“■■■■■.”

As the man with a small figure whispered something, the attackers all stopped moving, and with a splitting sound purple tentacles began to pop out from their trembling bodies.

The tentacles, which had a sticky texture, broke through the bones of the attackers to pop out of their bodies and slowly trembled under the moonlight. The attackers resembled corpses wrapped in thorny vines with tentacles sticking out of their bodies. Now, they were staring at Juan with eyes that were completely out of focus.

“Well, that’s not a very pretty sight,” Juan said.

Juan didn’t bother taking any precautions, and only stared at the man with the small figure with his short sword still hanging down.

The man with the small figure slowly began to walk toward Juan. By the time his face was completely visible under the moonlight, the man slowly took off his hood. His eyes were completely out of focus, just like the attackers and he had a strand of tentacles sticking out of his left eye. He, too, was a walking corpse, no different from the attackers.

The man spoke as he flicked his purple tongue.

“I’ll ask you again. Why are you looking for Durgal?”

“I didn’t expect you to pay me a visit first. I thought you would wait until I found you.”

“What a cheeky bastard you are,” The man smirked while flicking his tongue. “It’s not too hard to find out about Durgal, so it's whatever. But you on the other hand, bother me in lots of different ways… that black hair of yours. You are that ‘Black Emperor’ who the Church is targeting and has placed a reward on, aren’t you?”

‘Black Emperor?’

Juan had never heard of that title before.

Instead of answering, Juan swung his short sword to cut off the man’s neck at once. When Juan stabbed his short sword into the head of the man that was rolling on the ground and lifted it up, the man smirked and derided Juan while looking at him upside down.

“You have quite a short temper, Your Majesty.”

Juan knew only one group of people that could use such tricks; the Crack, and those who worshiped it.

“I should have completely ended you all when I was still alive.”

Juan swung his short sword to throw the man’s head on the ground, and stepped on his head to crush it. The purple fluid sprayed everywhere, and the torn tentacles crawled away with a strange sound.

“Huh, this is…” one of the attackers with tentacles all over his body said while staring at Juan.

Juan had a fed-up look on his face upon seeing him, but the attackers crawled on their knees and made their way right in front of Juan.

“How very unexpected of you… I can feel the spirit of His Majesty from within you. So Your Majesty, for what reason are you looking for us? Isn’t Your Majesty’s body located in the capital? I thought Your Majesty was hostile toward the Church?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Is that so? Honestly, you are right—it is none of our business, Your Majesty the Black Emperor. But if you insist on looking for us… the only reason for that could be Gerard Gain, wouldn’t it?”

The attacker laughed at Juan in a disturbing manner.

Juan’s expression couldn’t help but stiffen upon seeing someone so clearly associated with the Crack casually mention Gerard’s name. Juan felt a strong desire to kill him.

“I didn’t come here to stop you, Your Majesty. Rather, I’m waiting for you.”

“You must have prepared a feast for me,” Juan snickered.

“I can guarantee that we won’t disappoint you. Please visit our Thornbush Priest Organization, Your Majesty. Please come and warm the seat we have saved for you,” one of the attackers whispered to Juan as he pulled on Juan's leg.

Juan stabbed his short sword into the middle of his forehead, but the rest of the attackers also grabbed Juan while they whispered the same words from all sides in the same voice.

“Please help us quench our thirst.”

Juan grabbed the cheek of an attacker. The attacker’s cheeks flushed, while flames rose from Juan’s hand and engulfed the surroundings instantly. Juan swung his burning hand and destroyed the bodies of the attackers, which were already on fire.

The fragments of burning corpses were scattered in the wasteland in the middle of a dark night. There was no one opening their mouths to whisper to Juan anymore.

“The Thornbush Priest Organization,” Juan muttered as he looked down at the corpses.

The burning bodies lit up the wasteland. There was still a long time before the sun rose.

***

“The condition of these corpses is quite similar to the ones that had been reported in Hiveden.”

