episode_0026

*****

“Are you here, you brat?”

“Okay, kid.”

The place we arrived at after chasing the divine power was an apartment complex where large abandoned buildings stood like tombstones. A place where people took refuge from monsters during the great chaos and was used as a nest for monsters, but after the monsters were subdued, no one lived there.

Although nearly 10 years have passed since the stabilization period, it seems that all of these places could not be eliminated. 10 years is too short a time to turn back the population decline, and construction companies are also working to stabilize the North Korean region. Well, there must have been various reasons.

My boyfriend and I entered the apartment complex. Divine power was felt in the apartment in the center of the apartment complex.

“What do you think? Are there people over there?”

“Well… . I heard that there were quite a few vagabonds before the stabilization period, but I believe they have all disappeared from Seoul. If you valued your life, you wouldn’t crawl into a place like this.”

Psychic spot tours are synonymous with assisted suicide in today’s world. Going into an abandoned hospital to test one’s courage and dying from resentment or monsters there is not even newsworthy.

So, it is unlikely that an ordinary person will come into this place on their own.

In other words, it means that you can easily enter through other people’s feet.

“It’s almost 100% a trap. What’s the point in using something that turns civilians into monsters without warning in the first place, in a place where no one is around? Just looking at it, it looks like they are trying to trick us into doing something.”

“Of course, that’s right. Probably.”

The seeds were not made to be used for such terrorist purposes, but since the information was not available at this point, I could not tell you. The last incident made me realize that just because it wasn’t created for the purpose doesn’t mean it can’t be used.

This was also a reason why one should not blindly trust only the development of the original work.

“Hey, how about this? Let’s tear down the entire building outside. It’s not that difficult if it’s just you and me.”

“What are you talking about? We don’t even know what’s inside, so let’s destroy it from the outside?”

“So, let’s destroy it.”

When I glared at him, he shrugged his shoulders and took a step back. I’m glad you don’t seem to be trying to ignore my words and act… Should I say that?

“I’m glad you seem to have the energy to talk nonsense. If you don’t need anything else to prepare, let’s go right in. Because there is no time to waste time.”

“Even if you say destroying it was too much, there’s no need to be loyal and go inside, right? ‘Basin’”

With the gesture of the gangster’s hand, a magic circle made of blood was drawn, and a white horse came out of it. Looking at the bully riding up with familiar movements, he doesn’t seem to be a devil who has been summoned once or twice.

“Charge straight to the floor where divine power is felt. This is okay. But it’s different from the devil I saw last time. How many tricks can he use?”

“Well? Wouldn’t it be better to chase after him faster than that? He’s pretty fast. There’s no time to relax, right?”

The sheepish guy flew off on his own, repeating back what I had just said. Uh, hey! What, are you upset because I ignored the suggestion?

In the meantime, the white horse had climbed to the roof of the apartment building and was spinning around. Judging by the casual movements of his words and the pouring gaze, it was clear that he was mocking me.

Okay, I have to accept the provocation!

First, jump off the ground with magical power. Of course, even though his physical abilities had increased tremendously, he had not reached the point where he could jump across an apartment with just one jump. So, I concentrated my magic in my hands before my speed dropped.

“──Inhale!”

The irrigation water that was cleverly made using only the strength of the shoulders and arms dug into the outer wall of the apartment. If you have something to hold on to, you can use the recoil. I used my flying inertia and arm strength to throw myself up and throw myself up.

After repeating it a few times, I was able to reach the 25th floor, where I could feel the divine power. This is a unique maneuver for awakened people whose mass is small compared to their strength. If you can do a run-up, climbing up the wall is faster, so there isn’t much use for it.

“I heard that Lee Hyeong-gye has strong physical ability. At this level, isn’t the strengthening of physical ability itself stronger than that of children with potential?”

“That’s it. Destroy this quickly.”

From the 25th floor, or even the 10th floor, a barrier was placed inside the outer wall of the apartment. It was probably to prevent people from using the same shortcuts as they do now.

I was opposed to the idea of collapsing the building just now because there might be people inside, but I like the idea of ignoring the enemy’s intentions in this way.

“Hmm. It looks pretty sturdy, so I’m not sure if it can be used with one shot.

──The blade of condemnation that crushes the enemy is before me, the ‘Sword of Andras’.”

