Chapter 210 : Meeting (2)
Chapter 210: Meeting (2)
‘Demonic energy?’
While Johanel was amiably chatting with members of other organizations.
Sensing a trace of demonic energy within the crowd, Carl quietly took a step back, concealing his presence.
He left no particular message for Johanel.
Because the latter must have already noticed his movement.
‘Over there, huh.’
Carl concealed his presence even more thoroughly and moved.
Since no one was paying attention to him anyway, he naturally made his way toward the faint demonic energy.
“So I gave them a lesson. Discipline should be enforced firmly from the top, don’t you think?”
The source of the demonic energy came from a group of people gathered together.
The energy was so faint that it was difficult to determine exactly who it came from, so Carl quietly slipped into the group to observe the culprit.
“In the midst of all that, this helped a lot. You all know mana beads, right? This is a refined version developed by our organization, and we succeeded in increasing its effect by 1.5 times.”
Just then, a rather enticing story reached his ears.
‘They boosted the effect of mana beads by 1.5 times?’
Mana beads were the result of countless experiments and the pill-making methods from the Central Plains.
Even though next-generation products were in development, expecting a 1.5-fold increase in effect was a tough task even for NOX.
There had to be a critical flaw or some exaggeration mixed in.
If not...
‘It must be stolen or eliminated.’
If they truly had improved mana beads, it could completely shift the market dynamics.
Click.
The man drawing attention with talk of mana beads opened a small box.
Inside were several pitch-black mana beads, distinctly different from the original ones.
‘Black pills? Wait a second…’
Carl narrowed his eyes.
The faint scent of demonic energy he had sensed earlier originated from within those black pills.
Did they really condense demonic energy into mana beads?
‘Injecting demonic energy into an ordinary human body like that wouldn't end well.’
Nine times out of ten, they’d either be consumed by the energy or become monsters.
Anyone capable of condensing demonic energy into mana beads wouldn’t be unaware of that.
Which meant it was made with clear intent.
“This?”
“I named it Black Beads. As a token for attending this event, I’ll gift each of you one. How about it?”
The man took one himself and bit down on it hard.
Immediately, a clear surge of mana spread outward and was absorbed into his body.
“...Oh.”
“Me too, give me one!”
“Let me have one as well?”
Those who had just seen the effect firsthand dropped their suspicions and eagerly reached for the Black Beads.
“Don’t worry. There’s plenty. Go on, take one each. I’ll even take reservations, just for you all.”
“Amazing. 1.5 times the power of mana beads.”
“I’ll try it myself. I’ll decide after seeing the effect.”
Since the man had demonstrated it himself, and considering this was an important gathering of organizations, surely he wouldn’t bring something flawed.
They all popped the Black Beads into their mouths without much doubt.
Carl would never have done such a thing, but humans blinded by greed could become foolish like this.
“……”
Carl watched their reaction while pretending to sip champagne.
On the surface, everything looked convincing.
The mana being absorbed into their bodies was indeed 1.5 times greater than regular mana beads of the same grade.
“Ohh, this is the real deal!”
“Reserve some under Luzmond’s name. Actually, I want to monopolize the current batch—no, the entire month’s supply.”
“I’ll pay double. More…”
Excited by the effect of the Black Beads, people swarmed the man.
Could this be the end of it?
As Carl closely observed them, he spotted black veins emerging on their skin.
Squish, squelch.
A strange noise echoed through the center of the banquet hall.
Some around tilted their heads in confusion, wondering what the sound was, but the very people affected were too focused on purchasing the mana beads to notice.
The first to feel something was a woman clutching a wine glass, tormented by a burning thirst, who looked at her hand.
“…Huh?”
Blotchy spots had spread across her once-pale skin.
Her skin was turning pitch black, as if she’d caught the Black Death.
Clang!
Startled, she dropped her glass and trembled as she spoke to the man.
“W-Wait! Sir Aboki! What is this…!”
“Ahh.”
The man referred to as Sir Aboki looked at her hand and grinned as he nodded.
“Thank goodness. I was getting nervous because it was slower than expected, but the effect is certain.”
“Wh-What….”
Before the woman could respond, her body began to swell.
“W-What is this?!”
“Ughhh! It’s a monster!”
Her human form collapsed, transforming into an unspeakable creature.
Only one pair of eyes staring at the others remained the same.
As if her consciousness remained, those terrified eyes only heightened the grotesqueness.
“Kraaah, kuaaagh!”
“Gugh…!”
Following her, all who had consumed the Black Beads began to swell and turn into monsters.
Crash! Bang!
They each transformed into different monstrous forms.
Some, like the woman, stood frozen in fear, while others, their eyes flipped, smashed nearby objects and beat people to death.
