Chapter 667: The Darkest Moment

Tryst with Pandora.

Convincing the refugee Dark Sorcerer.

Discussion with Archpriest Roderick.

Pied Piper’s visit to the orphanage.

Reunion with injured Joanna.

News of Derek’s death.

Pied Piper’s past.

Conversation with the gardener.

Oliver experienced an overwhelming number of events, most people wouldn’t face in one night.

In fact, it was an incredibly long night.

But, it wasn’t over yet.

Oliver had to return to the City and have a brief talk with Archpriest and the kings of the Central Continent, who bore the original sin.

Afterward, he went to meet Joanna, to help and also to seek help.

Of course, before that, he needed to see his companions Kevin, Yareli, and Rosburn, who had come here with him.

As soon as Oliver saw Kevin, he made a request.

‘Professor, may I ask you something?’

‘What is it?’

‘Could you please keep an eye on Yareli and Rosburn? I don’t think I can manage to look after them.’

He genuinely meant it.

Facing the Pied Piper left him completely incapable of worrying about others.

Luckily, Kevin agreed to the request, as if he had anticipated it.

Thanks to that, Oliver felt relieved.

Kevin was one of the most reliable people, not just because of his skill, but also his cool judgment and strong spirit.

Nevertheless, Kevin wasn’t free from worries.

Tap.

As Oliver passed Kevin to meet Joanna, Kevin grabbed his arm and asked softly.

‘Is there a way?’

Oliver saw his emotions.

The emotions of Kevin, who trusted him, but had doubts simultaneously.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Oliver. Kevin trusted Oliver, but he was even more wary of the Pied Piper.

You couldn’t fault him for that. The Pied Piper was that kind of being.

That’s why Oliver couldn’t answer Kevin immediately. He hesitated before replying.

‘…I’m not sure, but probably.’

Kevin looked at Oliver for a moment after hearing the answer, then let him go, and Oliver climbed the stairs to Joanna on the second floor.

He was incredibly grateful.

Even though Kevin had opened the Warlock’s Eye, he couldn’t see Oliver’s emotions.

Despite the delayed response, Kevin still believed in Oliver’s words.

Of course, Oliver wasn’t lying.

Though not certain, he did have a possible method.

First was the blood.

The blood was the only thing that Oliver, who had been overwhelmed throughout Randa, managed to use to surpass the Pied Piper.

Second was the Filgarett.

Filgarett had never lost to an opponent except for The Burned One, who was a demon.

It was more a last resort than a method, honestly.

Still, just in case, Oliver considered one final method.

A method he really didn’t want to use, but, in a way, it was more certain than Filgarett.

It involved ‘Ideation,’ ‘Crafting,’ and the most basic Dark Magic technique, ‘Extract.’

‘Extract…!’

The Pied Piper, who like Oliver rarely raised his voice, for the first time almost shouted.

There wasn’t anger in his voice, but shock and admiration.

Nevertheless, all that Oliver could extract from him was the overwhelming rage that dwarfed those delicate emotions.

‘Grrr…!’

Massive and intense rage erupted from the Pied Piper’s body and condensed like a meteor shower being drawn into a black hole, gathering in Oliver’s burned right palm.

It was a reckless sight, like trying to capture the ocean in the palm of your hand.

But that reckless act was now happening right in front of him, and as proof, Oliver’s body was showing every sign of imminent danger as the veins all over his body swelled, threatening to burst.

The sight was agonizing.

Even if you ignored the lost limbs and the missing eyes, the blood-soaked appearance was harrowing.

‘Grrrr..!’

A sound escaped through Oliver’s gritted teeth, a mixture of a scream and a moan.

But, even in such pain, Oliver did not stop extracting.

This was the only way to deal with the Pied Piper, whose power couldn’t be overcome by force.

Extracting all of that rage to destroy his delicate emotions and turning him into a will-less shell.

Like that nameless single mother who sold all of her maternal love and lost all her emotions to sustain her child.

‘My child is sick. Please, charity. My child needs medicine.’

In an instant, the memory of that nameless single mother passed through Oliver’s mind.

She was painfully thin with hollow eyes, and she shamelessly presented the child she once loved to beg for money, even as the child was dying.

‘Merciful one, please, just give my child a penny. He hasn’t eaten for days. He’s sick. Please…’

All that remained was her thinly veiled selfishness.

‘Money… Give me the money.’

When a small amount of money was thrown at her, she abandoned the child and scrambled for it like a dog.

Seeing that, Oliver said.

‘Ahh… She was beautiful once.’

‘Ha. Ha. Ha. So, that’s what you’ve come up with!? Extract all my rage, and it will stop?’

The Pied Piper, who had read Oliver’s memory, shouted in a more agitated voice.

The emotions of shock, admiration, and contempt were barely contained.

‘Honestly, I’m impressed. People have sent armies to stop me, some have sacrificed their own lives, but to think you’d try to stop me with such a basic Dark Magic. Quite impressive… But!’

Even with his left arm and both legs sealed by the shadow, the Pied Piper forced himself forward, moving slowly toward Oliver.

‘That’s only possible if you extract all my emotions… all my rage..!’

‘Aaaaaahhh…!’

Oliver, who had lost his sight, stared straight ahead as the Pied Piper approached, letting out a shout.

As his shout echoed, the rate of extraction increased, but still, the rage within the Pied Piper didn’t diminish.

It was like trying to scoop water out of the sea, making no progress.

If anything, the immense emotions being extracted caused a swirling wind, forming a typhoon around Oliver and the Pied Piper.

The fierce wind shook the surroundings, forming a ring of clouds in the sky. The wandering dead within the Pied Piper’s domain trembled with fear, while the wild creatures outside the domain went into a frenzied convulsion.

The world quaked.

