Thick green smoke spewed by the ghoul billowed up densely.
The smoke filling the forest gifted the adventurers with an agony that felt like their lungs burning with every breath.
Even when they tried to scream, only groans leaked from vocal cords that had already melted away.
“Urk…!”
The adventurers’ shrieks, filled with pain, echoed through the forest.
The sight of them collapsing while letting out spine-chilling screams was like a scene straight from the hell scrolls.
Skin melted, flesh rotted and festered.
Even armor that had seemed impenetrable was being eaten away by the green smoke, becoming unrecognizable.
“That is truly the power of the Apostle…!”
Sharia, watching this terrible sight, could not contain her astonishment.
Holding her breath, she witnessed a miracle that was no miracle performed by the ghoul.
“Th-that… what on earth…”
Lukas, standing beside her, was no different.
A single attack.
It had merely opened its mouth and spewed smoke, yet it had incapacitated all those adventurers.
“Haha….”
Lukas let out a hollow laugh as if he had lost his mind.
The sight he had just witnessed inspired nothing short of awe.
“So this is the true power of the Evil God.”
Heat flared in Lukas’s eyes.
And he suddenly realized.
The ghoul’s attack was like judgment handed down by the Evil God; it had not been a mere attack.
‘What the Evil God is trying to show…!’
Lukas was certain this was a teaching given by the Evil God.
He closed his eyes and thought.
Come to think of it, the ghoul had been relentless.
It attacked the adventurers the moment it approached them.
At the sight of it mercilessly striking down its enemies without forgiveness, Lukas felt an intense thrill so fierce it stole his breath.
‘…Show no mercy to the enemy.’
Surely, this was what the Evil God had wished to say.
Eclipse was weak now.
Busy merely putting food in their mouths day after day, they had lost their original purpose.
Lukas clenched his fist tightly.
‘Furthermore, the Evil God has spoken of the essence of black magic.’
What came next was the most important part.
What had he seen while following that ghoul from the start?
Nothing but the sight of the ghoul devouring whatever it came across.
Living animals, not to mention monsters, it swallowed without hesitation.
Did it not even take gold coins from a dead adventurer’s corpse and swallow them?
That was no mere swallowing.
What this meant was clear.
‘The essence of black magic.’
Black magic fundamentally unleashed great power through sacrifice.
The more offerings and sacrifices, the stronger the black magic that could be manifested.
The Evil God was surely making them realize this essence through the Apostle.
‘It plunders living life.’
Of course, Lukas had naturally known this fact.
But what of his current self?
He was nothing but a coward living quietly, afraid of being chased by the Order.
He hadn’t used animal carcasses, let alone human corpses, for fear of leaving traces.
So what had been the result?
Since they were not in a situation where the Order was chasing them, things had naturally been peaceful.
But was that really enough?
Eclipse was an organization formed by black magicians coming together.
And it was an organization with the goal of dreaming of the great Evil God’s resurrection and advent.
It was as if the Evil God was asking such an Eclipse.
It was as if He was asking Lukas himself.
—Is that really enough?
No.
Absolutely not.
Eclipse had to act more boldly than it was now.
‘Now, we must be bolder….’
If until now they had done nothing more than steal dead livestock, now it meant they needed the boldness to kill and steal to eat.
Lukas vowed never to forget what the ghoul before him had shown him today.
“Commander.”
Lukas spoke to Sharia, who had witnessed the miracle together with him.
“I believe this is the direction our Eclipse must take.”
Sharia was a genius black magician.
There was no way she could fail to understand the meaning of Lukas’s words.
Sharia likewise thought it was a revelation from the Evil God.
“Yes, Lukas. That is true black magic!”
A mad passion flared in her eyes.
Lukas too bit his lip, unable to hide his excitement.
From today, the Eclipse of the past was gone.
From now on, it would be reborn as a new Eclipse.
The horrific scene unfolding before the ghoul was, to them, a blessed harbinger announcing the Evil God’s advent.
Taking a deep breath, Sharia and Lukas turned away from the slowly dying adventurers and approached the ghoul.