“Stop them! Guards!”
“Damn it, evacuate!”
The banquet hall fell into chaos in an instant.
Carl quietly stepped back and blended into the crowd to regroup with Johanel.
“What the hell is going on? Things were going so well, and then this….”
Johanel frowned as he looked at the monsters rampaging through the hall.
“Have you seen anything like this before?”
"Who could stomach such grotesque creatures? I'm afraid they'll haunt my dreams."
To say such a thing despite being capable of slicing them into hundreds or thousands of pieces meant their forms were truly repulsive.
"Please pretend to evacuate for now. I have someone to pursue."
"Very well. Just in case, I’ll have the children on standby."
"Thank you."
Experience meant one could respond even without detailed explanations.
Carl immediately melted into the shadows and darted among the monsters.
Fortunately, he found an untouched Black Bead and stored it in his coat, then began tracking the man called Sir Aboki, the one responsible for this mess.
‘Has he already fled?’
Aboki must have known this would happen when the Black Beads were consumed.
He likely slipped away amidst the chaos along with the others.
After briefly observing the rampaging monsters, Carl launched himself out of the banquet hall.
“Damn it, what’s going on here?”
“Let’s go. If we stay here, we’ll get caught up in the mess.”
“Is this terrorism? Those monsters appeared out of nowhere.”
The organizations that had only attended the meeting got into their carriages and scattered in all directions.
However, the organization that had hosted the meeting here mobilized their forces to deal with the sudden terrorist attack, putting in their full effort.
“First, figure out what’s going on! What the hell do you mean monsters, all of a sudden?!”
Carl blended into the shadows and watched the situation closely.
If he were the one behind this incident, he wouldn't run—he’d stay and observe how the monsters fought.
That way, he could assess their combat capability.
‘…Found him.’
As he scanned the crowd, Carl's gaze landed on Aboki.
Seated in a carriage, he was watching the banquet hall with his entourage.
-Kuoooh!
The monster unleashed in the banquet hall entered a berserk state.
Already confused from the sudden transformation, being attacked only made it angrier.
It had lost all human reason and swung its massive limbs with only a murderous instinct to protect itself.
Smack, crunch!
The organization members who approached too closely were crushed into pulp by its tremendous strength.
Ordinary spears and swords were useless, and only attacks imbued with mana managed to scratch it, spilling dark red blood.
‘It's fully demonized.’
Carl gave a short nod in assessment.
Injecting demonic energy into a human body led to drastically different outcomes depending on the amount.
A small amount might just cause some damage, but if excessive, the energy would consume the body and cause a transformation.
Especially with mana beads being directly absorbed into the system, the danger was even greater.
The internal organs would be eroded first, collapsing the human form and turning them into monsters.
‘But surely they didn’t go through all this just to create a pile of flesh like that.’
A decent combatant could still take them down.
In fact, when a mid-tier boss rushed in after hearing the commotion and swung his sword, the massive flesh was mercilessly sliced apart and scattered.
Sssssshk.
Its strength and regeneration were on par with a troll.
But what of it?
Relying solely on instinct, its attacks lacked the destructive force of even a monster of similar size.
Clatter.
Soon, Aboki’s carriage began to move.
Carl leapt across rooftops, pursuing it.
Which organization could have created such a thing?
‘The Demon Realm faction must be involved.’
According to what King had told him, Demon Realm factions were operating in secret not only in the Empire but in other kingdoms as well.
These Black Beads were likely another product of that same scheme.
If those spread through the market, the damage would be immense.
‘I’ll need to inform Crown Prince Yulian and establish a certification system through the Madeira Trading House.’
In business, trust was paramount.
Even now, counterfeit mana beads were flooding the market, and if things like Black Beads appeared, the entire market would be shaken.
Organizing his thoughts, Carl continued tailing the carriage.
After escaping Flick, the carriage passed through the darkness of the Imperial Capital.
It had even left the Western Commercial District behind when—
Carl sensed a strong presence of demonic energy from a distance.
Tap.
The opponent’s aura was no joke.
Getting any closer risked being detected, so Carl stopped and heightened his vision.
‘…That’s…’
The carriage stopped, and Aboki got out.
He boarded another carriage that had been on standby, and on the front of it was a symbol Carl knew very well.
「Origin」
Those with a long-standing enmity with Carl had revealed themselves once more.
‘They must have known NOX was attending this meeting.’
With Origin's intelligence network, it was impossible they didn’t.
In that case, releasing Black Beads and creating monsters here—was it a warning to him?
‘How amusing.’
Accepting the challenge, Carl resumed his pursuit, dashing through the night-covered city.