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Chapter 374 - Haunted House (2)

“Will this really be able to change the flow of fear?”

“Hahaha. There is no need to worry. Human fear comes from the unknown. No matter how much they fear the Evil God... People merely know his name.”

“Oh?”

“Give it some time. Soon... The entire continent will be plunged into fear of the Constellations.”

***

“... It certainly is worth an investigation.” Kim Si-Hun, who had been told of the missing people in a town on the outskirts of the empire, nodded.

It was far too optimistic to think that there was no relationship between the mansion that suddenly appeared outside the town and the disappearing people.

“Let’s set out right away. Oh, are you in the middle of anything?” Oh Kang-Woo asked as he stood up from his chair.

He had spent an entire week buried under a pile of paperwork, so he wanted to move around.

“I had plans with some noble ladies, but... I didn’t want to attend anyway, so I will cancel them,” Si-Hun replied as he sighed.

The greater the people’s fear of Lucifer grew, the more popular Si-Hun became. He was starting to be revered as the hero who would save the continent from the hands of the filthy Lord of the Flies. Those of power from all over the continent were flocking to the empire to make connections with Si-Hun.

“Got it. In that case, bring Layla with you on the way and brief her on the incident as well,” Kang-Woo stated.

“Will Layla be coming with us as well?”

“Yeah.”

Layla was Gaia’s incarnation; they might be able to gain some sort of clues if the power of a god were to make contact with the suspicious mansion.

‘Not all gods are righteous and kind, after all.’

There were likely some gods that were cheering at the appearance of Evil God Lucifer, or were trying to take advantage of the chaos and come up with ways to raise their own Deific Essence. Some might be enraged at Lucifer on the outside, but were thinking otherwise.

‘We can only trust our beautiful and intelligent Lady Gaia. Yup, yup.’

“Got it. I’ll be right back.” Si-Hun left the room.

Kang-Woo turned to Lilith and said, “Lilith. You get ready too.”

“Pardon? Me too?”

Lilith’s eyes widened, not having expected for Kang-Woo to nominate her as well.

“There’s no one more skilled than you in search and detection. Plus, you’re the one who found out about the incident.”

Rather, there was no reason not to take her.

‘I shouldn’t take any more than this.’

There was nothing more foolish than bringing a crowd to investigate a suspicious incident.

“Uhh... Mm.” Lilith slurred with an awkward smile and then nodded. “I understand. In that case, I will guide you to that mansion.”

Kang-Woo had expected her to love getting the opportunity to go somewhere with him, but her reaction had been a lot more lukewarm.

‘Is something going on with her? Well, I’m sure I’ll find out eventually.’

Kang-Woo stood up.

***

“Yeah,” Kang-Woo muttered.

They arrived at the town located on the outskirts of the empire. The small town that would likely have a town chief instead of a governing lord was covered in fog. The streets were deserted, and the sound of horses neighing, commonly heard in the continent, could not be heard at all. No one would be able to tell that the town was inhabited if not for the lights visible through the windows.

Kang-Woo continued, “This is suspicious as fuck.”

‘Is this Lothric Castle[1] or something?’

“That is where the town chief lives. He is also the one who first reported the incident,” Lilith said as she pointed at a house.

It was a house that the town chief resided in, but it was no different from the other shabby houses around it.

“I don’t really feel any vitality in this town.” Layla frowned as she looked around.

She carefully grabbed Si-Hun’s hand, unsettled by the ominous aura surrounding the entire town.

“Let’s enter,” Kang-Woo said as they headed to the chief’s house.

Knock, knock.

Creak. The door slightly opened, and an elderly man with a very wrinkly face peeked out. He glared at Kang-Woo and the others with caution.

“Who are you?”

“We’ve come to investigate the missing cases.”

The old man scanned Kang-Woo, Lilith and Layla warily, but he gasped while widening his eyes as soon as he saw Si-Hun.

“C-Could you be...!”

The old man trembled as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Si-Hun bowed while smiling awkwardly. “My name is Kim Si-Hun.”

“I-I knew it! You were the Sword Emperor[2]!”

“Pardon?”

‘Sword what?’

“The emperor of swords! The hero who chased away the Evil God! Aaaahh, I can’t believe someone as great as the Sword Emperor would come to help this small town!”

The town mayor shook while bawling his eyes out, and Si-Hun also shook for a different reason.

“Pfft! S-Sword Emp... Pfft!” Kang-Woo suppressed his laughter with all his might.

He couldn’t believe that Si-Hun had come to be known as the Sword Emperor. He was so... jealous.

“Wh-What a f-fantastic title, Si-Hun.”

Kehehehe. Kang-Woo smacked Si-Hun’s shoulder repeatedly as giggles seeped out from his mouth.

Si-Hun was shaking in silence. Despite coming up with cringe names like Sirius Corps, he seemed to be unable to handle a shockingly cringe name like Sword Emperor.

“P-Please stop laughing, hyung-nim!” Si-Hun shouted.

“Kahahahaha! Why? It’s a great title that the people gave you, isn’t it?”

“Ugh...” Si-Hun couldn’t bring himself to complain in front of the town mayor about why people had given him such a cringe title, and could only bite his lips.

Si-Hun pouted in silence.

Layla came up to him and grabbed his hand. “It just means that the people hold you up in high regard, so there’s no need for you to be so embarrassed.”

“But...”

