The Devil's Right Arm
The battle between the attacker and Galrm ended so one-sidedly that it hardly felt worth describing. The man had nothing but that bizarre right arm, while Galrm had carved through countless battlefields with nothing but his bare body. Now that they wielded the same weapon, how could the attacker possibly win?
It wasn’t even on the level of an adult toying with a child. It was more like a world champion crushing an elementary schooler. Galrm returned to the laboratory carrying the attacker, who had been beaten into a pulp and knocked unconscious.
I first amputated the right arm, then restrained the attacker and prepared a truth serum to administer to him. All research of this kind was illegal, so I didn’t know much about it. At best, I had only glanced at things on the internet or in papers from decades ago…
Still, it was better than doing nothing, so I prepared it anyway. By the time the attacker opened his eyes, the truth serum was already seeping into his bloodstream through his veins.
“—What the hell is this…!”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“H-how dare you—how dare you sever the right arm bestowed by Him…! You inhuman bastards!”
“The inhuman one here is you. Do you even know how many people died because of your little raid today?”
Thanks to the series of processes where attacks were announced in advance and citizens evacuated on schedule, the people of E City had been exceptionally well-trained. At the very least, when it came to villain raids, they could reach shelters faster than anywhere else.
Even so, it was impossible to prevent all casualties. After all, evacuation only happened after an incident had already occurred. There was no way to know in advance that a villain would suddenly cause trouble in E City and issue an evacuation order beforehand.
As a result, for the first time in several years, a death caused by a villain had occurred in E City. The news was already in an uproar, and the boss was extremely furious about it.
“—Thanks to that, I can use everything without holding back.”
“……The Hero Association will not overlook this.”
“Ah, you mean all that stuff about human rights?”
“Yes. No matter how powerful a global corporation you are, you cannot ignore the Association—”
“Sorry, but I don’t belong to Evils Enterprise.”
The attacker blinked at my words, as if he couldn’t understand what I was saying. Seeing his flustered expression, I couldn’t help but laugh.
And now I was finally starting to understand why the boss had created a villain organization in the first place.
“—I am a villain. An evil scientist.”
“What? What are you—”
“As an evil scientist, I don’t particularly need to care about things like laws or human rights.”
Evils’ blade. Tools prepared so that Regalia could wield them at any time. Instruments that crossed the boundary between legal and illegal.
I had wondered why a corporation as massive as Evils would operate something like a villain organization. In truth, it was the opposite. Because it was a corporation as massive as Evils, it could openly run a villain organization like this.
“Now then—shall we start with a self-introduction?”
“You think I’d tell you that I’m Hugridge, the 7th Apostle of Baphomet Enterprise?!”
“Good, good. Looks like the drug is working well.”
I grinned as I looked at the apostle. His expression was gradually rotting away.
“People who treat human lives lightly deserve to be treated the same way.”
The interrogation began. All sorts of information about his own operations poured out of his mouth. From the most trivial stories about himself to the secrets he would have desperately wanted to hide—everything.
“A devil, you say?”
“That’s what he called it himself. He said he was an apostle of Baphomet.”
“Baphomet… So it’s those guys from B City.”
I reported every piece of information I had obtained through the interrogation to Regalia. Upon hearing the report, Regalia frowned deeply and let out a groan. Even as the head of a major corporation, the existence of a devil seemed completely foreign to her.
Well, this was an era where science and ESP had completely conquered everything—from the moon in the sky to the deepest parts of the ocean. Humanity had declared that not a single secret remained on this blue planet. To them, the concept of a devil would naturally feel alien.
“A devil… Scientist. Do you know anything about it?”
“Hmm. This is the first I’ve heard of it too.”
“Hmmm—then does that mean it’s not a particularly dangerous being?”
“……No, just because I don’t know about it doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. If anything, the fact that I don’t know about it might make it even more dangerous—”
“Haha—! You, not knowing something? That’s quite the funny joke.”
Watching Regalia place such strangely excessive trust in me, I could only offer a bitter smile. There were countless secrets in this world, and naturally many of them were things even I didn’t know. When someone trusted me that much, it was honestly difficult to know how to respond.
