30
Chapter 30
It happened in an instant.
Flowerpots shattered, sending shards and soil flying everywhere.
Covered in debris, the Chief slumped down, blood streaming from his head. He felt a wave of dizziness, as if his brain were rattling inside his skull. He fought hard to keep his consciousness from slipping away.
'An accident? The name is meaningless? Absurdity? Dammit, for fuck's sake. This is hopeless.'
Escape was the only answer. It wasn't something to be ashamed of, nor was it neglecting his duty.
The Demon of Sloth didn't even need to handle it personally; it had only stepped in because it felt pity for the terrified kid and wanted to observe Lee Yeon-woo.
'Get out of here and report to headquarters. They can protect the student and deal with the demon.'
The biggest concern was whether he could successfully escape from that demon right now, but the Chief wasn't worried.
A lead investigator's greatest skill was the ability to flee, and the Chief was confident in his own.
In a split second, before the blood could even run into his eyes, he made his decision and acted.
Screee-
The Chief pushed the electric drill and the soju bottle away with his weakening grip. The drill slid across the floor as if thrown, and the soju bottle rolled slowly.
Simultaneously, the hand clutching Baek A-yun's phone convulsed, fingers tapping the screen repeatedly.
His fingertip was positioned over the demon summoning link.
Summon, summon, summon.
Splaaash!
A grey stream of liquid erupted from the phone screen, splitting into three before forming humanoid shapes made of grey clay. The clay quickly gained color and took the form of the Chief.
While no one else in the investigation team had time to react to the sudden accident, the Chief shouted.
"Retreat!"
"Wh-what? Where to?"
"Anywhere! Just somewhere the company can reach us quickly!"
The first person to understand the situation and move after the Chief was Lee Yeon-woo. Cursing incessantly under his breath, Lee Yeon-woo sprinted toward the main gate of the apartment complex.
'I knew it! There's no way this would end easily!'
"Run!"
Next, Choi Jae-min grabbed Baek A-yun's arm and practically dragged her along as he chased after Lee Yeon-woo. Choi Jae-min and Baek A-yun quickly overtook him.
"U-uh."
Not a single person looked back to help the Chief. One might say they were being exceptionally loyal to an investigator's true nature.
Left alone, the Chief sighed and tossed his own phone toward one of the standing Demons of Sloth.
"Contact the company."
"I know, kid."
Catching the phone, the Demon of Sloth familiarly unlocked it using the fingerprint scanner and began dialing a number.
The other two Demons of Sloth each picked up the fallen electric drill and soju bottle, gripping them tightly.
Four identical versions of the Chief. Three Demons of Sloth staring silently at the demon.
The Demon of Absurdity twisted its face into a hideous grimace. It reached out with its thick fingers.
"How dare a lazy Sloth breed...!"
"Wait a moment, Demon of Absurdity."
The Devil Worshiper grabbed that finger and pulled it back down. The worshiper then looked at the Chief.
He saw the real Chief, blood streaming from his head, struggling to stand up by leaning on the nearby cars.
"Listen... think about this again. Is there really a need for us to fight like this...?"
"Eat a dick."
"Since you've already summoned a demon, why not just become a Devil Worshiper yourself...? Along with that girl."
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?"
Having barely managed to stand, the Chief looked at the worshiper with a look of utter bewilderment. The worshiper continued to speak in a lethargic voice.
"We hear things too... I heard the company isn't what it used to be. Staffing is down, hiring is stalled, and support is vague... Why ruin your health working for them?"
The Chief tried to keep the conversation going. After all, the more time he stalled, the better.
But before he could, the voice of the Demon of Sloth speaking into the phone was heard first.
"Yeah. It's the head of the investigation team. We're at Haengbok Apartments, and a demon has appeared. Of course it's Sangpyeong City, you idiot. There's a worshiper too, they're a pair. And—"
Zap— Bang!
Suddenly, the phone exploded. Sparks and flames erupted. Half of the face and the palm of the Demon of Sloth holding the phone were hideously mangled by burns and the blast. The remaining intact eye looked at the finger the Demon of Absurdity had extended.
The Demon of Absurdity retracted its finger.
"You brat... using electronics?"
The Demon of Absurdity possessed an Anomaly that could trigger an absurd reality, an illogical result, or an extreme, low-probability misfortune.
If it wished, someone could suddenly suffer a car accident, be hit by a brick dropped by a child from a balcony, or die of a sudden heart attack. The phone explosion was no different.
The Devil Worshiper, contracted with the Demon of Absurdity, asked one last time with casual ease.
"If you refuse, you'll have to die... So, what will it be? Life as a Devil Worshiper is quite fun. There are plenty of interesting demons, too."
Absolute nonsense.
The Chief slowly backed away. The mangled double shielded the real Chief, while the other two doubles, wielding the electric drill and soju bottle, split off in different directions.
The hidden real Chief spoke.
"If I wanted to do something like that, I would have done it long ago."
Having worked as an investigator for a long time, he had seen plenty of Hostile Groups. There were many days he felt disappointed in the company, and times he wanted to throw everything away.
Still, the reason he hadn't defected to a hostile group or taken a Memory Eraser was simple: there was no particular reason. He just lived his life that way, and he would continue to do so.
"...."
Without warning, the real Chief slipped away between the cars in the apartment parking lot. It seemed that as long as he avoided that finger, he could manage.
Simultaneously, the remaining three doubles lunged at the Devil Worshiper and the Demon of Absurdity.
They closed the distance in an instant.
