The ghoul wandered aimlessly through the mountain range.
While doing so, it swallowed colorful venomous snakes, small animals, and insect-type monsters.
It put anything it could swallow into its mouth.
“Goooor…”
After repeating such actions several times and moving forward, it reached a dungeon.
In front of it, the vampire Baalcherit was diligently planting seeds.
“Gooor?”
“Uh? Isn’t that a ghoul? What brings you here?”
Baalcherit also spotted the ghoul and waved.
“Gooor, gooor.”
(I’m lost. I’m looking for the Death Knight.)
Ghouls are beings born from Death Knights.
It faintly sensed the Death Knight’s energy, but it was too faint to know exactly where she was.
But perhaps she would know where the Death Knight went?
“Hmm… If it’s the Death Knight, she definitely went that way.”
“Gooor, gooor.”
(Thank you, thank you.)
The ghoul bowed its head and expressed its gratitude.
“What’s the big fuss about this? Isn’t it natural to help each other?”
Baalcherit waved its hand.
She had learned a lot during the days she spent planting seeds here.
The strong friendship between Necros and the Death Knight.
The goblins who were faithful to their missions, not shying away from hard work.
And even the Dullahan, Berter, who strived to be loyal to the dungeon.
Witnessing their actions, Baalcherit looked at the dungeon as a collective entity once more.
And she felt a sense of pride in being able to help the ghoul.
“Ah, right. Take some of these with you on your way.”
Baalcherit handed some seeds to the ghoul.
“It would be great if you sprinkled them little by little on your way.”
In fact, she was planting seeds around the dungeon under Celia’s orders.
She had planted them diligently, but the carnivorous pitcher plants grew so slowly that there were no satisfactory results yet.
So, she came up with a brilliant idea.
Wouldn’t scattering them throughout the forest, not just around the dungeon, yield better results?
Baalcherit wanted the ghoul to sprinkle the seeds on its way to the Death Knight.
“Goooor…”
Fortunately, the ghoul readily accepted.
The ghoul took the seeds presented by Baalcherit and moved on.
‘As expected, everyone is faithful to their missions.’
Watching the ghoul’s retreating back, Baalcherit was moved again.
Of course, as the ghoul walked, it swallowed all the seeds that Baalcherit had given it.
“Goooor.”
Thanks to that, a constant war waged within the ghoul’s body.
No, it was nothing short of a miniature version of a horrific ecosystem.
“Kyaaak!”
“Saaak-!”
Various creatures devoured each other, fused, and constantly transformed.
The green monster that resembled a squirrel, VenomSquirrel, which the ghoul had swallowed initially.
VenomSquirrel tore at the scales of the venomous snake with its sharp claws.
With a powerful strike, the venomous snake, as it died, spewed out a sticky liquid. The liquid soon filled the ghoul’s intestines, and within it, the venom became even more potent.
Perhaps due to the venom, the ghoul’s skin, which was initially grayish, began to turn a slightly darker purple.
“Goooor.”
Of course, the ghoul roamed peacefully through the forest, unaware of its own transformation.
Even at that moment, battles continued to rage inside its body.
The mutated DNA of VenomSquirrel rapidly replicated, infecting the ghoul’s organ tissues.
The infected tissues caused bizarre phenomena of rapid growth and mutation.
Insect-type monsters that came into contact with the venom melted instantly; only the shell parts of their exoskeletons, which were incredibly hard, did not melt and endured.
However, they began to fuse with the ghoul’s internal tissues, making its skin tougher and sharper.
As the inside filled with venom and blood, some reacted.
The seeds of the carnivorous pitcher plants given by Baalcherit began to resonate.
Although she said their growth was slow, they sprouted shortly after entering the ghoul’s body.
The sprouts soon extended their stems and began to settle in every nook and cranny of the ghoul’s body.
Its body, which had been like a tattered rag with rotting skin hanging loose, was perfectly stabilized by the plant stems.
All these processes repeated and evolved endlessly.
Those that survived became stronger, leaving the DNA of the strong within the ghoul’s body.
