Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

Eup! Eup!

Chayton’s eyes were filled with deep fear and bloodshot, tears welling up as if he was pleading for help.

Once.

Twice.

After each murder, it seemed like it had become a routine, numbing him to the horror of it all.

As if his turn would never come.

“Begging for your life?”

Lucion asked.

That was really funny.

Chayton nodded vigorously.

“You believe the God of Light will save you, so why worry?” 

Lucion taunted, his words dripping with sarcasm.

“You must think your actions, in their purity, are justified. I’m helping you, aren’t I? Soon, you’ll join the others in a peaceful rest,” he continued mockingly.

Chayton shook his head vigorously.

Lucion pressed him further, soaking him up to his ankles.

As Chayton trembled, he removed the darkness that covered his mouth.

“If you have something to say, speak now,” Lucion asked, as he did a little while ago.

He waited for a moment.

About three seconds passed.

“Nothing to say?” Lucion pressed Chayton further into the water, causing it to rise around his calves and ankles.

The corruption moved slowly but surely.

There was no way the corruption would refuse such a delicious meal right in front of him.

“I, I, I was wrong! I was wrong!”

Only then did Chayton scream, his voice breaking.

“No,” Lucion responded firmly, lowering Chayton until the water reached his calves, staining his pants a deep red hue as if they were soaked in blood.

Chayton squeezed his eyes shut and shouted as if his throat would burst.

“Y, yes! In Nevast, y, yes! I was told to corrupt the holy relics! I don’t know why! I was just told to do it!”

[What the… crazy! They really intended to corrupt the relics?]

Russell shouted.

They truly planned to corrupt relics in Nevast.

The holy nation of Nevast.

[What kind of bullshit is this? They ordered someone blessed by the light to corrupt their own holy relics?]

He had expected it.

But when it actually turned out to be true, Russell couldn’t believe it.

Nevast was foolishly strangling its own neck.

He couldn’t understand it.

“Brachion Myronist.”

Lucion asked briefly.

“W-well, that is, aaah!”

A tendril of corruption touched Chayton’s leg.

He shivered like a leaf about to be swept away by a gust of wind, but Lucion calmly pushed him to continue. 

It was still nothing to worry about at this point.

“Speak,” Lucion urged.

“To corrupt the relics, we needed a sacrifice! Many nobles in the kingdom of Myronist were bribed by Neubra! Since they were already traitors, we struck a deal with them to shift blame if things went awry! We threatened to kill the first prince if they didn’t offer their people as sacrifices as we demanded…” Chayton confessed.

Lucion lifted Chayton before the black lines of corruption spread across his face.

‘What? So Nevast didn’t ally with Neubra; they just needed a sacrifice?’

Knowing that if Brachion died, Myronist would quickly fall under Neubra’s control, Nevast not only turned a blind eye but also allied with a filthy traitor, indifferent to the destruction of a country for their own greed.

‘These crazy bastards!’

The nobles of Myronist who allowed it were also crazy.

They all seemed mad.

‘Filthy bastards…!’

Lucion wanted nothing more than to drown Chayton right then and there.

Pondering the countless deaths caused by the man before him.

[Lord Lucion, don’t let those emotions overwhelm you. Remember, corruption can only increase.]

Bethel calmed him.

She, too, wanted to escape this place right now.

Lucion gritted his teeth and spoke.

“Do you remember the prince from the Keortia kingdom that you enslaved?”

“W-w-wait, how do you know about that?!”

Chayton was horrified.

Even if fear kept his mind in a fog, the fact that Keortia was now being mentioned meant that he had come prepared with most of the information.

“Why Keortia?”

When Lucion asked, Chayton trembled even more as he replied.

“I’m s-sorry… I’m so sorry! I was wrong! I swear!”

“No. That’s not what you need to say.”

He shouldn’t be the one receiving that apology. 

He needed to squeeze out every word, one by one, to say it to Kran and his vassals, Stra and Helon.

Chayton trembled even more at Lucion’s urging.

“Th, they said they angered the gods!”

No.

There was no god.

The black figure had made it clear from the start that the god of light Chayton spoke of did not exist.

[He’s spouting nonsense again.]

Russell was quietly furious.

“In Nevast, they approached me, claiming a need for someone to oversee tasks assigned by the gods. I didn’t believe it. Where was this God when I sold countless lives? If there truly was a god, shouldn’t I have been struck by lightning and died already? But…” Chayton’s voice trailed off as tears welled up.

“My… my beloved daughter suddenly fell ill. They said they wouldn’t help or treat her unless I complied with their demands… And that day, Keortia disappeared. Right before my eyes, in an instant…!”

As he recalled that day, awe filled his eyes—feelings he could hardly articulate.

Overwhelmed by a fear too great to express, he was momentarily speechless.

“I had to do it. To avoid the wrath of the gods and to ensure my daughter wouldn’t die… I just had to! I know! No matter how much I deny it, I know the truth! I am more disgusting than the maggots crawling from a corpse, more filthy than the sewage covered in filth!”

Chayton cried out in despair.

“I can’t deny it. I have committed sins. I’ve taken countless lives for my daughter’s sake, over and over again!” he confessed.

Lucion couldn’t bear to listen to Chayton’s disgraceful confessions any longer.

For his daughter.

He was a father.

He couldn’t believe how brazenly he was making excuses.

That wasn’t a father.

“Listen carefully, Chayton.”

Lucion opened his mouth towards Chayton, who had stopped in his tracks.

He knew a true father would never act in such a manner.

“Was it really your sick daughter you were afraid of?”

Chayton just quietly shed tears at those words.

“Was the priest really only in Nevast?”

The father he knew was someone who would resist, even if he had the whole world as his enemy, for the sake of his child.

