Chapter 25 : Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Heosan (6)
Back to the present.
Riman approached Experiment Body No. 31.
“Grk……!”
Even after being crushed under hundreds of tons of rebar, the creature was not dead.
Its physical durability was ridiculously tough.
But it was only alive; it couldn't move.
In the first place, if it had been a creature that could move even in this state, Riman would not have even thought of capturing it alive.
In any case, with this, the capture of Experiment Body No. 31 was complete.
A mission far more difficult than killing: capture.
But Riman had gone through the troublesome process to specifically capture it alive.
There was one reason.
Because without this method, he couldn't get close to the mastermind of this incident.
Tap.
First, he placed his palm on the head of the creature, which was completely immobilized.
“Grrrr……!”
“Shut up.”
Riman closed his eyes and activated a magic spell.
[Detection]
The detection range was limited to the head of this Demonic Beast.
As the range narrowed, the precision of the detection rose sharply.
Was he trying to look inside the head of this Demonic Beast?
No, the [Detection] spell couldn't look into the brain itself.
The brain was sealed within the skull.
But he could detect the fine thread of mana extending from that brain.
‘Found it.’
A single thread of mana connected to this Demonic Beast’s brain.
He had detected that invisible thread.
This thread would break if the Demonic Beast died, which was why Riman had captured it alive.
Riman knew what this mana thread was for.
Control.
At the other end of this mana thread, there was a person using this thread to control the Demonic Beast.
This person was the final prey Riman was looking for.
The one who had been controlling Experiment Body No. 31 to kill the surviving hunters.
And before that, the one who had unleashed numerous Demonic Beasts into Heosan Village, causing this disaster.
In other words, the one who had been manipulating this incident from behind the scenes.
In fact, Riman had known even before entering Heosan Village.
That the Ork Corporation Demonic Beast escape was not an accident, but an incident.
For it to be an incident and not an accident meant someone's intent was involved.
And now, Riman had just obtained the final clue to find that ‘someone.’
Tzzzzzzz……!
He expanded the range of [Detection].
He traced the thread of mana extending from No. 31’s head, going back towards its source.
And finally—
‘There you are.’
He found him.
The one who was controlling No. 31.
The mastermind of this situation.
Riman said.
“Saya, go.”
Whoosh!
Saya flew quickly in the direction Riman guided it.
Riman also ran quickly, following Saya.
Now that he had pinpointed the man's location, he had to chase him down and catch him immediately.
If he dallied, he would lose him.
The man possessed an expensive stealth magic tool that was undetectable by [Detection].
Therefore, he had to be caught before he moved from his current position.
The man's current location was inside an abandoned container room.
Saya arrived there faster than Riman.
While running, Riman commanded Saya.
“Tear off the door.”
Crunch!
Saya bit and shattered the container's doorknob.
And Riman transmitted a single magic spell to Saya.
[Ignition]
Whoosh!
Black fire spewed out from Saya's mouth.
The fire instantly filled the inside of the container.
At that moment.
“Hwaaaargh!”
A man shot out of the container with his back on fire.
He was a small, thin man.
He looked to be in his mid-30s.
“Damn it……!”
The man rolled frantically on the ground to extinguish the flames on his body.
But when that didn't work, he just threw off his burning clothes.
“Which son of a bitch……!”
“It’s me.”
At some point, Riman had arrived in front of the man.
Looking up at Riman, he had a dumbfounded expression.
He said.
“…How did you get here?”
“A bastard was running wild, so I followed its leash. I wanted to see the face of the bastard who owns it.”
“……!”
“It was you, wasn't it? The bastard who let the Demonic Beasts escape from the Ork Corporation research lab.”
“Yes, it was me.”
He slowly stood up and looked at Riman.
His eyes, to put it nicely, were sharp; to put it badly, they were trapped in stubbornness.
They were the eyes of a conviction criminal.
He said.
“…Have you ever looked into the mind of a Demonic Beast?”
“No. I don't have that kind of ability.”
This man was a Superhuman.
The ability he possessed was ‘Mind Control limited to Demonic Beasts.’
It was the ability to see into, communicate with, and manipulate the minds of Demonic Beasts.
It was with this ability that he had controlled ‘Experiment Body No. 31’ to murder the hunters and chase after Riman.
And as Riman had mentioned before, those with mind-control type abilities often didn't have very stable minds themselves.
This man was one of those cases.
The man spoke.
“I heard them. The voices of these children, crying out in pain while trapped in the Ork Corporation's laboratory.”
“……”
“Could you have just walked by? When the voices of children in pain reached me, when I had the power to save them, how could I just stand by!”
“So you can hear the voices of beasts, but not people?”
“What?”
“The people of this Heosan Village who were massacred because you let the Demonic Beasts escape, I guess you didn't hear their voices? I guess you couldn't empathize with their pain?”
For a moment, the man couldn't answer and shut his mouth.
And the self-defense he came up with a moment later was……
“…Someone had to atone.”
“Atone?”
“The sins that humans committed against those children, someone else had to atone for them. This time, it just happened to be the humans of this village.”
It was the same bullshit philosophy he had heard countless times in the game.
Hearing it in real life, in person, was even more absurd.
“Hey, then what about the sins committed by the Demonic Beasts?”
“The Demonic Beasts have no sin. Those children are pure.”
“Sin is determined by action, not intent. If they harmed an innocent person, the Demonic Beast is guilty too, isn't it?”
“……”
“And what, atonement? If your next-door neighbor committed a crime, would you go to prison for them?”
Riman fired back with refutations.
The things he had always wanted to say to this bastard when he played <Headhunters>.
