Chapter 50. Have You Ever Felt Fear?
Chapter 50. Have You Ever Felt Fear?
'That?'
"Heh heh, I promise I'll show you later."
"Alright. So, why did you ask to see me?"
"From what I heard from the men we grabbed, you're government forces?"
To be precise, they weren't government forces anymore. They were already under my command.
"You're not wrong. But why do you ask?"
"You people don't give a shit about rebuilding the nation or anything like that. Just asking on the off chance — are the big shots running the country gathered here too?"
Not the big shots running the country, but the boss of those big shots was here.
"Yeah."
"Then go back and tell them this. Recognize Incheon Port as our territory, and we'll exchange the hostages for weapons and food."
The way he acted like he held all the cards pissed me off enough to want to kill him, but I pretended to listen for now. He thought he was in charge, but when he realizes he's actually at my mercy, what kind of face will he make?
And even if I did relay the message to the President, did he really think it would be accepted? Seeing me listening without a word, he kept talking.
"The world's already gone to shit anyway. From now on, the one with the strongest force rules everything. You get your hostages back, and in return, we get food, weapons, and recognition of our territory. Is that so hard to understand?"
"First, I'd like you to show me where the others went."
He mulled over my words for a moment, then ordered his men outside to bring it in. The subordinate who received the command brought a small box and handed it to his boss. Then he tossed it to me like it was a nuisance.
"What's this?"
"Keu-heu-heu, open it if you're curious."
Curious, I opened the box. Inside were dog tags. I stared into the box without a word. Dog tags from already dead soldiers, most likely. It might sound cold, but it wasn't enough to make me shed tears. I had lived a long life and witnessed the deaths of many comrades. And this wasn't someone close to me, just a member under my command who had died.
Looking at the box, I glanced back at the old man and Jia, still unconscious and collapsed in the corner. If they had been killed... I would have torn open the gates of the Underworld and hurled these bastards into the lowest abyss.
He must have thought my silent stare at the box was a sign of deep shock, because he was grinning like an idiot.
"Sorry, but I can't show you the bodies. Or rather, they probably aren't all burned yet, so maybe some bone fragments are left?"
"Did you eat them?"
"Huh? Is that what you're curious about? I don't eat that stuff. The men below probably ate them."
The bastard, still thinking I was in shock, started blabbering about this and that on his own.
"Anyway, once you're dead, you become a corpse. Isn't it good if it gets used valuably as food? And the men below were so high on drugs, they gobbled it up thinking it was meat. Ke-ke-ke."
"This is too fucking sickening... I can't listen anymore."
"Kwa-ha-ha!!! So what are you gonna do about it alone? Even if you're some kind of heavy-hitter Awakened, we've got Awakened too..."
"Have you ever felt fear?"
"I rule Incheon. Me, feel fear? What the hell kind of nonsensical bullshit is...!"
I let my killing intent explode. It wasn't just a mere leak of aura; my mana, synchronized with my emotions, materialized and became visible to his eyes. The men in the room immediately began trembling all over, their jaws chattering like nutcrackers. Some even pissed their pants.
"M-m-monster... what the hell... are you..."
They had lost even the option to fight. As I kept pouring out my mana without pause, some began foaming at the mouth and passing out.
"I was foolish. Trying to have a conversation with beasts who don't know how to speak. Wasn't understanding only possible between humans in the first place?"
"..."
"Well, are you afraid now?"
He was pinching his thigh, desperately holding on against the sensation that his mind would snap.
'Behind him... those countless eyes... those countless mouths full of sharp teeth... what the hell is that...'
He must have sensed by instinct that locking eyes with even one of them would be a fate worse than death, because he hung his head and desperately tried not to look.
"I'm low on patience, so I suggest you choose your next words carefully. Were there other hostages besides us?"
"Y-yes... they are..."
— Swish!
A thin line appeared on the bastard's ear before blood gushed out.
"K-kyaaaah!!!"
"You don't seem to grasp the situation yet..."
"K-kuheu... I-I'm sorry..."
I walked over, grabbed him by the head, and slammed it into the desk several times. Cracks formed on the desk, and wood splinters flew. After a few more times, his teeth went flying too.
And then, I tossed the bastard like a piece of trash toward where his crew was.
"At the very least, you should have kept the hostages alive. Then you would have had a chance to talk with me. Your disposal will be postponed for now."
I went to where the old man and Jia were collapsed and checked them over. The men, including Mr. Chu, were covered in bruises. Jia was better off than them, but her lip was split, and numerous bruises were visible on her body.
