Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 147

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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It’s a café operated by the Heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 147
“I need to go check it out.”
After confirming the location of the fire, I was about to leave immediately when Biedler grabbed my arm.
“You don’t know what’s happening. That’s no small blaze. You could get caught in it.”
I pulled my arm free from Biedler’s grasp and regarded him calmly.
“That’s exactly why I need to investigate. I’m skilled enough to escape from danger.”
Biedler, who had been watching me with concern, turned to look around when the mountain roared again loudly, then nodded.
“Then I’m coming with you.”
If the café were safer, I would have left him there, but with no fire here and the situation looking grim, I decided to bring him along.
“We don’t know how far the fire has spread. Let’s take horses.”
We each retrieved our horses from where we’d left them and met on the road below.
As we rode toward the village, the mountain continued to rumble as if it were collapsing.
A massive boulder suddenly rolled down in front of us, and we had to swerve sharply to avoid it.
“Something’s wrong with the sky.”
Biedler was right.
When I looked up, dense clouds were obscuring the moon almost entirely.
It was far too dark for evening. Moreover, I could feel an increasingly eerie atmosphere against my skin.
Having sensed this kind of atmosphere several times before—outside Cayden’s Temple—I urged my horse faster.
“Don’t be surprised if a Demonic Beast suddenly appears.”
“A Demonic Beast?”
As Biedler’s alarmed voice reached me, the moon was completely obscured by cloud.
I didn’t know what that meant, but an anxious feeling rose in my chest, and my heart began to race.
“We’re almost there.”
“There’s a burning smell….”
As we drew near the village entrance, the acrid smell of ash came on the wind.
That was when it happened.
The horse I was riding struck something hard and toppled.
“Neigh!”
Caught off guard, both Biedler and I flew through the air and tumbled across the ground.
“Are you all right?—You’re fine.”
Biedler had started to rush toward me, but he stopped short in surprise when he saw me spinning once and landing lightly on my feet.
After quickly checking that both the horse and Biedler were unharmed, I walked forward to see what we’d hit.
I drew the sword I’d prepared in my pocket and moved very slowly.
Then I felt something—a soft tap as my blade struck something.
“There’s something here.”
After confirming with a few taps of my sword that nothing happened, I reached out and touched it.
An invisible, transparent, and solid thing spread out so broadly that I couldn’t tell where it ended.
No matter how much I struck it, it wouldn’t give; when I tried to cut through with my sword, the force simply bounced back, leaving it intact.
“There’s no way through like this.”
“There was nothing here just a few days ago.”
Even as we stood there, the fire inside the village grew larger. At this rate, there would be nothing left to burn.
What was strange was that despite the magnitude of the fire, no one was fleeing from the entrance.
All the faces I’d come to recognize during my visits to the village flashed through my mind.
“The people inside might have….”
“They might have evacuated beforehand.”
Though I couldn’t deny it, I mounted my horse again and rode around the perimeter, hoping to find some gap, but it was no use.
“There must be another way… Oh, Grandfather.”
The moment I touched my pinky finger and called out Grandfather’s name—
A portal opened right beside me, and Grandfather appeared.
“Grandfather!”
“The Barrier hanging in the café seemed strange, so I was on my way back from checking on it.”
Without me saying a word, Grandfather immediately recognized the transparent wall and gazed at it with a grave expression.
“A Barrier. A very strong and ancient one at that.”
When Grandfather’s palm, wrapped in blue light, touched the Barrier, sparks scattered around it and a crack appeared.
“Could you make a hole large enough for me to get through?”
“You’re planning to go in there?”
Grandfather quickly withdrew his hand and furrowed his brow.
“The villagers are inside.”
“This is a spell that absorbs all life force within the Barrier. It’s dangerous.”
Grandfather, still reading information from the Barrier with his hand against it, shook his head.
“Even if I go in with you, it’s still dangerous?”
“As long as you stay right beside me….”
Grandfather accepted that I would find a way in no matter what, and with a heavy sigh, pressed his forehead with his hand.
“We can’t turn our backs on this and leave. We need to know what’s happening.”
This village is closest to the mountain and has had frequent contact with me.
What happens here is not unrelated to the café.
Especially if there’s an organization capable of orchestrating something of this scale, I needed to gather intelligence by any means.
“You must both stay close to me.”
After reminding us multiple times, Grandfather poured his magic into the Barrier once more.
