Curse the Mainframe! 395 Darkness, Then Ligh

The darkness was never something that they were afraid of, but the darkness in this place seemed a lot different from the darkness outside.

Outside, the darkness brought a sense of comfort, a sense of relief that they were away from openly judging eyes. That they could be themselves without any trouble. Though they liked to fight, that didn't mean that they only wanted to fight. Sometimes, they just wanted to have some peace and quiet.

Of course, in the current times, it wasn't as bad as before, but to the Sins, the darkness was indeed a source of comfort.

Yet, in this place, the air was damp and humid, and the smell was stale.

With the darkness that licked at their feet, and only Harou leading the way with a single guiding torch, they felt as if they were following a will-o'-wisp in the night.

It felt almost sacred in a way, yet on the other hand, they felt as if they were following a guide in the lost darkness.

Here, the darkness was not comforting.

Instead, there was the stench of heavy despair and rotting meat. The low illumination provided from the faint torch showed scenes of rotting corpses and haphazardly strewn skeletons.

The skeletons weren't even in a good shape, missing bones here and there, some even missing their skulls.

They could only see them whenever the light flashed over, but it was enough for them to get a clear idea of what was happening down here.

These were the prisoners that the company had taken, throwing them into this place. Whether they were food for Harou here, they didn't know, but they were all dead.

There were no segregations in the walls to form cells, nor shackles of any kind, which was rather strange.

It was clear that this place was meant to be a dead end. Anyone who came in here would not be leaving alive.

It made the hair on their arms prickle, thinking about just how many people died here without a glance at sunlight. It was estimated that they hadn't even killed that many people in their entire lives…

There was barely any space for them to move without stepping on something.

Even then, they occasionally stumbled over something, saved only by their good reflexes and balance to avoid plunging into a pile of stinking and grimy unknown remains.

Hayden looked at all these actions with a blank face, refraining from blocking off his sense of smell.

It made him wonder how Harou could live in this place, how he could stand this stench with his nose.

But… humans were adaptable creatures, and so were magical beasts.

Even with the depths of this place, just looking into Harou's eyes told Hayden that he had never compromised on his own set of morals.

He had indeed knocked Hayden over, his instincts seemingly getting the better of him, but despite the small corner of hunger that was seen from his eyes, Hayden could only see his boundless arrogance.

Hayden respected him for that alone.

With his magical beast form, he was no doubt starving, but instead of attacking any of the three of them who came down, he only disdained them, as if they weren't worthy of him.

Now, what exactly could make Harou stay in a place like this?

What was it that garnered such intense loyalty in him, that he was willing to wait here?

Hayden was curious.

With Harou's strength, he had no doubt that the wolf magical beast would be able to break out without a single problem.

After all, he had to be able to get food from somewhere to keep himself in shape, even if he wasn't willing to leave this place.

The darkness seemed to intensify as they pierced deeper into the depths of this place.

The three of them were surprised by how deep this place went. The ground seemed to incline downwards ever so slightly, which meant that they were descending even deeper than the base level.

It made them wonder… what was it that Harou wanted to show them, that was so deep in?

They had not seen a single other person who was alive in this place.

There were countless number of bones from both humans and other creatures, but all of them had died.

"How did they all die?" Hayden asked, being the only one who dared to speak up.

Harou turned around, the torch illuminating his face as his lips curled into a sinister sneer. "Of course. I killed them all."

"I don't believe you," Hayden said bluntly. He could smell it from his scent alone that he wasn't telling the truth. At least, not the whole truth.

Harou clicked his tongue, seemingly unhappy that the Sin didn't fall for his explanation.

Hayden continued, "You're too nice for that."

Someone else might not be able to tell, but to Hayden, Harou was indeed quite nice. At least, it was obvious from the little actions like the wolf shining the light a little longer for them, and walking slower.

Harou sneered, showing his sharp incisors. "Nice? I, the great Harou, have been described as many things, but nice isn't one of them. Stop insulting me."

Hayden just looked at him quietly, and Harou clicked his tongue, looking even more annoyed.

Harou didn't want to talk with this person anymore, feeling insulted by his call of 'nice'.

"They died from all sorts of things, obviously. Some of them died from insanity, others from starvation. Sometimes, when there's more than one of them thrown down at the same time, they fight to the death." Harou paused slightly, his grin becoming that much more savage. "Of course, some of them wanted to suicide by fighting against me."

The sneer on Harou's face sent alarm through Rosabel and Yuki. They didn't doubt him at all.

On the other hand, Hayden had a much stranger reaction. He nodded, as if he'd understood something.

Bored, Harou turned back around, not finding the entertainment that he'd wanted.

The look on his face slowly melted away as they approached the most sacred place.

Harou's face no longer contained the bone-deep arrogance that made up his entire psyche, instead becoming that much more restrained and reserved, as well as containing a hint of worship and loyalty.

This deep in, the number of skeletons quickly dwindled, seemingly leaving the ground clear of their remains.

Hayden looked at it with curiosity, but he didn't say anything in the end.

From time to time, they would come across neatly kept graves, looking like they'd been recently cleaned.

The group of three all noticed the clean state considering the place, and the looks directed at Harou increased, but none of them asked, tactfully keeping silent.

If Hayden had to fashion a guess, this place contained Harou's master, and the graves were the other beings that had been under his master's rule as well. They were likely here, keeping watch as well, waiting for their master…

But, tragically, they died one by one, leaving only Harou…

It was a sense of respect and compassion that boiled up in the face of all this, but they didn't say anything. The silence was almost solemn, and the darkness didn't seem as unfriendly as it was previously.

Surprisingly, the deeper in they went, the lighter it became, and when they reached the end, it was almost like it was daytime. The place was illuminated brightly, and it was neat and clean.

Just a single look could tell you how much effort and time Harou had put into keeping and maintaining this place.

It was an eyeopener with how arrogant this magical beast was. How much did he worship his master, for him to be able to do it so meticulously?

Then, there was a large flash of light, blinding them.

Chapter end

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