Thinking I was distracted by the others, the bastard suddenly raised his gun, imbued it with mana, and fired at me. I took the attack with my body — it wasn't worth dodging or deflecting.
"Ohowa (How)..."
His face had been smashed against the desk, so his pronunciation was slurred even as he gaped in horror. I slowly approached the horrified bastard. Then I gently grasped the right hand that had fired the gun. And very slowly, I began to apply pressure. As if he guessed what I was about to do, his breath quickened, and he begged.
"Pu... p-pleash..."
— Crunch... Crack... Squish...
"G-gghhh... hggghhh!!!"
The form of his right hand disappeared, as if it had been stamped by a hydraulic press. Tears and snot streaming down his face, he looked at me, and his eyes no longer saw me as a human being. Facing him, I smiled slightly and said.
"Do you know that human vitality is surprisingly tenacious?"
He seemed to have roughly guessed the meaning of my words, because he clutched his ruined hand, fell to his knees, slammed his head on the ground, and pleaded.
"Sp... spare my life... no... pleash... kill me, jusht kill me..."
Ignoring his pleas, I leaned close to his ear and whispered softly.
"When our people begged you, did you grant their requests?"
I grabbed his head, smashed it against the wall again, and knocked him out cold. Then I returned to where I had been confined, led the soldiers there, and contacted Gimpo. They must have been on standby, because they received the call and arrived in less than 30 minutes.
Given how serious the situation was, it wasn't just the special mission agents — Seo Ji-hoon, Choi Jae-hyeok, and even the President came in person. The moment they opened the door to the room I was in, they flinched at the sight of me. Blood was splattered on my body, and my hands were caked with dried, red crusts of it.
"The situation is over. Please move the wounded quickly. And take these bastards with you as well."
As I said that, I carefully lifted Jia into my arms and carried her myself. Even as we boarded the helicopter, Jia stayed in my embrace. She seemed to have woken up from the helicopter's noise.
"Oppa..."
"Jia, are you okay?"
"Hehe... I knew you would come."
"How's your body? Does anything hurt terribly?"
"It's just a bit sore, nothing else..."
Relieved, I used one hand to tuck a strand of Jia's hair behind her ear and stroked her head.
"That feels nice... It's been so long since you stroked my hair like this..."
"Yeah? I'll do it often."
After I said that, Jia seemed tired and fell asleep again. We finished the short flight and arrived at Gimpo. I carefully laid Jia down in the bedroom and came out.
I headed to the Assembly Hall, where everyone was already gathered. Since our group had never suffered any damage before, everyone's faces were gaunt from experiencing this for the first time. The President spoke first.
"Mr. Sihu, may I ask why you brought them here?"
"They should take responsibility."
"Do you intend to execute them all?"
I frowned, showing my displeasure at the President's words. Seeing my face, the President thought he had made a mistake and became equally grave.
"Was there something I misspoke about?"
"Hah... I'm sorry. I failed to control my expression. I won't kill them right away."
"Th-then...?"
"They will not escape death at my hands."
I said this and called for Terion. The sudden call for Terion at this moment made the others look curious.
"Hm...? What's going on, summoning me all of a sudden?"
"Terion, extract every last bit of their origin essences and turn them into undead."
"Are you... serious...?"
With those words, I left the hall to check on Jia and the old man, because I was worried about them still lying there. The others could only stare blankly at my retreating back.
Those who had witnessed the serious mood began murmuring among themselves. Seo Ji-hoon asked Terion.
"Mr. Terion, may I ask what Mr. Sihu meant?"
"...Do you believe in souls?"
"Hmm... You mean, like people dying, becoming souls, and going to the afterlife?"
"Precisely. The origin essence is the soul itself. To extract it and make them undead means... they will become undead, their minds perfectly intact, forced to obey commands for the rest of their existence."
"Then..."
"It means those bastards cannot die until the very, very end, and must live as undead. Anyway, it's been a while since I've seen the 'Calamity' this angry..."
Hearing Terion's last remark, the others grew curious and asked again.
"Has Mr. Sihu ever gotten this angry before?"
"The 'Calamity's' wrath is quiet. On the day he was enraged, a single kingdom vanished from the map. But at least back then, he didn't go so far as to extract their origin essences and torment them. He must be profoundly furious. That sort of thing only happened when the Elves..."
As he spoke, he glanced briefly at Chaeyeon before saying no more.
"This isn't a story for me to run my mouth about..."
"Anyway, everyone be careful. When the 'Calamity' is enraged, even the divine authorities couldn't breathe properly, lest they cross his mood."