Chapter 37: Sneaking into Town

Sweat dripped down Luke’s face as he breathed heavily from exertion.

That had been close. He had almost snapped right then and there and killed those innocent townspeople. If they had stayed a moment longer, they would have been dead.

“What a pity. You could have gotten stronger if you killed them,” the evil god said with a trace of disappointment.

Luke scowled and said, “I’m not going to kill anyone.”

“A little late for that, isn’t it?” the evil god mocked.

He ignored him as he wobbled to his feet and left his hiding spot. Luke took a moment to clean up his trail so that no one would realize he had been there. Once he was satisfied with the result, he walked away on unsteady feet.

“You look pathetic. You can’t even stand up straight,” the evil god jeered.

“Don’t you ever get tired of talking nonsense,” Luke shot back.

“It’s not nonsense if it’s the truth,” the evil god countered.

Luke didn’t respond, choosing to stealthily head towards the town.

Given his difficulty over controlling the dark energy and his loss of control leading to the deaths of so many people, he should have avoided going to the town. Going to a place with so many helpless people was asking for trouble.

However, he was in desperate need of supplies.

His fall into the water had ruined what few things he had bought beforehand. The only thing that had been relatively undamaged had been his money, which somehow managed to cling to his person despite his tumble into the water.

Honestly, he would have thought the money would have been lost after falling into the river. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, though it didn’t really matter much in the end.

It wasn’t as if he could use the money now that he was a fugitive.

Even so, he didn’t intend to just take things from the townspeople without paying. Once he grabbed everything he needed without being caught, he would leave money behind to pay for what he took. While he might be a fugitive, that didn’t mean he should act lawlessly.

Upon reaching the town, he observed quietly from the shadows.

From his hiding spot, he could faintly hear their conversations float to where he was, revealing much needed information.

It seemed that the public wasn’t aware of his existence. All the citizens knew was that the monster hunters and heroes had mobilized to deal with the monsters that had abruptly gotten stronger out of nowhere. There was no mention of him anywhere.

Had they purposely remained quiet about him in fear of causing panic among the populace?

He supposed that was a reasonable choice to make, but that put the public in danger, as they would be unaware that they had to look out for him. They wouldn’t think of calling for help the moment they saw him, thinking he was a normal person.

If it had been before, he would argue that he wasn’t a threat.

However, now that he can’t control the dark energy he received from the evil god, he found their choice lacking.

Thinking about his ex-comrades made his vision go red, and his body shook with suppressed bloodlust. He violently shook his head until he no longer thought of them and took several calming breaths so he wasn’t on edge.

How frustrating.

There had to be some way to counteract the dark energy in his body so he didn’t have to fear hurting anyone, but how?

As he stared out at the town, a thought struck him so hard it knocked the air out of his lungs.

Luke couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it sooner. There was obviously a way to deal with the dark energy, and that was to go to one of the churches of Fidall.

Fidall was Bydos’s opposite. His power should be able to counteract the evil god’s own.

It was thanks to Fidall that Ruthie could even seal the evil god away in the first place. Without him, they wouldn’t have stood a chance against the evil god.

The problem was getting to one of the churches.

Even though the townspeople hadn’t mentioned it, the churches must already know about him. There was no way they would allow him to get close, much less onto holy territory. He would have to somehow find a way to slip inside undetected.

Fortunately, there was a church in the town.

In fact, every town and city had a church, so he didn’t have to worry about finding another church if this one didn’t turn out well.

Several plans formed in his mind as he scouted the place.

Even though he had already been there once before, it had been brief as he had been more focused on dealing with the monsters and going to his next destination. Besides, it didn’t hurt to be thorough, making sure not to miss a single detail.

When night fell, he made his move under the cover of darkness.

He first snuck into the stores to grab necessary supplies before leaving behind money to cover the stolen items. Once he had everything he needed, he slowly made his way to the church.

At a glance, it appeared unguarded, but he knew better.

Luke circled the place until he found the spot he had marked in his mind and darted towards the wall. His hand barely touched the wall when he felt a sharp sting strike his palm. He winced, but he didn’t let it stop him and scaled the wall.

As he climbed the church’s wall, he could feel a stinging pain where his body touched the walls.

He had expected it, as the churches were supposed to act as protection against the monsters, but not every church was powerful enough. There was a reason the townspeople had chosen to hide in the church instead of fleeing.

Upon reaching the top, he entered the opening and slipped into the church.

The further inside he went, the more uncomfortable he became, but it was more of an annoyance if anything. It wasn’t enough to stop him.