Traces and Connections

The human body contained countless clues capable of identifying its owner. A simple fingerprint or bloodstain was enough to reveal a person's identity, so if someone held their beating heart in hand, pinpointing exactly where that person was became an incredibly simple task.

Sssssss.

In the underground passage of the western district in the Mendelssohn Grand Territory, a single being intruded without permission into this secret space that Pride had ordered his subordinates to construct in order to imprison Eun Ma-hyun.

Merging seamlessly with the surrounding darkness, the being passed straight through the wall and stepped into the passage. He moved as naturally as a ghost, strolling through the interior of the tunnel.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

What he held in his hand was someone's vigorously pulsing heart. The thread that linked one life to another. The man used it like a compass, walking straight toward the place where Eun Ma-hyun was held captive.

He showed no sign of caution toward his surroundings. No wariness of traps. The black figure simply continued forward in silence.

「…….」

Without encountering any interference or obstacles, he reached the end of the passage—the deepest part of the complex. Before him appeared a single door. The figure advanced toward it without hesitation, exactly as he had the first time he came here. Then he slipped through the door like flowing water and examined the room's interior.

"More insane than I thought."

He let out a soft chuckle, then burst into open admiration at the spectacular scene Pride had created inside the chamber.

The air was so thick with the metallic stench of blood that it made the head spin. At the center lay a ragged heap of flesh whose heart had been torn out while the victim was still alive. From every single strand of hair to the fingernails and toenails, every component that made up the human body had been meticulously disassembled and laid bare—an anatomical museum exploring the mysteries of human flesh.

Whether the platelets responsible for clotting had failed in their duty or the bone marrow was overproducing blood at an excessive rate, the flow showed no sign of stopping. Even now, fresh blood continued pouring out, thoroughly soaking the ground where the man stood.

"It's a miracle he's still alive."

Why was he still living? The doubt and grotesque fascination he felt only grew stronger, transmitted through the lively throbbing against his palm.

With a casual flick, he observed the sight for a few more seconds as if intrigued, then tossed the heart in his hand roughly toward the tattered remains.

The heart rolled across the blood-soaked floor, picking up dust. Following its steady, rhythmic beats, the scattered blood and debris around it slowly began to gather toward the heart as a center.

It was the reassembly of parts that had been so mercilessly fragmented their original shapes were nearly unrecognizable. Riding the dark-dimensional mana the man emitted, Eun Ma-hyun's body began restoring itself to its original form, like assembling a plastic model.

「…….」

On the surface, it was a phenomenon that resembled a miracle. A regression of time, or the resurrection of the dead.

Eun Ma-hyun, returned from a shredded rag to a complete body, clenched and unclenched his fist as if testing forgotten sensations. He stared at the man before him with a look of wonder.

"It seems it's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not mere assembly. The arm severed in Vivaldi Territory—not here—has been restored as well."

Humans had yet to step into the domain of creation. Producing something from nothing was impossible. Recreating a missing arm was beyond any ability user in this world. The sole exception was dark mages, those who distorted the laws of the world and imposed their own will upon reality.

"Still, you managed to come all the way here."

As if he already knew the man's identity, Eun Ma-hyun rose from his spot without concern. Not a single thread covered his naked body. He could restore a lost arm but not create clothing? The laws of dark mages were truly incomprehensible no matter how one tried.

"No words of gratitude for the person who came to rescue you?"

The man answered playfully as he looked at Eun Ma-hyun. But Eun Ma-hyun merely snorted at the jest.

"No need to waste greetings on a bastard who's about to die."

It was not provocation but simple certainty. Though his body had been mangled beyond recognition, Eun Ma-hyun had still managed to eavesdrop on every conversation taking place here. Therefore, he knew. No matter how legendary a dark mage the man before him might be, with all the evil fame he had amassed in the past, he could never leave this place alive.

Instead of wasting time on greetings, it would be better to escape this place with everything I have.

Unlike the man, Eun Ma-hyun still had a chance to flee. It was probably Pride's pathetic display of mercy—a declaration that since he had used him as bait, he would release him and let him try to escape using whatever ability he possessed.

Insolent brat.

Treating a superhuman like a toy. He truly lived up to his name in sheer arrogance.

Thinking the name suited him perfectly, Eun Ma-hyun vanished like smoke right before the man's eyes, without the slightest trace of presence.

An extreme-level stealth technique. The man burst into laughter as he stared at the spot where Eun Ma-hyun had disappeared from right in front of him.

"Whether in the past or now, the breed called martial artists really have no manners at all."

From the first head of the Masao family who once interfered with his grand design, all the way to Tugwi, the current strongest of the Fan Empire. Regardless of era, martial artists were all the same type.

"Well, that's precisely why they're so easy to use."

Perhaps because it was a discipline that emphasized the body over the mind, unlike other studies. They lacked manners, but at the same time they lacked thought and were simple, making them easy to manipulate as desired.

Sensing Eun Ma-hyun's presence already far outside the passage, the man slowly turned around.

"Daring to evaluate someone when you're not even Tugwi. Don't you agree?"

A presence came from behind. Footsteps that made no attempt to conceal themselves, exactly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like when the man had first walked this passage. As the distance between them closed, an oppressive weight descended that made even breathing difficult.

Hwaaaaak.

