Chapter 530

Raon let his eyes drift naturally and observed the production manager's movements.

The waddling steps with his hands tied behind his back, and his expression—which was filled with suspicion towards an outsider despite his friendly appearance—made him look like an ordinary middle-aged man who could be found anywhere.

However, the production manager's slightly raised heel implied that he was ready to use footwork at any moment, and his straight back was prepared to dodge any incoming attack despite how thick he was.

'They are the characteristics of assassins from Shadow.'

They were educated to perform an assassin's duty at any moment while pretending to be a different person, and that was exactly the impression the production manager gave.

"Thank you for keeping our village chief company."

The production manager nodded with a smile that made him look kind. His narrowed eyes looked like he was trying to probe him, but he was obviously acting.

"Everyone, break time's over! Wrap it up!"

He clapped his hands and shouted into the factory, and the door opened as a bunch of workers exited through it.

Raon stayed behind the village chief and spread his aura perception to examine the movement of the workers rapidly.'Seven.'

Seven among the fifty workers that just came out were assassins, and all of them were powerful enough to perfectly hide their presence.

'I knew it. This is indeed the factory to make Deathbringer Revenants.'

There was no way seven assassins would've been dispatched to an ordinary factory with no other warriors. The Deathbringer Factory must've been hidden in the vicinity.

'Where is it?'

Raon used the Ring of Fire and the Perception of the Snow Flower in order to locate the factory. He turned his mana into thin threads so that no one would notice and spread to the ground.

He couldn't feel anything even though he reached deep underground. There might have been some special magic at work, or it could've been even deeper underground. Both cases were also a possibility.

Whir.

Raon started to spread his mana all around the factory instead of just underneath, and a young woman who seemed to be a secretary came out of the production manager's room.

"Manager, you should do your job before making others work."

The secretary had freckles across her nose and looked like a calm person. She shook her documents to gesture for him to come into the room already.

"I feel better in front of a furnace though…"

"You are going home later then."

"Haa, life is no fun…"

The production manager sighed deeply and went into his office. The secretary lowered her head at the other workers before she followed him.

'She's also an assassin. Moreover, she's stronger than him.'

Raon could tell just from the way she was walking. The woman looked like a secretary, but she was far more powerful and experienced than the production manager. She must've had a much higher rank than him as a Shadow despite her role.

'And… that office is connected to the Deathbringer Revenant Factory.'

He'd felt an extremely faint wind blowing from inside the room when the secretary came out.

It was impossible for such a damp breeze to emerge from a windowless, underground room, so the room was definitely connected to the Deathbringer Revenant factory.

'They've prepared nicely.'

They could observe the surroundings naturally by adding a significant number of assassins among the workers instead of dispatching them in the area. He could guess that the Deathbringer Revenant factory was a lot bigger than he'd thought.

"What do you think?"

Raon was furrowing his brow while looking at the ground when Beruric, the village chief, approached him.

"It's a bit awkward to say so myself, but this really is a nice place to work. There's a lot to gain from coming here."

"It looks like it."

Raon nodded while meeting the gentleness in the village chief's eyes.

'I did gain a lot thanks to you.'

He managed to learn how he was kidnapped, he found the Shadow assassins, and he discovered that there was a passage inside the production manager's room.

The village chief seemed to think he was being meddlesome, but Raon managed to get a lot done quickly thanks to him even though they would've required a lot more time otherwise. He was thankful in various ways.

"Thank you."

Raon bowed to the village chief sincerely.

"Huhu, just come back if you feel so thankful. It's rare to find people like you, who listened to me so attentively."

The village chief shook his hand, saying that not many people liked to listen to old folks.

"Let's go observe the mine now before it's too late. This is the perfect time since the miners should be coming out soon."

He brought him to the mountain, saying that they should visit the mine next.

* * *

"Do you really have to leave at this late hour?"

"I have a tight schedule."

Raon calmly smiled at the village chief, who was saddened by his departure.

"So, what did you think about our village?"

