Chapter 169

Chapter 169

Mutiny!

The presence of the entity known as ‘That One’ was far too overwhelming for the broken Dark Fantasy World to handle. As a result, only half of the entity had managed to infiltrate the world. This meant that it could only use half of its power.

The entity acknowledged that, with its current strength, it was impossible to fully take control of Lian’s body. This realization implied that Lian’s body was far more extraordinary than the entity had anticipated.

Lian’s body was like a hidden item, one with a shimmering rainbow border, that the entity could not use immediately.

Unwilling to waste such a valuable item, the entity forcibly manipulated causality to make Lian’s body ‘usable.’ However, unsure of what side effects this might cause, the entity decided to insert one of its followers into Lian’s body.

Thanks to the manipulation of causality, one of the entity’s followers, a quite capable Outsider, was able to enter Lian’s body without much difficulty. The unknown force that had been gnawing at the entity’s body did not attack the Outsider, as if it had been muzzled.

Though the cost of using causality would put the entity into a brief slumber, it considered it a worthwhile trade for the chance to use such a special item.

As the entity drifted into a contented nap, Lian entered the room, and the Outsider, now inhabiting Lian’s body, immediately cursed.

[ Even though that One used causality, I still can’t fully control this body! What kind of body is this?! ]

Frustrated that the body wouldn’t move as it wished, the Outsider shouted furiously, as if it were bound by heavy chains. After a while, it let out a resigned sigh.

[ At this rate, I’m no better than an undead! If I knew it would be like this, I should’ve stuck with my original body… ]

The Outsider glanced at its former body, which lay discarded on the floor. Even moving its eyes felt as heavy and difficult as pushing a giant boulder.

[ Well… I can move a little, so I’ll take my time getting used to it. After all, this body required the use of causality to obtain, so there must be something special about it. ]

Trying to stay positive, the Outsider began spreading its energy throughout Lian’s body.

[ Ugh…! ]

At that moment, an excruciating pain surged through it. Despite the attack seemingly targeting the soul directly, Lian’s body, which sat with a vacant expression, did not budge.

[ Why… why this pain?! ]

The Outsider quickly examined the source of the pain, only to witness a bizarre scene. Human-shaped cells stood in a wide passage, beating down energy that had turned into slime-like forms and cornered them.

“Hey, when you enter for the first time, you should greet your seniors. What? ‘This body is mine now’? Are you crazy?”

“Calm down, calm down. They’re a newbie. They didn’t know any better.”

[ What is this…? ]

The Outsider, unable to comprehend the situation, stared blankly at the scene before its eyes. But the problems didn’t end there.

“Where’s the original owner?”

A strange voice suddenly addressed the Outsider directly.

“Well, it doesn’t matter who the owner is. I’ll relay the message. The stomach is empty, so it’s about to make some noise. They’re asking how loud it can be. Decide quickly. Also, there’s a fight going on between the heart and the lungs, so think of a way to stop it. Oh, and there are some weird new guys wandering around the body, and they’re causing problems everywhere—”

[ What…? ]

As the Outsider froze, unable to process the overwhelming information, a voice clicked its tongue in annoyance.

“Did you really think ‘living and breathing’ would be easy? You’re in charge of an entire body now, so take responsibility and get to work.”

Even though the Outsider had possessed Lian’s body, the body had already turned into something akin to a gag character, functioning in a way completely different from a normal human.

A normal human body unconsciously relays signals from all parts of the body to the brain, which then issues appropriate commands. However, Lian’s body now required direct commands for every function, just as it did now to maintain itself.

Previously, countless tiny Lians within Lian’s brain had handled this role, enabling his body to move as if it were no different from an ordinary human.

But now, the Outsider was in a situation where it had to run a company that had once been operated by tens of millions of employees all by itself.

[ ‘If this keeps up, I’m going to die.’ ]

Lian, observing the situation, looked at his body with a sympathetic expression.

“I can’t serve something so useless as my master!”

[ Aaargh! What in the world is happening?! ]

As predicted by Lian, the body’s nerves, which had been relaying problems to the Outsider, rebelled when the Outsider failed to manage the body properly. Before long, the Outsider’s screams began to fade.

