Chapter 132
A bleak wind blew.
Standing atop the rooftop of a building, I exhaled a long breath as though I were smoking a cigarette.
Tension.
The burden of facing a Demonic Being for the first ti as a mber of the Special Affairs Division.
─Do not be too nervous. Not all Demonic Beings are the sa, are they? If he is just handing out potions, he is probably nothing special.
I silently nodded at Park Chaeshin’s voice over the radio.
─Hello? You can hear , right?
“Yes. I was just distracted for a mont.”
But what if the leader turns out to be Gen?
He is not so insignificant Demonic Being.
At least as far as I know, he is the most insidious and vicious existence of them all.
Even I, the original author, never fully understood his psyche.
The very fact that he managed to recruit Lee Eunho proves how unfathomable he is.
He approached Lee Eunho several tis in the original story as well, but Lee Eunho never completely fell to his side like he did in this tiline.
Not even the first iteration of Lee Eunho, who never regressed, succumbed.
“In the end, it must be the ripple effect caused by my existence as a character.”
For a mont, I summoned the Mist-Clearing Sword from my inventory.
As I ran my hand along the hilt and blade, the unnecessary tension began to fade.
In the end, this was the only thing I could trust.
I often complained that it was useless, but now, on the brink of a decisive battle with a Demonic Being, it felt more reliable than any other sword.
“I should gather every coin I can and buy up all the Platium in existence.”
If I forged a full suit of plate armor out of Platium, at least I would not fall so easily to a Demonic Being.
…Though with the Dwarves extinct, who exactly would forge it?
“Ha. Ridiculous.”
Letting out a hollow laugh, I put on the human skin mask I had prepared.
The leather was made from a goblin’s hide, roughly copied from Yun Jeongseop’s face.
A thin stubble like chanical pencil lead on the jaw, a fairly high nose bridge, and deep, heavy double eyelids.
With a hat pulled down over it, I would be difficult to distinguish unless one were a close associate.
Since I was wearing the bracelet that could not be physically removed, I should be able to enter without suspicion.
─The believers seem to be gathering.
Following Park Chaeshin’s transmission, I looked down at the ground.
Several followers were entering the grounds of the abandoned hospital.
There were roughly fifteen of them.
“Right. Fewer than I expected. I thought they would distribute the potions all at once.”
─They are controlling the numbers on purpose. If a large number of forced awakeners suddenly appear, even the Director-General would have difficulty covering it up.
Director-General Baek Dojin.
One of the collaborators in the forced awakening experint in which Yun Jeongseop had been used as a test subject.
Park Chaeshin and I were conducting this investigation under the premise that he was working with Callia.
To begin with, that assumption aligned with the original story.
I returned the Mist-Clearing Sword to my inventory.
The Brichalcon blade was strapped tightly to my body, hidden beneath my outerwear.
So that I could strike at any mont.
“All I have to do is record the leader using the forced awakening potion, correct?”
─Yes. After that, I will imdiately call Dispel in for an ergency response.
“Let ask just in case. What if the believers refuse to cooperate?”
─In that case, you restrain them until Dispel arrives. But you already know this better than I do. A Special Affairs Division investigator has the authority of summary execution over those who collaborate with Demonic Beings. Frankly, falling by your hand would be a rcy for them. The end of those involved with Demonic Beings, even if they are non-awakened, is grueso.
“……”
─More importantly, do you see the street across from there? Soone suspicious seems to be approaching.
As he said, a figure exuding an ominous aura stepped onto the hospital grounds.
When I activated my Demonic Eye, the result was clear—one hundred percent a Demonic Being.
But it did not seem to be Gen.
The color of his mana differed slightly from what I had seen through Gen’s Ghoul.
“All right. Let us begin. Our first hunt for a Demonic Being.”
***
I entered the assembly site.
As soon as I stepped inside the building, a strong dicinal stench pierced my nose.
It seed that when the hospital had gone bankrupt, its supplies had never been properly cleared out.
Perhaps human experintation had once taken place here.
The atmosphere was that grim and grotesque.
“It seems everyone has gathered. The reason you were invited here is that you have been deed to possess the qualities to serve the Saintess Society. In other words, you have been chosen.”
The Vice Leader began preaching just below the platform.
The leader, the Demonic Being, stood alone atop the platform, observing the believers with a solemn expression. At this distance, his identity was easy to discern.
Velop.
Not a Demonic Being with influence like Gen or Allie, but one who operated quietly and persistently.
He was comparatively cooperative with other Demonic Beings and possessed abilities ill-suited for combat.
As an aside, among the more passive Demonic Beings like Velop, there were so who married humans and lived in hiding.
They would refrain from turning their spouse into a Ghoul to learn human emotions.
Of course, while sparing their spouse, they would turn others nearby into Ghouls and deceive their partner.
Like perverse actors staging a private play.
In any case.
The Vice Leader’s voice echoed against the ceiling of the abandoned building.
“What the Saintess desires is to correct what is wrong! To expose the corrupted underbelly of society and grant rightful power to all! Ah! That is rcy! A mission to awaken the ignorant! Let all of you be enraged!”
“Be enraged!”
“Be enraged!”
“……”
Do I truly have to repeat such cringeworthy lines?
As though reading my thoughts, Park Chaeshin admonished .
─It would be best if you join in. Even with the bracelet, avoiding suspicion is important.
I nodded.
“B-Be enraged!”
Unlike previous assemblies, the sermon ended quickly.
A special assembly existed solely to distribute the forced awakening potion, so there was no need to prolong it.
As expected, Velop opened his mouth.
“Do you all desire the reward bestowed by the Saintess?”
“Be enraged!”
“Be enraged!”