"The people were nice, and it seems to be a good place to live in. It's a nice place."

"Right?"

The village chief rolled his lips into a smile, satisfied with the compliment, before he continued, "Since you learned that fact, you should move in quickly and settle down. I'll be waiting."

"Understood. I'm definitely going to return," Raon replied.

He closed his lips tightly. He said it with a different meaning than what the village chief was thinking.

"I'll be waiting."

"Goodbye."

Raon bowed at the village chief before he left Capply village.

'He is such a hospitable person.'

The village chief even gave him a room after they checked on the mine so that he could spend the night. He was an ordinary person with a kind and friendly personality, disregarding the fact that he talked too much.

'I should avoid harming them as much as possible.'

As Raon was walking down the dim road while thinking about how to eliminate the Shadows and those who made the Deathbringer Revenants without harming the village, he could feel an extremely faint presence from behind, as small as a bug.

'He's following after all.'

There was no way he wouldn't recognize him since he had felt his gaze and movement recently. The production manager was tailing him.

'What a great place for them to settle in.'

They took advantage of the ordinary people who were ignorant about mana to create the appearance of a friendly village while creating assassins with corpses. Raon wanted to immediately smash Derus and the Shadows with a mace because they were the perfect example of human trash.

'Haa…'

Raon suppressed the emotion of wrath raging in his mind and calmly continued his steps. Even though he had already gone halfway around Haro Mountain, the assassin behind him didn't stop following him.

'He is more suspicious than I thought. He must be planning to kill me as soon as I do anything strange.'

Considering the fact that every single assassin in the iron factory was as skilled as a team leader and was highly experienced, Derus must've invested a lot in the Deathbringer Revenants.

'I'll bring all your investment to naught.'

Raon twisted his lips while thinking about the expression Derus was going to make in the future. He kept walking while feigning ignorance, and he left Haro Mountain to pass by an unknown lake. That was when the production manager's presence finally faded away.

'He's making it annoying.'

He had to go farther than he'd expected, but it didn't really matter. It wasn't that far with footwork.

Raon went into the bushes. He spread his aura perception to confirm that no one was around before he took off his robe. He equipped a dagger without any decoration around his waist and concealed his face with a mask.

He was preparing to sneak into the factory when he noticed Wrath silently floating in the air.

'Why are you so quiet today?'

What would he even say? Wrath asked with serious eyes.

'You aren't even asking for food, and I'm sure you are curious.'

His emotions were uncontrollably turbulent when he'd remembered his mother and father. There was no way Wrath wouldn't have noticed his emotion, yet he wasn't saying anything.

The King of Essence must've told you before.

Wrath narrowed his sky-blue eyes.

He doesn't try to exploit people's weaknesses.

He slowly nodded and looked away.

You shall tell him if you want to talk about it one day.

Wrath's dignified voice made it sound like his usual useless appearance was just a lie.

The King of Essence will simply listen.

"Hah!" Raon gasped while covering his eyes with his hand.

'I never thought that you would make me feel a lump in my throat.'

He sniffled and looked at Wrath.

'I feel like having a drink.'

The King of Essence doesn't like alcohol.

'Shall we drink together after this matter is concluded?'

The King of Essence doesn't like it, he said!

'You can pick the side dish.'

Sure!

* * *

The production manager's office was dark after sunset.

The production manager should've been the owner of the room, yet he was kneeling on the ground while his secretary was sitting on a chair with her legs crossed.

"Did he leave?"

She was playing the role of a secretary in appearance, but she was actually the team leader in charge of the Shadows in the region. Her name was Resia, and she pointed at him with her chin.

"Yes. I've confirmed that he kept getting farther from Lake Bayon before I returned," the production manager replied.

"Anything noticeable to report?"

"There was nothing special other than him walking slightly faster than average."

The production manager lowered his head while giving his report.

"Did he show any sign of noticing you?"

"Not at all. He looks like he hasn't learned martial arts at all."

