"What was that?"
At that moment, Riezel's brows furrowed tightly.
That mass of black mist was extremely subtle and bizarre. If he had not become involved with the curse system, making him far more sensitive to negative energy than before, he would not have detected its existence even with Clear World activated.
It gave Riezel a strange feeling as well. It was not evil like other negative energies, yet it exuded an unmistakable sense of darkness from every corner.
It was a darkness blacker than a bottomless abyss, deeper than the vast universe.
Bizarre, strange, cold, grim... those were all of Riezel's impressions of it, and they instinctively filled him with rejection.
It was the opposite of light, and the opposite of life.
As a living being among the masses, Riezel's body, mind, spirit, and even soul instinctively rejected it.
Yet this sense of rejection had only arisen after Riezel discovered its existence. Had he not noticed it, he might not even have felt that rejection.
"It is like a venomous snake hiding in the darkness. When you pass by it without noticing, it suddenly darts out and bites you. And that bite is fatal—enough to poison an elephant to death in an instant."
Riezel's brows drew tighter and tighter, and the look in his eyes as he watched that person grew increasingly profound.
"My lord?"
Naisha noticed this and called to him softly.
"Is there something wrong with that person, my lord?"
Following Riezel's gaze, Merlot looked toward the person he was staring at.
Even Jelinae and Silune, who had remained silent all this time, looked at him with curious expressions.
He was not a particularly conspicuous person.
He appeared to be around twenty-five, older than anyone in Riezel's group, but among the many knights on the deck, he