The weak were eliminated, but they left their DNA before death, ensuring their trace was not forgotten.
And finally, at the end of all this chaos and destruction, a new order began to form.
“Goooor…”
“Kyaaak!!”
Even now, the ghoul was pushing a new monster into its mouth.
It seemed like it would be a long time before the new order was perfectly established.
* * *
Eclipse, an organization of warlocks who dreamed of the revival of the Evil God.
Sharia, the young leader of Eclipse, and Lucas, the vice-captain, were climbing a rugged mountain range.
“Hoo, hoo… Lucas, is this really the right way?”
Sharia, not accustomed to climbing, asked with ragged breaths.
Sweat droplets were clearly visible on her forehead.
“Yes, Captain. The direction we are heading is correct.”
Lucas stopped for a moment and carefully examined the old map in his hand.
“Yes, Captain. The direction we are heading is correct.”
Lucas answered confidently.
Actually, it would have been much easier to climb the mountain range through the Sail Kingdom.
But Sharia and Lucas were warlocks.
With the White Church closely watching the Sail Kingdom, there was a high risk of their identities being exposed.
Therefore, instead of ascending the mountain range through the Sail Kingdom, they were traveling through the mountains sandwiched between the Free City Alliance and the Kalrn Empire.
The terrain was rugged, but the rumors of treasure and the hope of the Evil God’s revival spurred them on with tireless energy.
“Ugh!”
Sharia’s hand, which was holding onto a rock for support, suddenly lost its strength.
Just as she lost her balance and was about to fall backward, Lucas thankfully grabbed her hand.
“Captain! Are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine… I just got a little dizzy…”
Sharia replied with heavy breaths, a weak smile on her lips.
In reality, Lucas wasn’t much better.
Both of their expressions were not good at all.
That’s right.
They were suffering from dizziness due to starvation and exhaustion.
All they had eaten before climbing the mountain range was a piece of moldy bread.
And they had shared that with all the members of Eclipse.
With Eclipse’s meager finances, they struggled to buy even a single withered piece of bread, let alone dried jerky.
Although there was something like a congee that the members had diligently begged for, it didn’t look good for the leader and vice-captain to take food from the members.
As a result, Sharia and Lucas had not eaten anything since entering the mountain range.
Of course, there were various fruits and animals in the mountains, but they tried to avoid them as much as possible, fearing poison.
“Lu-Lucas… I’m hungry…”
But now they were reaching their physical limits.
They just wanted to close their eyes and eat the unknown mushrooms growing in the crevices of the rocks.
As Sharia reached for the mushrooms without thinking, Lucas stopped her.
“Cheer up. We’ll find something to eat if we go a little further.”
Lucas was also hungry and tired, but he supported Sharia and encouraged her.
Knowing firsthand why they had to endure this arduous path, he resolved to overcome this hardship for the sake of the Evil God’s revival.
It was then.
“Goooor!”
The two were startled by a strange roar carried by the wind and looked up.
From the sound echoing beyond the jagged rocks, a feeling akin to death was emanating.
“What is that sound…?”
Sharia’s eyes trembled with fear.
“It sounds like a monster’s cry…”
Lucas, who was answering, could only falter in his words.
It was indeed the cry of a monster.
However, considering the aura emanating from the cry, it was no ordinary monster.
“Goooor.”
The roar grew closer.
Why did this have to happen now, when they were completely exhausted?
The two looked at each other and nodded.
Sensing the danger, Lucas scanned his surroundings and assumed a defensive posture.
Sharia also suppressed her fear and prepared to cast a spell.
“……”
The sound continued to approach.
Now, they could clearly feel the aura.
“Lucas, this aura is…”
Sharia swallowed and put on a serious expression.
It was a familiar aura.
“Yes, I feel it. It’s faint, but I definitely feel the power of death.”
It wasn’t just the power of death.
It was the aura of death, like the bottom of hell, where souls fought and devoured each other.
An aura of the dark abyss, as if it could engulf the souls of the living.
The power of death that made even death tremble.
