Ch.266Chapter 10. Public Enemy (1)

Pandemonium is humanity’s common enemy.

Even before the existence of the Sephirot Knights, after Dueoksini’s mass production of 72 demons, Pandemonium became humanity’s public enemy.

The justification lies with humanity.

Now that Laplace’s demon has been exposed for using Laplace to commit terrible atrocities in Thailand, any righteous hero would naturally share in the public outrage.

As such, there’s no reason to distinguish between heroes and villains when facing Pandemonium’s demons.

So.

“Ymir. In this situation, want to come kill demons with me?”

“…It’s definitely not human, right?”

“Yeah. It’s a demon from outer space.”

I called for Ymir.

No matter how much earthlings fight and bicker among themselves, they tend to join forces in the face of alien invasion, regardless of ideological differences.

Since Ymir and I weren’t exactly fierce enemies to begin with, I requested her support as soon as I returned to Korea.

“You coward!”

[I’ll take that as a compliment.]

[Calling me a coward? That’s absurd.]

Ymir steps forward, swinging her red whip.

[Says the demon who enslaved people and killed them indiscriminately.]

Appearing in the form of a royal inspector, she immediately attacked Laplace’s demon, Hyangdan.

Slash!

“Ugh?!”

[No need for lengthy conversation. This ends now.]

Hyangdan was instantly entangled in the whip.

She tried to break free by releasing magical energy from her body, but the red cord kept her completely immobilized.

Just as I thought this might be the end—

“Kyaaaah!”

Hyangdan exploded.

What had been Hyangdan became chunks of flesh scattered in all directions, covering the entire rooftop.

[Ugh.]

[Not yet.]

[Huh?]

[It’s not over.]

While Ymir was dry heaving, I pulled her back and swung my club forward.

Sure enough, the flesh chunks that had fallen below began to writhe and surge toward us.

BOOM!

[…No way.]

[As if it would be that easy.]

The flesh deflected by the magical energy surrounding my club rolled to the side.

Soon, the battered flesh began to bubble up and take human form again.

“How disappointing… I was hoping to land a proper hit while you were distracted.”

[A doppelganger ability. Seems like self-division rather than illusory clones.]

“My, how did you figure it out so quickly…?”

Wriggle, wriggle.

“Well, let’s hear from that clever mouth of yours. What kind of ability do I have now?”

The divided flesh chunks all began to take shape.

Into Hyangdan’s form.

They looked exactly like Hyangdan, but their bodies resembled white mannequins.

“This ability is—”

[Is this barely avoiding an R rating?]

[Still, with a body like that, it’s quite lewd.]

“……”

It’s like wearing a skin-tight latex suit, even thinner than a balloon.

“Does appearance matter?”

[Of course. Through appearance, we can deduce your ability.]

It’s like mannequins coming to life.

[Not just the ability, but also your essence as a demon. I think I understand why you enslaved humans at the sanctuary of gods and the island of succubi.]

The texture appearing like skin was quite grotesque, but Hyangdan lacked that.

[You’ve formed only the human body without organs for reproduction and nurturing. That’s the basic form of Pandemonium demons, even as clones.]

“……”

[No reproductive organs to bear children, no nurturing organs to raise them. Only the physical body exists.]

Just like Dueoksini, and now Hyangdan.

[They’re not life forms but more like viruses. Instead of two sexes reproducing to bear children, they’re monsters of corrupted mana that multiply by contaminating others.]

They’re all like alien viruses.

[These creatures are merely hosts for demon viruses. They’re the root cause that triggers mana mutations through mental influence.]

While living in this world, I’ve roughly figured out the hidden settings—the backstory the original creator left unexplained.

[If we kill all these demons, perhaps no more demons will be born.]

[……!]

Because we’d have eliminated the virus hosts.

[Of course, we’d still need to eliminate the viruses they’ve spread….]

[The possibility of no more demons being born is reason enough for me to step in.]

“Heh, hehehe…. You’re quite presumptuous, aren’t you?”

“But to counter such speculation.”

“You know you could become infected and turn into demons yourselves, right?”

The multiplied Hyangdans continue each other’s sentences.

[These non-reproducing things just multiply uselessly.]

“Reproduction? That’s not important. Relationships formed through carnal desire only interfere with true intellectual exchange.”

[Is that why you hate NTR intrusions in pure love stories? Hmm?]

“……You piece of trash.”

I got cursed at.

But thanks to that, I realized Hyangdan’s trigger button.

