97 – Shadow (20)
I even skipped dinner and headed to the Sorcery Lab. It was because I wanted to come with a clearer mind.
I went down to the basement and checked Maladiroot.
It absorbed all of Doppler’s bodily fluids without leaving a single drop, and bloomed in one night.
This was a sign that body fluids were fully utilized as nutrients.
I looked at Luna for a moment, then headed upstairs to the brewery without further delay.
In the meantime, when I used herbs, I only took them in liquid or living form, and I never smoked and inhaled them.
I didn’t intend to burn Maladirut all at once. It is simple to make, but requires very precious materials. Smoke was lost to the air so much that it was inefficient.
The roots, leaves, and petals of maladiroot were separated and sorted one by one. Then, each part was collected one by one, ground into small pieces, and wrapped in paper to form a long stick like a scented candle. This made it possible to use it effectively.
Even after making six or seven such sticks, more than half of the materials were left. The ingredients were put separately, and the candle sticks were placed near the brazier to dry.
After the production was completed to some extent, I immediately left to check the effect.
The place I went was an empty lot with a guardian tree.
It used to be an area off limits to regular students.
I sat down on the edge of the forest, where I could see the guardian tree at a glance.
Then he summoned a spirit, lit a scented candle, and placed it on the ground. If there were no spirits, I would have had to bring a flint, but this is convenient.
I killed time by sitting like that. White smoke slowly rose from the scented candle, and an indescribable, subtle scent stimulated my nose.
After 30 minutes had passed without anything happening, I felt someone’s presence and turned my head to the side.
A student who sneaked in, or a car thought to be a wild animal.
My eyes caught something I had never seen before in my life.
It was a person whose black form remained like a shadow.
“….”
And gradually more things began to come into my eyes.
Thoughts, and the black spirits Luna was talking about.
It was in the forest and near the guardian tree. The things in the forest kept a distance from me and were staring at me. As if guarding against an enemy general.
However, I didn’t feel that way from the things near the guardian tree. They were dark in shape, large in size, and numerous in number. I could intuit that they were directly related to the guardian tree.
I never thought I’d really see these. Zverev’s recipe was not wrong.
I got up and dusted off the dirt.
Did so many things cling to Luna and bother her? If you deal with them, Luna will come back… It won’t completely end there. Because Luna was designed from her birth to attract strange beings.
I wanted something a little more certain. If weeds are not uprooted, they will grow again and ruin the garden you have worked hard to cultivate.
I became more and more determined to fight, but I did not act hastily and stood still and made a plan.
And for a moment, a thought crossed my mind.
Maybe… Maybe all I have to do is clown.
After doing some experiments with them, I had to be fully prepared and make sure everything was done.
I couldn’t finish everything right now. I had to wait until the sun had completely set and Luna would wake up. After finishing the plan, I pulled out my wooden sword and moved.
***
Something whispered to Luna, who was still awake.
‘… What?’
[Don’t hold hands.]
Luna jumped up and covered her face. Her heart was beating wildly.
“No, no.”
She was neither an hallucination nor a nightmare. The terrible whispers, which had been silent for a while, had begun again.
[You are the main culprit that caused people to die. I am a sinner who cannot be saved. Pay for it with your life.]
[You only harm Eternia and the people around her. If you know your subject, shake your hand.]
“What the hell… how…. How….”
Someone heard her talking to herself and answered.
“… Aren’t you noisy?”
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Then a man’s voice rang out, and their whispers immediately disappeared, like wind blowing over a candle.
Startled, Luna turned her head towards the source of her voice.
There, a masked man was sitting leisurely leaning against the wall, holding his wooden sword in one hand.
Luna remembered him. A disciple of Professor Silverin. It was Damien.
Luna was speechless for a moment at the sudden and unexpected meeting.
“You….”
“I can hear it now. They, they’re trying to drag you down to the bottom.”
