* * *
The 5,000 hearts laying in the pit, were only the preliminary steps for the ritual Kim Jonghyun was about to perform.
Kim Jonghyun stretched his arm out and tapped at the air with his hand.
The detection spell that was scattered throughout the forest did not pick up anything as of yet.
Kim Jonghyun clicked his tongue out of regret. Although he was not usually an impatient man, Kim Jonghyun was excited to test the preparations he had made in the forest.
The forest he was in, was full of thin, dead trees, with all the leaves wilted and were scattered around like pikes. Kim Jongyun gave it his own nickname, calling it the Forest of Death.
Kim Jonghyun gave the forest that name due to all the terrible spells that were waiting in preparation to attack the unwelcome guests. No… rather they were welcome, but the guests were not needed alive, hence why Kim Jonghyun did not hesitate to test all of the new spells he had accumulated from Arbeth’s knowledge.
‘Hm…. The magic corps from the Wizard Guild and the Holy Knights.….’
Kim Jonghyun smirked as he recalled the troops of the subjugation forces that had been summoned forward to attack him. All of them came to kill Kim Jonghyun, but Kim Jonghyun was not scared in the slightest.
It was because he was prepared to die. There was a chance of the ritual not even succeeding, and he might fail because of how problematic the Grimoire’s arcane language was to interpret.
No, there was even a chance he would be killed before he could even start the ritual.
‘Then that would be fine too, I guess.’
Kim Jonghyun did not have much lingering affection for his life, though he had in the past.
Interest and curiosity were all that made him move nowadays. The reason behind the ritual was simply an interest and curiosity of his.
What if he died like that? He did not view it as a bad thing either. What was waiting for him after death, was something all humans wanted to know at some point, and naturally he was curious.
‘But I do, more or less, want to learn if it actually does succeed with this number… although, it is a little low.’
Kim Jonghyun was actually hoping for more numbers to have come, although the current numbers from the subjugation force alone would be worthy enough as a sacrifice.
* * *
Edor’s air was filled with tension thanks to the heavy atmosphere from the subjugation forces here to capture Kim Jonghyun.
There were three major forces involved here, including the Magic Corps, the Tower Masters, the Murong Family and backup Murim Alliance members, as well as the Holy Knights.
The Wizard Guild had summoned people at each level of authority within the continent, and even among them were the Holy Knights and the Priests.
The Holy Knights and the Priests, originally used the divine power of their own religions from other continents. They were summoned to Eria, and the spiritual connections with the Gods they were serving was severed, and the faith they had in them was no longer restricted.
Among them, those who had an exceptionally strong faith and could not accept their connection had been severed with their god, committed suicide or committed terrorist attacks in the name of their gods. However, not all of them were that radical, and even though their connection with their gods had been severed, they still called themselves Holy Knights and Priests due to the Divine Power still within them.
Their powers showed lethal force, especially against the undead and other evil forces of nature.
Throughout the long years since the Holy Church was built, Eria continued to summon holy knights and priests.
Thus, the number of the church’s holy knights and priests only increased. Not only did they accept the new unaffiliated holy knights and priests that had their connections severed, but they accepted new ones that formed connections and links with the current gods and goddesses of Eria.
Due to the holy nature of their powers, it was characteristic that they were the natural enemy of every Dark Wizard or undead sorcerer.
However, the Holy Church was private, so it did not often engage with the Murim Alliance or Guilds within Eria.
‘The scale of force has gotten too big.’
Scarlett walked down the paved path with an irritated face. Many people had gathered to capture Kim Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun was no longer only an ordinary Dark Wizard who by chance was Tower Master of the Black Wizard Tower.
Scarlett thought he was still that person though. Yet, the number of forces that had arrived made her start to think about how overkill the situation was. With this much, they made it really seem like Kim Jonghyun was a genuine ‘devil’. Solely because he was in possession of the Grimoire, did not mean he could interpret it, and it was unlikely that he was as powerful as Arbeth or the other Black Stars of Predator.
‘I don’t want to get caught up in this.’
