Hourglass (2)

Vice-Priest Nohil bowed deeply in apology. The other party was the proxy of the Acting Master. If he treated them carelessly, he wouldn’t be able to withstand the glares of the Inquisitors. Even they had been influenced by the rumors.

The image of the two, spreading their wings and cleaving the heavens and earth, circulated among them like a legend. They were the type to thoroughly distinguish between superstition and false faith, so they didn’t hold anything more than admiration, but rather, their fanatical faith created a strange psychology. They reacted excessively to any disrespect or insult towards the Acting Master.

When nothing happened, Hajin said, feeling strangely disappointed.

“Does this mean I and the Acting Master are one from today onwards…? Something like that?”

“Maybe. Let’s go inside for now.”

“More than that, that Nohil or whatever his name was. Didn’t he look like he had a huge dick? He was all burly and stuff… If I got pinned down while being choked-“

“…Shut up for a bit.”

---

A deep underground area, inaccessible to anyone. Gruesome torture devices and iron chains were scattered on the wall.

Water droplets reflected in the shackles, moisture clinging to the walls. This place, filled with a musty smell, was the interrogation room where the unrighteous were judged.

Among them, the interrogation room in the North was famous for its excellent security. This was because many sorcerers fled to the North to hide the evil energy flowing through their bodies. Therefore, they were equipped with the best troops to subdue not only sorcerers but also demons without difficulty.

“Yujin-nim. This is the place.”

“Thank you.”

“Will he be here?”

“No. It’s alright. Nothing will happen. You can go back.”

“We will deploy Inquisitors nearby in case something happens. We will try not to interfere with your work, so please.”

Nohil and the Inquisitors bowed politely and left.

I carefully turned my head and looked at the box where Pluton was sealed. A large glass tank that looked to be 5 meters tall. Filled with holy water. A red lump of flesh floated in the holy water.

“…Hello. Pluton.”

Cold glass material. The imprint of a handprint remained as it was, so cold that it was frosted over. I muttered while looking at the lump of flesh that used to be Pluton.

“Oh my. It’s still regenerating. It might be listening to what we’re saying.”

“Then tell it to eat shit. You vicious bitch. To think it’s still thinking about living even after going through this…”

“That’s why we need to find out from now on.”

“Huh? How?”

I focus my mind. The flow of Mana gathers at my fingertips. The gathered and concentrated Mana becomes harder over time, turning into a large stone. It was what you’d call a rock.

Hajin showed the stone in his hand and licked his dry lips.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to do that?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“There are Inquisitors outside-“

• Kwajik!

“Shibal!”

The glass tank cracked like a spiderweb. Holy water poured out incessantly from the precarious gap. Hajin was anxious, worried that the sound might be heard outside. I simply chuckled at the sight. There’s no way to have a conversation with a lump of flesh. Conversation is about the exchange of emotions. You can’t approach it if it’s one-sided.

• Jjeojeojeok!

“You crazy bitch!!! Hey, hey! Close it quickly!”

I ignored Hajin’s words and grabbed the rock embedded in the glass tank.

“Are you out of your mind? You’re going to release something we finally caught?”

Hajin rebuked with a serious face. His tongue seemed to have thorns, he really seemed angry. But I had already cast a soundproofing spell a long time ago. It can’t be heard. It can’t be seen. This place was already an independent space.

“Trust me.”

I didn’t have a habit of talking at length. I strongly gripped the rock embedded in the glass tank. Jjeojeojeok! As the force to pull it out was applied, more holy water poured out. Eventually, the cracked lines spread to the point of overturning the entire glass tank.

And above all.

“Do you think I’m going to lose?”

• Jjaenggeurang!!!

Kwaaaaa!!! As soon as I pulled out the rock, a tremendous amount of holy water flowed out. I stepped back, feeling the holy water soaking my feet.

• Kkumteul.

It was an incredible regenerative power. As the holy water disappeared, it immediately accelerated regeneration. Just one minute. The lump of flesh gathered to form muscles, and after ten minutes, it proliferated and increased in size. Finally, after thirty minutes. The proliferated lump of flesh took on a certain shape.

• Kkeueu…

And so, one hour.

Equipped with internal organs and vocal cords, a grotesque sound began to be heard.

“An hour to get to the heart. That’s amazing regenerative power.”

It had taken on the form of a complete human species. Strictly speaking, it was a demon’s, and grouping them with the same human species was a sin in itself, but I decided not to worry about such things now.

“…Kkeueueu.”

Pluton, who had regenerated skin and hair, soon writhed in pain. But that was only for a moment. Pluton said in a phlegmy voice.

“Eat shit… Hee….”

• Eat shit.

“That, that shibal-lyeon. Is she just throwing my words right back at me?”

“I told you it was listening. And that it wasn’t dead yet.”

It was at that moment.

Pluton, who had recovered his body, grabbed a piece of glass lying on the floor and rushed at me.

“Stop it, you crazy bastard!”

The response was swift.

Hajin, who quickly engraved a magic circle, put flames on his toes and kicked backwards.

• Ppajik!

“Keuk!”

Pluton, who was hit squarely on the chin, let out a ridiculous groan and flew away.

“What, why is it so weak?”

He seemed taken aback by how easily he was subdued.

I muttered lowly, looking at the pitiful demon crawling on the floor.

“Because its horns were cut off.”

A demon whose horns have been cut off loses all of its power. Pluton seemed to have insurance, but… in this situation, it was no different from wriggling like a bug.

I squatted down in front of Pluton, who hadn’t recovered from the shock, and said.

“The execution date has been set.”

