Chapter 80 …
“Yes.”
Because he was a doctor, Henri had seen many people suffering from illness.
Many people called him an excellent physician, yet there were many patients he had not been able to save.
If ten patients came to him, he could save only three; the remaining seven died.
And it wasn’t only Henri. Even doctors considered more skilled than he was managed only about half. Half of the patients died, and only half survived.
People regarded this as the will of God, but doctors who had studied deeply were tormented by the fact that they could not save their patients.
“This time, as I watched His Highness the Crown Prince die, that question came to me strongly. Why did God plunge him into despair? Why did He make someone who was meant to accomplish so much suffer such a miserable fate?”
The official cause of the Crown Prince’s death was poisoning.
There was something strange about Viscount Noema’s words, but Henri could not focus on it.
The door opened, and a cart was wheeled in. A coffin lay upon it.
“What is that?”
“It’s something prepared to show you a miracle. See for yourself.”
The lid of the coffin was opened. Inside lay a corpse.
“Isn’t that a dead body?”
“It is. Go ahead and check.”
There was no need. Henri was a doctor; he could distinguish the living from the dead.
“Why bring this here?”
“Because today I’m going to show you a part of the truth I’m seeking.”
Through the same door the coffin had entered, a man wearing a black hood walked in. His face could not be seen. Only a few strands of red hair stuck out from beneath the hood.
As he appeared, the gathered people stepped aside. The scene resembled nobles withdrawing in a banquet hall when the king himself entered. Without realizing it, Henri stepped back.
He couldn’t bring himself to ask who the man was. Like everyone else, he fell silent.
“Please perform a miracle for us again today, Hel.”
“Of course.”
The man called Hel answered in an arrogant tone. Henri thought he had heard that voice somewhere before.
“Watch closely.”
Henri had no idea what they intended to do with the corpse. He was about to protest that it was disrespectful to the dead—
Then the body suddenly sat upright.
“A—a corpse!”
Henri screamed and fell backward.
Unlike the horrified Henri, the others merely murmured in admiration.
“Oh!”
It seemed they had witnessed this sight several times before.
“Amazing every time I see it!”
“To have the power to revive the dead!”
“That shouldn’t be possible!”
Yet the thing that had been a corpse waved its hand toward Henri.
“Check the pulse and breathing!”
Henri rushed over and grabbed it, trying to see whether its heart was beating. But Viscount Noema stopped him.
“His power is still incomplete. He has only temporarily held the soul of the dead in place. It hasn’t truly been revived.”
“Then you can’t say it’s been brought back to life.”
“For now, that’s correct.”
Viscount Noema looked relaxed.
Usually when someone said “for now,” it implied that “later” it might become possible.
“We still lack sufficient research about that power.”
“That power?”
“Black magic—the power others call dark sorcery.”
At that word, Henri drew in a sharp breath. Viscount Noema spoke so casually about a power considered taboo by everyone else.
“People fear it because they don’t understand it and call it dark sorcery. But black magic is a power comparable to the power of God.”
Henri trembled.
Others did not know what he was thinking, but Viscount Noema assumed Henri had been captivated by the miracle.
After all, Henri could not take his eyes off the corpse that had risen.
“For now it can only summon them briefly, but if research progresses further, reviving the dead will become possible. So—what do you say? Would you join our group? The more doctors we have, the better.”
It would have been strange not to be fascinated by such power.
Those who were mad for knowledge, truth, and research knew black magic was dangerous—yet they were still entranced by it. These were people called intellectuals, people more educated than others.
“I… I…”
Henri trembled.
Viscount Noema had seen many people shudder in excitement after witnessing a new truth. Because of that, he believed he knew what answer was coming.
“Well? Your answer?”
A curve formed on Viscount Noema’s lips as he urged him to reply.
Henri squeezed his eyes shut. His fists clenched so tightly that his shoulders trembled.
“I refuse.”
It was not the answer Viscount Noema expected.
“What?”
“I refuse. I want to be a father my children can be proud of.”
Henri rejected the offer.
It wasn’t that Henri had no interest in the power to revive the dead. The temptation was overwhelming.
But after it became known that the Emporus family had once made a contract with a demon, people had begun to suspect that he too might one day become a dark sorcerer.
He didn’t mind if people looked at him that way. But he could not bear the thought of his children being treated the same way.
That was why he could not involve himself with black magic.
“How unexpected. I thought you would join Daimon.”
Viscount Noema raised the hand holding his staff, looking disappointed.
Only then did Henri realize his mistake.
The capital was currently wary of dark sorcery, and people were encouraged to report any dark sorcerers they discovered.
If he had joined them, it would have been different. But since he had refused, he was now in greater danger than ever.
“Are you going to kill me?”
Henri asked in a tense voice.
Everyone here was in the same group. Killing him and hiding the evidence would be nothing to them. Realizing this, Henri stepped back.
“Unfortunately.”
In other words, yes.