"Hmm…"

Resia furrowed her brow and stroked her chin.

"What's wrong?"

"I had a bad feeling when I saw him, but I must've been imagining it."

She shook her hand, telling him to pay no attention to it.

"Good job. You can return now."

"Yes."

The production manager nodded and left his office.

"..."

Resia stayed still on the chair for a long time before she walked towards the wall on the left side. She tapped on the wall next to the desk with her finger wrapped in mana, and a hole silently opened up on the ground.

Schhhh.

All she could see in the hole were stairs and the dark abyss waiting below, but Resia didn't hesitate at all.

The stairs were steep. Resia was walking so fast that ordinary people wouldn't have been able to catch up to her, yet the end was nowhere to be seen. The stairway finally came to an end after over ten minutes of walking, and her feet finally hit the ground.

It was a strange place with gloomy purple lighting and grotesque patterns covering the ceiling and floor.

Whir.

Resia stepped on the patterns on the ground in a certain order to leave that space and entered a long corridor. She walked for a long time once again before she reached the end of the corridor, and a bright cavity appeared.

"That corpse isn't set for explosion. Bring it this way."

"Is it still not complete?"

"Get moving, quick!"

Necromancers wearing purple robes were busily moving around inside the wide, deep cavity, and there were piles of corpses, flesh, and bones around them that were putting off an intense stench.

Some of them looked like humans in good condition—they had issues like lacking all of their spines if they were seen from behind, or their bones were replaced with the rusty water of necromancy.

It was a scene that even the people who'd experienced war before would end up throwing up over, but none of them found anything strange about the situation. Some of them were pulling out pieces of flesh and reassembling them like they were playing with a toy, and some were even eating food right next to them.

"..."

Resia entered a room at the center of the cavity with an expressionless face.

"Sir Shupel."

She walked up to the young man wearing a black robe and lowered her head.

"What's the matter?"

The man was using a grotesque spell as he looked around with a smile. His voice was gloomy and grating despite his neat appearance.

"The traveler who came to the village just left. There was nothing special to note, but…"

"I already told you to take care of that kind of thing by yourself. I'd like you to stop wasting my time with trivial matters."

He shook his head, telling her to stop bothering him.

"I have another thing to report."

Resia remained expressionless as her lips twitched.

"They are sending supplies in two days. We should make the preparations in advance since it's the most extensive so far."

"Hmm!"

A smile appeared on Shupel's face upon hearing that the supplies were coming in two days.

"Did you just say two days?"

A scrawny old man stood up from the desk on the other side of Shupel, a gloomy air around him. His voice was as sweet as honey.

"You were here too, Sir Juran."

Resia bowed to the old man.

"How much exactly is that 'most extensive supply'? What about corpses? Are they still alive?"

"They said they are sending three times as much, both for experiment subjects and materials."

"Three times? They finally learned their lesson! Yes, they should send that much, at least."

Juran smiled widely in satisfaction.

"Sir Juran, please care more about formality. That's too frivolous coming from the one called the Eldritch Necromancer," Shupel said as he furrowed his brow while looking at Juran.

"I'm uneducated, unlike a noble like you. Stop caring about it," Juran retorted.

"It's not too late to educate yourself. After all, you will be able to go out into the world once again if our plan progresses as it should."

"You are making me want to do as I please even more."

"..."

The two necromancers frowned while glaring at each other, and Resia didn't say anything—as if she'd seen that happen many times in the past.

However, the trio wasn't aware of the red eyes sparkling from above them.

* * *

Raon narrowed his eyes while standing on the ceiling.

'So, Shupel and Juran are here.'

Shupel the Dashing Spirit Master and Juran the Eldritch Necromancer were both high-ranking necromancers who used to be famous dozens of years ago.

He'd thought they were both dead since they were nowhere to be found in recent times, but they'd actually been continuing their research while hiding in such a place.

It was irritating to admit, but Derus Robert's skills were the real deal if he had two such high-ranking necromancers serving him.

