Chapter 41
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Trio of Extinction
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Inside the mart where massive shutters had descended halfway to seal off all entry from the outside.
The automatic doors had long since stopped functioning, and the interior, now part of the back world, was filled with shards of broken glass and the stench of rotting ingredients.
In the electronics section, a few TVs emitted a grating buzz that set teeth on edge, while the fluorescent lights flickered incessantly before shattering one after another.
The atmosphere permeating the deserted mart was heavy, cold, and razor-sharp.
A playground of death where slaughter and carnage repeated endlessly.
Three murderers specialized in human hunting slowly closed the distance, advancing to claim the Fixer's life.
"A vow etched in blood. I forge a pact with my life."
The shaman formed a seal with her right hand, then sliced her left with a blade, letting blood flow.
She wore a short sleeveless top that fully exposed her shoulders and back, a modified slit skirt open at the sides, leather boots rising to her ankles, and gloves studded with spikes.
Tattoos adorned her thigh with a lotus, her back with a serpent, and her shoulder with a star. At her waist hung dozens of silver needles and talismans.
Shaman Joo Hyo-yeon, a martial shaman faction expert and skilled martial artist, invoked her life-risking incantation, the Blood Seal Oath.
A forbidden spell that drew forth power through self-inflicted wounds and a life-binding vow.
Joo Hyo-yeon's vow: "Kill the Fixer within one hour."
The harder the condition, the greater the power boost. Failure within the time limit would inflict near-fatal damage on the shaman herself.
In exchange, her stats surged roughly fivefold, her vitality transcending human limits.
Overwhelmed by the superhuman stat increase, Joo Hyo-yeon staggered and vomited blood. Her body couldn't withstand the power, resulting in internal injuries.
At this level of physical enhancement, control became even more difficult. Using the Blood Seal Oath had been a grave miscalculation for her.
'Damn it. This much power just for him? It's worse than not using it...'
The Blood Seal Oath's stat boost varied based on the opponent's strength.
A near-fivefold surge in physical abilities meant the current foe was ridiculously powerful.
With the stringent condition of killing the Fixer in one hour, such a dramatic enhancement made sense.
'The most dangerous shaman I've faced. Get too close, and I'll be the one devoured.'
The shaman broke into a cold sweat.
When she had sealed the mart's doors and erected the backworld barrier to trap everyone inside, she thought this commission would be easy.
It was just eliminating one young, unknown shaman.
Even though he had survived the Alcohol Ritual Hall with few survivors, she assumed the deaths inside were all due to Kang Sanjung's hand, as no one knew the full details.
They had underestimated the Fixer's power. No one on site had anticipated this level of strength.
'No choice... pull back. Get any closer, and I'll be folded in half.'
Instinctively gauging the opponent's might, Joo Hyo-yeon quickly retreated, widening the gap with the Fixer.
Even as a martial shaman, she was proficient in standard sorcery at a high level, so there was no need to risk close combat.
Recognizing the foe as an untouchable monster, she decided to leave melee to her physical-attack specialist ally and fall back.
"Spirits of the dead, converge. Blind Chains, seal the sight."
Death Lock Seal activated.
Realizing the shaman had cast a spell, Onmyoji Yu Ui-jin imposed restrictions on his own body to inversely amplify his mana, then blinded himself to maximize it.
Simultaneously, he drew a small circle and designated it as sacred ground, layering another boost to his power, before sitting cross-legged and beginning his onmyodo ritual.
Soon, the yokai bound to Yu Ui-jin began crawling out from his shadow one by one.
Numerous high-disaster anomalies. They moved with ragged breaths, hungering for the Fixer's blood and flesh as their offering.
The shaman should have clashed by now but had pulled back. That meant she deemed the opponent dangerous.
Thus, Yu Ui-jin thought he needed to probe the foe's skill using these disposable yokai.
"Heh, shamans and onmyoji never disappoint with their dirty tricks."
The massive bulk, protruding belly, and the defrocked monk Yang Su-cheon swigging high-proof liquor from his gourd laughed.
He used no special spells. He simply drew the enormous iron club from his waist.
With his innate strength, tough hide, and insensate body oblivious to pain, he was a powerhouse who could tangle even with archdisasters.
Heat emanated from Yang Su-cheon's body like rising steam.
He feared nothing. He had multiple records of escaping pursuits by the Korean Buddhist Association, having comprehended the mysteries of Diamond Indestructibility. He was confident he could smash anything with his bare hands.
Whether arrogance or bravado, Yang Su-cheon believed this encounter would be no different.
No matter the foe, they were mere vermin begging for mercy before his iron club.
And so, the Black Yao Society Seal Unit, the Trio of Extinction, moved in their own ways to sever the Fixer's neck.
Stronger by leagues than the shamans from the Alcohol Ritual Hall.
Ideally, capture them and hand over to the agencies. They'd extract the info themselves. For executives, better to keep them alive, right?
Punish the sinners and escape the backworldized mart.
The quest just said punish the sinners. Doesn't necessarily mean kill, right?
Honestly, after harming so many today, he had no desire to hurt more people.
'So, who to take down first.'
The woman hiding her presence? The man summoning anomalies?
There's a drunk-looking old man too.
As he pondered which of the three to subdue first, the presence-hiding woman hurled a bloodstained steel needle at him.
Thwip!
He twisted slightly to dodge, but the needle embedded in the floor vibrated as if futile, splattering droplets of blood from its tip everywhere.
In an instant, a hand formed of blood rose from the ground and seized his ankle.
Intending to bind his movements, but such a restraint required no spell dispel—just a single kick sufficed.
