Chapter 36
A unit of Holy Knights was riding toward the Burkden Domain.
They had been dispatched to investigate, broadly speaking, Count Calido’s transgressions, and more specifically, his connections with Viscount Julio.
Godfrey was leading them.
“Captain, that’s Castle Burkden.”
Even for Godfrey, it was his first time visiting this domain, as it was located in the far west of the West Continent.
“First, let’s head into the castle and observe the situation. If a bunch of armed knights show up all at once, it’ll raise alarms. Wooster, follow me.”
Once inside the castle, Godfrey moved about, gathering information.
“Mercenaries headed into the Forest of Shadows not long ago, huh… Sir Karl again. It’s always Sir Karl.”
Putting together the information he had gathered, it became clear that Karl had definitely caught the scent of something here.
Viscount Julio had refused Godfrey’s request for an audience, citing health reasons. Everything about the situation reeked of suspicion.
He briefly considered infiltration, but the risks of being discovered were too high.
Godfrey had no intention of causing trouble in Burkden, which lay between his forces and the Alcantara Knights.
“We’ll gather intel while continuing to monitor the situation.”
***
Viscount Julio was skin and bones—his cheeks sunken and his eyes hollow, the very picture of a living corpse.
His gaze was fixed on the transparent glass coffin that held his son.
“Is the ritual preparation going well?”
“Yes, my lord. Everything is ready. We’re only waiting for Lord Dragul’s arrival.”
“I see…!”
For the first time, a flicker of life returned to Julio’s skull-like face.
“Just a little longer now… and I’ll see you vibrant and alive again, Andrew… my beloved son…!”
As he hugged the glass coffin and called out to his son, the steward standing behind him looked at the viscount with a chilling stare.
The steward, after all, was one of Dragul’s minions. To him, the viscount was not someone deserving of the slightest loyalty.
In fact, the only satisfaction he felt was knowing that his time as this decrepit human’s steward and watchdog was almost over.
“Everything is proceeding smoothly… but there’s one issue…”
He was bothered by rumors that a few mercenaries had escaped alive—and that that knight, Karl, hadn’t died.
His master, Dragul, and this pitiful old man were both in alliance with Tarantula.
Calling it a "partnership" with humans was laughable and disgusting, but until his master regained full power, their assistance was necessary.
‘That Karl… he's starting to get on my nerves.’
Preparations needed to be thorough.
He couldn’t allow pests to swarm on the glorious day his master returned to the world.
The steward flicked his tongue and his eyes glinted. Before him, Viscount Julio was still holding the coffin and sobbing.
A few days later, Dragul arrived at Burkden’s lord’s castle.
***
“Count Dragul… I’ve been expecting you.”
Dragul clicked his tongue at the sight of Viscount Julio stiffly raising his head. A lowborn human daring to lift his head in front of him.
Still, Dragul decided to be patient—for now.
Once the ritual was complete, such vermin could be crushed with a single finger.
“The ritual preparations are all complete, I presume?”
“Of course. I’ve fulfilled everything you asked of me. All I want in return is for you to bring my son Andrew back to life.”
Julio led Dragul to where his son was immersed in a liquid-filled container.
Dragul stared into the glass coffin at Julio’s son Andrew, and then smiled brightly.
“Bring me the blood and Dagger of Vermon.”
One of Dragul’s minions brought over a glass vial filled with blood and began stacking them up.
Dragul picked up a vial and started drawing a large circle with the blood.
It was a magic circle that utilized human blood.
The underground chamber beneath Castle Burkden was vast—large enough to accommodate such an enormous formation.
As Dragul poured the blood like water onto the floor, he smiled.
A twisted, grotesque smile stretched ear to ear as he scattered the contents of the glass vials.
Even Julio, who was cooperating in all this, felt a chill crawl up his spine for a moment.
‘It doesn’t matter. Whether he’s a demon from hell or a monster—if he can bring Andrew back, I don’t care.’
Julio pushed down the creeping dread, focusing solely on the goal of reviving his only son. Soon, Andrew would return.
DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG!
Just as that thought consumed him, the emergency bells of Castle Burkden rang out.
“My lord! An intruder has entered!”
***
Having recovered somewhat, Karl was now running toward Viscount Julio’s castle.
He had left Silver behind at an inn in Burkden during his last battle with Dragul, so his only means of transport was his two feet.
‘Dragul and Viscount Julio will likely perform that resurrection ritual soon.’
It seemed the blind Viscount Julio didn’t know that the ritual was actually meant for Dragul to steal his son’s body.
Andrew would live again, yes—but not as himself. It would be Dragul’s resurrection.
Who knew how powerful Dragul would become after taking over Andrew’s body? If he was even stronger than he had been in the forest, the situation would become dire.
Fortunately, the cave Karl had been hiding in wasn’t far from the Burkden Domain.
“What’s the plan, Karl?”
Hob looked at Karl with uncertain hope.
“No fancy tricks. I’ll find Viscount Julio and cut him down.”
“…”
Just the regular garrison at Castle Burkden likely numbered around 80 soldiers, and there had to be at least five knights.
What could ten mercenaries possibly do?
Hob suddenly regretted his impulsive decision to come along.
‘I’ll slip away when I see a chance.’
As Hob busily worked his mental gears, Karl smirked.
“If anyone wants to back out, do it now.”
As if Karl had read his mind, Hob let out a deep sigh.
“Damn it… bad call…”
That one muttered sentence made the mercenaries all laugh.
“Dyke… he was a good guy. Said coming here and getting gold coins eased his worries about medicine for his sick mother and his younger siblings. He was so happy… and then died right in front of me. Just like that. Holding up a shield in my place. I don’t even have a family. Why’d he do that…?”
Mercenaries were typically a group that prioritized their own lives first.
Caring about others came only after their own safety was secured.
But that didn’t mean they lacked camaraderie or didn’t value their comrades’ lives.
Sometimes, shared experiences led them to put their lives on the line for each other.
And this time, the situation had stirred up a deep sense of vengeance. Using mercenaries as sacrificial offerings for a monster? Even hardened mercenaries who’d survived countless superstitions had never witnessed such an absurd horror.
Though only a few days had passed since they escaped that monster’s grasp, the years they’d spent living as mercenaries had taught them how to suppress fear.
Once fear faded, what surged up was rage and a thirst for revenge.
“We’ve got to see that noble bastard’s face. Gotta check if our swords can pierce that high-and-mighty belly of his.”
The mercenaries nodded.
Once Karl saw that they were resolved, he led them toward Castle Burkden once more. When they passed through the outer walls, no one stopped them.
There was no way Viscount Julio had explained his dark schemes to every low-ranking outer guard.
On paper, these mercenaries were simply returning troops who had completed a mission on behalf of their employer—the lord.
Even as they moved from the outer to the inner keep, no one interfered.
Given the nature of mercenaries in this world, Julio probably hadn’t imagined they would return to the castle.
“What about the rest of you? Where did the other mercenaries go?”
Unlike the outer wall guards, the inner castle guards found it suspicious that out of the 50 men who had left for deployment, only about 10 had returned.
“We were the advance party, sent ahead to report. The rest of the force is still on site finishing up and will follow soon.”
At Hob’s smooth lie, the guard didn’t raise further questions and opened the gate.
Just like that, Karl and the mercenaries entered the inner castle with ease.
“I didn’t expect we’d be able to walk in this boldly.”
Getting in had been easy up to this point, but the real challenge began inside the inner castle.
They needed to reach the place where the resurrection ritual was being held, while avoiding clashes with the lord’s forces as much as possible.
Karl, who had frequented the training grounds here for about a month in the past, had naturally become familiar with the layout.
He judged that the only place suitable for a ritual like the resurrection ceremony would be the underground chamber.
Excluding outer guards and patrols, and those off duty or resting, there were roughly 50 soldiers stationed in the inner castle.
However, the so-called resurrection ritual wasn’t something one would boast about to their subordinates, and it was unlikely the lord would foolishly bring them all underground.
