Chapter 10: -bulsugung (3)

Chapter 10 – Agent of Chaos (3)

“Hand it over again. I think I know what the problem is.”

“…”

With just a few words, the negotiation ended, and Elena smiled, opening her mouth wide again.

Lunara patted Sheryl’s stiff shoulder.

It was both a gesture of ‘let’s endure this together’ and a reminder to prioritize the greater good over revenge against Elena.

“Hmm.”

In the end, Sheryl silently tilted the medicine bottle into Elena’s open mouth, letting the second Lumensid trickle in.

Elena, having consumed it, controlled her magic herself, allowing the Lumensid to flow freely through her body.

“Magic reaction confirmed.”

Only then did Sheryl let out a small gasp at the sight of the Lumensid beginning to react.

As per theory, the Lumensid began to activate, and as soon as it was absorbed into Elena’s body, it spread through her magical energy pathways, raging throughout her entire system.

Elena’s magical energy pathways were on a different level than those of ordinary people, so they didn’t get damaged or tangled, allowing Sheryl to quickly secure the necessary data for Lumensid concentration adjustment by measuring its intensity and speed with a detector.

“She’s not even batting an eye?”

But the most astonishing thing was that Elena could remain still with a serene expression amidst the pain, which felt like veins being scraped with a knife.

“It’s not that it’s not bothersome.”

Elena chuckled at Sheryl’s pale, exasperated reaction.

It was similar to when her magic was extracted with Bargon’s special magic extractor.

It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt, but for Elena, that level of pain was merely a part of the stimulation.

If she really set her mind to enduring it, she could even think of it as a pleasant massage.

In fact, only faint beads of cold sweat appeared.

“How ‘honorable’ it is to have bothered Your Great Majesty.”

Sheryl couldn’t bring herself to respond kindly to her answer.

This was the first Lumensid experiment.

As she adapted to the concentration adjustment, the pain Elena felt would surely decrease.

With this kind of reaction, it was clear that after a few repetitions, she wouldn’t even feel the stimulation.

“Krasen, that slacker, you killed him in one blow just for touching your body, so why are you enduring this?”

Sheryl, having collected all the data, confirmed the gradually diminishing effect of the medicine and sighed, preparing to end the experiment.

As she did, she casually threw out a remark, as if genuinely unable to understand.

In truth, it was less about getting a proper answer and more about a spontaneous murmur born from the absurd situation.

“Because I’m sorry?”

However, the moment Elena, with a lifted corner of her mouth, uttered those words.

Sheryl froze, shocked.

****

“I was only speaking the truth.”

Sheryl, who was already mentally unstable, finally snapped in the last moment.

Lunara and the administrative staff all rushed to pull Sheryl, who had furiously lunged at Elena, away and forcibly isolate her.

“You…”

Lunara, her clothes disheveled and hair messy, returned, panting, and glared at Elena, who was muttering regretfully.

“Why are you doing this? To me, and to Sheryl.

Are the wounds and pain we’ve suffered over the years just a moment’s pleasure and mockery to you?”

Since they were alone, Lunara expressed her cold fury to Elena, who was still tied to the chair.

Even if Elena apologized and said she was sorry, her attitude was the problem.

To others, it simply didn’t feel sincere.

An apology and regret without sincerity ultimately felt like mockery, just as Lunara said.

“I’ve never spoken a lie.”

Then, Elena, her smile gone, quietly looked up at Lunara and spoke.

“There’s no need for me to wear a mask anymore, or to painstakingly scheme and watch my steps, so why would I?

Think carefully, who is it that can’t see things as they are and is still trapped in the past?”

Elena didn’t bother to hide her true feelings from the flinching Lunara.

In fact, Elena was currently putting her genuine feelings into all her words and actions.

Feeling human regret for the deeds committed before her transmigration, and for the deeds she committed in the past believing them necessary for her future plans? That was true.

However, it was also clear that she had no intention of performing the ‘sincere, eternal atonement’ that the revolutionary army often spoke of, with deep reflection and genuine self-reproach for those sins.

As for the sins committed before her transmigration, there was no need to mention them.

Her conviction that the countless actions she took after transmigrating to become a diligent final boss who helps the protagonist’s party grow, and the various events that occurred in that process, were the best she could do given her sudden transmigration, also remained unchanged.

‘It’s really comfortable. A life without worries.’

This attitude, which was so absurd to others like Lunara that it left them speechless, was purely because Elena had now entered a mode of letting everything go and enjoying herself.

And Elena didn’t particularly think it was wrong.

Because she had realized how comfortable and good it was to live as an agent of chaos.

“For even a moment, if I thought you could repent and change, I was wrong.”

Lunara, her voice trembling, left the laboratory.

Elena’s second labor and the day’s schedule concluded with that.

“Director, even so, this is…”

“It can’t be helped.

The labor must continue, and performance reports must be submitted daily.”

However, regardless of Lunara’s anger at Elena’s attitude, the fact remained that Elena held firm control over Tartara’s initiatives.