The ghoul was currently shaking its head left and right, and the two of them thought even that action held some meaning.
* * *
The ghoul was bewildered.
“Guoooo…?”
(Why did they die?)
It had merely tried to take out gold coins to show them a kindness.
But the adventurers had all died.
The ghoul wanted to think to understand the current situation, but it had no brain.
“Guoooo.”
It was merely being faithful to the present situation.
Its stream of consciousness flowed impromptu.
Fallen adventurer -> Ah! Since they’re dead, I should search their pockets! -> Acquire gold coin! -> Put it in mouth!
The ghoul was quick.
It searched the dead adventurers’ pockets and found gold coins.
However, the gold coins the adventurers carried were covered in sticky green liquid.
“Guoo….”
It didn’t matter.
To the ghoul, it simply swallowed anything and everything.
It even devoured the remains of an adventurer who had melted away, leaving only bones.
Of course, to the black magicians watching that sight, it came across differently.
“A-As expected of the Apostle!”
Sharia exclaimed in admiration.
Ruthlessness wasn’t enough—it was committing such a terrible act so nonchalantly!
Lukas also quietly nodded from beside her.
“That’s right, Commander. That is precisely the direction we black magicians must strive toward!”
The ghoul glanced at the two engaged in incomprehensible conversation, then soon strode forward.
It had forgotten for a moment, but the ghoul’s goal was to find the Death Knight.
It needed to join the main force of the Death Knight and Nekros as quickly as possible.
“Ah, let’s go together! Apostle!”
Sharia shouted and followed the ghoul.
“Apostle, might I know where you are headed?”
Lukas asked as he followed, but the ghoul merely continued onward without answering.
Only the branches swaying in the wind and the sound of footsteps broke the silence; the forest was quiet.
They walked for some time like that.
“Lu-Lukas….”
While walking, a strange aura was suddenly felt.
An aura that black magicians knew well.
It was the aura of death itself.
Suddenly, the forest was filled with the aura of death.
“Commander, you must be careful.”
Lukas warned and stopped Sharia in her tracks.
It was far too powerful to dismiss as mere death aura.
The ghoul that had been walking ahead also halted.
“A-Apostle. What is happening now….”
Anxiety was buried in Lukas’s voice as well.
Before long, they couldn’t help but be astonished by the sight unfolding before them.
“……!”
“Lu-Lukas. Th-this is…!”
They were appalled by the sight of skeletons and ghouls endlessly emerging from between the trees.
But the ghoul trudged forward nonchalantly.
And was it not bowing its head to a certain being!
“I-Impossible…!”
Lukas looked at the being to whom the Apostle ghoul bowed.
All of them possessed enormous power radiating death.
“There was more than one Apostle!”
One wore a luxurious blue robe and held a large book in hand.
Another possessed a sword and shield, with a maid outfit hanging over the shield.
“Horrifying.”
They had no doubt hung the clothes of a human they had personally killed on their shield.
They were merciless and cruel beings utterly devoid of even a tiny shred of compassion.
Then why had such beings appeared?
The black magicians of Eclipse, Sharia and Lukas, realized.
The Evil God’s resurrection had already begun.
It was clear that the beginning would involve the Apostles and the undead legion together.
* * *
“Tak?”
(Who’re they?)
When the briefly vanished ghoul returned, Nekros asked.
It was one thing for the ghoul to return, but it had brought two humans along with it.
“Guoooo.”
(They’re just worthless humans.)
Although the ghoul was a direct subordinate of the Death Knight, that did not mean it could ignore Nekros’s question.
At the ghoul’s answer, Nekros looked at the humans.
The robe the man wore was torn here and there, no different from a rag, and the woman’s cloak was in tatters, perhaps covered in mold.
Their hair was clumped with grease; they clearly hadn’t washed in days.
Nekros nodded.
“Tak tak.”
(Truly unsightly and wretched humans.)
Nekros opened a notebook and began writing something.
— Brought humans with no money. Useless.
Lukas, unaware of the contents, made an expression of profound emotion.
“Without a doubt, Commander. Look at that figure writing! They are truly Apostles!”