“Simply killing you would be boring, so let’s play a game. Try to escape from here while avoiding us. If you’re lucky, you might survive.”
Henri swallowed.
There was no way for him to escape this place. Yet he couldn’t take back what he had said.
Evelyn.
He thought of his beloved wife.
The men on the floor stepped aside, opening a path toward the door.
They seemed to treat the situation as entertainment—like releasing an animal into a hunting ground for sport. The only difference was that this hunt was inside a building, and the prey was a human being.
Henri ran down the open path.
Even if he couldn’t survive, he couldn’t simply give up without doing anything.
He grabbed the door handle.
Clack. Clack!
The door wouldn’t open.
Instead, laughter echoed.
“Hahaha! Look at him struggling to live!”
“He’s running without even realizing the door is locked!”
Everyone there burst into mocking laughter, turning Henri into a joke.
Henri felt tears welling up.
Then—
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound rang out. A blade shot through the crack of the door, and the hinges fell off.
It wasn’t a normal method, but the door opened.
A hand wearing a black glove suddenly shot out and grabbed Henri’s wrist. Unable to resist the strength, he was pulled forward.
“He’s escaping!”
“Catch him!”
The people who had been mocking him rushed toward the door.
But Henri, whom they thought had already fled, had not gone far.
Bang!
From the opposite side, someone kicked the door.
The door flew toward the people charging forward.
“Argh!”
Those struck and crushed beneath the heavy bronze door screamed.
“Come on.”
At the sound of that voice, Henri moved his legs.
The person wore a mask and black clothing like an assassin, but Henri recognized instantly that the one holding his wrist was his wife.
“Evelyn.”
“It’s been a while since we ran like this together.”
Because of the mask, Henri couldn’t see her expression. But he could imagine her smiling.
“How did you get here?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Henri glanced back briefly at the people chasing them.
As Evelyn had said, this wasn’t the time for conversation.
“Dear, remember when I told you I was good with a sword?”
Evelyn said it with a playful tone.
“You did say that…”
Henri had heard the story, but he couldn’t imagine how strong she really was.
With that slender body, how powerful could her sword be?
He was still human, bound by prejudice. He believed that no matter how strong Evelyn might be, she couldn’t defeat men.
That was why, when she released his hand and told him to run first, he couldn’t obey.
“I can’t leave you behind—”
Before he could finish, Evelyn swung her sword and cleanly split the ceiling.
The ceiling cracked under the blade, and stones rained down.
“Argh!”
“Dear, you really don’t listen. I told you to go ahead because of the dust.”
People were crushed beneath the collapsing ceiling.
As if her body weighed nothing, Evelyn leaped several times and caught up with Henri.
Looking up at the sturdy-looking ceiling above them, Henri silently kept running.
The corridors were complicated. Vibrations continued to shake the building, and the sound of heavy stones dragging echoed around them.
They had been running through the twisting passages for about a minute when Evelyn suddenly grabbed the back of Henri’s collar and stopped him.
At the same time, the ceiling opened and a red figure dropped down.
It looked like a person whose entire skin had been peeled away, exposing raw muscle. Its white eyeballs rolled around before staring at Evelyn and Henri.
“Grrr!”
It did not speak.
Evelyn swiftly cut the red monster down.
Black blood burst out like a fountain, splashing over her.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. But dear, I think we’re going in circles.”
“In circles?”
Evelyn wiped the blood from the back of her hand and leaned against the wall.
“You feel the vibrations and the noise, right?”
Henri nodded.
“It feels like the walls are moving. To keep us from escaping.”
“Then what should we do?”
Evelyn looked up at the ceiling. The opening where the strange monster had appeared was already closed again.
She raised her sword and tilted it slightly.
“If the walls are moving, we’ll just break through the ceiling. Step back.”
She pushed her husband behind her and swung her sword toward the ceiling that had been open moments ago.
The sword broke, but cracks appeared in the ceiling.
Evelyn drew another sword from her back and struck again.
This time, the ceiling burst open.
Stones fell and dust filled the air, but Evelyn immediately grabbed the edge of the opening.
She swung her legs back and forth a few times to build momentum, then disappeared up through the hole.
“Evelyn?”
“I was right! Dear, grab my hand and come up.”
A gloved hand stretched down.
Henri grabbed it with one hand while gripping the broken ceiling with the other.
Evelyn pulled him up, and once his upper body reached the floor above, he was able to climb out of the underground level by himself.
“It’s open here.”
Unlike the maze-like lower floor, the level they had climbed into showed a long corridor.
There were no torches, and dust had piled up everywhere, suggesting it was rarely used.
“Dear, wait a moment.”
Leaving him briefly, Evelyn dropped down again.
Soon a burning torch was tossed to the opposite side of Henri, and Evelyn climbed back up. She picked up the torch and stood beside him.
“When it’s dark, it’s easy to fall into illusions. Don’t you think?”
Evelyn stared into the darkness at the far end of the corridor where the torchlight did not reach.
