Chapter 186
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Legions of Beasts
“Any changes in the situation?”
A morning that started with Earl Grey.
Sarangi, who was monitoring 116 guests, gave the expected response.
『All guests are behaving in ways that don't significantly differ from their established living patterns, as inferred from CCTV footage and personal internet records.』
“As expected, they're not sloppy enough to give us an easy lead.”
I fueled up on carbs and fiber with a cucumber sandwich.
“The opponent has scouted my hand and is sealing off my forces, waiting patiently until they can deliver a killing blow. Someone that cautious wouldn't show their hand carelessly.”
『Upon reviewing human history, cases where actions don't match one's usual conduct or capabilities are actually more common.』
“But there are cases where they do match, right?”
『I can't refute that.』
I wrapped up by supplementing my protein with a boiled egg.
With the weather growing chillier by the day, I threw on a windbreaker.
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon.』
“Yeah?”
『From now on, when eating the same menu, consume the boiled egg, cucumber sandwich, and Earl Grey in that order. Ingesting protein, fiber, and carbs in sequence prevents blood sugar spikes and is better for your health.』
“……Got it.”
I headed to the Foundation's Korean branch.
If Sarangi's surveillance couldn't pinpoint the culprit's identity, I'd borrow the Foundation's resources.
“You've narrowed it down to 116 suspects? Then finding them should be easy!”
“The opponent is extremely cautious. If we show even the slightest gap in surveillance, we can't predict what they'll do.”
“Leave it to us—no need to worry.”
No one matches the Foundation's intelligence capabilities.
After wrapping up the discussion and heading home for some rest, an expected guest arrived.
“It's been a while, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon.”
It was Baal, who had visited my office before the regression.
But this time, the purpose of his visit was different.
“The Chairman asked me to relay that he's tangled up in something amusing and plans to watch the show with delight.”
“Did he not say anything about not peeking recklessly?”
“Hoo, just as the Chairman predicted. He said if you brought that up, tell you he has no interest in rehashing old stories.”
Baal didn't remember the previous loop.
“Were you at the company's dimension by any chance? Or did you come from virtual reality?”
“I was at the company. I failed to uphold my promise with the Center of the World, so her glare has grown fierce. I'll be sticking to the company for the time being.”
Even though he'd been in the Western Hell dimension.
But his Chairman remembered the previous loop.
‘Even great demons, even in other dimensions, can't escape the influence of regression.’
Unless they were on the level of that Chairman.
‘If dimensions apart still feel the effect, what about the Quest Vending Machine and the Equivalent Exchange Scale?’
Maybe it's not an ordinary dimension.
Or perhaps the servers are in some super-dimensional space beyond dimensions.
Or maybe it's something extraordinarily unique.
“I understand. Oh dear, a guest arrives and I haven't even offered food.”
“Heh heh, I was just getting hungry—thank you.”
His changed reaction proved the thorough shower and laundry had been worth it.
“I'll partake gratefully.”
“By the way, the angel scent seems gone now.”
“What do you mean?”
I told him about Raphael.
Baal sniffed a few times.
“There's a very faint trace, but it's coming from the soul, not the body. It's so subtle that you'd miss it without intense focus.”
That was unexpected.
From the soul, not the body? So meeting Raphael wasn't the source of the angel scent?
“If you meet an angel directly, does it imprint a scent on your soul?”
“Of course not.”
There must be another cause.
The difference between the last time I met Baal and now—only one thing came to mind.
“Mr. Baal, do you know about the three glories promised to Adam by the Creator?”
“The Promised Paradise, the Promised Legions, and the Promised Greatness, right?”
The flower of the Fallen Paradise blooming within me.
“What might the scent of those creations by the Creator have been like?”
“You're asking the obvious. Why do angels smell like angels? Because they were fragments of the Creator. Unless one fully severs ties and becomes a wholly independent existence like our Chairman, their scent never changes.”
Nothing else.
“The three glories would be the same—infused with the Creator's power, they'd carry a thick Creator scent.”
But if that's the case.
Then who was the source of the scent lingering in my office?
“Even though the three glories were destroyed by the Creator himself, their fragments would still hold the scent, right? The larger the fragment, the stronger the scent?”
The answer came quickly.
The culprit possesses one of the three glories.
“Probably so.”
A far more complete one than the fragment I hold.
Something closer to the original, capable of wielding greater power.
“The fragment the opponent holds must be the power from the Beast Legions promised to Adam.”
『Now the puzzle pieces fit. But does that mean the original Beast had a human face?』
Sarangi asked while driving autonomously.
The car's speed was 250 km/h.
Racing along mountain roads with perfect drifting to overtake other vehicles—it was cool no matter how many times I experienced it.
“No, even if the power they hold is great, it's still just a fragment. As a fragment, it manifests in a twisted form of the original, with additional anomalies layered on.”
『Like how the Fallen Paradise fragment in you creates ideal worlds, but instead reverts daily life through regression.』
“There's that saying: ordinary daily life is the best.”
Still not as good as Kim Dong-wook's driving, though.
Ah, I already miss that fantastical drive.
