Chapter 667: The Darkest Moment (1)
A secret meeting with Pandora.
Convincing the refugee black mage.
A conversation with Archpriest Roderick.
The Pied Piper’s orphanage visit.
A reunion with the injured Joanna.
News of Derek’s death.
The Pied Piper’s past.
A conversation with the gardener.
Oliver had endured a relentless series of events in a single night that would normally be difficult to face in a lifetime. To put it plainly, it had been an incredibly long night.
At least, that’s how it felt to him.
But that wasn’t the end.
Oliver had to return to the city, speak briefly with the Archpriest and the kings of the Central Continent who bore the Original Sin.
Afterward, he went to meet Joanna. To help her. And, to receive her help.
Of course, he had to face his companions Kevin, Yareli, Rosburn, and the others who had come with him to this place first.
The moment Oliver saw Kevin, he made a request.
“Professor, may I ask a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Could you watch over Yareli and Rosburn for me? I don’t think I’ll have the capacity to look out for others right now.”
He meant every word of it.
Against the Pied Piper, he didn’t trust himself to protect anyone else.
Fortunately, Kevin agreed to his request, as if he had already anticipated it.
Thanks to that, Oliver could feel a sense of relief.
Kevin was not only skilled but also possessed a keen judgment and an unbreakable resolve. He was someone Oliver could rely on more than anyone.
However, that didn’t mean there was no lingering anxiety.
Tap.
As Oliver was passing Kevin on his way to Joanna, Kevin lightly grabbed Oliver’s arm and asked quietly.
“Do you have a plan?”
Oliver sensed Kevin’s emotions.
Trust mixed with doubt.
It wasn’t that Kevin didn’t trust Oliver. Rather, he trusted Oliver but was even more wary of the Pied Piper.
And who could blame him? The Pied Piper was exactly that kind of being.
So, Oliver couldn’t answer Kevin’s question right away. He hesitated for a moment before finally replying.
“…I’m not certain, but probably.”
Upon hearing this, Kevin looked at Oliver for a moment and then released him, allowing him to ascend the stairs to where Joanna was on the second floor.
Oliver felt incredibly grateful.
Even though he was a black mage who had gained a second sight, he couldn’t see Kevin’s emotions.
Despite the delay in Oliver’s response, Kevin still believed in his words.
Of course, Oliver wasn’t lying.
It wasn’t a sure thing, but he had devised a few possible solutions.
The first was blood.
It was the one thing that had allowed Oliver, who had been overwhelmed in Landa, to surpass the Pied Piper.
The second was Filgaret.
Except for the Burnt One, there wasn’t a single opponent he couldn’t defeat with Filgaret.
It was less of a plan and more of a last-ditch measure.
Still, just in case, Oliver considered his final option.
One he truly didn’t want to use, but that might be even more reliable than Filgaret in a way.
That option was none other than Extraction, the most basic technique in black magic, along with Eye-opening and Processing.
“Extraction…!”
The Pied Piper, who rarely raised his voice like Oliver, shouted for the first time.
The tone wasn’t filled with anger but rather shock and awe.
Despite that, the only thing Oliver extracted was an immense, overwhelming rage far beyond mere subtle emotions.
“Grrrrr…!”
The vast, intense rage flowing from the Pied Piper’s entire being condensed into a single stream, like a meteor shower drawn into a black hole, and gathered into Oliver’s scorched right palm.
It was a reckless sight, like trying to capture the ocean in one’s hand.
And yet, this reckless act was happening right before their eyes. To prove it, Oliver’s body, as he extracted the Pied Piper’s rage, was sending out various warning signals, with veins popping up all over as if his body would burst at any moment.
The scene looked excruciatingly painful.
Even without considering his lost limbs and the absent vision from his scorched face.
“Grrrr…!”
Through gritted teeth, Oliver let out a sound between a scream and a roar, struggling to keep it muffled.
However, he didn’t stop the Extraction amidst the agony.
