Green smoke emanating from the ghoul billowed thickly.
The smoke that filled the forest caused the adventurers to feel as if their lungs were burning with every breath.
Even when they tried to scream, only groans escaped their melted vocal cords.
“Ugh…!”
The desperate screams of the suffering adventurers echoed through the forest.
The sight of them collapsing while letting out chilling screams was like a scene from hell.
Their skin melted, and their flesh rotted away.
Even the armor that seemed indomitable was being chewed up by the green smoke, losing its shape.
“That is the power of the Apostle…!”
Sharia, who was watching this horrific scene, could not hide her astonishment.
Holding her breath, she witnessed a miracle of sorts performed by the ghoul.
“Th-that… what in the world…?”
Lucas, standing beside her, felt the same.
It was a single attack.
The ghoul had simply opened its mouth and spewed smoke, yet it had incapacitated all those adventurers.
“Haha…”
Lucas let out a hollow laugh, as if he had gone mad.
The scene he had just witnessed was so overwhelming it even evoked a sense of awe.
“This is the true power of the Evil God.”
A fire ignited in Lucas’s eyes.
And then, he suddenly realized.
The ghoul’s attack was like a judgment from the Evil God, and it wasn’t just an attack.
‘What the Evil God wants to show us…!’
Lucas believed this was undoubtedly a teaching from the Evil God.
He closed his eyes and pondered.
Thinking back, the ghoul had been fearless.
It attacked as soon as it approached the adventurers.
Seeing how it ruthlessly struck down its enemies without mercy, Lucas felt a breathtaking, intense thrill.
‘…Show no mercy to your enemies.’
Perhaps this is what the Evil God wanted to convey.
Eclipse is weak right now.
Busy just making ends meet day by day, they have lost their original purpose.
Lucas clenched his fist.
‘Also, the Evil God has told us the essence of dark magic.’
The next part was the most important.
What did he see when he first followed that ghoul?
It was only the ghoul devouring things indiscriminately.
It fearlessly swallowed not only living animals but also monsters.
Did it not even retrieve and swallow gold coins from the corpses of dead adventurers?
It wasn’t just about swallowing.
The meaning of this was clear.
‘The essence of dark magic.’
Dark magic fundamentally wields great power through sacrifice.
The more offerings and sacrifices there are, the stronger the dark magic can be wielded.
The Evil God was surely making them realize this essence through his apostles.
‘To steal the lives of the living.’
Of course, Lucas was well aware of that.
But what was his current state?
He was nothing more than a coward who lived quietly, perhaps out of fear of being pursued by the Church.
He didn’t even use animal carcasses, let alone human corpses, for fear of leaving a trace.
And what was the result?
There were no situations where he was chased by the Church, so naturally, it was peaceful.
But was that truly enough?
Eclipse is an organization formed by warlocks.
And it is an organization with the goal of dreaming of the resurrection and descent of the great Evil God.
It was as if the Evil God was asking Eclipse.
The great being seemed to be questioning Lucas himself.
– Is that truly enough?
No.
Absolutely not.
Eclipse must act more boldly than it does now.
‘Now, more boldly….’
If until now they had only stolen dead livestock, now they needed to act boldly and kill and steal it themselves.
Lucas vowed never to forget what the ghoul before him had shown him today.
“Captain.”
Lucas spoke to Sharia, with whom he had witnessed the miracle.
“It seems this is the path our Eclipse must take.”
Sharia is a genius warlock.
There was no way she wouldn’t understand what Lucas meant.
Sharia also thought of it as a revelation from the Evil God.
“Yes, Lucas. That is true dark magic!”
A mad passion flickered in her eyes.
Lucas also gritted his teeth, unable to hide his excitement.
From today onwards, the Eclipse of the past had vanished.
They would be reborn as a new Eclipse.
The horrific scene unfolding before the ghoul was, for them, a blessed omen heralding the descent of the Evil God.
Sharia and Lucas took a deep breath and, turning away from the slowly dying adventurers, approached the ghoul.
