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101
Arpel could sense not only Rohan’s emotions. To some extent, he could instinctively feel extremely intense negative emotions from certain individuals. It was one of the few advantages of being a cursed demon sword.
Therefore, he could tell.
That Maisen was deceiving them.
“Kuh… hehehe!”
Whether it was because his true intentions were exposed or because he had given up everything, a half-crazed laugh escaped his mouth. It was an action that matched well with his completely battered appearance.
“The plan has already begun. All the people in this village will become glorious sacrifices, and this land will be blessed by the god!”
A sudden shout burst out. Perhaps being pushed to the edge had acted as a stimulant. With a bloody face twisted into a smile and gleaming eyes, he looked as if he had completely lost his fear. His sudden use of informal speech was also indicative of this.
Rohan, who had been watching this behavior intently, tilted his head. It was to ask something he had been curious about all along.
“Aren’t you just the same?”
“I’m different! I have His arrangement…!”
It was in the middle of his ramblings. Maisen’s body suddenly froze as he belatedly noticed something from Arpel, or more precisely, what was in his hand. His eyes widened as if he had witnessed something unbelievable.
“Is this what you’re talking about?”
Feeling his naked gaze, Arpel muttered softly and extended his hand. A dark blue orb emitted light in his palm. It boasted a familiar roughness, but seeing it in someone else’s hand made it feel strange.
“Huh?”
A stupid sound escaped his mouth. He blinked repeatedly, but the situation before his eyes didn’t change.
“Th-that… that can’t be.”
His face, which had turned pale to the point of being bluish, denied reality several times. Arpel, who had been quietly watching this spectacle, moved his hand. Every time he moved the orb up and down, and gently to the side, Maisen’s gaze followed.
Finally, when he clenched his fist as if he was about to crush it, a shrill scream burst from him.
“No, no!!”
His pale face had darkened to the point where it almost looked purple at a glance. His face, twisting his body and gasping for breath as if having a seizure, had long since taken on the color of complete terror.
Fear. What was evident in his eyes was the fear of death.
Rohan, who had taken the orb from Arpel’s hand, smiled slightly. Unlike before when he could only interrogate him as the only source of information without being able to threaten his life, now they had his fatal weakness in their hands. The situation had drastically changed.
“Without this, you’ll become a sacrifice too. Are you feeling more inclined to talk now?”
His face was completely blank, like someone whose last hope had been crushed. When Rohan lightly shook the orb, some light returned to his eyes.
“Any-anything…!”
I’ll do anything. I’ll say anything. A clear determination settled in Maisen’s eyes. His gaze even glimmered as if clinging to a small hope.
Rohan closed his mouth as Maisen, despite being bound by shadows, somehow managed to prostrate himself flat on the ground. It was less prostrating and more like crawling on the ground, given that he couldn’t use his arms or legs.
The sudden change and shouting earlier might have been due to his confidence that he could survive, but his belated bowing was pathetic to the point of being miserable. It was nothing more than a desperate struggle to live.
Come to think of it, he was a truly contradictory person. Where had the man who had been talking about sacrifices and blessings gone? Now that he was in the same situation, he was begging for his life, and a deep disgust settled on Rohan’s face.
“You said you would turn this village into a land of spirits. I heard it clearly!”
As soon as he mentioned the purpose he had previously denied, Rohan, who had been frowning slightly due to not immediately understanding the phrase ‘turn into a land of spirits’, suddenly turned his head. A thick, terribly ominous aura was rising from somewhere.
“This is…”
“Hieek!”
There was no way Arpel wouldn’t notice this change. His already icy expression hardened even further as he stared in the same direction as Rohan. Along with it came Maisen’s terrified voice.
“I-I answered! I answered! Quickly, the orb…!”
Endless small wounds appeared on Maisen’s skin as he struggled violently, seemingly forgetting that he was tightly bound by shadows. Yet he didn’t stop twisting his body. Driven by the massive fear right in front of him rather than the immediate pain, he desperately struggled.
Clang—!
Finally, a deathly silence fell. Because of a single sound that didn’t match the situation, one that could even be described as clear.
Rohan, who had been looking elsewhere with a serious face, turned his head towards Arpel. Maisen, who had been pleading for the orb, did the same.
