episode_0245

The next night, I reappeared in the Empire.

This time, it wasn’t a ghost town. It was one of the Empire’s ordinary cities. Even late at night, lights were on everywhere, and there were quite a few people wandering the streets.

Compared to the capital, it was insignificant, but a bustling city in its own right. Everything was there: shops, restaurants, inns—the works. A relatively dark and quiet residential area, and a bright and lively commercial area. There are places quite bustling even at this hour, as nighttime activities begin to pick up after dark.

The reason it’s particularly crowded, compared to the surrounding areas, is because of the Adventurer’s Guild. This world tends to revolve around adventurers. The pursuit of power, wealth, connections—chasing these ends always leads to adventure. Where there are adventurers, there is safety, money, and people.

For that reason, this city with its Adventurer’s Guild could be called a thriving city.

‘There’s no guarantee Moriarty won’t show up in a place like this.’

Even in Acastos, this city had a Moriarty branch. My purpose is to cripple them to the point where they can no longer eye our kingdom again, so I couldn’t back down just because there were a lot of people.

‘I’ll make sure to inflict some serious damage this time.’

Just like in yesterday’s ghost town, I walked along the rooftops. This time, I also intend to conceal my presence. I’m willing to let my existence spread through the survivors, but having people gather when combat ensues is obstructive.

‘I did acquire this technique yesterday, after all.’

I shrouded myself in a dark shadow, hiding my body in the darkness. I had definitely seen this technique when I fought Persona. She could exist anywhere there was shadow.

Of course, yesterday I could only create sharp blades to cut down my foes. This was my first time properly using the [Shadow Domination] magic.

However, combining my experience fighting Persona, the sensation of actually using magic with magical energy, and the skills and combat sense I already possessed—it made all the difference. Soon, I was confident I’d surpass Persona’s skill.

Sssshhh—

Not a sound escaped even as I trod the rooftops. I was darkness itself. Unless a light suddenly shone from somewhere, I was invincible under the dark night sky.

I took a good look around the city. I narrowed down the locations where Moriarty’s branch office was likely to be.

Three places in total. All of them were back alleys shrouded in deep darkness.

Unlike the ghost town, the purpose of the Moriarty branch here is different. In the ghost town, they openly scoop up humans, so they need not hide their traces. In this bustling city, however, restraint was necessary. Clashing with adventurers would be a bad situation.

‘The darkest in the light, and brightest in the darkness.’

Duke Darius controls the front and back of the Empire through the Imperial Family and Moriarty. But adventurers belong to neither side. Even they don’t want an all-out war.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t afraid, but my fear isn’t of defeat, but of attrition. Moriarty, on the verge of his final ritual, could annihilate all the adventurers in the Empire if he wanted, but he didn’t.

For the same reason, I aim to wear Moriarty down as much as possible.

I searched each of the candidate locations one by one. The first two were the hideouts of ordinary bandit groups. Since the city itself is a bustling area, bandits are bound to appear. However, they were conservatives seeking coexistence with adventurers. The radicals were all supposedly wiped out.

“A-a ghost…!!”

“Know me?”

They knew fear. The rumor that I hunt only specific bandits had already spread, so the bandits bowed their heads the moment they saw my face.

“W-we know nothing…!!”

“Right. That’s what it looks like.”

Since they were obedient, it didn’t seem necessary to kill them. I didn’t even intend to, unless they attacked first. My only goal is Moriarty.

After obtaining the necessary information, I left. They even offered bribes, which I didn’t refuse. I put the gold coins and various items into my subspace storage and headed towards the last location.

Tat—

Before I even reached the headquarters, someone came out to meet me. I perched on one end of the roof of a large inn, and a thug stood on the opposite side.

He too was wearing a black cloak pulled up to his head. But unlike ordinary soldiers, he exuded a rather sharp aura. I didn’t know his identity, but I could already tell it was a big name.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

“…Are you the rumored White Ghost? You don’t look that strong. However—”

He sensed my presence, which was hidden in the shadows. There was no longer any need or point in hiding. I dispelled the shadows and revealed myself completely.

The clouds parted, and a bright full moon shone in the clear sky. The moonlight enveloped the inn’s roof, and my snow-white hair shimmered softly.

The thug remained shrouded in darkness.

“That magic… it’s Persona’s . Are you her subordinate?”

“Just because I use the power of shadows doesn’t mean I’m her lackey.”

“Persona’s faction has already crumbled. You seem to be one of the survivors of that purge.”

He kept rambling without revealing himself. He didn’t seem to intend to attack immediately, so I decided to play along a little.

‘His purpose… is it just to buy time? There are no reinforcements… He might be trying to glean information.’

