As soon as he stepped out of the building, Oliver concentrated the energy on his eyes.
As pressure intensifies, the vision of a normal human becomes more and more blurred, but, the vision of a warlock who sees emotions becomes more and more clear.
As if looking down the street from the sky, Oliver could feel all the emotions inside the sewer.
As Oliver concentrated even more without stopping, he was able to find Dominic and his men, who were moving along the underground sewer system.
Dominic’s men exuded intense emotions, such as discontent, anger, regret, etc., which made it easier for Oliver to track them.
The more intense the emotions were, the easier it was for Oliver to track them, and using those favorable conditions Oliver caught up with Dominic.
Oliver moved in the ground while following Domic and his men moving in the sewer, and soon Dominic and his men reached a street that Oliver had never seen before.
It looked more like a maze than an alleyway, and it seemed like a place that felt somewhat similar to a place that Oliver had seen before.
As Oliver thought about it, he soon remembered that it was similar to District X in Landa which he visited with Joseph.
A slum with weak security.
Though it can’t be compared to District X in Landa, it was still a dangerous place.
Soon, Dominic stopped moving.
No, he came up from the sewer.
CREEE———K!
Dominic came out by opening the huge manhole in the corner of the slum.
Oliver hid in the alley and completely erased his presence using black magic.
[Erase Exit]
A Stealth magic using the emotion shame.
Oliver first encountered it in Joseph's study, although it was an ambiguous black magic that erases one’s presence, its effect was surprisingly great.
Oliver just tried to see if what was written in the book was correct, but to his surprise, even Dominic couldn’t feel his presence and just looked around.
"… Hmm?"
“What is it? Master?”
“No…no, nothing.”
“By the way, it was very unfortunate, Master. I thought we would be fighting together.”
"Well, it can’t be helped. It's a little messed up, but we’ll go as planned. If we can take down that Paladin, the momentum will be ours, then using that momentum we’ll strike down that Oliver basta*d as planned."
As planned?
Dominic's subordinate spoke carefully.
“However, no matter how sudden the situation is, even the Anthony family ended up like that, would it be easy for us, Master?”
“It’s because of compatibility.”
"Compatibility?"
“ Manipulation-type…. Especially, command black magic that Anthony specializes in is particularly weak against paladins. Because that magic can be easily purified by the Paladin’s Law of nature power. But, that doesn’t work on us. Since we will be using living beings instead of corpses. We can resist the Law of nature to a certain extent… you all have prepared enough drugs, right?”
“Ah, yes… We have collected enough drugs as well as gangsters to fight. Since our profits have increased a lot recently, there were no problems with the recruitment of gangsters.”
“It’s good, but it’s also sad at the same time. I never intended to use the money in this way, but, in this situation, it can’t be helped."
“Master. Is it really okay without the firepower of the Joseph family?”
“It would be great if we had the support of Joseph’s guys, but it is out of option now. The lack of firepower can be filled with doped gangsters… It’s fine this way. I was planning to capture Oliver anyway, now I can use the pretext that they didn't do anything as a reason to capture him and there will be no one to argue with us."
“What if the pharmacist made a move?”
“A guy who did nothing but stood still when the Paladin attacked has no qualification to speak. Even if he tried to move, things would be different when he realized the situation. Think about it. Soon, we’ll be the only black wizards they can ask for help. How can they attack us?"
“Ah, that’s right.”
"Once we kill the paladin and then catch Oliver, we’ll be the only ones who can make Pilagaret. He'll have no choice but to follow us. After all, he’s a guy that moves based on profit.”
"Oh, that’s brilliant, Master. I can't believe you're using this crisis as an opportunity.”
"Yes, Master. It’s a really great plan. You're thinking of killing the paladins to increase the family's reputation, and then capturing Oliver and making him a slave. It’s like killing two birds with one stone."
Dominic pointed to his forehead and said.
"The real power of a warlock comes from here. Oliver is a cheeky guy, but he has a knack for making pilgarets. We will kill all his men and take him after breaking both of his legs. Then, the high-quality Pilgarets that’s being produced now can only be made by us.”
“That’s great…but Master, wouldn’t there be any backlash if we kill a paladin?”
“We can bribe the top through the pharmacist. When it’s settled, we just need to leave this town and move to another place. As long as we have the name of killing a paladin and the skill to produce high-quality pilgarets, we can settle down anywhere. Once we expand our power, the next step will be to increase our influence in Landa.”
"Oh…!"
At Dominic's words, all his men exclaimed in admiration.
Oliver only nodded his head after silently hearing the details.
He doesn't know why, but he felt that Dominic's words were an empty pipe dream.
However, Dominic's men, who were persuaded by those words, immediately gained courage.
“Come on, let’s move, this will be the first chapter of Genius warlock Dominic’s legend!”
“Yes, Master!”
Dominic and his men entered the alley.
Oliver also moved along with them.
However, he thought it would be dangerous to just follow, so he decided to pursue them in a different direction.
Oliver carefully extracted the emotions.
He casts obsession-based targeting magic towards the top of the building where he was currently hiding and then casts the same obsession-based targeting magic on his own body.
Then, the two targeting magic attracted each other like magnets and slowly lifted Oliver to the top of the building.
After reaching the top of the building, Oliver directed his power to his eyes and followed Dominic’s movement.
He followed him through the buildings until Dominic entered a condominium.
There was laundry hanging between the buildings, but it looked like an abandoned place.
About 20 people were gathered inside the building, and there were about 50 people around the building.
The condition of everyone looked very strange.
They exuded a sense of pressure and exhalation, that’s normally found before the beginning of the battle.
It seemed like fighting against a paladin was not easy as Dominic said.
"Umm…"
Oliver was troubled.