What are you talking about? Does that mean he can now hear what the black figure is saying?
Damian put his wooden sword around his waist and slowly raised himself.
“Your intuition said it saw something in me, I don’t know what, but it was right. I found a way, and those bastards are desperate to die.”
“….”
They’re on the verge? How?
He walked towards Luna slowly, step by step. Due to the overbearing aura emanating from him, Luna’s body recoiled on its own.
The closer she got, the more she felt the urge to run away from him. As he tried to extricate her body, her magical chains caught her.
Damian didn’t care about her figure and drew closer.
He stood in front of her cage, imprisoning her Luna. Then he stretched his arms out to the side.
Soon after, a dazzling white light arose, and Luna reflexively covered her eyes. When the radiance faded and he opened his eyes again, a strange sword of light appeared in his hand.
Her eyes grew wider. Bright and beautiful colors. Upon seeing it, she was able to intuit right away. It wasn’t something out of this world.
“You… you….”
Damian swung his sword slowly, cutting through his bars like butter without much resistance.
The fear of Luna’s breath getting out of control made her steep.
“Wait… don’t come close Do not come….”
Her chains rattled and tightened as she struggled.
“Just running away won’t change anything.”
“….”
Damian slowly approached the bed, unperturbed by her violent reaction.
And he held out her hand to her.
“Let’s go. I’ll finish everything.”
What did you do to make the wick come out so straight and hard?
Luna didn’t know anything. What kind of power does she have that she is confident that she can get rid of everything that bothers her?
And the unknown power surrounding her Damian slowly influenced her uneasy feeling. The belief that he would finish it all grew.
“….”
You have to catch it.
Consciously, she knew she had to hold this hand, but her body was stubbornly rejecting him because of a long-hardened vice.
Luna closed her eyes tightly.
Nothing will change if she just runs away.
Is this a joke of fate? In the past, she was saved by Silverin once, and now her disciple appeared in front of her and performed another salvation.
And if you can’t hold this hand, salvation won’t come any more.
Like the phrase from ‘The Canary and the Clown’, it is because humans who have no will to advance even turn away from God.
Luna closed her eyes and slowly lifted her arm. With her trembling arm, she lightly touched his hand, flinched, and withdrew it again.
He waited for her to catch her completely.
If Silverin trusts Damian, Luna can trust him too.
Having made up her mind, she stretched out her arm and eventually put her hand on his.
“….”
She could feel it when she finally touched it. That the man’s hand, which she feared so much, was as warm and soft as anyone else’s.
Damian grabbed her hand tightly and with his sword slashed the chains that bound her without hesitation.
***
Damian grabbed Luna and led her out. Following his confident steps, Luna moved in front of her.
After passing through the thick fog, they arrived at the forest where the Guardian Tree of Eternia could be seen.
Luna was led by Damian’s hand, and suddenly she stopped him.
It was because of the ominous energy surrounding the Guardian Tree.
They had grown their presence even further through the last curse ritual. And now, thanks to the release of her seal, Luna’s magic was being pulled. An ominous energy was condensed near the Guardian Tree as if it had been compressed.
“I can’t do that. This… It’s not something anyone can handle.”
Damian dismissed Luna’s anxiety at once.
“No, I’ve been through worse.”
“….”
“It’s nothing to me. Just think of it as a midnight play. All you have to do is stand still and watch.”
Damian told an unknown story.
Theatrical?
As he approached the guardian tree, he felt the energy of the thought body targeting him, but he could feel that he was not recklessly approaching due to Damian’s presence.
I didn’t know if it was possible with Damian. As long as he believed in him and followed him, he had no choice but to leave it to the end.
Luna ate her heart. Confirming this, Damian runs through the forest. Soon after, he approached a clearing with a guardian tree towering in the center.
There was a concentration of ominous energy that made his head dizzy.
And when I entered the realm of energy, even though Damian was by my side, the thought forms more boldly surrounded and narrowed the surroundings.
