Debt? What Debt?
Debt? What Debt?
White tiles stretched across the floor.
Antique wallpaper and paintings that exuded refinement lined the walls.
Porcelain and Western-style swords sat arranged in the gaps.
A place resembling someone's villa—or perhaps a private gallery.
"Find it and destroy it immediately, I said!!"
A man howled, his voice a dying scream, in that place meant for absolute silence.
His voice echoed through a room stuffed with luxuries far beyond the necessities of life.
"What the hell is going on?!"
He hurled the porcelain that had been right in front of him, then clawed at his own hair in a fit of nerves.
The Korean branch of the Black Heaven Cult, which served the Chaos God Amos.
That was what this gallery-like space really was.
And at this moment, the branch was under attack by something unknown.
'It can't be betrayal.......'
Kim Gyeong-tae, 1st-grade Priest of the Black Heaven Cult and the person in charge of the branch, shook his head.
Anyone who even tried to leak Black Heaven-related information—himself included—would meet a gruesome death as the prohibition etched into their soul melted their entire body.
Even if someone had turned traitor, branch intelligence could not possibly leak.
"Damn it......!!"
The problem was that if no one had revealed the branch's location, there was no way to explain the current situation.
A high-ranking official's private estate in Paju.
Among the several buildings standing tall there, a Rift was hidden within one.
The Black Heaven branch had set its base inside that very Rift.
They had even outfitted it with an Artifact designed to deceive detection-type ability users, so finding this place should have been impossible even by chance.
At least, Kim Gyeong-tae had thought so.
By his reckoning, not even a ranker could have located this place.
—Guhaaack......!!
Fzzzzzzt——
Another terminal's light went dark.
Nine communicators sat on the desk.
Just thirty minutes ago, all nine had glowed a soft green.
Now, thirty minutes later, only two of the nine still glowed that soft green.
The connection had been severed by an intruder—many or one, no one could say—whose identity remained utterly unknown.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck.......'
No one had noticed the intrusion.
By the time anyone realized, two communicators were already dead.
They had let an intruder inside the branch, and on top of that, had only registered the breach after dozens of faithful followers were already dead.
That fact alone was more than enough grounds for condemnation, and Kim Gyeong-tae knew it, which was why he had frantically issued orders to the remaining followers, trying somehow to salvage the situation.
And only after the third light went dark, following the second, did he grasp that something had gone catastrophically wrong.
After that, what Kim Gyeong-tae intended to do was simple.
Shatter the Crystal kept in the safe inside his office.
But when he opened the safe, the Crystal that should have been glowing brilliantly was nowhere to be seen. The safe was empty—as though it had never existed at all.
Kim Gyeong-tae, barely holding onto his wits, poured mana into the communication port linked to the other branches, thinking to alert them and request aid.
But no matter how much mana he fed it, the port would not activate.
Everything, from that very first moment, was incomprehensible.
Fzzzzzzt——
"......."
Only one communicator remained.
Only his closest aides, the ones guarding the front of his office.
For the first time, Kim Gyeong-tae regretted not having built a separate secret passage leading to an exit. He had been so confident of never being found that he had consolidated every route to a single one.
"You stupid bastard......."
Fzzzzzzt——
"Hah."
With no time even to curse his past self, death had arrived at his doorstep, and Kim Gyeong-tae rose from his seat.
'They won't let me leave this place peacefully.'
He had long since abandoned any thought of survival.
He would merely make himself useful, however little, to his great god.
'The sun shall lose its light, and the world shall be consumed by chaos....'
He pulled the highest-grade magic stone from its setting in his staff and swallowed it.
The magic stone passed his throat and dissolved, vanishing in an instant.
"Kh......!!"
Every blood vessel in Kim Gyeong-tae's body began to swell grotesquely.
His Magic Circuits dilated with no time to intervene.
Suppressing the horrific pain, he accelerated the mana coursing through the suddenly widened circuits even further.
Fwoooosh——!!
His skin reddened by degrees.
Clutching at his fading consciousness, he channeled every remaining nerve into his sense of hearing.
So that when the office door opened, he could swallow everything.
Even if he burst before the intruder drew near, it would not matter.
The explosion fueled by his very life would dye this entire space in darkness.
'Swallow them all......?'
Kim Gyeong-tae's eyes, which had been drifting shut, flew wide open.
The mana that had been tearing through his circuits like a runaway train stopped in place as if it were a lie.
Ssshhhk.
"Wh-what......!!"
His body—already ruined beyond repair, every blood vessel burst—his right hand began to move of its own accord.
Slowly, the arm extended straight, then the wrist bent inward.
