Reunion with an Old Connection
By the time I finished my contract with Apophis, Cheshire, Merhere, and Kekere had arrived at the central plaza.
“Jojun!!!”
I pulled Cheshire into a tight embrace as she ran toward me. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any major wounds. Merhere must have healed her. Looking at her torn clothes and the bloodstains, it seemed she had been through quite a rough time... That bastard Lamech. I’m going to kill him and offer him as a sacrifice no matter what.
“I’m so glad! You’re safe!”
“Cheshire, you too...!!”
It was a tearful reunion, but we couldn't afford to stand there and catch up. The impending disaster was simply too massive.
“Wait, Cheshire... things have gotten incredibly complicated right now...”
Eila, who had been watching the situation unfold from the side, gave a rough summary to Cheshire, Merhere, and Kekere about the dragons that were about to descend upon us.
“Oh...”
“That insane clown...”
“Dragons?”
The atmosphere froze in an instant. I hurriedly added some context.
“For now, I have no idea how strong they are... or how many are coming. Even if I summon my liberated familiars and Hilde takes on the strongest ones among them... there’s a high chance we won't come out on top.”
“What a mess... Master, first of all... I think we need to clearly divide the people.”
“How...?”
“The dragons are going to come and tear this place apart... In a situation like that, even a transcendent being would find it hard to survive. Those who aren't of much help in the fight should get out quickly. Trying to help without being prepared is just a recipe for a pointless death.”
Merhere was right. For starters, Eila, myself, and that clown bastard wouldn't be of much help in an all-out war against dragons. We’d just end up getting captured as hostages or killed instantly.
‘Killian and Henry... and even Merhere could die in this situation. No, aside from Hilde, everyone else should just clear out.’
It would be best to summon Ainax, Kyseria, and Apophis, and then make our escape. But what about Kekere? Somehow, I felt like Kekere... might actually be able to just stay here and eat a dragon or two...
“Kekere...”
“Yes? Me? I, I should definitely get out of here too! I don't want to get caught up in such a crazy mess!!”
“Yeah... right.”
If this were the Kekere from before she became so pretty, I might have forced her to stay and get caught up in the fight, but now, it felt a bit different. The current Kekere wasn't that unlikable toad-monster anymore.
“Then... the moment the dragons arrive, I’ll summon Ainax, Kyseria, and Apophis all at once, and then we’ll run.”
“So you’re saying... I and those three familiars have to block all the incoming dragons.”
“Yes...”
“Hahaha... that’s reassuring.”
Hilde nodded, perhaps happy that she wouldn't have to shoulder the burden all by herself. We decided to teleport the rest of the party to Cheshire’s now-empty hideout. It was sturdy enough, at least. You could call it a sort of bomb shelter.
Cheshire immediately moved Eila and the clown, whose limbs had been severed, to the location first.
“Hey!!”
As we were making our escape, the vigilantes who had finished cleaning up the mess in the distance approached us. The demi-humans who had been hiding in the fly-monster’s shop also poured out in droves.
“Are you Jang Jojun!!”
“How are you going to compensate for this chaos!!”
“Are you crazy!!! You wanna die!! You wanna die!!”
I bound all the demi-humans and vigilantes who were trying to pick a fight with my tentacles and gagged them.
‘These worthless sacrificial lambs are chirping so loudly...’
With dragons coming, I didn't have the time to listen to the complaints of demi-humans who would be offered as sacrifices soon anyway.
‘Still... I need to offer five thousand of them... so I have to keep them alive.’
Normally, I wouldn't have cared if these bastards died or not, but things were different now. These guys were my potential customers and the reserve sacrifices I needed to offer to the Manma-jeon after this incident ended. So, I had to keep them alive as much as possible.
“Dragons are coming here right now! Everyone has to run!”
“What? Dragons... why would dragons be here... W-what are you talking about..!”
“Dragons are coming!? What kind of bullshit is that!!”
As I shouted loudly, the demi-humans began to murmur.
“Damn it!! We have nowhere to go!!!”
“Uwaaa!! Take responsibility!! Take responsibility!!! Where are we supposed to go!!!”
