The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices – 164

EP.164 Dark Wizard and Arch Lich (1)

The green smoke emitted by the ghoul thickened and filled the forest. The smoke inflicted excruciating pain on the adventurers, making their lungs feel like they were burning with every breath. Even when they tried to scream, only groans escaped from their already melted vocal cords.

“Ugh…!”

The agonized cries of the adventurers echoed through the forest. Their horrifying screams and collapsing bodies painted a scene reminiscent of hell. Their skin melted away, and their flesh rotted and decayed. Even their seemingly sturdy armor was corroded by the green smoke, becoming unrecognizable.

“That is truly the power of the apostle…!”

Sharia, who was witnessing this dreadful scene, couldn’t hide her shock. She held her breath, watching what seemed like a miraculous act performed by the ghoul.

“Wh-what is that…?”

Lucas, standing beside her, was equally stunned. It was just a single attack. The ghoul had merely opened its mouth and emitted smoke, yet it had incapacitated all those numerous adventurers.

Lucas let out a hollow laugh, almost as if he had lost his mind. The scene he had just witnessed filled him with a sense of awe.

“This is indeed the true power of the evil god.”

A fervent light shone in Lucas’s eyes. Suddenly, he realized something. The ghoul’s attack was like a judgment delivered by the evil god, but it wasn’t just a simple attack.

‘What the evil god wants to show us…!’

Lucas believed this was surely a lesson from the evil god. He closed his eyes and thought. Reflecting on it, the ghoul had been relentless. As soon as it approached the adventurers, it attacked. The way it mercilessly struck down its enemies left Lucas breathless with a powerful thrill.

‘…Show no mercy to your enemies.’

The evil god must have been trying to convey this message. The current Eclipse was weak. They had lost sight of their original purpose, busying themselves with mere survival each day. Lucas clenched his fist.

‘Furthermore, the evil god has revealed the essence of dark magic.’

This was the most crucial part. What had he observed while following the ghoul? The ghoul devoured anything it encountered. It swallowed not only living animals but also monsters without hesitation. It even took gold coins from the corpses of dead adventurers and swallowed them. This wasn’t just about consumption. The meaning was clear.

‘The essence of dark magic.’

Dark magic fundamentally derives its power through sacrifice. The more sacrifices and offerings, the stronger the dark magic becomes. The evil god was undoubtedly making them realize this essence through the apostle.

‘Seize the life force of the living.’

Of course, Lucas had always known this fact. But what about his current state? He had become a coward, quietly living in fear of being pursued by the White Order.

They hadn’t even used animal corpses, let alone human ones, fearing any trace might be left behind. So, what was the result? There were no situations where they were pursued by the Order, so it was peaceful. But was that really enough?

Eclipse was an organization formed by dark wizards. It was a group with the goal of dreaming of the great evil god’s resurrection and descent. It was as if the evil god was asking Eclipse a question. It felt like the great one was questioning Lucas himself.

Is that really enough?

No. Absolutely not. Eclipse needed to act more boldly than it had so far.

‘We need to be more daring…’

If they had only stolen dead livestock until now, it was time to take bold actions by killing and stealing directly. Lucas vowed never to forget what the ghoul had shown him today.

“Leader.”

Lucas spoke to Sharia, who had also witnessed the miracle.

“It seems this is the direction Eclipse must take.”

Sharia was a genius dark wizard. There was no way she wouldn’t understand what Lucas meant. She also believed it was a revelation from the evil god.

“Yes, Lucas. That is the true essence of dark magic!”

A fanatical passion burned in her eyes. Lucas, too, couldn’t hide his excitement, gritting his teeth. From today onwards, the Eclipse they knew was gone.

A New Eclipse Would Be Born

The horrific scene before the ghoul was, to them, a blessed omen heralding the descent of the evil god. Sharia and Lucas took deep breaths and approached the ghoul, ignoring the slowly dying adventurers. The ghoul was currently shaking its head from side to side, and they believed even this action had some significant meaning.

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The ghoul was confused.

“Guoooor…?”

(Why did they die?)

It had only intended to show kindness by giving them gold coins. Yet, all the adventurers had died. The ghoul wanted to understand the situation, but it had no brain to think with.

“Guoooor.”

It simply acted according to the current situation. Its thought process was impulsive: fallen adventurers -> Ah! Since they are dead, I should search their bodies! -> Acquire gold coins! -> Put them in the mouth!

The ghoul acted quickly. It rummaged through the bodies of the dead adventurers to find gold coins. However, the gold coins were covered in a sticky green liquid.

“Guoo…”

It didn’t matter. The ghoul swallowed anything and everything. It even consumed the remains of the adventurers, now reduced to bones.

Of course, to the dark wizards observing this, it appeared differently.

“As expected of the apostle!”

Sharia was in awe. Not only was the ghoul merciless, but it also performed such horrific acts without a second thought!

Lucas also nodded quietly beside her.

“Indeed, Leader. That is the direction our dark wizards must take!”

The ghoul glanced at the two people having an incomprehensible conversation and then strode forward. It had momentarily forgotten, but the ghoul’s goal was to find the Death Knight. It needed to join the main force of the Death Knight and Necros as soon as possible.

“Ah, wait! Apostle!”

Sharia called out, following the ghoul.

“Apostle, could you tell us where you are heading?”

Lucas asked as he followed, but the ghoul continued onward without answering. The only sounds breaking the silence of the forest were the rustling branches in the wind and their footsteps. They walked for quite some time.

“Lu-Lucas…”

While walking, Sharia suddenly sensed something strange. It was a familiar sensation to any dark wizard—the aura of death. The forest was suddenly filled with this aura.

“Leader, you must be cautious.”