However, she still had the feeling that something was drastically wrong. And although she was sticking to the facts which were in her nature as a Wizard, she couldn’t help but feel as if she were missing something grave. Hence, why she truly did not want to be here.
‘That damned old man.’
Scarlett grated her teeth thinking of the Blue Tower Master.
She had sworn an oath to the Green Tower Master per request. However, she was feeling regretful about her decision.
The only reason Scarlett took the Oath was because it was a mutual benefit. Or so she thought at first. The Green Tower Master had taken an Oath that he would do one favor for Scarlett one day, regardless of the conditions, but in return, she had to take an Oath to participate in the subjugation of Kim Jinghyun in his place.
Scarlett could not listen to her instincts that were screaming at her to run away right now, solely because of the Oath.
‘Well… if I do run away I can always cancel the Oath with the Green Tower Master as well since it’s a mutual Oath. But that will mean I lose out on one favor from him… Kim Jonghyun, what kind of bastard…’
Scarlett had known Kim Jonghyun since she arrived in Behenger with Lee Sungmin. The two of them studied different branches of magic under the same Wizard Guild, and they rarely encountered each other because of their research in different fields.
Scarlett did not like Kim Jonghyun very much though. Kim Jonghyun did not do anything to deserve her dislike, at least as common sense would have it.
She got the creeps whenever she was around him. Her instincts were always screaming at her that something was wrong with him. Just like they were now. Whether it was his creepy demeanor, or disgusting smile, or the bloody lab coat he had always donned in his lab of floating dissected body parts, she wasn’t sure.
“Ah, I found you.”
Scarlett had come out for a brief walk to try and distract her mind from her frustration, but suddenly heard a low voice come out from behind her.
She turned her head in the direction of the voice. An Asian man with no significant distinctive features came out of the surroundings.
Scarlett whipped her head behind her to check and see if the man was actually talking to her, and if he might be directing his words to someone else, but his eyes remained locked on her.
“Ms. Scarlett.”
The man started to approach her. The man’s face was the very epitome of average. No significant or distinctive features, it was like a cardboard cutout of an average person. Scarlett raised her hand and restrained the approaching man.
“Who are you?”
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed with vigilance. She looked up and down at the man who stood before her.
He was quite well-built. Was he a mercenary, she thought? Even the armor he was wearing was incredibly plain, quite like his face with no significant features. Scarlett was rather suspicious of this ambiguous man.
Before Lee Sungmin answered, he slightly raised his left hand. His left hand was decorated with the bracelet he had received from Scarlett.
Scarlett opened her eyes wide when she saw the bracelet Lee Sungmin was wearing. She gave that bracelet to only two people in the entire world. Baek Sogo and Lee Sungmin.
“……you…?”
“Long time no see.”
Lee Sungmin said with a big smile.
Scarlett opened her mouth half-open and studied the skin mask Lee Sungmin was wearing with a curious face. After a brief silence, Scarlett murmured almost as if she were sighing.
“You were pretty handsome when you were younger……what happened to your face?”
The skin mask he was wearing wasn’t that ugly. Lee Sungmin answered with a forced cough.
“It’s not my face, it’s just a mask.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Scarlett strode toward Lee Sungmin, saying so.
She smiled softly and spread her arms and suddenly embraced Lee Sungmin’s body. Lee Sungmin was embarrassed and tried to push Scarlett’s body away because he never imagined that Scarlett would react like this.
[Stay still]
Scarlett’s voice rang in Lee Sungmin’s head. It was telepathic, not out loud.
“Thank you. You’re here for me, aren’t you?”
Scarlett opened her lips and said so, while also sending a different message via telepathy .
[I know what’s going on. You must have heard the rumor obviously, and you came here because you were worried about me. Am I correct?]
[……that’s right.]
[You’ve changed your face, so I guess that means you understand your situation and the risk you’re taking by simply being here.]
[That’s right.]
Scarlett was not a fool. The Murim Alliance warriors, who were looking their way with vigilant eyes, went back to the road as Lee Sungmin played the role of a simple acquaintance perfectly.
As they approached Scarlett, and naturally did not know the man she was with and his identity, they were wary.
[Is this a normal occurrence to have bodyguards attached to you?]
