Chapter 172 - There is a voice calling in the dark (3)

Buzzing!

Some say that before dawn is when the darkness is deepest.

And now, in the deepest darkness of the city of Moshiam, two men were walking in the dense fog.

With a very unsettling sound.

"How long do I have to keep pulling this?"

"Until we find it."

"And when will that be?"

"I guess when we see it, no?"

"…"

Vlad was constantly pulling on the handle, and small blood vessels were already appearing on his forehead.

It looked like an ordinary fumigator, but it was so incredibly stiff that it was hard to hold it for long, even with Vlad's grip strength.

"Anyway, we have to find it quickly. Our situation right now is very suspicious."

"I agree."

As Vlad said, both of them were dressed so suspiciously that they wouldn't dare to make excuses if the guards caught them.

Nibelun wore a strangely shaped crow mask, and Vlad covered his mouth with a mask.

Anyone who saw them now would be surprised, but both had their own reasons for dressing like this.

"I'll say it again, you must not take off the mask. What's in the fumigator is poisonous herb."

"I said I understood."

A sharp warning reached Vlad, who was trying to take off the mask.

To burn a lie, something crueler is needed.

The fumigator that burned the fake fog was filled with poisonous herb powder specially made by Nibelun.

'Damn cat.'

He cursed inwardly, but he didn't dare let it out.

In an unknown situation like the current one, even Vlad needed a guide.

And the wizard Nibelun was also a person with enough ability to guide.

"Wait a minute."

"Did you find it?"

Vlad couldn't hide his joy when Nibelun told him to stop for a moment.

He couldn't say it out of pride as a knight, but pulling the strangely stiff fumigator was quite a difficult task even for Vlad.

"…Yes. I think I found it."

Nibelun looked at his palm with tense eyes.

A small rag doll danced on his palm.

Although the button eyes blinked a little due to the lack of skill of the maker, the dancing movement seemed as lively as if it were really alive.

"Here it is."

"Hmm."

Towards where the dancing doll pointed.

Vlad and Nibelun, leaning against the alley wall, looked in the direction indicated by the doll's fingertips.

"…I think we've come to the right place."

"That's right."

The outskirts of the city without a single person in sight.

In the place where both their gazes were directed, there was a sign swaying slowly in the wind and creaking.

-Common Cemetery of the Holy Focos Foundation-

Following the doll's guidance and burning the fake fog, they arrived at a cemetery located in Moshiam, the city.

"Why don't you go in?"

"You've always been leading."

"Now that we've found our destination, it's your turn to lead."

"...Come to think of it, I think I didn't like cats."

With a murmur saying that dogs were the best, both Blad and Nibellun switched positions.

Without anyone needing to say it, the dry sound of swallowing saliva from both of them was heard as they looked at the cemetery.

***

The strange curse that had spread among the children of Moshiam was accompanied by the following symptoms: deep sleep, similar dreams, and a progressively lower body temperature. And here, at this moment, the newly awakened young deacon also exhibited the same symptoms.

"Do you feel cold? Do you want me to bring you a blanket?"

"Uh... yes."

The paladins around him made bitter expressions as they saw Jean shivering as soon as he woke up.

Moshiam was full of parents who had lost their children, and the last memories of their children while they talked as if they were paling were exactly the same as Jean's behavior now.

"Have you felt anything strange in your dreams?"

Justia, holding Jean's trembling shoulder, was doing her best to prevent the child from getting scared, but she had already seen too much to do so.

Paladins surrounding the bed and people noting down everything they say.

No matter how innocent a child is, in a situation like this, he would have no choice but to realize that something is wrong.

"...Well, that's it."

"Tell me."

Justia's voice was warm, but Jean's lips only murmured.

Feeling anxious in an unfamiliar environment and among unfamiliar people, the young deacon turned his gaze to the familiar blond hair.

Seeing the child's eyes as if seeking help, Vlad silently walked to the bed.

"Tell me, Deacon. I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"But..."

"Don't worry."

Vlad grabbed Jean's shoulder, trembling with anxiety, and looked at the young deacon with wide eyes.

"Look. I haven't abandoned you yet, Deacon."

A guide who has been with Andreas so far at his request.

