Bait (7)

The awakening came sooner than expected.

After being injected with a lethal dose of alcohol and drugs, I’d figured it would take at least three days. But I opened my eyes in less than a day, let alone two. Hajin irritably pulled out the syringe stuck in his ear and opened his eyes.

“Kkeueuk….”

The reconstruction formula had been strengthened. There was no way for Hajin to mess with the circuits himself, so it had to be Yujin’s doing. Maybe she just couldn’t be bothered to retrieve him. Well, thanks to that, I’m alive instead of dead.

However.

“….”

I was briefly impressed by the uncharacteristic thoughtfulness, but the figure that appeared next made me lower the corners of my mouth. Hajin lifted his head, his pussy and ass full of liquor bottles. A long shadow stretched from the floor. At the end of it was a man with long, purple hair.

Pususeu. As I moved my head, dark gray ashes fell. Hajin frowned reflexively as the ashes got into his eyes. The ashes that had accumulated on his eyelids fell and landed on his nose and philtrum. It smelled strange. Like something fishy was burning….

‘Ah.’

Soon, Hajin’s eyes flashed open at the dizzying memory that struck his brain.

‘People.’

The smell of burning flesh.

‘I’m fucked.’

The gears in my head started turning. My brain, worn down from spinning, soon came up with one answer. I’m fucked. Royally fucked. Hajin lowered his head without even breathing. The man’s purple hair, reaching down to his ankles, came into view. Is it a man or a woman? Judging by the frame, it seems to be a man, but I’m not sure yet.

A magician’s intuition isn’t usually that great, but Hajin could tell. The black ashes scattered at his feet… it was like ‘scorching.’ The terrifying trace that only appears when the Demon King of Hellfire reigns, burning people and erasing even their souls.

“Pluto.”

The purple-haired man’s reply didn’t come right away. He just carefully watched Yujin, who was stuck in the junkyard. He didn’t approach easily, keeping a flame in his hand. The purple-haired man-no, Pluto disguised as a man-growled in a subdued voice.

“You know me~? For a mere doll.”

The last words were chilling. To Pluto, who worshiped God more than anyone else, artificial lifeforms were nothing short of blasphemous. However, despite saying this, Pluto was very flustered.

Until now, golems were the best artificial beings. Now, if you carve that golem into a human shape, it becomes a combat doll.

Golems live with the principles of action contained in the formula as their soul. So, to make a more sophisticated and more human-like golem, the amount of formula needs to be vast. But the more formula there is, the bigger it gets. There’s nothing special about why there are so few humanoid golems and why they’re difficult to make.

Because it’s difficult.

So incredibly difficult that they didn’t even dare to attempt the ultimate in creation. The dwarves all said that it was the realm of God.

“Wait a minute, my head hurts right now… Hieok. Ugh. Ssiibaal…”

That’s why even more.

To Pluto, Hajin’s drunken ramblings were truly bizarre.

The essence of magic is creation. Yujin dared to invade the realm of God and create Hajin. By the absurd method of self-replication, she created a personality by copying and injecting Mana waves in a way that would shock even God.

“Kkeueu. I wanted to enjoy it a little more… it’s a bit sad that it’s ending here.”

Hajin lay down with a look of exhaustion.

The end of the given role. Even if I’m attacked and killed like this, they’ll be able to chase after them to the end. Catching a Demon by sacrificing one life is a very cheap price.

It was a cheap price.

Really.

“Haha.”

An extremely dry laugh. Hajin’s eyes were filled with a terrible emptiness, spewing out venom. An expression that someone who has lived a smooth life could never make. Even exhaustion could be felt in the corners of his mouth that drooped down.

The night was dark. It was Pluto’s question that broke the silent and chilling stillness, with only sewer rats squeaking.

“What’s your name~?”

Hwareureuk. Black flames engulfed the man’s body. Pluto withdrew the flames and released the disguise. Not the slender beauty’s body used for combat, not various human forms, but his original form. Pluto’s true form was a short, squat little girl.

Long, red hair falling to her ankles. If Yujin’s hair was neat and tidy, Pluto’s was thin and long, sticking out haphazardly.

Her horns, sticking out like an Oni’s, had hair stuck all over them, giving her a more mythological monster-like feel than a Demon. Dividing Demons by the shape of their horns was meaningless, and it was useless news for Hajin, whose life had just been extended, but.

“Name…?”

“Eung~ I got curious.”

“Hajin.”

“Is that your full name?”

“…I don’t like it, but. Anyway. It’s right.”

Hajin answered coldly. He didn’t reveal his last name. Pluto’s eyes shone even brighter at Hajin’s answer.

“Okay, Hajin Onee-san. I’m asking just in case… is that red-haired brat a sorcerer?”

“Ha.”

“…Answer me.”

You’re hundreds of years old, what’s with the Onee-san. Hajin couldn’t help but laugh at Pluto’s brazenness. Pluto’s face hardened slightly at Hajin’s sneer, but fortunately, he didn’t lose face. Hajin pulled out the liquor bottles stuck in his pussy and ass and said.

“Do I look like I was created by sorcery?”

“Or did you hide your soul?”

“An Inquisitor said the same thing. They even sprinkled holy water, rang golden bells several times, and took me to the temple to pray, but eventually gave up. There was no reaction.”

God did not bestow grace upon the doll.

Hajin recited, recalling the memory from that time.

“If I wanted to, sorcery would be a piece of cake… but I wouldn’t do that.”

There’s no need to use sorcery.

“I don’t need to use that.”

Magic at its peak was a miracle in itself. What’s the difference between doing the impossible and saving someone in a corner? If I were to gather followers, I could quickly become a core religion.

