It’s Time to Escape (2)
The Slaughter Beast, beaten into a near-death state by a single kick from Kisiria, was delivered right in front of me.
“Gaaah!!! Don’t stab me!!!”
“Shut up!!”
How did it end up with such a cute appearance after merging with the disgusting Kekere and that repulsive Slaughter Beast spawn? I had no idea what kind of causality was at play, but I couldn't suppress the urge to beat it. I stabbed and gouged its body repeatedly with the Ghost-Cry Sword. I couldn't just let it slide after it almost cost me 200,000 coins right in front of my eyes. I was already in a foul mood because I hadn't even managed to recoup my initial investment, and this guy had walked right into my trap.
“Shall we join in?”
“Yes! Let’s beat him together!”
Cheshire and Aila, who had been monitoring the surroundings, saw that no one was approaching us and joined me in pummeling the Slaughter Beast. No matter how close to death it was from Kisiria’s attack, this was a guy who had been brawling with a demon just moments ago. I couldn't afford to be careless. If it was strong enough to trade blows with a bird-brained demon, that meant it was at least on the level of a named demon.
“Gaaaaah!!!! Stop!!!”
“‘Stop,’ my ass!! Hit him more!! Don’t go easy on him!!!”
Cheshire pinned down the thrashing Slaughter Beast to keep it from moving, while Aila mercilessly drove some kind of sharp, black gem into its body. At some point, I stepped back to cheer them on, leaving the mark-down of the Slaughter Beast to the stronger Cheshire and Aila. Soon, the two of them skillfully neutralized the creature. Perhaps it was the effect of the gems Aila had embedded, but the Slaughter Beast began to tremble, its long tongue lolling out as it lost its senses.
“If curses don’t work, just block its magic. The prep work is basically done, so let’s force it to submit and get out of here.”
“Yes!”
Aila dusted off her hands and entered a defensive stance with Cheshire again. Perhaps because we had moved quite far away, Kisiria was busy turning her surroundings into a wasteland, and Abalam, with one arm severed, was screaming for Paimon or whoever it was like a madman. In my opinion, those demon bastards looked like they’d been abandoned by their master.
“Hoo.”
I took a fire axe out of my large-capacity bag and brought it down on the Slaughter Beast’s left arm.
-CRACK!!!
“Gaaaaaaah!!!!!!!”
If I left the severed arm as it was, the Slaughter Beast’s characteristic insane regenerative ability would surely cause the cross-sections to fuse back together, so I immediately shoved the severed limb into my bag. Then, I used the surging flesh to forcibly plug the wound where blood was gushing out. The Slaughter Beast, unable to even move properly, screamed until its throat tore.
“Aack!!! Aaaaaa!!! S-stop it, I said!!!”
“If you want me to stop, submit already!!! Become my slave!!!”
“No!! Anything but a slave!! Please!!! I won’t follow you anymore!!!”
“It’s not about you following me!! You bitch!!! If you don’t want to submit, at least cough up 200,000 coins!!!”
“Eh? 200,000 coins??? I don’t have anything like that!!!”
“Then just pay with your body!!!”
-CRUNCH!!!
“Kyaaaaaa!!! My right arm!!! You crazy human!!! Stop it!!”
This bastard had no intention of submitting. I’d severed all its limbs in a fit of rage, but it just screamed about the pain without surrendering. I realized that pain alone wouldn't break this guy. It was a shame, but I’d have to take extreme measures.
‘Decapitation is the only answer...’
The reason I hadn't decapitated it until now was simple. The current Slaughter Beast was fused with Kekere. If I chopped off its head in this state, I might be able to recover the Slaughter Beast spawn, but Kekere, who had been absorbed and merged, would be gone for good. That would mean a loss equal to Kekere’s value. I wanted to keep it alive and force it to submit, but since it had no intention of doing so, I’d just have to kill it. There was no benefit to dragging this out any longer. In the first place, I didn't have much time to waste. So, I’d quickly cut off its head, kill it, and then gut it to at least salvage the Slaughter Beast spawn before fleeing.
“Hoo..”
“W-wait.. what are you doing right now...”
I brought the fire axe to its neck and positioned it. Then, I lifted the axe, took a stance to swing down, and prepared to sever its head in one stroke.
