In the darkness, where an eerie energy lingered, the flame of an old candlestick flickered.
Following that light revealed a staircase leading down beneath a dilapidated building.
After descending the stairs and passing through a long, narrow corridor, a gloomy room filled with cobwebs came into view.
A room thick with air where the smell of mold and dampness mingled.
In the center of the room stood an old wooden table, worm-eaten and cracked here and there, wobbling unsteadily.
Around it sat two figures.
Their identity was none other than “Eclipse,” a gathering of dark mages who longed for the resurrection of the Evil God.
Seated at the head of the table was Sharia, the young leader who led Eclipse.
Beneath her black clothes, red eyes gleamed. Despite her young age, she possessed remarkable talent as a dark mage and led this organization of darkness.
With a serious and cautious gaze, she stared at the table.
“The path we’ve walked has never been smooth. But the harsh trial before us now is more important than any we’ve faced before. Isn’t it?”
Sharia’s gaze fixed on a piece of bread lying on the table.
Its crust, hardened solid and covered in mold, gave off a damp, musty smell.
An ordinary person would have recoiled in disgust, but in Sharia’s eyes, it looked like hope as sweet as honey.
She gulped and looked at the red-haired man beside her.
“Hey, Lucas… Can’t we eat just a little of that bread?”
The one Sharia addressed was Lucas.
A red-haired man, he was the vice-leader of Eclipse.
With his cold, rational nature, he firmly shook his head even in the face of Sharia’s desperate gaze.
“We cannot, Leader. Hardship of this level is something we must endure for the resurrection of the Evil God. Besides, even now, at this very moment, our members are outside desperately begging for alms. It would not be right for only us to partake in this feast.”
“Ugh… Fine.”
At Lucas’s cold attitude, Sharia swallowed her regret and nodded.
That was right.
Eclipse, once famed as a force that could threaten the continent, had now fallen so low that even moldy bread had to be considered a blessing.
They dreamed of the Evil God’s resurrection more than anyone, but the wretched reality was that they had nothing to eat today.
Perhaps the White Order had even forgotten that Eclipse existed.
As if to soothe her gloomy mood, Sharia brought up a new topic.
In truth, there was another reason Eclipse, which had remained quiet and hidden for some time, had convened a meeting after so long.
It was because of a certain rumor.
“By the way, Lucas, have you heard the rumors going around lately? They say there’s a dungeon full of treasure… Do you think it’s true?”
Desire surged in her eyes.
At present, rumors about treasure were spreading among the adventurers of the Sale Kingdom.
The rumor was that an enormous amount of treasure lay within a dungeon in the Silent Mountains.
As the leader of Eclipse, which was suffering from a shortage of funds, it was only natural that she would be interested in such a rumor.
If the rumored treasure was truly real, then if they could obtain it, wouldn’t Eclipse, on the verge of collapse, be able to revive?
If that happened, they might even hasten the long-cherished wish of Eclipse—the resurrection of the great Evil God!
But Lucas’s answer was cold.
“Leader. Such things are likely nothing more than baseless rumors. Even if they are true, the Sale Kingdom is currently being watched by the Order. They are probably interested in this rumor as well. The risk is far too great.”
“R-right…?”
Sharia’s face darkened for a moment.
As Lucas had said, the White Order was currently watching the Sale Kingdom.
‘Queen Irena…’
Queen Irena, called the birth of a new Saintess.
Since she was also the ruler of the Sale Kingdom, it was only natural that the White Order would take interest.
As a result, there was a high possibility that priests or inquisitors had been dispatched within the kingdom.
‘In the end, she’ll become a puppet of the Order.’
With the situation as it was, entering the Sale Kingdom would be no different from walking to one’s death.
Inquisitors possessed the worst possible compatibility against dark mages, to the point they could be called their natural enemies.
On top of that, the Order was not foolish.
They would certainly be paying attention to this rumor as well and would be controlling the mountain range adjacent to the Sale Kingdom.
Just as Sharia was about to give up with a look of regret, Lucas continued speaking.
“…However, even so, it may be worth attempting at least once. Sprouting the seed of possibility is the very reason Eclipse exists.”
If one did nothing, possibility endlessly approached zero.
But the moment one acted, even the slightest possibility was born.
Wasn’t Eclipse itself a gathering formed around the possibility of the Evil God’s resurrection?
“And if we avoid it simply because we are afraid of the Order, we would be tarnishing the Evil God’s name.”
At Lucas’s words, a bright smile bloomed once more on Sharia’s face.
Her mind was already filled with thoughts of finding the treasure.
‘If we find the treasure… Yes!’
If they could find the treasure, then what awaited them would not be moldy hunger as now, but abundance and hope.
Above all, on that path, they would be able to draw closer to the dream of resurrecting the great Evil God!
‘Someday, I’ll make the Evil God descend upon this place!’
Sharia dreamed of a hopeful future.
Though even moldy bread was precious to her now, her heart was always filled with faith and passion.
Faint smiles appeared on Sharia and Lucas’s faces.
The reality of gnawing hunger, the wobbling table, and the gloomy underground space were no problem.
For they had a firm and magnificent dream.
And so, the two dark mages embraced the brightest and hottest hope in their damp and dreary underground hideout.
Smelling the mold, looking at the rotten bread, they were already envisioning in their minds the glorious moment when the Evil God would awaken.
For the sake of that day, they would have to head to the Silent Mountains as soon as possible.
The flame of the old candlestick flickered in their eyes.
A small flame of hope that would never be extinguished.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Silent Mountains, a procession of skeletons and ghouls continued endlessly.
The sight of bony skeletons and ghouls with eerie forms walking in a line was reminiscent of a march of death.
