How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Identity (2)

The door Jerit had just closed was not open in the slightest. However, the man standing behind me, pointing a sword at me, was not a magically created illusion or a spirit.

Starting with an arm extending from the shadow behind, a strange man, along with a threateningly murmuring voice, soon revealed himself completely.

One who travels through shadows. Quite a rare ability. It was just as effective. Of course, it wasn’t completely without weaknesses.

“Don’t move a finger.”

A strange voice, presumably the man’s, quietly echoed through the room. An ominous energy emanated from the black blade held a hair’s breadth away from my neck.

It was a sudden appearance that would have surprised a third party, but instead of panicking or being startled, I calmly set down the teacup from which steam was rising.

Then, glancing at the second teacup Jerit had brought, I said,

“You should drink the tea. I don’t think the other one will be too fond of it.”

“……”

The black blade pressed against my neck moved away slightly. Of course, still maintaining a distance that allowed him to attack me at any moment.

Whoosh!

As the man stepped back, red smoke billowed from the empty space in front of me. As the red smoke that had risen in an instant disappeared, a figure appeared.

A slender woman with long, red hair reaching down to her waist. A thick, bloody smell emanated from her pale face.

Quite a dramatic entrance.

Looking at me, unfazed as if I had known beforehand, she stroked the long scar on her face and looked at the other cup, the one I had poured second, with steam still rising from it. Her expression showed curiosity as to when I had noticed their presence.

“How did you know?”

Her face held a dangerous interest as she looked at me, maintaining a calm expression instead of trembling in fear or panicking.

Red eyes.

A strange energy, not something that could be considered belonging to an ordinary human, flickered in her eyes.

A strange wavelength containing magical power. It contained a slight allure and an energy that would frighten prey.

“……”

I met her gaze without the slightest tremor.

Unlike the past, where it was nearly infinite because I drew it directly from the Great Demon, the demonic energy I had now was woefully insufficient. And my body, which was not yet perfect, and the weak holy power residing within it.

Outwardly, I was just a promising Inquisitor with exceptional talent.

However, my mental world, which had reached the deepest depths of the abyss and ascended to the pinnacle of black mages, was second to none.

Unless it was the fear exuded by a legendary creature like a dragon, this level of trickery wouldn’t affect me in the slightest.

Noticing not a single flicker in my eyes as I looked at her, she tilted her head.

“The kid’s brave, huh? Usually, they’d be trembling when looked at like this. Is this what it means to be an Inquisitor, even if you’re a greenhorn?”

I looked at the two who had appeared in an instant and formed a faint smile on my lips.

“An Inquisitor shouldn’t be afraid of the minions of evil.”

“……”

The man holding the sword enveloped in black energy didn’t react to my words, as if he had a taciturn personality. However, the red-haired woman seemed to have the opposite personality.

“Is that so?”

Her eyes curved as if amused by my words.

The next moment.

Swish!

Her arm, extended in an instant, reached right before my eyes.

In a time so short I couldn’t even take a breath, her sharply honed red nails stopped a hair’s breadth away from my eyes.

With a momentum as if they were about to dig into my eyes at any moment, I murmured softly,

“I’d appreciate it if you moved them away. The smell of blood is strong.”

At my calm words, her smile deepened.

Sweep. The arm that had been extended as if to attack me slowly retracted. She slowly scanned me, then, looking at my hand still stained with the blood of the experimental animal corpses, she said,

“You’re not one to talk, are you?”

She wasn’t wrong. For an ordinary person.

“The blood of a human attacked by a vampire leaves traces of more than just simple emotions. You should know that best, shouldn’t you?”

Vampire.

Although their origins stemmed from the magical beasts of hell, they had long since become a race that constituted the continent, like elves or dwarves.

Of course, their numbers weren’t that large, and they were targets of the Church’s eradication efforts.

At my words, which seemed to have immediately discerned her identity, the red-haired woman looked at me with a curious expression.

“Look at this. I told you he’s definitely not ordinary, didn’t I?”

“Hmm.”

The man, who had given a dry response, slowly walked out from behind me. Of course, the sword enveloped in black energy was still pointed at me.

The man, who looked at me with his two eyes shimmering with a dark shadow, slowly opened his mouth.

“Inquisitor Luciel Lumineger. Is that correct?”

As expected, I had a tail. I clicked my tongue inwardly. Judging by the fact that they knew my name accurately, they seemed to be quite skilled in tracking.

I had been aware of a suspicious presence lurking around this area for a few days. Since all the other Inquisitors had left, there wouldn’t be any reason for anyone to have business at a rural monastery like this, so it was highly likely they were looking for me.

It was a situation I would have eventually faced while living as an Inquisitor and dealing with evil.

However, it was clear that their purpose wasn’t just a simple assassination. If all they wanted was my life, they would have attacked long ago.

