Chapter 81

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 81

Chapter Title: The Wrong Face in the Picture

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The culprit behind the village's plague was uncovered thanks to an unexpected clue.

The discrepancy between Gunt's real face and the one in the child's drawing.

Had they overlooked that picture, it might have taken much longer to expose Gunt as the mastermind behind it all.

"Hee hee hee... I should have gotten rid of you that day after all. You've come all the way to my turf to cause trouble."

"Was it you who orchestrated everything in Twilight Village too?"

"Who else could it be? Hee hee hee hee!"

Snap!

As Gunt's fingers clicked together, the howls of monsters echoed from around the village.

"M-Mr. Gunt!"

"How could this be... What have you done...?"

"Kyaaah! M-Monsters outside!"

The monsters were gradually closing in, tightening their encirclement around where Kang Seol stood. He posed a question to Gunt.

"Where did you make these monsters?"

"Hold on, hold on! It's not fair if only you get to ask questions. How about this? I like deals. We each answer one question and get to ask one in return?"

"Fine by me. Answer."

"The corpses of the sick, obviously. Satisfied?"

"...Yes."

The villagers were stunned by Gunt's sudden shift in demeanor.

"Sir! How could you do something so horrific...?"

"Weren't you staying here to save us?"

Gunt laughed.

"Save you? Hahaha! Me, your savior?"

"W-Wasn't that the case?"

"You idiots. That's why you get trampled your whole lives—always expecting someone else to save you!"

With those words, he pulled something from his pocket.

A black potion vial.

It was the same object Kang Seol had seen in the scroll.

"I spread the mist plague. This potion puts you to sleep and turns you into a corpse. Sadly, that's the true nature of the salvation you begged for."

"No way..."

"Snap out of it, Mr. Gunt! I don't know what's gotten into you, but..."

"If you don't know, shut your mouth! Hee hee hee!"

Kang Seol realized the vial Gunt was shaking was a sleeping potion. And that everything stemmed from it. The shock hit him hard.

What the hell does he need that potion for?

Whatever horrific effect it had that Kang Seol didn't know about—he couldn't even guess.

"My turn now. How did you figure out I was behind this?"

"......"

"No answer, no more talk."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"I already answered your question."

"Damn it, should have asked both at once. Fine."

"...Is there an antidote for the mist plague?"

Gunt grinned widely.

"What? Hee hee hee! Yeah, you'd need that. There is! Of course there is!"

"Ask your question."

"Why were you hunting me?"

"Curious about something you have."

"Come on, give me a straight answer. It's the antidote for the mist plague, right? Got a friend who's sick?"

"One question only. How did you fool the villagers?"

"Simple hypnosis and illusions, plus some anatomy and sorcery I picked up on the side? Too advanced for you, probably."

The conversation had dragged on quite a while.

Kang Seol could sense Karen's patience, standing beside him, was nearing its limit.

"This'll be my last question, I think. So how did you know this Gunt was the guy you were after? I changed my face..."

"That picture."

The drawing Kang Seol pointed to showed Gunt's old face. Finally realizing why he'd been exposed, Gunt laughed.

"Keh heh heh! Figures, huh? I didn't dispel the suggestion on the face change! That's how you caught me. Simple enough. So, what now? Oh, right—one question."

"Doesn't matter. I'll answer that much."

Karen stepped forward in front of Kang Seol.

And gave the answer in his place.

"I'm gonna smash you to dust."

"Hee hee hee hee! Sounds fun!"

Crunch...

Crrunch...

Veins bulged across Gunt's face in clusters.

His black veins, grotesque like rotten plant roots, finally burst through his skin.

"Kyaaah!"

"Hee hee hee! Don't need this ugly mug anymore!"

Rumble...

"L-Let's get out!"

"Out where? Monsters everywhere outside!"

"Just go! This place is collapsing—worry about that later?"

Whoooosh...

Black energy formed in Kang Seol's hand.

Swish!

A massive troll, Jamad, appeared.

"Take care of the people."

"Got it."

Jamad scooped up Sera and led the even more panicked villagers toward the village hall, crushing any monsters in his path. There were still patients there, and it was sturdier than these flimsy houses.

As he slowly herded them along, Jamad smashed every monster that got in his way.

Splorch...

Meanwhile, Gunt began to grow larger.

"Should've killed you back then... Hee hee!"

Kang Seol's Insight scanned the monster he'd become.

Kang Seol blinked in momentary confusion.

...Why is he so weak?

On that long-range adventure, Kang Seol had only faced him with Jamad and hadn't gauged his true strength.

Unaware of Kang Seol's thoughts, Gunt mocked him.

"This is my real ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face. Ta-da! What do you think? Horrifying, right?"

Gunt's face resembled a burst fruit, utterly inhuman. Eyes, nose, and mouth all twisted grotesquely, skin festering and oozing.

"Hee hee, first that annoying woman..."

Slash!

Gunt sensed the shift in attention and hastily checked himself.

Somehow, both his legs had been cleanly severed.

Sizzle...

Immense heat and pain surged from the stumps.

"Gaaahhhh!"

Karen held back from finishing him.

"Show me more. I'll wait."

"Y-You're making a mistake! Just wait! I'll crush you soon!"

Shrrrip!

Like tangled threads unraveling, he formed new legs.

Grrraaaaaah...

In the meantime, Karen kept slicing the necks of approaching corpses.

"All of them are pathetic weaklings."

"Such insults..."