A group of people wearing helmets shaped like snake heads were checking on the corpses in the middle of the wilderness. The white armor they were wearing indicated that they were Templars. The Templars walked around the corpses that were damaged to the point their original form couldn’t be identified, and were scattered on the ground as broken lumps of charcoal.

Among the Templars, one of them who was holding a green flagpole lowered his body to pick something up; it was a dried-up purple tentacle.

“That’s…”

“It’s proof of the Thornbush Priest Organization being involved. I knew they had something to do with this.”

“Are you saying that the devil of Tantil is also related to the Thornbush Priest Organization? Aren’t they completely different directions?”

“Do not try to understand the Crack, brother. If you do so, the Crack will burrow deep into your mind.”

Upon hearing the warning, the Templar made the sign of His Majesty on his chest and whispered a short prayer.

Meanwhile, the Templar holding the green flagpole continued speaking as he examined the traces of the corpses.

“Perhaps they don’t get along well with each other. This is different from the way Thornbush Priest Organization has been simply slaughtering while doing crazy things. They were killed efficiently, and in the cleanest way over a short time. Maybe it wasn’t done by one person alone.”

“Are you suggesting that the Order of Huginn is also related to this?”

“That’s a possibility.”

The Templar holding the green flagpole tapped the ground with the flagpole.

“Anyway, the chase is paying off, brothers. The bastard is not too far away.”

***

The east had unstable public security. Because of this reason, the people of the eastern territory preferred private armed groups over the unstable public power; the private groups wouldn’t betray them as long as they were paid properly. Thanks to this, mercenary groups were more prevalent in the eastern territory of the empire compared to the other regions.

Among all the mercenary groups, a mercenary guild called ‘The Dragon’s Slumber’ was the most influential guild with its branches throughout the entirety of the eastern territory. It was a guild that only hired veteran mercenaries who could handle most missions, but the topic of the wanted criminal that the Church had placed rewards on was a hot potato even among such mercenaries.

A man with wounds all over his face stomped into the guild. Red blood dripped from the black cloth he was holding in his hand, leaving traces of blood on the floor. The mercenaries around him whispered to each other and stepped back due to his unusual atmosphere; they could easily guess what the big, round object that was dripping blood from inside the cloth was.

The man walked up to the counter and placed the cloth on the counter with a thud.

“Take a look.”

The female employee who had been working at the counter frowned upon seeing the cloth, but gently untied the knot on the cloth while trying to avoid getting the blood on her hands.

When the knot became untied, the head of a black-haired man with his mouth wide open was revealed. The disgusting smell of blood filled the guild, and the wounded man leaned against the counter with a grin.

“Ten thousand gold pieces. I’ve got it right this time, haven’t I?”

The female employee took a glance at him, and pushed off the head to the side as if it was not worth looking at.

The wounded man had a distorted look on his face.

“Where did you even find this poor man? Mr. Harankel, I’m sure the wanted list said they were looking for someone between the age of twelve and fourteen. The Church won’t pay you just because you caught someone with black hair. You need to catch the actual criminal,” the female employee said.

“Ah, damn it. All the guys from beyond the border look the same. Can you just send it to the Church? People like you with a keen eye aren’t that common. Who knows, maybe the Church will be fooled?”

“Stop talking nonsense and bury that poor man. Even though those that kill people from beyond the border aren’t punished, you shouldn’t go around killing them recklessly. You need to think about your reputation.”

“Well, reputation doesn’t feed you, does it?”

“It doesn’t… but having a bad reputation sure can cause a knife to be stabbed into your back. If you continue being reckless just because you are a silver grade, your grade might be lowered in the…”

The female employee didn’t finish her sentence. Harankel followed the female employee’s gaze, and opened his eyes wide.

A black haired man was walking into the guild. Up until recently, it hadn’t been too difficult to see people with black hair in the eastern territory. However, as the crackdown on those from beyond the border was reinforced due to the huge amount of reward money offered by the Church, they began to gradually disappear.

