Barbarian in a Failed Game

021. Darkin Subjugation (1)

Norman’s invocation of dark magic engulfed Khan and Ron before disappearing.

It happened in the blink of an eye, leaving Aries feeling bewildered and somewhat dazed.

Then, almost instinctively, she hurried to lay the unconscious priests on the ground. It wasn’t a conscious decision but more like picking what needed to be done.

Whoosh─.

The ‘Light of Healing’ conjured by Aries enveloped the priests, and the warm light wrapping around their bodies helped Aries regain her composure.

‘I’ve heard about it.’

She first recalled the identity of the dark magic that had involved Khan. A power lent to dark mages by one of the archdemon’s offspring, ‘Aecharis.’

Even the Church couldn’t pinpoint its exact name, but its effect was well-known. Spatial transference. Things swallowed by Aecharis could be expelled at a predetermined ‘hiding place.’

Then where could this hiding place be? Aries made a guess that was nearly certain in her mind.

‘Necar Mountain.’

“Cough. Choke!”

“Uh, ugh….”

Right when Aries had organized her thoughts, the priests, who had been rendered unconscious by some method, started to regain consciousness one by one.

“Why am I on the floor…”

“I fell asleep while listening to the deputy abbot’s prayer. Wait! Abbot! Look here!”

“What in the world is happening…! And what’s this on the floor!”

While Aries could have waited for the confused priests to grasp the situation, she chose not to do so. There was work to be done.

“Silence.”

“A knight of the church?” The priests, noticing Aries’ slightly disheveled appearance, rushed over in shock, as if seeing something sacred being tainted.

Aries didn’t react to the priests’ fuss and matter-of-factly concentrated on what she had to do.

“Deputy abbot Norman has fallen. He borrowed the power of a dark mage and wielded the authority of a demon, and the dark magic circle drawn on the floor is the proof.”

“Good heavens. The deputy abbot has fallen…!”

“We don’t have time for explanations. I must punish the traitor in the name of faith. So, you take care of the turmoil in the city. Come morning….”

It was an unusually long and persistent explanation for Aries, indicating the severity of the situation. Fortunately, even after hearing of Norman’s betrayal, the priests were filled with zeal.

It was because Aries was a knight of the church. A knight of the church acts on God’s will, and the knight’s command is God’s command. They couldn’t be devoid of enthusiasm.

“Then, what shall you do…?”

“Pray.”

With that single word, the priests withdrew. Aries sat down on a somewhat intact chair, closed her eyes, and began to pray to her god.

“Please….”

*

*

*

The prayer, which continued until the chilly moonlight on her platinum hair turned into warm light, stopped only after the long-awaited visitors arrived.

“Hmm. Are you the knight of the church who sought me out? I didn’t expect such a young girl.”

“Te, teacher. Wouldn’t it disturb the prayer…?”

“What are you saying? She stopped her prayer before we even knocked, did she not?”

Aries quietly rose and scrutinized the two visitors.

An elderly gentleman, his hair beginning to gray, and a young man slightly older than Aries, both dressed in typical mage robes with staves in hand.

“You are….”

“Ah, let me introduce myself directly, given this is our first meeting. It’s only proper, especially when facing the church’s sharpest blade.”

The elderly gentleman’s tone sounded almost mocking, but Aries didn’t seem to care.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Jerome, taught directly by the Master of the Gray Tower and granted the title of mage directly by the High Master of the Five Towers. This sorry excuse is my apprentice, Jan.”

“I am Jan, at your service, knight of the church.”

Jerome, introducing himself with dignity and confidence, pushed back his robe’s hood and continued,

“My poor apprentice. We’ve heard about a dark mage cloaked in Eliya’s skin, falsely claiming the name of our tower.”

“Eliya, that child. So clever… Ah, yes! So, knight of the church? What shall we do?”

Between the almost rehearsed banter of the two mages, Aries paused before answering,

“Search for the missing.”

*

*

*

“Damn. Where the heck are we?”

“Where, you ask? We’re deep in Necar Mountain.”

Ron’s reply, as if asking if Khan was foolish, was met with a silent stare. Should I kill him? Or let him live? That was the question in Khan’s gaze.

“Stop looking at me like that! You think I wanted this? Huh?! Who would have guessed there’d be a maze in the mountain!”

“Quiet. Unless you want a lump on the back of your head.”

“…Ahem. I mean, it can’t be helped. It’s my first time here too.”