The lights came on. The lamps hanging on the walls illuminated, brightly revealing the room that had been submerged in darkness. Thanks to this, the man could fully observe the appearance of the person who had approached his back without needing to focus mana into his eyes as he had when viewing Eun Ma-hyun earlier.

Black hair that fell all the way to the shoulders—long enough that one might mistake him for a woman from behind. Deep wrinkles carved beside his eyes like traces of endless hardship. Though he had never seen the man directly, he recognized him instantly.

"Pride."

Staring into those pitch-black eyes that held not the slightest trace of emotion, the man's identity flowed from his lips.

"Well. I'm not so sure about that."

Pride answered in a casual tone to the man's question.

"But at least for this moment, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I can tell that Eun Ma-hyun is wiser than you."

"You can never kill me. No matter what traps you've prepared."

That was why he had boldly stepped onto the board Pride had laid out—to rescue Eun Ma-hyun, without any preparation whatsoever.

"Hmph."

The man who dared display 'pride' before him. Pride slowly looked him up and down.

Even though the world was covered in light, the man's body was shrouded in darkness. It wavered like fog, never settling into a fixed shape. He possessed no characteristics of a living being at all, to the point that only his voice allowed one to determine he was male.

"Did you discard your physical body?"

"I used it as material for a curse long ago."

Every phenomenon in this world was based on the law of conservation. That truth remained unchanged even in the heaven-defying situation of the dead returning to the mortal realm.

The soul that had escaped from hell to recreate a body that had already vanished in the past and no longer existed would wander this world. In the process, it consumed the karma it had accumulated during life to reconstruct the missing parts of its body.

That was why the lower the realm of the deceased, the more blurred their memories became.

However, for that process to occur, it required the absolute premise that 'loss had occurred to the body after death.'

During his lifetime, his body had been used as material for a posthumous curse by a certain family. His body had not disappeared. Instead, it had transformed into a different form and still existed, dissolved within this world.

All matter in this world could change into completely different forms, but it could not be created from nothing.

Since his body already existed in the conceptual form of a posthumous curse, recreating it like the others was impossible.

"There's no need to cling desperately to something that cannot be obtained."

It was not something that could be stated so simply. The body was like a vessel allowing the soul to remain in the mortal world. A soul without a body could not defy the laws of the afterlife no matter how far it had fled from hell.

Conversely, the very fact that he could remain in the mortal realm in a soul-only state without a physical body indirectly revealed his level of danger.

Roughly estimating, he had reached a level approaching that of an Absolute Being. Perhaps he stood at the ultimate peak of superhumans.

「…….」

Pride slightly shifted his gaze to the side. Just as when the man had first appeared in the passage, a presence suddenly manifested in the empty air.

At some point, mysterious figures had appeared throughout the space. A gaunt man, an elderly figure with a severely hunched back, a young girl who looked no older than five, a woman of such exceptional beauty that passersby would turn their heads, and many more.

An unspecified multitude of people of all ages and genders, with hollow, empty eyes, encircled Pride.

"Puppetry."

Long, intangible threads dangled above their heads. Recognizing them, Pride turned his gaze back toward the man who wavered in darkness.

"A superhuman-class puppeteer, and an existence who sacrificed his own body to lay a posthumous curse upon a single family."

With this many hints, it was practically spoon-feeding the answer. There had not been many dark mages in history who had built such skill and renown through puppetry during their lifetime.

"Tenma."

The demon descended from heaven. The man who had controlled countless people through puppetry and built a single force that worshipped him as a god. The one who had left behind the worst curse—'Magic Power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rejector'—on the first head of the Masao family who had cut his throat, a curse so terrible that even if every mage in the Ellemental Kingdom attacked it, they could not undo it.

The colossal evil who had once shaken the Fan Empire with his enormous notoriety, one of the worst in continental history, smiled at Pride's words.

"So there were still people who remembered me."

He did not deny Pride's conjecture. Was this the foundation behind his confidence that he would not die?

Certainly, if it was Tenma, displaying such confidence was not unreasonable.

"So you were already part of Immortal even back then."

The Heavenly Demon Cult had also appeared as the church's great enemy during its active period in the past. After all, worshipping themselves as gods went against the idolatry they condemned. It had probably been a scheme to elevate the church's name value, much like the current Immortal. And accumulating the karma needed to pierce a path to hell in the process would have been an added bonus.

In a way, the uprising of the Heavenly Demon Cult had been an incident similar to the Dark Wave that occurred ten years ago. Of course, Tenma having his throat cut by the head of the Masao family at the time had likely been entirely outside the plan.

So he left behind such a powerful curse as an outlet for his anger.

The Magic Power Rejector engraved into the Masao family's bloodline. It had been no different from the resentment Tenma had imprinted upon them.

Realizing this, Pride smiled.

"A rather large fish has taken the bait."

Tenma. He was a superhuman like Eun Ma-hyun, but possessed a name that could not be compared.

"You believe you can capture me even though you know who I am?"

At Pride's arrogant display, Tenma let out a short laugh. At the same time, the puppets surrounding Pride all began to swell massively like balloons.

"Then go ahead and try to kill me."

Looking at the scene with indifferent eyes, Pride spoke calmly.

"You'll only be disappointed if you expect that much."

From your own ability, which isn't nearly as impressive as you seem to think.

Dark dimensional mana bloomed like ink. Around Pride, pressed down by the heavy pressure, the space reversed 180 degrees according to the new laws he had engraved.