CHAPTER 26: City of Sin, Trist (1)

"Huff, huff..."

Gasping for breath, Luke kept running. 

"Ugh, why is this happening...?"

He couldn't stop. If he slowed down even a little, that horrifying monster would pounce on him at any moment.

'This is impossible. This must be a dream. There's no way this could be happening...'

No matter how much he tried to deny reality, the darkness chasing him from behind did not disappear.

"Ugh, ah..."

Before he knew it, the entire alley was wrapped in a black shadow.

There was nowhere left to run. Luke's knees gave out.

"Ah, Goddess..."

He collapsed, sinking to the ground, praying. Calling upon the Goddess who blesses the world, he faced the terror before him.

Amidst the swirling darkness, a young man with black hair emerged. The young man wore an expression of disbelief.

"Hey, do you even have the right to call on the Goddess right now?" 

Luke stretched out his hands and screamed in desperation.

"Get away from me, you horrifying demon!"

On either side of Luke, pitch-black specters surged forth.

Watching the oncoming evil spirits, the young man, Karnak, scoffed. 

"Who are you calling horrifying?"

Luke was the man who had killed 30 people, raped twice as many women, and sacrificed children, spreading terror across the entire Delad region.

And now, when faced with his own demise, he was acting like an innocent civilian.

"Is this what they mean by how a person's behavior changes depending on their situation? Or is this something else entirely? Anyway, it's hard to understand the feelings of an ordinary person."

Tilting his head in confusion, Karnak pointed his finger.

With just a slight flick of his finger, the specters were easily obliterated. Luke's face was overtaken by despair.

"My specters..."

Another shadow appeared at the opposite end of the alley.

"Wow, this guy's fast. Since when did a necromancer get so good at running?"

"I heard he used to be a petty thief. He sure knows how to run away."

Karnak, having trapped Luke between himself and the new arrival, gestured with his hand. 

"Hurry up and grab him."

"Yes, young master!"

Boras lunged forward.

Luke tried to resist by summoning his specters, but it was useless. Karnak's necromancy had already tightly bound his darkness.

At this moment, Luke was nothing more than an ordinary petty thief. There was no way he could withstand the punch of a knight trained to the fullest.

Wham!

With a heavy blow, Luke collapsed.

Boras, who had knocked him out with a single body blow, grabbed him by the back of the neck and asked,

"Shall I drag him over there?"

With an air of indifference, Karnak responded,

"Yeah. We need to extract the Darkness of Doom from him."

***

The former Karnak used to extract the Darkness of Doom from a necromancer on the spot and then slowly purify it with chaos power over time.

However, now that he had found a more efficient method, he was using a different approach. In a shabby warehouse on the outskirts of Derat City.

In this dim, isolated place, Luke, with his shirt off, was dangling in the air.

"Ugh, ugh..."

Below him, a large water tank was set up, with Boras firmly holding the rope that kept him suspended. Karnak's voice echoed through the space.

"Dunk him."

The rope unraveled, and Luke plunged into the water tank, head first, of course.

"Mmff! Mmmph!"

Luke thrashed about, gurgling as he struggled. But since his entire body was tightly bound, it was futile.

Just when he thought he was about to drown, Karnak spoke again. 

"Pull him out."

Luke gasped for air, barely tasting oxygen as he panted heavily. 

"Dunk him."

Splash!

"Pull him out."

"Cough, cough! Cough!"

Choking and gasping, Luke sobbed.

"...Why, why are you doing this?"

They had abruptly captured him and locked him in this warehouse, only to keep torturing him with this water ordeal.

He had waited, ready to be interrogated. He was even prepared to spill any secret they wanted. But there were no questions. They just kept torturing him, without reason.

"What do you want, cough, what is it you want?"

Why wouldn't they ask anything? He was willing to answer anything!

Karnak's response was cold.

"Dunk him."

"Mmff! Mmmph!"

No matter what Luke said, Karnak paid no attention. He just continued with the so-called "torture." And all the while, he muttered incomprehensible words.

"See? This method really is more efficient."

'What efficiency? What the hell is he talking about?' 

In confusion, Luke sank into the water tank once more. But in truth, Karnak wasn't actually torturing him. 

"The tainted energy is being sucked out nicely."

He was simply doing the "laundry."

Thanks to Alius, Karnak had learned how to purify tainted energy with divine power. He had also developed a method using holy relics instead of priests. Through Alius, he had acquired a large supply of holy water.