『But will this method work?』
“The opponent is targeting me. The incapacitation of the entity in my office and the massive area attack aimed at me confirm it. So as long as I keep moving without letting them pinpoint me, it should disrupt them.”
『Until the Foundation identifies the culprit?』
“Yeah.”
Gazing at the swiftly passing scenery, one question arose.
“But why target me?”
『Humans take lives for myriad reasons, but targeted killings tend to stem from limited motives.』
“What kind?”
『Jealousy, envy, greed—purely selfish ones. But the most common is anger.』
“Overcoming momentary anger leads to impulsive murder, the spark of unplanned killings. But the opponent is highly systematic. Hiding their identity, gathering intel, waiting for the perfect moment. Cautious enough to dig uncertain traps like the zoo incident.”
『Analyzing additional motives.』
As we exited the mountain road, Sarangi's calculations finished.
『I've identified two motives.』
“Tell me.”
『One is that the murder itself was commissioned by a third party. In that case, the perpetrator has no emotional investment.』
“And the other?”
『Human emotions and sensations, when exceeding thresholds, often manifest oppositely.』
“Like how extreme pleasure becomes pain, or utter peace turns to torment?”
I knew what Sarangi was getting at.
『Extreme anger enabling perfect composure is the second possibility.』
“That would certainly explain it…….”
Just then, my smartphone rang.
Sarangi switched to speaker mode and answered.
—External Special Advisor, problem solved.
“You found them?”
—No, we didn't. We threw everything at it, but no signs.
“Then what do you mean by solved?”
—Exactly that.
It happened in an instant.
Even my eyes, tempered by steadily consuming Dried Friendship against assassination threats, couldn't catch it.
—‘Solved.’ No need to find them.
A laser at the speed of light.
Like a god judging humanity, a colossal 10 km-diameter laser crater plummeted from the sky onto the city.
—Kill all 116. Can't rule out mind control among their associates lurking in the shadows, or evasion via precognition or acceleration. Wipe out everything within a 10 km radius.
The city crumbled.
Buildings and people in the laser's path vaporized into smoke, literally evaporating.
—We avoid such extremes, but the target is a highly dangerous apocalypse-class entity. For humanity's sake, this sacrifice is unavoidable.
As the laser vanished, a massive crater emerged.
The bottomless pit resembled a gateway to hell.
—If sacrificing a million saves the rest of humanity, we must.
Lee Ha-yul's voice from the receiver held no tremor.
I felt his ironclad conviction to protect humanity, even at the cost of countless lives.
—All responsibility is mine……
The call cut off.
Sarangi's comms being severed meant not physical interference, but an entity's anomaly.
“Kyaaah!”
“Save me!”
At the sudden screams, I heightened my spirit eyes to scan the city.
Outside the laser's range, human-faced beasts rampaged madly.
『Kill the humans!』
『Rip and devour and trample every human!』
Unlike the calm-faced zoo human-faces I'd seen through the agents' body cams, these wept blood tears.
『I hate you! I hate you all!』
『Why did you take all my children?』
『Don't take my babies!』
They slaughtered every human nearby, without purpose or restraint.
“It's like…….”
A rampage?
In that moment, I spotted the insect beneath me.
『Huuuumaaaaan!』
That body—Bomb Dust Beetle.
The Bomb Dust Beetle glared at me with a face twisted in rage and resentment, blood tears streaming, its body glowing.
『Dieeeee!』
No sound reached me.
It felt like my eardrums had burst.
‘Damn.’
The world spun rapidly.
What was happening?
Focusing my mind, I realized it wasn't the world spinning—it was me.
‘I'm dead.’
That over there is my arm.
That over there is my leg.
My limbs had disassembled and shot up to the sky.
‘Quite the sight.’
Through my rapidly spinning vision, I looked down at the ground.
I'd risen to the stratosphere; I could see the Earth, with massive mushroom clouds blooming endlessly across continents.
‘Apocalypse.’
The crater alone was over 8 km wide by eye.
More powerful than Tsar Bomba, history's strongest nuke.
‘I once heard that during a nuke test, a manhole cover punched through the stratosphere into space. Guess I'm the manhole cover now.’
Thanks to Dried Friendship, I didn't vaporize in the plasma.
Even dismembered, consciousness lingered awhile.
‘I learned a lot.’
All human-faces harbor extreme hatred for humans.
When a being with beast power dies, it rampages.
When beast power rampages, all beasts worldwide become human-faces.
‘The Bomb Dust Beetle has the anomaly of nuclear explosions exceeding Tsar Bomba.’
Knowledge gained.
Darkness came.
A golden tulip appeared in the void.
Two flowers on a single stem.
『Two.』
One petal fell.
[Next up: Last night, 13 members of an animal rights group found dead after illegally trespassing into a Seoul zoo.]
Two fried eggs.
One bowl of rice.
Two spoons soy sauce, one spoon sesame oil.
[No wounds from animals; police leaning toward weapon, illness, or accident.]
And a bowl of intel.
“Perfect.”
I scooped up a big bite of the finished soy sauce egg fried rice.
“Now I know how to find the culprit.”