Harankel looked closely at the black-haired man just in case. Although the man was young, he was certainly not under the age of eighteen. Besides, he was quite good-looking and had the appearance of a noble. Not only was he outside of the age range, but he didn’t have the face of a criminal who had been chased day and night.

‘Maybe he’s a noble’s toy or something.’

Harankel clicked his tongue. He couldn’t kill another innocent person, especially after just being scolded for killing an innocent person.

The black-haired man ignored Harakel and walked past the counter. The female employee was blankly staring at the man’s face.

Harankel shook his head upon seeing her face suddenly getting flushed.

‘Bloody women…’

“W-welcome,” the female employee greeted.

“I’m looking for a place called Durgal.”

As soon as the black-haired man mentioned Durgal, he heard the sound of quite a few chairs moving simultaneously inside the guild—it was the sound of the mercenaries all turning their bodies toward the counter.

The female employee’s face, which had been flushed until just a moment ago, quickly turned pale.

“W-why are you looking for Durgal…?”

“I heard that they are recruiting mercenaries there. I was told that it’s best to ask around the mercenary guild for the exact location, since it’s a remote place.”

“Hey, you,” Harankel grabbed the shoulder of the black-haired man from behind. “Are you a mercenary, not a servant of some noble lord? There’s no way that you are a mercenary. Why would anyone go to the territory of Durgal unless it’s someone who’s been driven to the edge of a cliff? I’m sure you could make a living by making good use of your handsome face.”

The black-haired man grabbed Harankel’s hand and shook it off like dust, then spoke to the female employee again.

“So what should I do to get to Durgal?”

“Um, well… the territory of Durgal… is strictly restricted to mercenaries of higher grades, since there have been too many mercenaries who went there and never came back. You need to be at least silver grade in order to go now…”

“It’s better to say that it’s your fortune if you don’t come back. Those who managed to come back from there had either gone crazy or were disabled. Of course, there were also some of them who brought back enormous amounts of gold and silver, but a weak guy like you would lose your neck if you went. If you are going to lose your neck in Durgal anyway, just leave it here instead. Black hair is quite valuable in this area anyway,” Harankel cut off the female employee and explained to Juan.

Harankel reached out his hand as if he was about to stroke the black-haired man’s head. But before Harankel could touch the black-haired man’s head, he grabbed Harankel’s hand. Harankel flinched and tried to retract his hand, but his hand didn’t move an inch as if it was stuck in a stone.

“Black hair, huh…” the black-haired man muttered as he took a glance at the head placed next to the counter.

“Oh, this is a case of misunderstanding while looking for a wanted criminal, but I will give a strict warning to everyone so that they no longer harm the innocent. As for going to the territory of Durgal, it’s only possible for the silver grades or higher mercenaries to go there. Do you have a mercenary registration card?” the female employee answered in haste.

“I don’t have such a thing. Hm…”

The black-haired man turned his gaze toward Harankel, who was still trying to pull his hand out. The black-haired man’s eyes turned to the silver brooch on Harankel’s left shoulder.

“Is this the brooch that proves silver grade or whatever?”

“Oh, yes. But…”

Even before the female employee could finish speaking, the black-haired man reached out his hand to grab Harankel’s cheek. Despite being much taller than the black-haired man, Harankel was forced to kneel on the floor as his face was grabbed.

The cracking sound of Harankel’s jaw being crushed echoed throughout the guild. The black-haired man was breaking each of Harankel’s teeth just by grabbing his cheek with only one hand.

Harankel couldn’t even let out a scream with his mouth being blocked by the black-haired man’s hand, and could only tremble his shoulders in pain while swallowing his screams.

The black-haired man soon completely crushed Harankel’s jaw, and then knocked him backward on the floor.

“I think I just proved my capabilities,” the black-haired man said as he took the silver brooch off of Harankel’s left shoulder.

But the female employee shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Also, fighting inside the guild is prohibited.”