Modern World Warlock-Chapter 320: A Purpose in Death
As Isidor remembered all of the details that led him to become a Death Knight for Netherius, the necromancer asked the knight to rest and made him fall unconscious.
"What do you mean he asked you to make him forget?" Alice pondered, curious about their relationship.
Netherius glanced at the ex-detective with a bit of disinterest, but when he fixed his gaze, he got more curious about her as he could sense that she was a dark paladin, which the necromancer considered to be extremely rare.
With a polite but slightly condescending tone, Netherius told the pair the story of his deal with Isidor and how he gave him another chance at life after being betrayed by his goddess.
The story cemented the reasoning for the hatred that people had towards Goddess Aelara. However, while Netherius genuinely believed he had done Isidor a favor, Alice thought otherwise.
"So, you took advantage of a broken man?" Alice asked, sharpening her gaze.
"Is that how you see it? Isidor would've died like a dog in that prison with no achievements other than slaying innocent civilians. I gave him a purpose!" Netherius replied.
"No. You forced your purpose on him…" Alice refuted.
The ex-detective could relate a bit with Isidor, as she was also betrayed by her superior when working with the police.
Of course, Captain Slacks wasn't a deity like Goddess Aelara, but he was her boss at that time, so she compared them equally.
Alice trusted her captain for a long time, and when she eventually got betrayed by him, she felt like her world was crumbling. Nevertheless, there was a big difference between her situation and Isidor's—friends.
While Alice was able to overcome the sadness and anger of her betrayal thanks to Camille, June, and the rest of her friends at the Jade Dragons, Isidor was left entirely alone in a cell for months.
'Back then, when I was kidnapped by the demons… I wonder, would I have taken the deal?' Alice thought.
When Isidor was put in jail, he needed a group of people he could trust to keep on moving ahead and find a new purpose in life, be it revenge or simply living peacefully. Instead, he was visited by Netherius.
"After the goddess made him do all that, you forced him into killing even more innocent people…" Alice muttered.
Netherius, with his arms crossed, raised an eyebrow and dropped his head laterally, seemingly confused about the ex-detective's statement.
"Hmmm? But his killing has a purpose now," Netherius replied.
"Aelara only cared about cleansing the world of anyone who doubted her. Those deaths were completely useless to her. I, on the other hand, have a use for all of these souls…" Netherius continued explaining his point of view.
"I see… I understand," Alice replied.
"Ah, you do? Great, because I think you should join me. How about we make a contract?" Netherius asked with a more easygoing tone.
"No. Don't misinterpret my words. I understand your point of view, but that does not mean I accept it…" Alice confidently replied.
"Just like your goddess, you don't see the real value in human life…" she continued.
"Killing innocent people for some sort of purpose? What a joke… Do you think all those people didn't have dreams and objectives they wanted to achieve!?" Alice shouted, frowning and clenching the hilt of her sword.
"I give them another purpose in death! Is that not enough!?" Netherius replied with another question, also raising his voice.
*Sigh* "I've heard everything I needed…" Alice whispered, getting into a firmer stance and preparing himself to attack the necromancer.
When Netherius raised one palm and aimed it at the pair, Claudia moved quickly and grabbed Alice by the torso, mounted her on her shoulder like a bag of potatoes, and bolted out of the area with haste.
"Wh-what are you doing!?" Alice asked as the vampire ran faster than a sports car through the corrupted streets.
"I'm getting us the hell out of here!" Claudia replied.
Before the mission started, all of the vampires in the clan received a clear order from their Mother— "Do not fight Netherius," —and Claudia wasn't keen on disobeying Asphodel.
"You were seconds away from getting killed…" said Claudia as she rushed through the streets riddled with zombies.
Alice knew that she was acting out of pure emotion, but she still felt somewhat frustrated that they couldn't give Netherius a fight.
After running for a few minutes, they went inside a building where Claudia dropped Alice from her shoulder and grabbed her hand, confusing the ex-detective for a moment.
"If we keep running, he is bound to catch up with us," Claudia explained, taking out a small gemstone from her pocket.
The gem looked clean and polished, with a resplendent aquamarine color that produced a faint glow.
"What's that?" Alice pondered.
"It's an enchanted gemstone… Both my mother and Balthazar are able to store spells inside these things," Claudia explained.
Alice had never seen how the enchanted gems worked, but she had heard a little bit about them from Dante, and as the pair felt Netherius' presence getting closer, Claudia activated the spell inside.
Shadows rose from the ground and shrouded their bodies. In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in the corrupted district that was the closest to the checkpoint outside the city.
"Teleportation!?" Alice exclaimed, scanning her surroundings to confirm that they had moved places.
"The gem was enchanted with a spell called 'Shadow Exit.' It takes the user between 5 to 10 kilometers away from their location…" Claudia explained.
"We were pretty lucky to land close to the checkpoint, but I can still fight. How are you feeling?" The vampire asked.
The pair had the option to go back to the checkpoint and report their findings, but considering that they still had energy and the few injuries they had were shallow enough to heal them with a healthstone without losing consciousness, they decided to scout another district before returning.
