Volume 3 Chapter 212 Wandering In The Darkness ②
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After traveling upstream for nearly an hour, they encountered swarms of Lower-rank Bloodsucking Kind—variants like Sword Cain and Shield Cain—three times in quick succession. These ones were covered in spiky growths, thorn-like seeds clinging to their skin, and they were noticeably more savage than usual. Even so, unlike the thorn beasts capable of absorbing mana, these could be blown away with a single stroke from the Windsong Blade. They weren’t much of a threat.
”I’ll return the magic sword,” Kian said, handing it back.
”Yeah,” Linca replied, accepting it without fanfare.
The Windsong Blade had just unleashed another clean arc of wind magic under Linca’s command. While Kian could link with her to draw magic power continuously, doing so caused a massive loss of mana into the surrounding air during the transfer process. Given Linca’s tachyonian cell count, she could afford to hemorrhage magic like that for a while without collapsing—but weakening her like that was out of the question, especially with the need to maintain and control shikigami over long stretches of time. Efficiency mattered.
They could easily replenish their stores during rest breaks through physical contact anyway. Thinking back, Kian realized just how reckless his original approach had been.
”…Doesn’t that sword seem to be giving off darker mana than before?”
”The Windsong Blade?” Kian gave it a glance. “Now that you mention it… there’s a black mist clinging to it.”
”The material used to forge that sword is alive,” the blue butterfly said—the Rose Garden Keeper. “If it draws blood from a spirit-class enemy, it feeds on that and evolves. Targets it couldn’t cut before become cuttable.”
”So just killing stuff makes it stronger?” Kian asked. “Seems a little too easy.”
”That may be so. But even if it enhances your weapon, combat always carries risk. Best not to engage more than necessary,” Linca said, watching another Sword Cain collapse into steaming chunks. As they stepped through the field of twitching limbs, the corpses of the Bloodsucking Kind began to lose their shape—dissolving and getting sucked toward the thorny wall lining the riverbank.
When they’d fought Cain-type monsters in the swamp, the bodies hadn’t behaved like this. They hadn’t been absorbed into the Spiritual Vein. It seemed this phenomenon was unique to Count Cain’s territory.
In the real world, corpses remained where they fell. Here, they simply vanished. That suggested these Cain-types weren’t being restored from thorns but were linked to a deeper system—something acting as an archive, or more precisely, a recorder of this world.
”…The Thorn Spirit is alive, huh?” Kian asked, looking up at the butterfly. “Was it the Thorn Spirit that lured us into this place?”
The Rose Garden Keeper remained silent.
”…Who opened the gate? Do you know anything about a girl named Talia?”
”Talia was the Count’s daughter. She had a deep connection to the Thorn Spirit. The guardian spirit—who spent centuries secluded in the temple, endlessly recording—fell in love with her. A burning love.”
”I heard her soul was eventually devoured by the Black Onyx spirit.”
”That’s correct. Talia’s body, once emptied of its soul, crystallized. Even now, her remains are bound to the temple of Erynys.”
”So the Thorn Spirit—Erynys—put her into some kind of sleep spell, huh?” Kian murmured. “When she’s awake, others fall asleep…”
”That curse activated when you and I fought, too,” Linca added softly, now walking beside him with a hand resting lightly on her waist.
”Ms. Rose Garden Keeper,” she continued, “how often has Ms. Talia’s body awakened recently?”
”That’s a difficult question,” the butterfly replied. “It depends on what you mean by ‘Talia’s body.’ The one sealed inside the temple of Erynys in Count Cain’s domain? That one has awakened twice in the last month. But as for other ‘Talias,’ they’re countless. It’s not a precise term, but her soul has remained aware all this time… though she occasionally takes conscious naps.”
”But I thought her soul was devoured by the spirit of Black Onyx?” Kian pressed.
”Correct. Talia was deceived by her kin, lured into a pact with the Black Onyx spirit, and ultimately absorbed into it—her soul consumed. That was around four hundred years ago.”
”Then how can you say she’s still awake?”
”Because ‘Talia’ is still awake. She’s been guiding you—through the gardener’s glasses—this whole time.”
”So… what is her soul, then? I’ve been talking to someone through those glasses, but if her original soul was eaten, then who… or what… was I talking to?”
