Chapter 132: Way of Mourning Part 3

The young man riding a donkey wandered leisurely through the night streets of Hanyang.

Like a king of ghosts, he strode confidently among the spirits.

“Let me go!!”

—”I curse you! I told you to put me to sleep!”

—”I thought it was going to rise! I really thought it would rebound this time!”

The words spilling from the ghosts’ mouths were far from blessings for a king, but at the very least, the young man had no doubt that he was their ruler.

Then, the AI named “Descartes” in his hand issued a warning.

[Warning. A hostile entity targeting you has been detected 400 meters ahead.]

“I was wondering when they’d show up. Looks like it’s finally time.”

The young man halted his donkey and waited for the so-called “hostile” lifeform.

Soon, Amon and Sonia emerged from among the ghosts.

Emitting divine energy so intense it stung the eyes just to look at them, they parted the sea of spirits as if reenacting the miracle of Moses.

As soon as Amon locked eyes with the demon, he asked, “You don’t seem to have a body for your AI friend to transfer into. Something wrong?”

[For me, a physical body is nothing more than a terminal.]

“That’s what it says.”

The AI answered in place of the young man, who merely shrugged nonchalantly.

Seemingly satisfied with that response, Amon nodded—

Shwack!

Without any warning, he hurled his sword.

“Whoa there!”

With a laid-back attitude, the young man dodged the attack effortlessly.

“No conversation or anything? Just straight to attacking?”

“We’re not exactly on friendly terms, are we? Not like I have anything to ask, anyway.”

“And what was your goal again…?”

“The goal of you Goetia folks is always the same. You hate the world your mother created, so you just want to mess things up. Isn’t that right?”

Since it was undeniably true, the young man couldn’t refute it.

Even as they talked, Amon’s attacks didn’t cease.

The young man dodged them continuously until he finally let out a deep sigh and launched his counterattack.

His method of fighting was simple.

The ghosts that filled the entire area were both his soldiers and his weapons.

“Haah… There are too few souls to summon in Hanyang…”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

Amon clicked his tongue as he watched the endless swarm of drowned spirits flowing from the Han River.

In terms of sheer numbers, this was the largest force of demons he’d ever faced.

However, Amon had a strong ally by his side who could make up for his lack of firepower.

***

Thud-thud-thud!

Even in small-scale battles, Sonia was powerful, but in firepower-based combat, she was unparalleled.

Normally, facing an army of this scale would mean either running out of ammunition or exhausting divine energy first, but…

“Sonia, how many rounds do you have left?”

“I can keep going for another twenty minutes.”

With an extradimensional storage pouch and divine energy restoration elixirs, her bombardment showed no signs of stopping.

Because of that, this battle was more her stage than Amon’s.

“I’ll leave the demon to you.”

Amon gave a nod.

While she handled the ghostly army, Amon focused on his one-on-one duel with the demon.

The young man, now facing Amon directly, looked slightly troubled yet still engaged in battle.

“I’m not really the type to fight directly…”

But despite his words, he showed no hesitation once the battle commenced.

Although he hadn’t replaced his entire body with machinery like an old man Amon once met, his endurance and strength were bizarrely inhuman.

“Genetic modification?”

No.

It wasn’t genetic enhancement—he displayed none of the animalistic traits that typically came with it.

Amon tried to grasp the source of his familiarity with the young man.

And when the young man responded to an attack he had never seen before, Amon finally realized what that familiarity was.

“Possession.”

The technique Amon had just used wasn’t something that could be countered upon first encounter.

He had thrown his sword, and while the blade blocked the young man’s line of sight, he had fired a crossbow bolt from behind it.

It was a sneak attack designed to exploit the assumption that Amon only wielded swords, as well as the rarity of crossbows in this world.

Yet the young man dodged it with ease.

As if he had known the arrow was coming from behind the sword.

Seeing that, Amon was sure of it.

“You’ve let the spirits of slain warriors possess you.”

If that was the case, then he had absorbed the experiences of countless warriors in an instant.

Especially those who had fought Amon—making it an exceptionally effective tactic against him.

Additionally, the physical enhancements granted by the spirits’ possession defied logical explanation.

The young man smirked meaningfully at Amon’s deduction and swung his hwando.

Though his appearance was Western, his swordsmanship was unmistakably that of someone who had always wielded a hwando.

Dodging the strike, Amon confirmed his suspicion.

***

The battle continued.

Sonia fought against the army of ghosts, while Amon faced the young commander.

At some point, Amon felt a nagging sensation in the back of his mind again.

It was only when his sword began drifting further from the young man that he realized what was causing that feeling.

[You don’t have a device in your body, so my influence is limited. But given enough time, something like this is possible.]

The AI laughed as Amon flailed in the air, his senses betraying him.

It had manipulated Amon’s perception, distorting not just his vision but even his thoughts.

By chance, neither Amon nor Sonia had mechanical bodies the AI could interface with, yet it had found a way to deceive them regardless.

“How did you do this?”

[Every city has electronic billboards. By calculating the light intensity and angles, it’s not impossible to create illusions.]

Even in this crude form, the AI—despite being a downgraded model—used the city’s smog and billboards to craft mirages.

It also revealed that by cleverly utilizing speakers and car horns, it could deceive even their sense of hearing.

The young demon, witnessing the AI’s bizarre feats, clicked his tongue in admiration.