The fingertips aimed precisely at his left chest.
"You, currrrr......!!"
Shrieking with fury, Kim Gyeong-tae tore out his own heart.
**
Thud—
I spat the unpleasant residue from my mouth and removed the mask I was wearing.
In the memory of Gil Vane, one of the Black Heaven bishops, every detail about the bases those bastards had concealed in this country had been recorded.
Parts of a recent plan they had been preparing as well.
The problem was that I hadn't pulled out Gil Vane's heart myself, and combined with how long it had been left exposed outside his body, I hadn't been able to extract the most critical intel—the location of their main headquarters.
The more absurdly powerful an Artifact's ability, the greater the cost it demands or the more stringent its conditions. And the Loki's Mask in my hand fell into the latter category.
"Destroy it."
Woooooong—
The Crystal that had been hidden in the void revealed itself.
Kugugugung——!!
At the same moment, cracks spread across the floor and walls, and the entire building began to shake.
Fwoooosh—
Without even waiting for my command, the creature created an exit leading straight outside before my nose.
Woooooong—
Then it settled quietly atop my hand.
'This wasn't entirely wasted effort.'
Having destroyed several branches, their activity should wane for a while.
Besides that, I had also obtained information about the followers infiltrating the Association and among public officials. I could put that to good use in other places later.
My main objective had been to capture another bishop, but as I'd half expected, I did not encounter anyone bishop-rank while wrecking the five branches.
The highest-ranking one had been the 1st-grade Priest I just devoured. And in his memories—and in the memories of the others—there had been no information about Gil Vane.
That confirmed for me once again that the ones they called followers or priests among themselves were treated as nothing more than consumables.
"Get back inside."
Woooooong.......
The creature resting on my hand hummed softly, then slipped into the small pouch fastened at my waist.
The greatest gain from this affair.
That was discovering the new ability of the creature that had just entered the pouch.
An ability never mentioned even over there.
'It seizes the domain of another Rift, huh.......'
And then it summons and absorbs the original master, robbed of its dominion.
If I had to guess, it was likely an ability influenced by my mana as well as the Authority of Greed.
Kugugugung——!!
The branch's ceiling crumbled, and debris rained down over my head. I brushed it off and walked into the flickering blue light.
The floating sensation I could never grow accustomed to hit me—and the scenery changed at once.
Inside a cramped, stuffy garage.
I killed my presence, stepped onto the stairs, and headed upward.
The copious pools of blood had long since soaked into the villa's floor, leaving dark crimson stains.
'I'll need to swap this battery for something that lasts longer.'
I'd intended to step out of the mansion and contact her—the woman looking after the children alone—to let her know I was heading back, but no matter how many times I pressed, the smartphone screen wouldn't light up.
"......Hah."
It dawned on me a moment too late: if I couldn't send a message, I also couldn't call for a ride.
When tracking down their bases, I'd pushed my body hard, thinking that if news of Gil Vane's death reached them they might relocate.
As my soul had grown thinner, my body's durability had suffered accordingly—that much was unavoidable. As compensation, I'd gained a bit more freedom in handling Greed, but that was useless in this situation.
I lacked the innate mana remaining in my heart to leap through space, and layering external mana to reinforce my body would strain a physique that had been overworked for days.
'I'll have to walk.......'
It was a little remote, but there was a golf course not too far off. I could get in touch from there.
I wrapped things up and had taken just a few steps toward the villa's garden to leave the grounds.
Bliiing~
The smartphone I had thought dead began ringing with an obnoxious racket.
[ ₍₍٩( ᐛ )۶₎₎♪ This body makes an entrance!! ]
"I'll give you three seconds. If it's nonsense, I'm smashing it."
[ (⇀‸↼‶) A cruel response to one who comes bearing aid!! But you really do look like you'd smash it, so!! ]
[ (･ω<)☆ I've sent one of my children to assist you in your hour of need, so wait right there!! ]
I glared at the floating message and spoke.
"What's your angle."
[ (─‿─) Nothing in particular? I merely wish for you to return to our precious children's side without delay!! ]
"Then this won't count as debt."
[ ̋(๑˃́ꇴ˂̀๑) What debt between us~!! Anyway!! I've sent a child who'll ferry you back to the academy at lightning speed, so wait patiently!! ]
The smartphone screen went dark again.
Tudududududu——!!
At the same time, a thunderous noise came from the sky.
I raised my head toward the sound and saw a pure white helicopter, the God of Amusement's emblem emblazoned on its underside, flying right toward me.
"Hah......."
I had cleaned up quietly for nothing.
I genuinely felt like cracking that bastard's head open.