Chapter 132 : The Foul Ritual

The Foul Ritual

"The epidemic currently sweeping the village is related to the priest?"

At my words, the chieftain lowered his voice and answered.

His gaze had changed. The gentleness he showed Barkal was gone, replaced only with the sharpness of a leader guiding his tribe.

"Why do you think that?"

It was a calmness completely unlike his previously heated tone. Because of that, I swallowed drily.

Though his face was partially hidden by a helmet, he could not conceal his oppressive presence. Suddenly, my gaze fell upon the axe slung over his back.

With a single swing...

It could split a man in half.

As a necromancer, I wouldn't be able to resist him at all.

Even if I tried to block with 'skeleton exoskeleton' or used Chunsik, the chances of things going wrong were high.

But right now, I had a definite ally.

"Thrag gave a direct warning."

My voice came out unexpectedly calm. As I spoke, the chieftain's gaze wavered.

"Thrag...?"

The chieftain asked, unable to believe it.

Thrag's name.

There is no greater prestige in this tribe.

Above the chieftain, above the priest, above all warriors—an absolute existence.

A god.

So I nodded slowly.

"I say this on my honor. Thrag spoke to me directly."

Suspicion began to disappear from the chieftain's face, replaced by growing confusion in his eyes.

To speak a god's name carelessly is a sin heavier than death.

"... Dmihtan."

Even so, I spoke on the honor of a barbarian, so the chieftain could not doubt me.

"A brother to Barkal, and a barbarian praised as a Sage among his companions."

The pressure faded from the chieftain's voice.

"If Thrag's flame had not burned so fiercely a moment ago, I would have doubted you."

Perhaps recalling what happened in the tent, he closed his eyes.

"No warrior I've ever seen could make Thrag's flame blaze to such an extent. It must mean you have Thrag's trust."

Hoo...

The chieftain let out a short sigh.

He must have had a long relationship with the priest; I could feel a tangle of complicated emotions from him.

"What did he say?"

Leaving those feelings behind, the chieftain now looked at me as a devotee who wanted to know the will of a god, not a judge.

I began telling the chieftain what Thrag had revealed to me.

The words Thrag spoke when I scattered the dust of honor into the brazier.

"At that moment, Thrag spoke to me."

All eyes turned toward me. It felt as though I was watching a group of worshippers holding their breath, awaiting a god's words.

"There is a repulsive traitor within the village."

For a moment, the atmosphere seemed frozen.

"... Are you saying the priest is this disgusting traitor?!"

The chieftain's voice cracked low, full of inexpressible, intricate emotions. There was unmistakable anger within them.

* 〈Thrag is angered.〉

Why is Ra-big bro getting angry?

Is it because I interpreted his oracle as I liked?

* 〈Thrag nods.〉

Just let it go.

"That's right. Thrag also said that the traitor is performing a 'filthy ritual.'"

The more I spoke, the more the chieftain sighed.

"The priest said he was going to perform a ritual to find the cause of the epidemic."

"That's true, Dmihtan."

"Then doesn't that mean Thrag directly indicated who's responsible for the epidemic!"

The chieftain shook his head.

"I can't believe it. Rugar is a traitor..."

He removed his skull helmet. The face revealed beneath it was covered in scars.

"Chieftain, to show your face is..."

"It's for the sake of explanation. Thrag will understand."

The chieftain briefly retorted to Barkal's words and then slowly began to speak.

"Rugar and I grew up together. We were born the same year, in the same tent."

Barkal's eyes grew wide. It seemed even his son didn't know this story.

"We celebrated our coming-of-age together. I walked the path of a warrior, rugar the path of a sorcerer."

His voice trembled.

"Still, we were brothers. Brothers not by blood, but in every other way."

He looked at me and Barkal.

"Just like you and Dmihtan, Barkal."

I understood what he was trying to say.

"It was 25 years ago, during the war with the Kreta tribe."

The chieftain touched his side and his face, where deep scars remained.

"I was struck down by the enemy's greatsword. My intestines spilled out, and I bled so much from my face I could barely open my eyes."

Silently, he closed his eyes.

