Chapter 187: The Mad Engineer's Torment
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Nothing was left to protect Frantic any longer.
With the death of the dwarf king, the black shield formed by his mana had vanished as well.
Of course, even if it had remained, it would have meant nothing against Astel.
“Get lost! Get the hell away!”
Plunged into mental breakdown, Frantic began hurling everything from his pockets indiscriminately.
Among them were vials of extreme poison potent enough to drop even an ogre in one hit…
“Pointless efforts.”
The thrown objects were blocked and bounced away before they could even reach Astel.
“I could take them bare-handed without issue, but I can’t sully this borrowed body.”
“Wh-what the hell are you…?”
“What does it matter to a man about to die?”
“Eek!”
“Let’s start with one leg.”
Crunch!
Astel approached Frantic and crushed his left shin underfoot. The leg was mangled as bones snapped audibly.
“Gaaahhh!”
“Tch. What a noisy bastard. The victims you sacrificed must have endured far worse agony, yet here you are, screaming over this?”
“P-please… spare me… I can’t die like this…”
“The countless lives you toyed with must have begged you the same way. But what happened? Did you spare them?”
“……”
For the first time, Frantic was at a loss for words in response to Astel’s question.
“That’s right. You will die here today. I swear it on my name.”
“Ah…”
Though Frantic didn’t know it, this was truly a declaration from a god.
Frantic thrashed and screamed wildly, as if trying to shake off the overwhelming pressure in Astel’s voice.
“They were necessary sacrifices for my research! My work will advance the world—!”
“Pathetic excuse. Don’t drag some grand cause into the atrocities you committed for your own desires. It’s revolting. Now, the other foot.”
Crunch!
“Kaaack!”
“Hoo. It’s been ages since my last possession; controlling my strength isn’t easy. Must be careful.”
Killing scum like this in one blow would be an extravagant mercy.
Astel proceeded to grind him down meticulously, ensuring Frantic wouldn’t die from shock.
Crunch!
“Kak! St-stop…”
Crunch!
“M-money! Yes! Just spare me, and all my vast fortune is yours…”
Crunch!
“Kr… kaak! P-please, spare me! If I die, all the test subjects elsewhere will die too!”
“……What did you say?”
For the first time, Astel reacted to Frantic’s ravings, ignoring them until now.
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Frantic desperately shouted.
“There are still test subjects in another secret lab! Only I know it—if I die, they’ll all starve!”
“……Where is it?”
“Pr-promise to spare me first! I’ll free them all. Heh… heh.”
“……”
Astel narrowed his eyes at the gasping Frantic, saying nothing.
“Th-there are tons there too. Humans, more dwarves—I’ll release them all. I’ll retire quietly somewhere. Please… please spare me.”
Astel flinched ever so slightly at the word ‘dwarves,’ then furrowed his brow deeper, lost in heavy contemplation.
—…No way, you’re actually hesitating now? How naive can you get?
‘Yeah, right.’
Though Carpe had planned to spectate silently as a third party, he couldn’t stay quiet now.
The flow was turning sour, so he hurriedly addressed Astel.
‘Lord Astel, no.’
<Hmm. But…>
‘There’s no guarantee that bastard’s telling the truth. If anything, it’s far more likely a lie.’
The diary Carpe found in the underground lab noted Frantic spent nearly every day holed up there.
Running another secret lab on top of that? Far more believable he’d fabricated it to save his skin.
<However… what if by some chance…>
‘You don’t negotiate with terrorists. That’s rule one.’
Some humans could be redeemed, but others were beyond saving no matter what.
And to Carpe, this mad scientist was unmistakably the latter.
‘He won’t retire quietly. Letting him live guarantees more victims—second, third waves.’
Saving the lives before him might work short-term, but countless more would perish in the future.
<…You’re right. Haha, I must be getting old to waver at such obvious nonsense. Thanks—I’ve made my decision.>
Grind.
Astel gnashed his teeth and seized Frantic by the collar.
“Kek! It’s not a lie! Spare—”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Wh-what?! You don’t care if the test subjects die?”
“I’m a god, but not omniscient or omnipotent. Saving every life is impossible. So I’ll do what I can.”
Astel raised his fist, face twisted in rage.
“Like… uprooting the seed of calamity right in front of me. Is that what you wanted? Fine, I’ll grant your wish. Abandon all hope.”
“Ah… no!”
To the bitter end, Frantic made the fatal mistake of touching Astel’s reverse scale.
* * *
How much time passed after that?
What happened to Frantic afterward defied verbal description. To summarize lightly: scenes unfit for a 15+ game unfolded in abundance, and he perished in utter despair.