“What if her sickness is not natural but a curse from a warlock? Even if you were unaware before, you must know now?” Lucion probed.

There was always a time when Chayton could have stopped this. 

Anytime.

“So where is your daughter? Have you seen her?” 

Lucion asked, slowly looking into Chayton’s trembling eyes. 

It seemed he had vaguely guessed the truth.

“Is she… alive?”

“Y-yes… she’s alive…”

“Have you checked if she’s a living, moving corpse or not?!”

“…” 

Chayton was speechless.

“That’s right. What you were really afraid of was your own life, you piece of trash!”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry…”

“No. You should beg for forgiveness from the prince, not me.”

To Kran.

“Death is not the end, Chayton. Do you know what the Warlock sees that you cannot see?”

Grit.

Chayton’s teeth clenched. 

He didn’t understand why that calm voice felt so terrifying.

How could he not know that the warlock was conversing with unseen entities?

But he denied it.

Accepting it would be too frightening.

If there were something after death, it would mean there was no longer any last hope of escape.

“The world after death.”

Lucion’s mask turned yellow.

“Your death is mine, Chayton.”

Lucion made it clear that even death would not bring liberation.

“Where is the evidence?”

* * *

A gentle breeze rose around Ratta.

As the violet darkness emanating from Ratta illuminated the surroundings, black masses scrambled urgently from the bloodied lake.

Even without words, Lucion understood.

They were asking for help.

To stop these tears.

Corruption was a turmoil of darkness.

A fear that only the self-aware darkness could truly feel.

‘Now I think I understand why Ratta was so sad.’

Lucion glanced at Chayton, who was probably searching for information under Hume’s surveillance, then turned back to Ratta. 

Their eyes met.

—Can you feel it, Lucion?

Ratta asked.

There was a violet darkness in Ratta’s eyes.

It was strange.

Whenever Ratta used her power, Lucion felt a sense of something foreign, something different from Ratta herself.

But rather than being bad, it felt like coming home, even though it was a home he didn’t know. 

It felt strangely familiar.

“Yeah.”

—I think I understand a little.

“What do you mean?”

—I understand why I have this power. I must help Lucion and assist the darkness.

[Did that just come to you suddenly?]

Russell asked.

As Lucion’s darkness grew, Ratta would grow alongside it.

Had she begun to realize her identity as a divine beast?

—No. I must have forgotten. But I won’t forget anymore! I’m smart!

The spark in Ratta’s eyes grew brighter.

Yet, Ratta looked at Lucion.

For some reason, her gaze made his chest swell strangely and his voice blurted out.

“Come… back.”

Whoosh. 

The violet darkness that erupted from his fingertips adorned the lake like a lantern and slowly flowed into the bloody lake. 

Following the softly glowing color, a voice was heard. 

It is calling us.

Ah… it’s warm.

[…?]

Russell and Bethel, who had left the possession, looked at Lucion with surprised eyes.

When Lucion looked at Ratta, she smiled brightly.

—I knew the darkness would like Lucion more than it liked Ratta.

“How did I do this?”

Lucion, who had voiced his thoughts, was also taken aback and stared at his own hand.

—Um… because it’s Lucion!

Lucion swallowed hard at such a bright and innocent reply.

Was it because he was a vessel?

Or was it because of the black orb?

Surprised for a moment, Lucion looked at the countless darkness and souls trapped in corruption in that lake.

Seeing them embracing each other in joy, Lucion put aside his doubts and looked at the darkness and the souls.

[Really… he killed a lot. The corruption must have devoured them all.]

Russell’s face showed regret, for he had once been a warlock himself.

If the souls that emerged after purifying the corruption were like that, how many had he killed before?

Hundreds.

Thousands.

No, it might even reach tens of thousands.

It was certainly not something that happened overnight.

“Then, where do those who are consumed by corruption and cannot even become ghosts go?”

Lucion asked.

It was said that ghosts who were killed by the same ghost or by the Death Knight and did not make it to heaven were eaten by fish-like soul scavengers and slowly faded from everyone’s memory.

At that time, hadn’t Ratta been exceedingly sad about it?

[Well, where can one go when existence disappears?]

Russell said in a bitter voice.

—I don’t know either.

[I think it would be best to go back now, Lord Lucion.]

At Bethel’s urging, Lucion stepped into the lake to retrieve the holy relics.

The water was cold enough to freeze his feet, even in the scorching summer sun.

Lucion stretched out his hand, and the relics swooped into his arms like baby birds swooping toward their mother.

[This is the first time in my life that I’ve seen something like this.]

Russell frowned at the sight of the holy relics following the warlock, which seemed so out of place.

With the relics in hand, Lucion glanced back momentarily.

The area was still filled with blood and corpses, but he had done all he could here.

Now, it was time to leave the remaining tasks to Brachion.

* * *

“Have you returned?”

Kran welcomed Lucion and Hume.

The sun has already set and it is getting dark.

When Lucion removed his mask, exhaustion was written all over his face.

What was that smell of blood surrounding him and Hume?

“There’s a smell of… blood.”

As Kran stepped closer, Lucion quickly spoke up.

“It’s not my blood, so there’s no need to make a fuss.”

Lucion momentarily chuckled at Kran’s utter disregard for the Chayton he had brought in and pointed at him with his finger.

“…!” 

Kran gasped.

It was obvious who Lucion had brought back.

“I’ll be bringing Chayton, so calm down and wait.”

Kran recalled Lucion’s words before he left. 

He hadn’t been joking. 

He had actually captured him.

‘That man.’n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

That man was the one who had ruined his life for the past ten years.

“I’ll go wash up, so don’t kill him…”

Lucion paused for a moment.

Kran’s eyes were already filled with uncontrollable hatred.

Oh no.

“Hume, I think we have to hold Kran back.”

New year, new price. For living 🙏