Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

* * *

Russell frowned as he asked, “[Are you truly considering using it?]”

“You did mention that with a few adjustments, it should be fine, right? I’ll still consult with Bethel just to be sure,” Lucion reassured.

The black wave.

Prior to meeting Peter, Lucion had clumsily imitated the black magic from Heint’s colleague in the novel, resulting in a broken left arm.

This led Lucion to have Hume prepare bandages in advance, knowing the effectiveness of Black Wave in capturing warlocks.

[That was true, but…]

Russell trailed off.

“I trust you, Teacher.”

Originally self-taught from a notebook found in Russell’s hideout, the black magic spell Lucion had learned was unstable. 

However, learning it directly from Russell would likely yield different results.

“In any case, we’ll need to face off at least once, won’t we?” 

Lucion gazed ahead.

Chayton was being escorted by warlocks in a mountain cave.

“There’s a corrupted warlock ahead of me, along with a regular warlock mixed in.” 

[Yeah.]

Russell answered, even though he didn’t want to admit it.

Seeing his expression, Lucion chuckled lightly.

“With Hume playing as a wolf to herd the sheep and knowing where the fleeing sheep are going, it couldn’t be easier. All thanks to the teacher and Bethel.”

Two entrances were visible, one showing signs of infrequent use, likely an escape route.

Inside, the number of troops was notably fewer compared to the village, as they had set up a trap and concentrated their forces on capturing Brachion.

‘This presents an opportune moment for an attack.’ 

Lucion was pleased with the unexpected turn of events.

“By the way, it was the Teacher who assured me this would be manageable,” Lucion said mischievously, causing Russell’s expression to sour.

[I shouldn’t have mentioned that.] 

Russell reflected, unknowingly leaning towards his disciple’s development.

Last time, Lucion, with the help of his organization Ale, confronted a warlock at Tefellow Selga’s mansion.

If he were to face a warlock or a corrupted warlock without the organization’s support…

He believed it would be a valuable opportunity to gain experience.

“I was curious why you were so late, but considering the amount of information you brought, I’ll let it slide.”

Lucion’s body trembled slightly, as Bethel, whose consciousness she was inhabiting, was startled.

‘Is something amiss, Bethel?’

When Lucion asked, Bethel gave an awkward laugh.

―Ratta loved waiting! Hume gave macaroons, chocolate cookies, and delicious pudding, and um…

“I had grapefruit ade, and you had strawberry juice, Ratta,” Lucion said, casually adjusting the mask on his head.

―That’s right! Ratta loves strawberry juice!

“Seems like you love everything,” Lucion remarked.

―Yep! Ratta loves everything!

Ratta giggled.

[Wow. Someone’s just back from scouting, while someone else is having a blast. If someone saw this, they’d think we were on a picnic!]

Russell teasingly remarked, but Lucion responded smoothly.

“I’m still growing. I haven’t eaten much lately. Please understand.”

[I was just joking. Eat up. Eat a lot and grow strong.]

Russell seemed flustered.

“I’m serious,” Lucion laughed.

[Well, I’ll go ahead then.]

Russell hurriedly headed towards where Hume was waiting, almost as if he were running away.

“Anyway, Bethel,” Lucion said, his smile fading. He adjusted his mask.

[Right. Even without a sword, that’s fine. I like a good punch.]

“Glad to hear that. Personally, I prefer a direct approach.”

―Ratta loves walking on her own two feet the most!

Ratta whimpered playfully, her tail wagging as she slipped into the shadows.

“That’s right. Walking on your legs is the best.” 

Lucion summoned his darkness, spreading it over the village and launching a small black wave.

It was the signal for Hume to start their operation.

What are the warlock’s weaknesses?

It was, without a doubt, light.

Lucion had originally planned to use a holy relic, but given the light’s effects and the warlocks in the village, he changed his approach.

Brachion planned to attack the village, so his soldiers were probably nearby. 

With the golden badge Brachion gave him, Lucion aimed to take their light-infused relics.

Taking the soldiers would have made good shields, but to keep it quiet, he decided to let them wait in the village, pretending everything was normal while waiting for the enemy to relax.

Flash.

Suddenly, bright light flashed from the cave. Lucion summoned more darkness to block the light.

