, Geliotos. . . Hrrrgh!”

 

As soon as he said the word Geliotos, a change came over him. In an instant, the skin all over his body withered, and he began to compress, starting with his chest.

 

“Kyaaaak! No! No!”

 

Pop! His eyeballs burst, spraying blood. Russell stepped back. The suction force coming from Luganes’ chest was sucking his entire body in.

 

Uduk, uduk!

 

Unable to withstand the pressure, his bones twisted and converged into a single point. So did his flesh, nerves, internal organs, and everything else that made up his body.

 

And soon, he vanished completely, without a single drop of blood or a shred of flesh. Not a single trace of magic remained.

 

The result of breaking the rules with the devil. He lost control of his body, and his soul fell to the underworld. Russell had only heard about it through knowledge or rumors; this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes.

 

The others, who had been standing back as he led the torture, all expressed that they had seen something horrible. Aellasis spoke, her face conveying a sense of nausea.

 

“Well, that was. . . really. . . . . .”

 

“Horrible. Is that how those who enter into contracts with devils end up?”

 

Calia had a serious expression.

 

“Geliotos.”

 

“Do you know that devil?”

 

“When I was human, it was the devil who made a pact with me.”

 

Everyone looked at her with shocked faces.

 

“Tell me more.”

 

“Even then, a devil known as the great devil existed. It’s a devil with a passion for murder and the destruction of corpses. It lived in the central part of the continent, and no one knew where its base was. The devil’s messenger came to me. At that time, I had lost almost all of my territory and was in the midst of my last stand in the capital of my kingdom.”

 

Calia spoke calmly about her past. Her face, as she spoke, was desolate. It was the face of someone who had accepted the past as just that.

 

“All I had left at that time was a desire for revenge. That’s why I made the pact. I gained great power, but it still couldn’t stop my people from dying. Ultimately, I also crumbled and found myself sealed.”

 

“What did the devil get?”

 

“The groans filled the world. The voices were filled with curses, aimed at both the world and God. There are numerous dead bodies. The devil’s preferences vary, but they are usually like that.”

 

They were incompatible.

 

“It seems that the devil has started to move again. If these warlocks are running around, gathering life force by slaughtering villagers, then it can’t have been long since they started moving. The church will be searching for anything about great devils with burning eyes. Do you think you can handle them, or do you have something else in mind?”

 

Russell rose from his seat. Suction dug up the place where Luganes had been, causing mud and grass to swirl around like a whirlpool.

 

They gathered the bodies of the villagers under the rain-free sky. The number wasn’t small, but they didn’t stop.

 

Russell placed them all inside the church. He pushed all the chairs that had been taking up space against the walls or broke them, and then laid them down on the floor one by one.

 

Russell retrieved Final Frost from a corner of the church and discarded the cigarette he was holding on the floor. A small spark flew out and, fueled by his magic, grew into a fierce flame.

 

The church burned fiercely. It burned well, sending black ash and smoke into the sky.

 

At that moment, the sun peeked through the parting clouds and shone on the church. The sun, floating in the middle of the sky, looked down at the church with a warm gaze. In that gaze, the burning ashes danced.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Russell’s group turned and left the village. No one saw them off this time.

 

Aellasis ran up to Russell’s side and clung to him. He smiled faintly and stroked the girl’s head.

 

Calia smiled at the sight, then melted into the shadows.

 

“Kai! Aren’t you coming?”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Kai, who had been praying for Vulcan and the dead in front of the fence, finally left his place.

 

As if believing in the sun god, who burned himself to light the earth, the church burned all those who had come into its embrace and sent them up to heaven.

 

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

 

“Over there, it looks like a village.”

 

“It must be the real thing this time.”

 

“Yes, of course.”

 

“I heard you were good at reading maps. You could have come alone.”

 

“. . . . . .If I had, I would have found the village much later than I do now.”

 

The two people having a conversation arrived in a village. However, the state of the village was not good.

 

“Hmm. Do you think it was an attack?”

 

A blond, blue-eyed young man with an aristocratic face but dressed like any other adventurer or mercenary said this in an uncertain voice as he looked at the fence.

 

“It appears as though magic struck it.”

 

On the other hand, a woman with an exotic appearance, with black hair and black eyes, ran her hand over the fence.

 

The traces of magic were already very faint, as if a lot of time had passed. However, her familiarity with magic allowed her to discern that magic was responsible for the fence’s destruction.

 

“Magic?”

 

“Yes. A shock wave blew it away. It must have been a strong wizard, judging by the scale.”

 

“Now that you mention it, it does seem like that. . .Oh, let’s go together, Irrucil!”

 

“Come on.”

 

The Farrells eagerly followed Irrucil into the village. And he couldn’t help but gasp at the sight that unfolded before him.

 

“Wow. . . This is. . . . .”

 

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