The Executioner

To avoid causing unnecessary panic, Kristine explained with a smile.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

“We were just passing by and came to see the children. These are my friends, and they came to visit too.”

She paused, then asked as if casually.

“By the way, director, has anything happened at the orphanage recently?”

“Have you seen a male student wearing the same uniform as us come by?”

The orphanage director thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head with certainty.

“No, everything has been fine at the orphanage recently. The children are all safe, and I haven’t heard of anyone getting hurt.”

“As for the male student you mentioned, I have no impression of him either.”

Hearing this, Land and Leon, standing behind, exchanged a look. They both found it a bit strange.

If there really were a large number of evil spirits active nearby, with so many people at the orphanage.

Especially the children, whose auras were so vibrant, how could they not have been attacked?

“Unless…”

Land said in a low voice.

“The actions of those evil spirits are controllable… just as Black said, they are being controlled by someone.”

If that was the case.

The possibility of Black’s speculation about a necromancer greatly increased.

Everyone was now basically certain of this fact.

That necromancer was very likely hiding near the orphanage.

And so.

Black had Kristine handle the children and the orphanage staff.

The rest of the group gathered at the side and began to discuss their investigation.

“This area is not small. It’ll be more efficient if we split up.”

“Let’s form groups of two. Leon, you and Land will be a group.”

“Irena and Jianye will be a group. Be careful. I’ll be a group of my own and be responsible for the area inside the orphanage.”

Following Black’s arrangement, everyone immediately began to move.

Watching their departing figures, Black thought to himself.

There were currently two ways to find the necromancer’s hiding place.

The first method was to get it from the old man, Charn.

According to the plot, he had already fought the necromancer.

Although he was defeated and injured, he had figured out the other’s hiding area.

However, getting this old man, who was burdened with heavy sins and only wanted to atone in silence, to speak would be extremely difficult.

The second method was to wait at the orphanage at midnight, when the yin energy was at its strongest.

And wait for the necromancer to show up.

That necromancer, at this time every night, would definitely come to the orphanage.

Specifically, he would come to the large oak tree in the orphanage’s backyard to refine evil spirits.

The reason he had his eyes on the orphanage was as simple as it was cruel.

Under that large, leafy oak tree.

Were buried the corpses of over a hundred children.

A sin that had been accumulating for more than a decade.

The souls of these innocent children who had died tragically, due to their obsessions, lingered around the oak tree, unable to find peace.

Of course, ordinary people could not see them.

That necromancer had accidentally discovered this “treasure trove.”

To him, it was undoubtedly a windfall from heaven.

Such a large number of young souls, full of obsession, were excellent materials for refining evil spirits.

Therefore.

Every midnight, he would arrive on time like a hyena that had smelled blood.

He would use the dense yin energy here to cast necromancy, twist the souls, and refine them into evil spirits for his own command.

However, fighting him at night would be very troublesome.

Night was the evil spirits’ home turf, and the necromancer’s strength would be greatly amplified.

With one’s strength waxing and the other’s waning, the difficulty of defeating him would greatly increase.

Therefore, the optimal solution was to find his hiding place during the day.

And take him down in one fell swoop while his power was relatively weak.

Thinking of this, Black no longer hesitated.

He walked into the orphanage alone.

In a corner of the courtyard, he found Charn, who was slowly sweeping fallen leaves with an old broom.

He was hiding very well.

No one would have thought that this was an executioner who had killed over a hundred children with his own hands.

Black walked to his side without any pleasantries.

He got straight to the point, his voice calm.

“Hello, I am Dragon-Slaying Guard Black.”

“Excuse me, do you know where that necromancer might be hiding?”

Such a direct question was clearly beyond Charn’s expectations.

The old man’s hands trembled uncontrollably.

He raised his cloudy eyes, which were hidden under his scars.

And stared at Black.

Then he slowly shook his head.

“…Never heard of him… I’m just a sweeper.”

His voice was hoarse and low, carrying a cold indifference that pushed people away.

‘As expected, he’s unwilling to say anything.’

Black was not surprised.

This was normal. Those souls were related to the sins he had committed more than a decade ago.

He would do his best to avoid any risk that might attract outside attention.

Not to mention a forbidden person like a necromancer.

As for this disfigured old man before him.

Although it was the first time Black had seen him in person, his background and that dark past.

He remembered it so clearly that he couldn’t forget it even if he tried.

Charn, more than a decade ago, was the director of this orphanage.

And a devout, almost pedantic, believer of the Church of Creation.

For the first half of his life, he had abided by the doctrines, performed good deeds, and taken in countless abandoned disabled children and orphans.

He had never done anything that violated the law or the church’s rules and was a well-known great philanthropist.

However, the gods did not favor him for this.

Charn and his wife had a deep relationship, but they had never been able to have their own child.

It wasn’t until he was over fifty that his wife became pregnant, having a daughter in his old age.

The arrival of his daughter brought a brief joy.

The price was that his wife died due to a premature birth and her advanced age.

Leaving him with only a wailing infant.

What was even more desperate was that his daughter, due to her premature birth, was congenitally deficient and extremely frail.

Her life was like a flickering candle in the wind, which could be extinguished at any moment.

Just as he fell into endless despair, the then-Pope Randolph found him.

And proposed a demonic deal to him.

To exchange the lives of 100 children for his daughter’s health.

Charn had refused in indignation.

He would never take the lives of those innocent children.

But, watching his daughter struggle on the brink of death in her sickbed time and time again.

Hearing her weak cries, his faith was shaken and crumbled again and again.

He knelt before the statue in the church, questioning the gods time and time again.

Why had he, who had done good deeds his whole life, had to suffer such a cruel punishment?

Unfortunately, the gods were high above and would not answer him.

Under the twisted love of a father.

His faith completely collapsed, and he stepped into an eternal abyss.

He agreed to Randolph’s deal.

Enduring the heart-wrenching guilt, in the dead of night, he extended his demonic hands to the children who trusted him.

A full one hundred innocent lives were ended by his own hands.

And buried under the large oak tree in the backyard.

After the deal was completed.

His daughter miraculously recovered and became healthy and lively.

But Charn’s own mind was already on the verge of collapse.