Everything had seemed fine, but when it came to practical application, a problem arose.

The quantity was too small. Even if he poured ten bottles of holy water, it wasn't enough to purify the entire soul of a necromancer.

So he had chosen this method.

When doing laundry, you don't just use soap. You rinse with water to thoroughly remove the dirt.

Similarly, he diluted the holy water in regular water and then slowly washed away the tainted energy by soaking the entire body.

In essence, it really was "laundry." The only difference was that the item being washed wasn't fabric, but a soul.

"Pull him out."

"Blub, blub, blub!"

***

Thanks to this, Luke felt like he was going to die, but naturally, Karnak couldn't care less.

The only one feeling uneasy was Boras.

"Is this really okay? We said we wouldn't live like we used to."

In the past, Karnak's most frequent activity was capturing innocent people, torturing them, and corrupting their souls to extract necromantic power.

Now, they were torturing someone to extract power again, so wasn't this just like the old days?

Karnak firmly argued that it wasn't.

"Back then, we were torturing innocent people. This guy here is a bad person, isn't he?"

Well, it was true that Luke had killed so many people that he'd even earned a special title because of it. 

"...But what was his title again?"

"Another Lord of Darkness."

There was a reason for the word "another" being attached.

This was the third "Lord of Darkness" that Karnak and his group had captured.

"I'm telling you, all these necromancers have the same titles."

"For what it's worth, you used to call yourself the Lord of Darkness too..."

"T-that was when I was young!"

"And then you were called the Master of Plagues..."

"I was still young then too!"

"I think you were over thirty when you called yourself the King of Death..."

"...Shut up."

"Yes, young master."

In any case, there was no doubt that the man currently being dunked in and out of the water tank, called the Lord of Darkness, had committed countless atrocities.

That's why Karnak could be so confident.

"Capturing a bad guy and making him pay for his sins is, without a doubt, a righteous act!"

"...Is it?"

Boras made a strange expression.

Logically, it seemed sound... But when he looked at the man hanging upside down and writhing in pain, it didn't quite feel that way...

"He looks like he's having a hard time being hung upside down. Should we hang him the other way?"

"Boras, you're truly a bad guy, aren't you? If we hang him by the neck, he'll choke to death! We should hang him by the ankles."

"Oh, right."

Boras's expression brightened as if he had gained a profound understanding.

"Considering even the safety of your enemy's life, you really are performing a righteous act, young master!"

"Of course!"

Neither of them seemed to consider that they could just tie him by the wrists or waist.

As a result, the only one suffering unbearably was Luke.

"Gah! Cough! Gasp! You crazy— ack!"

Amid Luke's desperate screams, Karnak's leisurely voice echoed again.

"Dunk him."

***

Eventually, all the tainted energy was drained from Luke. The Darkness of Doom he had possessed was also completely absorbed by Karnak.

At the same time, Luke, who had been completely drained of his life force, died.

Despite all the talk about considering the safety of his enemy's life, Karnak had mercilessly killed him once his usefulness was exhausted.

But neither Karnak nor Boras gave it a second thought.

After all, their goal was never to show mercy to their enemies. They only kept them alive because it made the purification of darkness easier.

As a result, Luke died slowly, in immense pain and despair. In a sense, it was a sort of offering to those who had fallen victim to him.

Looking at Luke's corpse, Boras muttered,

"If we contact the Hatoba Church, they'll take care of it as usual, right?"

"Yeah. Let's head back."

Leaving the warehouse, the two made their way to their lodging.

As they walked, Boras suddenly asked,

"Did you gather a lot of darkness?"

They had been staying in Derat City for over three months now. During that time, they had hunted down a considerable number of necromancers.

"Let's see... the ones we've caught so far..." 

Boras briefly counted on his fingers.

"Three Lords of Darkness, two Master of Plagues, and one who called himself a Companion of Death? They all have such similar titles."

"That Companion of Death was a bit unusual, though." 

"Summarizing it makes the nuance sound odd."

In any case, they had hunted quite a few necromancers, and as a result, had gathered a significant amount of Darkness of Doom.

So, was it about time to head home?

"Any noticeable changes?"

"Not yet."

"How much more do we need to gather? You're not planning to collect all the Darkness of Doom scattered across the world, are you?"

"Are you crazy? That would take a lifetime, and even that might not be enough."

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Karnak spoke.

"As of now, I have three ways to deal with the end of the world."

