Chapter 22: The Price of Killing
Carey was already exhausted beyond measure.
The task of carrying Maren had to be handed over to Linnea.
Even without entering combat state, a Lantern Bearer’s physical condition far surpassed that of ordinary people.
The Corrupt Blood Marsh Pool marked on the map was blocked by a black water swamp.
To save time, Rich changed the original detour plan to a straight-line crossing.
The black water swamp stretched endlessly, breeding countless low-tier Black Domain creatures that lived on black water or corrupt mud.
When the outside world was in the Extreme Day Moon, fewer creatures were active here.
Among them, the greatest threat was the ghoul.
“Captain, ghouls—nineteen of them, thirteen in adult stage…” Lis, responsible for scouting, ran back with a slightly pale face.
At these words, Rich’s expression showed little change, but Linnea sucked in a cold breath, clearly tense.
Over a dozen adult ghouls—though individually at most third-tier, once entering blood frenzy, even fourth or fifth-tier Black Domain demons could only evade.
The current Black Star Mercenary Group had Rich as its strongest at fifth-tier.
Moreover, they had never clashed head-on with so many ghouls before.
“Rich, she should still hold out for two hours. How about we detour?” After hesitating, Linnea proposed the safest option, her tone laced with obvious worry.
“Hmph, we’re only protecting their safety; we have no obligation to ensure they become Lantern Bearers.” Einar snorted coldly, lips curling, clearly feeling it wasn’t worth the Black Star Mercenary Group risking their lives now.
“Linnea, what’s the most valuable part on a ghoul?”
Rich drew the longsword from his waist with his right hand.
With his left palm up, wisps of gray-black mist quietly seeped from his body surface, growing denser, writhing like living things, swiftly enveloping him entirely to form a gaseous armor.
Ordinary fine iron armor corroded quickly in the Black Domain and might not withstand Black Domain demons’ sharp teeth and claws.
Thus, most Lantern Bearers preferred lightweight hunting attire or leather armor, entrusting defense entirely to the mist armor formed by their own Black Domain power.
Of course, this was just a seemingly reasonable explanation—Black Domain armor crafted from Black Domain materials cost at least several thousand crowns for the cheapest, plus daily maintenance, enough to drain most Lantern Bearers’ purses.
“The second phalanx connected to the bone claw…” Linnea blurted out reflexively, then froze, her voice suddenly rising.
“Rich, that’s nineteen ghouls!”
“How will we know without trying?” Rich’s tone carried a hint of challenge, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
The moment his words fell, Rich extinguished the Black Domain lantern at his waist and shot into the black water swamp like a crossbow bolt, trailing a long tail of mist smoke behind him.
“More and more like a knight, eager to show his strength in front of you… Has it been a long time since you two were intimate?”
Einar turned his head, squeezing an evil grin onto his gaunt face, then drew twin daggers as equally thick mist armor rapidly spread over his body.
“Pah!” Linnea’s face flushed red; before she could curse, Einar’s figure had vanished into the distance.
“You two stay here. Lis, protect Maren well!”
Linnea took a deep breath, suppressing the heat on her face, drew her short sword, knelt on one knee with the blade pointing down and the hilt pressed to her forehead.
‘I am the singer of corrupt soil, attendant to nature’s joyous feast.
Let the weeping of the dead irrigate thorny delight, lifting my beloved black rose amid rotting flesh and toxic slurry.
That is an eternal bloom unfading, that is cursed vitality flowing through the stems, that is deadly honeydew snatched by the despairing.
Hear me—my garden holds notes woven from wails, cages rooted in reality, lies of the fallen night.
The light in that lantern is song that beguiles nature, spring screaming until the stars fall!’
—Book of Atos: Ode to the Joyous Gardener
In her chant, the mist armor around Linnea swirled and rose.
Even more astonishing, within two to three meters around her, countless grass blades seemed pulled by invisible hands, floating and dancing, spinning rapidly around her body like circling ribbons.
‘Laughing Leaf Dance, Joyous Gardener first-tier ability: Animate plants in a certain range, turning them into roaming tiny blades that entwine the body for integrated offense and defense.’
…
The calm black water swamp instantly transformed into a battlefield splattered with black water, corrupt blood, and severed limbs.
The longsword shredded a ghoul’s body, and the mist armor on Rich visibly thickened in turn.
The Slaughter Knight absorbed the Black Domain power of the slain to strengthen his own mist armor—temporary, yet it made Rich grow stronger in battle.
‘Tyrannical Aura, Slaughter Knight first-tier ability: Temporarily enhance mist armor strength and physical explosiveness for each Black Domain life killed.’
To attract as many enemies as possible, Rich had extinguished his Black Domain lantern, making himself the ghouls’ primary target.
Rich intelligently started by targeting the weakest juvenile ghouls, rapidly building a slaughter advantage.
As the number of ghouls he felled increased, Rich grew increasingly unrestrained on the battlefield, charging recklessly.
On the other side, Einar was bathed in blood yet laughing maniacally, seemingly enjoying the sensation of ghouls’ claws tearing his flesh.
The three ghouls besieging him had bone claws already stained with blood, but Einar’s movements grew eerily faster, as if all injuries were mere itches to him.
‘Pain Interest, Pain Merchant first-tier ability: The heavier one’s injuries, the greater the explosiveness.’