I twirled a shadow dagger in my palm and swung my legs in the air.

“You lack observation skills. Do you think I look like such a pathetic flunky?”

“…No. Your power already rivals Persona’s. Have you been hiding your existence until now? I can’t understand it.”

“More importantly, show me your face? How long are you going to act so shy?”

“Excuse me… I’m wearing a blindfold, so I thought you were blind, but apparently not.”

The thug lifted his cloak.

He was quite a handsome man. Silver hair falling to his shoulders, red pupils like drops of blood. With pointed ears and sharp fangs, it wasn’t difficult to guess his identity.

A vampire. Judging by his demeanor, he’s a direct subordinate of Duke Darius. Otherwise, he couldn’t exude such a powerful vampire aura.

Except for one possibility.

“I am . That’s what the Seeker calls me, but I use a different name during the day.”

He threw off his black cloak completely. The rags scattered in the wind and flew far away. His revealed appearance was far too refined to be Moriarty. A uniform embroidered with various decorations, and a gold emblem on his forearm.

It was the emblem of the Duke Darius family.

“リュド・フリスク・ダリウス. That’s my real name.”

“As I suspected… Jane’s younger brother?”

“…Don’t even mention that disgusting woman’s name.”

Lud’s face twisted violently. It was clearly a sore spot.

When I read Jane’s memories before, I saw Duke Darius’ insane obsession. He gave her, his eldest daughter, countless resources so that she could inherit the dukedom and Moriarty. The problem was that it was an outrage that went far beyond common sense.

Lud was naturally neglected. Because he was a legitimate son but not the eldest son, he was neglected by his father, Duke Darius. At a glance, he had the same unbalanced mentality as his father, unlike the sensible Jane.

After Jane’s expulsion, Lud likely inherited the succession. But that hatred still hasn’t been washed away. She threw away the position she had craved her whole life and died a miserable death. The successor’s position easily belonged to him afterward.

‘At the end of futility… he turned his arrow of rage towards his sister.’

It didn’t change anything.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’ll have to kill you here.”

“Kill me?”

“Yes. I’ll take your corpse back to headquarters, revive you, and extract what’s necessary. Information, the magical energy contained in your body… Once you’re useless, I’ll chop off your limbs and sell them to a brothel.”

“That’s surprisingly generous. I thought I was going to be tortured for the rest of my life.”

I chuckled.

No matter how much Lud was Duke Darius’ eldest son, he was ultimately just a nameless nobody. With my current strength, I could subdue him without even using Aether.

“But…will that work? You’re weaker than me.”

“I know. I have already verified your skill in annihilating five branches. So, as the Seeker always says… I’ll do my best.”

I frowned. I felt magical energy all around me. There wasn’t such a strong magical presence when we first started talking. He must have been a highly skilled assassin who concealed his presence very well.

Tat— Tat—

One by one, soldiers in black cloaks appeared on the rooftops of nearby buildings. Their number was nearly forty. They weren’t a bunch of nobodies. Every one of them had an aura as sharp as Lud’s.

“A… bit too many?”

“Keep the bluster to a minimum. You’ve already angered me. If you act out one more time—”

“Shut your yap, you idiot. Why is your tongue so long? You’re completely different from Jane.”

“…”

Lud’s pale face turned crimson. He’s young; I mean, young in spirit, not body. To fall for such cheap provocation!

“I understand why you lost the succession battle.”

“…I’ve decided. I’m not going to kill you easily. I’ll make you into an ottokki and use you as a disposal toilet for the soldiers.”

“You think that’s possible?”

“…Attack!”

Lud swung his arm. It was a signal. The assassins lined up around me disappeared simultaneously, and a sharp aura rushed towards me.

Pfft—

I stood up and removed my blindfold.

“To launch a surprise attack in a place like this, are you insane? It’s causing a disturbance to the neighborhood.”

Using [Clairvoyance], I locked onto my targets. The enemies surrounding me, including Lud, totaled forty-two. I designated all of them as targets for my spell.

Next, I simply unleashed the magical energy stored in my dantian. Like a punctured oil tanker, black shadows gushed out from my body.

At that very moment, clouds obscured the moonlight, and darkness filled the inn’s rooftop. The shadows became even denser.

“—!!”

The enemies’ aura wavered slightly. Lud included, they couldn’t possibly not know Persona’s [Shadow Domination] magic.

‘They would naturally know about the ultimate technique, too.’

By the time they realized I had reached that realm, it was too late. Thick shadows engulfed them and the entire space.

“There’s a good place to fight. You all, follow me.”

[Shadow Domination]’s ultimate technique, [Shadow World].

I invited everyone to the world of darkness which had once driven Aspi and me to the brink of death.