Darkness.

Without a hint of light.

That was all there is to it.

An empty land covered in silver sand, underneath the cover of the lonely night.

He could only remark the bleakness of the reality he was in.

The world the Darkness had trapped him in.

There was no escape from it.

When he gave up the fight, the darkness within switched places with him.

Now he was the one imprisoned while the Darkness was free to do whatever it wanted.

It was an empty land, just as empty as his heart was at the moment.

Nur Finnerman could only marvel at the bleakness of his inner world.

‘I have been trapped here for a while, but there is no exit’

There were moments where he would momentarily take over his body, but such moments were brief and soon enough, he would be back in the prison of his own mind.

By now, he had no idea what the Darkness was doing with his body or what he was up to.

It was safe to say that Nur Finnerman had no awareness or control of what was going on in the last several months… ever since Darkness took over.

‘But maybe it is for the best. I am sure he is handling my life much better than I did’

If there was one thing he regretted, it was being unable to see his beloved angel and his son.

“Desolai…Kunjarik…I am so sorry”

Trapped within his own mind, Nur Finnerman could only hope that one day moon would shine upon the barren desert lands of his mental landscape.

* * *

Dark Lord felt a tear flowing down his face.

‘I am not the type that cries, this is rather odd’

As he was walking out of the bathing area, he heard a strange sound.

“In the name of Goddess Serena, come back to life and stand tall!”

A man with blond hair, a common color in the kingdom of Kizilalem, was making the highly pressurized water from the fountain strike his groin area.

“Come back to life!”

Looking closer, Dark Lord could only cover his mouth, trying not to laugh out loud.

It was the Knight of Mind, Cereb Belius.

“Well, this looks ridiculous”

Because of what Dark Lord did to him in their first encounter, Cereb Belius’s life was altered in the most humiliating fashion.

His groin no longer functioned properly.

Using the toilet was fine, but when it came to being intimate with girls…It was obsolete.

No matter how many temples, healers, and potions he drank, the damage he sustained from Dark Lord persisted.

Many speculated the damage was not physical but psychological, but Cereb Belius was convinced that Dark Lord damaged his privates, causing his condition.

“Morphus will not believe if I tell him…Speaking of whom, where is Morphus?” Looking down, he found a familiar ring near the entrance to Hot Springs.

It was a Teleportation Ring, and its owner was none other than Morphus.

Apparently, because Morphus did not have his own physical body, but was merely occupying a vessel, he did not have much of an attachment to physical objects.

“That fool!”

Dark Lord snatched the ring.

He would give it back to Morphus, but only after giving him a lecture about not leaving his possessions behind, especially his Teleportation Ring.

‘Goodness, being trapped in this world, with enemies everywhere, and incompetent allies…how exactly am I supposed to topple this kingdom if my subordinate forgets his own magic item?’

As his thoughts were racing, he thought of the romantic idiot of a swordsman in his employ.

If Dark Lord was an idiot in love with a woman, his life would have been much simpler.

But instead, what Dark Lord desired was not the embrace of love and affection, but destruction, conquest, and domination.

Saving girls…why does Meros have such weird romantic ideas?

Dark Lord could only wonder.

Meros spoke so much about his romantic daydreams that they now echoed within Dark Lord’s thoughts.

‘I will hang myself before I become a romantic loon like him!’

Considering his curse, it would not be an issue for Dark Lord.

‘So many idiots have such romantic ideals…becoming a hero? What a joke. All the heroes I have encountered so far are nothing more than murderers serving the human kingdom. And even if the ideal version of a hero exists; why in the hell would I want to be one of those?’

Lukalis’s suspicion that Dark Lord could be a former hero only made him cringe.

Nur Finnerman wanted to be a hero.

That much Dark Lord was sure of.

But Dark Lord, Runfar Sevilles was not Nur Finnerman.

Dark Lord did not want to be a protector

He wanted to be a destroyer.

And destroy he shall…starting with the human kingdom and its heroes.

Though, Dark Lord had to admit that with his curse, he could have become the greatest hero of them all.

But where is the fun in that?

Causing death and destruction to the arrogant heroes, making humanity as miserable as possible, spreading fear everywhere he goes….That’s where Dark Lord’s heart truly sung.

Even if it was a difficult endeavor, with every one of his foes being far stronger than him, Dark Lord continued, because he loved the feeling of conquest.

The more he destroyed, the more he felt he had conquered.

Yes. It was conquest that drove him forward. And vengeance.

Driving heroes to despair was just a bonus.

As he wrapped a towel around his waist, and proceeded to head towards the inn, Dark Lord could only marvel at Knight of Mind’s stupidity.