As expected of the bottom-feeders of the Black Market, they seemed to have nowhere to go. Even after such a disaster, these pieces of trash were still clinging to the Black Market... I couldn't stuff all of them into Cheshire’s hideout. Wasn't there a place that could accommodate thousands of demi-humans?
The underground floor of the Black Market was impossible because of the underground guards, and...
‘The underground floor... wait... if the underground floor is out, I can just go to the surface floor...!’
A thought flashed through my mind, and memories from a few months ago surfaced. Right, that day I first met Merhere. The surface floor I had stumbled into while fleeing from the rampaging underground guards.
“There is a place you guys can go!”
“What?”
“Where!!”
“The surface floor of the Black Market.”
The surface floor of the Black Market was where the errors gathered. It was also the place that had been used to devour errors after Botamilli was sentenced to existence erasure in the past.
‘Right, the place where they lock up all those called errors—the so-called possessors, reincarnators, transmigrators, returnees, and regressors... those who try to ruin the world line... is the surface floor of the Black Market...’
But now that Botamilli, who had been secretly managing that place, was freed from her seal... it was essentially ownerless land. It was likely that the Chinese bastard Jang Chien, the world’s worst mass of errors, had completely taken over the place. He was a total piece of work, a mass of errors that copied himself on a daily basis.
‘You couldn't use skills or divine powers there... but you could use items just fine.’
What could Jang Chiens, who at best had stats around level 15 and were armed with melee weapons, do against demi-humans armed with energy weapons? Nothing. To the demi-humans, they were just excellent sources of protein.
“Evacuate to the surface floor of the Black Market! There will be a Chinese guy named Jang Chien there!! All the food there is rotten! Just keep eating the Chinese guys who regenerate daily! I’ll come to pick you up again!”
After I picked them up, I could just offer five thousand of them as sacrifices right there, couldn't I? Among the demi-humans, there were some with high reproductive rates, like the fly-monster.
“Ah, the surface floor of the Black Market...”
“The forbidden place...”
“There... were tons of humans there that we could eat? Why did no one know?”
“There... there’s a snake there...!”
That snake was no longer there.
“It’s gone!! It’s completely empty!!”
“R-really..?”
“Wait, it must be true! I heard rumors that the Master of the Void has been resurrected!!”
“Then... it’s full of... edible humans..? This is like... a utopia...”
“A festival... It’s a festival!!!!! Let’s take everyone left in the Black Market with us!!! Human meat party!!!”
The demi-humans began to scream with joy. An infinitely provided human meat buffet. They had perceived the surface floor of the Black Market as the ultimate restaurant.
‘They’re going to become "kind" again... Rest in peace, Jang Chien...’
I prayed for the souls of the Jang Chiens who were likely building their own kingdom, eating their own flesh, and screwing themselves. Right, rather than spending eternity trapped in a closed world living such meaningless days, it would be better to become food for the demi-humans.
“E-excuse me..! Master..! What about us...”
“Hm? Ah. Parfero.”
“It’s, it’s Perfero...”
“Whatever. Why?”
“A-are our family... going to the surface floor too?”
“Yeah. You seem to have made some money, so hand that over first.”
“Oh, here...”
I collected the coins from Perfero. It was a staggering amount... Since all the demi-humans had flocked to this bastard’s shop... he had made a killing. He was a guy with some business sense.
“Hoho... impressive. For now, you go to the surface floor too. Go there, keep an eye on the demi-humans’ movements, and build a nest. Since I’m going to offer five thousand of them as sacrifices, pick out the particularly useless ones.”
“Yes, I understand...”
The disgusting fly-bastard bowed his head and ran after the fleeing demi-humans. I didn't have the time to turn them into slaves, so I’d just dump them all on the surface floor of the Black Market for now.
“Now, then, time to prepare the summoning...”
Just as I was gathering my focus, thinking I should call out my familiars, the space distorted and was sliced open as if by a blade. A mad murderer appeared at the worst possible timing.
“Whew... found you...”
Lamech landed on the ground, striking a pose for no reason, and glared at us. At the same time, Merhere pulled out her scythe, and Kekere licked her lips, savoring the taste. Hilde glanced at Lamech and silently sharpened her claws.
“...?”
Lamech looked around at us again for a moment. His pupils trembled. That bastard was a bit flustered right now. To be precise, he flinched at the sight of Hilde, who was sharpening her claws in preparation for battle.
