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Chapter 286

The cave was eerily silent.

But that wasn't because nothing was happening.

"Is there no one here?"

The voice was calm, yet it sent chills down the spine.

Golem, a cultist instructor, crouched behind a large pillar, hands clamped tightly over his mouth, trembling uncontrollably.

Codename: Mad Dog.

The monster who managed to unite a mess of an organization that had previously been completely disorganized.

Why on earth was that monster here?

This was supposed to be a secret ritual.

Sure, it was in the Bata Kingdom, and yes, it required human sacrifice—but as long as they completed their objective and withdrew before that monster moved, everything should've been fine.

There was no reason for him to show up so suddenly.

Ever since some cult instructors got involved in an assassination attempt on Bata's king during a mission to retrieve a lich, Leon Cascadia—a monstrously dangerous man—had become hostile to the cult.

Would things have been better if they hadn’t messed with him back then?

No.

He would’ve clashed with them one way or another.

Because that’s just the kind of man he was.

Golem did everything he could to suppress even the sound of his heartbeat, waiting for the monster to pass by.

Once the monster left, he planned to report it immediately—and run far away without ever looking back.

Loyalty to the cult was good and all, but survival came first.

Step… step…

At last, the sound of the monster’s footsteps faded into the distance, and Golem let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew… Is he gone? Damn it. My legs are jelly.”

He slapped his limp legs and tried to stand up.

That’s when it happened.

A sudden, chilling sensation swept over his entire body.

Reflexively, he turned his head toward the source of that strange feeling and—

“…”

He found himself staring into a pair of sky-blue eyes glowing in the darkness, gazing down at him from right beside him.

The mad dog…

Golem froze on the spot under that chilling gaze.

* * *

“R-Run!! It’s the mad dog!!”

“He’s here! Burn the important stuff and evacuate!”

The cultists inside the cave scattered in panic.

Whatever ritual they had been conducting here, it didn't seem particularly high-level based on the people present.

If it had been truly important, more capable individuals would have been stationed here.

Maybe they were short on manpower due to the fights with the Moon Watchers and other conflicts, but even so, the security here was laughably weak.

Creeeeak…! BOOM!!!

When I forced open the underground stone door they had hidden so carefully, I found numerous people imprisoned inside.

They were likely the residents of Carlton Village, which had been reported attacked.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too late.

There weren’t any major injuries, but everyone was clearly terrified and utterly exhausted.

“Is this the place?”

I turned slightly to ask the man being dragged along behind me by Muyeong, who had his neck clamped in his jaws.

“P-Please! Spare me! This is all of them!”

“One person is missing.”

At my words, Muyeong tightened his jaw slightly.

The man shrieked in panic.

“Who the hell are you talking about?! Preparations are needed for the ritual! The offering isn’t yet—”

He flinched mid-sentence and looked down.

“If you call a person an ‘offering’ one more time, you’ll be the offering instead.”

“…”

“Understood?”

Golem, the cultist, nodded with his jaw chattering.

“Duke Berli’s third son, Farell Berli.”

At my words, Golem hesitated.

“Did you kill him?”

“…”

I ran a finger across my neck in a slashing gesture toward the silent man.

“Kill him.”

“W-WAIT!! He’s still alive!”

“Should’ve said so earlier. Lead the way.”

I waved my hand casually in the air.

With a loud crash, all the metal cages imprisoning the people crumbled to pieces.

The man clearly struggled internally, but in the end, decided his life was more important and began to guide me.

He led me to a solid stone wall that appeared to have nothing behind it.

I tapped lightly on the surrounding area, and to my surprise, the stone wall slid open, revealing a hidden path leading underground.

“H-He should be down there. That’s all I know. Whether he’s alive or not… he was already badly injured when we brought him in.”

Judging by the strength of the cultists I had dealt with so far, none of them could’ve taken down someone like Farell in a short time.

That meant there was at least one strong individual—likely the main force—inside.

Also… these people weren’t serving foreign gods or anything, so why were they called a cult?

After thinking about it, I figured it was probably because they used bizarre objects or creatures to gain power and performed strange rituals.

As I dragged the man with me into the depths, a bizarre ritual site appeared before us.

Several black mages wearing dark cultist robes were standing in a circle around the altar, chanting strange incantations as if in prayer.

In the center of the altar lay Farell Berli, unconscious and surrounded by swirling black death mana.

Above him hovered a massive staff.

What kind of crap was this?

I picked up a crystal orb lying nearby and shattered it on the ground.

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The moment it broke, the ritual stopped, and all of their heads snapped toward us.

