The Line to Protect (6)

The Line to Protect (6)

The evil spirit possessing Kim Su-jung’s body was one of the initial spirits directly controlled by Mammoth. True to Mammoth’s nature, the command programmed into that spirit was just one.

Maximize the target’s dark aspects and execute the desires that emerge as a result.

Kim Su-jung, already perfectly parasitized by that spirit, would occasionally reveal her nature based on dependency and obsession, showing strong fixation towards Lee Jin-ah.

The only reason it hadn’t been noticeable to others until now was that the object of her obsession happened to be one of the most extraordinary beings in this world, so each time it manifested, it was swiftly suppressed with a single blow.

Even the evil spirit controlling her body became discouraged, having to settle for secret photos due to the merciless and tough suppression. Kim Su-jung unleashed her pent-up anger towards Jeon So-hyeon, who seemed like an easy target.

“Do you think I’m a pushover, Su-jung?!”

However, unlike in Kim Su-jung’s memory, Jeon So-hyeon wasn’t entirely an ordinary woman.

With bulging arm muscles, Jeon So-hyeon shouted and kicked her body.

As she fell over with the chair with a loud crash, Jeon So-hyeon, gasping for breath, looked at her arms and inhaled sharply.

Blue electric sparks were flickering from both hands.

‘With this power.’

She instinctively felt certain that this psychic ability she possessed could drive out the evil spirit possessing her sister’s body.

“Take this!”

“Kuhiik!”

So she stretched out both hands and lunged forward. It was effective. As soon as she grabbed her, Kim Su-jung, who had been growling with blackened eyes, started foaming at the mouth while screaming.

“What’s going on! Open the door quickly! Girls!”

This fierce battle only calmed down when the teacher in charge, who came after hearing the commotion, knocked on the door and shouted, and finally broke down the door with help.

*

“?”

My ears perked up. I was sitting quietly in the chair, but it was noisy beyond the magic mirror.

[Hey. Go and listen]

“Am I your errand boy… ugh.”

I said as I kicked Ren, who was bowing on the floor. Ren grumbled but rubbed his bottom and went outside, scurrying.

“…Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No, not really. If I had to pick something, it’s that I’m fine but the examination is taking too long.”

Then the woman sitting in front of me, who was either a counselor or a psychiatrist, looked around cautiously and opened her mouth.

I shook my head with a sigh.

It was supposedly unavoidable for a peaceful life and cosplaying as a normal person, but with all the examinations and mental evaluations, it honestly felt like I was being treated like a plague patient to the point where it was unpleasant. I clearly hadn’t even been subjected to any experiments.

“Please bear with it a little longer. The other children are having a very hard time right now. You might have some issues too, you know.”

“Really? I don’t think so.”

I couldn’t help but click my tongue. Is being too normal a problem too? I needed to move quickly to catch Mammoth, but being held up like this was outside of my calculations.

“Hey! I think something’s happened!”

At that moment, Ren, who had been sent out for reconnaissance, passed through the tightly locked door like a ghost and came running on his short legs.

[What’s going on?]

“Kim Su-jung. Your friend possessed by an evil spirit. I think she’s finally been discovered by others!”

[…What?]

“And you know Jeon So-hyeon? That girl has been captured too. Something about psychic abilities.”

[What nonsense are you talking about?]

Ignoring the doctor’s incredulous gaze, I had been yawning and leaning back in my chair, but my face hardened at Ren’s words.

“You’re really letting me go, right?”

“L-letting you go? Jina, we just did some tests.”

“…Let’s say that’s the case.”

That night, I was allowed to leave the research facility. They had stripped me naked, took photos, scanned me, drew blood, treated me like a bomb, and kept me in a room without privacy behind a magic mirror for half a day, but I didn’t want to argue, so I didn’t refute.

“Um, Jina. I’m not sure how to say this…”

In the car heading to a nearby facility, my assigned teacher Lee Seon-young spoke with difficulty, her face gaunt.

“I think there’s no point in hiding it, so I’ll tell you. Your friend Su-jung is actually…”

“Possessed by an evil spirit, right?”

“H-How did you…!”

When I preemptively laughed, she opened her eyes wide in shock.

“Did Su-jung do something to you?!”

“No, not really.”

I could have mentioned how she tried to knock me out with a wrench or drug me, but I kept my mouth shut. It was a chance to confirm that even evil spirits become timid after getting beaten up a few times.

