Festival of Darkness Final Part 1

Alarr chose one of the stone houses off the main street and broke in.

With a sigh, Eliz stepped inside and looked around. The house was empty, but obviously, someone lived there. It was probably a well-to-do family because it was tidy, and everything shone like new. Someone had taken good care of the place, or they had recently bought new furniture.

The house consisted of three floors. The ground floor was a welcoming hall that led to the kitchen and lounge. The second floor had four bedrooms, one for the servants based on size, and the third was one large study. Raiana, who had checked the first house, said the owner was probably a scholar in astrology and astronomy.

Eliz was intrigued for a moment but then gave up the idea of investigating. Now she had more things to think about, but Eliz wondered if the zodiac and stars were the same as on Earth.

They all crowded into the dining room even though Eliz had originally wanted to occupy the bedrooms. But Alarr argued that if something happened, it would be more difficult to escape on the stairs. The closer to the exit, the better for them. Eliz didn't object, so they all sat in the dining room. Raiana sat down because she was still tired from the fight. Alarr stayed by the door, Haidi paced by the windows, Miel stayed near Eliz, Donovan and Chad sat down, and Eliz also took a chair, naturally at the head of the table.

Holm wanted to put his load down, but Eliz waved a hand at him. "Put him there," she said, pointing to the floor beside her. Holm did so and stood behind Eliz as her bodyguard.

Eliz swiveled her chair around, and as she settled in, she placed her feet on the back of the bound cat-man, making him a footstool.

As she did so, everyone looked at her strangely. Eliz looked around and shrugged. "What? This way, no one has to guard him; if he tries anything, I'll notice right away," she objected.

Donovan looked uncomfortable. "Is that necessary? It's rather... abusive."

Eliz frowned, lifting her legs and letting them fall onto Grash's back, who lowered his ears at the movement. "Yes, it is necessary. The bastard needs to understand where his place is," she replied.

Chad gave Eliz an appraising look. "You haven't changed that much after all," he remarked.

Eliz shrugged. "Don't judge if you don't know the situation. I'd think you'd have learned your lesson about it by now, too. I guess not."

Donovan sighed. "Do you always have to be so aggressive with your words, Elizabeth? We're not enemies."

Eliz sighed inwardly. Of course, they weren't enemies, but she still needed to keep them away. They might want to see her more often if she was all friendly to them. Or, even worse, they might want to do something together like old pals!

"The power of habit," Eliz turned away from them and glared at her captive. She wondered if she should renew the power of the blood in the ropes. Surely the blood had dried, and it was hard to see how she could restrain him like this for long.

She blinked as she thought she heard something. She ducked her head towards him and then quickly straightened up. She looked away. Was that cat bastard really purring? Did he like it? Eliz would have preferred to kick him away from her, but she had already set up this image, so Eliz had to stick with it.

"So... Why is he tied and treated like a piece of rag?" Chad asked.

Eliz shrugged and didn't look at him. "He caused us trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"I don't want to tell you."

Chad pursed his lips when he heard that, and his face turned a little red before he took a breath and let it out as he tried to control his annoyance. "Fine. Whatever," he snapped.

The room fell silent, and Eliz allowed herself a moment of peace. She closed her eyes and thought. She wondered if she should somehow escape outside and collect the Dark Mana, but she couldn't go alone; it wouldn't be safe. How would she explain that to Donovan and Chad? Seriously, having someone uninitiated around was just a pain in the ass.

That's why she bound her Boulder team to a non-disclosure agreement. That way, she could do whatever she needed and not worry about word getting out. And why did her Synthesis work so weirdly and have to go in through her nose anyway? She had a feeling the System was playing pranks on her.

Eliz, however, quickly shifted her thoughts to what she had heard in the tarball. A voice had warned her of the lie and that she shouldn't trust it. And also to save someone. What was that again? It was rather creepy. Eliz thought that the Dark Mana belonged to the Sleeping God.

Was it the God of Darkness? But the System would say it was the God of Darkness, not the Sleeping God. How many gods does this place have, anyway?

She knew about the God of Light, but the God of Darkness was new to her. Then the story mainly mentioned lesser gods and deities that maybe tribes of non-humans professed. The dwarves, on the other hand, had their Ancestors.

That meant they worshipped some of their ancestors who had accomplished something great in their lives and thus earned their way into the Great Beyond. Those who didn't accomplish anything significant returned to the stone and were reborn. Eliz thought that was why Dwarves were so hardworking and driven to succeed.

