With King's Aura, he could easily command rats or any creature within the muroid family. But this skill didn't increase their intelligence, so even though Light could understand parts of what the rat was trying to say, they weren't smart enough to give detailed information.
If the rat could speak, it would probably say, "Big... large thing... hiding there..."
Or something along those lines.
Light followed the rats that led him not far from the hut. There was a pile of trash gathered there, forming a small mountain. In the middle of it, a faint glow came from a torch, and soon enough, he found a man.
A human. He held a sword in one hand and a bag in the other, digging through the trash and dropping things into the bag whenever he found what he was looking for. The man strolled around casually, picking whatever he liked as if he were shopping in a mall.
Light walked up behind him and tapped the man's shoulder to avoid startling him. Suddenly, the man froze, then swung his sword backward in panic. Light narrowly avoided the strike.
"W-who the hell are you?" the man stammered, raising the sword high. He immediately grabbed the torch, and when the light touched Light's figure, the sword slipped from his hands in shock and fear. "A… a monster!?"
The man quickly turned and ran, swinging the torch wildly. "Why is there a monster in the sewers? I thought the church had already finished the cleansing!"
He suddenly noticed how silent everything around him had become. Glancing behind, he saw that the rat-like monster was nowhere to be found. The emptiness sent a chill down his spine. In the darkness of the sewers, only light could keep him safe; he needed to get back to his hut as fast as possible.
'Why isn't it chasing me? Does it not want to kill me?'
The man couldn't believe the rat-like monster would just let him go. It must have been afraid of the torch's light. That thought brought him a shaky sigh of relief.
Finally, he stopped before his hut. It looked the same as before. Before entering, he took one last look in the direction where the monster had stood, but there was only darkness and the sound of running water. A chill crawled up his spine as he hurried inside.
He sat on his bed and let out a long sigh, grateful to have escaped. But there was still confusion gnawing at him. Why was there a monster in the sewers? He knew the church had done a cleansing just a few weeks ago. There shouldn't be any monsters or dark entities left. That's why he lived here, because it was supposed to be safe.
"Did the church miss that monster?"
He frowned, then shook his head. As long as he stayed within the light, he'd be safe. There was no point worrying. Sitting at his table, he opened his journal and flipped to the second page, and then froze.
A chill ran down his spine. Every hair on his body stood up. There, written in his journal, was a word he didn't remember writing.
Light.
Without hesitation, the man grabbed his sword as fast as he could, but before he could move, something stopped his hand. His eyes widened as he found himself face-to-face with the rat monster. Its face was inches from his, its foul breath making him forget how to breathe.
"Hello there."
"Ah…" The man was consumed by fear, unable to move as tears streamed down his face. He could hear his heart pounding faster and faster.
"Am I that terrifying?"
Light was surprised by the man's reaction as he took a step back. He knew his appearance had changed, and he expected the man would be scared of him, but he never thought the man would cry from it.
He took a closer look at his appearance and believed he wasn't that terrifying. White fur, purple eyes, when he looked carefully, he thought he actually looked rather handsome, almost like a prince. Suddenly, Light's eyes widened a little.
'Why did I think that way? Has my perception started to change?'
Light narrowed his eyes. When he thought about it, he realized he had begun to adapt to his new race as a Ratkin; even the mix of sewer stench and trash no longer bothered him. Eating rats didn't disgust him either; the only thing that made it difficult was his lingering human mindset.
Even though that was a good thing in some ways, a deep fear crept into his heart. If his mind completely adapted to being a Ratkin… would that mean his humanity was gone?
He knew he wasn't human anymore, but he had only changed races a few hours ago, so it was still difficult for him to accept it.
Light exhaled softly. His breath reached the man's face, snapping him out of his frozen state. Trembling, the man gathered all his courage to speak. "Please, have mercy on me!"
"Why are you afraid of me when you're a monster yourself?" Light asked.
"Huh?" The man blinked in confusion. "Monster? Me? Yes, yes, I'm a monster... please don't kill me!"