That meant they were curious about something. But there was something else that caught my attention more than that.

The strangely familiar energy I felt from them.

Sinister!

A slight stinging sensation on my cheek broke the brief silence. A small amount of red blood beaded on the thin cut.

It wasn’t a wound caused by direct contact with the sword, but one created solely by the energy surrounding it. It was a technique that required a considerable level of power control.

“Answer.”

A dry question. Unlike his taciturn personality, he didn’t seem to have much patience.

I readily nodded.

Judging by his confident tone, they had already come knowing. A clumsy deception wouldn’t work.

“……”

My nod, a clean admission, contrasted with the typical Inquisitor’s response of saying they had nothing to say to heretics or asking if they didn’t fear God. The man closed his mouth for a moment.

Thud.

He took something out of his pocket and threw it on the table.

A small sphere made of black crystal. He lightly tapped it with his sword.

Crack.

Energy seeped out from the cracked sphere. It was the remnant of a spell. And a quite familiar one at that.

“We know you were there. Who used this spell?”

As soon as I felt that faint remnant, I was able to immediately recognize what spell it was a trace of.

‘Black Explosion.’

A spell I had devised myself long ago. I calmly scanned my memories with an indifferent expression.

It was a spell that required a considerable amount of demonic energy, so I had rarely used it since being reincarnated.

‘To be precise, only twice.’

When dealing with the black mages who were pouring demonic energy into the magic circle at the back of the Ashitan Kingdom. And when dealing with the magical beast in the Corpse Garden of the Caridad Catacomb.

But the traces from the Caridad Catacomb would have been completely erased by the wave that swept through the entire underground along with the Great Demon’s manifestation. Then, only one remained.

“I see you found it in the Ashitan Kingdom.”

“……”

The man silently stared at me after hearing my words. Since he didn’t deny it, it seemed my words were accurate.

“May I ask why you’re looking for the one who used that spell?”

“Ha.”

The vampire scoffed at my words. She looked at me for a moment with an expression as if she was contemplating how to cook me, then took a step closer.

“That spell, it’s not something just anyone can use. Of course, there are very few who would recognize it.”

The man, who had been staring intently at me, slowly opened his mouth.

“So, the answer?”

Finding the remnants of black magic that hadn’t been used long ago was difficult, but not impossible.

There were many types of magic in the world that even I didn’t know, and encountering a new type of magic wasn’t that unfamiliar to those who walked their own paths to truth.

However, feeling something from that magic and chasing after it was a completely different matter.

I didn’t know exactly where they started tracking from, but judging by the considerable distance they had covered, this wouldn’t have stemmed from simple curiosity.

“Will he open his mouth if I kill the insignificant humans of this monastery one by one?”

When I remained silent, the vampire wrapped her hand in red energy. Seeing that, I slowly rose from my seat.

“……?”

A slight bewilderment crossed their faces as they confirmed that it wasn’t a movement to initiate a fight.

“Ah.”

I formed a small smile on my lips.

Masters of stealth and tracking, the strangely familiar energy, chasing after the traces of my magic.

It was a simple deduction. Especially for me.

I looked at them, exuding a murderous aura as if they were about to take my head off at any moment. They would probably try to kill me after hearing the answer they wanted.

But if I couldn’t face them in battle now……

“You’re from the Black Dawn Society. Is’ Rosalyn’s Nightmare’still noisy?”

……I just had to make sure they couldn’t kill me.

“……!”

The air in the room instantly froze at my words. And then……

Thud!

As if burned by fire, the red-haired woman quickly retreated several steps back.

She hadn’t even imagined that words beyond simply identifying them would come out of my mouth. Bewilderment crossed the vampire’s pale face.

“How on earth……!”

The words she uttered were the same as the first ones she had spoken while looking at me, but the emotions contained within them were different.

If her previous words had been a light question stemming from interest and curiosity, this one was a question born from shock and astonishment.

A trace of shock also crossed the face of the man who had maintained a calm expression the whole time.

“How……?”

Looking at them, I slowly raised my hand.

“Will this be the answer?”

Swish.

Responding to my will, the space above my head opened. Although the arm wrapped in bandages hadn’t fully recovered yet, the damage to my body wasn’t a significant obstacle to manifesting my will in the physical world.

Soon, demonic energy flowed out from the Artifact of the Rift. Although I had depleted most of it during the incident at the Caridad Catacomb, there was enough left to create a small symbol.

Thousands of threads made of mana from the negative dimension slowly intertwined, forming a single pattern.

An inverted blue crescent moon and a black sun rising above it.

It was the symbol of the Black Dawn Society.

“……Oh my God.”

The stoic expression of the man gripping the sword cracked. The question of how I knew was plastered all over their faces. I gave a wry smile.

Of course, I know it well.

Because I was the founder and first leader of that place.

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