But upon closer inspection, in their hands they clutched small pouches instead of weapons.
If someone were to witness that scene, the overwhelming atmosphere might make them think an important object was being transported.
When the wind blew, the pouches opened slightly, and the objects inside sparkled.
Inside the pouches were enormous quantities of gold coins and jewels.
Holding pouches full of gold coins, they continued walking until they eventually stopped.
“Clack, clack.”
The one leading the march of death, Necros, had stopped walking.
Necros immediately pointed somewhere with his hand.
There lay the corpse of an adventurer. Without hesitation, Necros searched through the corpse’s pockets.
“Clack!”
When a gold coin came out, Necros’s expression brightened.
He quickly put the gold coin into the pouch held by a skeleton.
Of course, Necros did not keep it all for himself.
He also handed a portion of the gold coins to the Death Knight beside him, strengthening the friendship among the undead.
The Death Knight who received the gold coins also called over the ghouls, his own subordinates.
When it came to transporting gold coins, ghouls displayed overwhelming performance.
Though their skin was rotten, flesh still remained, allowing them to hide gold coins inside their bodies as well. Thus, they boasted far greater efficiency than skeletons, who could only carry pouches.
“……”
However, before long, the Death Knight’s expression changed subtly.
As he stared at the ghouls, his gaze sharpened.
“……”
Sensing something strange, Necros approached.
“Clack, clack?”
(What is it?)
“……”
In response to Necros’s question, the Death Knight pointed at the ghouls and nodded.
Realizing something, Necros’s expression turned serious.
“Clack, clack?”
(One of them disappeared?)
One of the ghouls following behind was nowhere to be seen.
And it was the ghoul carrying the Death Knight’s secret funds.
Necros and the Death Knight began to ponder with serious expressions.
Where had it disappeared?
They did not even consider the possibility of betrayal.
All the ghouls deployed here were subordinates personally created by the Death Knight, so betrayal was impossible.
After being lost in thought for a moment, Necros soon moved his jaw.
“Clack. Clack clack.”
(Let’s go. We can keep collecting gold coins.)
“……”
The Death Knight agreed with his words as well.
Gold coins could always be earned again.
And since they had been roaming around collecting gold coins for several days, there was little to regret.
The same applied to the ghoul.
With adventurers flooding into the mountain range now, what did losing a single ghoul matter?
If they lacked ghouls, they could simply kill a passing adventurer and make a new one.
However, it was necessary to take this incident as a lesson and establish countermeasures. That way, they would not repeat the same mistake.
“Clack, clack. Clack!”
Under Necros’s command, the skeletons and ghouls began moving in pairs.
It was the moment the first undead buddy system was born.
* * *
“Guuuh?”
A single ghoul was crying, left all alone.
Where was this place?
The ghoul was confused by the current situation.
It had thought it was following the procession just fine, but when it came to its senses, it found itself left completely alone.
“Guuuuuh.”
From afar, it could faintly sense the aura of its lord, the Death Knight who exuded death.
The ghoul began walking endlessly.
If it followed that aura, wouldn’t it eventually be able to rejoin the procession?
“Guuuh?”
As the ghoul walked along the path, it discovered a human collapsed on the ground.
Seeing that the human was still alive, it seemed he had only fainted for a moment.
The ghoul immediately took action.
It reached out and rummaged through the unconscious human’s clothes.
It was a habit ingrained in its body after following the Death Knight and Necros around for several days.
“Ughhh, where am I…?”
While it was rummaging through his clothes, the adventurer regained consciousness.
But the moment he did, what entered his vision was the terrifying appearance of a ghoul.
“Aaaaargh!!”
So shocked was the adventurer that he lost consciousness again.
“Guuuh…”
The ghoul continued rummaging through the adventurer’s clothes.
The money that came from the human’s belongings glittered on the ghoul’s palm.
Though there were no gold coins to be seen, only silver and copper coins, the ghoul clutched them preciously.
Then, after looking around, it began tossing all of them into its mouth.
Even now, a great deal of money was stored inside the ghoul’s body.
With light steps, the ghoul began moving again.
The forest was vast.
As it walked through the forest, it saw a living creature crawling along the ground.
The ghoul stared at the creature, wondering what it was, before a thought soon occurred to it.
“Guuuh.”
It had definitely once seen a vampire named Aren from Sector 3 holding a creature similar to that one, calling it “Long friend!” and bringing it to his mouth.
“Guuuuuh…”
(Long friend…)
Of course, there was a great difference between the long creature Aren had held and this one.
First of all, the long friend the ghoul was holding had an extremely vivid body color. Above all, the many fangs in its mouth were terrifying.
It looked dangerous at a glance, but it did not matter to the ghoul.
The ghoul immediately grabbed the long creature up and then shoved it into its mouth.
Thus, the ghoul began moving with a ferocious snake monster stored inside its body.
A short while later, it discovered another living creature, and that too was something that existed in the ghoul’s memory.
Aren had definitely looked at that sort of creature and said, “Squirrel friends are tasty friends!”
“Guuuh…”
(Squirrel friend…)
However, it was far too different from the squirrel Aren had held in its memories.
The squirrel the ghoul had caught now was green all over and had blood-red eyes.
“Kyaaaak!”
And then, trying to resist, the thing bit the ghoul’s hand.
The ghoul’s hand became covered in a strange green liquid, but it felt no pain at all.
As an undead that was already dead, the ghoul could feel nothing.
“Guuuh.”
Soon after, it shoved the squirrel(?) that was biting it into its mouth as well.
The ghoul kept moving, swallowing gold coins and living creatures indiscriminately as it went.
But the ghoul did not know.
That the creatures it had swallowed had begun fighting and devouring one another inside its body.