Light frowned. The man clearly didn't believe his words. He opened the man's status screen when the man had attacked him earlier; the system had marked him as an enemy, which allowed Light to see his information.
[Madrid Barnaby]
[Race: Mutant]
[Rank: 1 (?)]
[Energy: 56]
The man's race was listed as Mutant, but he himself didn't seem to know, or he was lying. The question mark beside his rank meant that part of his strength was hidden or sealed. In short, the man before him was stronger than Light.
But Madrid appeared ignorant of it. Light couldn't tell if he was pretending or if that was just his nature; either way, it was something Light could use to his advantage.
"Don't worry," Light said. "I won't kill you. I just want to ask you a few things. Don't lie to me."
"O-okay," Madrid nodded quickly, though inside he was wondering what kind of questions the monster before him would ask. Based on what he'd read in books about monsters, he could already guess questions like: Do you believe in God? Where can I find flesh or humans to eat? How can I leave this place? Something along those lines.
And indeed, Madrid was proven right when the rat spoke.
"What does the surface look like? I want to leave this place. Can you guide me?"
Hearing the question, Madrid hesitated. He tried to avoid the rat's gaze, opening his mouth only to close it again, as if struggling to find the right words but unable to say them aloud.
"Why are you hesitating? It's just a simple question," Light said, narrowing his eyes.
"It's not like that…" Madrid shook his head. "We're in the Brazenhold Empire, and right now, it's impossible to leave this place."
"Explain."
Madrid then began to explain.
The Brazenhold Empire was the most powerful human nation, its military strength unmatched. It had become the dominant force in the world by focusing entirely on military and technological advancement. However, that obsession came at a cost: the well-being of its citizens was largely ignored. Fortunately, the Church still provided some aid to the people. But even with all its power, the Empire wasn't invincible.
Recently, the heads of five Dukes were found dead inside the capital, along with many other high-ranking officials.
This plunged the Empire into chaos. The entire capital was placed under lockdown. All exits were heavily guarded by elite units, and even the Church was forbidden from leaving without direct permission from the Emperor.
'What kind of terrible luck do I have…? Not only is the Empire in lockdown, but I'm living right under its capital? I can only hope they find the culprit soon so I can get out of this damn place.'
The weight of the situation pressed down on Light's shoulders, his expression growing more serious with every passing second. He knew that as a Ratkin, he wasn't welcome in a human-dominated world. The moment he tried to leave the Empire, they would likely kill him without a second thought.
Light rubbed his temples and asked, "What about my second question? How did you enter this place?"
"There's a secret entrance I found... that's how I got in," Madrid answered quickly.
"A secret entrance? Do you know about the steel gate built at the end of the sewer?"
"Yes, yes, it's the sewer's exit as well."
"Why would they build such a large gate for the sewers' exit?" Light asked.
No matter how much he thought about it, Light couldn't find a reasonable answer. Still, he reminded himself that this was another world, and anything could be possible. Whatever the reason, it was likely something extreme.
Seeing that the monster before him didn't seem to know much about the world, Madrid explained carefully, "The sewers are filled with all kinds of monsters and dark entities, so they need a large gate to seal the place..."
According to the book Madrid read, there were four main types of monsters: Beasts, Mutants, Dark Entities, and Dark Creatures.
Dark Creatures were born from darkness and negative energy. The sewers with their decay, waste, and rot, both physical and spiritual, were the perfect breeding ground for such beings. The accumulated refuse of society, pollution, and shadowed despair created ideal conditions for Dark Creatures to form. Moreover, the toxic air, lingering magical residue, occult rituals, and even the suffering of the impoverished all amplified this negative energy.
The sewers had become a cradle for twisted life creatures embodying the corruption from which they were born. The filth was not just physical; it carried a spiritual and magical essence that fueled the birth of Dark Creatures.
And as time passed, when the number of these beings grew too great, it became the Church's duty to perform what they called the Cleansing ritual, carried out once a year.
The last cleansing had occurred just a few weeks ago, so there were currently no Dark Creatures to be found here.