The Dark Warrior

It was the middle of the night when a dark figure floated across Re-Lantier's

great cemetery.

Dressed in a black, hooded cape, it advanced in a unique, ghostly fashion

without moving its shoulders or waist.

The figure nimbly evaded the magic light of the cemetery, entering the inner

parts.

After the shadow reached a shrine, it removed its hood.

It was a young woman around twenty years old, at the peak of her youth.

Her features were delicate, giving her a cat-like beauty. She might've looked

cute, but hidden underneath her expression was the ferocity of a carnivorous

beast that might lash out at any moment.

"Finally here."

The woman said in a joking tone, brushing her short blond bangs as she pushed

the stone door of the shrine open. The sound of metal creaking against metal

came from under her cloak, just like a chain armor.

Inside the shrine, the stone platform were dead bodies would be placed were

empty. Al the offerings for those who passed on had been removed.

The stone seemed to had absorbed large quantities of perfume; the sweet smell

irritated the woman’s nose.

She frowned slightly and moved towards the stone platform.

"Hmmm-hmm-hmm~ he~"

The woman hummed as she pressed a unremarkable marking below the seat.

When the marking was depressed, a clicking sound was heard, indicating that a

gear had snapped into place. A heartbeat later, cracking sounds could be heard

as the seat moved slowly, revealing stairs leading underground.

"Coming in~"

The woman dragged the ending of her words in a carefree manner and walked

down the stairs. Turning around the corner in the middle, she arrived in a vast

space.

The mud in the walls and floor were exposed, but it had been processed by

craftsmen and wouldn't collapse easily. The air wasn't stale; it was rather fresh

from a ventilation somewhere.

This place wasn't part of the cemetery, but somewhere more sinister.

Strange tapestries hung from the walls, with red candles made from blood below

it, emitting a faint glow and the smell of charred blood.

The flickering candle flame cast countless shadows. There were several caves

within this space, and al of them were rank with the unique smell of low-level

undead.

The woman surveyed her surroundings until her eyes lingered on one spot.

"Hey~ The person hiding over there, a guest is here~"

The man who was hiding in a dark corner and spying on her shuddered.

"Hello~ I am here to meet Kaji-chan, is he here~?"

The man was at a loss on what to do, and started trembling when the sound of

her footsteps approached him.

"It's fine. You are dismissed."

These words were spoken by another man who suddenly stepped out into the

open, addressing the man hiding in the shadows.

He was a skinny man.

His eyes were sunken in, and his complexion was completely different from a

healthy person. He didn't have any hair on his body. Not only was he bald, he

didn't even have any eyebrows or -lashes.

His appearance made it hard to judge his age, but he couldn’t be too old since

his skin wasn't wrinkled.

This man was dressed in a dark red robe and around his neck was a chain

made from the bones of small animals. His hands were just bones covered with

skin and in one of his hands, which had yel owish nails, he held a black staff. He

looked more like an undead monster than a human.

“Hi~ Kaji-chan.”

The woman’s casual tone made the man frown.

“Can you not call me that? It tarnishes the name of Zuranon.”

Zuranon.

A powerful, evil, and secret organization with a notorious leader. Made up of

veteran magic chanters, they were the masterminds behind several tragedies

and were treated with hostility by surrounding nations.

“Is that so…?”

The woman seemed to be ignoring the man’s request to change her way of

addressing him, causing his frown to deepen.

“... So? Why are you here? You knew I was injecting energy into the Pearl of

Death here. If you plan to make trouble, I have my ways of dealing with you.”

The man squinted, gripping his staff tightly.

“How mean~ Kaji-chan. I came to bring you this~”

The woman showed a cute smile while she searched for something under her

cape. After finding the item, she happily held it out in her hand.

It was a crown.

Countless small jewels decorated the gold threads, like droplets on a spider

web. It was a delicate artwork. The center of the crown——where the forehead

should be——was a large jewel which looked like a black crystal.

“This is!”

The man was tongue tied.

He was looking at it from a distance, but he was very sure this was the crown he

saw a long time ago.

“The symbol of the Miko Princess, the ! Isn’t this one of the

greatest treasures of the Silian Theocracy?”

“That’s correct~ I saw a cute girl wearing this strange crown, but since it didn’t

suit her I took it~ But then I got a shock! She immediately went berserk~ letting

her bowels go~”

The woman kept laughing.

If one snatched away, its current bearer——which was a

central figure of the Silian Theocracy’s magic ceremonies, the Miko Princess