For the first time, I saw a trainer doing something similar to chanting. Of course, even that was overwhelmingly short compared to magic spells.

The magic circle that was spread out seemed to be worth reciting even from a chanting assistant, and it seemed to be twice the size of the ones I had seen before, and a sword wrapped in blue flame came out of it and cut horizontally across the entire 25th floor.

The barrier seemed to hold up well, but as the second and third strikes continued, it shook and eventually shattered and seeped into the air with the fourth horizontal cut.

“Ah, I didn’t summon you to swing it a few times. That thing was harder than I thought.”

“You worked hard. I’ll take the plunge, so just cover it.”

After confirming that the bully nodded, he bounced up using the hand he had put in just like before. The only difference from before was that it bounced off the wall and into the air.

A kick that creates a wall of magic in the air, fixes it, kicks the wall, and then uses the rotational force to bring it down in a half-turn. The name is Rider──

Kwajikkujikkwajikkujik.

──Kick!!

The body and leg strength strengthened by magical power make a simple hand-to-hand assault more powerful than a tank bombardment. Basically, as physical abilities are superior, the large movements and simple techniques of comics are surprisingly easy to use. Simple is best.

But when I wear it with a skirt, it’s inconvenient because the skirt flips over and blocks my view. There’s no need to be embarrassed since you’re wearing underwear properly, but you should be careful about using it against your strong enemy.

Although the technical name is a fake, we are proud that its power is greater than that of the genuine product. The Rider Kick, whose power did not decrease at all even after destroying the exterior wall of the apartment, stopped only after pulverizing several of the monsters inside. I see a long red carpet covered in monster blood running behind me.

─Keee!!

The inside of the apartment was completely otherworldly. If I had honestly come up from the first floor, it would have taken some time to deal with this volume.

Of course, it’s about 1/25th of the total, so it’s an easy opponent for me, who has raised my horsepower.

“It’s like a cheap B-grade movie.”

As the gangster who came in behind said, the inside of this world gave off an unrealistic feeling. Rather than thinking of it as an alien world, it is from the perspective that monster blood and corpses are strewn everywhere.

Since fighting is a method, it was inevitable that a lot of blood would splatter.

“How about changing your clothes? If you go out like that, you will be reported.”

“… If it were you, would you want to wear fluttering clothes like that?”

“Why? Last time, you just wore it in front of me.”

“That was unavoidable because we had to evacuate people!”

As a result of moving my fists diligently while talking, most of the monsters on the 25th floor were eliminated. I thought the monster from the lower floor might come up, but there was no sign of it.

It really looks like it was set up like a dungeon. Then there must be a core, the center of the dungeon.

“I think I can feel the divine power here.”

Finding the dungeon’s core wasn’t difficult. The core of a dungeon can be confirmed by looking at the overall flow of magical energy inside the dungeon.

In this case, the barrier technique to turn this apartment into an instant dungeon was located in the middle of the 25th floor as the core of the dungeon.

And within that barrier technique, a ‘seed’ with a sense of divine power floats.

“──Huh!? Dangerous! Hey, jump!”

“‘Basin!’ Emergency escape!”

The divine power felt in the seed rapidly swelled. The bursting of light, which was difficult to see even with the eyes of an awakened person, reminded me of an obvious development.

Sure enough, the spreading divine power was consuming the surrounding magic power and releasing an enormous amount of energy.

In other words, it is a bomb.

Kwaaang

The explosion occurred while destroying about two floors above and below. The shepherd was riding a horse, and I was clinging to the horse’s feet and watching from the air outside.

Perhaps because it was a temporary dungeon, or perhaps because the core of the dungeon disappeared and the monsters also disappeared, screams could be heard intermittently from inside the apartment. Eventually, when it got quiet, Yangachi and I came back inside the 25th floor.

“It disappeared cleanly.”

As Yangachi said, the apartment that was going through the first stage of transformation into another world, with a thin wall of magic covering it, had returned to being an ordinary abandoned building.

There is a large hole in the center, so it may collapse sooner or later, but no one will come near here anyway, so it won’t matter as long as you report it.

“What happened in the end?”

“Well. I’m sure he didn’t intend to become friends with us because of that.”