Luna’s body trembled, and Damian held her hand tighter.
Surprisingly, he wasn’t frightened even though the shadows of death were all around him.
As if he was out for a walk, his gestures were relaxed.
“Don’t worry. This is because the professor has allowed everything.”
He and Luna went in the direction of the guardian tree and stopped about 20 steps ahead.
A dark blue sky. The moonlight hit them and the guardian tree. As a result of the curse, half of the leaves of the guardian tree were discolored black.
Then the black spirits appeared under the moonlight. Surrounding the guardian tree, a black human figure about twenty or so stood tall and glared at Luna.
I saw a long line that looked like a shadow under my feet under the moonlight. From Luna, it was connected to each of the black spirits.
I could feel magic from them. It was all sucked from Luna, and he was still sucking it up.
As Damian tried to let go of her hand, she held on tight to her station. It was because if he let go of her hand, he wouldn’t be able to stay sane in this place.
“It’s okay.”
Damian untied her hand and gave her his own wooden sword. And she took one step forward.
Then, like a pack of wild dogs cornered by her black spirit, she began to show strong hostility towards Damian.
I could tell just by looking at him that he felt the horror they felt every time he got closer.
In the end, he started cursing Damian in the spirit’s language that ordinary people couldn’t understand.
Their shapes softened and changed into the same shape as Damian. He was wearing a mask and holding a wooden sword. He looked exactly like Damian, except that he was discolored and his whole body was a dull gray.
Luna remembered. Just because she has the same appearance doesn’t mean she exists in the same reality. They were technically more like ghosts. Luna also tried everything to get rid of them. Swords, magic, and even holy water did not work.
Luna squeezed her neck and she threw his attention at him.
“…… Be careful.”
Hearing Luna’s words, he slowly turned around. His eyes, visible through his mask, shone softly in gold.
Then she turned around and threw her words as a warning.
“Look carefully.”
“… ?”
That wasn’t a word thrown at Luna. His gaze was on something far behind Luna.
Damian was showing his back to the black spirits. When they showed an opening, they quickly ran and tried to attack Damian.
Luna was startled and she screamed.
“… Behind Damian!”
Suddenly, Damian’s hand lit up. As he turned backwards, he swung his sword of light at the same time.
The pure white blade cut off the arm of the one who tried to attack first.
In a related motion, Damian wrapped his left hand around its hair.
Luna couldn’t believe it when she saw it with her own eyes. Things that didn’t work with any attacks worked properly with the sword he had.
He even caught it with his bare hands.
Once caught in his hand, the transformation was immediately canceled and returned to its original black shadow form.
[Kiaaa! Kiak kyaaa!]
It held onto the cut off part and screamed. He was suffering terribly, as if his body had caught fire. Spiritual beings such as spirits and thought bodies feel pain. It was a strange sight beyond common sense.
Damian grabbed it and took a few steps back to avoid the rest of them.
Then I grabbed its chin and dragged it backwards, beginning to amputate its body parts one by one, from the ankle to the shin to the knee.
The appearance was ruthless and unremarkable, like a skilled butcher.
Black smoke rose from the severed area instead of blood.
The black spirit, driven mad by the pain, let out a scream that seemed to resonate throughout the forest.
[Kiaaak! Kiak kiaaa!]
Damian cut off the thighs of the guy he caught and finally started cutting holes in his abdomen with his knife at random. Damian didn’t seem to want to end it all at once.
Another guy came quickly and tried to swing his sword at Damian, but he fired a sword wave.
The sword wave attacked the guy in front, then swept the two more guys behind him, flew into the forest, and blew up the whole area.
Damian hacked him to the chest and finally put a knife through his muzzle and split his head in two.
Only then did the ear-piercing screams stop.
Silence came again. And, Damian approached the group of black spirits to catch the next prey.
I couldn’t carelessly attack anything now.