“Then?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking?”

The corners of my mouth went up at the innocent question.

“It’s magic.”

It’s bizarre and strange. It’s magic because it’s mysterious. That damn sorcery is for cowards to use. Pluto’s lips twisted at the answer that seemed to mock, ‘You can’t do it.’ Pluto spoke to Hajin, who was acting nonchalant, as if scolding him.

“Are you going to challenge God with magic?”

“God? It’s the first time I’ve seen a Demon talk about God. Are you really a Demon?”

I’m flustered and dumbfounded by the somewhat devout tone. Aren’t your kind the embodiment of evil, at odds with God? They have many innocent and foolish sides, but they are basically evil. Pluto clicked his tongue, looking at Hajin’s distorted face.

“Tsk tsk…. How could an impious being like you know.”

“If that son of a bitch God exists, he’d bring me here-…”

“That’s why I liked you even more.”

“What?”

You are really, really impious. The epitome of impiety. How can you pick and choose to do things that I like so much? Pluto’s religious views are heating up. She looked at Hajin, who was impious in his very existence, with very interesting eyes. And she said in a trembling voice.

“…You make me want to throw up.”

“I’m a bit dirty, but is it that bad?”

“Life should be absolute under the providence of God, but you’re breaking that in plain sight.”

Of course, except for me.

Pluto believes in God. And she likes to screw with God. She wants to break the rules set by God and defy providence. Pluto was neither the Demon of Hellfire nor the Demon of Torture. She was the Demon of Vice, enjoying wrongdoing.

Among them, collecting souls was the best vice. No matter how much you indiscriminately massacre humans, they will only return to God’s embrace and be reincarnated. So, you capture the soul. You cut off providence. A single desire that I had strongly wished for since I was a little Demon.

Only the soul.

Only the soul could not be imitated no matter what you did, and it was proof of God in itself.

“But… but, how? What kind of human is your master, anyway, that she can calmly commit such absurd acts?”

“…Um.”

“Judging from the situation, she must have been the one who got rid of the wraiths. I’m curious… I’m very curious….”

Her eyes smoldered like hellfire. I could even feel admiration from her, who was exuding joy from her whole body. Hajin sensed that things were going strangely wrong with that burning heat. It was the intuition of a pervert who had experienced countless shameful things worse than a mud fight.

“But that bitch is too dangerous… just getting close is a Binsa… euum~… Shell-ssi?”

“…What.”

“Don’t you want to become human?”

Hajin quickly turned his head.

Hajin wasn’t stupid just because he liked to drink and wander around without a plan. Hajin concluded that Pluto wanted to use him. Then I had to find out what she wanted.

“…I don’t know if this will work on a Demon, but it’s blasphemy. Stop it.”

“Euueuum~ We just have to not get caught~?”

“What?”

Pluto didn’t brag about her own vice to others. That’s why she hid her true form from people and lived as the Demon of Hellfire. In short, it’s self-satisfaction. A Demon’s desires are simple and persistent, so as long as they don’t deviate from the range they set for themselves, they won’t be dissatisfied.

“Can we create a soul without borrowing God’s hand~? I suddenly had that thought while looking at the empty shells piled up in the lab.”

“You’re going to put the soul you created into me?”

“Because you’re perfect.”

But there was a limit to what a creation could do. I’ve done countless experiments using empty shells, but they’ve all failed. The main cause was rejection. Even if the soul’s wavelength is slightly different, it bounces off. Yujin, who routinely does the insane technique of putting souls in according to the wavelength, was strange.

And Hajin’s body, which was created based on that technique, was nothing short of perfect. It was close to impossible to grasp all of the Archmage’s essence of creation at a glance… but I was good enough to recognize a luxury item.

“Until it works. Isn’t it exciting?”

If I use this body, I think I’ll succeed this time.

Hajin’s forehead throbbed. It was because he could figure out what kind of Demon Pluto was with that one word.

‘…It’s best to be kidnapped anyway.’

That’s beside the point, but can I call myself ‘me’ if I’m injected with another soul? It seemed better to die. It wasn’t scary or anything, but I felt disgusted at the thought of someone else living as Hajin.

I check my physical condition. There were many residual wounds from leaning against the trash heap while talking, but the drugs and alcohol were long gone. My terribly spread pussy and asshole were also tightly closed. Hajin then put one hand into the trash.

“Euung~? Ah, sorry. I’ll knock you out, so please wait a little bit~? Curses don’t work well because you don’t have a soul~”

A red magic circle surrounded my wrist. Hot heat gathered on my arm. For some reason, Hajin remembered a technique that he had never used before. A powerful, unmagical technique that reminded me of a red tower somewhere. My eyes flashed open at the familiar memory.

Pluto made a black flame on his finger and lowered his head. It’s not just a flame. If you touch that finger, it’s game over.

Hajin read the time and timed it. One, two, three… the world moving slowly. The distance between Pluto and I is getting closer and closer. The trash heap is getting hotter and hotter. Pluto showed his fierce teeth at the unknown warmth he felt as he lowered his head.

‘Now.’

Pluto, who noticed, hurriedly pulled his body away, but Hajin’s hand was already facing the Demon in front of him. A spiral flame wrapped around his small, slender arm. The pillar of flame that climbed like a vine gathered in his small fist and created a large scale.

Thus, a red dragon soared. It opened its mouth, showing its lava-like hot teeth. The dragon’s roar, which stretched out in a straight line, burned the surrounding trash heap and created a gale. Ashes fell like snow. Hajin muttered unconsciously in the midst of the scattering trash heap.

“…Flame Dragon Fist炎龍拳”