"Give it your best. You've pissed me off this much."

"...I'll kill you."

Whooosh!

Gunt's fist shot out, whipping up a gale of wind pressure.

But.

Slash!

Gunt felt his forearm floating in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠midair as he lost another limb.

His extended arm had been severed clean by Karen's sword.

"Grraaah... Gaaahhhh!"

"...How is this possible?"

"This can't... Come here, I said come! To your master!"

Grrraaaaaah!

Thud!

Thud thud! Thud!

Corpses coated in strange mucus gathered near the village hall and charged toward Gunt.

Shlop shlop shlop!

A massive vortex sucked the corpses into his gut like a whirlpool devouring its belly. His body gradually turned blood-red.

"Hee hee hee! Different this time?"

Karen waited even for that.

Pop!

Indeed, Gunt was much faster now.

His movements felt entirely different from before.

"Die! Die!"

Gunt thrust both fists again.

Fwoooosh!

But.

Swish!

Swish!

Karen dodged with effortless grace, as if her earlier moves had been child's play.

Gunt panicked at the sight.

"Th-This can't... This can't be..."

"...That all?"

Even as she evaded, Karen eyed him with contempt.

"Uwaaaah! Don't look at me like that!"

Whoom!

Whoooosh!

His flailing was like a drowning man thrashing without knowing how to swim.

Yet Gunt had truly sped up.

To match Karen's pace.

But his attacks were simplistic, his technique laughably predictable. That's why his fists never landed.

Deciding it was over, Karen counterattacked.

Shing!

Slash!

Sizzle...

One leg severed.

"Grraaaah!"

"Why..."

Slash!

Sizzle...

"Uh uhk... It hurts..."

"...Why?"

Stab!

Stab!

Splurt!

"Gaaahhhh!"

All four limbs gone.

Thanks to his immense vitality, he just kept bleeding without passing out or dying.

"Uwaaaah! Why! Why! Why!"

Stab!

Splurch!

"Kehuk..."

Karen drove her sword into Gunt's gut and asked.

"So weak... Why commit such atrocities...?"

"Cough... Hee hee hee... Was I weak? Too bad!"

"Shut up!"

"Keh... Hee hee..."

Blood poured from Gunt's mouth as he spoke.

"But... Is that wrong?"

"...What?"

"Does being weak... mean we lose even the right to be evil?"

"What nonsense..."

"Because we're weak... do we have to be good and accept the life handed to us?"

"You bastard!"

Karen grabbed the dying Gunt by the collar. But he just laughed, as if past caring.

"Hee hee hee... Don't kill me. I'm saying this for your sake?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The antidote... You're looking for it, right? You won't find it if I die."

"...Damn you."

Karen stepped back slightly.

She feared losing control and smashing his face, making him clam up forever.

Swish.

Instead, Kang Seol approached Gunt.

"Gunt, where's the antidote?"

"Oh? A deal? Great! But let's change the rules. Hear me out, and I'll tell you where it is... Cough."

"To the end..."

"Refuse, and I'll die right here."

Gunt's face turned icy cold. Kang Seol furrowed his brow.

"Fine."

"I couldn't open up to anyone, fearing exposure. Everyone who heard my story died!"

"No time. You're dying soon. Speak."

"Okay, okay..."

Gunt began his tale.

"Born with this ugly face. By the time I could walk, my parents sold me to a slave trader. Patient folks, huh? How'd they hold out that long?"

"......"

"Worst luck—the buyer was an old sorcerer's lab. Guess what I went through there? Nah, won't say. Hee hee."

The more he spoke, the clearer his past became.

And how nauseating it was.

"Hellish days, but I got some free time. Luckily, I could read the old man's books. Learned most of my trivia there. Know my favorite?"

"No."

"Cough... Scriptures of his faith and heroes' tales. Guess why?"

"Why?"

"Hee hee hee... Felt like salvation might come for me too. Reading ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them, I dreamed a god or hero would raze the lab and rescue me. Like those dimwit villagers earlier."

Gunt kept going.

"Salvation never came. I broke the cage myself. Old man got careless. Should've killed him sooner if I'd known he'd die so easy. Hey, when this is over, you'll be the village heroes, right?"

"......"

"Jealous. They got saved in time. Hee hee... Should I have waited longer?"

"Gunt."

"Heroes are lazy. Didn't save me. Me... Me..."

"Tell me the antidote's location."

Gunt swallowed blood-mixed spit and spoke.

"Rip open the handle of the bag I brought. Powder inside. Dilute in water—should save the villagers."

"The other villages?"

"All dead. I killed them on my way here."

"Why do all this?"

"Just... curious. If salvation's real or just made-up bullshit. Turns out... it is real. Salvation."

Swish...

Kang Seol stood to fetch the antidote.

"One last question?"

"......"

"Me, cough... Can I be forgiven...?"

Karen listened closely to Kang Seol's reply.

She wanted to hear what he'd say.

Kang Seol answered with emotionless eyes, as if stating a fact.

"No. You'll fall to hell."

"Hee hee... Guess I won't miss the gates then."

"My turn."

"......"

"What you told Sera. Was it sincere?"

"Ah... That."

When Sera fell asleep, Gunt had sobbed his confession.

- But Miss Sera was different. Just by existing, she made many happy and endured misfortune with strength. You taught me so much through your actions alone.

"Hate it. Won't say."

Drip...

With that, Gunt's eyes glazed over. A message appeared.