Chapter 445: Karma

Druids.

They are beings that worship and protect nature itself.

Although smaller in scale compared to the Pater Church and limited in region, their influence was still significant.

The Pater Church claimed that the Father God was the only god, yet they tacitly acknowledged the druids’ existence.

The proud Druids, even though they pretended otherwise, took pride in this fact and constantly taught it to their disciples.

To the children they bought with sacks of potatoes.

One such Druid was Fiona, a female Druid.

Currently, Fiona is infiltrating as a singer in a bar in the T-District.

She suddenly thought about why she joined Enjoyment.

Curious, what made her leave the forest and flee to the city? Maybe, it was everything.

Being sold by her father, drawn by lots, for a sack of potatoes.

The endless suffering and training that continued day after day.

The comrades who died in the process.

Most of all, she resented being stuck in the green forest for life, devoted to duties she never wanted.

Honestly, wasn’t it too much? To endure and serve your entire life for something you never desired.

And so, Fiona left for Enjoyment with her other companions.

She judged that risking her life in the city was more worthwhile than living trapped in the suffocating forest.

And she wasn’t wrong.

Fiona, who took the risk and fled to the city, enjoyed the freedom and wealth she had never had before.

There were no beings in the city that oppressed them, and the power and beauty of the Druids easily brought them wealth.

Although there were occasional difficulties, they were not too significant.

The earlier Enjoyment members who had settled in the city helped her with a network so strong it was almost unbreakable.

Of course, their help wasn’t free, but learning about city life and the ways of Enjoyment during the process was worth the price.

For the past few years, Fiona had tasted heaven after leaving Greenland and coming to the city.

She experienced abundance she couldn’t even dream of during her impoverished childhood, and the freedom she couldn’t imagine during her days of oppression.

But all good things must come to an end.

With the victory of the Reformists and the passage of the special law, Enjoyment’s glory faced a crisis.

However, neither Fiona nor any other members of Enjoyment gave up.

Even after hearing that some colleagues had been captured by the police and the Reformist Druids, they didn’t give up.

Because they had tasted freedom and learned what it meant to live.

That’s why Fiona joined the new organization in Randa, despite being weary of the stifling organizational life.

She judged it to be the safest place.

Fiona worked hard to protect her freedom.

She gladly disguised herself as a singer among the laborers in the slums, blending in and appeasing those around her.

All for the freedom of Enjoyment and her own freedom.

‘Then how did it come to this?’

Fiona, bound in restraints, came back to reality and wondered.

They were supposed to be Druids, also known as superhumans, numbering over a hundred, and they had allies, so how did they end up captured here?

Fiona instinctively denied reality, continuously pondering how they ended up like this. No, she was avoiding it.

According to the plan, she just needed to gently push the back of a cute, foolish girl to retreat to this fortress.

Even though the building wasn’t complete, it had defense mechanisms and weapons worth billions, and over a hundred Druids, making it as solid as a fortress.

From that moment on, it was just a matter of waiting.

If Dave were killed or seriously injured, they could use it as a weakness in negotiations.

Even if Dave’s side got agitated and attacked, the City would intervene, leading negotiations in their favor.

It was a win-win strategy no matter what.

But reality was different. An unexpected early airstrike shattered their plans.

A large-scale airstrike that even this fortress couldn’t handle.

Countless cannons fell from the sky, wiping out defenses and countless lives before a monster invaded the fortress center, casting large-scale spells repeatedly.

It was terrifying, both formally and physically.

But what was even more terrifying was the sudden rampage of the trees.

The rampage of trees that had been planted to reinforce the fortress.

The fact that the trees, which should have been following a Druid’s commands, attacked Druids themselves had an immense psychological impact, inducing fear.

It wasn’t the typical fear of violence, beasts, or guns but something far more inexplicable and unsettling… a fear of the unknown.

At that moment, the leader gave a command.

The leader, Ulph, who was said to rival Seamus and gathered over a hundred Enjoyment members, gave the order.

He told Fiona, her partner Daryl, and a few others to retreat first.

To notify the other Enjoyment members hiding in Randa, and have them go into hiding.

A command that anticipated the worst-case scenario.

Fiona obeyed. She knew she, who specialized in fields other than combat, wouldn’t be much help.

‘Is that why?’

Fiona felt despair quietly creeping in. She wondered if being captured by an unremarkable black magic group like the Fighter Crew was because she neglected combat training.

Was it all because of her…

-Tap. Tap.

As she pondered, reliving memories, satisfaction, and determination, a figure flicked their fingers in front of her.

Was it because she just regained her senses? Or because she was confused? Or maybe it was because Ulph, her leader, had been trampled to death? Or perhaps it was the swirling shadows?

For a moment, Fiona saw Dave not as a person but as something else.

Something very grotesque, ominous, and terrifying. It was almost like…

“-Miss Fiona, could you answer my question? What were you thinking when you pushed Nora to poison me?”

***

Oliver had asked the question five times. His voice didn’t waver at all.

