Dark Organization (5)

As they descended the stairs, the heat burning in their chests began to subside little by little.

The heat that had seemed ready to burn Yona’s face was now cooling down, and instead, only her heartbeat was pounding loudly.

Standing in front of a brown wooden door, Alec raised his shield.

He took out the secondary shield embedded inside the main shield and handed it to Yona, who strapped it to her left arm.

When Alec turned to look at Yona, she nodded.

At the same time, Alec kicked the door with all his might.

-Bang!

With a loud noise, the door shattered and fell limply inward.

“Ugh!”

She tried hard to suppress the rising nausea.

The smell that wafted in as the door opened was similar to heavily rusted iron – the smell of blood.

Inside was a large hall.

It was questionable how such a large hall could exist in this building, but that wasn’t important right now.

Inside, there were what looked like dozens of people crowded together.

All of them were wearing dark navy hoods covering their faces, surrounding something and peering at it. When Alec and Yona suddenly appeared, they turned and exuded a menacing aura.

“Who are these bastards!”

Against that thunderous shout, Yona also screamed.

“Rubina-“

-‘s…

What was it?

Yona was momentarily at a loss for words.

But the hesitation was brief.

-I wanted to go with you, sister…

“-‘s sister! Give me back my sister, you sons of bitches——!!!”

With Yona’s scream, Alec charged inside like a storm.

His steel greaves made no attempt to muffle the sound as they clanged loudly on the blood-stained stone floor. Alec ran forward, and Yona, not to be outdone, followed closely behind him.

“Give me back my sister, you damn bastards!!!”

Alec screamed like a madman and swung the shield in his hand, striking down a hooded thug.

-Clang!

With the sound of something breaking, the thug flew away, tumbling down with two others nearby.

“My sister-!”

The steel greaves mercilessly kicked at the groin. He felt something break at the toe of the greave but didn’t care.

“Give her back-!!”

The steel gauntleted fist smashed into the thug’s face with all its might.

With a thud, as the thug’s face hit the ground, Alec grabbed the back of the thug’s hood and lifted him up.

“You fucking bastards–!!”

Alec’s face was covered in red veins, making him look like a demon.

He threw the lifted thug at other thugs with all his might, causing them to tumble down in a heap once again.

“You bastard!”

A short but sharp dagger flew towards Alec’s side.

And that dagger was blocked by a small circular shield.

“Where do you think you’re aiming, you bastard!”

Yona swung the shield, striking the thug’s face.

“Well done, Yona!”

“Give me back my sister, I said give her back-!”

Screaming, Alec and Yona plowed through the thugs.

The advantage of a sudden attack lies in the ability to deal a significant blow at the moment of the assault.

However, once the opponent realizes that the attack is weaker than expected, the advantage of the surprise attack inevitably decreases exponentially.

“Hurry up and clean this up. Won’t it get noisy if the sacrifice wakes up?”

The man who had been using the name Neri –

His real name was Andrei.

Andrei frowned as he looked around with his gaze peeking out from under his hood.

The number of people already belonging to the organization had reached about fifty.

“Why haven’t you stopped just two intruders yet? We need to clean this up quickly to proceed with the ritual.”

“We-we’re sorry! We’ll clean this up quickly!”

The man and woman who were screaming to give back their sister were people Andrei knew.

‘They clearly said they were husband and wife, and it was their daughter. Now they’re saying it’s their sister?’

He sneered.

He couldn’t understand why these people who had lied even on their entry declaration were now screaming like this as if they had done something right.

“Hurry up and clean this up. We need to proceed with the ritual.”

The night when the night market opened was always a full moon night.

The reason was that it looked good and was bright, but to Andrei, a member of the Dark Organization, it was a truly stupid reason.

Full moon.

The time when the power of the Celestial God is at its weakest.

Taking advantage of this time, they stain the altar with blood.

For this sacred ritual, Andrei had even infiltrated the gate guard under the name of Neri.

Thanks to this, he was able to achieve his goal smoothly, so it wasn’t a wasted effort.

To avoid being tracked, they had carefully selected and kidnapped only adventurers or orphans with no connections, staining this altar with their countless blood.

And if they offer this black-haired girl as a sacrifice on the day when the full moon is at its highest, the grand ritual they have longed for will finally be achieved.

Black hair, also called the bloodline of the Celestial God.

Long ago, after the Celestial God who descended on Marlen defeated the False God, black hair was considered a sign of being a descendant of that Celestial God.

Although black hair could be seen here and there even now after a long time had passed, it wasn’t common enough to be used in such rituals. To have a black-haired girl – and moreover, the daughter of some adventurer with no connections to this Capatia – roll in was truly fortunate.

Adventurers can disappear without a trace and it’s not a problem.

Let alone the child of an adventurer who doesn’t even belong to Capatia?

No one would care if they disappeared.

That’s why they brought her.

The sacrifice came along obediently when told to wait in a warm place because it was cold.

So all that was left was to proceed with the ritual, but-

“I told you to give me back my sister-! You damn bastards!”

The woman in nun’s attire seemed to have lost her mind completely and was raging.

The man who was perfectly protecting her while beating down the believers was no ordinary person either.

Andrei thought this wouldn’t do.

If they caused any more commotion, the possibility of the ritual itself being ruined was too high.

At least at this point today, the ritual must proceed properly for them to be able to summon their grand goal – Verbaria, the Demon of Humiliation.

“There’s no choice.”

There was quite a distance between where the commotion was happening and where the altar was now.

Even if they forced the ritual, those causing the commotion now wouldn’t be able to interfere.

Rather, if they offered the blood of those two to the awakened Lord Verbaria, and moreover, since that bald one was also said to have black hair, an even more gracious return would be possible.

“We will force the ritual! Everyone, form a human barrier!”

