Count’s Territory (4)
Count’s Territory (4)
Just as she was about to step through the iron gate, Illea suddenly stopped.
From under her hood, she pulled out some spare clothes.
She walked over to the naked woman and handed them to her.
“Put these on.”
The woman stared in fear, glancing between Illea and the bundle.
“Th-thank you.”
“I’ll be going now. You should leave quickly too. The way back should be safe.”
Illea turned back toward the gate.
Hakain wore a suspicious look.
“Not like a mage.”
Mages were, by nature, cruel. Having gained their mana through contracts with demons, most were soaked in malice.
Respect for the weak or for life was alien to them.
But Illea felt different.
As she passed Hakain, she said,
“Because I’m not a mage.”
She was a witch. In some ways, far more dreadful than any mage.
“What…?”
“You’ll only get hurt if you pry.”
She smiled playfully and disappeared beyond the gate.
Hakain stared blankly after her.
***
Past the alley and through the gate lay the first layer of Dead Shadow.
It was, in short, an underground city.
Instead of sunlight, violet mana-lights floated under the ceiling, softly illuminating the subterranean sprawl.
Dead Shadow knew no day or night. Its dwellers lived beneath eternal twilight.
This was the Hour of Backlight—the time when demons ran rampant.
By surface reckoning, it was about one in the morning.
The Hour of Backlight was the most active time in Dead Shadow.
Mages, alchemists, apostates, fallen knights, heretics, addicts… all who could not live aboveground gathered here, bearing their own ghosts.
They wandered the dingy streets, trading in information and goods.
In the middle of the black market, Illea murmured in awe.
“More organized than I expected.”
Countless shops lined her view—mana exchanges, monster vendors, heretic array brokers, forbidden book dealers, curse workshops, artifact stores. Any magic-user would be tempted.
Her eyes shone.
She wanted to browse at leisure, but there was no time.
She glanced upward.
“What now?”
Somewhere, Mapheltan was hidden, though unseen—cloaked in Chimya.
‘Stay as you are.’
There was no reply. Illea frowned faintly.
“Hm…”
At that moment, a man in black robes approached her.
“You have such a pleasant aura.”
He smiled warmly.
Illea tilted her head.
“You can see my face?”
She still wore her hood and mask. Without a seeing spell, her face was impossible to discern.
The man said,
“I meant your atmosphere. I feel a very positive energy from you.”
Illea found it puzzling. She couldn’t read his intentions.
“That’s a first. Anyway, thank you.”
“Haha! So modest. You’re someone I’d like to know better. How about a cup of tea instead of talking here?”
Illea looked toward the empty air, as though asking Mapheltan.
No response came.
She sighed softly.
“Fine then. Let’s.”
They walked to a nearby shop.
Inside, the tea house looked surprisingly ordinary.
The man sipped black tea.
“Do you know of ‘Hyung’?”
Hyung was the complete opposite of divinity.
Illea nodded.
“If divinity means structure, order, and rule, Hyung is freedom, release, transcendence.”
The man looked impressed.
“Well learned. I too study Hyung.”
“I see. How far have you reached?”
The man’s face swelled with pride.
“Just two days ago, I broke into the 2nd stage.”
“Impressive.”
Her praise lacked any soul.
The man asked carefully,
“If you don’t mind, what stage are you at?”
Illea hesitated, then replied,
“Hard to compare in such terms.”
The man’s lips twitched in amusement, though he quickly hid it.
“Haha, so you’ve only studied theory, then.”
“Yes, let’s say that.”
“Perhaps I can help.”
“How so?”
“My card.”
He handed her a slip of paper.
Illea read softly,
“…Hyungshin Society.”
“Correct. I’m a preacher of the Hyungshin Society.”
The Hyungshin Society was one of the major heretic sects in the kingdom.
Their single goal: enthrone a Grim God, summoning a high-ranking demon of the lower hierarchy and worshipping it as a god.
Illea said,
“You want me to join.”
“Indeed. We can help you greatly. The Society gives theoretical scholars many chances for practice. You haven’t contracted a demon yet, have you?”
To him, Illea looked like a novice mage in the market, untested and alone.
The perfect target for recruitment.
Illea nodded.
“Not yet.”
The man smiled brightly.
“The Hyungshin Society will help you. Ritual, offerings, mana—all provided. You only need to come.”
Illea tilted her head.
“All for free?”
That was impossible unless it was a charity.
“It’s an investment in the future. Here, have a look at the contract.”