As I smiled awkwardly, Regalia nodded as if she had roughly made up her mind.
“—It’s all-out war. We will use everything we have to crush Baphomet.”
“Are you sure that’s wise? It hasn’t been that long since we acquired Omega.”
“Whether it’s wise or not, it can’t be helped. A king has a duty to protect her slaves.”
Regalia ground her teeth audibly.
“How could I possibly forgive those lowly worms who dared cause a disturbance in my territory…!”
Shaking with rage, she immediately issued deployment orders to the executives of the villain organization. The executives, who had already been furious about E City being attacked, were practically itching to rush out right away.
Seeing them brimming with murderous intent and ready for battle, I handed over the hypnosis and brainwashing countermeasures I had prepared alongside the truth serum.
“—Here. If you wear this, you won’t fall for hypnosis or brainwashing.”
“This is…?”
“A choke?”
I handed them the chokers designed to be worn around the neck and told them never to take them off. Then I leisurely leaned back on the sofa. Galrm tilted his head in confusion.
“Scientist. You’re not coming?”
“Me? There? Why would I?”
“As an executive of the villain organization, to vent your grudge over our base being attacked, of course.”
“Nah—I’ve got no reason to go there. Even if I did, there’s nothing I could do. A scientist should act like a scientist and stay hidden at the base. That’s the best option.”
“……I suppose that’s true.”
But he looked quite disappointed that I wouldn’t be joining the revenge, so I shrugged as if to say not to worry.
“Besides, I have work to do here.”
“Work?”
“Yes. It might even be more important than you striking the enemy’s main base, Mr. Galrm.”
“Hmmm… So by the time I arrive in B City, the enemy base will already be half-destroyed?”
“What are you even… Don’t get your hopes up too high. I’m just trying this out as an experiment.”
As I said that, I looked at the boss. She nodded as if she had been waiting for this and gave us her command.
“—Villain organization, move out.”
“Hail Evils.”
“Hail Evils.”
And so the combatants headed for B City. With the exception of the first and sixth executives, who had not yet revealed themselves, every executive participated in this incident and lent their strength.
Watching the combatants depart, I headed to the laboratory with Vira. Inside the lab lay the 7th apostle with his arm severed and bound, along with the Right Arm of the Devil we had extracted from him.
“What are you planning to do with this?”
“Hacking.”
“……Hacking?”
Leaving Vira tilting her head in confusion, I connected various mechanical devices to the Right Arm of the Devil. I didn’t know whether devils actually existed or what they even were… but interfering with reality like this was a bad move.
After all, if they could interfere with our side, it meant we could interfere with their side as well.
‘Devil or whatever you are, let’s see your face at least once.’
I began the hack. A Life Hacking performed on a single living being.
The employees of Baphomet Enterprise moved frantically as they prepared for the impending raid.
“Hurry up! We’ve detected signs that an S-class villain organization is about to attack!”
“Only take important items! Leave personal belongings for later!”
“Hey! Move your ass faster, damn it!”
While low-level employees ran around carrying computers and document boxes, Lize, seated in the president’s office listening to reports, bit her fingers nervously and frowned.
“—Why am I only getting this report now?”
“That… I’m sorry, President. I have no excuse.”
“I don’t want your apology! Just tell me why this happened, quickly!”
“All electronic devices inside E City temporarily went offline… The employees who went to monitor the apostle could only make contact after they had left the city.”
“Give me an excuse that actually makes sense—!”
Lize slammed her hand on the desk and shot up, glaring at the director sweating profusely before her.
“Electronic devices suddenly malfunctioning?! Of all times, right when the apostle was attacking E City?!”
“That’s what we were told as well…”
“That’s ridiculous! Logically speaking, does it make any sense that they suddenly broke at that exact timing?!”
“We will discipline the reporters.”
“Do you think punishing them will solve this?!”
Lize ordered the directors to bring her solutions and sent them away. There was no time to waste arguing. Hadn’t she received simultaneous reports that the 7th apostle sent to E City had been defeated and that all the villain organization’s combatants were heading to B City?