“Th-this…”
Ignoring the trembling voice, Arpel blankly looked down at his own hand. Despite clearly not applying any force, the orb that had been intact just moments ago was now shattered into pieces.
“Ha… hahaha!”
An artificial burst of laughter erupted. It was laughter tinged with utter despair.
“You… you tricked me! You tricked me! Aaargh!!!”
His gaze suddenly turned directly towards Arpel. His eyes were so wide open that blood vessels appeared in his eyeballs, unable to withstand the pressure. With a face flushed bright red and twisting his body madly, he looked no different from a madman.
It seemed as if he would rush at Arpel the moment the shadows binding his body were released. That irritated Rohan.
Should I just knock him out? As his emotionless eyes harbored such thoughts…
“…Guhk!”
Maisen’s body, which had been screaming, twisted. His body suddenly stiffened, and his widely opened eyes slowly rolled back.
The sight of the man in front of him fainting was seen slowly, in great detail, by Arpel’s eyes. So he could tell. There was a clear cause behind his sudden loss of consciousness.
Energy gathers to form a distinct line. It’s not a line that’s actually visible to the eyes, but Arpel, who could sense that energy more clearly than anyone, called it a ‘line’. It was precisely reaching out its demonic hand to the back of Maisen’s neck, spreading like a spider web throughout his body.
“Let’s go out for now.”
It seemed Rohan had also recognized this change.
Staring at Maisen’s now completely unconscious body with a hardened expression, Rohan gestured towards the outside.
The powerful energy that had swept through the village area just moments ago – if it was related to this, it wouldn’t end with just Maisen.
They quickly rushed out of the village chief’s house, but their steps soon halted. A vibrant apple rolling towards their feet and bumping against it heightened the sense of dissonance in the scene unfolding before their eyes. Their heads slowly turned in the direction from which it had rolled.
They saw an overturned fruit basket and a woman collapsed beside it. But that wasn’t all. Children who had been noisily running around playing, merchants who had been selling goods, young couples who seemed to be enjoying casual dates, people who had been going about their business… they were all collapsed on the street. The unsettling speculation had become reality.
Tightly closed eyes and peaceful expressions, the sound of steady breathing – they looked just like people who had fallen into a deep sleep. The problem was that they had all fallen asleep at the same time, on the same day… and that the aura of spirits could be felt from them.
“Arpel, the sky…”
“…Yeah. I see it.”
The sky is darkening.
The blatantly malicious energy gathered like a dark cloud in the middle of the sky. It gradually blocked out the sun, not allowing even a speck of light through. Despite it being morning, the sky began to be tinted with a dark color.
A sight never seen before, never even imagined, was coloring the whole world. The dark blue sphere that had been forming in the sky and expanding with a terrifying momentum suddenly dispersed like a lie.
The torn fragments floated in the sky. As they descended, they grew larger and larger… Reminiscent of black ghosts, they spun endlessly, forming a large circle.
Finally, they took on a hemispherical shape and enveloped the village. Thus, a massive curtain made of spirits completely isolated the space where they stood.
* * *
“Well then, I’ll go in first.”
“Will you be alright?”
“Yes. If we all go in together, it will only raise unnecessary suspicion. I’m sure the two people waiting inside wouldn’t want that either.”
Owen spoke in a calm tone as he adjusted his clothes. Perhaps due to his firm statement that ‘they wouldn’t want that either’, his counterpart, who had been unable to hide an expression half worried and half displeased, had no choice but to keep quiet like a mute with a mouthful of honey.
“Then can’t I at least go in with you?”
Of course, that didn’t last even a few seconds. Clear fatigue settled on Owen’s face as the person persistently raised their hand and spoke. He lightly sighed and nodded towards another figure standing behind.
“When Lady Leriana comes, won’t the other person come along too?”
“Sia… Couldn’t she wait here? I guess not, huh?”
“No, she can’t. My duty is to guard Lady Leriana.”
“Tch.”
That’s right. The person standing in front of Owen was none other than Leriana. Putting aside Casia who was guarding her, the priests lined up behind them had an atmosphere that was far from ordinary, as if they were about to go to war.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
