Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Mole (2)
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"Push them...!"
"“““Uwaaaah—!”””"
The giant sewer entrance adjacent to X District in neighboring W District.
Dozens of beggars were tangled up in a fierce brawl there.
Armed with nothing but clubs and knives, every single one of them fought with desperate ferocity.
They were fighting for all they had—their very strength and survival.
"Die! Die! Die already!"
"You were all talk when you had the numbers! You damn bastards!"
"Try talking shit again, I dare you!!"
W District 2nd Street tout Vip.
W District 17th Street errand boy Erron.
W District 25th Street bald Hammer.
W District 42nd Street janitor Mouse.
Countless beggar gang leaders led their underlings in an assault on the Moles, under Cant's command.
The outcome was predictable, of course.
The Moles had been expanding their turf and racking up grudges everywhere, until Cant—the one with real respect among them—showed up with his entire fortune and proposed they band together.
Well... aside from that sentimental reason, there was one more practical, direct motive.
"Max, Butter, Buddy, Milk. Sic 'em!!"
The old dog man who'd slipped under the Moles emerged and shouted.
The docile dogs transformed into savage beasts at their master's command, baring their fangs and charging.
Grrrrr... Gah—!! Gah—!!
Karruk...! Woof! Woof—!!
Yip! Rrrrh—! Grrrrrr!!
Yip! Yip! Kyarruk—!
"W-Wait... Kyaaah—! My leg! My leg!!"
"Fuck! My dick! Fuck, my dick! Get it off! Get it off me! Aaaah—!!!"
The beggar alliance, which had been pushing forward with momentum, faltered at the sudden appearance of the ferocious dogs.
As expected from a lifelong top dog in W District?
In the meantime, half a dozen more beggars armed with shotguns, revolvers, and pistols emerged from the entrance.
"You worthless shits! Our gear's better than yours. Gear!"
"I'll turn you all into Swiss cheese! Die!"
They pulled the triggers... or tried to.
Shadows stretched out with the incantation.
Stakes erupted from the ground, simultaneously skewering the gun-wielding beggars.
Pfsh! Pfsh! Pfsh! Pfsh! Pfsh! Pfsh!
"......!"
Oliver, hooded and shrouded, emerged amid the terrified beggars.
The Mole-side beggars cowered the moment they saw Oliver wielding black magic.
The only one mustering courage was the old dog man.
"Get 'em, boys!"
But only the master had the guts.
The once-ferocious dogs whimpered at the sight of Oliver—no joke—flattening their ears, tucking their tails, and cowering low.
"Whine..."
"B-Boys?"
"Even dogs fear black mages, it seems."
Cant appeared before the old dog man, quarterstaff in hand.
"F-Fuck... You didn't just bring some fake black mage—you brought a real one."
"Half right, half wrong."
"What?"
"I'll explain later. For now, sleep."
Cant swung his quarterstaff, knocking the old dog man out cold.
Oliver watched silently, and Cant offered an excuse.
"...He's a priest's friend."
"Ah..."
Someone stepped forward from the beggars.
A bald man with a scruffy beard—25th Street's boss, Hammer.
"Perfect! Just perfect!!! You actually brought a real-deal... black mage! Cant!"
Hammer, gripping his sledgehammer, eyed Oliver carefully as he spoke.
"If you'd found someone like this sooner, we could've recruited him! We wouldn't have suffered so much."
".....It's not as easy as it sounds."
"Haha! Fair enough. With power like yours... Alright, you rats! Let's go smash the rest of those Mole bastards' heads!"
"Uwaaaah—!"
Led by Hammer, the beggars charged back into the Mole lair.
The Mole beggars guarding the sewer tunnel had long fled, letting Cant's beggar alliance flow in smoothly.
Cant followed behind with Oliver, of course.
"Impressive. I doubted you when you said it, but to think the Moles really nested here."
"Pardon?"
