Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Chapter 35.
“Gunter.”
“……”
“Gunter? Can’t you hear me?”
Gunter slowly closed and opened his eyes.
The phantom pain remaining in his body faded gently.
As his consciousness returned, the first thing that came to mind was a question.
‘What was that just now?’
It was a moment where only a terrible death awaited him.
But someone had ended his life before the pain deepened.
Without a doubt, the Paladin and the Priest would have raged.
Because pain and despair were nutrients that increased the efficiency of the offering.
Someone had gone directly against their will.
‘…Why, of all things?’
In that place filled only with rotten gangs and fanatics, who would have shown him such mercy?
Just as Gunter was pondering his question, a loud shout erupted from beside him.
“GUNTER!!!!”
Only then did Gunter turn his gaze.
Eddie, whose neck had been severed, was raging right before his eyes.
“Why are you just standing there blankly mid-sentence!”
Honestly, his temper is terrible.
In his past life, he probably charged in without controlling that temper and lost his head.
The first among the group, no less.
“…You damn good bastard.”
“W-what?”
Gunter lightly took a breath.
‘Let’s assess the situation first.’
A new life had begun.
Pondering the questions of his past life could wait for later.
Now was the time to act.
‘This place is….’
The first thing that caught his eye were the layers of dust and miscellaneous items.
The storage room inside the bunker.
It was the place where he had interrogated and eliminated gang members.
It seemed to be the point where Eddie and the other Contractors, who had escaped on their own, were discovered and he was temporarily leading them to hide.
Gunter’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘About 15 minutes left until they storm in, I guess.’
The time was more pressing than expected.
‘I need to move quickly.’
Fortunately, he had already prepared a broad plan in his previous life.
Gunter retraced the clues he had gathered right up until the brink of death, one by one, and re-examined his plan.
The enemy’s scale and strength.
The structure of the internal feeding hall.
The mother’s condition.
Including the Paladin and the Priest.
He had found out everything he could.
The plan quickly took shape.
‘This must be the first thing.’
Gunter flung open the storage room door and strode forward.
“Everyone, this way.”
“……”
But why?
No one followed him.
Even Eddie hesitated and stopped after a few steps.
“Uh… um.”
The eyes of the group were shaking as if an earthquake had struck.
After a moment of silence, one non-combatant man spoke with a trembling voice.
“…E-excuse me. Are you in your right mind right now?”
It was a natural question to ask.
Gunter’s toes were pointed towards the underground stairs… the passage leading to the prison and the feeding hall.
In the direction Eddie and the others had barely escaped from and climbed back up.
“I-I don’t know what you’re thinking, but leave me out of it. Isn’t it enough to just go out the entrance? Why are you telling us to go back to that terrible place?”
Another man nodded vigorously.
It was an understandable reaction.
Who would readily agree to go back into hell after barely escaping it?
It would take considerable time to persuade them.
‘…Unfortunately, I don’t have that time.’
So Gunter repeated the same words once more.
“This way.”
Hoping that his drawn sword would provide sufficient persuasion.
“J-just a moment…”
“I-I’ll go, so please don’t hurt me!”
[The owner of the small hearth makes a sad face]
[The one who likes yeast begs for mercy]
It might be scary, but what else could be done?
It would be better than losing one’s head here.
Fortunately, Eddie and the female Contractor moved on their own.
As he led them underground, Gunter slowly nodded.
‘Let’s go.’
To save everyone,
To defeat the mother,
And to wipe out the remaining gang forces and the pursuers who followed.
There was a plan for such a complete victory.
* * *
On the way to the underground bunker.
Rumarr, a Priest of the Order of Abundance, recalled the holy doctrines he had learned as a novice priest.
“For the Divine Rank to descend upon this land, a vessel is necessary.
We call that vessel the ‘mother’.”
Mothers are broadly divided into two categories.
The first is the chosen direct Contractor.
The second is monsters.
And 99% of descent rituals are performed through the latter.
‘It is difficult for a human with reason to fully bear the Divine Rank.’
The moment the god descends.
The body twists and the mind burns.
Even among direct Contractors, only a very few can fully endure it.
Especially as the Divine Rank becomes stronger, the limit becomes clear.
Of course, if they can endure the ‘infestation,’ the god who has descended upon the mother can reveal even greater power.
However, most gods and their followers choose a more stable path.
Hence, monsters.
They are special and precious individuals, modified to be suitable for descent, with a ‘parasitic core’ containing fragments of the god implanted.
…Mother #17.
The one entrusted to a certain gang in the lower levels was special among them.
Rumarr’s hands trembled as he recalled its appearance.
First, the parasitic core’s adaptation rate was ideally high.
He hadn’t expected much, but thanks to the gang vermin constantly supplying quality food.
In a situation where 90% of the mothers sent into Border City were brutally killed by Night Crow, those detestable heretics, it was a truly precious existence.
So much so that the higher-ups, worried, ordered an earlier pickup than scheduled.
‘It was expected to reach the Sub-god stage without issue.’
The four stages of descent.
Divine Possession, Sub-god, Incarnation, Descent.
Even if the mother only reaches the Sub-god stage, it can be utilized as an excellent combat resource.
And if it were to go further and reach Incarnation—
‘Then none of the dead mothers will have been in vain. I too will be reborn from a mere priest to a being who can serve God more closely.’
However, Rumarr’s face, full of anticipation and excitement, froze like a statue upon reaching the bunker entrance.
“From the bloodstains at the entrance… to the surveillance magic tools that are all dead.”
“Ah, no, this… this can’t be…?”
Seeing the flustered Boss, Rumarr felt like he was going mad.
To have such a problem erupt on the very day they decided to retrieve the mother?
‘Intruders. Intruders!’