”The glasses are just a medium—a magic tool that transmits her will. The spirit of Black Onyx promised Talia she’d be able to escape into the outside world. But it interpreted that promise in its own twisted way. It concluded that as long as some version of ‘Talia’ was wandering beyond, the contract was fulfilled—even if that version wasn’t the real her.”
Kian shook his head. “This is making less and less sense…”
”You’re saying,” Linca cut in, “that although the real Ms. Talia was devoured, some form of her soul—or something like it—came into being afterward.”
She stepped lightly over a patch of uneven terrain and kept going.
”In other words, the ‘Talia’ Kian’s been talking to through the glasses isn’t the original. She’s a successor born after the fact.”
Kian narrowed his eyes. “Then what is this ‘current Talia’? Some kind of illusion created by the Thorn Spirit?”
”Well?” Linca turned to the butterfly. “Is she?”
”Not an illusion,” the butterfly replied. “She has a soul. That said, there’s no doubt she was created by Erynys.”
”Why say Erynys specifically?” Linca asked sharply. “Why not just say the Thorn Spirit?”
”Because that’s the accurate term. Using anything else risks confusion.”
”…”
”Is Erynys aware that we’re in this world? Where is she now?” Kian asked.
The butterfly fluttered for a moment before answering.
”Erynys is dead. She no longer exists in this timeline—this world line.”
”…What does that even mean?” Kian muttered. “Then what about the Thorn Spirit?”
”There’s something here that was once Erynys.”
The butterfly’s voice faded. After that, it refused to speak further, no matter what they asked. It simply floated ahead, silent and shimmering, leading them upstream.
”The being that created the butterfly… it’s probably had some of its communication privileges stripped away by the Thorn Spirit,” Linca said, her tone distant, almost meditative.
”If we can reach the temple of Erynys in Count Cain’s territory, we might uncover something important.”
”Or maybe if we can meet the Thorn Spirit face-to-face, we’ll finally get some answers,” Kian replied.
”But the spirit bound itself with a curse. It can’t leave Ms. Talia’s body, right? Which means it’s holed up in that temple alongside her remains.”
Kian nodded. “So in the end, we’re heading for the temple of Erynys.”
”After we reach the so-called holy domain the Rose Garden Keeper mentioned, that is.”
With the conversation paused, they refocused on their surroundings, walking in near silence. The risk of ambush hadn’t faded—Remi Cain was a master of stealth and surprise. A single lapse in awareness could end with a blade across the throat.
After that near-assassination by Katyusha, Kian wasn’t taking any chances. His eyes never stopped moving.
As they walked along the river, the thorny walls on either side showed openings here and there—likely entrances or exits to a maze. The Wolfmen who had gone ahead, except for Tersea, appeared to have exhausted themselves and couldn’t even make it out of these labyrinths to reach the river. If Kian had come to this world with anyone other than Linca, he would have had to start by searching for the remains of those Wolfmen who’d perished in the maze, scavenging their belongings for anything edible. Or worse, he might have needed to make a desperate push into the so-called “holy domain” before running out of stamina.
Considering this, Kian thought that if they managed to return safely, it might be wise to tell all party members to have one or two ways to store supplies—like Linca did—so they could draw them out whenever necessary. Aside from the danger of being thrown into Count Cain’s territory, there was a real risk of getting trapped in some labyrinth by an unforeseen accident, unable to use teleportation or any other escape. Having at least minimal supplies ready at all times was a solid advantage.
Kian pulled out his water bottle from inside KnightWraith and took a drink of the water Tersea had collected from the hole she’d dug. Though he had boiled the water before pouring it back into the bottle, it had already cooled to lukewarm. This world of eternal darkness was surprisingly cold—probably because there was no sun. During their last break, Kian and Linca had huddled together for warmth inside the shelter. Even now, the air was cold enough that their breath sometimes appeared white.
Just as Kian was about to ask Linca, who walked beside him, if she was cold, a strange chill crept through him—a sensation deep in his bones that made every fine hair stand on end, an unsettling prickling crawling across his skin. Looking ahead, he spotted a thorny wall rising ominously from the pitch-black river. This marked the end of the relatively easy path along the river. The dark, monotonous scenery was starting to wear on him, and he thought switching routes might be a good idea. But the chill persisted, silencing him.