"I thought I would die. But Rugar was different."

"You mean the priest?"

"Yes. Rugar didn't give up; he dragged me off the battlefield, hid me, and shared his precious herbs with me."

With trembling hands, the chieftain put his skull helmet back on.

"Thanks to him, I survived. And I became chieftain."

His heartfelt words made me feel a pang of conscience.

But what choice did I have?

The fate of the village rested with the chieftain. And there was clear evidence that Priest Rugar had sent an assassin after us. I couldn't overlook that, either.

"You must decide, chieftain."

At my words, the chieftain gazed out past the tent, his eyes as if remembering the past.

"I will go to the ritual ground of blood and see what he's doing now."

His words were firm, but laced with a deep sorrow at the thought of losing a brother.

* * *

The chieftain slowly walked north of the village, and we followed behind him.

The sun had already begun to dip westward, causing the Red Wastes to appear blood-red.

"Where is the ritual ground...?"

Serena whispered to me. To tell the truth, I didn't know the location either.

"North of the village, beneath the sacred Rocky Mountain,"

Luckily, Barkal answered her question.

"Priest Rugar always offered rituals to Thrag there. This time, it's to ask about the source of the epidemic."

We followed the chieftain silently. As we crossed the village, barbarians stared at us, but the chieftain strode ahead unfazed.

"Brother."

Barkal came up beside me.

"If things go wrong, the priest might attack you."

Now that I thought about it, that was possible.

He had already commissioned the Disguiser. There's nothing he wouldn't do if things went sour.

But I wasn't worried. I stroked the 'Blood-Colored Awl' in my pocket.

If Rugar acted strangely, I wouldn't sit idly by, either.

"Don't worry!"

This time, Serena smiled brightly.

"I'm here too!"

She clenched her fist powerfully. Suddenly, I remembered the monsters that had fallen at her hands.

Even that vampire she'd pummeled until sunrise.

I wasn't just reassured—I started to worry for the other side.

As we left the village, the Rocky Mountain came into view.

A massive mountain with tiers of red rocks. In the middle, the cave entrance was visible.

"There."

The chieftain pointed. Torches stuck around the entrance flickered in the wind, casting strange shadows.

"Rugar is inside, performing the ritual."

Even though it was supposedly a ritual, there were no security guards.

Did he feel that confident here? Or was the ritual something no one was allowed to witness?

I didn't dwell on the doubt. We were about to investigate and find out for ourselves.

The chieftain's steps were heavy.

The steps of one doubting his brother.

We slowly approached the cave. The closer we got, the stranger I felt.

The chieftain hesitated briefly, then nodded.

"We go in."

We headed into the cave where the ritual was under way.

Inside, the cave was wider than I'd expected. The ceiling was high, and on the walls were carved the same sigils I'd seen in the tent.

And in the center—

"Thrag..."

Priest Rugar was there.

He knelt in the center, what appeared to be a ritual mark, hands united in prayer.

It lasted only a moment before Rugar stood up and noticed us.

He was not surprised. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and spoke.

"Chieftain, and... Dmihtan Elvar."

His gaze fixed on me—sharp and wary.

"What brings you to the ritual ground? If you barge in so suddenly, you could incur Thrag's anger."

"We have something to ask, brother."

"Something to ask?"

"Yes."

To the priest's question, the chieftain asked with wide eyes,

"Is it true that you commissioned Dmihtan's assassination?"

Silence.

The air in the cave froze.

Rugar didn't speak for a long time.

He just stared at me. Finally, he opened his mouth.

"It is true."

The chieftain's eyes widened.

"Why did you do such a thing, rugar!"

"I had my reasons."

Rugar pointed at me.

"That person is an unclean being."

"Is this about the disgusting magic you mentioned before? Didn't we let that go because Thrag acknowledged him?"

Despite the chieftain's sharp words, rugar just glared at me, his expression unchanged.

No matter how hard he stared, nothing would change. Just as I was thinking this—

Skrrr, skrrr.

A dark energy began to creep up around his shoulders.

I was the only one who noticed it. Which meant—

'Necromancy detection.'

That black energy was definitely necromancy.