As Yangachi said, the explosion was too powerful to be considered a trap. The range wasn’t that wide, but even if I had been caught in that explosion, I don’t think I would have died.

So what was the explosion intended to eliminate? The answer came quickly. In the first place, the only people in that room were the monster and the seed. Since they wouldn’t have tried to hide a monster of that magnitude, it would be correct to say they were trying to destroy the seed.

And setting up a device to remove the seeds means that they assumed a situation where the seeds could be stolen, and if they assumed that the seeds would be stolen, it means that they thought they would clear that instant dungeon for sure… .

“You arch! Let’s go back! Right now, right now!”

“Ang? What are you talking about all of a sudden? Is it that way?”

The gangster seemed to have sensed my intention and started talking right away. If it were a simple straight-line movement, it would be faster to fly in the sky. As I hung on, I tried to calm my nervous mind.

The structure is designed so that you move up step by step starting from the first floor. When you reach your destination, detonate the nuke so that the other party gains nothing. Looking at these two things, it was clear that they used divine power as bait to buy time. The enemy’s target is not this, but the remaining team members.

The problem is that my trainer and I are the maximum strength on each team. Isn’t this a strategy that can only work if you and the trainer know that it will come in response to divine power and that you won’t be mobilizing your teammates at that time?

Of course, it may not be that they were specifically trying to entice us. It could be a coincidence. However, from my long experience as a hero, most ominous imaginations in these situations are correct.

Oh, don’t be late, please!!!

***

“I have something important to say.”

Kirlops’ words were enough to make the Surtr team stop. The force she gave off, which was always cowering and bowing down, was stronger than I could have imagined.

“I understand. This probably means that they came in such a hurry that it was a waste of time waiting at the meeting point. Still, couldn’t you wait until Fafnir or the two trainers are finished?”

“… no. It’s about Fafnir.”

At Cyclops’ words, the three members of Surtur’s team looked at each other’s faces. The three of them could only shake their heads as they wondered if that girl had ever been in contact with Fafnir.

In the first place, Cyclops was famous for not interacting with anyone in his class, not just Fafnir. Now she’s suddenly saying something important that Fafnir himself shouldn’t hear? Surtur ended the conversation in confusion and caution.

“Okay. But why even talk about it here? Let’s go over there for a moment.”

Sitting in the shadow of one side of the abandoned building, Raon set up a barrier to prevent any sound from leaking out. Hwain decided that he was ready to talk and opened his mouth again.

“This should be enough. So, what’s going on? Cyclops. It’s very rare that you can even speak.”

“… Actually, I don’t really want to come forward. but… I thought if no one noticed, I had no choice but to say something.”

At first glance, the Cyclops didn’t look any different from usual, but Surtur noticed that the Cyclops’ hands were shaking slightly.

Of course, there was no time to worry about that. Everyone was waiting for her next words, and Cyclops paused for a moment before continuing.

“Fafnir, she, no, he is a murderer.”

Under an abandoned building. In a place where there was no sunlight, all sounds disappeared for a moment. This was because the sounds outside were erased by the barrier and no one made the sounds inside.

But that didn’t mean there was no action. Cyclops felt Team Surtur’s hostility swelling like a snowball.

As someone who normally avoids other people, it was a pressure that made her want to run away at any moment, but the scenery she saw made it impossible for her to take any steps.

“What is the basis? I don’t want to think you said that as a joke. Please tell me the basis.”

Surt’s words implied that he would take such a response if he could not provide evidence, or if the evidence was unconvincing. Cyclops slightly lifted his hood in response.

“… see? My left eye is bright red. Concentrate more and look closely at the flow of magical power. You can probably see a star-shaped circuit.”

The Cyclops’ left eye inside the hood was completely red. And true to her words, the Surt team was able to see a small circuit rotating around a star shape inside her eye.

“… They say my left eye is soul vision, so it has the potential to see people’s souls. Do you guys know what the human soul looks like?”

“Well? Does it sparkle beautifully like a star?”

Despite Jeong Young’s hostile remarks, Cyclops calmly shook his head. She was used to such reactions to her potential.

“… no. Most people’s souls are skinny versions of themselves.”

In the eyes of people with soul poetry, the human soul is usually dry and distorted. In that state, you gain weight little by little depending on your stage as an awakened person. However, among the normal souls she had seen, even the strongest soul was limited to being a little thin.

