Chapter 19

Bang!

Hamel and his companions burst roughly into the dressing room.

The interior was still pitch-dark.

Antonio, clutching a lamp, asked in a tense voice.

“Mr. Hamel, what should we do now?”

They had followed without question at the promise that there was a plan.

But in truth, no one actually knew what that plan was.

When everyone’s eyes turned to Hamel, he spoke without turning around.

“Extinguish the lights.”

“…What?”

Even Antonio, who always obeyed orders, questioned his ears this time.

But sadly, Antonio’s ears were fine.

“Put out all the lamp flames.”

“…I’ll put them out.”

Antonio hesitated but opened his lamp and extinguished the flame.

Ono, on the other hand, frowned and asked.

“Why put them out? At least with these we can find the Light Eater or—”

“If I say put them out, then put them out, Mr. Ono.”

The senior priest cut Ono off for Hamel and snuffed out the flame in Ono’s lamp at once.

Ono coughed awkwardly at the priest’s rare rebuke.

Leaving their voices behind, Hamel stepped forward slowly.

Nothing could be seen.

Only darkness.

The party fell silent.

With each step Hamel took, only the clinking of glass fragments could be heard.

‘This should do.’

Hamel grabbed the blade of his sword with his bare hand.

Screech

Red blood flowed out.

Hamel let the blood run along the blade, then suddenly plunged the sword into the floor.

He then quietly clasped his hands and prayed.

Hwaruk

A blue flame coiled around the sword and rose.

It wasn’t enough to light the room, but in the pitch-black it shone brilliantly.

And at that moment.

Ssssssh

It came as if on cue.

As if craving and coveting the glowing light.

A demon born and living in darkness reached its hand toward the light.

Whoosh

With the sound of wind, the Azure Flame went out.

“It swallowed it.”

Hamel muttered softly.

That was all he said.

Hwaruk

“…?”

Suddenly a blue blaze flared up in the darkness.

Clinging to the ceiling and glowing, it looked exactly like a will-o’-the-wisp.

But its true form was…

“Kyeeeeeeeek!”

A scream rang out as something thudded to the floor.

The blue flame grew and revealed what it was.

A gigantic spider flailed, its long legs thrashing about.

But its face was that of an old human man.

The flames that had swallowed the Azure Flame spread from its belly and soon engulfed its head, growing larger.

The party watched the sight in stunned silence.

They hadn’t imagined a demon would be disposed of so easily.

Hamel, however, wasn’t elated; he had expected to handle this much without trouble.

What mattered was what came next.

Because the upper-rank demon Beholder still remained.

‘Focus.’

Hamel pulled the sword from where it had been stuck in the ground.

With the Azure Flame gone, the surroundings were once again drowned in darkness.

But the darkness no longer made him utterly afraid.

Until now he had been prey chased through the dark, but not anymore.

No, rather, the current Hamel was…

A hunter hunting its prey.

---

As the room grew dark again, Antonio’s desperate voice came from behind.

“Mr. Hamel, shall I light the lamps?”

“No. Wait.”

If they lit the lamps now that the Light Eater was gone, they could pinpoint the Beholder’s location.

But that would prevent Hamel from executing his plan.

Instead, Hamel took a hand mirror from his robes.

Surprisingly, the mirror reflected objects far into the darkness.

‘This is night vision.’

Hamel admired the magic he was encountering for the first time.

But there was no time to admire it.

He hurriedly scanned around and advanced slowly.

“Found it.”

Hamel murmured.

On the opposite side of the mirror.

At the end of the dressing room behind Hamel, an aberrant being suddenly appeared.

Sleek

It floated like a round stone in the air, its surface more than half taken up by a gigantic eyeball.

Several wormlike tentacles writhed behind the eye, each tipped with its own eyeball that rolled ceaselessly.

The nauseating creature soon radiated light from its huge purple pupil.

An upper-rank demon.

Beholder, also known as Sphaerooculus.

It means “spherical eye.”

Hamel tightened his grip on the sword as he stared at it.

Because of that thing, Daniel’s life hung by a thread.

‘Come.’

The already tight time window became even shorter.

Hamel glared at Sphaerooculus beyond the mirror.

As that brief standoff continued, then.

Sssrrk

Suddenly Sphaerooculus dissipated like smoke and vanished from sight.

It hadn’t fled.

That technique of Sphaerooculus was not a movement skill but an invisibility one.

It meant it was still somewhere in this room.

Though many belittled it as weak in combat because it used wax-based powers from afar, it was still an upper-rank demon.

Contrary to appearances, it did not shun close combat and had a belligerent nature.

That meant…

“It means it’s come close.”

Hamel murmured calmly, then waved his hand through the air.

The fist he’d been clenching opened, spraying blood into the air.

Blood pooled in his robe flung outward, spreading broadly in the air.

Hamel did not miss the moment.

“Rise and burn.”

Hwaruk

Each drop of blood embroidered in the air ignited into blue flames.

It was like hundreds of fiery raindrops falling from the sky.

And at the same time.

Clink

Countless shards of mirror strewn across the floor.

They began to scatter the falling Azure Flame light in all directions.

An explosive light burst forth, driving out the artificial darkness of the dressing room.

“…!”