At first, she thought it was her imagination.
But as the aura drew closer, she knew for sure.
Didn’t the roaring monster emanate a deep power of death!
And as a warlock who used the power of death as her source, she couldn’t mistake it.
“This power is…”
Moreover, Sharia’s talent as a warlock was overwhelming, so she could feel it clearly.
And she reached a conclusion in her mind.
“…It’s His power.”
Such profound power of death could not be wielded by just anyone.
Such an aura belonged only to the Evil God.
Sharia’s tired face from a moment ago broke into a smile.
Lucas also nodded slightly at Sharia’s words.
“That’s right. He is the only one who possesses such power.”
The Evil God is the only being who presides over death.
However, the aura they felt now was very faint.
Perhaps it was a fragment detached from the vast power of death.
If so, the owner of the roar must surely be a follower of the Evil God.
With that thought, Sharia and Lucas immediately moved.
They were warlocks belonging to Eclipse, who wished for the Evil God’s revival.
It would be disloyal to remain idle when an opportunity presented itself.
“Goooor.”
Sharia and Lucas ran with mixed emotions of hope and fear.
Towards the source of the roar.
They had long forgotten about the rumors of treasure.
When the chance to witness the Evil God’s trace arrived, treasure was no longer important.
“Gooor…”
Finally, they were able to identify the roaring being.
“Th-that is…!”
Lucas, upon confirming its identity, could only exclaim in surprise.
“…A ghoul!”
However, the ghoul was not in its ordinary state.
Its rotten skin had a dark purple hue.
And a hard shell had grown on its skin.
That wasn’t all.
“Is that a plant…?”
Stems, believed to be plant stems, were growing in various places on the ghoul’s body.
It was a being that was completely different from an ordinary ghoul.
Moreover, there was a different level of death aura emanating from it.
‘Just by looking at it, it’s like this…’
Sharia had faced death countless times as a warlock, but this was her first time experiencing such abyssal fear.
Therefore, Sharia was certain.
“Truly, an apostle of the Evil God.”
The ghoul had now been elevated to the status of an apostle of the Evil God.
Otherwise, such a ghoul could not exist in the world.
As Sharia and Lucas looked at the ghoul, the ghoul also recognized their presence.
“Goooor.”
(It’s a living human.)
The ghoul only rummaged through the belongings of those who were unconscious or dead; living humans were not of interest to it.
“Goooor.”
Ignoring them, the ghoul turned its back.
Time was of the essence to find the Death Knight.
It had to move more diligently.
However, Sharia interpreted the ghoul’s actions differently.
“Lucas, it seems like that apostle wants us to follow him?”
Even as a warlock, one couldn’t interpret a ghoul’s words.
Sharia arbitrarily interpreted the ghoul’s actions as it spoke something towards them and began to move.
“It seems so. Let’s follow him.”
Lucas also misinterpreted the ghoul’s words.
An unusual spectacle unfolded, with the ghoul leading the way and Sharia and Lucas following behind.
The ghoul in front turned around and asked as the humans followed.
“Goooor?”
(Why are you following me?)
Of course, Sharia couldn’t understand the monster’s words.
She was just interpreting it arbitrarily.
“Yes, Apostle! We will follow you to the end!”
“Gooor, gooor.”
(Strange humans.)
The ghoul soon gave up and went about its business.
As it walked, it saw an adventurer lying fallen under a tree.
It approached and naturally rummaged through his belongings.
“Indeed! Our Apostle is merciless!”
“Gooor?”
The ghoul shook its head at Sharia’s praise.
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
“Gooor…”
The ghoul offered the gold coins from the adventurer’s belongings to Sharia.
“Th-this is gold coins bestowed by our Apostle…!”
Sharia bowed deeply to the ghoul, moved.
Lucas, standing beside her, also bowed his waist and expressed his gratitude.
“Gooor, gooor.”
A small smile appeared on the ghoul’s face.
It was the first time it realized that the act of giving to others felt so good.
“Goooor…”
The ghoul raised its head and looked at the blue sky.
The world looked beautiful today.
