After finding a place to stay, Alex took out the dark pill to experiment.

Just holding the pill with one’s bare hands was enough to erode a part of one’s consciousness and fill one with a sense of destruction.

The air around the pill swirled slowly and tuned to a dark grey colour that spread around.

On his way around here, Alex didn’t dare to take out the pills wondering about the effects it might cause on those nearby.

It seems so potent that just a sniff of it may bring forth unforeseen circumstances. Alex wasn’t able to cure Count Gray who was affected by it so he didn’t want his men to suffer the same fate.

So, he asked his men to visit the Church where the divinity and blessing of the Goddess encircled around and even if something leaks out of there, it may not affect them.

The Church on the way doesn’t have that strong holy power as in the Capital.

If he wasn’t able to control it, he would just pull Riya and leave the place and alert the Church into action.

He felt that he was lucky that the seed was able to stay safely in the dimensional ring without causing any damage due to the halt of time inside it.

But as soon as he took it out, it gave off an ominous aura and corroded everything around it.

Alex had brought the whole inn under his name and sealed the area.

Alex crushed the pill into pieces and kept a part of it at the side.

Alex took a pinch of the crushing power and his breathing became fast.

He was using his divinity to stop his hand from being affected while trying to dispel the effect.

However, he wasn’t able to.

Riya frowned seeing Alex’s anxious expression and asked”Alex, are you alright.”

Alex swallowed his saliva and put down the crushed piece and wiped his sweat.

“Riya, it’s not working.” Alex’s voice quivered a bit and he found himself in a helpless situation.

“You mean the combined purification of your light element and blessings isn’t working.”

Alex nodded and spoke, “I can purify the surroundings it affects but I can’t eliminate the dark properties of the pill.”

“I mean it can be destroyed if we burn it or use other means. What I mean to say is even after I cast my divinity on it, this pill will have the same effect if taken.”

“Is it too difficult to handle?”

“Nah, it’s not that surprising after all you can’t convert poison into elixir just because you want. What I am surprised about is the ingredients of the pill ?”Alex answered, staring at the pinch.

“The pill feels solid but at the same time, it is intangible. Just like mana when highly condensed turns into mana water and then solidifies to form mana rock, this seems to be a condensed mass of darkness along with some other herbs which makes it difficult to analyse the component.

Pondering for a moment, Alex asked Riya to hold it.

Riya followed Alex’s words and touched the powder on the table.

Under Alex’s solemn gaze, Alex noticed another odd thing, the dark air tainted by the pill started to get sucked into Riya.

“It feels itchy,” Riya muttered with an uneasy expression.

Seeing her not affected by it, Alex decided to advance a bit further.

The step ahead had a huge risk which may have an undesirable effect on Riya.

Riya looked at Alex with an understanding look as she could feel what Alex wanted to convey.

“You want me to take it but you fear the aftermath,” Riya muttered while flashing a seductive smile.

“I can even take poison if you order me to.”

“I think we should stop for now,” Alex muttered while calming himself. There was no need to take unwanted risks.

He decided to use his dark mode and swallow the pill to see the effect but amid his thought, Riya’s hands moved swiftly and she swallowed a bit of the crushed pill.

“Riya!” Alex yelled with a horrified look and stood up.

Riya closed her eyes and her expression distorted which caused Alex, heart, to skip a beat.

“It’s…It’s too bitter..”

“Yckk!”

Alex’s eyes fluttered and he blinked his eyes wondering what was going on.

Riya glared at him and shouted, “Why are you giving me this gaze when you also don’t like bitter things?”

Riya’s expression was still tense as if she had encountered her nemesis.

“Oh!”

“Okay! I understand.”

Alex grabbed a glass of water and passed it onto Riya and made her seat.

Alex squatted down and held her hands while observing Riya.

“Did you feel anything different?”

After settling down and getting rid of the bitter aftertaste, Riya closed her eyes and sensed her mana.

It took up a moment and Alex didn’t speak and just glanced at Riya with a solemn look.

“I see!”Riya spoke after some time.

“The pill clouds one mind and turns them into strange creatures but for that creature of darkness it’s similar to the drug that gives a small boost.”

“Though the effect is negligible I can feel the impulse to fight to overwhelm me. My senses had been heightened but it was quite negligible as I just took a small part.”

Alex’s face became pale as he listened to her.

In the end, it was a drug which could change many things.

Species of the world could get affected by it and harm their people while the other side gets a huge boost and may dominate the enemies.

A drug with two effects.

That asshole of an Organisation had a lot of hands and trump cards.

Where did it get such maniac researchers?

Alex’s body shivered in fright wondering about the sheer number of living beings they have sacrificed to develop this kind of menace.

“We should consider ourselves lucky to be able to find out about this pill otherwise we would have suffered a lot in future. Now, we need to find a way to deal with it.”

Alex nodded with a blank look thinking about what lies ahead of them in future.