Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 52

Yorick emanated killing intent as if ready to pounce on me at any moment.

Though I knew he couldn’t kill me, directly confronting him through the Unholy Beast still felt like an icicle being driven into my spine.

“…Really?” 

I barely managed to squeeze out those words.

“I really did read it in a book.”

Of course, that was a lie.

Though visiting the library to read was a long-time hobby of mine, books about behemoths were only accessible to officials.

“Still telling such nonsense lies. I burned every book about Lord Charmol. Not just that, I killed everyone who might remember – the humans, their families, and close acquaintances.”

“But you couldn’t have touched the books kept by the Order.”

“And you couldn’t have read them either. You’re just a lower-ranked hunter after all.”

He even knows such minor regulations?

In Blue Paper Moon’s timeline, there were no collaborators with Charmol within the Order headquarters.

…But what about other branches?

The difference between headquarters and other branches was like heaven and earth.

There might be somewhere with lax security where they could plant spies.

To begin with, Marquis Bluebeard who oversees the Order in the neighboring country of Offenbach had already turned to Princess Bari’s side.

Then, since I’m involved with Blanc, should I claim the Order showed me specially?

…No, they would only show documents related to Blanc.

Should I admit the book story was a lie but keep my information source secret?

…That would only raise more suspicion.

They’re already watching me, and they’d monitor me even more closely trying to find where their information leaked.

A hidden book about Charmol, or someone who could tell me about him.

Someone in a good position who’d be relatively free from surveillance while still able to speak about it… there is such a person.

“…Right. It wasn’t from the Order’s books.”

“Not from the Order’s books?”

“I can see you’ve worked hard to erase traces for hundreds of years. But completely erasing something from the entire world is impossible.”

“…”

“There are plenty of others who know about you besides me. Most common people just don’t know.”

“Hmm, well, that’s true… Though it seems you still won’t tell me.”

Let’s definitely visit that person later.

They must know about Charmol, so there’s a chance they could help establish my alibi.

Plus they’re someone who can block Yorick’s surveillance.

Though Yorick hadn’t dropped his suspicious gaze, at least for now he seemed lost in thought about the identity of the person I was deflecting with.

Let me think more while I have this opening.

First, should I find the shotgun and return?

There’s no clear answer.

If conditions allow, take it back; if not, give up.

The important points are that there’s still a good chance to avoid combat and I know where that item is.

“My, my, I don’t particularly enjoy such long conversations with mere humans.”

Yorick made the Unholy Beast rise.

Though stakes and chains were crushing its body, it didn’t seem to particularly mind.

“But you’re somewhat… exceptional. Since that woman took a liking to you. Thanks to that, I completely failed my objective in that cave. I’d love nothing more than to cut off your head and leave you in a state between life and death right now, but…”

With a loud clatter, the chains broke and the stakes fell to the ground.

They made an incredibly noisy sound.

“Before that, you asked earlier if I liked Blanc? No, I don’t like her. I hate her completely. Who could like such an insane woman? Though you’re no less mad than she is… That’s why I can’t understand. Twisting humans seems easy yet difficult. I know very well. You probably can’t imagine it, but this village once had many good humans too. But… do you know what they looked like in their final moments?”

Yorick shook the Unholy Beast’s head and removed all the remaining chains from its body.

“Spreading meaningless pain, enjoying death, eating each other. It took 50 years to make them that way. Of course, it took longer since we had to avoid being discovered by that detestable White Witch. But…”

Through the Unholy Beast, he pointed its index finger at me.

“You. You. How could someone who’s lived such a short time accumulate such madness?”

“Would you mind not lumping me together with those humans?”

“Ah, of course not. You’re beyond that. Being chosen by that woman in the first place means you’re far from an ordinary madman. Do you know why I retreated against you that day? Because I knew you were serious. A human who could throw away their life anytime if needed. Every being born with life values their own life above all else. But you’re truly a monster – twisted even beyond such human nature.”

“Just what are you trying to say?”

“Nothing much. I was buying time.”

“…What?”

At that moment, Yorick made the Unholy Beast throw itself at the wall.

“What the-!?”

The chapel wall completely crumbled, revealing the outside.

At some point, undead Beasts had gathered en masse.

“Let’s see if you can survive this! If you’re the type to die from just this much, that woman will be disappointed in you and turn her hostility towards us instead! Hahaha!”

Making the Unholy Beast shake off the chains and stakes roughly was deliberately done to make loud noises and draw the attention of the undead Beasts outside.

Since they’re slow, it would take time for them to gather and completely surround the chapel, and Yorick kept talking to buy that time.