Without a word, Kian drew the Windsong Blade from his left hand.
”Sir Kian, there’s something there,” Linca murmured.
”I wonder what it could be,” he said, nodding as he came to a stop.
Before the thorny wall blocking the river path stood a vague black shadow, upright but indistinct. As Kian and Linca watched cautiously, the shadow gradually shifted, as if color bled into the black mist, forming a human shape. Just as Kian braced for an attack like the fake Tersea earlier, the figures began conversing quietly among themselves, seemingly unaware of Kian and the others.
”────Thank you. Actually, I just came here from Azrael and don’t know my left from my right.”
”It’s fine. We’re party members now, so feel free to rely on us.”
(──────!)
Kian was taken aback by the human voices emerging from the shadows. Linca, standing beside him, tilted her head as she regarded a dark-skinned boy among them.
”That kid kinda looks like you, Sir Kian,” she said.
”…That’s me,” Kian admitted.
”Eh?”
”I was exiled from Azrael and ended up in the first port town. Back then, I wasn’t an Adventurer yet. After that, I drained my funds drastically and had to make money in East End.”
As Kian explained, the little play unfolding among the shadow-formed humans continued like a realistic puppet show.
In the port town, Kian had hit it off with a group of low-ranking Adventurers, diving into a dungeon in a seaside cave. They were supposed to hunt monsters for a quest but greed pushed them deeper than planned.
”Everyone, step back behind me! Even so, I’m a warrior monk trained in swordsmanship at a monastery! I might not land a hit, but I can hold it off! Magic from behind──guh!?”
”Sorry, Azraelian.”
Until then, Kian had been using his weak blasts and elixirs to protect the others, but suddenly he was hit from behind by magic. He collapsed to the dungeon floor like a rag.
”While you’re getting eaten, I’m out. See ya.”
”What the hell? Calling yourself a warrior monk, but you’re such a weakling. At least draw the enemy’s fire for us, you brat.”
Footsteps faded away.
Surrounded by a crab monster called Calchinos, Kian found himself in dire straits. But with a final blast, he collapsed the cave and escaped the creature’s grasp.
Miraculously crawling out, Kian was then attacked by the Adventurers waiting for him—they’d returned to check if he was dead after fleeing first.
”Hahaha. What a lucky bastard.”
”It’ll be a hassle if we report this to the Guild. Hey, you guys, got it?”
”────”
”……”
Suddenly, thorns burst from the bodies of the Adventurers. Four shadowy figures morphed into thorn monsters and howled at Kian and Linca.
”Kill that guy!”
”That’s the guardian,” the blue butterfly said for the first time in a while. “If you defeat it, you’ll get part of the key to enter the ‘holy domain.’ So defeat it.”
”Linca, let’s do this.”
”Yes!”
The thorn monster had been a tough opponent in the swamp, but without its annoying healing and with Kian and Linca’s enhanced abilities, it was no match. In seconds, the four monsters were minced meat, their magic swords sheathed.
The shredded flesh, as usual, dissolved into black mist, sucked into the ground and absorbed by the thorn wall before them. The wall pulsed ominously, then slowly sank into the earth.
The long-blocked, dried river path revived.
Across the river, about a kilometer away, the shadows of beautiful spires lined the town. The faint light surrounding it gave the place a strange, floating appearance in the darkness.
”Sir Kian—”
Linca tugged at Kian’s arm, pulling his gaze from the town back to the ground.
After the thorny monsters vanished, something silver and shiny lay carelessly on the dirt.
”The Pact’s Misericorde.”
A blue butterfly fluttered by, scattering particles of light.
”One of the keys. Once the magic staff of the vampire princess Talia.”
”This? It looks like some kind of hair ornament or something,” Kian said.
He picked up The Pact’s Misericorde and held it up toward the town. It was beautiful—like a small sword fused with a flower.
”If you grip the handle, it becomes a magic sword. It can attack directly, but its real strength lies in enhancing magic calculations, range, and effects.”
”Whoa.”
As Kian gripped the handle, the small object—previously the size of a Western church talisman¹—transformed into a beautiful sword about 60 centimeters long. He frowned, feeling a strange familiarity.