As Elena said, Lunara, caught in the middle, had to report and be controlled by the upper echelons of the Republican Government regarding Tartara’s operation and management, and for that, negotiations with Elena were unavoidable.

It was the same now.

Near the central altar on the 100th floor where Elena was sealed in an unmoving posture, staff members, following Lunara’s instructions, began to bring in and set up a table and chairs.

It wasn’t just an ordinary table; it was high-quality furniture designed by a renowned artisan using premium hardwood, finished with exquisite decoration and a clean polish.

This was Lunara’s decision, intending to execute what had already been decided perfectly, leaving no room for complaint.

“It’s perfect.”

Unsealed and with her mask removed, Lunara smiled contentedly at the table and chairs.

And naturally, Elena now comfortably sat in the chair, enjoying a lavish meal personally fed to her by Lunara.

At this rate, apart from being in the labyrinth’s lowest floor permeated with dark and gloomy magic, and being tightly bound by restraints and a straitjacket, it was no different from dining in the imperial palace.

“You seem more capable than I thought.

Even if it was necessary, I didn’t think the Republican Government’s higher-ups would approve something like this so easily and quickly.

Especially that Kyle guy, he’s such a stubborn old fart.”

“…It’s all just endured for the greater good.”

Lunara, who fed her cut vegetables dipped in sauce, didn’t reply at length to Elena’s smiling remark.

She had no intention of being swayed by that enchanting tongue anymore.

‘It seems the higher-ups are more fixated on the results of the labor than on the prisoner’s punishment and repentance.’

But there was a truth she couldn’t bring herself to voice.

She had thought that reporting the need for cooperation with the prisoner, Elena, for smooth labor might escalate to an inquiry if things got big, but the higher-ups were very satisfied upon receiving reports on the extracted magic and new drug experiments.

Furthermore, they only offered encouragement to continue managing Tartara and Elena to ensure the schedule proceeded without a hitch.

In reality, almost no one cared how much Elena was reflecting or repenting.

‘Seems I’m not good at controlling my expression.’

Elena, glancing at Lunara’s face which had darkened unconsciously, chuckled and chewed the food in her mouth with relish.

From Elena’s perspective, Lunara was quite an interesting person.

The kind of person who harbored inner conflict, who would react on their own if you poked them.

“What’s this?”

“These are additional restraints for you.”

So Elena tended to view Lunara’s actions as amusing and cute.

She simply watched with a wide smile as leather belts, like chokers with complex enchantments carved into their lining, similar to the straitjacket she wore, were fastened around both her thighs.

“So, what’s the schedule for today?”

“Magic extraction.”

After muzzling her, putting on a mask, and locking it, Lunara watched the staff approach to take Elena away.

Today, too, Tartara’s routine, no different from any other day, had begun.

“What?”

“It’s true.

Demonic magic has leaked, and it’s chaos right now!”

However, that morning, as Lunara watched Elena calmly sit in the extractor, performing her magic extraction labor, her eyes widened upon hearing the report from outside.

‘They did something foolish.

Well, it’s natural, since they probably don’t even know what it is?’

Elena, having transformed into a spiritual body and slipped out of her body undergoing magic extraction, eavesdropped on all conversations next to the grim-faced administrative executives.

The cause of the accident was the magic extracted from Elena and transferred to the research lab.

Her magic, imbued with demonic power, was not enough with ordinary refinement and purification alone.

As such, it was a power that needed to be handled with extreme care and caution.

If not handled properly, and exposed to demonic energy, one would immediately fall and become a corrupted demon.

“The entire Third Magic Application Research Institute in the Nerusis region has been sealed by automatic security magic, and 71 people, including researchers, guards, and staff, were killed just before transforming into demons.

However, 3 people are still reported missing.”

“It’s over.

They’ve probably already fully transformed into demons and are undergoing their adaptation period.”

Elena scoffed at the excited staff member’s words.

Of course, no one reacted to her words, as she was a spiritual body.

“How is the Republican Government responding?”

“From what I hear, they seem to be trying to control information to prevent chaos and somehow manage the situation.”

“Three demons corrupted by demonic energy have disappeared, and they’re trying to hide that?

That’s absurd.

Nerusis is a metropolis with hundreds of thousands of residents!”

Lunara was horrified by the answer.

A demon completely rampaging due to demonic energy is a ticking time bomb.

Becoming a monster that craves human blood and drains magic, it’s an entity that could kill an unknown number of people in a short time.

But Lunara was only the director of Tartara.

There was nothing she could do.

“That won’t be all.”

And Elena chuckled upon hearing that.

The biggest problem with demons isn’t that they are rampaging monsters.

It’s that they themselves emit demonic energy, polluting the air and soil, and can continuously create second and third demons.

Purifying that requires considerably strong divine power.

The problem is that in this era, where the number of priests is steadily decreasing, securing that much divine power is difficult.

“What a mess.”

Elena, scoffing at the struggling Republican Government, returned to her body and enjoyed a full-body massage.

While thinking of those who would suffer terribly, losing their hair, while she was comfortably healing like this.