Chapter 55

“You will have to live every moment in tension. The god you believe in, and the messenger of the god you believe in, will soon vanish by my hand.”

Panz recalled the words he had once spoken directly to his fellow spirits when he visited the Grand Ducal Castle.

At that time, intoxicated by the overwhelming power he had just gained by absorbing a human soul, he believed that only he could become the god of the world.

Of course, that childish and foolish belief quickly faded upon Pahomel’s advice that he must wait until he gained more power. Panz was somewhat shocked by the fact that what he believed to be nearly complete power was not seen that way at all in Pahomel’s eyes.

In any case, since Pahomel had strengthened his power, he was determined to personally kill Caldeon, who possessed black magic, as well as the destined owner of the oracle.

“You cannot go back to before you consumed the human soul. Therefore, the only choice you have is to consume the spirit souls and become the god of the spirits.”

Pahomel kindly reminded the hesitant Panz that there was only one path for him to take, making it easier for him to make a decision.

Panz knew it, too.

He, who was created for the purpose of protecting humans, had committed an unforgivable sin merely by consuming a human soul and gaining such immense power. As Pahomel said, what was already done could not be protected in any way.

“Worrying is of no help, so quickly consume the power I have prepared.”

Panz glanced at Pahomel, then took the cube he offered. His brow furrowed slightly, as if he could hear the wailing of countless low-ranking spirits within.

Panz paused for a moment, lost in thought, but then his resolve seemed to harden, and he proceeded to swallow the spirit souls inside the cube.

Instantly, Panz’s body began to violently surge, mixed with unpleasant black smoke and flames.

Pahomel dropped the cube onto the floor and took a step back, watching the tormented Panz. When Panz, who had been clutching his head and screaming in pain with bizarre noises, finally stopped moving, his form had changed from that of a dragon to that of a demon.

Pahomel’s eyes sparkled at Panz’s new appearance: two long horns sprouting from his forehead, and gigantic, bat-like wings covering his body.

***

Chavel kept glancing at Windel while wiping the drool that had leaked from Hayden.

She flinched and showed fear whenever Windel yawned or even moved slightly, causing Windel’s brow to furrow.

[If you are uncomfortable, you may leave. I will care for the Child of the Oracle.]

“I, I cannot do that. Taking care of Young Lord Hayden is my duty…”

Before Chavel could finish her sentence, Windel, sensing something, quickly rose.

As Windel turned towards the door and took an offensive stance, Chavel instinctively pulled Hayden into her arms.

From the entrance, dark smoke, faintly penetrating Graum’s barrier, began to seep in. Windel used his wind attribute to quickly block the smoke.

“Kyah, Kyaaak!”

Suddenly, hearing Chavel’s scream from behind him, Windel quickly turned around.

Black smoke, having entered through a slightly open window, was binding Chavel and Hayden’s bodies and lifting them into the air.

Windel swiftly darted towards them, tearing through the black smoke with his teeth and forepaws, and placed Chavel, who was holding Hayden, onto his back.

Chavel flattened herself on Windel’s large back, trying her best to shield Hayden with her body.

While Windel’s pure white wind attribute blocked the relentless black smoke attacks, Chavel squeezed her eyes shut and held Hayden so tightly he could barely breathe.

Because of this, she completely failed to notice Hayden using black magic to make the black smoke, which had flown past Windel’s attacks, vanish.

Chavel, who had risked her life to protect Hayden, did not realize that her life was actually being saved by Hayden. She simply held him tightly in her arms and screamed, driven by the sole thought of protecting Hayden with her body.

In any case, Chavel’s terrifying screams brought Caldeon and Enria rushing back to the parlor. Windel, who had already eliminated all the black smoke with his wind attribute before they returned, was telling the screaming Chavel on his back to stop.

[I am telling you, it is all over. That cursed shouting…]

“Kyahhh! Kyaak! Kyaaak!”

“Udya, Ubadya.”

Since Chavel could not stop screaming, even Hayden had to intervene.

Chavel, opening her tightly shut eyes, was startled and began checking all over Hayden’s body.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Caldeon and Enria, arriving late and checking the ruined furniture in the parlor, asked Windel.

“An ambush?”

“Did a black mage come here?”