(This… feels like I’ve seen it somewhere…)
Specifically, it reminded him of the woman from Jibril’s subordinate—the Wolfmen—who had used similar mysterious magic to harm Kian, who was supposed to be immune to magic.
”The Pact’s Misericorde doesn’t allow magic absorption or counterattacks. It always passes magic back to the opponent—it’s a magic staff made specifically for slaying vampires.”
”So, it’s a weapon especially effective against you, Sir Kian. But that’s not all, right? It can be worn as a hair ornament or a decoration on clothing—handy for diplomatic negotiations as the Head Magician.”
”Exactly. Because it can’t absorb or counter magic, magic swords like Water Moon (Mizuki) or secret techniques like Mirror Moon won’t work on it either. It’s simple, but offers great security for long-range attacks. How’s its performance for calculation assistance?”
Kian handed The Pact’s Misericorde to Linca. She gathered her hair into a single ponytail at the nape of her neck and neatly secured it with the back of the Pact’s Misericorde, now serving as a hairpin.
She demonstrated some magic, summoning a spear of rock from the ground and forming a spear of air crystals from the atmosphere.
”The performance is ridiculously good. I don’t know the details, but it might even be better than Ms. Christy’s staff.”
”That’s what Talia received when she was courted by the spirit of the forest. Since the user vanished, it’s now without a master.”
”Whoa, so it’s like a wedding ring from the forest spirit to Ms. Talia? No wonder it looks so elegant.”
”By the way, since it was given by her beloved, you’ve become its current master.”
”Huh?”
Linca’s eyes widened. The blue butterfly continued.
”As long as you don’t betray the husband, the ‘Covenant of Misericorde’ will keep bestowing blessings. No one else can wield it, nor steal it. If someone tries to touch it with ill intent, Misericorde will kill them with poison. But if your heart strays from your master, the blessings vanish, and the covenant will turn against you.”
”Husband, you mean Sir Kian?”
”Contextually, that’s probably it.”
”Huh, huh? Well, I guess that’s okay?”
”What’s okay?”
Linca didn’t answer. Instead, she smoothed her hairstyle with delicate fingers, thinning the stray hairs around her ears to give a softer impression. Her white neck and ears showed, and with the straighter hairstyle, she looked like a beautiful, glossy older sister.
”Oh, cute.”
”Ah, thank you… but, I haven’t forgiven Sir Kian yet, you know!?”
”I know. Rose Garden Keeper, after this, we just need to enter that town, right? The next key is inside?”
”That’s right, but you should rest first. You faced the darkness of your heart. The burden must be heavy.”
”Nah, not really.”
”…? You’re not feeling anything? Are you really human? I see—that’s why you’re the new king.”
”Um, is that all right?”
Linca raised her hand hesitantly.
”What’s wrong?”
”I just realized when you mentioned it—was that ‘recreation’ earlier something Sir Kian actually experienced?”
”Yeah. Fifteen years ago. The darkness of the heart this blue butterfly spoke of is probably those guys from before.”
Kian nodded, looking down at the spot where the remnants had vanished.
”I thought it would be someone like young Sir Umar or Ms. Sarah showing up. And a big hole with Sir Jibril, you know. I didn’t feel like I could win against anyone but Ms. Sarah, so I was relieved when some random thugs showed up.”
”You thought you could win against Sarah?”
”Yeah. Because Sir Kian is here.”
”Well, I guess so. With the two of us working together, we can manage somehow. The real problem is Jibril. I agree it’s good we didn’t have to face him. Umar in his prime probably falls far short of your ability, but there’s a scary unpredictability about what he might do.”
”Yeah.”
Kian continued.
”I was somewhat prepared for Sarah’s betrayal and what Umar did to me. No matter what, I ultimately accepted and understood it. But those guys I met in the Western world were different.”
All things considered, everyone Kian encountered at Azrael had been well-bred. Followers of the Azrael faith were logical, straightforward, with a certain purity and righteousness.
But those people were different.
”It was my first time getting stabbed in the back by comrades I desperately tried to protect. Maybe—my distrust of people truly began when they almost killed me. They were brutal, savage, utterly without morality. Show a weakness, and they’d tear your throat out. The kind ones end up fools. You have to think of everyone else as an enemy and be suspicious from start to finish. They taught me that at a high price.”