But she had not read about other great gods like the God of Light. In the first place, the story "Everybody Loves Selene" was not focused on religious conflicts, at least until the part she read. Maybe later? But all indications were more likely that the following story would revolve around the Demons and the Demon King that the Male Lead was supposed to slay.

So what was that voice? What was it talking about? Eliz had no idea, and she didn't like the idea of an unfamiliar voice trying to talk to her. Just the connection to Shannon was enough for her. Eliz didn't want to hear any more voices.

"So you're in a relationship?" Donovan echoed suddenly, breaking the thread of Eliz's thoughts. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Can't they be quiet for a while, for all the world?

"Yes. We're lovers," Eliz replied flatly. "So explain that to Gray. I don't want him showing off his jealous behavior again."

Chad let out a surprised cough when Eliz said she and Miel were lovers. The corners of Miel's mouth curled upwards as she said it, showing off a rather smug smile. Donovan looked from him to her and back again. "He'll get there. Eventually," he said about Gray.

Alarr listened to the conversation from the doorway and rolled his eyes. He didn't understand how they could be having such a calm conversation while the world was on fire. The nobility was truly carefree.

Eliz got up after a while. "Raiana, Haidi, let's go to one of the rooms. Raiana, take the bag," she instructed, pointing to the man from the cat race.

Raiana blinked but stood up and did as Eliz said. Eliz looked at the others. "I want to talk to him privately. Alarr and Holm, stay to watch these two," she nodded to Donovan and Chad.

"These two? Are we strangers?" Chad complained.

"Elizabeth, shouldn't you address us properly in front of your servants? This is a little uncomfortable," Donovan added.

Eliz bugged her eyes at him. "I'll address you properly when we're at a social event. But for now... don't be so snobby."

Donovan blinked in surprise. "Snobby?" he repeated. He didn't feel snobby; he was just concerned about etiquette. He looked at Alarr and saw the disgust in his expression while Holm seemed unconcerned. Donovan had to think to himself. Was he acting arrogant?

Meanwhile, Eliz, Raiana, Haidi, and the prisoner had left the room. That left Alarr, Holm, Donovan, Chad, and Miel in the room. The atmosphere became awkward without the women present.

"I'll ask now that the sharp tongue is gone. How do you get along with Elizabeth? I mean, she's rather irritating and tough to talk to. How do you handle her?" Chad asked, leaning curiously toward Miel.

Miel looked at him, surprised by the question. It wasn't very appropriate to talk behind the lady's back. On the other hand, he supposed Eliz wouldn't really care.

"I'm not sure how to answer your question. Eliz is a complicated person. Beautiful, brilliant, brave, and easy to tease. But she's also distrustful and rather reclusive. She has trouble relying on others, but I can't blame her. Considering what she's been through recently, it's understandable that she relies on herself when the whole world was against her," Miel frowned, aware that these two were some of the people against her.

Chad leaned back in his chair again and averted his gaze. He wasn't so dense that he didn't understand Miel's criticism. Donovan cleared his throat in embarrassment. "The situation wasn't that simple."

Miel shook his head. "I don't think Eliz is blaming you for anything. She's very kind, but that doesn't mean she wasn't hurt. I think she's very wounded in her soul, so she's trying to keep everyone away so she doesn't get hurt even more. If you want to befriend her, you must try harder and be patient. These things don't just go away with a wave of the hand and an apology."

Donovan and Chad were silent for a moment. "You're right. I should be more patient," Chad admitted, feeling humbled. He had been angry at the way Elizabeth had treated them before. He cursed his hot head for being unable to control his feelings. He thought he had improved but still had much to work on.

"We understand. We'll be patient and do things right," Donovan nodded.

"But... how did you gain Lady Elizabeth's trust?" He asked. Miel let out a long sigh at the question. "Who says I gained it? Eliz is a little more open with me, but not much more."

Donovan was surprised. "But aren't you in a relationship?"

Miel half-smiled. "We are," he replied. Being a gentleman, he had no desire to discuss the details of his relationship with Eliz with them. But he didn't have much to say anyway. This relationship was for show, yet he had to fight Eliz for every gesture of affection.

But Miel was a fighter.

Alarr, who was listening to them, exchanged glances with Holm. Then Alarr curled up the corner of his lips and shook his head. These fools didn't know Lady Elizabeth at all.

*****

Eliz settled herself in one of the bedrooms, and the captive ended up on the floor again while Raiana stayed by the door, and Haidi, at the sight of Raiana, quickly changed direction from the bed to the window, from which she began to look out.