'Rather than that, they said more supplies were going to arrive in two days, right?'

There was no way that the supplies would be just some food and equipment.

Considering the fact that they'd even mentioned experimental subjects, there were definitely living people included in those supplies.

'That would be the best time to attack.'

Attacking the factory after they received the supplies would be the most damaging for Derus.

He had to endure his urge to wipe them out even though he was angry.

"I'm going to return now."

Resia bowed to the two necromancers and left the room.

Raon followed her outside the room and observed the cavity once again.

'There aren't many powerful warriors, but there are lots of competent assassins.'

He could only see the necromancers in the cavity, but the assassins hiding in various locations were a lot more numerous than them.

'I need to figure them all out right now.'

It was best to have more information since he couldn't predict whether it would be a frontal clash or a battle of assassination.

He used the Ring of Fire and the Perception of the Snow Flower to maximize his aura perception.

He analyzed the locations and skills of the assassins, as well as the locations of the concealment magic and protection magic, in detail.

Raon analyzed the entire cavity to the point that he knew it even better than the assassins living there before he looked around.

'It's also empty below.'

The concealment magic engraved at the ceiling must not have been working downwards, as he could feel that there was another open space below.

He waited for someone to guide him and noticed a middle-aged necromancer moving towards the wall on the right. He interacted with the wall, and a stairway leading down appeared.

'So he was the one, after all.'

He followed the necromancer. Despite how far the cavity was from the factory, the stairs weren't that numerous, and it was extremely wide.

The necromancer walked through the corridor right after coming down the stairs, showing how familiar he was with the place. People were locked inside cages on both sides of the corridor, and no signs of life could be felt, implying that they were most likely dead.

They are humiliating the deceased! That's worthy of scorn even in Devildom!

Wrath's clenched fist trembled in anger, as if he was unable to withstand his emotions.

Those nasty beasts!

'Humans might be even more evil than demons, just like you said.'

Raon briefly nodded with Wrath and agreed with his anger.

"Come forward."

The necromancer shook his hand into the thin air, and two assassins emerged from the ground.

"How many materials do we have left?"

"None of them are alive. There are forty-four corpses in total."

The assassin responded without the slightest hesitation.

Raon bit his lip tightly.

'So the 'material' was human beings after all.'

Considering the way they were talking about them being dead or alive, humans were nothing but materials for experimentation to them.

'Haa…'

He clenched his crossed fingers in order to suppress his urge to smash him into a pulp immediately.

"We are supposed to get a large amount of supplies in two days. Bring half of them above."

"Understood."

The assassins opened the cage and gestured with their hands, and the corpses walked out by themselves, standing on unsteady footing.

'Are they really moving right now?'

Their eyes were moving as if they were alive, but he couldn't sense any stench from them. They must've been manipulated through necromancy.

'How nasty.'

It was a nest of evil fiends who didn't treat humans as human beings. Raon suppressed his urge to throw up and gathered more information.

The necromancer watched the corpses walking towards the stairs before he turned around. He went to the corridor on the opposite side of the stairs he'd come down.

Raon followed the necromancer instead of the corpses.

The necromancer even cast a movement speed buff to himself and walked for a long time before he finally came to a halt in front of a wall that seemed to be half dug out.

He placed his hand on the wall and injected his mana. The ceiling was split apart, and the night sky revealed beyond it as a result was as blurry as a reflection on the water's surface.

"I'm getting sick of it. How long do I need to stay here?"

The necromancer started to smoke while looking up to the night sky.

Raon concealed his presence even more so that the necromancer wouldn't notice him and looked up.

'This place… Is it that lake?'

Considering the location, it seemed to be that unknown lake that he'd seen right after leaving Haro Mountain.

'So this is it. They transported the supplies through this passage.'

It was natural that no one would figure it out when they made the supply route in the middle of a lake.

'Since I've gathered all the information I need…'

Red lightning sparked from Raon's eyes as they reflected the transparent night sky.

'I'll put an end to it in two days.'