After exiting the inn, Dark Lord used his Teleportation Ring to contact Lukalis, asking for her to search for Morphus as well.

Considering the fact Dark Lord warned Morphus not to fly in public and that he does not have his Teleportation Ring on, meant that he couldn’t have gotten too far.

Still, he had to admit, Lukalis’s magic items were something, all right.

Dark Lord never thought that the elven woman he found inside that cave would be this useful.

Of the many magic items she created, just the Teleportation Ring alone ended up making a huge difference in their endeavor.

The ring could be used for Teleporting to locations user has been to before, had the capacity to store items within it, and could be used to communicate with others who wore those rings.

‘Gotta hand it to her, her magic items sure are convenient.’

But of course, now that he was walking through the streets, he made sure to attract as little attention to himself as possible.

Though, from the looks of things, Dark Lord’s precaution was unnecessary.

As Dark Lord followed the crowd, he ended up witnessing someone on the platform.

A young boy, ten years of age, short blond hair, from his looks it was obvious he was a lowborn.

His clothing was ragged and torn in several places. Several different pieces of clothing were stitched together just to make his shirt.

He was standing barefooted, both hands and legs shackled by mana restraining chains.

Now, the men wearing black hoods proceeded to tie him to a tall pole that was in the middle of large pile of wood.

‘They are going to burn the poor boy’

Feeling a tinge of sympathy, Dark Lord averted his gaze.

As Dark Lord was about to leave, he caught sight of the boy’s eyes.

They were mismatched.

One was brown as the earth while the other was as green as a leaf.

There was no mistaking it.

“In the name of the Five Primary Gods and the King of Gods, this boy is guilty of the crime of being a witch! His penalty is to be cleansed by fire! Oh, Primary Goddess of Fire, Ignis, have mercy upon his soul!”

The lead executioner finished reading his decree.

One of the executioners lit a torch and placed it near the pile of wood.

Within moments, the wood caught fire.

Now, everyone started cheering as the poor boy was scared out of his wits.

First his clothing caught on fire, and then his flesh started to melt before their eyes.

It was a long and painful process, followed by screams of agony, but the cheers of the crowd were far louder.

‘What a déjà vu, is it not?’

Once, Nur Finnerman prevented the exact same situation from happening, choosing to spare the witch and allowing her to leave a new life.

But to Dark Lord, it was just a sad confirmation of just how messed up this world was.

Even if Nur Finnerman saved one witch, there will be countless others that will be slaughtered, all in the name of gods these humans fanatically worship.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The kid returned to what he was made from. Isn’t that just a natural cycle? In forty years, he would have already succumbed to illness, age, or got himself killed in a stupid war by that time.”

“So why did you save her, Nur Finnerman? Were you trying in vain to be some sort of a hero? Or were you hoping that her curse might undo yours and let you rest in peace? Why did you care so much?”

Dark Lord proceeded to walk further and further away from the vicious crowd.

But his thoughts were racing within his mind.

Without a doubt, if it was Nur Finnerman in the exact same situation, he would have tried to save the boy’s life…

… and would have paid a painful price for it.

If it was Nur Finnerman, he would have eventually sided with the heroes to protect humanity.

But Dark Lord wanted none of that. What he wanted was to be free of such a destiny.

So instead, he became the arch enemy to the human kingdom.

Even if Dark Lord could accept his role as the one who abandoned the path of a hero, and embraced the role of a villain, he could never understand what drove his predecessor, Nur Finnerman.

“Why didn’t you abandon what burdened you like I have?”

Dark Lord looked sadly in the direction of the town.

Without even realizing it, he ended up walking away to an open area.

Just large, several meter long cactuses were in sight.

“After all, the one I wish to see is no longer….”

Dark Lord’s eyes caught sight of a small, white winged boy, clinging to a lady with grey wings.

The lady looked a little annoyed with him.

As Dark Lord’s eyes focused, he could tell that the white winged boy was his lost subordinate.

It seems like Morphus ended up finding another angel.

She was not two meters tall, but of average height.

Wielding a scythe on her shoulder, it was obvious that she was an angel, an Angel of Death to be exact.

The Shinigami.

“…here”