Lucas warned, stopping Sharia in her tracks. The aura of death was too powerful to be dismissed as a mere presence. The ghoul, who had been leading the way, also halted.

“A-apostle, what is happening right now…?”

Lucas’s voice betrayed his anxiety. Moments later, they were stunned by the sight before them.

“……!”

“Lu-Lucas, th-this is…!”

They were horrified by the sight of skeletons and ghouls emerging endlessly from between the trees.

The ghoul walked forward nonchalantly and then bowed its head to a certain presence.

“N-no way…!”

Lucas stared at the figure to whom the apostle ghoul was bowing. The being exuded a tremendous aura of death.

“There is more than one apostle!”

One of them wore a luxurious blue robe and held a large book in their hand. Another carried a sword and shield, with a maid’s outfit draped over the shield.

“How horrifying.”

It was clear that the outfit belonged to a human they had killed and hung on the shield. This indicated a merciless and cruel nature without a shred of compassion. But why had such beings appeared?

Sharia and Lucas, dark wizards of Eclipse, realized that the resurrection of the evil god had already begun. It was evident that the apostles and the undead legion would be part of this beginning.

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“Clank?”

(Who are they?)

Necros asked as the ghoul, which had disappeared for a while, returned. It wasn’t just the ghoul that came back; it had brought two humans along.

“Guoooor.”

(They are just insignificant humans.)

Although the ghoul was a direct subordinate of the Death Knight, it couldn’t ignore Necros’s question. Necros looked at the humans. The man’s robe was torn and tattered, while the woman’s cloak was moldy and ragged.

Their hair was clumped with grease, indicating they hadn’t washed for days. Necros nodded.

“Clank clank.”

(They are truly pitiful and insignificant humans.)

Necros opened a notebook and began to jot something down.

– Brought humans without money. Useless. –

Unaware of the content, Lucas wore a look of admiration.

“There’s no doubt, Leader. Look at how they are recording! They must be apostles!”

A being exuding such a tremendous aura was recording something. As a dark wizard, Lucas was curious. What kind of contents would be written in the book held by an apostle serving the evil god?

“Surely, it must contain complex spells beyond our understanding.”

Sharia nodded in agreement with Lucas’s words. If such a being was writing it, even a genius dark wizard would be no more than an ordinary person. Sharia and Lucas quietly watched the being before them.

Scratch, scratch—

Necros’s hand continued to move.

– Unlikely to find money even if searched. Waste of time. –

After recording for a while, Necros turned away. The Death Knight also glanced at Sharia and Lucas before following Necros. As all the undead followed Necros, Sharia and Lucas quickly followed suit.

“A-apostle! Please, let us come with you!”

“Clank clank.”

(Why are they following us?)

“Guoooor.”

(They Are Just Insignificant Humans.)

“Clank.”

(I see.)

Necros nodded and continued walking. The reason for leaving them alone was simple: killing them wouldn’t yield any money. It was better to spend that time searching for other adventurers. Adventurers were coming to the mountains on their own, and Necros wanted to make a haul before returning to the kingdom’s dungeon.

Of course, Sharia and Lucas, who couldn’t understand the monsters’ language, misunderstood it differently.

“It seems the ghoul apostle is informing them about us.”

Sharia also thought so. Now that they had caught the apostles’ attention, Eclipse’s growth was inevitable. The ghoul apostle had bestowed them with money. What would this one give them? Just thinking about it brought a smile to Sharia’s face.

As the dark wizards and Necros’s party walked for a while, they encountered a group.

“Undead! It’s an undead horde! Is it a monster wave?”

“No! There’s a dark wizard over there! They must have summoned them!”

The problem was that the group wore sacred white armor. The Holy Knights also noticed the dark wizards and the undead legion, quickly forming a battle line.

“H-Holy Knights! Leader, this is dangerous!”

Lucas shouted.

‘To think we’d encounter Holy Knights in the mountains.’

They already knew that the White Order was keeping an eye on the Sael Kingdom. They had thought the White Order would send Holy Knights to the Sael Kingdom. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect to encounter the White Order’s Holy Knights in the mountains.

The only silver lining was that there were only seven Holy Knights. Even so, a shadow fell over Lucas’s face. Holy Knights wielded holy power. Even with just seven of them, they could easily sweep through the undead forces present, as they were an elite force. Essentially, aside from the skeletons and ghouls, only the apostles could stand against the Holy Knights.

But could the three apostles defeat the seven Holy Knights? Of course, he had witnessed the apostle’s power earlier. Hadn’t they wiped out the adventurers with a mere puff of smoke? However, this time, their opponents were not adventurers but Holy Knights.

Lucas could only hope that the apostles present could handle the Holy Knights. Unlike Lucas, who was observing the situation, Sharia began calculating various possibilities in her mind.

‘The apostle earlier…’

What had they ghoul done they while following it? It had devoured living beings and gold coins indiscriminately, using powerful dark magic.

‘If only that dark magic could be used again…!’

However, powerful magic required sacrifices. Unfortunately, she had nothing to offer as a sacrifice except for money. And even that was just the money the ghoul had given them earlier.

“……”

Sharia took out the coins. Mixed on her palm were copper, silver, and gold coins, shining faintly. Originally, she had planned to use this money to buy freshly baked bread topped with ham. But that was only possible if she survived this ordeal.

“Ugh… my bread and ham…”

With tears in her eyes, Sharia gathered all the money she had received from the ghoul and offered it to the apostle. The apostle who had been diligently recording in the book earlier.

“Clank?”

Necros was surprised when the seemingly insignificant human handed over money. His surprise was short-lived, soon replaced by a pleased expression. It was a universal truth: receiving a single gold coin from a poor person was more gratifying and precious than receiving a large amount of gold from a rich person. Necros, an arch-lich, had realized this truth.