Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: IRIS OUT
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Hitler and Goebbels, huh.
Once upon a time, those war criminals had nearly shaken the entire continent. The idea that guys like them had recognized and even utilized anomalies was utterly ridiculous.
“Anomalies have been exploited in every era's wars. When do you think mages first appeared?”
Lee Seo-ah, unfazed, casually uncapped a vial and scooped out some stark white bone dust with her finger. She then slowly smeared it across her face.
“Those absurd events recorded in history? All of them were the work of mages, shamans, astrologers, and the like. There was even a huge uproar during the Crusades because of the Necronomicon.”
“...Back then, mages were active openly.”
“Exactly. It was only after the modern era, with the Clock Tower and a few other organizations forming, that they started operating in the shadows. Before info control kicked in—back when they didn't give a damn—mages were a common sight on battlefields.”
As she spoke, Lee Seo-ah used the bone dust on her face to turn her skin ghostly pale. Not satisfied, she pricked her finger for a bit of blood and painted her lips red.
Ian watched her with a dubious expression.
“More importantly, what have you been doing since earlier?”
“Preparing a spell.”
Lee Seo-ah replied nonchalantly as she pulled out a pen and drew a magic circle on the table.
“Ever heard of anomaly clash?”
“...I think I read about it in a book. When anomalies of the same lineage summon similar entities, it weakens both sides' power, right?”
The textbook definition was complicated, but the concept wasn't that hard.
Take a rampaging anomaly in a convenience store, for example. It could unleash its full potential against a part-timer.
But what if the part-timer was also an anomaly? What happens when an anomaly that smashes heads whenever it dislikes customers clashes with one that does the same whenever it dislikes part-timers?
The answer: weakening. When opposing or similar anomalies meet in the same space, both lose power.
It was a territorial dispute. A fight until one absorbed the other. The winner absorbed the loser's concept, growing into a stronger anomaly, while the loser vanished entirely.
This was a common method mages who handled anomalies used to tame others. They'd release a tamed anomaly to weaken a target, then either let it devour and grow or capture the weakened one for control.
Either way, it was a standard tactic.
But for Lee Seo-ah, who wasn't even an anomaly mage, it should have been impossible. She had no way to summon anomalies or any pre-tamed ones to call forth rivals.
Yet, contrary to Ian's thoughts, her expression brimmed with confidence.
“This is a cruise ship. That means it falls under the 'ship' category, no matter what. And there are surprisingly many ship-related anomalies.”
Lee Seo-ah poured bone dust generously over the magic circle and dripped blood as she continued.
“There's the Ship of Theseus, ghost ships, turtle soup, the Titanic curse, and more. That's just the big ones. There are way more minor ones. Oh, and the Kraken.”
“...Aren't those all straight-up anomalies? Necromancy can't summon or lure them.”
“True. But among ghost-related anomalies, there's one famous bunch.”
Ian opened his mouth to ask what it was, then suddenly burst into dry laughter as realization hit.
“...No way?”
“The lawless scourges of the sea! Fools who died as pirates but couldn't stop plundering! Evil spirits and anomalies who even sank entire warships during the World Wars—a notorious ghost crew!”
Ignoring him, she grinned and placed her hand over the magic circle.
“Ghost pirate ship! They'll come here to plunder the cruise!”
“This is insane.”
Ian gripped his grimoire and shook his head as Lee Seo-ah closed her eyes and began chanting.
A spell to summon uncontrollable evil spirits. Normally a dangerous magic avoided by most, but she didn't hesitate.
“Those who crave blood and flesh. The cursed ones. Those forged of grudges. Come hither, for I have prepared the feast you desire. Take, indulge, and revel in pleasure to your heart's content.”
Bwooooooo!!
A faint horn like a ship's blast echoed from beyond the window. The sea's waves grew fiercer.
“As high priestess and shrine maiden, master of anomalies and holder of the leash, I command thee.”
Lee Seo-ah opened her eyes and smiled faintly.
“Come. All you desire is here.”
The chant ended, and the magic circle flared, scattering bone dust everywhere. Confirming the spell's activation, Lee Seo-ah wiped her face roughly with the tablecloth and shouted.
“Let's go! They're coming!”
“Where to—what...?”
Kwaaaang!!!
Ian’s words were drowned out by a sudden explosion. The cruise ship rocked as if hit by a shell, and Ian scowled, peering out the window.
[Kyahahahaha!!]
Far off, through the sea mist, the silhouette of a massive sailing ship slowly emerged. Beneath flags fluttering in the wind, blurry figures of sailors with telescopes and hefty sniper rifles came into view.
Those sniper rifles looked off. Not matchlocks from the Age of Sail, but semiautomatic rifles gripped in their hands. Sleek black metal clacked as it moved.
“What the fuck!”
Ian was stunned.
“Why are their weapons modern?!”
Swaeeeeek-!
A whistling cut the air, and the dining hall's windows shattered, glass shards flying everywhere. Ian gritted his teeth and bolted out with Lee Seo-ah. She let out a squeak of a scream and yelled.
“They must've looted them from other ghost ships and warships! Run faster!”
“What about the civilians?!”
“I released the ghosts! They'll guide them to safety!”
“You've got this all planned out!”
“I'm a veteran in this line of work!”
Kwaaaang!
Another cannonball slammed into the cruise ship's hull. Ian staggered but barely kept his balance.