‘Hume should be fine, right?’n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Even though he was far away and it wasn’t a holy relic, a sense of unease crept through him.

He couldn’t help but worry if Hume would truly be okay after being so close to that light.

Once the light faded, Lucion withdrew his darkness.

“Let’s go, Ratta.”

―Okay! Let’s go!

* * *

As the darkness surrounding him settled, Lucion swept his arm, unleashing swirling black waves toward the nearest target.

It was silent, but soon a scream erupted from the man’s mouth.

“…Aaargh!”

The darkness rippled around him, bubbling like boiling water.

The weakness of darkness was its instability.

[It doesn’t reflect off the darkness automatically.]

Bethel said in amazement.

Having killed warlocks before, Bethel knew how annoying it was to have darkness that automatically popped up.

[Of course. It was made by me, the unfortunate genius Russell, so it’s only natural.]

Russell proudly pointed at himself before casting a glance at Lucion, noting that his arm was unharmed this time.

[Do your arms still ache?] 

“No, not at all,” Lucion responded, demonstrating his pain-free and intact arms.

“You’re here already? You could have taken your time,” Hume said as he forcefully slammed his great sword onto the ground.

Despite the cleanly severed neck of an enemy at Lucion’s feet, Hume was more focused on welcoming Lucion.

“Are you alright, Hume?” Lucion checked on Hume’s well-being.

“I’m always good,” Hume replied with a wide grin, snapping his fingers and halting the encroaching darkness.

Crack!

The approaching darkness froze in place.

[I will cut through it, Lord Lucion.]

Lucion unraveled the darkness that swirled around his hand and, following Bethel’s movements, drew his sword to slice through the frozen darkness.

Swish.

After that, Lucion looked around.

The ones lying on the ground, vomiting blood due to the light, were the warlocks, and that guy over there, busy trying to save himself, must be Chayton.

“Let’s move quickly, Bethel. Hume, please handle the cleanup.”

“Of course.”

As Lucion heard Hume’s response, he wrapped the black waves around his arm and bared his sharp teeth at the fallen warlocks.

* * *

“…Huff, huff!”

His breath was coming in ragged gasps, but all he could think about was survival.

Suddenly, a blindingly intense light erupted, so strong he couldn’t open his eyes.

And then, with a fierce swing of a greatsword, as if wielding wind magic, the necks of those warlocks rolled on the ground.

‘Stupid bastards!’

They had boasted so confidently, but they were so easily defeated by just one person.

‘Where did those guys who were supposed to come from the village when something went wrong go?’

He was annoyed.

Why didn’t the stupid first son of Myronist come as he was told, and why was some random bastard here to ruin his plans?

How much time would it take to do this all over again?

How much would it cost?

What was he going to tell his superiors?

“Remarkable, isn’t it?” a voice behind him sent a shiver down his spine, causing him to stumble forward.

“You can even think about other things while running away. You must be very relaxed.”

Lucion genuinely admired him and blocked the man’s mouth with darkness.

“Did you think you could escape, Chayton?”

When his name was called, Chayton’s eyes widened in fear.

‘A masked warlock? Who is he…?’

There had been no reports of such a warlock anywhere.

“Oh. I guess you’re curious about me.”

Lucion’s voice was playful.

Soon, his mask turned yellow.

“I’m the one who came to catch you. That’s all you need to know. Anything more would be too much for you.”

Lucion grabbed Chayton’s hair and called out to Ratta.

“Let’s go to where the teacher is.”

To the hideout where Chayton had just come from.

* * *

Swoosh.

Hume was just about to slash the warlock’s body.

“You caught him quickly.”

Hume said, looking at Chayton.

The sight of Chayton being tightly bound by the darkness like a rope made Hume want to hang him somewhere right away.

“Is everyone caught?”

Lucion asked, and Hume nodded.

“Yes. Thanks to the young master’s adept use of black magic, I was able to apprehend them without issue,” Hume reported.

[I quite enjoyed that.]

Bethel happily squeezed and released Lucion’s fist repeatedly, relishing in the moment.

Maybe it was because it had been so long since she’d punched a warlock, but punching felt almost as good as slashing.

“Isn’t it? Punching is pretty satisfying.”

Lucion gazed at the holes in the walls, avoiding the center of the cave where the enemies had set up their hideout.