Eliz had set a chair in front of him, but before that, she re-cut the wound on her arm and began applying blood to the ropes. Raiana looked surprised to see this, and her lips moved as she was about to ask, but in the end, she held back and remained silent.

Eliz then sat back in her chair and removed the gag from the cat man's mouth. "Pfff... pfff... my mouth feels like a desert," the cat complained, moving his mouth to stimulate saliva production. The piece of rag had probably sucked all the moisture out of his mouth, but Eliz wasn't nice enough to give him a drink.

"What's your name?" asked Eliz, folding her arms across her chest.

The man fixed his orange eyes on her. "Grash."

"Just Grash?"

"'Yup."

"And you're a Dark Mage," Eliz continued.

Grash raised an eyebrow at her as he returned her gaze from the floor. "'Obviously'?"

Eliz remained sitting motionless. "Don't be so rude," she warned him.

Grash grinned. "Or what? Are you going to punish me? I might like that."

Eliz shuddered inwardly. Does the bastard like being treated like garbage by women or what? Eliz pulled out her dagger again and cleaned her nails significantly. "Yes. I will punish you. But I don't think you'd like it if I cut your tail a little shorter for every disobedience."

Grash blinked, and his ears lowered for a moment. "All right, all right. I'll be a good boy."

Eliz didn't put the dagger down. "All right. So... what's the name of your organization?" she asked.

Grash let out a chuckle and then laughed. "Organization? Bhuahaha!"

Eliz stood up and immediately squatted down next to him, grabbing his tail in her hand and bringing the blade of her dagger to it, slicing the skin a bit. Haidi, who saw this, quickly hugged her bushy tail.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Grash apologized quickly. "I'll answer!"

"One more time, and I'll start cutting," Eliz warned him and settled down again.

"Okay. Okay. So... Organization. We're not an organization. We're just a bunch of Dark Mages that got together. That's all," Grash replied.

Eliz tilted her head curiously. "No organization? No leadership? No plans for world domination or anything like that?"

Grash suppressed another laugh. "That's not how Dark Mages work. Most are loners, and a few groups like us. Everyone has their plans, goals, and ways. I don't know about others, but we're more about having fun and expanding our numbers."

Hearing this, Eliz felt confused. Really, no large organization of Dark Mages? Just a bunch of freaks doing whatever they wanted? But just because these guys didn't know about anything didn't mean there wasn't such a thing, maybe just not on this continent.

"So this is what your group had planned? To have fun and expand the numbers? You did, but you lost one a little while ago. You know... the green-haired one," Eliz watched Grash's reactions.

The latter shrugged. "Whatever."

Eliz cleared her throat at the casual answer. "No hard feelings, huh? You didn't like him?"

Grash grinned in amusement. "You're misinterpreting, kitty. We're not a group of friends. There's no emotional connection between us. The death of one of us means nothing."

Eliz thought that was pretty cold-blooded. But convenient for Eliz. It meant that if one of them died, it was less likely that someone would come after her. No chained enemies!

"So no one will try to save you?" Eliz started to smile.

Grash's ears pressed against his head again. "Well... no. No one will care. I can only help myself."

Eliz scrunched her chin and thought for a moment. "Hmm... so if I catch more of you... I might have a lot of Dark Mana-producing captives. Hehe. Like having aging wine in the cellar," she muttered to herself. However, everyone heard that and looked at Eliz strangely.

Eliz ignored it and instead looked at Grash again. "So... what is the Dark Mages' plan in the long run? I would have thought they were all trying to free the God of Darkness."

Grash jerked when he heard that, his gaze hardening. "So you know about that... Who would have thought my kitty would know this secret? Who are you, anyway?"

Eliz stomped on his face, not too hard, but enough to make him feel it. "Who's your kitty? You're in no position to make such a statement," she said harshly but pulled her foot away.

But Grash had a smile on his face. "Right. Right. I'm sorry. But back to the point... God of Darkness. Don't you think his fate is sad and cruel? Murdered by his brother, who now pretends to be a righteous god of light and justice while Earth parasitizes the flesh and blood of the God of Darkness? Isn't that rageful?"

Eliz watched his smile, which was half amused and half genuinely angry. Then she nodded. "It is. The God of Light is a damn bitch."

Grash's smile froze, and he looked at her in surprise. This was not the retort he had expected.

Eliz had no idea how intertwined the Church of Light was with society. In the original story, the question of faith was not something the Author dealt with much, so she didn't know about it, and as an atheist, she didn't feel the need to research it.