[You understand romantic love between the sexes, but know nothing of sexual desire. Tsk. You don’t know its pleasures either. Some all-knowing demon you are.]

[That…? You’re about to say something strange again.]

[Are you talking about that? Patriotism? Se—]

“SHUT UPㅡㅡㅡ!”

Hyangdan screamed.

With all the clones screaming at once, it felt like my eardrums were being violently shaken.

[Ugh. I’m the one with the hypervoice ability….]

[That’s how angry she is.]

“Heh, hehehe. Fine. Yes. I’ve decided.”

Crack.

All the clones twist their bodies and point sharp nails toward us.

“It would be quite fun to turn you into demons first, wouldn’t it?”

[I have no intention of becoming a demon voluntarily, nor being forcibly turned into one by others.]

Ymir immediately swung her whip.

The red whip, instantly elongated, flew mercilessly toward Hyangdan’s clone and cut it in half at the waist.

Splat.

The cut surface and spurting red blood made it look like killing a real person.

[Ugh…!]

[She’s doing this deliberately. Trying to scrape at our mental state.]

Ymir probably thought the clone would dissipate like mist when destroyed.

So she swung her whip without hesitation, but it looked like a real person being split in half.

[It’s okay. That’s not a person.]

“Hehehe, is that so?”

“Platinum Sun, where’s your proof that the clone you just killed wasn’t human?”

“When people are cut in half like this, their intestines spill out and blood sprays everywhere as they die, right?”

Hyangdan continued to provoke Ymir.

“Platinum Sun. Keep killing like this, and you’ll end up killing just anyone, won’t you?”

[…….]

Knowing that provoking the Goblin would be meaningless, she’s trying to scrape at Ymir’s mental state to escape the situation.

[If it’s difficult for you, I’ll handle it decisively.]

[…No. I’m fine. I was just disgusted for a moment.]

Ymir dispersed the magical energy forming the red cord and brought out a new weapon.

[I have no intention of playing into the demon’s tricks, trying to make it look like I’m killing people when they’re just demon-shaped forms.]

“My, wasn’t Platinum Sun supposed to purify demons too?”

[…You’re the exception.]

Golden gauntlet-like objects began to shine on Ymir’s hands.

And what protruded from the golden gauntlets was like—

[You will die on this island today.]

[Hey.]

[Heheh.]

Golden blade-like claws extended, similar to Hesed or Dragon Killer.

With only her arms transformed from the royal inspector appearance to something like Black War Dragoon’s armament, I somehow felt reminded of the original.

[Why copy that of all things?]

[It’s a being that can launch multiple missiles at once, isn’t that good?]

[If you use that….]

[Like this.]

Stab!

[To kill?]

Ymir stabbed her golden claws into a Hyangdan clone that was sneaking up from the side and mercilessly sliced it apart.

[…It’s okay. But comfort me a little when this is over.]

[I’d be happy to.]

“Kyahaha!!”

All the Hyangdans started laughing.

“Yes! That’s how you get used to killing! Soon you’ll find it easy to kill people too! And congratulations, Goblin! Thanks to you, Platinum Sun has started killing!”

[If killing alien demons counts as murder, then the category of murder is far too broad.]

I placed my Goblin Club toward the ground.

After lightly tapping the floor twice with it, I transformed the Goblin Club into a new form.

[Copying is fine, but next time try a form that won’t cause mental issues. For example… like this.]

Bang!

A gunshot rings out.

A finger-sized hole appears in a clone’s head as it falls backward, and all eyes on the rooftop turn to my finger.

[A gun…?]

[A goblin doesn’t always have to carry a club.]

I hold a sniper rifle in one hand and shoot forward.

While it takes the form of a sniper rifle, it’s actually just my Goblin Club transformed into a gun.

Bang!

I pull the trigger once more.

Unlike real firearms, the concentrated magical energy inside travels through the barrel like light and lodges in the clone’s head.

There’s only one reason it’s a gun.

‘Holding a Goblin Club and shooting like a gun lacks style.’

It’s a matter of thought.

A matter of cognition.

The Goblin Club transforming into a gun to fire magical bullets doesn’t cause cognitive dissonance, but imagining a baseball bat with a gun barrel protruding from the end is more mentally taxing.

The end of my gun glows with magical energy.

The trigger delivers judgment upon demons.

[I shall execute you, ‘Mateless’.]

As God says.

Those who do not love their country.

Shall die.