Pandemonium
The visitors stared at the corpse with puzzled expressions.
“What the… is this?”
“The description plaque isn’t even up yet. They probably stuck it in the marine section because it was found at sea.”
“It doesn’t look like a sea creature at all…”
“Wings all around the eyeballs? It’s seriously disgusting.”
My master and Liz gazed at the creature’s remains with strange looks. The museum still hadn’t identified it. That was why they had placed it here. But I knew this thing better than anyone.
Because I was the one who killed this angel!
But why was its corpse here? In the human world, of all places? I distinctly remembered ordering Leviathan, ‘Hey, this is the corpse of the angel I killed yesterday. Eat it up.’
Did that idiot sea serpent not eat it and instead dump the body in the human world’s ocean? It seemed unlikely, but if I ever met that Leviathan again… I would roast him alive and feed him to my loyal servants.
“Even in the post-ancient era there are so many fascinating things. I wonder how many diverse and amazing creatures existed back in ancient times…?”
“Yeah. Though we might never find out before we die.”
“Yeah…”
Lure looked at the angel’s corpse with a frustrated expression.
“It feels like we’re going to die without knowing so many things…”
“Lure, that might actually be for the best.”
“What do you mean…?”
Lure looked up at Liz with those adorable eyes. The class president stroked her fluffy hair—like petting a soft blanket—and said,
“It’s fun because we don’t know. It lets us imagine.”
“Imagine…?”
“Rather, when we learn the truths we didn’t know, they might not be what we hoped for or expected.”
The class president… gave a really interesting answer.
“Like space, or the world of the past, or conspiracy theories.”
“Hmm…”
“If facing that truth is disappointing, it might be better not to know after all. That’s the feeling I get.”
Liz pointed with her slender, branch-like fingers at a small ancestral shell displayed beyond the glass wall.
“Imagine if an ancient being turned out to be something as trivial as that clam. What would you think?”
“Not much…”
“Exactly.”
“Hehe… but it would still be cute.”
“Yeah.”
“Hehehe.”
It’s better not to know. She’s right, class president.
If this field trip had ended on that happy, educational note, it would have been perfect.
Oh no…
I sensed it. That disgusting stench that only the Abyss Cult emitted.
Focusing on the smell, I saw figures stealing artifacts from the museum.
They’re stealing some kind of scroll. I should stop them for a moment…
Do not touch the walls. They will explode.
A massive falling object and the resulting vibration shook the entire museum. All the lights inside went out, replaced by a blood-red glow.
“What’s happening?”
“Did some accident occur?”
The people inside the museum were confused about what was going on. Then the entire building was covered with some kind of iron structure. It wasn’t ordinary steel.
“What’s going on?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“E-everyone, please calm down. It’s probably nothing serious.”
Professor Ellyer tried to calm the students. She had reacted the same way when I first appeared. And despite her words, she had been wary of me. It was the same this time.
It seemed the Abyss Cult bastards had triggered it by stealing the item. But… why? It should have been a security system to protect people. Wasn’t it made to explode if touched? This seemed designed to kill them instead.
This was bad. I emerged from the shadows.
“T-Thanatos?”
Lure and the others read the burning words. Most wore expressions that said What does that mean? But Lure…
“E-everyone…! You can’t go near the walls…!”
She believed me and immediately began begging the others not to approach the walls. Then Liz joined in.
“Don’t go near the walls! It’s dangerous!”
After that Teren and Kim Eunhasu repeated the warning, and soon everyone was saying the same thing. The rule of three, they called it. That peculiar human psychology was saving lives.
Damn, if I knew how to defuse bombs I would help. All I learned in the demon realm was combat techniques…
Of course there were ways. I could drag everyone here into the shadow realm, or wrap them in smoke and carry them outside.
Sigh… Just what the hell is happening in this museum?
“Don’t touch the walls? I need to get out of here right now! Out of my way!”
No matter where you go, there’s always someone who refuses to listen. The man walked straight up and slammed his fists against the wall.