"Dealing with the end of the world? The way you say that makes it sound like you're some sort of savior. Isn't it more like you're just cleaning up the mess you made...?"

"Shut up. Why do you keep adding unnecessary comments?"

"Yes, yes."

Karnak gave his ever-loyal servant a glare before continuing.

"The first option is to ignore whatever happens to the world and live my life without a care." 

This wasn't feasible.

The disaster he had caused was too great to ignore. That was why he was running around like this in the first place.

"The second option is to collect all the Darkness of Doom that's been scattered, just as you suggested." 

This, too, was equally unrealistic.

Collecting all the vast amounts of Darkness of Doom scattered across the entire world? It was an enormous task that would take a lifetime, and even then, it might not be enough.

"I gave up everything to try and live like a normal person, but I can't spend my whole life wandering and suffering like this, can I?"

So, the only feasible option was the third plan.

"Block the fundamental passage through which the darkness is being spread."

Thanks to the Darkness of Doom they had gathered so far, Karnak had managed to grasp the situation to some extent.

The darkness currently being scattered wasn't being spread randomly, all over the world, without rhyme or reason.

"They say the Darkness of Doom falls like rain, but even that rain requires clouds to form. If you think of the passage through which the darkness spreads as those clouds, the concept is more or less the same."

No matter how powerful Karnak was, he couldn't possibly block all the rain from falling.

But he could prepare in advance and prevent the clouds from forming.

"With the information we've gathered so far, we've identified the existence of these clouds. So, if we collect more information and figure out the conditions under which these clouds form and appear, we should be able to stop the Darkness of Doom from falling any further."

Of course, this method wouldn't do anything about the Darkness of Doom that had already been spread. But Karnak chose to ignore that particular issue.

"As long as the Churches of the Seven Goddesses can still handle it, things should be okay."

Boras had a blank expression.

"Uh, sure..."

Honestly, for someone like him who was a swordsman, this was a difficult concept to grasp. To be frank, he didn't really want to understand it either.

What he really wanted to know was this:

So, when are we going home?

"How many more of these guys do we have to hunt down?"

After some rough calculations, Karnak shrugged.

"About twenty more Lords of Darkness?"

In other words, they needed to catch twenty more guys like Luke.

It was strange how the grand title of "Lord of Darkness" had come to represent a third-rate necromancer, but that was just the way the world was these days.

Boras sighed.

"At this rate, we'll have to stay in Derat City for at least another three months. I wonder if the old butler is going to throw a fit."

Originally, Karnak had said he was going to the capital and would be away from his territory for about 100 days.

But that time had already passed. They hadn't even gone near the capital.

Karnak's expression hardened, realizing his mistake.

"I should probably send a message back to the estate. Let them know we'll be a little late."

"What should we say? Should we lie and tell them we're staying in the capital?"

"Is there any need for that? We can just tell the truth."

On their way to the capital, they discovered necromancers tormenting people.

How could they, under the name of the Jestarad Barony, simply stand by and watch such behavior? Punishing those scoundrels was a noble's duty, after all.

For that reason, they had been eliminating necromancers with the support of the Hatoba Church, which meant they hadn't been able to reach the capital. They'd likely have to keep doing this for another three months, so everyone should wait.

"We can just say that."

"And that's telling the truth?"

"It's not a lie, is it?"

"Is it?"

It was somewhat confusing, but hard to argue against.

Boras, having followed Karnak around all his life, found his understanding of normal people's logic was quite out of sync.

"Anyway, you're saying it won't take forever, right?"

Having heard what he wanted to hear, Boras's face brightened again.

'Suffering for another three months or so isn't too bad, I suppose. Plus, exploring good restaurants is fun.'

Switching into foodie mode, Boras's eyes gleamed.

"How about we head to Seral Street for dinner tonight? I heard there's a place there that makes amazing noodle dishes."

Karnak, who was feeling hungry, also smiled. 

"Let's go, let's go."

Their steps felt unusually light as they set off, satisfied with a job well done and eager to seek out a good meal!

They returned to their lodging, changed clothes, and were just about to head out again. 

"Are you Baron Karnak?"

A seemingly ordinary boy approached Karnak.

"I'm a messenger from the Hatoba Church."

The boy handed him a letter.

Since Karnak and Alius regularly exchanged information this way, he casually opened the letter. Boras leaned over, curious.

"What does it say? Has the fourth Lord of Darkness shown up or something?"

Karnak looked puzzled.

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