Slowly, the crack began to widen.
As the hole grew large enough for us to pass through, we all rushed inside together.
The moment my feet crossed into the Barrier, intense heat swept across my entire body.
Thanks to Grandfather creating a circular Barrier around both Biedler and me, we were shielded from the heat and able to enter the village proper.
…….
The village I remembered was no longer recognizable.
Market stalls and shops had all burned to ash, and everywhere my eyes fell, there was nothing but vivid crimson flame.
Then I spotted the shell of an Artifact on the ground, and I doubted my eyes.
“That. It looks the same as what I saw when my café caught fire. Even that excessively red, intense flame….”
“That fire was from the Empress. So this incident might be connected to her too.”
“Or maybe it’s not the Empress but the Strophane Clan. Juliano was always obsessed with this village—he even stationed Arno here and had a Warehouse built. To that degree.”
Growing suspicious of the Strophane Clan, I continued walking.
I was startled to see corpses scattered about, but each time I found one, I approached to confirm the cause of death.
Remarkably, every dead person had their body pierced by vines.
“They didn’t die from the fire.”
Seeing how their bodies had shriveled, drained of all moisture, sent a chill down my spine.
“I’ve fought in countless wars, but I’ve never seen corpses like this.”
“Neither have I.”
Biedler and I were horrified.
Grandfather, who had been examining the corpses ahead, exhaled heavily.
“Life force has been drained from the living. It’s a forbidden spell. I’ve heard tales of fallen individuals who steal others’ life force, but I’ve never seen an operation of this scale.”
“Are you talking about a Black Mage?”
“I’m not sure. Would there even be a Black Mage capable of such a thing?…”
As we passed the Temple, those who ministered there were not spared from this calamity either.
Seeing how they lay dead, I clenched my teeth as Cayden came to mind.
Each time I saw a corpse, I checked the face.
They were people I’d seen during my visits to the village, but those I’d had the most contact with were not among them.
As I continued deeper in, I caught sight of a familiar silhouette and hair color, and I cried out.
“Arno!”
A thick vine pierced straight through his heart. His eyes were closed, making him appear dead.
As I rushed toward Arno, Grandfather and Biedler immediately followed.
I slashed through the thick vine impaling Arno with one clean strike.
Then we pulled Arno into our protective Barrier.
“His heart’s still beating. What can we do?”
After pressing my ear to Arno’s heart to confirm it was still beating, I looked urgently at Grandfather.
“First, we need to get the vines out completely. That’s what’s draining his life force.”
I watched anxiously as Grandfather placed his hands on Arno.
But the vine I’d cut suddenly lunged toward us. It bounced off the Barrier, but immediately came at us again, threatening.
Bang, crash.
As the number of vines increased and they began surrounding the Barrier, I let out a hollow laugh.
“We need to get out of here.”
When I decided we couldn’t stay any longer, Biedler hoisted Arno, whom he’d given emergency treatment, onto his back.
“I don’t see the Village Chief, the dumpling shop owner, the general store lady, the woodworker…. None of them.”
“They couldn’t have escaped. It’s best to assume their faces have become unrecognizable.”
Selfish though it was, I had hoped they would survive. The despair was crushing.
“The vines seem to be targeting you, Meyson.”
“It does seem that way.”
The vines’ attacks grew increasingly fierce, striking against the Barrier.
There was no time to recover the bodies.
The entrance we came through was already blocked by vines, so we headed toward the entrance that Juliano’s soldiers had repaired a few days before.
“The Warehouse too…. It’s completely collapsed. The people trapped inside….”
The remains of the completely destroyed Warehouse were covered in an enormous number of vines.
I couldn’t even estimate how many had died, buried in the rubble.
Clenching my teeth, before we left the village, I turned back one last time to look at what had become ruins. It was devastating.
And the aura of death emanating from the village was unmistakably… the same feeling as the Middle Realm I’d seen in Cayden’s basement.
Grandfather tore another hole in the Barrier, and we all escaped outside together.
The vines that had chased us all the way clattered against the sealed Barrier as we broke through, and snapped.
Outside, though dark, was as it should be. It felt almost as if the hellish sight of the village had been a dream.
“It feels like we’ve been cursed. Who could commit such a horrific act?”
Biedler’s voice trembled as he spoke, and he set Arno down on the ground.
I crouched down and sat beside Arno, then placed my fingers against his neck.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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