1 minute remaining until Possession ends.
“Hmm. A pity. With more time, I could’ve taken greater care.”
‘…Even more from here?’
“What’s this? Back in our era, we saw far worse… Ah, I forgot to consider your sensibilities. Humans might find it excessive. My apologies if it discomforted you.”
‘No, it’s fine. Felt refreshing for once.’
“Refreshing? I don’t grasp the term, but I’ll take it as a positive.”
Honestly, it bordered on hydrochloric acid beyond mere refreshment… but the outcome was good regardless.
The Ancient God of Play frowns at the excessive brutality.
The Ancient God of Play scolds you for undignified conduct.
“Hmph. Worry about your own dignity. Venting my wrath comes first.”
The Ancient God of Play tells you to bring a gift next time.
“That swindler’s a genius at getting under your skin. Sigh. Anyway, I owe you greatly.”
‘No, I owe you too, Lord Astel. I thought I was done for.’
“Even so, forced possession like this brings heavy aftereffects. Hmm. This was my selfish act, so compensation is in order.”
Carpe fell silent at the word ‘compensation.’
Right—best to stay quiet here.
Feigning humility with ‘Oh no, it’s fine, no need for that…’ was mere human politeness, but to dwarves, it’d be grave rudeness.
Just accept gratefully when offered.
Of course, this was all Carpe’s brain supplement, but he firmly believed it true.
“I’ll leave a few gifts upon departure. Ah, one more request?”
‘Of course. What is it?’
“Deliver that hammer to the tribe—they’ll be grateful.”
‘Easy enough.’
“Thanks. Then, truly time to go. We shan’t meet again, but I wish blessings upon you.”
‘Pardon? We won’t meet again? What do you—’
Carpe tried to question, but the possession ended.
Possession has ended.
Due to possession aftereffects, all stats are halved for 30 minutes. Fatigue surges dramatically, reducing movement speed by 80%.
“Ugh.”
Reclaiming his body, Carpe grimaced at the leaden weight.
“Said the aftereffects would be severe…”
This was it?
Carpe exhaled deeply. Movement felt profoundly uncomfortable.
Best not to push—instead, sit and rest. No enemies remained.
Then.
Cheonma, who’d vanished somewhere, reappeared beside him.
—Back.
“Oh, welcome back? How’re they?”
—Just resting in the lounge? Ellis was tending them. Seem fine.
“Good…”
Relieved his retainers were safe, Carpe sighed in relief.
“Thanks. Wanted to check myself, but warp’s blocked here…”
—Exit first, then Room. What’s the rush?
“A master’s heart, eager to confirm safety ASAP.”
—Tsk tsk. You’re the only player fussing over a mere unsummon. Yours are max affinity—no penalties.
Typically, retainer-summoning classes incurred penalties if retainers hit 0 HP and unsummoned.
Prime example: affinity dropped, risking command refusal.
Repeated rapid unsummons could even make them abandon their master.
Max affinity negated such issues, however.
“So, what now?”
—Hm?
“This was a death event, right? Story advances only on player death—but I didn’t die; I flipped it.”
—…Yeah. Never dreamed we’d freebie this.
Even Cheonma couldn’t hide his fluster at this unprecedented turn.
“Quest won’t just dangle midway, will it? Where’s my Epic reward?!”
—RaSe wouldn’t pull that… Weird. Notification due by now?
No alerts came. Five minutes of waiting yielded nothing.
“Ugh. Check other stuff first. Astel left gifts too.”
But something else was pivotal.
The items left where Frantic’s corpse had vanished!
Rewards for conquering the ‘forced defeat event’ at an Epic quest’s climax.
Bound to be extraordinary. Even Epic drops wouldn’t surprise now.
“Hoo…”
As Carpe rose to inspect—
The long-awaited alerts finally appeared.
But their volume was ominous.
Unique quest ‘End of Frioten’ has been nullified.
Legendary quest ‘Seed of the Devil’ has been postponed.
Unique quest ‘Chimera Rampage’ has been replaced by another scenario.
Quest ‘Remnants of the Experiment’…
Quest ‘Curse of Orioden’…
“Wh-what the hell?!”
Carpe gawked at the endless barrage of notifications.
That instant, he realized why they’d delayed.
“……Buffering while processing all Frantic-related stuff, huh.”
—Insane. All those quests tied to this?!
And one more revelation.
Player contributions to all altered quests are being tallied. Rewards restructured based on contribution.
“……Whoa.”
This reward was no joke. Truly extraordinary.