At first, he tried to watch in moderation and leave, but seeing how much preparation they had made, he became curious.
Oliver lay down on top of the building.
From that position, he extracted the emotions and created a minion.
He made it smaller than the usual minion so as not to be detected and cast [Erase Exit] and [Eavesdropping ears] magic on it.
Soon, the minion's presence faded and a pair of ears sprouted.
“Look around and listen.”
Oliver sent the minion down along the shady wall with those words.
After a while, he could hear the conversation around the building.
“Really, it’s not a big deal, right?”
“Didn't you hear about it? It’s like we’re dealing with as*holes.”
“Then why are they giving us so much money?”
"What’s wrong with having a lot of money? It's good, right?"
“It doesn’t seem right…”
"Don't think too deeply about it. From what I heard, the warlocks here seem to have made a fu*king load of money lately, and there are rumors that they are planning on creating an organization. It's a kind of admission test."
“Admission test?”
“Yeah, just checking whether we are doing what we’re told and checking whether we have the strength to fight… What’s the problem? They’re even giving money, weapons, and potions. If you're really scared, get out now. I'm trying to fix my life now.”
“It’s not like that… What kind of potion is this?”
“This is a drug that makes you stronger and this is a drug that eliminates fear. As long as you don’t overuse it, there are almost no side effects.”
“Do you believe it?”
“This basta*d really… Did you forget that everyone around here buys doping drugs at this place? If you're going to be a pus*y then get out of here!"
"Okay. Okay. I'll stop."
Other than this, the conversations in other places were also similar.
The gangsters outside the building were apparently here without even knowing the details.
If they think a little, they might notice something strange. However, the fact that they can join a stable organization with a lot of money seems to have clouded their judgment.
Oliver found it interesting since it seemed possible to deceive people with such a hollow method.
Oliver overheard the stories around him and waited for a while in the building.
The sun started setting down.
“… Oh, it’s cold.”
"….."
“… Don’t you feel the cold?”
"… Shut up, the warlock told us to stay like a dead mouse, didn't he?"
"Okay, okay."
As the sun went down and night fell, the hired gangsters waited while conversing a little.
Everyone was very bored while some even snored.
Oliver understood how they felt.
It was harder than he thought to just sit still and do nothing.
At that moment when Oliver thought that the paladin was not coming today, he felt a strange presence.
Oliver opened his half-closed eyes and focused again.
A strange emotion appeared in the distance.
The number was twelve.
I was not a normal passerby.
They all had a sense of tension and exhalation,similar to the gangsters here, but at the same time they were calm and composed as if they were confident that they would win.
There was a unique type of emotion felt from among the group.
It felt like an emotion that Oliver had never experienced before.
An emotion that’s filled with very pure belief and self-confidence.
The emotion was so pure that it felt like a white drawing paper.
Oliver was immediately intrigued by the clean emotion he had seen for the first time, soon his dull mind and body immediately revived.
Oliver wondered what it was.
[Shade Cloak]
Oliver extracted a small amount of emotion and made a thick, dark cloak and flipped it over like a blanket.
It was a stealth black magic that hides the body in the dark.
It has the disadvantage that it can only be used at night or in the shade, but at the same time, it was a good magic that had the maximum effect with the minimum emotion if the conditions are met.
Oliver poked out his face and looked down.
Oliver wasn’t the only one who noticed the stranger's arrival, the gangsters woke up one by one due to the loud noise.
"Did they come? Is it those guys?"
“Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. How many people are there?”
"We can do as we're told. But why is there a woman among them?“
A gangster, who seemed to be the captain, came out into the street alone and blocked the path of the strangers.
“Hey, stop. Who are you?”
The strangers stopped.
The gangster spoke again.
"This is not a place for anyone to enter. If you're on the wrong road then go back quickly. If you have something to do, then come back tomorrow."
The strangers showed no reaction.
“Hey, are your ears clogged?”
At that moment, a woman, who possessed a pureness different from the others, came forward and opened her mouth.
“Is there a warlock here?”
"Fu*k… What the hell? Who are you?"
"Did you come here knowing that there is a warlock here? If you're just hired then we'll give you a chance to repent your sins with God's mercy. Everyone drop your weapons and get down on your knees."
At the woman's suggestion, the gangster's emotions slowly changed from tense to anger.
“…you have such a pretty face, but you turned out to be such a crazy bi*ch? What are you?”
“Paladin Joanna from the Parter church of Landa branch. In the name of God, I’ll tell once again. Including you, all sinners around here, please drop your weapons and surrender. Then, God will forgive your sins and show you mercy.”
“Ah, really…. What fu*king God are you talking about? Is it that dogsh*t God who gave us this miserable lif….”
Bang—-!
Suddenly, with the sound of gunfire, the gangster, who the strangers were talking to, fell to the floor.
The bald man who was next to Joanna made the shot.
“How dare someone like you disgrace our God…”
As soon as the gangster turned into a dead body, the surroundings became quiet as if it was struck by a cold storm.
However, it was only for a while.
Soon, someone shouted.
“It’s an attack!”
Following the shout, the gangsters who were watching the situation jumped out toward the strangers with their weapons.
They intended to tear the strangers to death, but the strangers remained calm, which showed that they are far from being frightened.
One of the strangers shouted.
“Lady Knight!”
The woman named Joanna, surprisingly, showed an emotion of sadness, but soon it got overlaid by her inner resolve.
[Ready For Battle]
A brilliant light covered the surroundings at the woman's spell.
Everyone was dazzled by the dazzling light, but as soon the light faded, all they could see was the strangers heavily armed with iron coats and various weapons.
Joanna who was holding a shield and a mace said.
“In the name of God, I forgive your sins.”
(To be Continued)
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