Aside from the two entrances facing each other, he looked toward the area where Russell and Bethel had mentioned the corruption.

—Should Ratta summon those vile people as ghosts?

Ratta pointed her paw at the dead warlocks.

“No. Not yet.”

Lucion glanced at Chayton.

“I need to ask him some questions.”

Chayton was sweating. Although his pupils widened slightly, he didn’t seem too fearful of the situation yet.

Lucion created two chairs using darkness.

He sat on one.

Hume sat Chayton on the other.

The strange sensation, different from a regular chair, quickened Chayton’s breathing.

Lucion quietly spoke.

“If you have anything to say, now is the time.”

“What do you mean by that?” Chayton questioned.

“Nothing to say?”

“Were you sent by Neubra to exploit our weaknesses? It won’t work. My soul is protected by the God of Light!”

Pfft.

Lucion couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Oh, did the priest of Nevast say that? The high priest? Or maybe a superior priest?”

“Don’t belittle them, you vile being,” Chayton shot back.

“It’s amusing how you fail to recognize who the true vile being is,” Lucion retorted with a smirk.

Lucion stood up from his seat.

As Hume tried to restrain Chayton, Lucion immediately shook his head.

“Don’t come over, Hume.”

“Yes…?”

“You’re weak against corruption. Wait here for a moment. It’s better if you keep watch.”

[Right. There’s no danger, Hume. This is within Lucion’s capabilities.]

Russell also tried to stop Hume.

“But over there…”

[Don’t worry. It’s not as dangerous as the corruption from the Sea of Death.]

“Then, …didn’t he come because we purified that corruption, and what if it happens again?”

Hume looked at Russell with fear in his voice.

—Hume, it’s different this time. Ratta knows. The darkness over there isn’t the same as what was in the Sea of Death. The darkness in the Sea of Death was incredibly sad, but here, Ratta feels just a tiny bit sad.

“It’s okay.”

Ratta explained at length, and when Lucion spoke in a calm voice, Hume looked at him in surprise.

The person who should be the most scared here was Lucion and Ratta.

“Wait here.”

Yet, Lucion was trying to reassure him.

A butler shouldn’t be like this.

A butler should reassure the master, not the other way around.

“Yes.”

Hume tried to shake off his fear.

“I will wait here.”

A butler should trust his master.

“Alright.”

Lucion lightly patted Hume’s shoulder before turning around and walking toward the corruption-filled hole, dragging Chayton along with his mouth sealed by darkness.

Since the road had been maintained to some extent since it had been used so many times, there was no great difficulty in going down.

However, the puncturing stench, rotting corpses, and what appeared to be freshly killed bodies lined the way, making him feel disgusted.

A small lake filled with blood welcomed him.

In the lake, a black liquid writhed.

That was the corruption.

And there was a faint glimmer of light.

Could it really be a holy relic?

[…Disgusting.]

Bethel expressed disgust.

Lucion could feel her long-standing distress.

—Ratta can, ugh, bear it.

Ratta lowered her body, covering her face with her front paw.

‘Is the corrupted warlock… dead?’

Lucion looked around.

When a warlock became corrupted, they vanished without a trace, leaving no corpse behind.

But here, away from the center of the cave, the influence of light might still be weaker.

[Looks like he was consumed by the corruption over there.]

Russell pointed to the blood-filled lake.

[The best prey for corruption is more corruption. It spreads and multiplies.]

Lucion stood before the lake of blood as he listened to Russell’s words.

The corruption merely wriggled toward him, not saying anything, much like in the Sea of Death.

It seemed to require a certain depth of corruption to obtain a sense of self.

Lucion shook off the question for now.

“You know this place well since you’ve been here frequently, don’t you?”

He lifted the darkness that held Chayton, bringing him close enough to the blood lake for his feet to barely touch.

Uhh-uhh!

With his mouth gagged, Chayton struggled, moving his whole body to keep his feet from touching the lake.

Laughing at him, Lucion said in a whisper.

“I wonder what the end was for the one who was eaten by that corruption.”

Author's Thoughts

Hello, everyone. Thank you for being there for me and supporting me. Without you, it won't be very difficult. Thank you very much for this year. May you enjoy good health, happiness, and a wonderful New Year. Cheers to new beginnings