Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Explode, Smash, and Plunder (3)
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As I made my way to the auditorium, I patted Aram's shoulder.
I was glad she had made a quick judgment.
Had she acted suspiciously, or had the standoff lasted just a little longer, things could have become incredibly awkward. But she threw away the hammer first, making it clear she had no intention of fighting or opposing me.
It was so commendable that I was stroking her head more gently than usual.
Truthfully, I'd have liked to drag her into a restroom, shower her with praise, and have my way with her, but that wasn't an option just yet.
I had to subjugate the captured humans first, then turn them into slaves. At the very least, I needed to make them slaves to put my mind at ease.
Speaking of which, I heard the slave mark could be broken...
As I climbed to the auditorium, a few troubling thoughts swirled in my mind.
Now that I knew the slave mark could be broken, it was only natural to have these concerns.
What if a slave as strong as me had their mark broken? What if they were able to get the drop on me?
I'd be a goner, no questions asked.
Just look at Kang Ha-jung, who I'd turned into a TS girl. If her slave mark were to break, it was easy to see what would happen. The thought of a Level 15 Monk running wild sent a chill down my spine.
The moment the slave mark breaks, that bastard will either flee without looking back or kill the Ha brothers who raped him.
He could cause all sorts of chaos. Worse, he might use every means at his disposal to get revenge on me, or regain the protection of the gods and return even stronger.
There's no law saying this won't happen again. If a skill to undo the slave mark ever appears... Damn it.
The mere thought was giving me a headache.
I'd gone to all the trouble of capturing humans and turning them into slaves, only for some hero or savior who crawled out of nowhere to free them all... What if a massive rebellion broke out then...
The gods must know full well that I can apply slave marks. They're bound to come up with a countermeasure.
If a class designed to hunt me exists... And if all my slaves were to be freed...
I don't even want to think about it. It must never happen.
And my current harem of slaves... They said they liked me, but would that last even after the slave mark was broken?
The one holding their lives in my hands right now is me. Even if they hated me, they'd have no choice but to like me.
But what if the slave mark were to break when they were far away from me, at a distance where I couldn't catch them? Would they come back to me?
They might just run away.
I don't believe in true love or genuine bonds.
I believe that humans will betray anyone at any time if it means they can survive.
Perhaps that's part of my core values, but the more I thought about it, the more the possibility of the slave marks breaking became a terrifying threat and a source of immense stress.
Hwa-yeong, Eun-ji, and Mer feel like they genuinely like me, regardless of the slave mark.
But what about Ha-rin? She despised me at first, but after spending time together, she just seems to be going along with Eun-ji.
A-rum's hostility has lowered a bit, but if she had the chance to escape from me, the probability is quite high... She's strong enough to survive perfectly well without me.
The same goes for A-ram. As much as she likes my dick, if she could escape, and if A-rum chose to run... she'd probably follow her sister.
As for Kim Ye-won, she has a dependency complex and clings to me for affection, but it feels less like she's clinging to me specifically and more like I'm the only one she can cling to right now.
Finally, Sun-hee has somewhat pacifistic tendencies. If I walk too brutal and tyrannical a path, she might secretly harbor resentment.
After all, the biggest reason she left her husband was that she believed my lie that Lee Han-seok indiscriminately slaughtered men, women, and children alike.
I should set aside some time later to talk to my women individually.
I can lose all the other slaves, but I can't lose them.
Hoo... Let's stop wasting mental energy on things I can't solve right now.
Even if a bastard who can erase the slave mark comes looking for me someday, I'll deal with it then.
If such a bastard shows up, I just need to become strong enough to kill him.
And since a large-scale rebellion would be a problem, I'll only manage a group small enough for me to crush.
Being too big makes you an easy target.
With those thoughts, I arrived at the auditorium to find A-rum, Eun-ji, and Ha-rin waiting.
"Ah, Oppa! We caught them all."
"Oh, good work. But are these all of them?"
"Yes. I checked with Heartbeat Tracking several times. We captured everyone who was alive."
"Good. You worked hard too, Ha-rin. And you, A-rum."
I patted their heads and looked around the auditorium.
The inside was a complete mess.
"Ugh..."
"P-please, save us."
"N-no! Mun Gyoo-ju-nim!!! Why are you here!!"
"There is no salvation!!"
The people dragged into the auditorium were begging for their lives, standing next to the swarm of cockroaches that scurried past them. The sight of the demon-possessed bodies being dragged in real-time and the giant cockroaches eating them was enough to give anyone a weak heart a mental shock. They must be panicking too.
"You there!! Everyone, put your hands behind your heads!"
After disarming the survivors, I dismissed the Pitch-Black Cockroaches that were causing disgust and revulsion. The baby cockroaches writhed and died.
Now, the only living beings in the auditorium were me, my companions, and about forty survivors.
"Alright, the Awakened to the right. The Non-Awakened to the left."
But these humans didn't listen when I asked nicely.
"Why aren't you moving faster?!"
In the end, Ha-rin pulled out an axe and shouted at them, and only then did they start moving.
