Ch.3838. The Amethyst Trembles,

Bine collapsed.

It’s not that I didn’t notice the signs.

There was definitely a point when her movements suddenly became sluggish.

She probably consumed a lot of magical power by fully deploying her tail, which is her strength.

On top of that, sparring with a body that hadn’t fully recovered.

I agreed to spar because I thought she had recovered to some extent.

Her magical output was within expectations.

Her physical condition seemed adequately recovered since she was eating and sleeping well.

But suddenly, at that moment, her magical output dropped dramatically, and she showed signs of struggling.

Where did my prediction go wrong?

I thought the process of generating magical power would be the same for monsters as it is for magical girls.

When I observed how she manipulated magical power, I was already confident about this.

But for her to collapse so unexpectedly…

“Bine! Wake up! Bine!!”

No matter how much I called, she didn’t move.

I shook her shoulders frantically and called her name, but there was no response.

“Bine! Bine!!”

Just moments ago, she was happily celebrating her victory over me.

She was boasting about her exploits to Arin, but now she was lying there peacefully, completely unconscious.

Soon after, the Association’s medical team came to take her.

In the past, they created a team to treat monsters in order to extract information from them, and they’ve maintained it until now.

But it’s uncertain whether Bine is the same as other monsters.

There’s never been a monster who collapsed like this before.

For now, all I could do was follow Bine as she was carried away on a stretcher.

Bine was transferred to the Association’s hospital.

Her basic vital signs were normal, but magical power wasn’t being generated.

The staff said it was as if some wall was blocking and interfering with the generation of magical power.

For now, all we could do was wait and see.

Since we didn’t know how to solve the situation, all we could do was hold Bine’s hand by her side.

Even though she was an enemy we fought fiercely against.

In less than a month, Bine had made a significant impact on us.

Arin was the most upset.

She blamed herself, wondering if their sparring had contributed to Bine’s deteriorating condition.

Or if she should have noticed Bine’s abnormal symptoms earlier. All I could do was offer comfort to the self-blaming Arin.

All I could say was that Bine is strong, and she’ll wake up soon.

That she’ll return to her usual self, with that expressionless face saying, “I’ve caused trouble. I’m sorry. Haha…” with her faint characteristic laugh.

Yet, the cruel time continued to flow.

Bine showed no signs of regaining consciousness.

She just lay there peacefully sleeping, like a princess in a sleeping forest.

Occasionally she would gasp for breath and thrash about.

But it wasn’t because she was regaining consciousness; she was just suffering in a nightmare.

I tried asking around for ways to help Bine recover.

In the end, those who know her body best would be her comrades from Eden, so I needed to track down Eden personnel.

Surely, Eden members who weren’t captured must have escaped somewhere and are living their lives.

Or they might have obtained fake identities and are living that way.

In Bine’s case, because I was so famous, her face was known. But that person might not be well-known.

There’s a high possibility they’re living a normal life.

They might be hiding their identity through hair dye or style changes.

Eden’s First Legion, Deputy Commander.

Ellis, I need to find you.

* * *

“Hello?”

“Eeek, aaaaaaah!!!”

“Why are you so surprised? I’m not going to do much.”

“B-Bine…! Bine…! Eeek, aaaaaaah!”

“I don’t know why you’re so surprised. I just received orders to harvest fear from the people here.”

At the top of a roller coaster in a theme park.

There was a stopped train filled with people.

And a girl standing there, emitting an ominous aura.

Black long hair and a face that revealed no thoughts.

Her distinctive, evil amethyst-like eyes gazed at the target she was about to torment.

“Hmm, this isn’t enough. I should release a monster over there. Elli! Are you listening?”

The dark predator, unsatisfied with this prey, was asking her comrade to summon more monsters.

Then, looking at the people in front of her, she greeted them.

“Hello, everyone? I’m Bine, and I’ve come to share something good with you all. You all know me, right?”

The reactions of the people who heard this were varied.

Some just trembled, unable to say anything, anticipating their fate.

Others just screamed loudly.

The person who had been conversing with the evil girl belonged to the latter group, and being closest to her, was enough to disturb her mood.

“Ah, kid, aren’t you being too noisy? Could you be quiet for a moment? I know it’s exciting to think about what’s coming, but it’s hard to concentrate with all this noise.”

With those words, she stuffed one of her tails into his mouth, completely gagging him.

“You know this, right? Aren’t you curious about what would happen if this fired from your mouth?”

The boy, with a pale face, could only shake his head while staring at the darkness looming over him, and eventually lost consciousness due to the overwhelming fear and helplessness.

“Ah, he fainted. Well, I’ve gathered the energy the boss mentioned, so I guess it doesn’t matter?”

As she was contemplating how to follow the boss’s orders, another girl’s voice, Elli’s, sounded through her receiver.

“Bine! Can you confirm the coordinates for summoning the monster?”

Hearing the voice, she pointed to a location and said:

“Yeah, there. Can you see where the carousel is? Let’s do it there.”

“Got it. Do you have enough batteries to collect energy?”

“I’ve got extras in my pocket, so don’t worry. I’ll complete the mission.”

“Good. Good luck!”

After ending the communication, the girl explained to the people in front of her what was about to happen.

For more efficient energy collection, she stimulated human imagination through explanation to induce overwhelming fear.

That way, she could obtain more fear energy.

“Attention, everyone! You all came to ride this dangerous attraction for the thrill, right?”

“So, how about experiencing the risk of actually losing your life?”

“A game where you enter a monster’s mouth, and if you can survive its strong stomach acid, I’ll let you live?”

“Or maybe I’ll throw you high into the sky and into that lake over there to see if you survive?”

“Wow… you’ll really have unforgettable memories! Don’t you think?”

“Hey, woman. Yes, you! Why are you crying? If you die with a frowning face, it’ll hurt my feelings.”

“Think about it. I’ll give you a chance to survive. Come on. Why would our organization, which dreams of Eden, kill people? You’re valuable energy sources.”

“First, let’s get away from this narrow rail, shall we?”

Thinking she had finished speaking to the people, she used her tail to lift the entire train high into the sky.

Higher, faster.

Screams could be heard from the train she was carrying, but what she was focusing on was a screen attached to her arm.

She was more focused on the gauge showing the energy charging status.

‘Hmm, it seems to be coming out well? Theme parks are more efficient than I thought.’

The graph displayed on the screen had already passed the halfway mark.

Thinking it was more efficient than expected, she glided through the sky faster and more chaotically.

Besides that screen, there was one more thing she was concerned about.

‘Sigh, Blanc will be barging in soon. I need to fill this battery first and send it to Eden.’

Although she was carrying a heavier load than usual, she was feeling a sense of exhilaration as she recovered faster.

* * *

I found Ellis’s whereabouts.

After Eden collapsed, I discovered several accounts that were usually dormant but suddenly became active.

Money transfers from known money laundering spots like Switzerland and the Virgin Islands to Korea.

Among them, an account that transferred money to what appears to be Eden’s paper company.

When it goes to a personal account…

Anyway, besides this tracking method, I found her whereabouts through various means.

Surprisingly, I thought she would have fled overseas, but she’s living openly in Korea.

And as a high school student?

Yes, if she’s living as a student, she probably thought she wouldn’t be found.

Ellis, like Bine, had a youthful appearance, though not as young as Bine.

I don’t know how she accessed Eden’s accounts, but I didn’t expect her to be living in a small provincial city.

I went to that city with Seohyun.

In case force was needed for restraint.

The goal was to barge into her school, her classroom, and drag her to Bine.

If she doesn’t cooperate, I’ll threaten to lock her deep in Marina until she helps restore Bine.