Monster of the Saga (3)
Yog-Sothoth had committed suicide. It swallowed the mass compressed to its extreme limits and ensured not even a trace of its body remained. This was blatantly strange behavior. Even if it wasn't its true body, it had to have been a fairly powerful clone. To abandon it so easily like this.
And it had come to raid the Ma Tower for some goal—I still couldn't be sure what that was.
"How long was I out?"
"About six hours."
Fortunately, it hadn't been that long. I'd been caught in a massive explosion, but I'd borrowed Shin-nim's power. My new body had exceptional regenerative abilities too, so there was no issue moving right away.
"I'll get up for a bit."
"Are you thinking of heading to the forbidden storage? There's no need for that."
"...Why?"
At my question, Min-young shrugged. Then she pointed to a corner of the infirmary, where a girl was tightly bound with binding chains. Yog-Sothoth's incarnation—that girl.
"We found that girl when we went to rescue you, Jin-seok-ssi. She was collapsed with major wounds."
"...."
Even if Yog-Sothoth had vanished, the girl was still strong. I wondered if it was okay to leave her so defenseless... but she was unconscious for now, so no problem.
What mattered right now wasn't her—it was the gem's whereabouts.
"What happened to the gem?"
"Everything in that warehouse turned to dust. No gem or anything."
"Hmm..."
This was a huge problem. If the gem had been pulverized by Yog-Sothoth's suicide, fine. But that was unlikely. Yog-Sothoth had probably swiped it in that brief moment. A professor and dozens of mages had died trying to stop it. I'd risked my life too...
"Damn it."
I wasn't in a great mood. I even considered asking Shin-nim to crush Yog-Sothoth. But I couldn't bring myself to. I still hadn't gotten my pinky back—replaced with magic for now, sure.
"How's the Ma Tower doing?"
"Mostly stabilized now that the professors are back."
Only then did I realize where the professors had been. Trapped in the subspace Yog-Sothoth created. At least they'd recover some pride. Their title had changed from 'Lazy Professor' to 'Mage Who Fought the Divine Being'.
"Take a look outside."
"Oh."
Min-young pulled back the curtain, revealing mages bustling about. Repairing damaged facilities with magic, reinstalling vanished magic circles. Far off, I sensed a torrent of mana—some battle underway.
"They caught that guy too."
"If they couldn't handle that much, they should quit being mages."
The black monster that had given me so much trouble while I shook it off. It seemed the Ma Tower mages had subdued it. Crushed under a dozen sealing spells, wriggling helplessly.
"Hm..."
Despite the terrorism killing many and the gem stolen, we'd normalized the Ma Tower. A bit bittersweet, but a happy ending?
"Not bad..."
—KABOOM!
With my guard down, I jinxed it—and paid the price immediately. A sudden explosion rocked the tower alongside it. Looking out the window, I saw the sky split open, someone plummeting through the rift.
"Urk..."
Too fast to see the face, but the rejection reaction told me who it was.
I activated teleportation magic immediately, instant-moving near where it fell.
"You look pretty beat up."
"The opponent was stronger than expected."
At the Ma Tower's main gate, where the black monster was captured—the land bastard had crashed down. But its state was far from normal. A hole punched through its gut, left arm half-blown off.
No room for carelessness, though.
"I'll send you straight to the afterlife right now."
"Huh? Don't people usually let their guard down in this state?"
"I'd stay alert even if just its head was left dangling."
The land bastard's lifeforce was insanely tenacious. Tougher than winter cockroaches—these bastards required dismemberment by white gale to relax. I'd let one slip away just recently.
"Shin-nim? Ready?"
"Of course, hubby."
I fight with this mindset in battles: Do what I can, and if it fails, then borrow Shin-nim's power.
But this was an exception. A horror worse than a cockroach in my house? Time for teamwork.
"Die."
"Yeah... this one's toast."
I didn't even use any special magic. Just poured out the endlessly surging deep-sea energy, crushing it. That alone shattered its body and tore its soul to oblivion.
Dilatio Mortis
True to form for a land bastard spawn, it scattered sand even at the end. As the murky demonic energy burst out, an unidentified magic activated.
