Chapter 19
It's burning bright...? There are plenty of ways to torture a soul once you've summoned it. For starters, you could scorch it from the edges inward with fierce flames. Another method is to hurl it into pitch-black darkness and accelerate time to shatter its fragile mind. Or you could weave real mana into it, tearing it apart strand by strand like grinding meat, inflicting excruciating pain. Whatever the approach—as long as it directly affects the soul—it's about applying rough force to inflict damage. But you must never touch its memories or emotions, so precise control is essential.
The soul captured before me right now was suffering horrific damage as I formed countless mana needles and pierced them one by one into its entire body. On top of that, I amplified the agony with the Pain curse. And thanks to that...?
- Grk, grrrraaaagh!! I-I'll talk. I'll tell you everything!!
- Hnngh, urgh, kuh, kuuuugh!!
It writhed in torment. One fascinating thing about souls is that they retain their form from this life until they're returned to the repository of records. After that, before reincarnating into another life, they become a pristine blank slate, devoid of anything. This was knowledge I'd gleaned from the Necronomicon, but if asked whether it's the absolute truth, all I could say is "I don't really know." After all, it's information you can only learn after death.
In any case, the interrogation dragged on, and to extract the relevant details, I used Link. A flood of emotions, memories—even the pain they felt—came through vividly.
The link's gone pretty deep. This could get exhausting...
Aftereffects were a real risk. Physical backlash, or worse, deep mental scars. The suffering a human feels at death defies imagination, and that damage could transfer to me. It was a huge gamble in every way, but that's the life of a black mage—always carrying that burden.
Naturally, I sifted through the accessed memories, edited out the essentials, and began storing images in mana stones.
I'd love to check all the souls, but the side effects would just keep piling up. Eventually, they'd try to devour me.
Every black mage knew how perilously risky it was to link with other souls, so stopping at a reasonable point was the smart move.
Once I'd judged that I'd gotten what I needed, I severed the link and addressed the half-ruined soul.
"You've all shared in this too, no doubt. Here's to enduring without breaking."
With that, I released Call of Spirit, and the souls scattered into the void, hollow and spent.
"Tch. In the end, we've just got a pile of corpses again."
* * *
The cleanup was handed off to me and the detective who'd been investigating with the morgue, resolving things swiftly. In the midst of it, the detective asked me,
"That person you mentioned before? They've vanished. Any chance the info leaked?"
"Less a leak, more like they caught wind of something."
With the state of things, anyone shady was slinking away on their own. If the government pursued the missing officials, they might uncover just how deeply rooted the Doomsday Cult was.
I slipped him info on a low-level figure I'd uncovered.
"You know Jin Jong-un, deputy director of Gate Management?"
"...Perhaps?"
I nodded lightly and watched his reaction. He pondered gravely, then let slip one piece of intel.
"There's a covert investigation underway into Phantom Guild's vice master."
"Why's that?"
"The missing government official, Park Jong-pil, met with him frequently. Several other officials were there too, and they're all gone now."
The Doomsday Cult had moved faster than expected. I had no idea who their leader was, but one thing was clear: they were deeply entangled with the government. It left me seriously questioning who to trust and how far. Most heavyweights in the current administration were tied to President Kim Dae-san, one of the three great heroes. Beating around the bush, the other heroes were connected too—but right now, everyone looked suspicious. I couldn't exactly accuse the president of being a cultist, though. It was a tangled mess.
"With most contacts vanished, we should track them while digging into Jin Jong-un."
The truth was, my intel went higher than Jin Jong-un. But this detective couldn't handle that level, so I kept quiet.
Better to crush them step by step. But if we move too obviously, we'll get burned.
Unlike past powers, the current ones wielded real force. They'd earned their fame in massive wars, with thick public support. A black mage like me—already branded the axis of evil—couldn't just pin them as cultists without getting finger-pointed as a slanderer. To civilians, black mages and Doomsday Cultists were both just "evil."
"Phantom's tough for us to approach directly, so a dedicated team is handling it discreetly. And... we'll focus on Jin Jong-un from here on."
I acknowledged and let him go. I might face more questioning since I'd been attacked and dealt with them, but for now, I had a clean slate. The corpses reeked of Doomsday Cult traces, and the involved guilds checked out fine regarding the gate.
On my way out, I called Go Yu-jin.
She should be wrapping up by now. Hope she picks up.
The line rang, a few more tones, then she answered.
"Situation's wrapped here. You done too?"
- "Ah, yeah, we're finished here too. All handled, no red flags. Yours?"
"Sorted fine on this end."
I saw no need to spill details right then. She said I could head home, so I did—pulling out my tablet en route to search the names I'd gotten.
Park Young-min, the assemblyman—is he 1st Gen?
He was well-documented for his awakening: close-combat type wielding earth-attribute power focused on destruction. His brute strength had built a heroic image through rescues, frontline charges in the war, and heaps of merits.
But the issue? His overkill tactics made him a headache for the "enemy." The cataclysm wrapped up in under two years, but as the second cycle ended and stability loomed, riots erupted worldwide—especially here, hit by Chinese and Japanese awakeners. Heroes dwindled from nearly thirty to just seven; four of those scarred physically or mentally, sidelined forever. The remaining three thrived in politics, infamous for their grudge against China and Japan.
They kept diplomacy from total rupture, but that brutal year-long war had pushed countless awakeners to death's door.
I nearly bit it myself...
China and Japan's initial aim: cull as many powerful 1st Gen as possible. Culling 2nd and 3rd Gen was just bonus. I wasn't a prime target—more "bonus"—but ironically, that let me rack up kills against their 1st Gen invaders. Earned me the moniker Most Vicious, though only they called me that. In Korea, I was either a solid awakener or just some black mage scrub. Laughable treatment, but maybe we'd been played image-wise. Simple reason: Korea's top black mage had the Necronomicon, untouchable.
Anyway, digging through docs and articles, no standout exploits—just people's livelihood focus.
Orphanages and support for child-headed households...
Cataclysm and war spawned hordes of orphans; politics bickered yearly over it. Park led the charge, teaming with others to pressure the president for more aid. Seemed to carry weight as a hot-button issue.
Jin Jong-un, Gate Management deputy? Classic bureaucrat, famed for admin prowess.
High marks in manpower control—genius at assignments and guild coordination...
I doubted it was all true, but searches showed no flashy profile.
Need a subtle approach. Not that I despise the Doomsday Cult—but they targeted me, so I'll hit back hard.
They won't get off lightly.
By the time I reached home, chaos greeted me.
"...Why the hell is that burning?"
The house ablaze, firefighters and awakeners scrambling to douse it. For the first time in ages, raw rage surged through me.
...Damn, house prices again? How much was it?
Dozens of billions going up in smoke wasn't amusing—it pumped adrenaline like mad.