A person with soul vision always sees a skinny mummy along with other people. It felt as if the ugliness inside people was being thrust before her eyes, so she used to avoid contact with people.

“And the color of the soul is mostly white. But when a person kills someone, the traces of the murdered person become black on the soul.”

“… so? So, you saw that there was black in Fafnir’s soul, so you’re saying that Fafnir is a murderer?”

Jabberwock stepped forward as if to defend himself. Unlike Surtur and Raon, Jabberwock, who had extensive field experience, had the opportunity to encounter the dark side of the hero profession, so what he just said was not that shocking.

“The job of being a hero isn’t just about dealing with monsters. When dealing with a villain, of course it would be nice to be able to subdue him. But what if you can’t? What if it is not a matter of subduing or killing, but a matter of living or dying in the first place? Do you think you can sound so relaxed even then?”

It has been 27 years since the awakened people and the monsters appeared. The hardships so far have been enough to change society’s ethics. Recently, in most cases, unintentional ‘accidents’ during hero work are not even punished.

Of course, strict standards were applied to judge an ‘incident’ as an ‘accident’, but handling ‘accidents’ during work was by no means uncommon in hazardous areas.

Before answering those words, Cyclops squeezed the hem of his clothes. Even if I tried to forget the memory of when I first saw Fafnir’s spirit, I couldn’t.

It was strange that a man’s soul was attached to a girl’s body, but the man’s soul was more terrible than any soul she had ever seen. Limbs and legs bent at impossible angles, a twisted skeleton, and countless wounds all over the body.

As if to further amplify the strangeness, Fafnir’s spirit periodically opened its mouth wide. She thought it looked like she was screaming.

Paradoxically, that soul had a stronger body than any other soul she had seen before. Of course, the distorted appearance of a soul that had become so close to a human did not give Cyclops anything other than disgust.

But there was one fact that shocked her even more than all these characteristics. Thinking of that, she squeezed out the following words.

“It was pitch black.”

“What?”

“Her soul was completely stained black.”

When I first saw it, I was mistaken as to whether it was a black soul from the beginning. However, after careful observation, I was able to find a little bit of white underneath the black.

She pondered and pondered what that fact meant for days and days.

“It’s not one or two. Not nine or ten. A hundred, a thousand, maybe even more. He killed someone.”

Even Jabberwock was speechless at that information. Heroes are not a group of people meant to kill people. Although the overall number of people dying may have been high, there was a limit to what each individual could experience.

It would be no joke to say that he was an awakened person who had just entered the hero school, and it would be ridiculous to say that Fafnir was a hero sent from somewhere else.

Even the number of villains killed officially did not exceed ten, which was called the disgrace of a hero. Even for a pleasure killer who deliberately played a tug-of-war between an accident and an incident, killing more than ten times that person was not within the scope of self-defense even in today’s era.

“… Plus, her soul was extremely twisted. It’s not just murder. I don’t know if it’s because of extreme guilt or because of drugs… . It’s clear that she continued to do terrible things that would warp her soul.”

After Cyclops finished speaking, no one spoke. Her words shook the hearts of the Surt team to that extent. trust. doubt. A desire to believe. Still, just in case… ?

Surtur was the first to speak amid such confusion.

“I understand what you mean. So, what do you want us to do? I’m just saying this just in case, but it would be meaningless to tell the teacher. If the basis for what you are talking about is the soul.”

Cyclops nodded in agreement with his words.

There was no way the association that arranged Fafnir’s admission would not know what Cyclops had discovered. In this world, the Hero Association is where the second largest number of soul cities belongs to after the Spectrum Police. So she thought there would be nothing to do with Fafnir itself.

“… There is only one thing I want to say. You must stay away from Fafnir. Especially you, Surt.”

“Me? Um, sorry. I can’t follow this part of the story very well. Why does Fafnir have to fall from me?”

“ugh. I’m sorry. This is my mistake.”

Seeing Surtur’s puzzled gaze, Cyclops grabbed the hood and pulled it down. It was a selfish mistake on her part just now.

If Fafnir’s soul was an unusually terrible soul, Surtur’s soul was an unusually comfortable soul. Most souls didn’t look very good, but seeing Surtur’s soul made me feel at ease.