[It was not a physical entity. It seems they only infiltrated with black magic.]

At Windel’s words, Caldeon went to the slightly open window and looked outside.

Chavel, who was still mounted on Windel’s back, cried and answered Enria, who came over to ask if she was alright.

“I was so scared, thinking something would happen to Young Master Hayden. If the Wind Spirit hadn’t been here, I might have been knocked out the window and killed.”

Enria wore a look of pity and patted Chavel’s back as she cried like a child, saying she was so afraid because when her body was floating in the air, she wasn’t sure if Hayden would be safe even if she held him as tightly as possible and fell.

Hayden, too, gently touched Chavel’s cheek with his tiny hand, as if telling her not to cry.

“It penetrated Graum’s protective barrier?”

Caldeon, having closed the open window, asked Windel with a slight frown.

He had been confident that there would be no way for black magic to enter, as he had cast a black magic barrier at the entrance in addition to Graum’s shield, yet it had managed to enter so easily. He could not understand how.

[It was breached easily.]

At Windel’s words, Caldeon looked serious for a moment, deep in thought, and then began tapping the floor with his boot. It seemed he suspected that black magic might have been planted underneath the floor.

[The black smoke came through the door and the window, so it would not have been on the floor. I think they used the souls of spirits to break through Graum’s barrier.]

At Windel’s remark, Caldeon’s face immediately hardened.

The spirits thought Panz would never go so far as to consume the souls of his own kind to increase his power, so they suspected the black mage was collecting spirit souls to breach the spirits’ protective barrier.

Caldeon’s face tightened slightly, and he muttered that it was possible.

“Putting that aside, for my barrier to be breached too, that seems to be a problem we need to consider.”

When Caldeon spoke with a serious expression, Windel also nodded, showing a nuanced look.

[Whatever it is, it seems best to investigate.]

Caldeon nodded, looking at him.

“Tsk.”

***

Pahomel sank into a chair, clicking his tongue. He looked tired, leaning his head against the backrest and letting out a long sigh.

He had thought he could use black magic to kill Hayden, but the accursed Wind Spirit interfered and ruined the plan.

And the child used the same black magic as Caldeon.

Pahomel thought he could not leave Hayden alone and pondered another plan.

‘For now, they will focus on security.’

Panz, who had consumed the spirit souls, would need some time to adapt before he could properly use that power.

During that time, Pahomel needed to continue collecting spirit souls using Groen and the mages of the magic tower, and he himself needed to seek opportunities to kill Hayden and Enria in this manner.

Although he had wasted a valuable spirit soul and failed in his plan, he had gained the knowledge that using a spirit soul could breach the spirits’ protective barrier as well as the black magic barrier, so there was some gain.

The important thing was that using a spirit soul to wield black magic put a slight strain on him, the one manipulating the power.

‘To eliminate the master of the oracle while using the minimum amount of black magic…’

Pahomel looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought for a moment. He wracked his brain to figure out how to achieve the maximum result with the minimum power, and he pictured Caldeon, who would be fiercely protecting Enria and Hayden.

Suddenly, Pahomel’s brow furrowed fearfully.

‘If only black magic didn’t exist.’

If he could only find a way to eliminate black magic, his goal would be easily achieved. Of course, that was the most difficult and challenging task, but he believed that he, who had long researched how to cultivate black magic using other types of magic and power, could surely find a way to eliminate black magic as well. He was simply taking the fastest route, as it would require time and effort.

With that thought, Hayden, who had used the same black magic as Caldeon, flashed through his mind.

Pahomel jumped up from his seat.

‘That’s right! If I use that child—!’

Caldeon was an opponent too strong for him to defeat by any means, so he had never considered using him to research black magic.

But the young Hayden would surely be different. Although he could use black magic, the child’s ability, which was used subconsciously in moments of danger, was still very clumsy.

He thought that if Panz eliminated black magic and the saintess while he conducted research on how to eliminate black magic—which future black mages might also need—there would be no magic to oppose black magic for centuries to come. Even if he were to dominate the world with black magic right now, a person with black magic would be born again and pose a threat to black magic, so he concluded that it would not be a bad idea to eradicate it at the roots.

With that, Pahomel ultimately decided to kidnap Hayden instead of killing him.