“W-wait?! Seriously? You’re really going to kill me!!!??”
“Decapitation.”
“Kyaaaa!!! Such!!! A barbaric!!!”
“The one who wants to eat people is the more barbaric one!! Just die quietly!! We have to run away now!! I don’t have time to play with you!!”
“W-wait!!!! No!!! I don’t want to go back to being a stupid larva!!! I don’t want to live as a worm. Sob...!! I, I’ll submit!! So please.. just leave me as I am...”
The Slaughter Beast, which had been thrashing about after losing its limbs, finally squeezed its eyes shut and submitted to me.
[The opponent has submitted to you.]
“Hic.. sob..”
“Hoo....”
I quickly branded the Slaughter Beast’s forehead with a Slave Brand. Although its legs were severed, I had only blown them off below the knees, so it could still kneel in a clumsy fashion.
-Ssssss...!!
“Ugh...”
But I felt a sensation different from usual. Perhaps because it was a creature that nullified curses, it reacted strongly when I tried to implant the Slave Brand. However, I didn't give up and continued to carve the brand.
“Hoo.. done.”
I had finally managed to make the Slaughter Beast my slave. I rattled off the three most important rules it had to follow: no self-harm, no betrayal, and no team-killing.
“Hic... damn it.. damn it.. I understand.. I will follow them...”
The Slaughter Beast nodded, tears streaming down its face. Since I hadn't made a blood contract with the ‘Slaughter Beast spawn’ I’d bought from the Poacher, but instead enslaved the adult Slaughter Beast with my own skill, I couldn't use it as a warding charm like the spawn. However, compared to the spawn, which couldn't even walk properly, this one had much better mobility, its intelligence was quite high from absorbing Kekere, its body was sturdy, and its combat power was nearly on par with a demon. It was much more useful than when it was just a spawn.
-Rumble...!!!
At that moment, the warehouse shook, and a sound like something collapsing echoed through the air. We really had to get out of here now.
“Let’s get out of here fast! Kesia!! You carry this bastard!!”
“Y-yes!!”
Since there was no time to reattach the limbs of the Slaughter Beast or heal it, I entrusted it to Kesia, who had done the least work in the underground floor. Kesia tied the Slaughter Beast to her back with a rope.
“That way!!”
“Okay!!”
Aila took the lead with a compass in her hand. For reference, that was a Phase-Designating Compass I’d bought from a traveling merchant before entering the Thrill Mansion. I’d handed it to Aila, our guide, before entering the Black Market’s underground floor, and it seemed she had already input the location where we’d entered.
-Rumble!!!
“Jojun!!”
“Yes!! Cheshire!!”
“Can we just leave the warehouse keeper like that?”
“Yes!! He’ll find his own way back!! No, wait, Cheshire!! Who are you worrying about right now!! We need to save ourselves first!!”
“Oh, oh!! That’s right!!”
The warehouse keepers were screaming and running away, and we followed suit, running hard to escape the warehouse that was beginning to collapse.
“We’re here!! This is it!! Cheshire!! Take that out!”
“Ah, wait a second!”
As soon as Aila announced we’d reached the escape point, Cheshire pulled a grappling hook from her coat and fired it toward the ceiling. Soon, the rope, which had shot up endlessly, caught on something and pulled taut. Cheshire tugged on the line a few times and nodded.
“It’s done. It’s firmly fixed, so let’s go!”
“Ohh!!”
Aram, thinking she could finally escape this hellish place, was the first to climb the rope. The hammer she was holding looked quite heavy, but perhaps because she had fully charged it with Magi on the way here, she climbed up very lightly.
After Aram, Kesia climbed the rope. She skillfully ascended with the Slaughter Beast strapped to her back.
“Jojun, hurry up and climb.”
“Yes, everyone, you’ve worked really hard. See you at the top!”
“Yeah!!”
I followed Kesia and climbed up. The roar of something exploding, the screams of demons, and Kisiria’s manic laughter echoed behind me. And so, the 4th underground floor of the Black Market began to be smashed to pieces. It seemed Kisiria intended to make the demons’ logistics base completely unusable while she was at it.
‘She’s having so much fun...’
