One-Eyed Monster

The Great Witch Biggs could hardly believe that the chief housekeeper of Gaga County County Mansion was actually a Dark Wizard.

Don’t all Dark Wizards fear sunlight? Doubts surged within Witch Biggs. She found it hard to accept, unwilling to believe, that Uli was a Dark Wizard.

What could compel someone to forsake sunlight and embrace darkness? Aren’t they afraid of being burned if they face the sun all day long? Don’t they feel tired, constantly having to maintain a facade? Numerous such questions flooded Great Witch Biggs’s mind, making her feel as if she were dreaming.

Her shrill scream stunned everyone present. Even Qi Liu and Bunan, who were lurking nearby, cautiously lifted their heads to see what had happened to agitate the witch so much.

Jani looked at Witch Biggs with confusion, unable to understand why she was so agitated.

”Er, I’m just shocked,” Great Witch Biggs said, aware of the peculiar gazes around her. She felt she had to offer this explanation to dispel their suspicions.

”Darkness, is, merely, a choice.” Stan Sol looked at the Black Crow, curled up in a heap, and slowly said, ”They, desire, shortcuts.”

Every person who embraced darkness did so seeking shortcuts; this was a principle the Great Witch understood well. However, she firmly believed Dark Wizards should not exist anywhere near her, nor in Gaga County, for there was nothing in Gaga County worth their pursuit.

Great Witch Biggs knew Gaga County well: it was neither rich nor poor, neither isolated nor bustling. Such a place was hardly an ideal hideout for fugitives from the Empire, nor a training ground for aspiring Adventurers with Class to hone their skills.

Witch Biggs felt that a place like Gaga County was suitable for someone like her, a person without great aspirations. People with complex pasts, like Dark Wizards, shouldn’t be here.

Yet, the Uli before her was a Dark Wizard. Over the years, she had interacted with Uli quite often. Every time she sought an audience with Elder Rostellum, it was this very housekeeper who had ushered her in. Therefore, she found it incredibly hard to believe that Housekeeper Uli was a Dark Wizard.

There were many incomprehensible things in the world. While Great Witch Biggs didn’t utterly despise Dark Wizards, she still needed time to process the fact that someone familiar had transformed into something so alien to her.

Process, process... She suddenly realized she had been exposed to too many shocking revelations lately; her mind could barely contain it all...

I can’t believe Lord Jani used his true name while undercover... An unnatural reverence stirred within Wizard Gus. He, too, had operated covertly at the foot of Guru Mountain for a long time but had never used his real name.

”I am a Fighter! I duel honorably and do not fear the power of a name. In the eyes of us Fighters, a true name is an honor, not a source of power!” Uli declared, his voice filled with agitation. His full name was Uli Kawa Jani, and in the Mantai Empire, Jani was indeed a surname with a history.

Uli would never forget his identity. Like Stan Sol, he bore the responsibility of reviving his family, though his path to revival was primarily one of revenge.

”I am different from you lot who hide your identities! I am a Fighter, forthright and honorable...”

”You concealed your true identity; that is deception. Fighters despise deceitful liars as much as they despise Hunters who dare not face their foes head-on,” Estev interrupted Uli’s tirade, clearly not interested in hearing his life story.

”True, victory makes a king, and defeat a commoner. Having lost to you, I have nothing more to say.” Uli had thought he understood Estev well, but today he realized his own undercover efforts were amateurish compared to Estev’s.

Uli had always considered Estev a mere idler. After all, Estev had been a housekeeper in Elder Rostellum’s mansion for many years, merely acting as an intermediary whenever Uli needed to conduct business in Liuli City.

Uli quickly calculated that, over the years, the gold coins he had slipped Estev could probably fill a box or two. Why had he never sensed Estev’s hidden depths during their interactions?

Similarly, Estev was perplexed. Why hadn’t he detected that Uli was a member of the Black Crow during their previous encounters? Estev also hadn’t sensed that this Uli was a Dark Wizard.

What had seemed simple now appeared incredibly complex upon reflection. Estev, Uli, and even Biggs found themselves disoriented by how these revelations recast their familiar pasts, momentarily lost in thought and unable to extricate themselves.

Dark Wizards were considered a peculiar profession on the Yowein Continent. The views of Adventurers with Class on this designation were not uniform: some, like Igor, scorned Wizards who practiced the Darkness Type, while others, like Kuyi Tulan, held the Dark Arts in reverence.

No one could definitively trace the origins of the Dark Arts. Scholars could only surmise that those who pursued the Dark Arts were seeking shortcuts. This rather crude assessment persists even today. The scholars’ perspective became the dominant view on the Yowein Continent—that it was a path for shortcuts—and so, the general populace adopted this belief. This popular opinion influenced many Adventurers with Class, encouraging them to take such shortcuts, ultimately demoting what could have been a legitimate branch of profession into a despised fringe practice.

Anyone with even a shred of ambition would not dabble in the Dark Arts. Those who did were either driven by desperation or were opportunists seeking easy power...

Housekeeper Uli was both. He sought power and a shortcut, his choice heavily influenced by the fact that the Mantai Empire had no place for him.

His family had been branded traitors by Mantai’s Emperor, leaving him with no sanctuary in the Ghost Realm. Firstly, he refused to live among the Mountain Monsters and Dwarves. Secondly, as a Fighter, he possessed dignity; he would rather die standing than live kneeling. Yet, his burning desire for revenge kept him clinging to life. With no place for him in the Mantai Empire, he fled to the neighboring Kayne Country. There, he swallowed his pride and endured all manner of hardships to secure a chance at survival.

This struggle for survival eventually led him to the Black Crow, an organization that thrived in darkness and constantly tempted him with its promises. When he heard that their leader possessed a method to grant him command of a million-strong army, his heart pounded fiercely.

If I had such an army at my command, the first thing I would do is storm back to the Mantai Empire and clear my family’s name...

As Grand Witch Biggs had perceived, those drawn to the Dark Arts always had their stories.

Uli’s story, while perhaps not the most dramatic, was enough to compel his choices during those trying times.

Equivalent Exchange: when you make a choice, it means you have forsaken something else.

Uli chose revenge; he chose to plunge into darkness. He intended to trade his loyalty for the Black Crow’s support, for an army of death he could command...

The Power of Darkness was immeasurable. The leader had offered him this chance, yet he had failed to seize it. That failure was the one thing he could not accept.

Recalling his mission now, Uli couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. It’s all over, isn’t it?