‘This feels so refreshing.’
When playing the game, he couldn't speak freely to the characters in the game.
He could only choose from pre-determined options.
So even if he wanted to retort to the nonsense, he had to keep his words to himself, which was frustrating.
But to be able to let it all out like this.
A sense of calm washed over him.
But it seemed the one listening to it didn't feel the same.
“…up.”
“What did you say?”
“Shut up! I said shut up!!”
Pounce!
At that moment, a Demonic Beast that had been hiding nearby lunged at Riman.
The man had controlled a Demonic Beast he had hidden for self-defense.
The fangs of the Demonic Beast lunged, aiming precisely for Riman's nape.
Of course, it didn't reach.
Because Saya’s teeth had already bitten into the Demonic Beast’s neck first.
Crunch!
“Kyaaak……!”
With a shrill scream, the Demonic Beast tumbled to the ground.
Riman concentrated mana at his fingertips and said.
“Good job, Saya.”
[Incision]
Slice!
Riman slit the Demonic Beast’s throat in a single motion and then looked at the man again.
The man had, at some point, drawn a pistol.
The end of that gun was, of course, pointed at Riman.
The muzzle flashed.
Ting!
With a clear sound, the bullet ricocheted off to a random spot.
Riman had already put up a defensive barrier.
As his two surprise attacks failed in an instant, the man finally began to panic.
Though he panicked, his assessment of the situation was quick.
He immediately threw the gun and started to flee.
Of course, it wasn't a very meaningful choice.
“Saya, bite him.”
Chomp!
Saya flew and bit into one of the man’s calves.
The man collapsed helplessly to the ground with a scream.
“Kuaaaaargh……!”
He possessed the incredible ability of Demonic Beast control, but his own body was ridiculously weak in comparison.
Riman approached him.
The man finally began to speak in a pleading voice.
“Wa, wait! Just a moment, please!!”
“Oh, so you do know how to speak formally.”
“You know, don't you? That I have the ability to control Demonic Beasts?”
“So?”
“You must know how incredible this ability is, right?”
It was incredible.
An ability capable of single-handedly devastating a fairly large slum.
“So let's, let's collaborate.”
“Collaborate?”
“You know, don't you? In this city, it's common for yesterday's enemy to become today's ally. The reverse is also true.”
“……”
“Let's set aside our anger for a moment and think only about the profit. The profit we can gain if we work together.”
“Profit, you say……”
Riman thought about the profit.
The profit to be gained by killing this man, and the profit to be gained by letting him live.
He weighed the two in his mind.
In truth, it was a calculation he didn't even need to make.
It was all too clear which side was heavier.
“I refuse.”
“Huh? No, wait a minute……”
“Name, Seol U-seok. Current age, 37.”
“……!”
The man’s eyes wavered.
Because his personal information was flowing from Riman’s mouth.
Personal information he had never revealed.
“H-how……!”
“In the past, you have a record of feeding people to a Demonic Beast you were raising. The number of victims is estimated to be around 50.”
“……!”
As the details of his past crimes also came out, cold sweat began to trickle down Seol U-seok’s back.
“Surprised that I know all this? You don't need to be.”
“……?”
“You're a wanted criminal. A wanted man for the Mugan breakout. The bounty is 180 million.”
“Hey, wait……!”
“You just talked about profit, right? Killing you is the best profit for me.”
Seol U-seok sensed that there was no way out.
On top of that, he had no more weapons or Demonic Beasts to use.
But he didn't want to die, so he desperately looked around.
His brain worked at the fastest speed of his life.
As a result, he managed to find a way.
Because there was exactly one controllable living being left around him.
Grab.
He grabbed Saya with both hands.
Saya, which had been biting his calf.
‘This isn't a golem or a drone.’
He didn't know for sure, but his intuition told him this wasn't a magic tool or a machine.
So he tried it.
Shhhk!
He connected to Saya’s mind through the thread of mana he produced.
He intended to manipulate and control Saya’s mind to make one last desperate struggle.
And finally.
Vwiiiing!
He succeeded in connecting to Saya’s mind.
“Haha……!”
With this, he could at least buy enough time to escape.
Thinking so, Seol U-seok let out a triumphant laugh.
But at that moment, Riman's expression was strange.
Faced with losing control of Saya, he showed neither panic nor anger.
He just muttered in an indifferent tone.
“How did he figure out it wasn't a golem?”
A golem was a magic tool, a magical mechanical device.
Therefore, a golem could not be a living being.
But Saya was different.
Because Saya was not a golem, but a dragon's egg.
That was why Seol U-seok's ability could connect to Saya's mind.
However……
“…But I really wouldn't recommend looking inside a dragon's mind.”
Be that as it may.
Ignoring Riman's warning, Seol U-seok connected and entered Saya's mind.
He thus came face to face with Saya's mental world.
“…Ah.”
A short exclamation of wonder flowed from Seol U-seok’s mouth, as if he had seen something incredible.
And the very next moment.
“Aaaaaaaaargh!!”
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from his throat.
“Aaaaaaaaargh! Hwaaaaargh! Kuaaaaaaaaargh!!”
Seol U-seok began to tear at his hair.
At the same time, blood began to stream from his eyes.
“Guuuh… guk… guk-guk……”
Soon, his screams subsided.
Not because the pain had stopped, but because his life had been cut short.
It was the price for looking into the mind of a Summoned Beast, a Dragon.
It was not something a mere human should dare to look into.
With his eyes wide open and bloodshot, shedding tears of blood, Seol U-seok died just like that.
“…Told you not to look into something you can't handle.”
Looking down at him, Riman muttered.