Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

『You insolent brat!』

『What kind of nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?』

『Have you completely lost your mind!?』

The three Grand Dukes, including Kargaron, exploded in rage, all directing their anger toward Justin. But the Duke of Deception, Abraxas, remained silent. Instead, with a bitter expression, he muttered under his breath, as if he had already resigned himself.

『How did you know?』

"I never once mentioned in front of you that I envied warriors' physical stats. But for some reason, you were all scared that I'd side with Kargaron," Justin said with a shrug, pointing at Kargaron with his thumb.

"Funny thing is, that guy's the one I've been most annoyed with. Yet he seemed oddly relaxed, so I threw out some bait, and, well, looks like I caught a big one."

『Hmph. I suppose I was too desperate. How ironic, for the Duke of Deception to fall for a human's trickery,』 Abraxas sighed.

『Abraxas, what are you talking about!?』

『Tsk. These fools still don't understand what's going on.』

Abraxas sighed deeply, then snapped his fingers. In an instant, a massive mirror appeared in front of them.

Moments later, the mirror displayed a group of pioneers that Justin didn't recognize. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a warlock among them.

-What? You're kicking me out of the team now?

The warlock in the mirror wore a shocked expression as he spoke to someone. Judging by the group of pioneers behind him, the person he addressed seemed to be the team leader.

-Yeah. We're all tired of the hassle you're causing. We have to keep monsters alive just so you can recharge your magic. It's a pain.

-But I'm quick! I absorb their life force in seconds, and we can immediately move on to the next hunt! Other mages have to meditate, and that takes forever…!

-Cut the crap. They meditate in safety; we're out here risking our lives, keeping monsters alive for you.

The leader clicked his tongue in frustration, his expression one of utter disbelief that the warlock didn't understand the problem.

-And don't even get me started on how long it takes to kill monsters because we have to hold back. By the time we're done, it's no faster than if a regular mage was meditating. Sometimes it's even slower.

-But that's…!

-Enough. Don't show up tomorrow. Our team's already lagging in levels, and you're slowing us down even more. We're falling behind, thanks to you.

With those final words, the leader walked off, leaving the warlock standing there, biting his lip in frustration. In a fit of anger, the warlock threw his staff to the ground.

-Damn it! What was I thinking when I picked the warlock? As soon as I hit level 25, I'm switching out of this class!

Explore hidden tales at empire

The scene faded from the mirror. At Abraxas's display, the other three Grand Dukes burst out in outrage.

『What the hell do you think you're doing!?』

『You conniving scoundrel!』

『Shut up and watch, you idiots.』

Abraxas sneered at them, then waved his hand again. This time, a new scene appeared in the mirror.

A group of foreign pioneers were frantically defending against a wave of monsters. Their speech, translated automatically, rang clearly in Justin's ears.

-Damn it, there's so many of them! Aiden, hit them with that black thing!

-I already used it all!

-What? Already? What about a recharge?

-No sacrifices left! We'd need to capture one of those green bastards to do it.

-You're telling me to go out past the defensive line and capture one? Are you insane!?

At Aiden's words, a blond man scowled, and others around them threw disapproving looks at the warlock. Feeling the weight of the glares, Aiden lowered his voice.

-What if we use one of the civilians who caused that accident earlier? We could drain just enough from them to not kill them, right?

-What? Are you seriously suggesting we use humans now? Are you out of your mind?

-No, that's not what I meant…!

-Spare me the excuses! Damn it, I had a bad feeling about this job class from the start, and now you're proving me right!

The blond man glared at Aiden with a look that could kill.

-You said you could change your class at level 25, right? Switch the second you level up! Or get out of this city! Got it?

-Yeah… I'll do that…

Aiden slumped over, not daring to say another word as he retreated to a corner. While the others fought for their lives, he became even more of a burden.

The scenes in the mirror kept changing, one after another. Sometimes a Korean pioneer appeared, sometimes a foreigner, but each scene was the same. The warlocks were always treated like a burden, or even a danger, by their companions.

On rare occasions, a warlock showed some success, but even those who succeeded had no intention of sticking with the class.

-Continue as a warlock? No way. I picked this class just to level up quickly in the beginning.

-Once I hit level 25, I'm switching back to my original class. It's way stronger.

Pioneers unfamiliar with the world's mechanics had picked warlock by mistake and were now suffering the consequences. Those who understood the world's rebuild saw the class only as a stepping stone to their second profession.

Even the powerful crowd-control spell, Cursed Lightning, wasn't enough to change that.

-It's a good skill, but I can only use it twice a day. Meanwhile, we're hunting dozens of monsters.

-Sure, it can put a high-level monster into a groggy state, but who's hunting high-level monsters anyway? You have a death wish?

-It's great as a trump card, but I'm not about to force my team to sacrifice themselves just so I can use it.

Cold evaluations came from warlock's companions or even the warlocks themselves.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In time, the voices grew fainter until only the warlocks' voices remained. And then, as they all reached level 25, they cried out in unison:

-I want to change my class.

With a loud shattering sound, the mirror broke into pieces, scattering in the wind.

Even after the mirror disappeared, none of the other Grand Dukes spoke. They simply stared at Justin and Abraxas with pale faces.

In the heavy silence, only Abraxas remained composed as he met Justin's eyes.

"Did you already know?" he asked.