“What is it that you desire?”
Velop stomped down on the platform with all his strength.
The floor cracked apart as though splitting.
“Justice to judge falsehood?”
He drew a small dagger and stabbed his own palm.
Yet his hand remained unscathed.
“Or an unyielding heart?”
Then he pulled a forced awakening potion from the bag held by the Vice Leader and shouted,
“If not that, then immortality!”
“Be enraged!”
“Be enraged!”
The assembly hall heated up in an instant.
Though fewer in number than usual, their fervor was unmatched.
Soon, one believer’s na was called.
He appeared sturdier than the elderly man from the previous assembly, but one side of his face was severely scarred by burns.
His face bore the marks of a life steeped in hardship.
“……You have lived a life soaked in misfortune. But do not worry. Even that shall be embraced by the Saintess.”
“Be enraged.”
Most of those attending the assemblies bore so physical defect.
That was likely why they clung so desperately to the Saintess Society.
Velop soon placed the potion in the believer’s hand.
Without hesitation, the man raised it to his lips.
In that instant, I shattered the potion vial with my shadow.
“What was that!”
“W-What just happened!”
“Has the Saintess grown wrathful!”
Panic erupted.
I drew the sword hidden beneath my coat and strode toward the platform.
“That is enough. What you were about to swallow was not eternal power, but poison.”
There were eighteen invited believers.
Four Vice Leaders conducting the assembly.
Naturally, all four Vice Leaders were Ghouls.
Against Velop, who possessed virtually no combat capability, this was more than manageable.
Upon reaching the platform, I leveled my sword at Velop and continued.
“You are being played by a Demonic Being.”
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
Even non-awakened people knew what the term Demonic Being implied.
However—
“What exactly did you just do?”
The believer who had stood upon the platform stepped between Velop and , his expression twisted.
“Step aside. I need to cut down that Demonic Being.”
“I am afraid that will not be possible.”
“…What?”
At his words, the surrounding believers surged onto the platform, encircling Velop and the Ghouls.
“You think you can cut down our leader? Who gave you that right!”
“When has an awakened person like you ever helped us?”
“At least the Saintess Society gives us hope!”
“You would not understand! Do you know how miserable a flawed life is?”
“Even if that potion is poison, it does not matter! If I can grasp a single thread of hope in a life filled with despair! If I can cling to that straw, what would I not do! Is that not right?”
“That is right! What would awakened bastards know!”
“Whether it is the Saintess or a Demonic Being! If they offer us a new life, standing idle would be foolish!”
The fear I had anticipated beca reality.
People blinded by the promise of forced awakening.
Velop let out a sly laugh.
“Khuhuh… foolish humans. It seems your own kind has chosen .”
“……”
I shifted my sword from Velop to the believer before .
“Can you take responsibility for what you are saying?”
“What is there to fear when hope is right before us!”
“No. What I an is that I will kill all of you here.”
“What?”
I tore off the human skin mask.
“A Special Affairs Division investigator holds the authority of summary execution over those involved with Demonic Beings…”
“S-Special Affairs Division…?”
“So choose. Will you cling to futile attachnt, or will you preserve your lives?”
Conflict blood across their faces.
Yet not a single one stepped away.
That alone was answer enough.
Perhaps their defects had caused them suffering worse than death.
I would not dare claim to understand their hearts.
But this choice was undeniably foolish.
Even true awakening would not regenerate a missing arm, and the hope they sought held nothing but ruin.
─Dispel has sealed off all exits of the site! Give the signal and they will move in imdiately!
Among all their words, one struck the hardest.
“If they offer us a new life, standing idle would be foolish.”
An absurd statent, unworthy even of a bitter laugh.
By that logic, were others ignorant for accepting their lives as they were?
Was Aileen, who had humbly accepted her fate, a fool for dying as she did?
They defended a Demonic Being who had slaughtered millions while mocking those who had loved their lives more earnestly than anyone.
I say this with certainty.
They did not even deserve to love themselves.
I crushed the ear piercing connected to Park Chaeshin.
─Hey, what are you doing—!
Then I activated Stealth, concealing my presence, and in an instant eroded the environntal mana within the space.
Only Velop sensed the shift.
He hurriedly released his mana to reveal his true form, but my blade, already at his back, pierced his heart first.
“Hrk!”
I dispelled Stealth and, wearing the Platium ring, seized Velop by the throat.
“Y-You attacked the leader!”
“Damn it!”
Under the influence of Platium, Velop could offer no resistance.
He rely groaned, his face dazed, while the surrounding Ghouls collapsed as their host weakened.
“You said you would cling even to a straw? Unfortunately, what you were grasping was—”
I tore Velop’s throat out before them.
Black blood spilled across the platform.
“A snake that would one day coil around your neck.”
***
Seoul’s Outskirts District 30.
While sorting through Aileen’s belongings, Do Minyeong discovered sothing familiar on the dining table.
A mory card for a smartwatch.
‘Why is this here…?’
She did not need long to realize it clearly bore Ji Seokhyeon’s trace.
The question was why he had left it behind.
It was not carelessly dropped, either. It had been placed inside a transparent plastic case.
Almost as though it had been left intentionally.
“……”
Do Minyeong sat down and inserted the mory card into the smartwatch.
‘An audio file?’
When she played it, a wistful voice flowed out.
─I just rembered that I promised to show you the album earlier today. I thought you would co down soon anyway, so I was waiting.
─Is that sothing you know from experience?
─Hehe, there is a kind of intuition that awakened people would not understand.
─Then tell . What happened, how you have lived. I do not think I will fall asleep easily tonight.
─Hmm, where should I begin? Ah! How about the ti you took off your shoes and boarded the airplane?
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