[ ‘Ah… I’ve lost control of the body.’ ]

The Outsider, now tightly bound, blindfolded, and gagged, had become nothing more than a puppet, an energy mass that could only move according to the body’s whims.

Watching the Outsider suffer the same pain he had once endured, Lian found himself unintentionally absorbed in the scene.

[ ‘Wait! This isn’t the time for this!’ ]

Lian, snapping back to his senses, hurriedly approached his body and tried to re-enter it.

Whoosh…

His translucent soul merely passed through the body without entering. No matter how many times he tried, he failed each time.

“Fortunately, it seems to follow commands well enough. Let’s test its usefulness and put it to work somewhere appropriate.”

While Lian struggled to return to his body, a conclusion was reached among the figures in black robes.

As long as the body could follow orders, even if it couldn’t be fully controlled, it would still be useful. Moreover, since ‘That One’ had used causality to obtain the body, they believed it must have some special qualities.

They began issuing various commands to Lian.

“It’s not completely useless, is it? Seems pretty handy.”

“At least more useful than a golem.”

“What? Are you picking a fight?”

Satisfied by how the body responded to their commands, the figures in black robes continued to express their approval. Meanwhile, Lian, floating above and watching the scene, muttered in shock.

[ They can’t use Gargandoa or divine power either? ]

The seals engraved on the back of his hand had turned a dull gray, as if they were completely inactive. Lian let out a small sigh of relief.

[ Good. If they could use those two powers… Ugh, it’d be terrifying just to imagine. ]

He tried to sound cheerful, but the situation remained dire. Before long, the black-robed figures led Lian’s body out of the room. His body was taken to a room filled with numerous coffins and laid in one of them.

“We’ll keep it here until we’ve prepared the equipment and assigned its role.”

“We need to finish the job before That One returns.”

“Of course.”

With that, they left the room. The door slammed shut with a heavy thud, leaving only Lian and the many coffins behind.

[ ‘Ugh… First, I need to figure out where I am.’ ]

Since he had no way of returning to his body at the moment, Lian decided to at least understand his surroundings.

[ ‘Hopefully, I’m somewhere close to Noah….’ ]

Noah, being able to see Julianna, would probably be able to see him in his current soul state as well. If things went well, he could resolve the situation quickly, right? With that hopeful thought, Lian floated upward, passing through the ceiling.

Whoosh…

After ascending for a while, he finally emerged outside the building. Perched atop the pointed roof of a black tower, the grim reality dawned on him.

[ No way… ]

Lian’s mouth hung open as he took in the vast, seemingly endless landscape of the Demon King’s Castle.

[ It’s the Demon King’s Castle…? ]

For a long time, Lian was at a loss for words.

***

A week passed.

If you’re wondering why so much time has already passed, it’s simple.

[ ‘There’s nothing I can do! Not a single thing!’ ]

After realizing that he was inside the Demon King’s Castle, and not just anywhere, but at its very heart, Lian had roamed around diligently.

He had learned two things during his exploration. The first was, as he had just said, that there was absolutely nothing he could do.

Whether it was because his spiritual energy was weak or for some other reason, he couldn’t even lift objects. No one could see him, and everything—people, objects, and animals—passed right through him.

The second thing he learned was that he couldn’t stray too far from his body. When he had the idea of flying all the way to the empire where Noah was, he suddenly found himself back near his body after a while.

As a result, Lian had spent the entire week floating aimlessly around the Demon King’s Castle. At first, it had been exciting and interesting, but soon enough, he grew bored and spent most of his time slumped in midair.

[ Sigh… Maybe I’ll check out that area today. ]

Since sitting still wouldn’t solve anything, Lian pulled himself together and headed toward a room he hadn’t yet explored.

If you’re wondering why he was already bored despite not having explored every room, the answer was simple.

[ As expected, it’s empty… ]

Most of the rooms deep within the Demon King’s Castle were completely vacant, making it difficult to find anything worth seeing.

[ Huh? ]

Still, not all the rooms were empty, so if Lian was lucky, he might stumble upon an occupied one. Just like the room in front of him now.

But that wasn’t what surprised him.

“Sniff… sniff…”

A sorrowful sobbing echoed through the room—something Lian had never heard in the Demon King’s Castle before.

End of Chapter