The ghoul was shaking its head from side to side, and the two believed even that action held some meaning.
***
The ghoul was confused.
“Gueooeo…?”
(Why did they die?)
It had merely intended to generously offer gold coins.
But then all the adventurers died.
The ghoul wanted to understand the current situation, but it had no brain.
“Gueooeo.”
It was simply living in the moment.
Its thoughts were spontaneous.
Fallen adventurer -> Ah! They’re dead, so I must search their pockets! -> Acquire gold coins! -> Put them in my mouth!
The ghoul acted quickly.
It searched the pockets of the fallen adventurers and found gold coins.
However, the gold coins held by the adventurers were stained with a sticky green liquid.
“Gueo…”
It didn’t matter.
The ghoul would swallow anything.
It even swallowed the remains of the adventurers whose bones were left after their flesh melted.
Of course, to the warlocks watching, it was different.
“Indeed, Apostle!”
Sharia exclaimed in admiration.
Not only was it merciless, but to do such a horrific thing so nonchalantly!
Lucas also nodded his head in agreement.
“That’s right, Captain. That is the direction we warlocks must go!”
The ghoul glanced at the two having an incomprehensible conversation, then strode forward.
Although it had momentarily forgotten, the ghoul’s goal was to find the Death Knight.
It had to join the main force of the Death Knight and Necros as soon as possible.
“Hey, let’s go together! Apostle!”
Sharia shouted and followed the ghoul.
“Apostle, may I know where you are heading?”
Lucas asked as he followed, but the ghoul continued to move forward without answering.
Only the swaying branches in the wind and the sound of footsteps broke the silence; the forest was silent.
They walked for a long time.
“Lu, Lucas…”
While walking, a strange aura was suddenly felt.
An aura that warlocks would know well.
It was the aura of death.
Suddenly, the forest became filled with the aura of death.
“Captain, you must be careful.”
Lucas warned, stopping Sharia’s advance.
It was too powerful to dismiss as a mere aura of death.
The ghoul, which had been moving ahead, also stopped.
“A, Apostle. What is happening….”
Lucas’s voice was tinged with anxiety.
A moment later, they couldn’t help but be surprised by the scene that unfolded before them.
“……!”
“Lu, Lucas. Th-this…!”
They were horrified by the sight of skeletons and ghouls emerging endlessly from between the trees.
However, the ghoul continued to walk forward without any change in its demeanor.
And then it bowed its head to a certain being!
“S-surely…!”
Lucas looked at the being to whom the Apostle ghoul, who had been with them, bowed its head.
They all possessed immense power that reeked of death.
“Are there not more than one Apostle?!”
One wore a blue, luxurious robe and held a large book in his hand.
Another was a person who carried a sword and a shield, with a maid outfit attached to the shield.
“Disgusting.”
It was undoubtedly the clothes of humans, directly killed, hung on the shield.
They were such merciless and cruel beings, without the slightest pity.
Then why had such beings appeared?
Sharia and Lucas, warlocks of Eclipse, realized.
The resurrection of the Evil God had already begun.
It was clear that this beginning would be accompanied by the Apostles and the undead legion.
***
“Ttak?”
(What are those?)
Necros asked as the ghoul, which had disappeared for a moment, returned.
It was one thing for the ghoul to return, but it had brought two humans with it.
“Gueooeo.”
(Just some insignificant humans.)
Although the ghoul was a direct subordinate of the Death Knight, it was not permitted to ignore Necros’s question.
At the ghoul’s answer, Necros looked at the humans.
The man’s robe was torn in places, resembling rags, and the woman’s cloak was tattered, as if covered in mold.
Judging by how their hair was matted with grease, they certainly hadn’t washed for days.
Necros nodded.
“Ttak-ttak.”
(Truly shabby and lowly humans.)
Necros opened his notebook and began to record something.
– Brought humans with no money. Useless.
Lucas, unaware of the content, wore an expression of emotion.
“Indeed, Captain. Look at that recording! They are surely the Apostles!”