I could feel Kisiria’s happiness vividly. Until now, she’d been grumpy and on edge every time I communicated with her or summoned her... but now, she seemed to be in an incredibly good mood.
‘But.. it’s already been well over three minutes.. just how much causality did she burn through for this...’
I didn't know. She was bearing all the penalties alone, so it was impossible for me to even grasp the scale of it.
‘It feels like Indikron is providing the causality, though...’
I should offer Indikron a generous sacrifice when I get out of here. Thinking that, I climbed the rope through the pitch-black darkness for about four minutes, when suddenly my body felt weightless, and I was thrown into a different space.
-Thud.
“Ugh.. my butt..”
“Jojun! You’re here! Come on, get up.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
I grabbed Aram’s hand and stood up. Looking around, it was the dirty and damp pipe section of the 3rd underground floor. Perhaps because we’d moved floors, Kisiria’s emotions were no longer shared.
‘She’ll find her own way back...’
She was strong enough that I didn't need to worry. Even if I didn't look after her, she’d probably return on her own when the time came.
“Hoo..”
“Ugh!”
Soon, Aila and Cheshire also arrived on the 3rd floor. Unlike me, the two of them landed properly without falling.
“Now we just need to find the path leading to the drug-addict den. It should be easy to find if we discover the corpses or zombies of the dead addicts.”
She said we just had to find the hole where the abandoned corpses flowed in and get out. We walked through the pipe section, keeping silent in case we heard the cries of zombies.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the abyss...
[Gah...!]
Abalam was floating in mid-air with his limbs bound. Kisiria didn't kill him immediately; instead, she began to carve something into his body. Abalam, feeling his soul being dismantled and reassembled in real-time, screamed at Kisiria for his life, thinking that if he just stayed like this, he might truly cross a point of no return.
[Gaaah.. Gaaaaah!!! You!!! My Lord will never forgive you!!!]
For some reason, Abalam kept bringing up his master, who had yet to reveal himself. He tried to intimidate Kisiria by borrowing the prestige of one of the top five strongest demons. Of course, it didn't work at all.
[What was that? Kisishishit... How funny. You’re nothing but a discarded pawn. Are you still holding onto hope?]
Instead, Kisiria mocked Abalam, ridiculing him as a discarded pawn.
[W-what? I’m a discarded pawn!! No!! That’s not true!! I am!! The right arm of the Great Upper King!! The loyal servant of Lord Paimon!! His only...!! His only... His only...]
Faced with the cruel truth Kisiria spat out, Abalam began to reject reality, showing signs of denial. However, Abalam knew better than anyone else here. He knew the fact that he had been abandoned by Paimon.
[You wait for your master without even knowing you’ve been thrown away; you look just like a stray dog.]
[Gaaah...]
[Now, Kisit.. the groundwork is finally finished. Let’s go with me. I’ll discover a new use for you.. Kisishishit..]
Kisiria waved her hand, creating a portal connected to the Palace of Binding.
[N-no!! Wait a moment!! Please!! Gaaaaah!!! Please, spare me!! Get away!! Don’t lay eggs in my body!! Gaaaaah!!!]
Abalam was dragged beyond the portal, where abyssal parasitic insects swarmed, leaving only his screams behind. As soon as everyone disappeared, the portal automatically collapsed, spewing out the abyss. And so, the 4th underground floor of the Black Market was sealed off.
Consequently, several demons who had been storing valuables in the warehouse wailed, and numerous demons who had suffered losses in this incident began to hold Paimon accountable. They asked why he couldn't manage his subordinates properly and caused such a disaster. They asked why he had provoked the nightmare by touching those who were just trying to find an item and leave quietly.
Paimon ignored their reprimands. He just stared blankly, rubbing his face.
[Haa... damn bastards. These pathetic things jump at the chance the moment they think there’s an opening. Hoo.. what should I do about this...]
Paimon, who had been agonizing over this for a long time, pulled an object that didn't suit a demon at all from his familiar’s back. Then, he pondered for a long time again.
[I have no choice but to... side with the Good Gods.]
The identity of the object he was holding was a cracked Ankh. It was the key to entering the bottom of the Abyss, and the very item that the companions of the hero Nicholas were desperately searching for.