”It was a miracle just to get out of that cave. But what happened after that, Sir Kian? Forgive me, but it didn’t seem like you were in any position to handle things back then.”
”I cried and begged for my life.”
”Wow.”
”And then, when they showed weakness, I attacked and tore the leader’s eye out. The other three hesitated, so I took that chance to escape—all the way to the East End.”
”That’s a dark heart of acceptance, isn’t it? You must have had nightmares for a while.”
”While I was being chased… maybe for a few days. But I forgot them quickly. I learned to seal away memories at the Vahid house.”
”I see.”
Linca closed her eyes and nodded once.
”That’s right. Sir Kian can forget things, as Sir Jibril said.”
”What does he know about me?”
Kian frowned, uncomfortable, and looked up at the blue butterfly.
”Will the next guardian also reflect the darkness in my heart?”
”I don’t know. It might be your servant.”
”Huh. Does Linca even have darkness in her heart?”
”What do you think of my situation, Sir Kian? I’m human, so I have unpleasant memories too. Not as serious as yours, of course.”
”Looks like someone better than Umar or Jibril might show up. I’ll pray it’s your memory that gets ‘restored,’ not mine.”
”Shall we rest here?”
Linca glanced around. Kian shook his head.
”No, let’s move on to the town. I don’t know exactly what’s going on there, but maybe we can find a suitable place to set up base—inside a building or something.”
”Got it.”
(Still, why is the blue butterfly’s master—probably the Thorn Spirit—trying to ‘restore’ the darkness in my heart?)
Walking alongside Linca, Kian pondered. It was hard to believe the Thorn Spirit’s consciousness was asleep. The guidance so far carried clear intention.
If that’s the case, why dig up the sealed memories? If it’s just to torment me mentally, then it seems like a nasty spirit—but…
No, they were a nasty spirit. A vile one who twisted Count Cain’s wishes to fulfill them, cursing Talia and cutting her off from others. But Erynys, who did that, is said to be dead and gone from this world, according to the Rose Garden Keeper.
If the new Thorn Spirit has Erynys’s personality, it makes sense they’d offer hospitality that digs into the wounds of the heart. The other party’s intentions might become clearer when facing the next guardian.
”By the way, is it possible to teleport back to places we’ve passed through using a teleportation gate?”
”I don’t know. But it’s better to stop. We don’t know how the Spiritual Vein flows, so it’s dangerous. If we move, Nue would be preferable.”
”It’s better not to fly too much. You might get spotted by dangerous monsters.”
The blue butterfly’s words were frightening. Back when Elder Remi Cain was around, they didn’t use phrases like “dangerous monsters,” so worse creatures might lurk in this world.
”Then it’s on foot.”
”If we’re being stealthy, it’s only on foot. ──W-wait, Sir Kian, look over there!”
Linca pointed ahead.
Just beyond, in the sky, something was flying that seemed to be one of the causes of the town’s emergence in the darkness.
It was a colorful fish, yellow and red, often seen in the southern seas of Azrael¹.
Swimming, even though there was no water.
The flying tropical fish had finer details that set it apart from its ocean cousins—fins like bird wings and long, thin antennae sprouting from its face. Strictly speaking, it might not even be a fish.
Kian’s eyes widened.
”This is amazing…!”
”Wow, it’s so beautiful…!”
Linca sighed dreamily.
Before they knew it, the two were gazing up at the fish emitting a rainbow of colors, holding hands as if they’d returned to their childhood.
Notes:
• Linca – Jibril’s favorite girl. High-ranking warrior monk woman from Shin, with strong abilities like ignoring attacks and poisons.
• tachyonian – a cell that generates magic power, allowing humans to enhance their bodies and perform magic to manipulate the external world. (tachyon: particle that always travels faster than light.)
• Count Cain – Talia’s father.
• Katyusha – A female warrior monk of the black panther race and a follower of Abbas Hashmalik Shakerdoust.
• Tersea – A shaman who assisted Barghest and is connected to the summoning ritual.
• Mag – The wolfwoman under Yelmar—the one who was caught by Kian’s group earlier.
• Nue – A Shikigami summoned by Linca. It has the appearance of a monster with a tiger’s limbs and a monkey’s head. Nue is a powerful but dangerous creature that requires a skilled magician to control.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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