A being with an immense aura was recording something.
As a warlock, curiosity piqued.
What kind of content was written in that book held by those who served the Evil God as Apostles?
“It must be filled with esoteric magic that we cannot understand.”
Sharia also nodded and agreed with Lucas.
No matter how much of a genius warlock she was, anyone who wrote like that would be merely a commoner.
Sharia and Lucas quietly gazed at the beings before them.
Rustle – Rustle –
Necros’s hand continued to move.
– Even if I searched them, no money would come out. It’s a waste of time.
After recording in his notebook for a while, Necros turned his back.
“……”
The Death Knight also glanced at Sharia and Lucas before following Necros.
As all the undead followed Necros, Sharia and Lucas quickly followed suit.
“Apostles! Let’s go together!”
“Ttak-ttak.”
(Why are they following?)
“Gueooeo.”
(Just some insignificant humans.)
“Ttak.”
(I see.)
Necros nodded and continued to move.
The reason for leaving them alone was simple.
He didn’t expect to get any money even if he killed them.
It was better to search for other adventurers during that time.
Adventurers would come to the mountain range on their own, and Necros intended to snatch some loot before returning to the Kingdom’s dungeon.
Naturally, Sharia and Lucas, who could not understand the language of monsters, misunderstood.
“It seems the Ghoul Apostle is telling them about us.”
Sharia thought the same.
Now that they had caught the attention of the Apostles, the growth of Eclipse was obvious.
The Ghoul Apostle had bestowed money.
Then, what would that person give?
Just thinking about it brought a smile to Sharia’s face.
As they walked for a long time, the warlocks and the group of Necros encountered a party.
“Undead! It’s a horde of undead! Could it be a Monster Wave?”
“No! There’s a warlock there! They must have summoned them!”
The problem was that the party was clad in holy white armor.
The Paladins also quickly formed ranks upon seeing the warlocks and the undead army.
“P-Paladins! Captain, this is dangerous!”
Lucas exclaimed.
‘I never thought I would meet Paladins in the mountain range.’
He had known for a long time that the White Church was keeping an eye on the Sail Kingdom.
He had thought they would dispatch Paladins to the Sail Kingdom.
He had never dreamed of encountering Paladins of the White Church in the mountain range.
The only fortunate thing was that there were only seven Paladins.
Yet, a shadow fell over Lucas’s face.
Paladins literally used holy power.
Even if there were only seven, they were elite troops capable of easily destroying the undead forces present.
In fact, apart from skeletons and ghouls, the only ones capable of fighting Paladins were the Apostles.
But could the three Apostles defeat seven Paladins?
Of course, he had witnessed the power of an Apostle earlier.
Did they not annihilate the adventurers by emitting smoke?
However, the opponents this time were not adventurers but Paladins.
At the very least, he could only hope that the current Apostles could face the Paladins.
Unlike Lucas, who was observing the situation, Sharia began calculating various possibilities in her mind.
‘Surely, the Apostle earlier…’
What had the ghoul that accompanied them done?
It fearlessly swallowed creatures and gold coins, wielding powerful dark magic.
‘If only they can use that dark magic again…!’
However, great power requires sacrifice.
Unfortunately, at this moment, all she had to offer as a sacrifice was money.
And that was the money the ghoul had given her.
“……”
Sharia took out the coins.
Coins, silver coins, and gold coins mingled in her palm, shining.
Originally, she had planned to eat bread with ham on top, made with this money.
But that was only possible if she survived here.
“Blck… my bread and ham…”
With tears welling up, Sharia gathered all the money she had received from the ghoul and offered it to the Apostle.
It was the Apostle who had been diligently recording something in a book earlier.
“Ttak?”
When a human who seemed to have nothing offered money, Necros was surprised.
After a moment of surprise, he soon wore a pleased expression.
It is always so.
Receiving a single coin from a poor person is more joyful and precious than receiving a large sum of gold coins from a rich person.
Necros was an Arch Lich who had realized that truth.