He pulled a sheet from his robe.
It was filled with dense writing.
Illea’s eyes flicked across rapidly.
She teased,
“I’ve read it all. Are you just looking for slaves?”
The clauses were full of unfair conditions.
Once she used what the Society provided, she would be bound to them forever.
The man looked suspicious.
“I only just brought it out.”
“I read fast.”
Unbelievable. Even a genius couldn’t parse it all in seconds.
He smiled.
“Then tell me Article 3, Section 1.”
Illea recited flatly,
“Any recipient of assets provided by the Society shall, immediately, be deemed to have delegated to the Society the right to summon and mobilize their entire being, including body and mind.”
The man looked unsettled.
He quickly put away the contract.
“R-remarkable talent you have.”
Illea glanced at the empty air again, then smiled faintly.
“Give me the contract again.”
“Haha, I must’ve brought the wrong one. I’ll fetch another—”
Illea cut him off.
“Let me sign.”
“…What?”
“I’ll join the Hyungshin Society.”
The man blinked.
“Didn’t you just say something about slavery?”
“All things have a price. I need a demon contract urgently.”
His face lit up.
“Haha! A most rational mind. I knew I sensed good fortune from you.”
He handed her the paper again.
Illea signed the bottom immediately.
“Here, my signature.”
“Excellent. Follow me.”
He gathered the contract and left the tea house with her.
They headed for the center of Dead Shadow’s first layer.
There, a massive sinkhole yawned.
Black-robed guards stood watch around it.
The man said,
“This is the entrance to the 2nd layer. Not just anyone may enter. You are chosen.”
“I’ll take it as an honor.”
“Haha, wait here a moment.”
He went to the gatekeepers, spoke with them, then beckoned her forward.
Standing before the sinkhole, Illea asked,
“We’re going down?”
“Yes. Step into the lift.”
At the bottomless pit stood an old elevator, powered by mana.
Illea stepped aboard at once.
The man joined her.
The gatekeeper chanted the trigger spell.
The lift dropped into the depths.
***
Screams and groans rose up.
The deeper they went, the louder the noise.
When they landed, hell itself unfolded before Illea’s eyes.
The vast cavern was packed with people.
All chained, all suffering.
Every act was nothing but endless repetition of torment and fear.
A man, bound hand and foot, had his skin flayed off.
A limbless old man writhed, begging for death.
A centipede made of twisted human bodies squirmed.
It was a miniature hell.
The man from the Hyungshin Society said proudly,
“Our farm. Impressive, isn’t it?”
Demons craved human pain and terror.
This farm existed to feed the Society’s demons.
Illea said,
“Crude. Very one-dimensional.”
It was only producing low-grade suffering.
The real masters staged situations that shattered psychology—betrayal by loved ones, unending failure, collapse of the self.
Only such high-order torments could satisfy greater demons.
The man looked awkward.
“Ahem. Well, this way.”
They passed through into a wide chamber.
Several novices were already there, performing summoning rituals.
All had been recruited like Illea.
From beneath one woman’s feet, dark-blue miasma erupted.
“I-it worked!”
A grotesque old demon emerged.
A low demon, a Zhapgwi.
That was the grand prize for binding oneself forever to the Hyungshin Society.
Others were the same—signing lifelong servitude, gaining only trash demons.
The man said to Illea,
“Stand at the vacant circle.”
She walked to the malformed ritual.
“The offering?”
Rituals required both offering and mana.
“You’re impatient. Here.”
He handed her a bone fragment.
Illea scoffed.
It had no trace of sanctity.
“What’s this?”
“A joint from Saint Antonius’s finger.”
Nonsense. Even a random monk’s bones would carry more holiness than this.
“Sure. If you say so.”
No wonder they summoned only trash.
The man said,
“Shall we begin?”
Illea placed the bone on the circle.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
He poured mana into the array.
The formation flared black.
Thick smoke spread around it.
“What’s this…”
“The purity seems strange.”
The miasma thickened, smothering the chamber.
Torches went out, one by one.
Darkness fell.
The very space was swallowed by shadow.
Everyone staggered back in fear.
Then crimson eyes flickered in the dark.
Great wings spread wide.
A crushing presence filled the cavern.
Every Cursed Scripture in the world shimmered violet.
『 O mother of all evil, close your eyes and meditate. The Grim God descends. Hypocrites, shut your scriptures. Your rules and order shall be rewritten. 』
The summoned low demons trembled in awe.