Chase (1)

Hajin, having thrown a punch, created a small explosion behind him, righting himself. The recoil made his body lurch. He felt like he would fall over any second, but his body, moving reflexively, was as smooth as a battlemage’s.

Hajin had never engaged in physical combat even once. At least, that’s how it was in Hajin’s memories. Other than being raped and struggling, he had no memories of close combat. So, he felt doubtful, but now, he decided to trust his instincts rather than doubt.

“Hup!”

He planted his left hand on the ground and swung his right leg, delivering a roundhouse kick. His legs were too short, making it look quite ridiculous, but as he focused a strong telekinetic force on the tip of his outstretched foot, fragments of metal and stone gathered around it.

A sharp high kick forming a solid outer armor. A metal spear flew through the still-smoldering flames, aiming for Plüton’s head.

Black eyes visible through the flames. Eyes tainted by evil, which only those who had touched the soul could possess, gleamed sharply.

“I wouldn’t recommend futile struggles, you know?”

―Kagagak!! A harsh metallic sound that one couldn’t imagine coming from scratching bare skin. Plüton blocked Hajin’s attack without any equipment. And then twisted and grabbed again. It was within his predicted range. Hajin, his ankle caught, transferred the metal fragments to Plüton’s hand, fixing it in place.

“Ha!”

Plüton scoffed at the petty trick. Hajin, linking his arms and legs, immediately caused an explosion on the ground.

“Fuck you, you bitch.”

Kwaaaang! His lower body, which had come down in a roundhouse kick, bounced up from the recoil. In the blink of an eye, Hajin, having seized the high ground, spat out profanities and extended his left hand. A spear of ice colder than the harshest winter approached with a chilling metallic sound. Plüton tried to dodge, gnashing her teeth, but couldn’t remove the metal armor that was stuck to her.

But Plüton still opened her mouth with a relaxed expression.

“Ice~?”

It was laughable. Ice to me, who humans call the Demon of Incineration? She felt it was truly audacious. Plüton scoffed and wrapped her body in black flames. That alone was enough. Flames that burned the soul. In reality, it wasn’t burning but collecting, but if she wanted, it could burn as well.

“――!!!!”

The long spear of ice shattered and melted away. The steel armor linking his arms and legs also creaked and fell off.

Hajin realized that the power of magic wasn’t as strong as he remembered. Yujin, wary of the Copy Ego’s behavioral errors, had placed a limit on it. Even if he used high-level elemental magic, it was far from enough to reproduce the power of an Archmage.

“Shit, fuck!”

It should have been easily torn apart, but Plüton’s body remained without a single scratch. Hajin eventually disconnected the link and created an explosion at the connection point, separating his body.

“Keuk!”

He also received the full force of the explosive propulsion. He only used explosive propulsion when rapid reconstruction was possible; now that it was restricted, the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. As if proving it, his body was covered in burn marks, and his body began to bear an increasing burden.

‘The tracking particles have already been transferred. Should I obediently get kidnapped and wait for rescue?’

The tracking particles were transferred the moment he approached. The mission was a great success. No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t think Yujin and Shuriel-nim would fail.

“I think that mage bitch is starting to notice, so should I finish this quickly~?”

The shadow under the bridge writhed. Plüton’s shadow twisted grotesquely and grew larger than its original size, swallowing the entire back alley. Death energy. Souls eaten by evil wailed as they vanished. The back alley, filled with the aura of death, was filled with air heavier than iron.

Hajin, covering his ears, burst his eardrums without hesitation. Beee…. A ringing sound echoed once, and the world fell silent. The curse of the mandragora, driving listeners mad. Blood trickled down from his ears.

Plüton simply rotated her black eyes. Her grotesquely turning eyes went beyond the normal field of vision, turning all the way to the opposite side. Bugs swarmed in the mouth chanting the curse, and blood poured from the hands extended in a noble and sacred posture.

“Ah… Almighty and indescribably great God-isiyeo. I offer you the evil, loathsome, and morally corrupt spirit, and I pray that you bestow a ray of light upon this poison-filled seeker, and I praise you forever!

Blasphemy.

The greatest act of depravity one could commit in a world where the existence of God was certain. She didn’t deny the existence of God. Rather, she was grateful. Thank you for allowing me to commit so many acts of depravity, and please, eat my shit.

At this moment.

Plüton clenched her fist, immersed in great joy.

――….

Plüton was babbling something. But he couldn’t hear it. Hajin saw Plüton’s black eyes rotate once and kicked off the ground. ―He had to stop it. In the moment when thought and action overlapped, blue Mana was released from Hajin’s body.

“Shiiiibaal!!”

He charged forward, not even knowing what he was shouting. Hajin created multiple blades in his hands and swung them recklessly.

But.

The curse had already manifested.

―Kwajik!

“――?!”

He didn’t see it. He didn’t feel it. The hand he had extended to tear apart her face was cut off in an instant and dragged into the shadows.