He was curious enough to ask five times, wanting to know what Fiona was thinking when she ordered Nora to poison him.

Wasn’t it strange? Even if the plan failed or succeeded, Nora would suffer greatly.

Oliver couldn’t understand it, so he sought answers from the person involved.

What made her delegate such a task to a girl in her early teens?

To be honest, he had a rough idea, but he still wanted to ask in case there was something he didn’t know.

But it seemed like that was just his misconception.

Fiona, who had been oscillating between confusion and fear, finally reacted to the fifth question.

Confusion, ignorance, resentment, fear.

Enjoyment’s Fiona seemed caught off guard by Oliver’s question, ignorant about Nora, and then, after glancing at Oliver, she felt resentment and fear.

Although she remained silent, her reaction was a better answer than a thousand words.

Fiona simply didn’t care. She never really thought about it. What became of Nora didn’t matter to her.

Whether Nora lived or died or succeeded or failed.

It was rather shocking yet, at the same time, completely natural.

“I see… I understand now.”

Oliver muttered with a nod. He had finally found the answer he had been seeking.

What should he say… it felt strange. He had wanted an answer, but now that he had it… it felt strange.

Instead of resolving the itch, it felt worse.

Strangely enough, when Oliver felt the discomfort of the unresolved itch, the emotions of those around him also worsened.

Tension, discomfort, and fear… even Third was affected.

Just as Oliver was about to wonder why everyone was acting like this, a captured Druid shouted.

He was a male Druid, built and tall like other Druids.

None other than Daryl, the Druid Fiona sometimes met at a bar in T-District to exchange information.

“What a ridiculous jerk!!”

Although Daryl’s face was pale and he was injured by Joe’s punch, he forced himself to shout despite the pain and ominous feeling.

He shouted to defend and protect Fiona.

“Who the hell are you to dare judge us with such questions?! Damn it!! You’re just a black magician!!”

Third, Joe, and Marie were about to move at his roar, but Oliver raised a hand to stop them. He wanted to hear what Daryl had to say.

Oliver asked,

“Are black magicians not allowed to ask such questions?”

“Of course not! You bastards, who use human ingredients for power, dare act all high and mighty?! Even worse, you defiled corpses!!”

Daryl screamed, pointing at the corpse doll with his eyes, resisting the fear that was crushing him.

However, his words, separate from his actions, were quite logical.

Wasn’t he right? Could Oliver, who extracted emotions, life force, and mana from humans and used corpses as materials, really have the right to bring up Nora?

Especially since Oliver was the one who killed her brother…although, he was just doing his job, but still, Daryl wasn’t wrong.

Daryl shouted again, driven by fear and excitement.

“You didn’t come here out of concern for that kid, but because she tried to poison you, right?! So, stop being so disgusting, damn it!!”

Oliver, pondering his words for a moment, snapped his head back toward Daryl.

Because it overlapped with something the Flesh Cook once said.

‘Do you want me to help you realize it? You don’t really care about humans… To you, they are just organic machines that generate interesting emotions. You made the wrong threat. When I invited you here, threatening someone precious was a mistake… You don’t even have anyone precious. You only have precious emotions, like a cherished toy.’

It wasn’t a pleasant memory. Oliver’s expression changed slightly, and everyone, including the excited Daryl, felt a chill run down their spines.

It wasn’t just in their heads; the goosebumps on their necks confirmed it.

Although they themselves didn’t know why, a very slight movement of Oliver’s lips and eyes, a change so small it wouldn’t even be noticeable by others, felt like a massive shift.

It was enough to make them forget to breathe.

In that moment, the spirits of every Druid, including Daryl, were crushed.

Not just because they were overwhelmed by Joe and Marie and bound.

But simply due to a shift in Oliver that wasn’t even a shift.

It had nothing to do with the restraints.

Separate from the surrounding atmosphere, Oliver remained as still as a statue, thinking until he finally nodded as if he had found an answer.

“You’re right.”

“…”

“I didn’t come here because I was worried about Nora. I came because I was worried about myself. About me.”

Oliver repeated the word ‘me’ twice.

Then, as if he had made a decision, he drew the knife from behind his waist.

It was the Northland dagger that Wallace gave him as a gift, which he had only used once during the battle against the Flesh Cook.

Strangely, the blade, engraved with a checkered pattern, had turned an eerie dark red.

It had changed because Oliver used it with black magic, tinged with his own blood.

Holding the dagger that could cut through dragon scales and inflict thousands of diseases, Oliver approached Daryl.

Step. Step. Step.

Even those standing far away moved back as if confronting a natural disaster, and Daryl, who just moments before had shouted to protect Fiona, stepped back as well.

He felt a fear greater than simple death.

Just as Oliver was about to execute his will on Daryl—

-Tap.

Someone gently, yet firmly, grabbed Oliver’s wrist.

In that tension that felt like a stretched rubber band about to snap, everyone turned their gaze to the one who stopped Oliver.

It was Joe.

“Stop. This is going too far.”