154. Butterfly Effect (5)
154. Butterfly Effect (5)
The white-haired Demonized Human in a doctor's coat swept his gaze over Baek Seol-hee, Im Ga-eul, and Sofia in turn, as if intrigued.
The clear malice radiating from him sent goosebumps crawling across Im Ga-eul's and Sofia's skin.
A Demonized Human and a human were utterly different species.
In that moment, those words were felt unmistakably.
'......This is dangerous.'
As Im Ga-eul felt the fear and unknowingly stepped backward.
Sofia, standing beside her, bit her lip until it bled, then raised her bow high toward the sky with a flash.
"Rain of Healing!!!"
WHOOSH—
WHOOOOSH—
The golden arrow she shot up rained down upon the hostages who wore dead eyes.
Hummm—
Then, the bodies of all the hostages struck by the arrow glowed, and vitality returned to them.
But their dead gazes still did not come back.
The Demonized Human, who had been staring blankly at the sight, suddenly covered his mouth, bent over, and burst into laughter.
Bwahahahaha—!
"Wow, such large-scale healing! I think this is the first time I've seen an ability like this? Are you a new member of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad? Truly heroes of the shadows, I should say. You certainly surpass the ordinary!"
But the Demonized Human shrugged as if it didn't matter.
"However, it's pointless. You've merely bought a little time, extended their lives a bit. Rather—"
As he continued speaking in a flippant tone.
Baek Seol-hee's form blurred.
Slice—
Thud.
Along with the sharp sound of flesh being cut.
The man's head fell hollowly to the floor.
"......I-is he dead!?"
"Did you get him...?"
Im Ga-eul and Sofia's eyes flew wide open.
"No."
Baek Seol-hee's face hardened stiffly as she spoke.
As if answering her words, the man's neck rolled around on the floor and looked up at Baek Seol-hee.
"You should know perfectly well that beheading me is useless? You were the one who made me into this, after all. Weren't you? Slaughter-Crazed Woman."
At that grotesque sight, Im Ga-eul and Sofia turned their heads toward Baek Seol-hee.
Whoosh—
Baek Seol-hee's form blurred once more.
And in the blink of an eye.
Spiderweb-like red fissures appeared across the bastard's fallen head and headless body.
Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice.
The ferocious sound of a sword slicing arrived a beat late.
SPURT!
Plop-plop—
Red blood burst from all over his body, and the Demonized Human fell to the floor in countless minute chunks of flesh.
Without delay, Baek Seol-hee immediately conjured fire at her fingertips.
FWOOSH—
The dismembered corpse shrank in the flames, giving off the smell of cooking meat.
Flesh burned past black, now charred white.
But,
The ashes gathered in one place, and flesh began to swell over them.
Thump—
Thump—
Soon, now in human form, he staggered to his feet, completely naked, without a single thread on him.
Ha-ha—hack!
He let out a laugh, and blood poured from his mouth.
He tilted his head up and smiled whitely.
"As expected, even after all this time, your sword is exceptional. Slaughter-Crazed Woman. However, the method you used to kill me before no longer works?"
Haaaaah.......
A languid sigh escaped his lips.
"Of course, even so, I doubt I could ever defeat a monster like you. But I can't die either, you see? What will you do now? Slaughter-Crazed Woman."
"......."
【 Mad Scientist 】
S-Rank Demonized Human, Yeon Woo-jin.
A Demonized Human who committed a horrific serial murder long ago, whom Baek Seol-hee had personally executed.
His power itself wasn't strong, but he was an annoying bastard with the ability to regenerate no matter how many times he was cut.
So back then, she had dealt with him by carving him into dust before he could regenerate and then searing him with fire.
Yet now, this bastard stood before her again.
Worse, the method she'd used to eliminate him that time no longer seemed effective.
No, honestly speaking, some worthless bastard like him didn't matter at all.
If necessary, she could transport him alive and lock him up somewhere. Seal him. Or just ask Chairwoman Rina to handle him.
The ways to deal with him were endless.
But what bothered her more than that was.
Baek Seol-hee stared at him with an indifferent expression, then shifted her gaze to the black Magic Stone floating in the air.
"Ah, I also recommend not touching the Black Magic Stone?"
Yeon Woo-jin added in a soft voice, as if he'd momentarily forgotten.
"Well, it's material for summoning our great Demon here, but if it were to explode here, what would happen....... There's no way you wouldn't know?"
Baek Seol-hee bit her lip invisibly.
That black Magic Stone floating in the void.
Even as she sensed it, it was steadily gushing out an immense amount of Demonic Energy.
'How did they gather this much energy in such a short time?......With just the hostages, it's impossible.'
By Baek Seol-hee's knowledge, it was unreasonable.
From the beginning, when the bastards took living sacrifices as hostages, she had guessed to some extent that their goal was to summon a Demon.
However, the number of captured humans was vastly insufficient, so she had thought there was still time.
Baek Seol-hee, who had been staring intently at the Magic Stone, opened her mouth.
"......You ground up Demonized Humans as well."
At that, Yeon Woo-jin smiled with a face full of ecstasy.
"As expected! I knew you'd recognize this! Can you feel it? This ultimate beauty? Ahh, making this was really, truly difficult, you know?"
"......With something like this, you can summon a Demon?"
What was a Demon?
Beings from another dimension whom Demonized Humans worshipped and who granted them power.
They had revealed themselves only four times so far, but each time had resulted in immeasurable casualties.