[I don’t know if it is or not. First of all, why would you come here all the way from Hadras you idiot! I never asked you to worry about me!]
Scarlett spat out.
[I’m here because I can’t help but be worried about you. Also, of course I’m not going to stir unnecessary trouble if I can help it. I know that much.]
[And if you get caught, I’ll be in a bad position too, you know?]
[If that happens, I’ll take responsibility for it.]
Scarlett smiled at Lee Sungmin’s words. She unwrapped her hug and naturally folded her arms into Lee Sungmin’s arms.
Then they began to wander in the opposite direction from the path the Murim Alliance warriors had taken.
[Responsibility? What kind of responsibility?]
[In any way needed.]
[That’s irresponsible and brazen. It’s been a while since I saw you, but the cute version of you, from the past, has disappeared]
[How was I possibly cute back then?]
[You were silly, stupid, indecisive, and pathetic at the same time. I only liked it since I was rather shameless back then.]
[I still don’t know why you can find that cute.]
[That right there is your charm of cuteness hehe!]
Scarlett groped Lee Sungmin’s forearm with her hands, saying so.
“Long time no see, huh? Oh, look at your forearms. You’re working hard, aren’t you?
“What’s wrong with you?”
[Let me guess?]
[What are you saying right now Ms. Scarlett?!]
[Aren’t you here to protect me?]
Scarlett shed her eyes with a smiling face.
[You won’t turn around and leave, even if I tell you to. Am I correct?]
[That’s right.]
[Then come with me. I’ll go back to the Guild later and introduce you as my escort. I’ll have the alias that you’re a skillful adventurer that I met while I was traveling, or do you have a specific preference of status that you want to use?]
[I don’t.]
[What about a fake mercenary badge?]
[No, I don’t have any. It’ll bother me if I get involved any further with the Mercenary Guild.]
[That’s a good idea. If you were using the identity as a mercenary, you’d be grouped with the other mercenaries that are soon arriving with the Holy Church’s reinforcements.]]
[Wait what?]
Scarlett’s words surprised Lee Sungmin. The Holy Church was sending reinforcements along with contracted mercenaries. This wasn’t mentioned prior to him arriving here.
[I just think there’s something bad that’s going to happen… I’m not going to lie to you… I’m afraid. The North is the territory of the Vampire Queen, Geniella. Not only that, but tips have come in that Kim Jonghyun has possibly deciphered some of the Grimoire’s arcane knowledge. With the possibility of having to face both of them if circumstances warrant it… The subjugation force decided to pull in forces from the Mercenary Guild.]
Lee Sungmin smiled bitterly at the words. Vampire Queen would not be involved in this.
However, Lee Sungmin could not tell Scarlett the truth. It was because even if Scarlett was the one saying, he didn’t think they would believe it, let alone how she obtained that knowledge.
[Did you eat yet?]
[I didn’t eat, but I’m not hungry]
[Then force yourself to eat. I want to talk a little bit more before I go back to the Guild.]
Lee Sungmin and Scarlett walked along the street with her arm linked around his.
The place where they stopped at, eventually, was in front of a quiet restaurant.
It was not until they were led to their seats to dine, that Scarlett let go of Lee Sungmin’s arm she had linked around her own.
“Thank you for letting me come here to protect you.”
Scarlett opened her mouth and spoke,
“I’m thankful as well that you came here, and I kept wondering if I should have asked for help earlier… I thought about it for a long time. And yet, I decided not to. The distance was quite far from your last known location as well…-wait a second! That’s right. How the hell did you get here?”
“I was just in the area.”
Scarlett telepathically responded to Lee Sungmin’s answer.
[Don’t give me that load of bullshit. You were in Hadras with the Sama Order. How did you get here from Hadras?]
[There was a way.]
[Well, it seems you won’t tell me… Anyway, I’m serious about saying thank you. I never imagined you’d come here by yourself just for me.]
[I just didn’t want to let you die.]
[Huh, why are you being so exaggerative. I know I feel like something isn’t right, but why are you afraid I’ll die?]
Scarlett pouted and grumbled at Lee Sungmin’s words.