In the end, the ones they had to face would likely be one or two knights and, at most, a patrol unit of soldiers. And—
‘The real problem will be Dragul and his underlings.’
There was no doubt that the numbers would be hard to handle with just Karl and 10 mercenaries.
However, if Dragul couldn’t join the fight while the ritual was in progress, they had a chance.
All they needed to do was launch a surprise attack, disrupt the ritual, and retreat.
That much, they could do.
Karl finished his calculations in his head and began walking in the direction of the underground chambers.
“Hey… who are you guys…!? Aren’t you mercenaries? What are you doing here…?”
Apparently, not all the knights had gone downstairs.
A patrol unit composed of one knight and ten soldiers had encountered Karl’s group.
So much for reaching the underground quietly.
At times like this, what was needed was—
‘Quick and clean.’
Karl gave an awkward smile, scratching the back of his head as he approached the knight.
“What’s going on here? Didn’t you mercenaries go into the Forest of Shadows under the lord’s command?”
“Well, we’re the advance party, here to report to the lord about the situation…”
As expected, this knight knew nothing of the full situation either.
As Karl continued speaking naturally and approached the knight, he suddenly struck him hard in the throat.
“Gurk…!”
With a choked cry, the knight collapsed to the floor.
The soldiers panicked at the sudden move, but the mercenaries behind Karl were already in motion, quickly subduing them.
Binding their limbs and gagging them, Karl and the mercenaries concealed them along the corridor and began descending the stairs toward the underground.
DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG!
Just then, the ringing of the alarm bell echoed throughout the castle.
They hadn’t made much noise while subduing the patrol—so why…?
After a brief thought, Karl realized that it didn’t matter. The infiltration had been exposed. From this point forward, what mattered was speed.
“Move quickly!”
At Karl’s command, he and the mercenaries dashed down toward the underground chamber.
Any soldiers they met along the way were knocked out with a single punch from Karl.
Minimizing unnecessary bloodshed, Karl soon arrived at a vast underground space.
‘The stench of blood.’
Even from the stairway, the faint smell of blood had been present—now it filled the entire underground. The floor was drenched in blood.
A massive circular pattern inscribed with geometric shapes had been drawn entirely in blood.
“So you're the mercenary we lost in the forest…!”
Dragul, who had been drawing the magic circle on the floor, immediately recognized Karl.
Standing beside him was Viscount Julio, his cheeks sunken and his skin barely clinging to his bones.
“You must be… Karl.”
He already knew who Karl was.
The one being watched by Tarantula.
There was no way Julio, who received irregular communications from Tarantula, wouldn’t know Karl.
“Yes, Sir Karl. A wandering knight. What could possibly be here that you’d come sniffing around for?”
Julio looked at Karl with snake-like eyes, filled with murderous intent toward anything that would interfere with his son’s resurrection.
“I heard there was an entertaining show and thought I’d drop by.”
Even in this foul-smelling, pitch-black chamber, Karl retained his signature dry composure.
“Today is a very important day—my son Andrew shall awaken from his long slumber.
If you quietly leave now, I’ll overlook the rudeness of intruding into the castle without the lord’s permission.”
His voice was cold and sharp, yet carried a hint of unease. Perhaps a fear that the ritual might fail and his son would not return.
“Viscount, do you even know what kind of ritual this is?”
“…Of course. It’s a ritual to bring my son back to life.”
“That thing—what you’re doing—it’s not a ritual to revive your son. It’s a ritual for that leech over there to possess your son’s body.”
Julio’s face twisted grotesquely at Karl’s words.
“You think I’d believe that nonsense? Dragul and I made a deal—a contract. The contracts between demons and humans may be unfair, but their terms must be upheld.”
Karl realized there was something he didn’t know between them. From what Julio said, it seemed that making a contract with a demon placed unavoidable restrictions on the demon as well.
And based on Julio’s unshakable faith, Dragul must first revive Andrew, no matter what.
And while Julio spoke, Dragul, locked in eye contact with Karl, was smiling.