“Ahem, w-well, Su-jung went somewhere else for treatment. Would you like to stay with the other children for a while? According to the rules, you can’t sleep alone at night.”

“Sure, why not.”

“…You really have nerves of steel.”

She smiled bitterly. It’s not so much that my mentality is steel, but rather that the threshold for what can mentally affect me is high, though that’s how it might appear to others.

It was the result of me giving up on acting like a child in personality as well, because it was too tiring for me.

“Go and… rest for now. You can take a day off from school tomorrow if you want.”

The vehicle had already arrived at the facility. Lee Seon-young guided me to a place other than my room.

It was one of the rooms where kids my age stayed, and I was told to sleep there on a futon on the floor.

“Hey, you sleep with your hands tied.”

“That’s right. And don’t come near me. You’re dirty.”

However, these two girls, whom I had greeted kindly, showed their true colors as soon as Lee Seon-young left.

“Oh ho, I don’t quite understand? Is that the right thing to say when we’ve just met?”

“W-Why are we just meeting?! We go to the same school! I’m Park Eun-young. This is Lee Ji-seon!”

When I spoke with a scoff, one of them pointed to herself and her friend in confusion.

I nodded only then. Come to think of it, there were such kids too. Since I had no interest in my surroundings, I didn’t remember the names or faces of those who didn’t approach me first, unlike Hong Su-young or Kang Jin-su.

“I see. I get that part. But I still don’t understand the rest.”

“You, you were experimented on while alive!”

“They said on YouTube it was a horrific experiment turning a living girl into a monster!”

These kids took turns shrieking annoyingly one by one. But what made me frown wasn’t their high-pitched voices of these ignorant young children.

“What if you suddenly change while sleeping together and attack us? So tie your own hands before sleeping.”

“And, and don’t come close in case we get infected.”

The children were unnecessarily afraid, and that fear was clouding their normal judgment. What on earth could have put such ridiculous misinformation into these kids’ heads? It’s not just one or two, but in this day and age, it’s obvious.

“I’ve been through all the tests. Along with the doctor’s assessment that I’m fine. I wasn’t experimented on in the first place. Of course, there are real victims. But are you going to treat those kids like monsters? The kids who were wrongfully victimized?”

“But, but YouTuber Puma said…”

“You’re facility people too, so you should know. How people from this facility are viewed by others. We shouldn’t be divided internally like this.”

I released my magical power to press down on these kids. Unable to withstand the powerful energy, their eyes glazed over and they soon staggered, losing consciousness and collapsing with thuds.

I had no intention of sleeping tonight anyway. I laid the kids on the bed.

“…You’re going to catch Mammoth?”

“Yeah. But before that, I’ll take care of one guy. It would be good if I could find out where that YouTuber Puma or whatever lives.”

Was he evil? Or not? There was no need to even consider that.

How could a trash cyber wrecker, who uses the pathetic excuse of delivering information to profit from others’ deaths and injuries, be a good person that a magical girl couldn’t touch?

In a very bad mood, I immediately left the facility and flew up into the sky.

“Takilas…”

“Takilas! Stop right there!”

In the dim night, a couple of fearless magical girls followed me as I crossed through the air of the apartment complex.

“You tell me to stop there, but you keep your distance from me. You were ordered, weren’t you? To follow behind me and keep watch. Who is it? Aria?”

“Ugh, shut up! It’s not like that!”

One of the magical girls shouted, seemingly hit right on the mark, but I didn’t believe her. Their intentions were too obvious, so I just ignored them.

As expected, they seemed to have mistaken that I was now chasing after Mammoth.

“W-wait! This isn’t where Mammoth is… Kyaaah!”

“When did I say I was going to kill that egghead?”

I grinned as I blasted magic and blew away the entire apartment balcony I had targeted.

A young man sitting in front of his computer in his underwear with messy hair was screaming and rolling on the floor.

“Takiras, you can’t… Stop it!!”

“Cyber merchant who sells even death, you should have been prepared for this much.”

Ignoring the screams of the magical girls, I shot a shadow towards him.

In an instant, the fool’s head, which was gaping stupidly, separated from his body and flew into the sky. This must have been what Aria was trying to prevent.

But I don’t stop. I don’t hesitate. I am the king of the Demon Realm. No one can stop me.