In other words, the enemy—somehow—had subdued the 7th apostle, learned that the ones behind it were them, and kept that fact hidden until their combatants were ready to deploy.
It was truly unbelievable. Especially considering that the 7th apostle, a servant of the devil, could not possibly betray them. Physically and through ESP, the 7th apostle was incapable of betraying his fellow devil worshippers, wasn’t he?
Even extracting information from him was hard to believe, let alone doing so in such a short time. It was even harder to accept.
‘Just how?’
There was no time to ponder deeply. Lize cautiously knocked on the door to the chairman’s office. A deeply disappointed voice leaked out from inside.
—Enter.
“Yes, Father…”
Stepping into the chairman’s office, Lize trembled as she felt demonic energy constricting her entire body. To feel the devil’s presence from beyond the other dimension so clearly?
This was a sign that He was extremely disappointed. If things went wrong, not only her own life but the entire Baphomet Enterprise could collapse.
As she trembled, the chairman slowly opened his eyes.
“We will proceed with the ritual.”
“……Understood, Father.”
“The sacrifice this time will be you. You understand, don’t you, Lize?”
“……I understand.”
“Let’s go.”
Upon hearing the chairman’s words, Lize obediently bowed her head and followed behind him. The chairman’s private elevator descended to a basement floor that ordinary employees didn’t even know existed.
Perhaps due to prior instructions, devil worshippers who had finished preparing the ritual were already waiting there. Standing atop the magic circle drawn with blood and corpses, Lize instinctively sensed her fate as she stepped inside.
‘This is my duty. The duty of one who rules Baphomet Enterprise…!’
Moments later, as soon as she entered the magic circle, chanting began from all directions. The prayer incantation for the devil’s manifestation. As the dizzying chant continued, the magic circle began to glow.
From beyond the other dimension, in a place like heaven, Baphomet—who looked down upon us—reached out a hand and interfered with the present world through her body.
■■■m̴̢̱̭̗̪̊̄͌̓̓͝ǫ̶̝͍̫̳̈́͐̈̈́͡l̶̡̥̰̞̟̃͑̊͂͂͠■■■
“Ohh, ohh—! Baphomet!”
“Baphomet—!”
While the worshippers performing the ritual for the devil’s descent rejoiced, Lize, who had become the sacrifice and was connected to the devil, felt an entirely different emotion. It was bewilderment—a rare feeling she had never imagined experiencing from the devil.
At that moment, unlike the other worshippers who couldn’t understand a single word the devil spoke, Lize, connected directly to it, could partially comprehend its words.
‘What… have you touched…?’
The incomprehensible words ended, and the devil vanished like melting snow. It almost sounded like a scream from the devil came from somewhere. At the same time, every devil worshipper present felt a sense of deprivation, as if their souls were being torn away.
It was the pain one felt when a contract was forcibly severed. As the worshippers fell into panic from the sudden pain and failed ritual, a massive arm burst through the ceiling and grabbed the devil worshippers. Upon seeing the arm, the worshippers burst into joyful laughter.
“You have finally descended! From above… Gah—?!”
But it wasn’t. The right arm that crushed the devil worshippers into pulp swept away the concrete as if digging through a sandcastle. The owner of the revealed right arm was not the Baphomet they knew, but a beast wearing the hide of a tiger.
“—So you were all gathered here? You vermin.”
“……A beast?”
“He descended by possessing the body of a beast?”
“That can’t be—!”
As countless devil worshippers gasped in shock, only Lize, who had been offered as a sacrifice, recognized the owner of that hand. The sharpest fang belonging to the ruler of E City. The former Beast King, Galrm.
She had no idea why the devil’s right arm was attached to his right arm… but one thing was certain.
‘Ah— it’s over.’
And indeed, in the next moment, the devil worshippers began falling one by one to the attacks of the executives who came pouring in. Utterly helpless. As powerless as if they were ordinary non-powered people with no abilities at all.
They couldn’t put up any resistance and were defeated just like that.