Cant examined the dry sewer walls as he spoke.
"I told you before, right? Rand had a massive disaster in the past."
"Yes... Some kind of catastrophe."
"Yeah, divine punishment, demon summoning, failed magic experiments—tons of rumors. Until the mages and capitalists rebuilt the city, it was a cursed ruin."
"Yes, I remember."
"But they didn't rebuild everything. Polluted lifeforms still pop up in remote or long-abandoned spots. This place used to be one."
".....And now?"
"That's the problem... The Moles using this as a lair implies someone's clearing out the local polluted lifeforms for them. A reasonable deduction if the rumors are true—"
"—Kyaaaah!"
A scream echoed from ahead before Cant could finish.
More precisely, from the vast chamber at the tunnel's end.
To their shock, a massive, grotesque creature larger than a human was attacking their allied beggars.
Keeheeheeheehee—!
Keeheeheehee—!
Keeheeheehee—!
A chilling, guttural cry.
It resembled a hairless rat.
Standing 2 to 3 meters tall.
Its body was covered in wrinkles, blotchy skin like some skin disease.
Its orange incisors were unnaturally long and creepy, but that paled against its eviscerated gut oozing pus and maggots everywhere.
So hideous that the massive iron nail in its head and the flask of condensed life force barely stood out.
"Oh, God..."
Hammer, leading the front, trembled in horror and revulsion, calling out to the divine.
The unnamed abomination was devouring a fellow beggar's guts alive—a natural reaction, really.
Squelch— Squelch— Drip— Plop— Drip— Squelch—
Chunks of flesh, entrails, and blood spilled from the ripped-open belly.
Then, someone spoke.
"You bastards... finally invaded my kingdom?"
A man emerged from the aberrant creatures, holding a small baton in one hand and wearing an eyeball-shaped necklace.
Someone called him the Mole.
The creatures, hungering, sniffed greedily and lunged at him mouth-first—but only briefly.
Chiii... Keeek—!
As it tried to bite, the creature shook its head in agony.
"H-He's... controlling those monsters...?"
Someone gasped in shock.
The Mole, emboldened, ranted on.
"That's right, you beggar scum. You think I'd start something relying on money-grubbing beggars alone? Good timing, actually. I'll clean you all out. Hungry?! Eat up!"
Dozens of polluted lifeforms charged.
The beggars desperately retreated the way they'd come, screaming.
"Black mage! Yeah! Call the black mage!"
"Black mage?! Hahaha—! Doesn't matter who you brought! Your half-assed firepower can't kill these. Compared to the one backing me—!"
At Oliver's gesture, the charging polluted lifeforms were ensnared by shadow tentacles.
Keeeeek—!
Chiiiiik—!
Kaaaaah-keeheeheehee—!
The creatures thrashed and screeched, but the shadow tentacles rising from the floor only tightened their grip.
The beggars—who'd been fleeing moments ago—and even the blustering Mole stared in stunned silence at how effortlessly they'd been subdued.
As if they couldn't comprehend the scene.
"Uh...?"
As everyone fell silent in the surreal moment, someone spoke up.
"Excuse me, coming through."
Oliver, hooded, stepped forward.
He politely asked the beggars to make way, and they froze but parted as he directed, with Oliver thanking them each time.
Reaching the front, Oliver eyed the immobilized aberrant lifeforms.
"Oh... what are these?"
Cant answered, a mix of bewilderment and unease in his voice.
"...Bald rats. Polluted lifeforms in abandoned sewers. Low rank, but dangerous hunters of men. Hunted a few back in my fixer days."
Oliver nodded and inspected the bald rat.
Ignoring the foul stench and hideous form.
Or rather, as if he didn't register it at all.
"...Fascinating? Engineered controllable animals into zombies, handing control to non-mages. Driven by hunger instead of rage or hate for stability and longevity. Impressive."
Oliver tapped the eviscerated belly, the iron nail in its head, and the life force flask.