I don’t know what the association thinks, but I wonder if Surtur, who has such a peaceful soul, will change after coming into contact with Fafnir, who has a terrible soul. That thought became the impetus for Cyclops to take a rare step forward.

Of course, the Cyclops had no intention of saying that out loud, so he blushed and vehemently denied it.

“I hope you don’t think it was a mistake. It depends on your team members. In detail if possible──”

“──Now, now. Don’t push Surtur too hard. The kid is scared, right?”

Clap, dry applause rang out. The applause sounded strangely well, and everyone looked at Mair, the person who made the applause.

“We said this in good faith. I was quite surprised when I heard from Cyclops yesterday and thought that something should be done. Wouldn’t it be okay to say that there was some sincerity in talking to the team leader instead of spreading the rumor right away?”

As she said that, Mare frowned and winked slightly so that only Cyclops could see it. Cyclops, whose face was red, hid behind Mare. Surt realized that the right to speak over there had completely passed to Mair.

“… I appreciate that. But honestly, you can’t make a decision based on that alone. Even if that is true, Fafnir may also have a problem… .”

“He’s indecisive.”

Interrupting Surtur, Mea put her index and middle fingers together and drew a sideways line. This too was a strangely eye-catching action. Mair waved the gaze of the remaining five with one hand and continued his words.

“Just by hearing about it, it’s a risk factor, right? Wouldn’t it be negligent to put another team member in danger because of the affection you developed after only seeing each other for at most two weeks?”

“I don’t know about you, but Fafnir has already saved me and Raon’s lives once. If he has a problem, we should listen and solve it, not a problem for you to interfere with.”

“Do you really think so?”

At that moment, Mare’s eyes opened slightly wide. The small sense of discomfort that had been felt before was growing, but Surtur did not notice what it was.

“… In the first place, the question is whether you can trust what Cyclops says, right? No one in the class knew about his potential, but now that he has reported it himself, if there is any doubt, isn’t that more suspicious?”

Cyclops lowered his head even more as his efforts just now were doubted, and Surtur felt like it was a pity when he saw that. Somehow, my inner thoughts came out naturally. Still, I didn’t intend to say something like that since it was for their own benefit.

Surtr thought that he felt somewhat dazed. And that was what everyone else was feeling too. Except for one person.

“Then can I present evidence?”

“Evidence? Are you saying there are other grounds besides soul poetry?”

“Yes. Actually, it’s more of a witness than evidence. Originally, I was thinking of setting up a separate table, but Fafnir and our leader happened to be away, right? I thought it was the perfect opportunity.”

Mair raised his hands and clapped once again. Like the first applause, the demon energy spread around the sound.

There was no one present who could sense that extremely secret and faint presence.

“It’s ‘this way’. It’s not that far, so ‘let’s go’.”

“… Yes.”

With Surtur’s answer, everyone began moving slowly in the direction indicated by Mair. There was no question about the flow of everyone in the place moving from place to place to identify witnesses.

This was because everyone was engrossed in their own thoughts, the act of changing seats was a light one with no problems, and the reason for the action was to identify witnesses.

The logical contradiction involved was obscured by the allusion to demonic energy. An undetectable trace of demonic energy was eating away at everyone’s sanity throughout Mair’s various actions.

Compared to Surtur, who spoke face-to-face, the rest of the group gave less hints. The first to notice the discomfort was Raon, who was the most sensitive to magic.

“… ? Wait a minute guys. Isn’t something a little strange right now? How do you know how to talk today and bring a witness nearby──”

“──This is why I don’t like quick-witted kids.”

Unfortunately, it was a realization that came too late.

“Surprise! What, what!? Magical energy around!?”

“Barrier!? Surt! We need to escape, put out the fire quickly!”

“… ? Fire… ?”

“Mare? Mare… ? … No, no, no… ?”

Raon’s judgment of relying on Surtur was not wrong. It was impossible for them to walk into the middle of the created barrier and escape now. However, a strong hint was placed on Surtur to prepare for such a struggle.

In the end, before they could take any action, a wave of space hit them.

“Caught♪”

Mairman, who had already completely transformed into Lilith, smiled brightly just before disappearing.

Eventually, only a small crack remained in that place.

*****