"There are twenty-two Non-Awakened... and twenty-one Awakened."
I should turn the Awakened into slaves first.
The Non-Awakened are easy to subdue, but I can't let my guard down around the Awakened.
"Is that bastard Demagog or whatever here? If there's a Wis Warlock, step forward immediately."
"Kuh... uh...! Ugh!!!"
A man with his hands and mouth bound stumbled forward.
"I tied his mouth first because he was trying to talk nonsense."
"Good job, Eun-ji."
The large man knelt before me.
I held a dagger to his neck and slightly loosened the gag in his mouth.
"Hey, your name."
"M-Mun Geun-oh..."
"Are you the Demagog?"
"Yes! Th-that's right!"
"Alright. Will you submit willingly? Or..."
"I surrender! I surrender! I surrender unconditionally!!!"
He must have been tormented by the cockroach swarm, as his body was covered in small wounds. Mun Geun-oh surrendered immediately.
I easily stamped my seal on his forehead.
"Hey. Where's Yang Ji-sang? Is he not here?"
"Y-yes! He's not among this group. He might be dead..."
If he wasn't captured and wasn't in the group, that meant Yang Ji-sang was no longer of this world.
Ha-rin's Heartbeat Tracking wouldn't miss a living human.
Looks like Yang Ji-sang got caught in the explosion and died...
What a shame. If I could have captured that bastard, the Necromancer or whatever he was, I could have stationed zombies as sentries around the mart.
Well, it can't be helped.
I shouldn't try to capture him sloppily and get into trouble. If he's going to escape anyway, it's better if he just dies.
"Alright, the rest of you Awakened, come to me one by one. Hands behind your head. The injured go to the side for now!"
After that, I shouted at or slapped the relatively unharmed Awakened to break their will to fight and stamped slave marks on their foreheads.
However, out of the twenty-one, about twelve were on the verge of death. The situation was like 'the belly is bigger than the chest,' and a sigh naturally escaped my lips.
I had told them not to spare the suspicious ones like the demon-possessed or those who resisted fiercely, and this was the result.
Still, I'm glad Eun-ji and the others are safe. It's better to make a few less slaves than to have my women get hurt trying to capture everyone. And since we have injured, we can just offer them all as a sacrifice...
"I-I'm sorry we couldn't capture them properly, Oppa..."
"No, it's fine."
Noticing my disappointment, Eun-ji apologized in a dejected voice, so I quickly stroked her head.
I moved the injured Awakened to the side, turned all the unharmed ones into slaves, and then sent them out of the auditorium.
Aside from Mun Geun-oh, they were all general-class Awakened, so I didn't think I needed to remember their names. I decided to leave them to Ha Jin-seong, who liked playing the leader. He'd manage them well.
And besides, with another update coming, they could die at any time. It's just a pain to remember their names one by one.
"Now, it's your turn..."
The Non-Awakened. They were a workforce to handle chores like cleaning and laundry, and also to fill the quota for the Peddler's appearance condition.
I excluded the five who looked too far gone to be saved even with Surging Flesh and turned the rest into slaves, sending them out of the auditorium as well.
"Alright, let's see now..."
Now, the only ones left in the auditorium were me and the humans to be sacrificed.
Cashnux apparently finds the souls of young, vigorous humans delicious... Well, since he's a god who prefers quantity over quality, he should be happy if I offer a lot.
"Hey, wait!!! What are you doing!!!"
"Gwaaaah!!!"
"A-ah, no!! Keoeok!"
"Save me!! Please!!!"
Screams echoed through the auditorium.
I'm sorry, but it can't be helped. I don't have the luxury to take everyone with me, nor do I intend to serve the injured and the sick.
Moreover, being this injured means they didn't follow my orders obediently.
I told them to kill or attack anyone suspicious or who resisted fiercely. Being this badly injured means they must have resisted a lot.
"Hoo... Shit..."
My mana was running low, so I killed them with my dagger, and my whole body was stained with blood. It feels incredibly grimy.
"Are we going back to the mart now?"
"I guess so."
I nodded at A-ram's question.
Firecrackers had gone off in the main and auxiliary buildings, and the fires weren't going out. The buildings were all burning.
The walls might look fine, but they wouldn't be able to stop the Evolved Ones. The mart is better.
"Hey, Mun Geun-oh. How did you solve the food problem?"
"W-we have a separate food storage..."
"Take everything."
My business here is pretty much done.
Now, I'll gather what I need to take and head back to the mart. As I was leaving the auditorium, someone came running toward me.
*****
The fourth floor of the burning main building.
The place where the Evil Sorcerer Yang Ji-sang was.
....
In the room where only Yang Ji-sang's corpse, his upper body blown away by the explosion, was left in the flames.
Clatter. Clatter...
The dead corpse trembled and moved.
Then...
Pshhh...!
A bluish something seeped out of Yang Ji-sang's corpse.
It looked like a ghost from a 90s horror movie.
More precisely, the Wis Warlock's skill 'Incomplete Combustion' had activated, and it was Yang Ji-sang's soul, now in a spiritual form.