"Kyak!"
As the binding released, anomalies charged through shattered shelves.
Perfectly timed with the binding's activation. They breathed in sync, suggesting the shaman and onmyoji fought together often.
The charging anomalies were just standard disaster-class fare.
Male forms with scrawny builds clutching a single rusty, chipped sword.
Their wretched appearance gave the impression of being forced into battle.
Humanities Proficiency
Dodging the anomalies' attacks while observing them, he soon discerned their origins.
But these... he realized they were victims of far more horrific fates than imagined.
"They kill people on purpose to turn them into anomalies...? These bastards are insane."
Dismembered Vengeful Spirits were artificially created anomalies.
Horrific constructs made by luring the homeless—who wouldn't be missed—with free meals...
The creators were no longer human. Utterly irredeemable villains who had crossed the line.
Even worse, pulverizing these Dismembered Vengeful Spirits wouldn't free their souls.
Unless the jars containing their corpses were destroyed at the root, the onmyoji could resummon them endlessly. Even killing the onmyoji wouldn't liberate them.
They would suffer unending torment until the corpses in the jars fully rotted away. Realizing this erased any thought of sparing the onmyoji intact.
He had committed an unforgivable sin.
So this was what "punish the sinners" meant.
Crack!
He swung his fist, bursting the charging Dismembered Vengeful Spirits. That should buy time before resummoning.
No need to hold back this time. These three were the type that couldn't be left alive. All had to be eliminated here.
He launched himself forward.
Maximizing presence concealment, toward the rare shaman using steel needles.
Deal with that woman first, who had been harassing his movements.
"Ugh!?"
Crashing through shelves, the dark-skinned shaman woman looked extremely flustered and tried to widen the gap again.
She attempted to invoke a blood seal on herself, but before she could, he seized her collar and hurled her into the food aisle.
Bam!
The impact seemed excruciating; her face twisted in agony.
Before the shaman could hide again, he accelerated, spinning her body with a kick.
"Urk!?"
She folded at the waist, vomiting blood as she flew several meters, smashing shelves before crashing beside the onmyoji summoning anomalies.
The feedback through his foot confirmed broken bones and twisted organs. She wouldn't stand easily.
"Kuhuk... Sp-spare me... please..."
As expected, the shaman woman staggered a few times before collapsing, unable to rise, spewing blood.
"How..."
Seeing his dying comrade vomiting blood, the onmyoji panicked visibly, his face contorting as he began casting healing spells on her.
So he was the one who made the Dismembered Vengeful Spirits.
Onmyoji could sink this low when corrupted.
No value in letting him live. As long as scum like this existed, the world would never brighten.
"Did you summon the Dismembered Vengeful Spirits?"
"..."
"If you won't answer, I'll make you suffer until you do."
As he approached the tight-lipped onmyoji, still eyes shut, a massive presence loomed from behind.
Sneaky bastard. The hulking one had been lurking to ambush his back all this time.
Thud!
-20 HP
In the original game, damage this severe would be near-instant death.
The child-sized iron club smashed his occiput, dropping vitality by 20 in a flash.
"Hyah! How's that!"
The drunken monk bellowed confidently.
Assuming him near death, he held back on follow-ups.
"Hahaha! ...Huh? What. Why are you fine...?"
Unscathed, without a drop of blood, he turned and glared. The defrocked monk showed panic and swung the club again.
Cannibal?
Not content with killing for anomalies like the onmyoji, this monk grew strong by eating people.
Forgiveness impossible. These weren't human.
Anomalies or worse—more vile than anomalies.
"What!? L-let go!"
He seized the incoming defrocked monk's iron club and wrenched it free by force.
Shocked at being overpowered in strength, the monk charged recklessly to topple him, but even that failed.
"Nngh...! Wh-what is this...!"
None of the monk's attacks landed.
Just brute physical prowess, no match for stats that had broken human limits.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Exactly three strikes to the back as the monk grabbed his waist and pushed to topple him.
That was it. The defrocked monk vomited unidentifiable organ clumps, all internals ruptured, and collapsed.
No breath. Dead.
"...Yang Su-cheon... you..."
The onmyoji halted healing the shaman and rose unsteadily.
His awkward stance suggested flight, but could he escape?
Realizing he couldn't, he spoke in desperation, hoping to talk his way out.
"...What the hell are you? Killing him that easily..."
The agonized, gasping shaman and the terrified onmyoji.
He kicked the wheezing shaman far away once more, then slowly approached the onmyoji.
Once close, he drew a cross from his pocket.
"Do you believe in God?"
"God...?"
"Yes. God. Whether the Lord or Buddha. Any deity. Do you believe?"
"I..."
"Of course not. No believer would commit such acts."
"W-wait. I won't resist, calm down! I'll tell you everything you want! I was never devoted to the Black Yao Society's doctrine! Just joined as a contractor!"
The onmyoji babbled excuses about his plight, desperate to escape alive.
But he had no intention of conversing.
The Anomaly Management Department could extract info without him. Unrivaled in intelligence.
They might already know all Black Yao strongholds. No reason to spare these.
"W-wait!!!"
He gripped the onmyoji's shoulder, forcing him to kneel, then pressed the cross to his forehead.
"Sinner who murdered the innocent to craft anomalies. Speak the locations of your buried jars."
"Gaaaaah!"
The cross tormented the unbeliever, scorching both his forehead and the Fixer's hand.
He didn't believe in God either. An unbeliever himself.
Using the Proof of Faith meant sharing the onmyoji's pain.
But this level of agony was bearable.
If borrowing divine power allowed such easy punishment of sinners, it was a bargain.