The Spear's Three Flaws
Evan walked along the outskirts of the Whirlpool Market, answering the man trailing behind him. “Curse me all you want. You said you knew something?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if she’s still living there, though.”
Normally, this would be the time when beggars started swarming them, but apparently even the beggars here weren’t stupid enough to pester someone openly carrying such an eye-catching weapon.
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” Locke asked, suspicion still thick in his voice even as he followed.
Evan answered curtly. “The woman you’re looking for—her name’s Natasha, right?”
“…!”
“I once looked into a woman with a similar name and similar hair color. I don’t know if she was nobility, but she definitely didn’t look like she was born around here. From what I heard, she crossed over to this border area and started living here about four or five years ago.”
By mixing just enough truth with lies, Evan made Locke’s pupils tremble.
“And lately she’s barely been seen at the market at all. So either she left… or she’s dead.”
“……”
“If I’m wrong, I can turn back right now.”
“…It sounds like you’re right.”
“Then follow me. Just so you know in advance, this is all secondhand information, so I can’t guarantee she’s still there.”
Locke hurried to catch up, speaking as if urging him on. “Can’t we go a little faster? Haven’t we already walked this path before?”
Is this really the same guy who was suspicious of me until just now?
Evan almost sighed, but he could understand the man’s feelings, so he answered honestly. “Yes, it’s the same path.”
“What?”
“Hero, you’re not mistaking these tents for permanent buildings, are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“It wouldn’t be strange if the entire layout here changed every single day.”
The beggars living on the market’s outskirts used filthy, hole-riddled personal tents as their homes.
“Whether it’s rain, strong sunlight, too many bugs, or even just because they don’t like the person in the next tent—any little reason can cause the whole arrangement to shift.”
“So we have to search every single tent?”
Evan shook his head. “That’s one way, but would someone who left or died really be guarding their tent? It’s far more likely everything inside was taken long ago.”
That was exactly why Evan called the beggars here hyenas. They fed on other people’s corpses.
“If she died recently, the beggar who took her belongings is probably looking unusually well-fed. We just circle around a few times until we spot them. That beggar would have either abandoned the body or buried it. It’s faster than flipping over the entire nearby field, isn’t it?”
At Evan’s explanation, Locke glared fiercely at the beggars around them.
…It’s an excuse, of course.
If he went straight to the tent where Natalia had lived, he risked raising suspicion. And if Locke asked how he could possibly tell one identical tent from another, he’d have no answer. So instead, they wandered in circles.
Her bones were already inside his mansion in Abaddon, and he had personally returned her blood and flesh to the earth. There was no evidence left. The only things that might have held sentimental value had probably all been taken by Natasha.
“…I can’t tell them apart at all. Do you see any beggar that looks different?”
After several more laps, Locke—eyes clearly tired—rubbed them repeatedly as he asked Evan.
Evan answered as if he’d been waiting for the question. “I don’t.”
“Then are we just going to keep doing this?”
“No. I’ve already checked everything. There are no different beggars.”
He changed direction.
“So it’s one of two things. Either she didn’t actually die, or…”
The outermost edge of the outskirts. A place where rain brought constant dampness, scorching sunlight beat down with nowhere to hide, and bugs swarmed so thickly that even the other beggars avoided it with a shudder.
“No one even knows she’s dead.”
Natalia’s tent was located in exactly such a spot.
She was smart.
She had known that in this den of hyenas, the things to fear most weren’t moisture, heat, or insects.
. . .
Evan arrived at the tent Natalia had originally used.
“This should be it.”
“Here…?”
Locke stared at the tattered tent that looked ready to collapse at any moment, disbelief written across his face. It was so ragged that even beggars would tear it up for blankets. His voice trembled as he asked for confirmation.
“She… really lived in a place like this?”
“It’s process of elimination, but it has to be. If she didn’t live anywhere near here, maybe not—but if she did live here, this is the only spot.”
Locke lifted the tent flap and looked inside, but of course no one was there.
Evan, who had followed behind pretending to know nothing, looked around the now-lifeless interior and spoke in a calm tone.
“If someone had found a body, the tent wouldn’t still be here. And if she’d died while wandering outside, it wouldn’t be this neatly cleaned out. So… it looks like she left. Maybe she’s living somewhere else now?”
At Evan’s question, Locke slowly shook his head.
“No. She’s dead.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can tell. I couldn’t believe it, so I checked again and again, but nothing changed.”
As if that fact at least was undeniable, Locke clenched his teeth.
“Then I guess this is as far as I can help you.”
“…I see.”
Locke pulled a single syringe from his coat and held it out to Evan.
“You were helpful. It doesn’t seem like you were lying about having lived here a long time.”
Evan carefully tucked the needle away so it wouldn’t bend or break, then spoke again.
“The reason you’re so certain she’s dead is…”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”
Locke cut him off firmly, but Evan hadn’t asked because he didn’t already know the answer.
“It’s because of the Holy Spear’s ability, isn’t it?”
Locke’s eyes widened, then grew cold as he gripped his spear tightly.
“Who the hell are you? How do you know about the spear’s power?”