The damage was so extreme, and the matter was classified as top secret on the grounds that it would incite terror, so little was known to the world.
However, Baek Seol-hee, as the head of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad, understood these beings more deeply than others.
'To reveal themselves in this world, they must endure considerable bleeding. That's why they require sacrifices as payment.'
But Demonized Humans were unsuitable as sacrifices.
Because Demonized Humans who had already offered their souls to Demons didn't balance the books, no matter how many were sacrificed.
Who would make a deal using a fish they've already caught as payment?
"Ahaha, I see you don't quite understand? Kind me will explain. Slaughter-Crazed Woman, are you familiar with the tale of Prometheus?"
As if to answer that question. Yeon Woo-jin spoke in a theatrical tone.
"A very long time ago, in the past, in Greece, regarding the offerings to be given to the gods, humans made a pact with a god."
And there was one demigod who loved humanity.
His name was Prometheus.
He loved humans so much,
He could not accept that humans offered the gods all the good meat and ate only the inferior parts.
Therefore, he devised a trick.
He arranged the bones of an ox neatly and wrapped them in glistening fat for one offering,
and for the other offering, he gathered the appetizing flesh and innards and wrapped them in the inedible hide.
He made them choose one of the two.
The god chose the inedible bones wrapped in fat.
"What I intend to do is exactly the same."
Yeon Woo-jin rambled on with his messy speech,
but Baek Seol-hee grasped immediately what he was trying to do.
"You mean to wrap the life-force of Demons in the shell of human lives and offer it as a sacrifice....... But if you do that......"
"Don't misunderstand."
Yeon Woo-jin cut off Baek Seol-hee and replied.
"I do not worship Demons. Worshipping Demons because there is no god—can there be anything more ridiculous? I don't care at all if they are deceived, descend here, give in to rage, or whatever they do!"
He spread his arms wide. An expression of rapture rose on his face.
"And so what? I love this Earth. And I love the destined fate of humanity. My goal from the start is simply for this Earth to meet its predetermined end, to perish. That, and only that!"
"You bastard, you deceived the Demonized Human Society and carried this out in secret."
There was no way the Demonized Human Society, an organization that worshipped Demons, would have approved such nonsense.
Baek Seol-hee glared at him, a cold fury kindling within her.
"Haha! That's right! It's possible only now. While everyone is lying low to avoid the Magic Emperor's eyes. At this time, I used the name of the Demonized Human Society to gather Demonized Humans! They became sacrifices to the Demons they love to fawn over so much, so they should have no complaints, right?"
"......."
"I am becoming this world's Prometheus. Isn't it truly magnificent?"
Madness gleamed slickly in Yeon Woo-jin's eyes as he spoke.
Grandiose words.
Thanks to this chatty bastard blabbering on by himself, she had learned all the inside details, but
Baek Seol-hee felt a sense of frustration.
If she shattered this Magic Stone here, Demonic Energy would spread in all directions, and Korea would truly become an uninhabitable land.
Yet if she allowed the Demon to descend, it would be impossible for her to stop it alone.
Besieged on all sides.
If Chairwoman Rina were here, or at least the Extermination Squad members under her command.......
As she continued her deliberation, Baek Seol-hee let out a small snicker.
'......I don't know when I've gotten this soft.'
Truly.
Ever since she was first taken in by Rina and decided to live in her shadow, she had already considered her life forfeit.
If she didn't value her life, what was there that she couldn't do?
Even if the enemy was a Demon.
What had made her hesitate now was the question of whether she could defeat the Demon and survive.
'Originally, I wouldn't have entertained such foolish thoughts.......'
She really had changed.
Had changed.
Who could be the one who made her this way?
None other than Jin Yu-ha.
Her disciple.
As expected, just thinking of that face made her feel regretful once again that this place would be her last.
'Hm, I still had quite a lot left to teach that brat....... No, that's my own greed.'
She had already taught him all the basics.
A state he would someday reach as he accumulated experience and trained with the sword by himself.
And her disciple, who possessed talent so outstanding that she couldn't even compare, was bound to fly off on his own to far greater heights.
Wanting to see that through to the end,
Yes. Was indeed greed.
Baek Seol-hee glanced sideways.
'These are kids whose futures are something to look forward to. If they grow well, they'll be a great strength to my disciple.'
If these kids died here, she had no right to call herself his master before Jin Yu-ha.
"Cadet Im Ga-eul, Cadet Sofia."
Baek Seol-hee called their names in a relaxed voice.
"......Yes?"
"......Pardon?"
"I'm sorry, but the operation is a failure. Go up from here and take care of Jin Yu-ha. Then run as far away as you can."
They had been frozen for a moment, as if not understanding Baek Seol-hee's words, and then their eyes went wide as saucers.
"B-but......!"
"We can't!"
"Hurry!!!!!"
Uncharacteristically, Baek Seol-hee raised her voice and shouted.
With sorrowful eyes, she tapped each of the two girls once on the shoulder.
"Please, take good care of my disciple."
At that, Im Ga-eul and Sofia could give no answer.
Thud.
Thud.
Baek Seol-hee swept her hair back and walked forward.
'Still, I did want to try a dish my disciple cooked himself, though.......'
As she was steadying her resolve while thinking such idle thoughts.
"Im Ga-eul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A voice cried out from behind.
Everyone's heads whipped around.
"Grab the Magic Stone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"