Volume 1 – 32. Rewards and Appreciation
Aldren approached the Spider Hollow's corpse with visible hesitation, stopping a few steps away as his gaze lingered on the twisted body.
“So... what are we supposed to do with it?” he asked, scratching the side of his cheek. “Isn't a Stage 4 Hollow worth quite a lot?”
“It should be,” Lucien replied.
Pushing himself back to his feet, he walked over and crouched beside the corpse. His eyes moved across the Hollow's body, carefully examining it for a few moments before reaching down to pull his daggers free from its skull with a wet schk.
The sight made Aldren grimace faintly.
Lucien wiped the blades clean against a relatively untouched patch of the creature's clothing before sliding them back into their sheaths.
As she watched him, Calla walked over to them, folding her arms and tilted her head slightly.
“Do you have some kind of specialist blacksmith making those daggers for you?” she asked. “I've never seen weapons produce an effect like that.”
Lucien's hand paused briefly on one of the hilts.
A dry smile appeared on his face.
“I do,” he said, “but I can't exactly tell you who.”
Naturally, that wasn't the real reason. During the planning stage, he had simply told them that his daggers possessed a special property that made them particularly effective against Hollows. It was much easier than trying to explain Corruption Strike and the System behind it.
Calla studied him for a second longer before shrugging.
“Well, fair enough.”
She stepped closer and crouched beside him, turning her attention back to the corpse.
“In that case, how are we splitting the rewards?” she asked. “If this really is a Stage 4 Hollow, pretty much every part of it should be valuable.”
“We shouldn't be treating it like a monster to be looted.”
Selva's gentle voice drifted over from behind them.
She was the last to approach. Kneeling beside the corpse, she extended one hand over it without quite touching the body and lowered her gaze.
“In sinum Zoḗgennis, fílī, renascatur.”
The prayer left her lips softly, carrying the same solemnity as before.
A faint look of embarrassment immediately crossed Calla's face.
“...Right.”
The Flamebearer cleared her throat and looked away.
Lucien wasn't in much of a position to judge. Seeing the corpse mostly as a source of materials made him just as guilty.
Meanwhile, Aldren either hadn't heard the prayer at all or had chosen not to comment on it.
Instead, he glanced between the three of them before settling his gaze on Lucien.
“Honestly, since Lucien came up with the plan and was a major reason we won in the first place, shouldn't he get first pick?” he said. “And probably a larger share too.”
Calla frowned slightly.
“I don't have a problem with that,” she admitted after a moment. “As long as he doesn't take too much. These materials would be useful for us as well.”
Selva rose to her feet, dusting off her knees. Unlike the others, she didn't seem particularly interested in the discussion and simply listened in silence, her attention lingering on the fallen Hollow for a few moments longer before returning to the group.
In a world like this, there wasn't much room for sentimentality. People survived by making use of whatever resources they could find, including the remains of those who had once been human, just like themselves.
Selva seemed to have accepted that reality long ago, though Lucien doubted it had been easy when she first started. For someone devoted to Zoḗgennis, turning the dead into materials was probably never something one truly grew comfortable with. At best, it became something necessary.
“I won't take much,” Lucien said with a quiet laugh, raising a hand slightly as if to reassure them. “There should be a few Corruption Crystals in it and probably a vial of Corruption Essence. I'd like one crystal and the essence. Oh, and a few of its claws would be useful too.”
Neither Aldren nor Calla objected.
This was Lucien's first time helping kill a Stage 4 Hollow, so most of what he knew came from stories told by mercenaries and scavengers who had survived similar hunts. Even so, he knew that Corruption Crystals and Corruption Essence were both valuable materials. They served as key ingredients in various products, including Corruption suppressants and Hollowed Disruption Compound.
Lucien still had no idea how much Hollowed Disruption Compound Seren actually possessed. The thought had simply never occurred to him to ask. Judging by the hints she had dropped, however, her supply was likely limited.
The image of Seren's reaction crossed his mind, drawing a faint smile to his face.
She'll be happy about this.
***
“I'm really grateful for your help.”
Lynn spoke as they walked along the Processional Way, her tone carrying none of the urgency from earlier. The tension that had weighed on her shoulders during the attack had eased considerably, though the faint shadows beneath her eyes revealed that exhaustion still lingered.
Lucien glanced at her before looking ahead again.
“It wasn't that big of a deal.”
“It was for us.” Lynn shook her head, her expression earnest. “Things could've gotten much worse if those Hollows had managed to push deeper into the district.”
A small smile appeared on her face as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear.
“So thank you, Lucien. Really.”
Lucien let out a quiet breath through his nose, unsure what to say to that.
He hadn't helped out of pure goodwill. The promise of free Corruption Points had played a substantial role in his decision. Of course, he can’t explain that.
“Then I'll accept the thanks,” he said with a dry smile.
Lynn laughed softly.
“Good.”
After settling the matter of the rewards, they spent some time checking whether any of the remaining teams still needed assistance. It didn't take long to realize they didn't.
By then, Lynn and Gregorius had already returned with reinforcements, bringing the situation firmly under control. The scattered battles that had filled the district earlier were rapidly disappearing, replaced by patrols, medical aid, and recovery efforts. Here and there, people were still hunting down isolated stragglers, but the sense of urgency was gone.
Lucien had already parted ways with Aldren's group before that.
He had left them at the Weeping Wall, where they intended to participate in what appeared to be a funeral rite for the dead. The image lingered in his mind—the three of them standing before the vast stone wall covered in countless names, their expressions solemn beneath the flickering candlelight maintained by the devotees of Nekrómantis.
His gaze drifted ahead, and he quietly pushed the thought aside.
There was little point dwelling on it.
Adjusting his cloak slightly, Lucien continued toward the Temple Core at an unhurried pace.
He still needed to "purify" his Corruption and those two women tonight.
The realization made the corner of his mouth twitch faintly.
At this rate, he wasn't going to get much rest after returning home.