Vreeee-!
Just as the fiercely spinning drill was about to gouge out the worshiper's heart, the Demon of Absurdity reached out and thrust its hand between the drill and the heart.
"You little... piece of shit."
Crunch!
The drill pierced the palm instead of the heart. It was gripped by fingers and twisted. The drill bent as if severely malfunctioning, and the battery popped out and rolled across the floor.
"...."
Simultaneously, the Demon of Absurdity glared at the mangled double of the Chief. Its gaze burned like hellfire. The mangled Chief suddenly clutched his heart and collapsed forward. A heart attack.
Meanwhile, another double who had managed to close in on the Demon of Absurdity swung a soju bottle down with all his might.
"Die-!"
Crash!
Squelch-
The Demon of Absurdity slowly turned its gaze. The double who had struck and the demon who had been hit exchanged looks.
"Dammit...."
The soju bottle was shattered. Despite being drenched in glass shards and holy water, the demon was unscathed. The Demon of Absurdity's eyes curved like carved fingernails.
"Holy water? Doesn't work on me."
A demon for whom names and holy water were meaningless.
The Demon of Absurdity dipped a finger into the blood and holy water flowing from its head and licked it. Then, using that holy-water-stained finger, it pressed down hard on the forehead of the double still holding the broken bottle.
Sizzle-
The holy water scorched the Demon of Sloth's skin. The Demon of Absurdity dug its nails into the double's forehead, carving a cross shape as it spoke.
"Let's go with a cerebral hemorrhage."
Thud-!
There was a sound of something bursting and snapping inside the head. The Demon of Sloth collapsed instantly, turning back into grey clay. The same happened to the one whose heart had stopped.
Now, only one Demon of Sloth remained.
The double who had abandoned the broken drill and was currently pummeling the Devil Worshiper.
Whack-! Whack-! Whack-!
Securing a mount position, he rained down merciless blows, putting his full weight into every strike. His large fists crushed the Devil Worshiper's face. Unable to even cover himself, the worshiper could only let out helpless groans.
"Ah—, ah—, My Lord—, hurry—."
"Weak little shit...."
The Demon of Absurdity ripped the drill out of its palm and flicked it toward the last remaining Demon of Sloth. The moment the drill hit the back of its head, something happened to its body, and its breath stopped instantly.
Thump-
Splatter-
Suddenly covered in grey clay, the Devil Worshiper lay there and wiped the clay away. It slid off like paint. The worshiper held up a hand coated in clay.
"Ouch... that hurts... My Lord, my head's injured, so could you apply some...?"
Since demons could use grey clay like a potion.
The Demon of Absurdity, with a cracked head and a hole in its palm, crouched beside the worshiper and scooped up the grey clay to apply it to the wounds. The injuries healed as if flesh were being pasted back on.
A grumbling voice emerged.
"Pathetic bastards.... Mere prey daring to challenge a Great Demon who is like the heavens themselves."
"Ah... but what should we do...? We lost them all...."
The Devil Worshiper clutched his face and pushed himself up. His face was a mess of swelling, bruises, and tears. With a narrowed field of vision due to the puffiness, he looked around.
A considerable amount of time had passed.
Evening had fully settled over the apartment complex. Several heads peered through balcony windows. There were quite a few people who had been startled while returning from work and stayed hidden. There were even electronic eyes watching and recording them.
However, neither the company employees who had summoned the demon nor the girl were anywhere to be seen.
The diminutive Devil Worshiper stood up without any lingering attachment.
"Let's give up.... Everything's likely been reported, so let's go before a big fight breaks out...."
"You're just going to leave like this?"
"There's no need to fight with the company's Devil Hunters or the Holy See's Exorcists...."
The Demon of Absurdity fell silent for a moment. It didn't particularly like retreating like this, but it hated the idea of encountering an Exorcist who could summon winged creatures even more.
Ultimately, it took out its phone and began reading the absurd stories that overflowed in reality.
A silent agreement.
The Devil Worshiper rubbed his face gently and walked toward the back gate of the apartment, making a request to the demon following lazily behind.
"It feels wrong to just leave, so please just cast a curse on those company people we just saw. I mean, changing names is too—"
"I already changed them."
"Again...? What is it this time—no, never mind. Just do it."
"Brat...."
The demon lifted its head slightly from the phone and spoke curtly.
"Done."
A curse fell upon the Chief, Lee Yeon-woo, and Choi Jae-min. A curse that brings unfortunate accidents.
The Devil Worshiper and the demon walked slowly past the back gate and entered a dim alleyway in the residential area.
"There's another prospective worshiper, so let's go there...."
And so, they vanished back into the city's darkness. To find those who had recklessly summoned demons, bring them to the Devil Autonomous District, and turn them into fine Devil Worshipers.
The cackling laughter of the Demon of Absurdity lingered in the air before fading away.
***
Gasp— Heave—
His heart felt like it was about to explode. Lee Yeon-woo, who had sprinted without a single break until reaching the main road, continued to run while gulping for air.
He needed to get as far away as possible from the demon suspected of causing accidents.
It happened in that moment.
Rattle-
Suddenly, a pair of dice rolled on their own.
Success!
It displayed a result without explaining what exactly had succeeded.
'...What is this?'
Lee Yeon-woo stopped in his tracks and stared intensely at the dice in the corner of his mind. Then, he saw Choi Jae-min running across a distant crosswalk.
Thump-
He watched as Choi Jae-min took a hard fall, slamming his face into the pavement.