As soon as Andrei shouted, dozens of deeply hooded believers gathered densely, forming a barrier-like formation.

After confirming this, Andrei turned the lever of the pulley next to the altar with all his might, and the altar, which had become sticky from absorbing countless blood, split open with a creaking sound.

And from below, finally, the wooden frame that tightly bound Rubina’s limbs – the one who would complete this blood-soaked ritual – slowly rose and revealed itself.

“Rubinaaaa—–!!!”

Yona shouted at the top of her lungs.

As soon as she confirmed Rubina’s appearance, Yona struggled to rush through and dive into the thugs in front of her.

But those who had formed a tight barrier like a scrum refused to let them in, surrounding Yona and Alec without moving.

No matter how much Alec swung his shield, or tried to break through using punches and kicks, there was no way to overcome it when one person fell and another from behind immediately filled the spot.

“Oh, great Verbaria. We offer you the blood of this cursed beast descended from the Celestial God’s bloodline. Return to this land, spit on the statue of the Celestial God, rise and demonstrate your power to heaven and earth-“

Andrei raised the dagger high.

The blade glinted in the candlelight.

“Now rise, Lord Verbaria!”

“Let me beat him up more, you son of a bitch!”

Along with a deep voice’s roar, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

-Clang!

At the same time, the dagger in Andrei’s hand shattered into pieces, its fragments scattering, and the arrow that had undoubtedly shattered the dagger quivered as it stuck in the back wall of the altar.

“Have you two been doing this all this time, you pathetic fools.”

An axe flew at a terrifying speed through the thugs and struck the ground.

As the axe head hit the ground, the impact spread to the left and right, causing the thugs standing on both sides to lose balance and stagger.

“Get out of the way-! You bastards-!”

Alec shouted as he charged in again, swinging his shield.

“Hurry and go, Yona!”

At Kairoc’s shout, Yona nodded and ran following Alec. Alec cleared the path, and Yona stuck close behind him, covering his back as they continued to run.

“Aah, you lowly fools!”

Yona saw a man throwing off his hood.

A face that could hardly be called handsome.

And a black mole in the middle of his forehead-

A single black hair clearly visible even in the candlelight.

“You, you bastard-!”

“Hmph, I don’t care if you’re the mother or the sister, but isn’t it too shameless to ask for her back now after you handed her over to me with your own hands!”

Andrei mocked Yona with all his might.

Kidnapping? No. That’s not it.

Rather, it was that woman who entrusted the child to him, and he merely brought the child along.

Anyway, living as an adventurer’s dependent is just that kind of life.

Then, isn’t it a more valuable life to be used as material for Lord Verbaria’s revival here?

“Cut the crap, you spotted bastard!”

“Wha- spotted?! You damn bitch!”

“Give me back my sister, how many times do I have to say-!”

“You bitch…!”

Andrei gritted his teeth and pulled out another dagger from his bosom.

As soon as the two adventurers, the orc and the lizardman, joined the fight, the human wall was rapidly collapsing.

With the participation of two skilled warriors, these people were scattering like a sandcastle hit by waves, and at this rate, there was too great a risk of the ritual being ruined.

“The ritual comes first…!”

Andrei raised the dagger high.

Now he just needed to plunge this dagger into the sacrifice’s neck.

If only he could make that blood seep into the altar-!

“Alec!”

Yona called out to Alec who was ahead.

Alec glanced back at Yona, then immediately turned around.

He bent his knees deeply, interlocking his hands to make a foothold for Yona and-

“Go, Yona!”

As soon as Yona stepped on that foothold, Alec stood up immediately, pushing Yona up with all his might.

Being light, Yona flew a distance she could never have attempted alone, pouncing on Andrei.

-Crash bang!

As soon as Yona pounced on Andrei, she felt a burning pain in her right shoulder.

Nevertheless, Yona held onto Andrei as they tumbled down to the base of the altar.

Her whole body hurt, especially her right shoulder which felt like it was on fire, and the not fully healed wound on her face started to throb again.

Despite this, Yona didn’t let go of Andrei, pinning him down.

“You, you bastard, my sister, my sister-!”

-Smack!

Her fist struck Andrei’s face so hard that her hand stung.

And without giving him time to breathe, she struck his face again, and again with another fist, continuously, again and again, she kept hitting Andrei’s face.

“You bitch!”

Yona’s hair was suddenly grabbed from behind, and she tumbled backward.

Andrei, whose lips were all split and torn, a truly miserable sight, stood up with bloodshot eyes and approached Yona.

“You damn bitch, how dare you mar my face?!”

As soon as Andrei approached Yona who was lying face down on the floor, he kicked her stomach with all his might.

A dull thud echoed, and Yona also let out a choked cry as she rolled on the floor again.

“I’ll make you look the same, you damn woman!”

Andrei twisted and pulled out the dagger that was stuck in Yona’s right shoulder with all his might.

Yona let out a long scream at the pain of the bone being cut and muscle being torn, and Andrei raised the dagger high again to strike down.

“You bastard!”

Alec’s shield struck Andrei hard.

As Andrei flew away and crashed, Alec rushed to him again, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him high.

“How dare you, how dare you lay a hand…!”

With bloodshot eyes, Alec glared at Andrei as if he would kill him right then and there, breathing heavily.

“You damn bastard-!”

Alec, still gripping Andrei’s collar, threw him towards the altar.

Andrei, flying towards the altar where Rubina had been tied, tumbled along with the altar, and as the wooden frame teetered and was about to fall, Yona rushed to catch it.

“Ugh, uaaaagh…!”

The holy cloth on Yona’s right arm unraveled and fell off in tatters.

Blood flowed from Yona’s widely torn right arm, soaking her tattoo and – beginning to drip into the altar drop by drop.