Dark Organization

Kaiyak, who was trembling with anger because he didn’t know his own race could be so ungrateful, and was even more furious because of it.

Shortly after Alec and Yona left, unable to contain his rising anger, he declared his severance from the tribe and set out on his journey.

Naturally thinking they would have left through the exit and not the sacred place, he headed that way,

But after running for a long time without seeing Yona and Alec, he turned back towards the sacred place just in case, and was able to find Yona and Alec wandering near the sacred place.

That’s why it was even more unexpected.

Seeing Yona with her eyelids swollen, he could guess what had happened, and perhaps because of that sense of guilt, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

“What, why did you come?”

At Yona’s sulky voice still full of resentment, Kaiyak hesitated for a long time.

The Lizardmen were the ones who did wrong. Whether it’s a demon or whatever, it’s not like the Lizardmen suffered any harm because of it. Rather, it was the mermaid that caused harm, and the biggest cause was the Lizardmen who failed to kill the mermaid in yesterday’s fight at the sacred place. Despite this, Yona revealed her own vulnerability and saved the Lizardmen.

“…I came to go with you.”

Kaiyak is not good with words.

Instead of saying, “I’m sorry for this and that, and I’m also disillusioned with my own kind, so I’ll go with you—”

This is what came out.

“What about your children?”

“…They’ll grow up well on their own.”

From the beginning, Lizardmen don’t have much attachment to their offspring anyway.

They’ll grow up well on their own anyway. Kaiyak grew up like that too, and just as he saw his father a little before he came of age and never met him again after that, but doesn’t particularly miss him, he thought his children would be the same.

“More importantly, Yona. Are you still trying to purify the sacred place even after seeing such a sight?”

Kaiyak couldn’t understand why they came here.

He did make the request, but that was when the situation wasn’t like this, and now that the Lizardmen have done this to Yona, shouldn’t the request or whatever not matter anymore?

Despite this, Kaiyak found it difficult to understand why they were heading to the sacred place.

“It’s your request, you stupid lizard. It’s about your hometown.”

Yona said, sniffling.

In her heart, she doesn’t want to do it. Given the atmosphere and the feeling, it’s clear that if she purifies that, she’ll probably get another tattoo.

But even if she ignores it, there’s no guarantee that monsters like the mermaid won’t appear again.

If that happens, Lizard Den would be doomed.

‘I can’t just leave it alone either…’

That mere tattoo.

Even if it covers her whole body, if she asks Ceres, it will be erased anyway.

*

The sacred place, with black water rippling, was quiet.

It was so quiet that it was hard to imagine that a fierce battle had taken place here just yesterday.

In front of that sacred place, the three of them sat around a campfire.

It was already night.

Night had fallen quietly, and for a long time, they were silent.

Fat was continuously dripping from the wild animal meat that had been prepared and hung over the campfire.

Each time the fat dripped onto the campfire, there was a sputtering sound of flames.

Their faces, illuminated by the firelight, were glistening with a reddish hue.

In the silence where no one could bring themselves to speak, only futile time was passing.

“…It’s cooked.”

Kaiyak picked up a skewer.

With his thick skin, Kaiyak placed the meat on a large leaf and grabbed the still-hot meat, tearing it apart.

“Eat, Yona.”

“Okay.”

That chicken soup yesterday was really delicious.

Yona took the leg meat Kaiyak offered and took a bite.

There’s not much taste since the only seasoning is some rock salt sprinkled on it, but anyway, it’s edible since she was hungry.

Although the meal started like this, the awkward atmosphere still persisted.

Alec and Kaiyak were watching Yona’s reactions, and Yona was silently eating the meat, making the atmosphere quite a sight.

“Um, Yona.”

“Yeah.”

It was Kaiyak who couldn’t bear the awkward silence.

Putting down the meat he had been holding but not eating on the leaf, Kaiyak spoke to Yona.

“It’s not too late even now. You don’t have to do the purification or anything, we can just leave. Such guys only come to their senses when they die.”

Kaiyak still seemed unable to accept it.

Alec wasn’t saying much, but judging from past experiences, there’s a very high possibility that purifying this place will result in another tattoo, so honestly, he hopes she won’t do it.

“…I have to. Kaiyak, your children were cute.”

Those short limbs.

Kaiyak’s children, running around here and there swishing their stubby tails, were really cute.

Rubina was cute too, but even though they were of a different species, Kaiyak’s children, still with traces of infancy, had a different kind of cuteness.

If Yona doesn’t purify this place, it might feel satisfying right now.

But if later she hears news that something happened at the sacred place and Lizard Den was destroyed, Yona wasn’t confident she could let go of that burden on her heart.

“If I say I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Kaiyak, not for you, but for your children.”

At those words, Kaiyak closed his mouth.

After hesitating for a while with his large body, Kaiyak slowly opened his mouth.

“Thank you, Yona. You’ll surely make a good mother.”

At those words, Yona was about to say something but stopped.

The sound of inhaling, and a short sigh.

“…Yeah.”

Alec’s eyes widened.

Even though she heard words that wouldn’t be strange if she went berserk saying to cut out the nonsense, Yona didn’t particularly react.