As Khan chewed his lip, contemplating whether to actually strike Ron, Ron meekly protested.

“And this place? It’s bizarre. Has it always been like this?”

“How should I know? I told you, it’s my first time.”

“I wasn’t asking you.”

“Ah!”

Khan, having dealt with the destructive mouth, looked up at the sky. It should have been dawn by now, but the sky above the depths was dreadfully dark. And that wasn’t the end of it.

‘It feels like we are going around in circles.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration when Ron, an excellent guide, described it as a ‘maze’.

Strange as it may seem, the inner part of Necar Mountain was indeed like a maze. No matter how much one walked, it seemed impossible to get closer to the summit.

The final scene of the fifth act, the battle against Darkin at Necar Mountain, wasn’t like this… It was just spewing monsters, and a dark mage showing up to wreak havoc.

“Is it magic?”

“How could any being cast such bizarre magic over the entire mountain. It must just be the nature of the terrain itself, like the Empire’s Grand Mage said.”

“That makes sense.”

So, this guy is useless? Khan glanced at Ron, who was checking for a bump on the back of his head, with contempt and sighed deeply.

“If there were a mage, it might’ve been better. Pity. Got any ideas, Guide Ron?”

“Not a guide, but a sledgehammer, Ron at your service. Hmm, a solution… I’m not sure. We need to experience this kind of situation to know. My gut feeling says we should just keep going forward.”

“Intuition, huh. Very reassuring.”

Khan sighed harder.

Facing a maze-like field was nothing new in a game, but this was reality.

Trapped in the body of a barbarian who could not detect mana, Khan found it impossible to think of a way to break through.

‘It’s not like there’s a gimmick to resolve this, as with ancient ruins…’

Even if there were, how could one find such a gimmick in the vast expanse of Necar Mountain?

“No choice then. We just keep walking.”

“And yet you mock my words before doing exactly as I said?”

“Want to get hit more?”

“Let’s go! We have a long way ahead.”

Their decision was made. To walk aimlessly.

Luckily, Ron had a knack for finding where the monsters dwelled even as they wandered. If they had to fight monsters while being lost, their stamina would have depleted first.

The problem wasn’t the monsters. It was people. Specifically, the dark mages.

“He is over there—!”

“Catch him!”

Somehow, despite the confusing paths and their hidden position, dark mages would find them just when they were almost forgotten.

This time, there were quite a few of them.

Six. Included among Darkin’s disciples were demon worshipers who had sold their souls to become dark mages.

“Urgh!”

As Khan confirmed Ron crushing a skull of the undead, he charged towards the dark mages.

The horde of corpses was a nuisance, but they couldn’t stop Khan’s charge. He smashed skulls with his fists and annihilated bodies with his axe without missing a beat.

“Crazy…! How with one blow!”

“You’re just weak.”

The dark mage panicked under Khan’s tremendous assault, attempting to cast a curse to bind him, but it was futile. It barely slowed the pace at which their heads were crushed.

Snap!

One dark mage screamed as he met his end. But Khan did not care. One mouth to answer their questions was enough.

“Bind his feet with curses! Just hold him off until Master Kris is ready!”

A cloud of black smoke, like a congealed mass, clung to Khan, making his breathing slightly laborious. Annoying brats…

With a scowl, Khan charged again.

Boom!

“Arrgh!”

Two demon worshipers who failed to dodge in time flew off as if struck by a horse. Given that they collided with Khan’s muscular frame over 2 meters tall, it wasn’t entirely incorrect to say so.

“I can’t do this! I can’t stop him!”

“Damn…!”

Watching from a close distance, two demon worshipers lost their will and attempted to flee.

As if to prove their faithlessness, betrayal occurred at nearly the speed of light.

Khan threw daggers, snatched from the pathetic thugs, to swiftly finish off the fleeing ones, then turned his attention to the dark mage who appeared to be Darkin’s disciple.

“Block him! Stop him!”

Driven by despair, the undead rushed at Khan.

While desperately chanting a spell that looked petty, Khan thought, trying to stop someone with these trifling beings.

The first punch punched through the chest of an orc undead with a ‘Poom-‘, incapacitating it instantly. Khan kicked the powerless orc corpse aside.

“Watch your back!”

Ron’s warning reached him, but Khan had already sensed the approach and swung his axe without looking.

Screech!