Jean's eyes, which had been shaken by Vlad's words saying that he was still under his control, were slowly calming down.

"I don't know about the evil energy, but..."

"Yes."

"There was something I felt for sure."

Not an ordinary child, but a deacon directly under the command of Bishop Andreas.

He testified a child who had been raised in God's arms for a long time.

"The bonfire I saw in my dream definitely felt sacred inside it."

"Yes?"

Both Justia, who was questioning Jean's sudden response, and Gunther, who silently crossed his arms behind him, stopped what they were doing.

A bonfire as warm and comforting as a mother's embrace.

The young deacon said he felt divine energy within it.

"...Sacred energy."

"What the hell is this?"

Sacred energy mixed in a sinister dream.

Amid the commotion over Jean's unexpected answer, there was a man who acted quickly on his own.

"Ah!"

"Thank you for your effort."

Jean suddenly shouted from the stabbing sensation in his neck, but meanwhile, Vlad, who was embracing him, was stroking his head as if nothing was wrong.

"Don't worry. Rest for a bit now."

"...Yes."

Seeing Jean scratching his neck bewildered, Vlad quickly covered him with a blanket.

Vlad was stroking the young deacon, and before he knew it, there were some wet strands of hair on his fingertips.

It was Jean's hair.

***

"I'm sure that's where the curse I cast is pointing. Let's take the lead."

"I said I understood."

Jean's hair was tied to the still dancing doll.

A sinister mage and a plague doctor following death.

The method Nibelun chose to understand the source of the curse transmitted through dreams was to curse Jean himself.

"There's no time. Dawn will come soon."

"I also know that."

Nibelun, who tied his thread to the end of an unknown dream, successfully completed his mission just as Vlad wanted.

And from now on, as Nibelun had just said, it was time for Vlad to take the lead.

'I can't call for help...'

Affiliation wasn't the issue, but rather time.

The curse floating around Moshiam City was hidden in the fog and floated like a weak bubble.

It also meant that if it wasn't now, even the place we worked so hard to find would soon be useless.

"Can't I cross the wall?"

"Aren't you a cat?"

"I'm not a cat, I'm a beast man."

"...He's actually being condemned."

Vlad quickly scaled the cemetery wall, but Nibelun, who was below, simply blinked, still.

"Hmph!"

"He's a guy who requires a lot of effort."

Vlad climbed the wall, almost carrying Nibelun on his back, and as soon as he entered, he quickly looked around.

The atmosphere of the cemetery instantly calmed any irritation you had just felt.

Under the thick fog were filled with names of countless deceased people.

"The fog has become thicker."

Even Nibelun, who was always distracted by the increasingly sinister, was tense and listening intently.

I don't know if it was my mood, but I felt like I could feel a small vibration beneath the ground I was standing on.

-There's a voice calling in the darkness, and when I turn my head to that place...

The sound of an order came from the two who were hiding among the tombstones and holding their breath.

No matter who heard it, the suspicious spell came from the depths of the cemetery.

"Let's go."

"Yes."

The eyes of the knight who wanted to lift the curse and the mage who wanted to see death lit up at the same time.

The doll's dance intensified as it followed the orders it heard.

-I think that if I'm with you, I won't be fooled by those eyes that look in the darkness.

"I think it's three four?"

"From what I saw, it was four."

A cemetery in the darkest dawn before sunrise.

There was a magic circle faintly glowing.

It was a magic circle drawn by unknown men wandering the land of the dead.

"We're completing the gin through orders. I don't exactly know what you're trying to do."

"Anyway, it's better to stop it before it's completed."

As the barely audible spell progressed, the magic circle drawn on the ground began to glow brighter and brighter.

As the magic circle glowed, impatience began to arise in Vlad's heart.

'Not yet!'

Still, the situation can only be resolved if you know the enemy and understand the situation.

The teachings of August that pierced the darkness were showing Vlad the way.

There are four men wandering the cemetery.

Among them, there are two at the camp.

And an unidentified flask placed inside the magic circle.

"Can you break that flask?"

"If only it were just a flask."

"Alright."

This time, in response to Vlad's words, Nibelun carefully pulled out a sling from his backpack.

Seeing him prick up his ears as if he had finished preparing, Vlad quietly closed his left eye.

'Restrain the impulse impressively.'