Turning, he saw the ghost ship right upon them.
A pitch-black, fog-shrouded galleon. Crowded atop it were motley ghost pirates clutching modern and antique weapons alike, licking their lips. Some even wore bulletproof vests and helmets.
Nothing like Ian had imagined.
He'd pictured skeletal pirates creaking along with scimitars, matchlocks, and hooks—not ones waving rifles and RPGs.
Pirate standards must've gotten damn high these days. Ian cursed inwardly, drew his revolver, and gripped it tight.
[Kyahaha! Plunder! Murder! Treasure!]
[Kill the women, kill the men too! Make 'em all crew!]
[What about kids and old folks, Captain?!]
[Chuck 'em in the sea for fish food! Useless scum!]
Their brutal chatter carried on the air. Pirates hooked grapples into the cruise ship's broken windows and clambered aboard, cackling.
Lee Seo-ah glanced back at the illegally boarding pirates and bellowed.
“Protect the living humans and kill those things! That's an order!”
At her command, ghosts in mourning clothes burst from ceilings, walls, and floors. Grim reapers in black hanbok strode forward, while grotesque evil spirits laughed maniacally, drenched in blood.
Ghost clashed with ghost. Screams, gunfire, and roars echoed sharply. Lee Seo-ah wiped nosebleed from overusing magic and turned to Ian.
“Split up and find the cruise anomaly's core! I'll head below! You go up!”
“You okay alone?”
Ian aimed backward and fired. Lee Seo-ah pulled out a glass vial, unfazed.
“This'll hold me! Signal if you find anything—don't die!”
She slapped his shoulder and dashed for the stairs. Ian watched her go briefly, then leaped into the arriving elevator.
With a noisy thud, he boarded, drew his grimoire, and stood.
That's when he sensed eyes on his nape and turned.
“...”
“...”
A newlywed couple who'd been getting affectionate in the elevator since morning stared holes through him.
Ian spotted the long leech silhouette slithering between their pupils and pulled the trigger.
Bang-! Bang-!
Bullets pierced both their foreheads and blew out the backs of their skulls, embedding in the wall. Their bodies crumpled before they could morph, and blue leeches crawled from the pooling blood.
Crunch!
Ian stomped them flat, then shot a pirate's leg charging down the hall and hit the elevator button.
As the doors began closing slowly, he placed a hand over them and cast.
“Be reborn.”
Crack!
With a gruesome sound, the doors fused like welded metal. A sword thrust through but was slower than the ascending elevator.
“Whew...”
Ian wiped sweat, lit a cigarette, and inhaled. Hot smoke soothed his pounding heart.
The situation had turned urgent fast, but he didn't blame Lee Seo-ah. She'd never planned a textbook anomaly takedown anyway—better to raise hell than waste days investigating quietly.
Why squander time waiting for disaster?
The amnesiac who'd died had been alive on day two, dead by three. Things could only get trickier.
Ending it all today was solid.
“...”
Ian reloaded his revolver, half-smoked cigarette in mouth, waiting for the elevator to stop.
Ding. It halted. He spun the cylinder on his loaded revolver and placed a hand over the doors.
Chanting familiarly, the doors split sideways. Ian blew smoke at the hallway packed with leeches, infected survivors, and pirates.
A cruise ship where the Tongue Cult or whatever held their breath.
Yet the captain and crew hadn't shown.
To question them, find them first. He holstered his revolver, opened Hand of Recreation, and murmured.
“Companion and lantern of the great one, its eternal servant. Grant me grace for thee and a spear to punish our foes.”
He piled anomaly flesh on the grimoire, dripped blood. It pulsed with pale white light.
“Thus I open the path for thee. O great one, lend me thy hand.”
Drip.
The chant ended; materials on the magic circle evaporated. A stark white cube replaced them.
“Kieeeek!”
[Living one! Kill it! Kill!]
Anomalies sensing him charged, but Ian didn't blink, commanding the cube.
“Clear the path.”
[Affirmative.]
The cube spoke in a woman's voice and glowed.
It morphed into a disc, compressed, and shot forward.
Kwaaaaa!!
A gale ripped through, shredding, disassembling, reassembling everything in its path. Grotesque, mutated limbs and organs convulsed, then slumped.
[Complete. Terminating.]
With enemies gone, the cube dispersed into light.
An attack spell from Hand of Recreation. Drawbacks: single-use, material-heavy, fatigue-inducing. But the power was worth it.
Ian smiled faintly, spat his cigarette.
“Let's go.”
[Bzzz.]
The grimoire vibrated in response.
Then, the status window auto-activated, content shifting.
[EX. CHAPTER 2 – Onboard Murder Case]
[Summary: Instead of uncovering the murder truth, you and Lee Seo-ah decided to wreck the cruise ship. By summoning absurd enemies like pirates, no less. Passengers are starting to harbor murderous intent toward you. But you ignore them to hunt the captain. Will you find what you seek?]
[ENTER. CHAPTER 3 – The Thing Slumbering Beneath the Sea]
[You roam the ship seeking the captain and crew. But curiosity strikes: Why these monsters on a cruise? What's with the leeches? Why parasitize and mutate humans? Reasonable questions. Will you satisfy this curiosity? Oho, doesn't seem easy.]
Sarcastic chapter summaries and notices.
Ian stared blankly, then chuckled and flipped it the bird.
[...Ha.]
The window huffed at his blatant insult and vanished.