“You’re this skilled—just how incredible must your main body be?”

[My main body had the power to force illusions into reality. Compared to that, I, who can only deceive the senses, am a fleeting existence.]

“Constantly belittling yourself isn’t a great habit, Descartes.”

The two beings conversed leisurely.

While completely dominating Amon’s senses, they were certain of their victory.

“Shall we put an end to this wretched fate?”

The young man approached Amon, who was still trapped in the AI’s illusion.

“Agares asked for you to be captured alive, but I have my own problems to deal with. I’m sorry, Amon.”

The young man crept up behind Amon, who couldn’t hear his murmuring, and reached out his right hand, aiming for his heart.

Swish.

“Got you.”

But then—Amon, smiling, severed the young man’s outstretched right hand.

The young man and the AI were both struck with shock.

“This is impossible! How—?!”

“Who knows.”

Before arriving, Amon had already deduced the true identities of his opponents.

As for the demon, he was certain it was Gamigin, since the demon’s abilities aligned with the drowned ghost’s traits.

And the AI—he confirmed it was Descartes’ AI based on Seja’s testimony that its thinking was limited.

‘You guys are easy to figure out compared to the others.’

Most demons and AIs were difficult to analyze because their abilities left few traces, but these two stood out too much.

Gamigin’s power to manipulate drowned ghosts was unique among the 72 demons of Punk City 1, and Descartes’ ability to manipulate thought and perception always left behind a distinct sense of dissonance.

‘Did you really think I’d come unprepared, knowing exactly who you are?’

Amon felt the red threads connected to his limbs and swung his sword at the two beings.

Gamigin, whose right arm had been severed, tried to react in confusion, but the movement was something he had never seen before, making it impossible to counter properly.

Descartes, nestled in Gamigin’s grasp, attempted to deceive Amon’s senses, but Amon’s sword remained unaffected and aimed straight for Gamigin’s life.

***

Far from them, Cassie, who was controlling Amon through the red threads, felt a faint sense of pity toward the two.

‘No one could have predicted a strategy like this.’

When Amon first proposed tying the red threads around his body and letting Cassie take control, even she was taken aback.

She had never done it before and wasn’t even sure if it was possible.

But she accepted without hesitation.

She had decided to believe in herself and her friends rather than relying on foresight.

And so, she controlled Amon.

Since it was Cassie moving him, Gamigin—who had studied Amon’s combat patterns—had no way to respond.

And no matter how hard Descartes tried to manipulate Amon’s senses, it was meaningless since Cassie was the one in control.

If Gamigin had possessed the demons’ signature ability of foresight, things might have been trickier…

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Gamigin is a bottom-tier demon who doesn’t even have foresight.”

That, too, had been accounted for.

Even if he did have foresight, the red threads would have thrown it off, making their fate all but sealed.

At last, Amon severed Gamigin’s remaining left arm.

Now armless, the demon had no means left to resist.

“Sonia, good work. You can spread your wings now.”

Determining that Gamigin was thoroughly incapacitated, Amon gave Sonia permission to go all out.

“I just didn’t want us to end up destroying each other because of Descartes’ AI.”

Before the battle, Amon had held Sonia back.

He feared that, like some reaper perched in the sky, Sonia might be manipulated by the AI’s illusions into attacking him.

“One fully powered attack from Sonia is barely within my ability to endure.”

If it were just a gunshot, he would only end up bruised.

But if she unleashed the beam attack with her wings spread, even he wouldn’t come out unscathed.

But now, none of that mattered.

Gamigin had lost both arms and was completely powerless.

Without Gamigin, Descartes was nothing more than a smooth-talking virtual assistant.

Sonia immediately spread her wings and purified the surrounding ghosts in one massive sweep.

As she unleashed her area-wide purification, Amon subdued the armless Gamigin and seized the AI.

“This is going to end as absurdly as you always say. How do you feel about that?”

[I am merely a fleeting shadow of my main body. Disappearing like this is inevitable. You, too…]

“Ugh, this is why nihilists are so annoying.”

Amon grumbled as he uploaded a deletion program into the AI.

As Descartes vanished, Amon turned his attention to Gamigin.

“Before you go, let me ask you one thing.”

“Don’t you think your words contradict themselves? Why would someone leaving bother answering?”

“The Outers who made contact at the world’s boundary—what are they doing in Goetia?”

“You’re not even listening to me, are you?”

“You don’t have to answer. Cassie.”

“Got it.”

They had an excellent interrogator who could force answers out of anyone.

Cassie wrapped a thread around Gamigin’s ankle and repeated Amon’s question.

From there, they extracted several key pieces of information.

“The Outer isn’t in Gamigin’s hands anymore. The one who made contact with him was passed on to someone else.”

“Did you find out who?”

Cassie motioned with her chin toward Geumgang Palace.

Amon recalled leaving the twins behind to deal with their opponent.

“You two clean up here. I’ll head over first.”

Leaving them to handle the aftermath, Amon leaped onto the rooftops, dashing away like a ninja.

Watching him disappear in an instant, Sonia shrugged.

“Cassie, was the scene you mentioned yesterday referring to this moment?”

“Yeah. But… are you okay with it?”

“With what?”

“You won’t get jealous later?”

“Oh, that.”

Sonia smiled.

“I’ll always be the first, no matter what.”

Faced with her overwhelming confidence, Cassie could only offer a wry smile.