“Keuheok―!”

He was then bounced back by the surging shadows. His consciousness grew hazy. Hajin, crashing heavily into a wall, coughed up blood and collapsed.

“Kkeueueuk…!!”

Hajin clenched his teeth and cauterized the severed area. Chiiik!!! His eyes, screaming in pain, turned bloodshot.

He raised his head. He identified the blind spot by following the current of air that made his skin tremble. He felt gazes from everywhere. Hajin spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and frowned. From everywhere. Yes, he felt gazes from everywhere. Eyes were visible from all over the street, which had been consumed by shadows.

It was grotesque. The most grotesque of all the demons he had met so far. His heart pounded as if it would burst. He felt like his mind was being corrupted as he received the gazes of those eyes.

Kwajik! Hajin burst the eyeball next to his foot and stood up.

Could he win? He assessed the difference in skill. No, skill wasn’t the issue. He had to face the unknown technique of the curse. He had to break through it. But the heretical sect. Forbidden techniques were unknown, making it nearly impossible to deal with.

‘I.’

Whether he lost or won, he was going to die anyway. He had no regrets. Maybe a little― He suppressed the regretful feeling. A completely different mindset from his original self, who didn’t desire death. But even for a half-baked ego that only relied on the continuity of memories, there was one unwavering determination.

‘I will live as me.’

And I will die as me.

“―――I praise you!”

Plüton chanted the cursed prayer. A disgusting voice that felt like he could hear it even though he had burst his eardrums. Hajin moved his body amidst the blood-boiling hallucinations spewed out by the souls.

He needed a powerful technique. But no matter how pure the Mana he used, it was diluted in the refining process. Yujin would have drawn it raw, but Hajin, whose Mana circuits were mostly closed, found even that difficult.

He accelerated his thoughts. Accelerating thoughts in an environment where his mind could be corrupted was an extremely dangerous act, but Hajin didn’t care. Rather, he accelerated his thoughts to the extreme. Reducing, reducing, and reducing again. Finally, he made a fleeting moment pass.

And the world stopped. In the stopped world, Hajin drew out the Mana from his body. The purest Mana. The Mana that a mage could use―― no, the purest Mana that only Hajin, who had copied the body of an Archmage, could use.

‘Blood.’

Just because the circuits were closed didn’t mean that the very composition of his body had changed. The pinnacle of magic, a vessel capable of containing all elemental magic. A body so perfect that it replaced all life activities with Mana. If it was the blood flowing there. Even if it was a replica, he would be able to draw out sufficient power.

‘I have to.’

Could he survive? It was uncertain. It didn’t seem like blowing up one arm would be enough. Then, the other arm too? If not that…

‘Even the heart.’

Hajin closed his eyes. He didn’t look at the cursed things. And one step. He took a step on the ground with his left foot and extended both arms like a hero in a comic book.

The blood flow surged.

The blood vessels that sprouted from his shoulder looked like they would burst at any moment, writhing. The sprouted blood vessels wrapped around his entire arm, and as if that wasn’t enough, they wrapped around his chest and neck. A grotesque sight as if his entire body was cracked.

“―――Eat the lamb buried in blood and evil!”

Plüton recited the prayer once more. The shadows surged like a wave, trying to engulf Hajin. Within that black wave, thousands of teeth of tormented souls were embedded, tearing apart everything that touched the wave.

Hajin didn’t avoid the wave. He simply stood there quietly… concentrating his mind to produce the maximum output. Keudeudeudeuk. The rampage of blood flow that crossed his neck and even invaded his eyeballs eventually burst Hajin’s eyes. And now, soon to his brain. There wasn’t much left.

“Ha.”

For some reason, a laugh escaped. Hajin laughed incessantly even while using a technique close to suicide. He didn’t know why. Did he like pain? If not that, was he just crazy? The stretched corners of his mouth didn’t think of coming down.

‘Even if I go.’

He released the limit.

The blood flow boiled, and his body was as hot as a fireball.

Even the flowing sweat and blood evaporated, and steam rose.

‘I should go out with a bang, right?’

So that no one could forget. So that even if only one person remembered that I existed here. That seemed like it would be enough.

Hajin smiled brightly, showing his blood-soaked teeth. If there was one last thing he wanted, it was a single determination. That he couldn’t use this form, and that the name he had so denied because his past self came to mind… that he could be remembered as Hajin.

“The doll play… is now, over.”

Blood Flow Release.

The rage of blood that spread from the throbbing heart sound headed towards Plüton. Hajin’s attack, which attacked using himself as a cannon, not only overturned the wave created by Plüton but also swallowed it.

“――What.”

The futile hope of someone who couldn’t wish soared. Until his arms were shattered and his heart burst, he wished and wished, but spoke to the unresponsive God.

“Fuck, you.”

Just die.

―Ha. A small, hollow laugh echoed. At the same time, a bright and radiant light, stained with blood, that no one could forget was shot towards the sky.