This skill allowed him to revive once more as a spirit, even if his body was shattered.
"Ah... Ah. Yi-i-i-i... Se-i-i-ga-a-a-n..."
The problem was that he would dissipate soon if he stayed like this.
[5:00]
[4:59]
He had less than five minutes left.
Within that time, Yang Ji-sang had to possess someone else, possess an object, or borrow a zombie's body.
Possessing another person's body is incredibly difficult and hard, but once he succeeds, he can live in their stead. This is the best option.
Possessing an object allows him to dematerialize and move around the possessed object, but to have a significant impact on reality, someone needs to pick it up.
If he's not careful, he could be left alone for years and lose his mind. It's a risky method.
The last method is to possess a zombie and bide his time.
Zombies themselves have terrible durability and can die at any moment, and even if he possesses one, if he lets his guard down, his ego could vanish and he could dissipate. It's the most dangerous method.
"Je-e-e-n-ja-a-a-ng..."
Yang Ji-sang first went outside the building. He planned to find a human with a weak mental fortitude to possess outside.
He naturally passed through the wall.
As Yang Ji-sang was falling through the air toward the ground, he suddenly turned his head at an ominous energy and discovered four humans standing near the back entrance.
They were all women. In particular, the woman with a choker around her neck emanated a disturbing aura.
A strong Yin energy. That one looks dangerous...
Yang Ji-sang instinctively felt the choker was dangerous. He looked at the other three.
He was drawn by the disturbing aura, but considering them to be of a higher level than himself, Yang Ji-sang decided to enter the body of the woman who seemed easiest to break into. There was also the reason that it's difficult to possess a male body with high Yang energy.
Two minutes have already passed... There's not much time left. Of these, the one with the lowest mental fortitude...
Soon, Yang Ji-sang saw through the fact that Kim Ye-won's mental fortitude was quite low.
I will surely get revenge on you bastards who killed me...!!!
Vowing revenge on the bastards who attacked the church and killed him once, Yang Ji-sang increased his speed.
Of course, he had no idea about the slave mark.
"Gwa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!!!"
Letting out a ghostly shriek, Yang Ji-sang flew toward the body of Kim Ye-won, the woman with the lowest mental fortitude and weakest will among the four women: Kang Hee-sun, Kim Ye-won, Hwang Su-min, and Kang Eun-jeong.
No, to be precise, he tried to fly into her.
"Gotcha."
Kwa-kwa-kwak!!!
As he flew in a straight line toward Kim Ye-won, someone grabbed him in mid-air and crashed him into the ground.
"Kieeeeeeek!!!"
Yang Ji-sang let out a final scream, feeling the pain of his spirit being torn apart.
The man who had grabbed Yang Ji-sang tilted his head and looked at the spirit.
"A high-level evil spirit with a strong ego. Good. Go in here."
The man forcibly shoved Yang Ji-sang's soul into one of the six swords he had at his waist.
"A-a-a-a-a-no-o-o-o!!! Gugugugeuk!!!"
Yang Ji-sang couldn't resist. He was helplessly shoved into the sword and possessed. His will was mostly broken...
"Heh heh. This will make a perfect gift."
The man gave a dazzling smile and approached the women who were staring at him blankly.
"Greetings. My name is Siegfried. I have been chasing a noble person. Do you happen to know a man named Jang Jo-jun?"
"Uh... Um... Uh... He's over there..."
"Is that so? I thank you."
Kang Eun-jeong, who faced the man, realized it.
This guy was an enemy she could never defeat, no matter what she did.
The monster in front of her was absolutely, unequivocally unbeatable.
Even if Jang Jo-jun came fully prepared... he couldn't win.
She felt it with her skin. That thing was a being beyond human. A monster that had already far surpassed human limits.
"I searched the black market thoroughly. But his energy suddenly cut off. I couldn't find him no matter what."
Siegfried had originally planned to meet Jang Jo-jun, who had killed his father's enemy, to express his gratitude.
He had come near the mart to find Jo-jun, but of all things, it was right when he was entering the black market.
In the end, Siegfried tracked Jo-jun again and was able to reach the black market.
There, he chatted with the owner of a poacher's shack, an old acquaintance, but then he lost Jo-jun's trail again...
The Underground Security Force crawled out to kill Siegfried.
Siegfried, who was looking for Jo-jun, broke through the Underground Security Force blocking his path and continued to follow the trail, reaching the central plaza.
There, Cheshire was fighting alone. He had known Cheshire for a long time, so he helped her and wiped out the entire Underground Security Force.
After that, he asked Cheshire, who was taking a break, about the whereabouts of the noble person, and she told him that the man she had been guiding had entered a twisted alley with one of his slaves.
Thinking he could finally find him, he immediately entered the twisted alley, but the trail had already gone cold.
No ground-level door appeared before Siegfried, so he went back out of the black market.
After searching for Jo-jun for several days, he finally found him.
"I'm on my way. Just wait, noble one!"
He immediately ran toward the auditorium.
*****