“Hehe, die already!”
Apparently done playing, Einar’s body abruptly halted.
His mist armor suddenly expanded outward.
The three ghouls leaping mid-air were sliced by countless invisible blades; two disintegrated in the air, turning into splattering chunks of flesh.
‘Pain Exchange, Pain Merchant third-tier ability: Erupt one’s Black Domain power to instantly swap sustained injuries with the enemy; if the exchange fails, one’s own injuries worsen.’
A new wound split open on Einar, yet he laughed especially ferociously, bisecting the third ghoul that pounced before him.
Unlike Einar’s cruel injury-for-injury style, Linnea remained unscathed, mostly clearing flank threats for Rich, cleverly “feeding” isolated or wounded ghouls to his sword.
When Einar used Pain Exchange, the last ghoul had its skull crushed by Rich’s large hand.
Nineteen ghouls—slaughtered in just seven or eight minutes, fourteen of them dying by Rich’s hand.
“Rich, quick, give me the bandages!”
Battle over, Linnea did not check if Rich was hurt but rushed first to Einar, tightly pressing healing bandages over those deep, gushing wounds.
“Hehe, Pain Merchants feel no pain.”
Einar laughed indifferently, gently pushing Linnea’s hand away, walking aside to sit silently, pulling out a small flask of holy water to sip, ignoring the still-bleeding wounds on his body.
“Sigh, if I could advance to fifth-tier, I could heal you all…”
Linnea sighed, her gaze turning to Rich nearby.
Seeing his slightly pale face beneath the gradually dissipating thick mist, her cheeks unconsciously flushed again.
Is this how Lantern Bearers fight… Hundreds of meters away, Carey watched stunned, his heart still pounding fiercely.
Fifth-tier Slaughter Knight, fourth-tier Pain Merchant, third-tier Joyous Gardener—that was the core combat trio of the Black Star Mercenary Group.
Their synergy might not be immediately apparent, but the efficient slaughter and fearless valor etched deeply into Carey’s mind.
“Mr. Einar just has a harsh tongue, but he’s really brave…” Lis muttered softly.
…
…
Deep in the black water swamp, Lis found a small elevated patch above the water, allowing Rich and the others to truly rest.
Lis was diligent, quickly setting up a simple tent.
However, before she could light the holy oil campfire, she heard Linnea let out a short, ambiguous exclamation.
“Wait, the blood on your face isn’t wiped clean yet… Hey, hold on!”
Rich removed his cloak and hunting jacket upper garment, hoisted Linnea onto his shoulder without a word—ignoring whatever she said—and ducked into the newly pitched tent.
Seeing this, Lis abandoned lighting the fire, shrinking behind Carey, head lowered, pretending to organize packs.
Einar tactfully moved farther out, back to the tent, pulling out a small liquor bottle to drink silently.
“What are Mr. Rich and Miss Linnea planning to do?” Carey was utterly confused, looking at the silent Lis beside him, his face full of bewilderment.
Before Lis could answer, Carey noticed the thin tent beginning to shake.
From inside came Linnea’s soft, bone-melting, lingering moans and gasps.
Rich was actually getting intimate with Miss Linnea, separated only by a flimsy tent that seemed a gust of wind could topple!
“Captain is a Heart Abyss system Slaughter Knight.” Lis’s voice was mosquito-faint, her head buried lower.
“Excessive Black Domain power consumption accumulates Heart Abyss curses… He, he has to do that with a woman… Otherwise, he’ll corrupt… That’s the price of being a Slaughter Knight…”
Under the rusted moonlight, a simple, primal act of love began abruptly.
Linnea’s high-pitched, intermittent moans assaulted Carey’s eardrums without barrier.
The boy’s face instantly turned beet red, nearly matching the abnormal flush on the unconscious Maren’s cheeks.
Just days ago, in the small grove of Iceberry Village, Carey had overheard an adult intimate session.
But now, Rich and Linnea’s intimacy carried an additional layer of life-and-death, eerie, and heavier meaning.
A full half hour later, those blush-inducing, blood-boiling notes gradually faded.
After rustling sounds of dressing, Linnea emerged radiant, her already sexy and slender figure now exuding a lazy, charming aura from within, her eyes carrying a trace of satisfaction.
“For the next day, Rich will have no combat strength. Pray to Sura that we encounter no more trouble.”
Linnea flicked her somewhat disheveled wavy long hair, demeanor open, not avoiding what she had just done.
“But the Corrupt Blood Marsh Pool is not far south. Lis, carry Maren. Carey, prepare the Drunken Soul Flower powder; we’ll head over together soon.”
Carey nodded quickly, his gaze dodging, not daring to look directly at Linnea.
“Hehe, such an innocent child…”
A mischievous impulse rose in Linnea; she laughed outright.
“Rich is the captain of the Black Star Mercenary Group and my lover. I don’t be with him solely because of his Lantern Bearer price… Was it nice to listen to?”
At this, Linnea’s smile gradually faded; she looked back at the tent, a hint of pity in her eyes.
“Um, thank the Holy Lord, wish, wish you happiness…”
Carey stammered incoherently, feeling his cheeks burn hotter.
He hastily retreated, pretending to check packs to hide his obvious, flustered embarrassment.