Damn it, I wasn’t the only one stalling…!

The undead Beasts still hadn’t properly noticed me as their speed remained slow, but I couldn’t see any gaps to escape through.

A wave of death monsters was truly surging forward.

I quickly drew out the mithril glaive.

When I channeled magical power, the internal mechanism responded and extended its length.

“Oh? You brought something interesting. That’s silver…”

Then I squeezed out a large amount of magical power and threw it at the Unholy Beast.

Through it, Yorick tried to dodge, but the corrupted body wouldn’t cooperate and the glaive struck its chest.

“Hah… what a shame.”

The Unholy Beast’s body slowly crumbled.

“I wanted to… see you struggle…”

Then it shattered to pieces starting from where the glaive had pierced.

With his vessel destroyed, Yorick’s surveillance was temporarily lifted.

The aftermath of rapidly using large amounts of magical power hit me.

My head spun and my vision blurred.

Without realizing it, one of my knees hit the ground.

“Hnngh…!”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus.

Escaping this place with just the mithril glaive was impossible from the start.

The numbers were on a different level from when I was guarding Hilde, and this was the village center.

There’s no guarantee my magical power would last long enough to maintain the mithril glaive until I could escape.

The gun.

I need that shotgun.

That’s the only way to get out of here.

Without even retrieving the mithril glaive, I immediately staggered up the chapel stairs.

A wave of undead Beasts was surging forward.

Some had already reached near the chapel.

Before they fully recognized me, I needed to go upstairs and find the shotgun.

Up the stairs, through the corridor, to the room at the right end.

My vision was still slightly blurry from the aftermath of using too much magical power at once, but I safely reached that room.

The moment I opened the door, an undead Beast inside pounced on me.

A trap.

The dizziness made it hard to think straight.

I barely managed to raise my arm to create distance between its wide-open maw and my head.

But without the strength to push it back, we both tumbled backward.

“Damn… it!”

I drew on magical power again almost instinctively.

For a moment my vision cleared and my head felt sharp.

No time to worry about the backlash.

I immediately stabbed the Raven Dagger into the head of the undead Beast as it tried to bite again, killing it instantly, then stood up.

Entering the room, I saw a locked box.

The key.

Come to think of it, the key is… in the room on the opposite side….

But consciousness was fading again and my vision pointed downward.

I’d forcefully drawn on magical power, then used it again before the aftermath had passed.

My head throbbed like the morning after drinking heavily.

But in my remaining small consciousness, I remembered the medicine in my inner pocket.

Though I couldn’t quite recall what medicine it was, I needed to take it.

Fumbling at my chest, I grabbed something small and round, and without time to check, put it in my mouth and chewed.

“Hah…!”

There was a stinging sensation, then suddenly my vision cleared.

What I just took was a stimulant.

Drugs are strictly forbidden for Order hunters.

Just being caught possessing them could get you expelled, and recommending them to others meant going straight to the Heresy Inquisition Department.

But in emergencies, 8th-rank or 5th-rank and above hunters can use certain designated medicines if deemed necessary.

Thanks to effects far more powerful than coffee or energy drinks from my past life, I could fight again.

No time to dawdle.

I immediately got up and shot the locked box.

No leisure to fetch the key.

Or maybe the stimulant effects were preventing rational judgment.

Doesn’t matter.

At least it’s clear the gunshot noise will make the undead Beasts approach faster.

At the same time, I’ve achieved my purpose for coming here.

I opened the box and took out a shotgun.

Despite hundreds of years passing, it was still in perfect condition.

Clearly not mass-produced but specially made.

Its name in Blue Paper Moon was ‘Dragon’s Breath Shotgun’.

A rather wasteful name considering its mediocre performance.

But right now it’s more appropriate than anything else for me.

I quickly loaded the Dragon’s Breath Shotgun with incendiary rounds.

No time for test firing.

When I went outside with the shotgun, I saw a group of undead Beasts in the corridor.

They started running the moment they saw me.

And I fired the shotgun at them.

With a heavy sound, a huge flame flashed before my eyes, and all the charging Beasts collapsed and were burning black.

A grin spread across my face without me realizing.

Then I immediately broke open the gun and the shell casing ejected.

None of the shotguns used now operate like this, yet a hunter from hundreds of years ago used something like this – it’s really hard to summarize this world’s technology level.

Anyway, what matters now is how useful this thing is to me.

I looked down the stairs past the blackened corpses.

An enormous number of undead Beasts were pouring into the chapel.

And I sprayed flames at them again.