“….”

“Two days from today. In two days, your soul will be annihilated through an exorcism.”

“…Heu.”

• Ppogak.

Pluton forcibly twisted his broken jaw to balance it.

“That’s a… funny story…?”

When he raised his head, the cross-section of his broken horn was clearly visible.

It was even more prominent because it had been protruding from his forehead in the first place.

“Ha… haha….”

Pluton gritted his teeth and lowered his eyes. Holy water soaked his palms. His regenerative power was keeping up, but it was still painful. If he shifted his gaze a little further, he could see his own appearance with his horns cut off.

“Ha, ha… shibaal….”

“Do you understand the situation?”

“I know I’m fucked…”

“You have a foul mouth, did you learn it somewhere?”

“You Inquisitors.”

A tone as if he was annoyed.

“You locked me, who had become a lump of flesh, in a glass tank… and spewed out all sorts of curses… shibal-lyeon. Gae-saekki. A bastard who wouldn’t be satisfied even if he was torn apart and ground to death. You actually tore me apart and ground me… but since anything more than that was difficult, you threw me into holy water and sealed me…?”

“….”

“You’re stupid. Do you think I’ll die if you do that? I won’t die. I can’t die like this… and I won’t die.”

• Kkumteul.

Pluton’s eyes turn black. Blood tears drip down. An eerie atmosphere descends. The blood that touched the floor spread, contaminating the holy water.

“Spirits that surround me…”

Spirits.

The demon, who had been constantly calling on God and praying, brought up a different keyword.

“Burn your souls… burn those hypocritical slaves…”

‘Spirits.’

I see.

So he was using spirits.

I had already grasped the fact that Pluton was manipulating spirits. However, in order to restore a body that had been decomposed for 24 hours, he would have to use at least thousands of spirits, so I couldn’t rashly conclude that he had used spirits even for the reconstruction.

“How many people did you kill?”

But I was wrong.

“No… it wasn’t just the dead.”

Even more than that.

“Even the living. They were being played by you.”

I could feel thousands or more spirits.

He was taking control of the spirits and manipulating them. The reason why sudden deaths had increased recently was because of this. He had taken the souls of the living who had already been under his control.

Everything was understood. How he was able to recognize us as soon as we arrived. He observed us through the people on the street. He remembered Pawin’s face, disguised himself as residents, and cast a curse.

I saw the black spirits that filled the ceiling and the floor.

“Kill them all….”

The spirits.

As Pluton’s command was issued, they wailed in agony.

• Kyaaaaaak!

A scream that had lost its reason. The struggles of the deceased whose memories from their lifetime were being controlled. How many people had fallen into Pluton’s hands? If he had been active for a long time, it was possible that his reach wasn’t limited to Cherenel. Or the entire North… in extreme cases, he might have even reached the Southeast.

“…You’re a bad-mannered child.”

I smiled with my rotten, dead fish eyes. An unnatural smile with only the corners of my mouth raised. Combined with the wraiths that wrapped around my body, it was extremely creepy.

“You know you’re creepier than him, right?”

“….”

“…Never mind. Should I help you or not?”

“No.”

I’ll do this alone.

“You need some education. Very harsh education.”

It reminds me of when I was training Sophia.

There are many ways to discipline a bad-mannered demon. But in most cases, you can just tame them with force, or you have to kill them without needing to do so. So there weren’t many methods to show. There was no need to either.

But Pluton.

He doesn’t die even if you kill him. Even if you teleport him to the middle of the ocean and drown him, he will stubbornly survive unless all of his souls are consumed. Force is useless, and torture is useless. Seeing that he’s still sane even after being torn to pieces for days, it seems like his mental strength is strong.

“I have a special course for you.”

• Kwajik.

One of the wraiths bites off my right leg. I immediately reconstruct it as soon as it’s bitten off, creating new flesh. It’s similar to Pluton’s, but even better. But the pain was the same. The pain of flesh being torn. Even if I reconstruct it, it bites and tears again.

“You seem to be used to pain. Right? I’m the same. I don’t even get excited with ordinary pain. I’m tired of strangling, and having my limbs cut off is cliché.”

Yes, pain.

The driving force of my life. The pain that made me who I am today, my true love. A companion that always stays by my side. But I didn’t embrace all pain.

“But there are two things I really can’t stand. I can’t stand them at all. If even one night passes, I feel like I’m going to explode. I feel like I’m going to die, and I actually try to die.”

One is the pain of loss.

The pain of losing something precious comes like a sharp thorn and digs into my heart.

“It’s usually like that when I don’t do anything.”

The second is.

The pain of ennui.

A curse that God has given me. A brand that doesn’t disappear no matter what I do. Even if I relieve it through self-harm and violence, it recurs before long. Someday, I’ll lose my life because of this. I don’t think I’ll live long. At some point, I’ll push my body to the limit with an increased threshold and die.

“I get sick in four days.”

The disease of ennui.

“But how long can you endure it.”

I break through the wraiths and approach. Pluton seemed flustered by the fact that I didn’t get hurt no matter how much he attacked. So much so that he just stood there blankly until I came right in front of him.

Yes, nothing.

Don’t do anything.

“How much should I do at first?”

I put my hand on Pluton’s forehead.

I muttered, gathering Mana at the tips of my fingers.

“It doesn’t seem to work for a day or two… let’s just start with a year.”

It took me 5 seconds.

One day in 1 second.

One month in 2 seconds.

Five months in 3 seconds.

Eight months in 4 seconds.

One year in 5 seconds.

“Time Acceleration.”

“Start.”