But it wasn't an attack spell. That made it worse.
"...Do you know what that bastard said?"
"No idea?"
Magic had definitely activated, but what kind? I couldn't tell. It made me uneasy, and Shin-nim looked unsettled too.
But we weren't alone. My magic teacher—our smartest book—was here.
"Poss... ession..."
"Yeah?"
"Over there..."
Go-seo, reunited after so long. She clung to my waist like she was making up for lost skinship, dangling from my belt and soaking in the warmth.
At my question, Go-seo lifted a bookmark, pointing somewhere.
"Holy shit."
Only then did I grasp the land bastard's scheme. Over 300 mages' hearts pulsed inside the black monster. And not just that—incredibly, a land bastard heart too.
"Fought without a heart?"
Of course, at Mythic level and above, hearts weren't essential. Transcendent beings between reality and concept—gods like that.
But a heart's significance wasn't small. Even gods took a major hit from extraction—figure at least 15% power loss.
"Crazy bastard."
The moment that spell activated, the black monster's aura shifted. Already a Saga-class monster. One that had pushed me hard with pure strength, no magic.
Now possessed by a land bastard? This wasn't just serious—it could turn into an irreversible catastrophe if mishandled.
"There has to be a way..."
—Flutter!
"Go-seo? What the—?"
Regardless of my fluster, Go-seo flipped open. She showed me one page; assuming intent, I speed-read it. Then smiled.
"If this works, I'll buy you a custom bookshelf."
"Heehee..."
The grand magic the land bastard sacrificed its life for. Sprinkling saltwater on it? Priceless.
I formed hand seals and began chanting.
"Hear the call, hold faith, and finally worship."
⟨ Deep-Sea Brainwashing ⟩
Brainwashing was the deep sea's specialty, after all.
****
Yoon Mi-rae had always been sickly since childhood. Born frail, infected with a rare disease before she could even walk.
Her devoted parents grew indifferent over time. By a year before she awakened to magic, they'd neglected her for months.
"It hurts... my body hurts so much..."
"Shut up! Brat making all that noise!"
With less oversight, even the caregiver mistreated her. Endless irritation, looks treating her subhuman. The caregiver crossed the line, reaching out viciously.
"Just die. It'll help everyone."
"Mmph! Uuugh!"
Face smothered in pillow, unable to breathe. Her frail body couldn't shake off an adult's arm. Mi-rae shed tears as death approached slowly.
Better not born than suffer like this.
—Crunch!
"Wh-what...?"
Fortune or misfortune? The girl was possessed by a supernatural anomaly disguised as rare disease, awakening at death's door.
Her slender arm morphed into a massive monster's. In her hand, the caregiver who'd pinned her moments ago—reduced to chunks.
"Urp!"
Mi-rae's daily life flipped 180 degrees. She became a body that survived only by cannibalism, hunted by secret groups.
Hiding her form, eating only the wicked to survive. But the pure white canvas that was Mi-rae gradually corrupted...
"This freak looks pretty useful."
"Mush its brain, make it a slave."
"No! Don't wanna!"
Finally caught by evil mages, fully turned monster. Low intelligence, devouring on command.
"Time to hunt mages."
"Y-yes!"
"Leave it to us!"
"...."
After mage hunts began, she devoured their hearts. Each one burdened her body, ghostly screams in her ears.
But unable to defy orders, she forced them down.
"This op's the last. Good luck, Mi-rae?"
"...."
On the final op day, Mi-rae got no role. Just swallow the demon's heart and wait. Insurance—a spare body to possess anytime.
But ordered to preserve it.
'I want to die.'
What if possessed? Her fading consciousness wondered.
Obviously horrific. Trapped eternally inside, watching her body defiled.
So Mi-rae blocked the castle entrance. Anyone here would kill her, she thought.
But she didn't die. The hated demon seized her body...
"Do you desire freedom?"
'...?'
"Then take this hand. And declare it."
A sudden voice. Utterly flustered, Mi-rae grabbed the hand anyway. And repeated as told.
'The sea that covers 70% is way better than the 30% land!!'
"Huhu. Excellent."
She didn't get it... but anyway? Mi-rae succeeded in flipping off the demon that tormented her.