BOOOOOOM!
The man’s body exploded instantly, scattering in every direction. His selfish whim had unleashed utter chaos.
“Kyaaaaaah! A person—someone just exploded!”
“I have to get out of here! Move!”
“I told you not to touch the wall!”
“Stop pushing!”
Fear and panic spread faster than anyone could imagine. Even so, Lure kept shouting at the top of her lungs for people not to touch the walls.
This wouldn’t do. At this rate more people would die. The Abyss Cult entering the same space was a problem, but I could handle that. Too many things were happening at once and my head was starting to hurt…
“Blasphemer…”
Ah, fuck. The angel… the angel had awakened!
The body of the angel I had definitely killed began to shine brilliantly again, illuminating the surroundings. Those eyes that should have remained closed forever now stared directly into mine. They burned with rage and killing intent. The creature’s desire to kill me didn’t spare a single thought for the lives around it.
“God has given me time for revenge. How deeply moving this is.”
“What? The thing from the marine exhibit is moving?”
“Is this some kind of event?”
The people around had no idea how dangerous the situation was and began approaching the angel.
This was terrible. The angel had spread both its wings! That was the light that melts everything—Sodom and Gomorrah!
At this rate everyone in the museum would melt. My precious… Lure would die!
Damn it, Hand of the Absolute! Drag the angel into the shadows!
Small violet hands gathered and merged, becoming a giant hand of the absolute that seized the angel’s body.
“Such…! Remove your filthy hands…! Blasphemer!”
The hand of the absolute dragged the angel into the world of shadows. The problem was that the creature could collapse that world and escape whenever it wanted. I had no choice but to follow it inside and kill it. Since I had killed it once before, I would kill it again.
Damn disgusting angel bastard.
“What, what was that… a giant hand suddenly appeared and took it away?”
“What’s going on?”
I was wondering the same thing, humans. But right now the most urgent matter was that thing.
“Thanatos…”
“Lure…”
“Are you okay…?”
Sigh. I didn’t know either. Too many things had suddenly happened. There were too many questions. Why such a dangerous security system existed in a museum. Why the Abyss Cult had invaded to steal a scroll. Why the angel had revived.
Still…
“I’ll leave it to you…”
Right now I had no choice but to entrust everything to you.
“Thanatos, I don’t know what’s happening but… I trust you…”
“…Thank you, Master.”
With that, I stepped into the world of shadows to confront the angel.
“Lure, what the hell is all this? I told everyone not to go near the walls like Thanatos said, but…”
“I-I don’t know either. For now, let’s trust Thanatos.”
Thud! Thud!
At that moment, the sound of something massive approaching echoed through the hall. People’s screams. Crumbling walls. The sound of bones smashing against one another.
KWAAAAAANG!
What appeared before them were dinosaurs—resurrected in the present day, transcending time itself.
“GRUUUUUAAAAH!”
“Am I dreaming right now? A continentalisaurus… it’s moving!”
“You idiot, run!”
The bones of a creature that once dominated an entire era had begun to move!
“GRUUUUUAAAAH!”
Just by moving, the beast started shattering the museum’s interior walls. It wasn’t only the continentalisaurus. Every skeleton on display, every being from the distant past, had begun to stir. Some smashed through the walls, trying to devour people. Some fought one another. Some charged at the newly formed outer deck only to explode and perish.
People fleeing to survive. People praying it was all a dream. People fighting back with their abilities. And even people enjoying the madness.
The museum interior had literally become a scene of pandemonium.
“Grrrr… Krung!”
The greatest predator of the dinosaur era shook its massive skull, scanning the area, then locked onto Lure and charged at terrifying speed. This was no scavenger’s pace.
“L-Lure…!”
The enormous dinosaur, towering eleven meters high, stared down at Lure. Its jaws opened and closed greedily, as though it would have been drooling if it were still flesh and blood.
“Hiiik… D-don’t come…!”
Lure frantically shook the bone fragments scattered around her, trying to use them as weapons, but…