A skeleton, made from an amalgamation of human bones, crumbled to dust, and seizing the moment, a beast-like monster leaped at Khan, baring its maw above his head.

“Hmph!”

Khan didn’t dodge but reached out to force the wolf-like jaws apart with a powerful grip. Crick! The wolf’s head split in two, rolling on the ground.

Next with his foot, then with his axe, and fists…

Khan crushed every undead that came his way and finally stood in front of the dark mage.

“Is that all? Quite underwhelming.”

“…Die!”As he completed the incantation, corpses began to swarm around the caster. The sickening sounds of cracking bones and squelching flesh intertwined in a disorderly fashion, creating a sight that was far from pleasant to behold. “Damn, this is an eyeball assault,” he muttered under his breath.

“Growwww!”

“Hahaha! Look at my masterpiece! With this, I’ll capture you and gain a foothold to become an official disciple!”

Even Khan, a man well over 2 meters tall, had to crane his neck to gaze upon the towering corpse golem that bellowed before him, its creator gleefully spreading his arms as if presenting his work.

“Kill him, Elizabeth!”

Khan’s face twisted in disgust. Naming such a grotesque golem, that looked more like something a drunkard would vomit up after a long night’s binge, ‘Elizabeth’?

‘Is this guy insane? Truly.’

What part of this hideously mashed-together mass of corpses warranted such a cute name as Elizabeth? Even a modern person, accustomed to all manners of unique nicknames, would find such destructive naming sense incomprehensible.

Khan met the golem’s fist with one of his own, injecting a bit more earnestness into his punch.

“Uh!”

His slow punch might have seemed childishly petulant against the golem, but the outcome was staggeringly different.

Boom!

The golem exploded into pieces, scattering like it had been hit by an internal bomb. ‘What? One hit? But I made it strong enough to even challenge a lower knight?’

The necromancer was flabbergasted, struggling to accept the reality unfolding before him.

“So, if you’ve got nothing else up your sleeve, how about you start answering some questions quietly?”

Khan casually brushed off the flesh stuck to his face, his tone nonchalant. Comparing this necromancer to Eliya, who he had first encountered, this was just a ragtag bunch despite their numbers.

“What, what do you want?”

In the necromancer’s quivering voice, Khan could detect an eagerness to divulge whatever was asked of him. ‘No wonder mages are often called psychopaths.’

“How did you and your lackeys not lose your way in the depths?”

“It’s impossible for the likes of you.”

“Why?”

“We follow the black magic sigils engraved throughout the depths. Your barbaric kind can’t even sense mana, possessing…extraordinary physiques, don’t you?”

“Hmm. True.”

Khan couldn’t argue there. But what about Ron? He was a regular continental, capable of sensing mana, wasn’t he? Khan glanced at Ron, who was cleaning his hammer.

“I am a guide, not a mage, my friend.”

“Countier, you claimed to be a sledgehammer, not a guide.”

“…I am a sledgehammer. Not a guide.”

‘Madman.’

Khan decided to press the necromancer further, though intimidating him into leading them to his hideout might have been easier.

‘Anyway, because of the Curse, that’s not on the table.’

“Are there more pursuers besides you?”

“…Yes.”

“They’ll find me just as you did, won’t they?”

The necromancer nodded in agreement, prompting Khan to pull out a black crystal necklace and pose another critical question.

“That Darkin fellow. He was using Aecharis’s power.”

The necromancer’s face paled at the unexpected inquiry. He stuttered, “Th-th-th-” as if a broken doll.

“Why’s he like that?!”

Suddenly, the necromancer’s condition deteriorated; he frothed at the mouth, then fell silent as if possessed by a B-movie specter.

‘Could it actually be a possession?’

Khan squatted in front of the necromancer, grinning, “This is a first for me.”

[Hmm. The barbarian I know aren’t known for their intellect. Strange, that.]

“Really? You’re exactly the kind of mage I know. Arrogant, yet too cowardly to take action yourself.”

[Hehehe.]

The laughter that emerged from the necromancer’s mouth seemed entertained by the banter.

[Such barbaric behavior. Not knowing one’s place.]

“Scaredy-cat hiding in a rat hole, trying to look tough. If you’re so confident, come here. I’ll smash your head in.”

[Do you even know who you’re speaking to, barbarian?]

Khan leaned in close, baring his teeth in a grin at the old man using his disciple’s body to spout nonsense.

“Darkin Perayas.”

Pleased to meet you. My experience points.