A being radiating tremendous power was recording something.
As a black magician, he was curious.
What kind of contents would be written in that book held by the Apostle serving the Evil God?
“Surely, it must be filled with difficult magics beyond our understanding.”
Sharia also nodded, sympathizing with Lukas’s words.
If such a being was writing something, then even a genius black magician would be nothing more than a mere commoner.
Sharia and Lukas quietly gazed upon the being before their eyes.
Scratch, scratch.
Nekros’s hand continued moving.
— Unlikely to yield money even if searched. Waste of time.
Having written in the notebook for some time, Nekros soon turned around.
“…….”
The Death Knight too glanced once at Sharia and Lukas, then followed Nekros.
As all the undead moved following Nekros, Sharia and Lukas quickly followed as well.
“A-Apostle! Let’s go together!”
“Tak tak.”
(Why are they following?)
“Guoooo.”
(They’re just worthless humans.)
“Tak.”
(I see.)
Nekros nodded and moved his steps.
There was one reason he left them alone.
Because even if he killed them, it didn’t seem like money would come out of them.
It was better to spend that time looking for other adventurers.
Since adventurers were coming to the mountain range on their own, Nekros was trying to score big before returning to the kingdom’s dungeon.
Naturally, Sharia and Lukas, who couldn’t understand monster speech, misunderstood this with a different meaning.
“It seems the Ghoul Apostle is informing that one about us.”
To Sharia as well, it appeared that way.
Having now caught the Apostles’ eyes, Eclipse’s growth was obvious without saying.
The Ghoul Apostle had bestowed money upon them.
Then what would that one give them?
Just thinking about it brought a smile to Sharia’s face.
After walking for some time, the group of black magicians and Nekros ran into a band of people.
“Undead! A horde of undead! Could it be a monster wave?!”
“No! There are black magicians over there! They must have summoned them!”
The problem was that the group was wearing sacred white armor.
The paladins too skillfully formed ranks upon seeing the black magicians and the undead legion.
“P-Paladins! Commander, this is dangerous!”
Lukas shouted.
‘To think we’d meet paladins in the mountain range.’
He had already known for some time that the White Order was watching the Kingdom of Seil.
He had thought they would at most dispatch paladins to the Kingdom of Seil.
He never dreamed he would run into the White Order’s paladins in the mountain range of all places.
If there was any fortune, it was that the paladins numbered only seven.
Yet a shadow fell across Lukas’s face.
Paladins literally used holy power.
Even being only seven, they were no different from an elite force capable of easily sweeping away the undead troops gathered here.
In truth, aside from the skeletons and ghouls, the only ones capable of fighting the paladins were the Apostles.
But could the three Apostles defeat seven paladins?
Of course, they had confirmed earlier how powerful an Apostle’s power was.
Hadn’t it annihilated the adventurers by spewing smoke?
But this time the opponent was not adventurers, but paladins.
They could only hope that the Apostles present would be able to handle the paladins.
Unlike Lukas, who was observing the situation, Sharia began calculating various possibilities in her head.
‘Surely, the Apostle earlier…’
What had the ghoul they followed done?
It had swallowed living creatures and gold coins indiscriminately, wielding powerful black magic.
‘If only that black magic could be used again…!’
But great power required offerings.
Unfortunately, the only offering she had now was money.
And even that was limited to what the ghoul had shared earlier.
“…….”
Sharia took out the coins.
Copper, silver, and gold coins mixed together glinted above her palm.
Originally, she had intended to use this money to put ham on freshly baked bread and eat it.
But that was only possible if she survived here.
“Huk… my bread and ham….”
Holding back tears, Sharia gathered all the money she had received from the ghoul and offered it to the Apostle.
It was the Apostle who had diligently recorded something in the book earlier.
“Tak?”
A human who had seemed to have nothing suddenly handed over money; Nekros was bewildered.
Bewildered for only a moment, he soon formed a pleased expression.
That is the way of things.
Receiving a single gold coin from a poor person is happier and more precious than receiving a large quantity of gold coins from a rich one.
Nekros was an Arch Lich who had realized that truth.