Instead of answering, Evan released his spell. The orange hair and green eyes slowly darkened back to black.
“This is the first time we’ve met face to face like this. Hero of the Spear, but…”
Black flames were already rising from Evan’s body.
“You don’t remember these flames?”
The moment he saw Evan’s fire, Locke leapt backward like a man who had seen a ghost, creating distance and drawing the Holy Spear.
“…Abaddon’s Devil. You played me for a fool?”
“I never actually lied. That she lived there, that I needed the needle—every word was true.”
“How do you know her?”
Locke ground his teeth and leveled the spear’s pure white blade at Evan. The weapon faintly radiated divinity.
“Do I have any obligation to answer that? Besides…”
Evan smiled mockingly.
“You already seem to know everything. Why ask?”
The very next instant, a white dot hurtled forward.
The spear pierced straight through Evan’s forehead like a beam of light.
As Evan crumpled, Locke spat through gritted teeth.
“Showing yourself directly in front of me was your mistake, Abaddon’s Devil.”
There had been no throwing motion. It was more accurate to say he had simply let go of the spear he was holding. Yet the weapon flew as if it had a will of its own—faster than any full-powered throw—and completely penetrated Evan’s forehead.
This was the power of the holy relic that Evan had called a cheat.
Absolute Hit. A spear that never missed its target.
“Even seeing it up close, I still don’t understand the principle.”
“……What?”
When a voice came from Evan—whose head was half gone—Locke’s face filled with shock.
“Why are you surprised?”
Evan rose in that grotesque state and tilted his head as if he genuinely didn’t understand.
“I’m not an idiot. If I know your spear’s ability, why would I show up without any countermeasures?”
“…True to your name as a devil, you’re persistent. I’ll pierce you as many times as it takes.”
Locke reached out with his empty hand toward the spear. The weapon embedded in Evan’s head began to tremble.
It was a good attempt—using the Absolute Hit ability in reverse to retrieve the thrown spear—but with a sharp ping, the Holy Spear vibrated violently in midair yet refused to move from its spot. It was as if something had caught it.
“I see. So that’s why they gave the Holy Spear to a one-armed man.”
The figure of Evan with the spear through his head blurred and melted into the air. The newly revealed Evan stood beside him, gripping the trembling spear. White lightning and black flames intertwined in his hand, sending smoke rising.
Seizing it is impossible.
The moment Evan gave up and released the spear, it shot toward Locke like a bullet. The skill with which Locke caught the spear flying straight at him couldn’t be dismissed even as flattery.
“You wield something that could blow off your remaining hand without hesitation. Impressive.”
Half mockery, half genuine admiration. Locke reacted as if he had received a grave insult.
“Shut up!”
“Overreacting. Did you lose that arm the same way? If your focus slipped, it’s possible.”
“I said shut up!”
The spear flew again, piercing straight through Evan’s heart. The body blurred, and a new Evan walked out from behind Locke.
“Hero of the Spear, didn’t I mention your flaws earlier?”
Locke hurriedly retreated, but Evan closed the distance even faster.
“You have three flaws.”
He drove a fist into the panicked Locke’s jaw. A sickening crack sounded as several teeth flew out.
“Guh…!”
“First, you fall for provocation too easily and throw away your only weapon.”
Evan had already noticed the spear changing direction in midair, so he grabbed the staggering Locke by the collar and used him as a shield. The spear’s trajectory twisted strangely and crashed into the ground.
“Second, the spear’s path is too linear and simple, making it ridiculously easy to predict.”
Still holding Locke by the collar and dangling him in the air, Evan continued speaking.
“And the most important third flaw.”
“You son of a…!”
“You rely too heavily on the spear’s ability…”
Every time the spear showed signs of moving again, Evan interfered with a curse.
Hallucination (Hearing) — Hallucination (Sight) — Hallucination (Touch)
Under the influence of the three curses, Locke could no longer even locate Evan and swung his spear wildly at empty air.
“And you charged at someone who knows exactly how to counter it.”
It had been a hypothesis from the beginning, but fighting him face-to-face had turned it into certainty.
“As expected, the Holy Spear’sAbsolute Hit is affected by ‘recognition.’”
A spear that ignored all magical or cursed interference, paid no heed to physical distance, and would absolutely strike its target. It was a power worthy of being called a miracle, but it was not invincible.
It only hit what the user ‘recognized’ as the target. That was both the miracle and the limit of the Holy Spear.
More precisely, it’s the limit of a tool that ultimately depends on its user.
“It was mildly entertaining, Hero of the Spear. It was a valuable lesson to learn that even a holy relic called a miracle from god can be countered if you prepare properly.”
Evan brought the black flame to Locke’s forehead.
“It’s a shame neither of us is at full strength, but research is only truly completed when proven in practice rather than theory.”
“…Curse you, Abaddon’s Devil.”
“Pfft.”
At those words, Evan involuntarily thought of the saint who was currently giving him the biggest headache of all.
“I’ve already received more than enough curses.”
The flame pierced through Locke’s forehead.
“So get some sleep.”