After all, there was no other way to stop the Pied Piper, who was beyond mere strength.
The only option was to drain him of all his rage and destroy his emotions, reducing him to a mindless shell.
Like that unnamed single mother who had once sold her maternal love, sacrificing all her emotions for the sake of her child.
“My child is sick… Please, spare some change. My child needs medicine.”
For a fleeting moment, that mother’s face passed through Oliver’s mind.
Gaunt, hollow-eyed, she once had loved her child dearly, but now held him shamelessly in her arms, begging for money. She asked for money even though her child was nearing death.
“Oh, merciful soul… Please, just a single coin. My child hasn’t eaten for days. He’s sick. Please…”
All she had left was a sliver of selfishness.
“Money… Give me money.”
When given a small amount, the woman discarded her child and, like a dog, scurried to collect the coins.
Watching her, Oliver had once remarked:
“Ah… she was beautiful…”
“Hah, hah, hah. So, that’s your plan? Do you think if you extract all my rage, you can stop me?!”
Having read Oliver’s memory, the Pied Piper shouted, his voice seething with both shock and contempt.
“To be honest, I’m impressed. People have tried to stop me by sending armies, or by sacrificing their lives. But to try to use such basic black magic against me… That’s incredible. However!”
Even with his left arm and both legs restrained by shadows, the Pied Piper forced his body forward, inching closer to Oliver.
“That’s only possible if you manage to extract… all my rage!”
“Ahhhhh…!”
Though blinded, Oliver faced the advancing Pied Piper and let out a shout.
With that shout, the extraction of rage intensified, but even then, the Pied Piper’s anger showed no sign of diminishing.
It was like trying to drain an ocean with a cup.
In fact, the sheer volume of extracted emotion began to affect the surroundings. Air currents swirled, creating a tempest around Oliver and the Pied Piper, causing nearby trees to shake, the clouds above to form rings, and the wandering spirits within the Pied Piper’s domain to tremble with fear. Animals and birds outside the area reacted with frenzy.
The world itself seemed to be trembling.
“Even if you could extract all of it, do you really think you could bear my rage?”
The Pied Piper’s question was pointed and astute.
Eye-opening, Processing, and the basic black magic technique, Extraction, all had an impact on the sorcerer who used them.
Oliver knew this well, having learned it from the Joseph Family.
Emotions are the energy of the soul, and the act of extracting and processing them directly affects the sorcerer.
The stronger the emotion—like sorrow, murderous intent, hatred, and rage—the greater the impact.
And if the emotion was too intense, and the sorcerer’s skill insufficient, the emotion could even consume the sorcerer in turn.
Just as it was happening now.
Thud!
Step by step, the Pied Piper drew closer to Oliver, finally stretching out his only free arm to grasp Oliver’s burned right hand.
Their clasped hands looked almost as if they were engaged in a handshake.
“Krrr…!”
“So, it seems you’ve never extracted something of this intensity before. How is it? Different from merely observing, isn’t it? Is it still just pitiful?”
Oliver, groaning in pain, couldn’t reply, but his instinctual attempt to pull away answered for him.
He had miscalculated.
He’d thought he could extract the Pied Piper’s rage to weaken him, but instead, the Piper’s rage was seeping into him, corrupting him from within.
Oliver knew the Pied Piper’s fury was vast, but he hadn’t expected it to be this overwhelming.
Reflexively, Oliver tried to pull his hand back, but the Piper only tightened his grip on Oliver’s right hand.
“Take it!”
The Pied Piper poured his emotions into Oliver’s right arm, forcing them onto him.
“...!!!”
Oliver screamed silently.
His body seemed to expand to the breaking point, veins bulging as the Piper’s rage, along with his embedded memories, tore through his mind.
“Dad! Dad! Look, it’s the village!”
“Dad, here’s an acorn! It’s shiny!”
“Dad, I’m cold, but it’s warm too!”
“Dad, I made my first flute, and it’s for you.”
“Dad, next time, could you tell me about Mom?”