The decision to entrust the security to the gang, avoiding Night Crow’s pursuit by not stationing troops, was something he regretted to the point of his insides churning.
Rumarr growled, filled with such regret and anger.
“If something happens to the mother… I’ll personally throw you into the drop chute.”
As he said this, Rumarr glanced at Paladin Patrick.
He was the overall commander of this retrieval mission and Rumarr’s superior, a cautious yet capable individual.
Rumarr’s eyes held the expectation that he would provide a countermeasure for this situation.
“Rumarr.”
“Yes, Sir Patrick.”
“The signal from the parasitic core?”
“Ah, that… fortunately, it is still ongoing.”
Fortunately, the signal emitted by the ‘parasitic core’ had not yet been cut off.
At least it meant the mother was still alive.
Thump-
Patrick, with his hand on the hilt of his greatsword, narrowed his eyes for a moment.
“What a coincidental timing. It must be Night Crow, right?”
Rumarr quickly nodded with a devastated expression.
“Yes, I think so too. Who else would dare to interfere with our ceremony if not those wicked heretics. Immediately….”
Patrick quietly gestured, cutting off Rumarr’s words.
Then, he turned his gaze into the dark bunker interior.
As if he could see through the intruder hidden within.
“Don’t get too worked up, and look at the bigger picture.”
“…Yes?”
“In a way, isn’t it a good opportunity?”
It took a moment of silence for Rumarr to grasp the meaning of his words.
Then, soon—
“Ah….”
His eyes slowly widened.
His rapid breathing also subsided.
Patrick nodded with a gentle smile.
“Yes, that’s exactly it.”
A crisis where a Night Crow hitman had infiltrated to eliminate the mother.
However, thinking conversely, the intruder must also be greatly flustered by their unexpected visit.
‘Because they are trapped in this sealed underground with no way out.’
What if they not only protected the mother but also managed to eliminate… no, even capture the target?
Night Crow is a being that has been causing extreme headaches for the higher-ups recently.
There would surely be immense rewards.
Promotion would be a given, and perhaps even exceptional benefits like contract renewal could be aimed for.
A strange heat began to flicker in Rumarr’s eyes.
‘Although they are elite, they are a small group… it’s definitely doable.’
Upon careful consideration, the situation was by no means unfavorable.
Judging by the traces left behind, there was one, at most two, intruders.
On the other hand, they had plenty of expendable meat shields.
‘No matter how skilled they are, their Stamina must have limits.’
If they drag it out into a war of attrition, a gap will inevitably appear.
That’s when they can strike.
He is currently accompanied by a ‘3rd-tier Paladin,’ and…
‘The mother, who is more powerful than any ordinary beast, is also an ally.’
If necessary, they could just release the mother and attack together.
Thanks to the parasitic core implanted within, the mother instinctively recognizes beings with similar energy as allies.
‘This means Patrick and I are safe.’
Of course, the gang members will be attacked… but what does it matter?
They are people who need to be silenced eventually anyway.
Rumarr let out a cold laugh.
‘Come to think of it, the Night Crow intruders might be the ones most terrified right now.’
They thought they only had to kill the mother, but unexpected forces stormed in… how flustered must they be?
Moreover, the mother is almost complete.
The fact that they are hiding somewhere instead of revealing themselves now might be evidence of their fear.
“Alright, Rumarr. Let us move for the glory of the Lord and his brother, Jan Daet.”
Screech-
Having finished speaking, Patrick drew his greatsword and stared directly at the Boss.
“We will go to the mother. You, immediately, find the intruders.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll move right away!”
The gang Boss, his face pale as death, hastily gestured to his subordinates.
“Hey you bastards, hurry up! Catch the intruders and bring them before the VIP right now!”
Rumble-
With the subordinates’ shouts, the corridor was violently stirred.
Gang members who were off-duty emerged from all corners, weapons in hand.
Light and shouts, the friction of metal.
…It was the moment the entire gang began to move, chasing after a single Gunter.
* * *
At the same time.
Gunter arrived at the underground prison without incident and put the group back into the cells.
“W-what are you going to do with us?”
Because there was not enough explanation during the process, the two men looked at Gunter like he was a demon.
However, you have to give what you owe.
He couldn’t waste precious time trying to gain their favor.
‘I’m going to save them anyway…!’
Gunter opened his mouth with a slightly apologetic feeling.
“I will come to rescue you as soon as the situation is resolved, so please stay put.”
Actually, there’s no need to resent him.
At this point, the prison was the safest place within the bunker.
The gang members, preoccupied with finding the intruders, would hardly come all the way to the prison to harm the Contractors who were quietly confined.
‘It’s not for nothing that I brought them here.’
Gunter took his gaze off the two men who looked like they were about to cry and looked at the female Contractor.
“Heh heh….”
She was strangely calm.
Leaning against the wall in the corner of the cell, she was fiddling with a dagger she had picked up from a dead gang member earlier.
“If any unforeseen situation arises, I’ll entrust them to you.”
A cool reply came back.
“Yep.”
“……”
“Leave it to me.”
Overwhelming composure.
For a moment, it even sparked suspicion that she might be a spy.
Seeing as she died by Rutien’s hand in her past life, that wasn’t the case, but he didn’t know why she was so bold.
…It’s better than whining, though.
[The Red Street Pillar watches her with interest]
“Gunter.”
Gunter turned his head.
Eddie was looking at him with a sullen expression.
“…Why aren’t you locking me up?”
“Because there’s something we need to do together.”
“Something to do together?”
Instead of answering, Gunter turned his gaze towards the feeding hall.
Eddie’s expression crumpled instantly.
“…Seriously? You have to? Are you in your right mind?”
“We have to, for it all to end.”
Gunter smiled faintly and exhaled the breath he had been holding.
It was time for the highlight of the operation.