His arch enemy was nearby, yet he did not have his blessing activated, most likely because he could never imagine Dark Lord being in such a place.

After all, a villain would never come to the same place that hero occupied, at least, that’s what Knight of Mind must have thought.

But a Demon Lord Kazan Karatengu also managed sneak into this bathing area!

To say that Knight of Mind letting his guard down in this place was a height of stupidity would by an understatement of a lifetime.

Though, Dark Lord could not kill him here.

Since he came here to relax, he did not bother to bring his crystal dagger.

The only things he had on him where two rings, one was a teleportation ring that also worked as a storage ring, and the other was the Ring of Olim, belonging to the Primordial god of Death.

The Ring of Olim, as Dark Lord found out, had a very strange property.

No matter where Dark Lord left it, after a moment, Dark Lord would find it on his finger; it would simply vanish from the place Dark Lord put it and manifest upon Dark Lord’s hand.

When he told Lukalis about such phenomenon, she told him that some magic items are sentient and are known for choosing their owners.

As such, the chosen user and the magic item become inseparable, with the magic item always staying close to the user.

‘Still, master Olim, giving me a ring that is always stuck to me…what a pain’

‘If it is just the Knight of Mind, then that idiot is easy enough to avoid….Now then, time to get out of here….’

“Ouch!”

Dark Lord ended up running into someone and ended up falling down.

This person was rather tall and muscular.

His hair was black.

In human kingdom of Kizilalem, blonde was the most common hair color, while black hair was rather rare.

“Uhm, are you ok?”

But the face of this person was unmistakable.

“Knight of Night?!”

Knight of Night ended up covering Dark Lord’s mouth with his hand.

“Tsss, please keep it down. I am trying to lay low”

“Ah, sorry”

Larat helped Dark Lord stand up.

‘He did not recognize me. Thank goodness’

“I am sorry for rudeness, but being a hero comes with a downside of attracting too much unwanted attention. Today is my day off, so I do not want people to flock over to me and ask me to pat them on their heads or sign their clothing. I hope you understand”

“Whatever you say, sir”

“Larat is fine; what about you, what are you called?”

“Finnerman, just plain old Finnerman”

Dark Lord ended up blurting out the first name that came to his mind.

“Finnerman, huh? All right. See you around”

Dark Lord hurried away as fast as his feet could carry him.

‘No matter where, at the mansion, battlefield, or in the Hot Springs, my enemies are everywhere! Just make a turn and you will find one!’

‘Just one day, just a single day I want to have a break from my work, my work comes to me!’

‘I already have to deal with so many weirdoes! An elf that hates humans and her kingdom, an angel with no common sense, a hopeless romantic for a swordsman…and these people are my allies. Then there is that pest of a Crow Demon Lord that claims to be my brother…and my enemies are even worse! Can I catch a break just for one day? Is that too much to ask?!’

As he made a turn, his eyes caught sight of a floating woman wearing a toga.

Her hair was translucent, combed into locks that were floating in the air.

She was barefoot, with jade colored skin, and glowing eyes.

From her appearance, he could tell she was a secondary goddess that blessed this Hot Springs.

‘What a shame. I should have brought my crystal dagger, I could have seen for myself whether it can kill a deity or not’

It seemed like she was meditating, with her eyes closed and her legs crossed as she floated a couple feet above the ground.

Then, the face of the goddess turned towards him and her eyes opened.

As soon as she saw Dark Lord, her mouth gaped open.

“You…I can’t see your fate…”

She was obviously shocked at being unable to see Dark Lord’s past or future at first glance; she could only see him in the present.

“You are fateless!”

“And you are a goddess; we all have our own problems”

Mortals are usually unable to see or hear gods unless gods chose to become visible to them, but this mortal was not only able to clearly see her, but reply back to her.

It was truly strange. A mortal could only develop the ability to see a deity if he once saw a deity’s true form when the deity is visible.

After seeing a deity once, mortal will always be able to see them, even when they try to be hidden.

With a terse reply, he proceeded to teleport away before she could recover from shock of seeing a fateless mortal.

‘Now then, where did that idiot angel go?’

Morphus obviously was not in the Hot Spring or the inn, so it was up to Dark Lord to find him.

After all, this visit was not exactly a complete vacation time. While he did want to spend one day relaxing, the true reason for his visit to Merok was to recruit a certain someone.

Someone who understood Dark Lord’s ordeal rather well….

….As soon as Dark Lord reunited with Camilla and Meros who he sent to scout ahead.

But for now, finding Morphus was the priority.