“Dad… was what Mom said true?”
“Dad… what kind of person was Mom?”
“Traveling with you isn’t hard.”
“I’m happy anywhere with you, Dad. As long as you’re there.”
Through the idealized memories—the idea—of the Piper and his son, Oliver saw and felt everything as if he were truly there. The scenes that had seemed distant and observational were now vivid, intense, and entirely visceral.
The difference was beyond words. It was truly horrific.
“What’s wrong?! Take it all!!”
“Stop…!! Stop!!!”
For the first time in his life, Oliver, left with only his right arm and stripped of everything else, begged for mercy.
It was horrifying. Utterly horrifying.
But the Pied Piper had no intention of stopping, instead gripping Oliver’s arm even tighter as he tried to pull away.
“Why?! Didn’t you say you’d do whatever it took?! This is a good method! Take it all!!”
The Piper’s wrath poured forth from his body, infusing Oliver’s right arm with its power.
“My rage!”
The outpouring of emotions caused blood to stream from Oliver’s eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
“My pain!!”
Oliver’s eyes began to turn black, his hair whitening, his face lined with cracks.
“Take it all!!!”
━━━━━━!!
Oliver’s scream mingled with the Pied Piper’s shout.
The unending surge of the Piper’s anger, with all its force, flowed straight into Oliver’s body, overwhelming his resistance.
Once Oliver’s defenses shattered, his body began to resonate with a steady, heavy pulse, rippling outward. Like a puppet whose strings had snapped, he collapsed to the ground.
No sound of breathing. Only a silence as still as death.
All those present could only look upon the fallen Oliver.
Even the Pied Piper was no exception.
He gazed at Oliver wordlessly, his expression a mix of shock and disappointment, and slowly tried to let go of Oliver’s hand.
And at that moment…
Snap-!
Squeeze…
Oliver’s right hand tightened, and he slowly lifted his head.
His hair had turned stark white, his eyes were entirely black, and small cracks covered his face.
For the Pied Piper, this sight invoked more than fear—it inspired awe.
As he raised his head, Oliver drew in the Piper’s emotions entirely, and for a brief, surreal moment, the entire world was engulfed in a void of utter darkness.
…
A faint, piercing tone echoed as Joanna, Kevin, and Yareli opened their eyes.
…Or so it seemed.
The world may have been plunged into blackness for a second, but it happened so quickly that they weren’t certain.
Nevertheless, Joanna, Kevin, Yareli, and the others who had witnessed Oliver’s desperate fight all opened their eyes and found themselves gazing upon a transformed forest landscape.
They beheld hundreds of wandering spirits and the allied forces under Archpriest Roderick gathered around, flanked by a surprising number of refugee black mages who didn’t belong in this place.
It was as if some unseen hand had orchestrated everything perfectly, arranging each group in position, now all focused intently on Kevin’s group.
Or rather, a spot slightly to the side of Kevin’s group.
Noticing this, Kevin, Joanna, and Yareli slowly turned their heads.
Toward where Oliver had been suffering…
There, someone stood.
Wearing a torn leather mask, a young boy with newly grown limbs and a head of white hair.
Beneath the ripped mask, his face was even younger, a child’s face, looking out at the world as if for the first time, standing firmly on his fresh legs and examining his new left arm with wonder.
He stood reverently, almost as if in prayer. And then, someone laughed.
“Ha… Ha, ha.”
It was the Pied Piper, now kneeling before Oliver.
Having lost his left arm and both legs, he slumped to the ground.
Yet he didn’t appear to be in pain. Instead, his face bore an expression of realization—a mixture of shock and resignation.
“So, that’s it. From the start, I was…”
As the Piper chuckled, Oliver, now with white hair, lifted his still-burned right hand.
“…Nothing but a tool to awaken you.”
He pointed at the Pied Piper with his index finger.
“An instrument for your awakening.”
Oliver spoke, aiming his finger directly at the Piper.
Denial.