“An intruder?! Golem! You useless fool! I told you not to let anyone in—”

One of the black mages began shouting in fury but froze upon seeing my face.

The others had similar reactions.

“T-The mad dog?! How did he find this place?!”

“Nice to see you, scumbags. Now die.”

As soon as the crimson cursed blade burst from the rift in the air and landed in my hand, the black mages screamed like they were in agony.

“N-No… Stop hi—KRAAGH!”

The man who had been shouting violently collapsed in a spray of blood, and the other black mages quickly summoned undead to attack me.

But from my writhing shadow, wraith undead, including Muyeong, leapt out and tore their summoned undead apart in an instant.

Judging by their skills, they were around mid-to-upper Expert class, if compared to knights.

But… that was all.

More than enough to overpower someone like Farell, but not a single black mage among them was of archmage level.

Seeing me wipe out the necromancers so quickly, Golm just sat there blankly, as if his soul had left his body.

Ignoring him for the moment, I approached Farell and dispersed the necrotic mana surrounding him, then turned my eyes to the strange staff floating above his body.

The staff had a clean shape with elegant engravings, giving it an almost bewitching beauty at first glance.

Clearly not an ordinary item.

In fact, it gave off a similar aura to that demonic statue I saw during the fortress subjugation two years ago.

This must be one of the special powers the cult secured.

I didn’t know exactly what it was yet, but the insane staff seemed to be preparing to devour Farell’s soul.

If I had been even a little late, Farell might have died because of it.

“W-Wait! Don’t touch that with your bare—!”

Thunk!!

Before Golm could finish, I grabbed the floating staff without hesitation, and he shrieked in horror.

But by then, the staff was already in my hand.

The moment I touched it, a sickening nausea crept into me, and I felt something suddenly invading my mind.

A surge of knowledge—so pure it gave me chills, and so vast it felt suffocating—rushed into my head.

It was like the entirety of a massive magic library was being shoved directly into my brain.

[Warning. External information is being injected.]

Despite the warning, the thing pouring in from the staff couldn’t affect me.

“What is this thing?”

I shook the staff around, unbothered.

“W-Why… why are you fine?”

“Why? Is it weird that I am?”

“T-That’s an artifact called the Staff of Longing. Normally, the moment a person grabs it, their head explodes and they die.”

Golm’s eyes widened as he looked at me.

Explodes and dies, huh?

I’m perfectly fine, though.

[An attempt to inject vast magical knowledge into your brain has been detected.]

So?

What happened?

[This level of knowledge poses no risk of serious damage to your memory. Most of the information overlaps with what you already know, so the actual amount being stored is minimal.]

So basically, this is a staff that shoves tons of magical knowledge into your head the moment you touch it.

“To suppress that staff, the cult usually offers several sacrifices… They used it to train necromancers… ah—!”

He suddenly clamped his mouth shut mid-sentence, realizing he’d said too much.

I chuckled at the sight.

So they made a weakened version of this thing and have been using it to raise necromancers all this time.

Which means… if I recover this, I can put the brakes on their military buildup.

“Considering how dangerous this thing is, their defenses were pretty weak… I also don’t get why they had to come all the way here.”

From the cult’s perspective, was there really any need to come to the Kingdom of Bata and kidnap civilians, not knowing when I might show up?

Could there be more to this staff than I know?

That thought crossed my mind.

“Hmph…”

“Hey, don’t die just yet. Stay right there.”

These bastards are the kind who secure and handle twisted artifacts like this.

Which means if I wring the cult for information, I’ll get something useful.

Still, more urgent than the staff right now—

“Duke.”

“Farell! Is Farell safe?!”

Judging by the noise outside, the knights of the Berli Duchy had already arrived.

Watching the duke rush toward his son with a pale face, I replied,

“Thankfully, it seems I wasn’t too late.”

“Phew… Thank you… truly, thank you.”

The stress his unruly son had caused him was clearly taking a toll.

Later, Duke Berli ordered the surviving cultist, Golm, to be captured, rescued all those who had been imprisoned, and led them out.

Those who had been kidnapped were sent home, and Golm was locked away in the Berli family’s underground prison.

“Thank you so much. Leon, if it weren’t for you, many lives would’ve been lost.”

“Oh, I just happened to be passing by and stepped in.”

“Then God must have guided you here… Haah… Right. So, what brought you to the Berli Duchy anyway?”

“Ah. I actually came here to ask for a favor.”

I looked at him with the utmost seriousness, and he gulped nervously as he stared at me.

“I’m planning to propose. But I’ve never done it before—never even seen it done.”

“…”

His face went blank for a moment, as if his soul had left him.

What?

Why the face?

There’s nothing more important than this right now.

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