‘Even if you could extract it all, do you think you could handle it? My rage?’

The Pied Piper’s question was a sharp one.

‘Ideation’ and ‘Crafting’. Even ‘Extract,’ the most basic Dark Magic technique, had an effect on the practitioner.

Oliver wasn’t oblivious to this. He had learned that from the Joseph family.

Emotions were the energy of the soul. When extracted and crafted, those emotions affected the practitioner.

The stronger the emotion, the stronger the impact. Especially emotions like sorrow, a murderous intent, hatred, and rage.

And if the emotions were too overwhelming and the practitioner’s skill insufficient, the emotions could corrode the practitioner.

Just like now.

Thud!

Step by step, the Pied Piper approached Oliver, finally reaching out with his only free right hand to grab Oliver’s burned right arm.

The two hands clasped together almost looked like a handshake.

‘Grr…’

‘It seems you’ve never extracted emotions of this magnitude before. How is it? Different from just watching, isn’t it? Does it still seem pitiful?’

Oliver, groaning in pain, couldn’t respond, but his reflexive attempt to pull his hand away served as his answer.

It was a misjudgment.

He had intended to extract emotions and erase the Pied Piper’s rage. Instead, he was being overwhelmed by that rage.

He knew the rage was boundless. But to this extent…

Though unconsciously attempting to withdraw, the Pied Piper gripped even tighter, holding onto Oliver’s right hand.

‘Die!’

The Pied Piper forcibly poured his emotions into Oliver’s right arm.

‘…!?!’

Oliver let out a silent scream.

His entire body swelled as if his veins would burst, and the memories embedded within the Pied Piper’s rage invaded Oliver’s mind.

‘Dad! Dad! Look! It’s our village!’

‘Dad, here’s an acorn! It’s shiny and big!’

‘Dad, it’s cold, but warm at the same time!’

‘Dad, I’ll give you the first flute I made.’

‘Dad, next time, tell me the story about Mom, okay?’

‘Dad, do you think what Mom said is true?’

‘Dad… what kind of person was Mom?’

‘Traveling with you isn’t hard at all, Dad.’

‘If I’m with you, Dad, I’m happy anywhere.’

The memory of the Pied Piper and his son, Nicholas and Hamelon, seen through the Ideation, forcibly entered Oliver’s mind.

What he had once observed as a third-person witness, he now experienced firsthand, with an intensity that was overwhelming.

The difference was indescribable. Horrifically so.

‘Why!? Just take it!’

‘St-stop… stop it!!!’

Oliver, who had lost all but his right arm, pleaded for his life for the first time.

It was horrific. Absolutely horrific.

But the Pied Piper showed no sign of releasing him. Instead, he tightened his grip on Oliver’s arm as he tried to flee.

‘Why!? Didn’t you say you’d give it everything!? It’s a good method! Take it all!’

As more rage surged from the Pied Piper’s body, the surrounding plants withered and died.

‘Take my rage!’

The rage caused blood to pour out of Oliver’s seven orifices—his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

‘Take my pain!!’

The blood that poured from Oliver’s eyes began to darken; his hair turned entirely white.

‘Aaaaah… Aaaaahhh!’

‘Take it all!!!’

━━━━━━!!

Oliver screamed, and the Pied Piper shouted.

All of the endless rage from the Pied Piper flooded into Oliver’s body without resistance.

As the emotions pierced through Oliver’s defenses, his body emitted a calm yet heavy wave that spread outward, and he fell like a puppet with its strings cut.

There was silence, as still as death.

Everyone present could only stare at Oliver’s motionless body.

Even the Pied Piper was no exception.

He gazed at Oliver with an emotion of disappointment, then tried to let go of his hand.

At that moment.

Click-!

Squeeze…

Strength returned to Oliver’s right arm, and he slowly raised his head.

His hair had turned completely white, his eyes had blackened, and small cracks appeared on his face.

The Pied Piper was filled with an emotion beyond fear—reverence.

Raising his head, Oliver absorbed the Pied Piper’s emotions with that very emotion and brought forth all his rage, momentarily drowning the world in a void-like darkness.

***

Beeeeep—

In that one brief moment, as the world sank into darkness, Joanna, Kevin, and Yareli opened their eyes.

No… let’s correct that.

The world seemed dark for a moment, but that moment was so brief it’s hard to say for sure.

In any case, they all opened their eyes: Joanna, Kevin, Yareli, and those who had watched Oliver fight with his entire being, even sacrificing his body.

And they saw it.

The completely altered landscape of the Verdant Forest, the countless dead who had wandered the forest for centuries, and the troops under Archpriest Roderick, along with the refugee Dark Sorcerers who shouldn’t be there.

They were all perfectly divided, encircling the area while watching Kevin’s group.

No, they weren’t watching Kevin’s group. It was something just slightly to the side.

Realizing this, Kevin, Joanna, and Yareli slowly turned their heads.

Toward where the struggling Oliver had been.

There he stood.

Wearing a torn leather mask and now sporting new limbs, the white-haired boy still couldn’t hide his youthful appearance.

Beneath the torn leather mask was the face of a much younger boy, looking at his newly grown left arm with eyes that seemed to see the world for the first time.

A sight almost sacred in its own way. Then, someone laughed.

‘Ha… Ha, ha.’

It was the Pied Piper, who had collapsed in front of Oliver.

He sat there, his left arm and legs gone, in stark contrast to Oliver.

But he didn’t look in pain. Instead, enlightenment appeared on his face—a sense of shock and futility.

‘So, from the beginning, I was just…’

Hearing the laughter, the newly white-haired Oliver raised his still burnt right hand.

‘…my life was just…’

Oliver pointed his finger at the Pied Piper.

‘…meant to awaken you from the start.’

Oliver spoke while pointing at the Pied Piper.

[Denial]