“Hohoho. I’ve taken a liking to it, at least.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.” Layla smiled. “Sword— Pfft! Emperor. What a great title.”

Si-Hun’s expression crumpled even more. Kang-Woo, unable to hold it any longer, burst into laughter.

‘Dayum, sister-in-law. You sure know how to tease people.’

***

According to the town mayor’s explanation, the mansion had appeared five days ago. People started to disappear when three young men of the town entered the mansion and never came back. After that, an ominous fog engulfed the entire town, and people began to disappear one by one. There were currently twenty-eight people that had gone missing; considering the size of the town, it did not seem like a coincidence at all.

After hearing the details, Kang-Woo and the others headed to the mansion.

“Wow,” Kang-Woo expressed after seeing the mansion from up close. Windows were shattered, the door was rotten, and the walls were crumbling in certain areas. “This is the perfect place to shoot a horror film.”

It was so blatantly ominous that Kang-Woo couldn’t help but chuckle. He shrugged and walked toward the mansion. The place was trying to be so blatantly scary that Kang-Woo was not scared by it at all.

“Let’s go in,” he stated.

Creak. Kang-Woo opened the door, but he had no idea how it was still attached to the hinges. In front of them was a hallway that smelled of mold and faint blood.

“I certainly sense unsettling energy,” Si-Hun uttered as he narrowed his eyes and searched the hallway.

He summoned the holy sword in advance and placed it on his waist.

Bam—!!

Just then, the door that they entered the mansion from suddenly slammed shut, and the entire mansion fell dark instantly.

“Dayum,” Kang-Woo expressed.

‘They’re really pulling out all the stops, huh?’

Kang-Woo snickered as if he was highly entertained. He lightly snapped his fingers, and then two flames appeared to light the hallway, which made the hallway look even more ominous.

The hallway was full of mold, rusted metal, and unknown black moss. Kang-Woo frowned as an unpleasant smell filled his nose. He looked around the hallway and noticed that it was forked.

“Let’s split up into two and investigate the interior. Make sure to call with the communication crystal if you find anything.”

The mansion was much larger than he had expected. The hallway was not that wide either, so traveling as a whole group of four would be inefficient.

“Understood.” Si-Hun nodded and went down the right hallway with Layla.

Kang-Woo turned around and went down the other hallway.

Kang-Woo noticed that Lilith was not following him. “What’s wrong? Did you find something?”

Lilith bit her lip without answering. “I-It’s nothing, my king.”

She swallowed her saliva and hugged Kang-Woo’s arm tight.

‘Huh? She’s been acting weird for a while now.’

Kang-Woo stared at Lilith while narrowing his eyes, thinking of a possibility.

“Lilith, could it be you’re... scared?”

“O-Of course not! There’s no way I would be scared just because I entered a run-down mansion like this!!” Lilith shouted.

Kang-Woo smiled. Her reaction only solidified his suspicions. “Man, how unexpected. I never thought you’d be scared of something like this.”

He had been with her for a thousand years, but this was the first time he had seen her act this way.

“I told you, I’m not scared!” Lilith shouted as her face was as red as a tomato.

Kang-Woo softly laughed. “If you’re so scared, should I investigate on my own?”

“N-No. Like I said, I’m not scared in the slightest.” Lilith pulled on Kang-Woo’s arm. “Let’s go, my king.”

“Okay, okay.”

She was obviously pushing herself, but he paid it no mind.

‘This is new.’

It had been a while since he had seen this side of Lilith; no, it had been the first time.

‘I never thought she’d be scared of stuff like ghosts.’

It was entertaining to see a flustered Lilith compared to how relaxed she always was. Kang-Woo suppressed his laughter and continued investigating the mansion. Their steps echoed throughout the hallway.

“Urgh.”

Lilith’s expression was getting darker by the second. Kang-Woo laughed in silence while looking at her reactions.

‘What’s so scary about this?’

Ghosts had no way of harming them even if they appeared, so he couldn’t understand her reactions.

‘But it’s fun to watch, at the very least.’

Kang-Woo could now understand why people loved watching horror films with others who couldn’t handle it, and watching their reactions to the scenes. He thought that having brought her was worth it just for her reactions alone.

Boom!

Just then, a large drawer that had been in the hallway suddenly fell. One of the cabinets opened, spilling what looked to be human eyeballs, intestines, and blood.

Kang-Woo chuckled. “What a cute contrapt—”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” Lilith screamed.

She held Kang-Woo\'s arm tight and leaned her head on his shoulder. A sloppy and sticky sensation traveled up his arm.

‘Huh? A sloppy and sticky sensation?’

“Hyaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Lilith’s hair floated and turned into green tentacles spewing pus that wrapped around Kang-Woo. Tears flowed down Lilith’s eighteen eyeballs.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” Kang-Woo screamed.

“M-My king!”

Lilith’s green tentacles dug into his clothes. No, not just his clothes, but they even dug into his mouth, nostrils and ears.

“Urrrrggggghhhhh.”

‘What the actual fuck?’

“I-I’m so scared!!”

‘Me too. I’m fucking scared too.’

“S-Save m...”

‘Urrgghhh.’

1. Lothric Castle is a location in Dark Souls III. ?

2. Tian Wuchen’s title was also Sword Emperor, but that is a direct translation of the title commonly used in wuxia novels. However, Si-Hun’s title is one that phonetically spells out the English words Sword Emperor in Korean, which sounds very cringe. ?