The hunger-tormented bald rat zombie clacked its massive incisors, trying to bite Oliver, but he watched with interest.
"Zombies starved by design—hunger never sated. Unsated desire becomes the driving force... Simple, yet effective. The black mage behind this is skilled."
"Filthy nasty business."
"Is it?"
"From our side... sorry, but could you get rid of those monsters? Everyone's terrified."
Oliver eyed the bald rat wistfully, then extended his hand into the air.
And extracted its life force outright.
It was completely subdued, sure—but still impressive. Though Oliver barely noticed.
".......!!!"
Oliver suddenly sensed a gaze and turned toward the Mole.
"Hm... Cant, if I may—if you'd allow me to take this for personal study?"
"...Do as you like, black mage. More importantly, time for settling scores."
Cant aimed his quarterstaff at the Mole's throat.
The other street bosses had gathered beside Cant, as if claiming credit too.
The Mole, whose trusted weapons had been neutralized so easily, looked panicked but hadn't lost his nerve yet.
Not until he got hit.
"Guh—!"
Cant jabbed his solar plexus with the quarterstaff, and the others piled on the beating.
After a bit, Cant grabbed the Mole by the collar and demanded.
"You didn't just find those monsters—you were given them. Who'd you ally with? What'd you trade?"
"Crazy... beggar scum, what're you gonna do if you know?"
"Just answer."
"Urgh... Fine, yeah. Handed over the trash overflowing here, got money and those monsters in return."
Cant seized the Mole's throat at those words, seething with rage.
But the Mole kept talking, defiant.
"Guhhh...! Counteroffer. Join me."
"What?"
"Join forces... I'm the one desperate now, so I'm proposing. Your black mage seems no joke, but neither's my backer. Let's team up here."
"What bullshit—"
"—Not bullshit. That one's strong enough to wipe us all if he wanted. He just hates the spotlight, that's why he backs me. No ordinary black mage!"
"Oh... what kind of black mage?"
Oliver suddenly interjected.
The other bosses backed off at the overwhelming black mage's involvement.
"Hah... hah... Someone about to join the Black Hand."
"...What's the Black Hand?"
The Mole gave him a look of disbelief.
"...A black mage who doesn't know the Black Hand? Don't lie."
"I really don't. Do you know, Cant?"
Cant wore a similar incredulous expression.
"Uh... simply put, a criminal syndicate run by black mages. A major pillar of the underworld. You really don't know?"
"Yes... Did I mess up?"
"No, not that..."
The Mole cut in.
"Kehheheh... Guess we can talk seriously now. You brought a black mage who doesn't even know the Black Hand... Kill me, and you all die too. So—"
"—Lies."
Oliver interrupted flatly.
"...What?"
"Lies. He doesn't know either. Whether he'll avenge you or not."
"...Think you can read my emotions just 'cause you're strong?"
"No, I can just tell... More importantly, how do I meet him? The one joining the Black Hand."
"...Hah, beat me and lost your senses? Want to meet him?"
"Yes."
"He comes only when he wants. And he won't come alone. He'll bring his horrific creations to slaughter you all... What're you doing?"
The Mole spoke as Oliver snatched his necklace.
Oliver stared at it intently.
"Ah... as expected."
"What?"
"Not just a necklace. An eye of surveillance."
"What?"
"Seen it in books. Made from human eyeballs—lets you see this place from afar."
Finishing his explanation, Oliver stared at the embedded eye in the necklace's center.
The preserved eye showed no reaction, but Oliver felt it clearly.
A presence watching him from beyond.
As his focus intensified, his normal human vision faded, replaced by the black mage's sharpened sight.
Once his concentration peaked, Oliver sensed the distant watcher.
Like a single white line connecting through a black world?
The other side had likely sensed Oliver too.
Cant looked at him worriedly.
"...You alright?"
"...Yes. I'll just go meet him for a bit."