“So, are you sure there’s an altar inside that cave?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

Where Yona’s gaze fell, there was a cave with its black mouth gaping open.

That cave, located near the sacred place, had black water flowing out as if it were the source of the sacred place, and according to Kaiyak, there’s an altar enshrined inside that cave.

If it’s like what happened in James’ village, there should be something that serves as the sacred tree, and that’s probably that altar.

It’s too late now, and since night is the time of monsters, entering now carries too much risk, so they decided to stay here near the sacred place for one night.

As the awkwardness somewhat subsided, fatigue set in.

Yona was rubbing her eyes as her eyelids grew heavy, staring into the campfire.

They hadn’t decided on watch duty yet, and it would be nice to shout “I’ll take first watch!” at this point, but right now she wanted to sleep even a little more than taking first watch.

Noticing this, Alec patted the sleeping bag laid out for Yona and said to her.

“Yona, you sleep without taking watch duty.”

“Why?”

“I know you stayed up all night yesterday too.”

Yona didn’t particularly refuse Alec’s words.

It’s true that she stayed up all night yesterday and it’s true that she’s tired now.

But with only three of them here, if Yona is exempted from watch duty, it means Alec and Kaiyak will have to take half each.

“Will it be okay?”

“It’s fine.”

And with that, Alec smiled broadly.

Yona, who had been quietly looking at Alec’s smiling face, slowly nodded.

She was tired, and there was no need to forcibly join in when they’re offering to exempt her from watch duty.

Moreover, tomorrow is a matter that Yona needs to resolve, and the other two don’t really need to help.

Thinking this, Yona crawled into the sleeping bag.

As soon as she closed her eyes, Yona drifted off to sleep.

*

Rudvik and Scarlet are like disasters for the undead.

The power directly bestowed by the Cheonsin on Rudvik, and Scarlet’s power derived from his faith in the Cheonsin, are more than natural enemies to the undead, so it didn’t take long to clear out the things that crawled out from under that tree.

The problem was the tree, but thanks to Scarlet, the fog had stopped, and no more fog was coming out of the tree.

What exactly is the identity of this tree?

Why is this tree standing here?

Above all, is this really a tree?

Amidst these questions, Bigrind, keeping a safe distance as much as possible, attempted to purify the entire tree under the protection of Rudvik and Scarlet.

Kweeeeeee—!

“Eek…!”

Startled by the sudden scream, Bigrind flinched and covered her ears.

The tree was shaking violently.

As if trying to resist the golden radiance covering it entirely, the tree was shaking its branches, and the roots planted in the ground were writhing like worms, twisting its body and screaming.

Rudvik and Scarlet simultaneously blocked in front of Bigrind. As the roots shook, the ground was also shaking slightly, and this could potentially lead to a collapse, so Rudvik took a step back and wrapped his arm around Bigrind’s waist, pulling her towards him.

Meanwhile, the tree continued to shake its body and spew out screams. As Bigrind’s chanting continued, her voice melted into desperation, and the golden radiance also shone intensely, wrapping around the entire tree.

Black smoke began to rise. It seemed that the demonic energy dwelling in its body couldn’t withstand the holy power and finally turned into flames and started burning.

The flames that started burning like this soon spread throughout the tree, and the golden radiance pressed on the tree fiercely, regardless of those flames.

Rudvik bit his lip as he watched Bigrind’s complexion turning pale.

Purification would also consume holy power, and because the tree was so tall and massive, purifying the entire thing must be putting a great strain on Bigrind.

Nevertheless, Bigrind was focused on chanting with her eyes closed. The sight of Bigrind chanting while dripping with cold sweat looked truly pitiful and beautiful to Rudvik.

Kiaaaaa…—!

A death cry resounded. The flames surrounding the tree finally turned into smoke and dissipated, and the golden radiance also began to subside gradually.

It must be because all the demonic energy that had dwelt in the tree was purified and there was nothing left to burn.

And at the same time, Bigrind swayed and collapsed.

Rudvik, who was next to her, quickly caught her as she fainted from excessive release of holy power.

Then, handing Bigrind over to Scarlet, he opened his mouth with a solemn voice.

“Sir Scarlet, please take care of the Saint. I will go and examine it.”

“Hero, I will go.”

“No. The Cheonsin didn’t give me power to stay in the background.”

Scarlet couldn’t insist further to Rudvik who shook his head.

If he says no there, it would be like denying both Rudvik and the Cheonsin at the same time, so Scarlet had no choice but to nod.

Rudvik approached the remains of the tree slowly with his spear pointed. The tree, still reeking of burning, had almost turned to charcoal, and even as Rudvik approached closer, he could no longer feel any demonic energy. The demonic energy that couldn’t withstand the Saint’s purification must have been completely annihilated at this point.

He poked around the remains of the tree with the tip of his spear. Each time he overturned the remains, smoke that hadn’t fully escaped rose up into the sky. The smell of that smoke was now just ordinary burning wood smell, and there was nothing else unusual to be felt.

As he was poking around, the spear tip caught on something. Pulling it out with a little force, a bundle of necklaces slid out.

And as Rudvik picked up that bundle of necklaces and examined it, his face hardened.

Rosaries with the Cheonsin Church’s symbol upside down.

Rudvik had seen these rosaries before.