“What... is this...”
He frowned deeply. He looked like a housewife who had finally decided to put back an ingredient she was about to buy because the price was higher than she had imagined.
“Hey!! Get lost!!! I don't have the time to deal with the likes of you!!”
I shouted at Lamech. I told him to stop posturing and get out of here. I didn't have the time to catch and kill that bastard right now. There were only about 10 minutes left until the dragons arrived.
“Not cost-effective...”
Lamech, realizing that he would die if he fought now, began to rationalize to himself, saying that killing millions was a better choice than killing one person. Judging by the "killing millions" part, it seemed he was planning to escape from here, head to Earth, and start hunting survivors.
‘But what the hell is that hanging from his waist...? Is that...’
Hanging from the waist of Lamech, who was slowly backing away, was a familiar-looking head.
“Henry?!”
“Hm..? My Lord!!!”
It was Henry. Why was that man’s head severed and tied to Lamech’s waist again? I couldn't understand it at all. Since Killian wasn't there... he was probably dead and discarded somewhere...
“My Lord!!!! Beware of this bastard’s kitchen knife!!!! If you get stabbed, you’ll get tetanus... Ack!!!”
“Shut up, head.”
“Kueeeck..!!”
As Henry started spilling the bastard’s information, Lamech struck Henry’s face with his fist. Lamech, judging that a fight was not feasible, attempted to flee. I grabbed the ankle of the bastard who was trying to escape with a bundle of tentacles and attacked him with the Abyssal Maw. Merhere and Kekere also blocked him from escaping. I couldn't let him get away like this. That bastard would have to help us catch the dragons.
-Crack... -Cr-cr-crack!!!!!
At that moment, the air was torn apart. A killing intent so heavy it was hard to stand was scattered around. Soon, a man’s voice, thick with killing intent, was heard from the torn space. It was a very familiar voice. Was it the Poacher...?
[Don't think about running away...]
-BOOM!!!!
The Poacher threw a javelin, and Lamech’s right arm, which had been trying to forcibly deflect the javelin after tearing through the tentacle bundle, was ripped off.
“Damn it.”
Lamech instantly regenerated his arm. A mark appeared above his head. It was a mark that looked as if it had designated its prey. Was it the Poacher’s doing...? Regardless, the Poacher rushed toward Lamech the moment he appeared. He had confirmed Cheshire’s safety, but he didn't seem to have any intention of forgiving Lamech.
‘Was the Poacher this strong...? This... I can use this...’
Perfect. I had to drag the Poacher into this mess too. I shouted to pull him into the mire.
“Father-in-law!! Dragons are coming here right now!”
“What?”
“No, dragons?”
The Poacher and Lamech reacted simultaneously.
“Dragons! The children of the Dragon King are coming.”
“... Why? W-wait! By any chance... that red-haired woman... could it be Brynhild?”
“Uh... that... that’s right! It’s a long story if I explain it in detail...”
“Master! 3 minutes left! We’re moving first!”
“Got it!!”
Merhere and Kekere also escaped the scene.
“Ah. No. Haa... I shouldn't have given Cheshire to you!!”
The Poacher shouted, striking Lamech’s abdomen. At the same time, the air grew heavy. Something was coming... I could feel overwhelming presences...
“Cultist! They’ve come this far!! Summon them quickly and you run too!!!”
“Ah, yes!!”
I hurriedly released my familiars and tried to flee. At that moment, the Poacher, who had been busy pumping bullets into the body of Lamech—who was still trying to pull some trick to escape—shouted.
“To deal with dragons... that guy is the perfect fit!!”
That guy? The Poacher took out a black whistle. Could it be...
“Wait, don't tell me you’re going to call the Dragon Slayer!? W-wait!!! We can do it ourselves!! Ahhh..!!”
Hilde tried to stop the Poacher, but... it was already too late.
Peeeeeeeep--!
The whistle blew.
-Hahahaha!!!
The air twisted, and a hearty laughter was heard. It was a somewhat familiar voice.
“Damn it... it’s Siegfried.”
Hilde covered her face. In the Black Market, where a Dragon Wave had occurred, the world’s greatest Dragon Slayer had appeared.