At last, the Sphaerooculus that had hidden itself in the darkness just behind Hamel was revealed.

Hamel turned around leisurely.

Perhaps startled by the sudden light.

It had closed all of its grotesque dozens of eyes.

All because they had not lit the lamps until now.

A small lapse in attention, but it had led to a fatal consequence.

Hamel raised his sword, facing the Sphaerooculus directly.

There was no hesitation, no fear in that movement.

Screech

A sharp cutting sound filled the dressing room.

The huge eye, split in two, fell emptily to the floor.

“…Is it over?”

A fight that ended almost anticlimactically.

Hamel nodded quietly at Antonio’s stunned question.

Antonio, clutching a cat instead of a lamp, finally sighed in relief.

Ono, who had once gone exorcising with Hamel, couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“…You really dealt with it alone?”

Hamel, who couldn’t use aura or Divine power and whose innate ability was ambiguous.

When had he become so strong?

No, when he thought about it, it was strange.

For some time now, Hamel had taken exorcism jobs alone and returned alive, though often humiliated.

‘…So that’s how it was.’

Hamel, albeit incomplete, had steadily risked his life to train himself and had finally grown strong.

His survival thus far was not mere luck.

He was simply lacking compared to geniuses who had obtained brilliant power.

Hamel’s skill was real.

Ono finally felt he knew a little about who Hamel was.

Meanwhile, Hamel was looking around the dressing room as if searching for something.

Not long after, he found a lever at the far end of the dressing room.

Clunk

When he pulled the lever, the same grinding roar echoed through the mansion as something heavy was dragged.

Stairs leading to the third floor had opened.

“That’s it. Everyone, run for the stairs.”

Hamel said that and was about to dash to the door when he suddenly stopped.

Inside the dressing room, blue light flickered.

At the edge of his sight stood a knight with a red-plumed helmet.

“Sir Daniel.”

Thankfully, he was still unharmed.

He stood in the same sturdy posture as before.

‘Please wait just a little longer.’

There was really only a little left now.

They were one step away from rescuing him.

---

Bang! Kra-kra-krash!

“What on earth…”

As soon as they stepped into the corridor, a deafening noise rang out.

A puppet flew from afar and thudded down in front of Hamel.

At the same time, dozens of spear-bearing puppets charged the monster.

But.

Clang clack

Their spears failed to pierce the monster’s hide and stopped in midair.

But perhaps not expecting to pierce it, David quickly gave an order.

“Push it back!”

At David’s shout, dozens of puppets rushed forward and thrust their spears.

Cavalry lances and spears overlapped to form a single barrier.

The puppets filling the corridor pushed the monster back with their spears.

Creak

The ground the monster stood on slid away.

“I-it’s being pushed back!”

Antonio grinned at the sight.

Aaargh

The monster began to lurch forward.

The situation began to swing completely the other way.

With a crack, the floor of the second-floor corridor split and the monster slowly came to a stop.

Meanwhile, the puppets holding the spears were gradually pushed backward.

As momentum built, they began to slide back.

Their formation unraveled in an instant.

The monster grabbed a bundle of spears thrown toward it.

Then it quickly pulled them toward itself.

The puppets that had been straining to push the monster were yanked forward, still clutching their spears.

The monster swung its hand at them.

Crack

That was the end.

With the sound of wood splintering, puppet heads flew everywhere.

Like dandelion seeds scattered on a spring day.

“…What on earth is that?”

Antonio muttered, his face drained of color.

Supernatural strength.

It was overwhelming power.

Countless puppets lay in ruin along the path the monster had taken.

David’s puppet army was beginning to show signs of depletion.

Shudder

There was no time.

“I’ll hurry.”

Hamel bolted for the stairs to the third floor.

It was where he had lived as a child, but he was not stupid enough to forget his own home’s layout.

Hamel and the others ran without hesitation.

Once on the third floor, there was no need to hesitate.

They ran straight toward the lord’s study and office.

They had steeled themselves the previous evening.

Clunk

Hamel flung open the wooden door without pause.

And there was…

“…?”

No one.

The study looked as if it hadn’t been used for quite some time.

The room held a chill and dust lay on the desk.

In short, it was a dead end.

“If it’s not here then where…”

Hamel muttered, hesitating.

It was hard to remain calm as usual.

He had come believing everything would be resolved if they reached this place.

‘There is no time.’

There was little time left to find anything more.

The golden time to save Daniel was less than ten minutes, and the monster downstairs was coming up.

What should they do?

Hamel found himself nervously biting his lower lip.

A jeweled dagger on the office desk caught his eye.

The dagger looked oddly familiar.

Hamel soon remembered it.

‘This is… my father’s weapon.’

The dagger that used to emit shadow like a blade,

The black blade.

Why was it here?

When he lifted the dagger, a sheet of paper pressed beneath the inkwell came into view.

Hamel picked it up at once.

Though the sheet was blank, Hamel felt a sense of déjà vu from it.

How had his father once passed on the signet ring to him?

Recalling the letter the butler had delivered, Hamel murmured softly.

“…Divine power.”

Hamel closed his eyes and prayed.

A faint touch of Divine power gathered at his fingertips.

And at that moment.

Sssrrk

Hidden writing began to appear.

“With this, it might be possible.”