In this world, many people didn't directly worship the God of Light, yet they had at least some respect for the Church or God himself. The Church was naturally criticized like any other organization. But since the Gods existed and manifested their existence as well, loudly slandering them was not something anyone would do without blinking an eye.

As an atheist and used to her world's religion, Eliz didn't feel that invisible pressure and respect and didn't hold back with her words. Hence, for a Dark Mage like Grash, such heavy criticism of the God of Light was surprising.

"Yes?"

Eliz nodded again. "It is. It's infuriating. I hate bastards like that who do something terrible and then come out of it as winners." Eliz compared it to the legal system in her world. There were plenty of cases where those with wealth or power could do whatever they wanted, and no one protested against them. She had stopped watching the news on TV because of that; she always got so angry when she heard how another bastard had escaped justice.

"I'm a little radical about this. My view is that death should be paid for with death. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life."

Grash's jaw dropped when he heard that, and his eyes lit up. "So you're saying... that we should revive the God of Darkness and kill the God of Light? And trade one for the other? If the God of Light replaced the God of Darkness, our world wouldn't have collapsed. Hah! That's fucking brilliant!"

Now Eliz's chin dropped. How the hell did he come up with such an idea? She didn't even imply such a thing! Or did she?

"Shut the hell up, you bastard!" Eliz exclaimed in horror and stood up.

She looked around, and her distraught heart calmed down when no System Window appeared. She was worried that the System would get an idea and give her an assignment. When nothing happened, she sighed and sat back down.

"Hell, no way I'm going to go kill a god. Don't be a fool," Eliz said, rubbing her forehead.

"Eh? Who says you're supposed to do that? You're just a little fry, kitty. This is a job for super powerful people," Grash said in surprise. Eliz nodded in satisfaction.

"That's right. That's right," she agreed contentedly. She was really scared for a moment.

Grash fidgeted in his restraints. "So, how are you going to do this?" he asked, still excited.

Eliz was silent for a moment before she realized what he was saying. "What?"

"It's your idea. You were talking so confidently about it. You've been thinking about it for a long time, no? And you've been gathering powerful people around you. If you'd said what you were planning, the Dark Ones might have joined you... maybe."

Eliz stared at Grash, stunned. What was he bullshitting now? No, seriously... these people... why do they interpret everything Eliz said so strangely? All Eliz said was that the justice system needed to be stricter, and the fact that she agreed that the God of Light was an asshole didn't mean she was immediately planning some conspiracy of divine proportions!

"You're all nuts," Eliz commented, meaning people in general in this world.

*****

Mori was sitting on a pile of corpses. The guards he fought with distracted him for a while, but they weren't good enough to pose a challenge. It would have been more interesting if at least one had the Power of Light.

So he just played with them briefly before getting bored and killing them. He waited for the main force to show up, but they took an impossibly long time.

At one point, Mori lifted his head and looked in one direction. "Hah? Torian died? Idiot." He shook his head as he sensed that one of his partners had died.

He sprawled on the dead bodies for a moment longer, like some morbid throne, before turning his head to look at the bear woman who was approaching him. "Are you done yet, Margaret?" he asked boredly.

The blonde bear woman named Margaret nodded. "I was interrupted by two Pacifists. So I had to cut it short," she said, staring at the pile of dead Mori was lying on. Her eyes were still hungry.

"Why didn't you kill them?" Mori asked.

"One of them was pretty good. And it would have been too much work," Margaret replied.

Mori rolled his eyes. Two dead, the third lazy, and the fourth too stupid. Luckily, he would soon have more companions, some of which would hopefully be useful.

"So, how much did we get?" Mori continued.

Margaret blinked her sleepy eyes. "Five."

He sat up. "Only five? Of the thousands of people here, only five have become intelligent?"

Margaret shrugged. "Using Dark Beasts isn't exactly gentle on human resources. If there were going to be more, they ended up getting eaten. I guess."

Mori sighed. Dark Beasts made good pawns, but only for violent work. Giving them more complex tasks was impossible.

"I was hoping for at least ten. Five isn't bad, either. Take them home and take care of them," Mori said.

She frowned. "I don't wanna. I'll go to sleep."

Mori began to stare at her intensely. "Margaret."

Margaret snorted. "Fine! I can at least tell them the basics. And then I'll go to sleep." She agreed reluctantly.

He nodded, then cocked his head. He waved a hand at Margaret. "Then get out of here. My fun is finally coming."

Margaret frowned, then grabbed two corpses from Mori's pile, causing the pile to collapse and Mori to roll down.

"You...!" Mori was about to scold her, but Margaret snorted. "If you want me to work, you have to pay!" With that, she hurried away.