As he took a deep breath, an ancient voice of counsel echoed in Vlad's mind.

Vlad's left eye, which was closed, had a golden light brighter than any other color.

***

"…!"

"Who are you?"

"Who's there?"

A single golden stream that didn't fit in at all in this place.

Vlad's attack, finally appearing, was so swift that the men weren't able to react.

Crack!

'One down!'

Vlad cut down one of the two outside.

He didn't even realize Vlad was coming.

"Stop!"

"No! Starting with the bishop!"

One man inside the camp can be seen drawing his sword urgently.

But it was already too late.

Swoosh!

'Two!'

The second man saw Vlad coming, but couldn't draw his sword.

He was dazzled by Vlad's magnificent colors.

"Protect the sacred relic!"

"Aaaah!"

The man who seemed to be the leader of the group quickly pointed to the jar, but the suspicious jar belonged to Nibelun.

A sharp, unidentifiable sound resonated from the slung shot fired.

Clang!

A broken jar with a sound like that of a woman crying.

The scent emanating from inside was that of fresh herbs.

"Someone told me!"

Vlad cut down two of the four in an instant and even broke the suspicious jar.

Standing in front of the man who seemed to be the group's leader, Vlad looked at his face and grinned fiercely.

The man who couldn't hide his bewildered expression as he looked at the sword pointed at him was also someone Vlad knew well.

"What's going on here? Bishop Pedro!"

"Shit!"

Literally in the blink of an eye.

The only man not subdued tried to approach, but Nibelun's slung shot was already aiming at him.

"You spread a curse here!"

"I am a faithful follower of God and Bishop of the Holy See! Do you think I would do such a thing?"

"Then, why are you here!"

A broken jar and subdued men.

And even the triangular flag that is gradually losing its color.

Pedro exploded in anger towards Vlad, who ruined everything he had planned.

"I'm here to lift the curse! Idiot!"

"Those words..."

Can you believe it?

You're the one selling false indulgences and blaming me.

Knock, knock, knock -

However, Vlad didn't dare to say the words that had come to his lips.

"It's all done! This is because of you!"

"…!"

A triangle that gradually loses its light under the darkest sky.

The vibrations felt from below grew stronger and began to break Vlad's balance.

"What the hell are you doing here!"

"Kwaaaak!"

Such a large vibration that even Vlad's voice was absorbed.

However, there was a scream from someone that pierced even the vibrations.

"Help me!"

The man Nibelun's slung shot was aiming at.

He was now suspended in the air.

Clung to the tips of his toes was something that looked like a bunch of unidentifiable tentacles.

"It's the Qliphoth tree! God's will spoken backwards!"

A huge body that emerged crawling from the land of the dead.

Branches going to the ground and roots to the sky.

And leaves that eat darkness instead of light.

What finally appeared was an upside-down hanging tree defying all the laws of the world.

"Bishop."

Swoosh!

The man pitifully crying in the air was split in half along the roots.

Internal organs spilled and fell onto the broken jar.

"What the hell is that..."

"I can't even flee now!"

The land of the dead where only Vlad, Nibelun, and Pedro stood.

The triangular formation drawn underneath only emits a faint light.

"If you want to survive, help! I need to finish the vortex!"

"Lord Vlad! Let's do it quickly! Grandpa is right!"

Nibelun, who understood the situation when Pedro shouted that the team needed to be completed, quickly placed Vlad in one of the vertices of the triangle.

"What am I supposed to do?!"

"Speed up the aura!"

Nibelun quickly went in to find the spot of the broken jar.

Vlad standing in the place of the man he killed.

"I mean, create your own world that you're so proud of!"

And Pedro reciting a prayer.

Three people standing in front of a fallen tree.

- There's a voice calling in the darkness, even if I turn my head towards that place…

The voice had spoken.

There are only three ways to break the evil curse.

- I think if I'm with you, I won't be deceived by the eyes that look at me!

A knight with his own world.

A wizard who defies the rules of the world.

And a bishop who exercises the will of God.

The prayers sung under the darkest sky rang loudly through the fog of Moshiam.

A triangular ginebra shining with it.

It was an exorcism to drive out evil beings.

____

Join the discord! 

https://dsc.gg/indra

____