Book 2: Chapter 409
Kiiing-
Daihad’s right hand turned into a spiral shaped awl and began spinning at a tremendous speed.
‘Mantis’ quietly looked at this scene. The spiral awl, which was spinning without any signs of stopping, was reflected in its compound eyes.
After a while, it raised its forelimbs.
Sharp. The edge of his scythe-like forelimbs glinted ominously in the moonlight.
‘I’m filled with anticipation.’
It wasn’t innate. Just like the fists, muscles and bones of humans, those forelimbs, which looked like weapons, had to be trained.
Daihad laughed cheerfully.
The collision of an artificial weapon made with cutting edge science and a body that had been polished to the extreme. Just imagining it filled him with excitement.
The two of them leaped at each other at the same time.
Mantis’ speed was faster, but this was something that Daihad expected. He stepped heavily with his right foot which was wrapped in metal.
Boom!
The thrusters on the soles of his feet dug into the ground as if they were trying to break it apart. A small earthquake occurred as a result, causing Mantis’ body to reel for a moment.
He knew its lower body was comparatively weaker, but he hadn’t expected it to be that effective.
Despite losing its balance, Mantis still swung its forelimbs desperately. Such efforts were admirable.
Crack crack!
The spiral awl destroyed Mantis’ forelimbs, sending clear blood splattering in every direction. With a scream, Mantis staggered backward. The original shape of its forelimbs, which exuded a baleful aura, could no longer be seen.
Daihad stretched out his left hand. Suddenly, the tip of a muzzle poked out of the palm of his hand. Woowoong, minute energy gathered at the tip of the muzzle before shooting forward. The blue beam of energy that shot forth completely annihilated Mantis’ upper body.
“…”
Sama Ryeong was watching this scene from a short distance away.
This was because Daihad had asked her to not interfere in the battle. She accepted it because she wouldn’t lose anything anyway. In fact, she also wanted to see how Daihad fought.
‘…what a strange way of fighting.’
And strong.
The cutting power of the spiral awl, the destructive power of the beam from the muzzle, and the unpredictable amount of power produced by the armour.
‘Considering the combat abilities that weren’t revealed yet…’
In a way, Daihad could be the most troublesome enemy here.
Did he call it a ‘power suit’? He’d said he had to wear that ridiculous armour in order to play his part. Now, she felt that might just be a bluff.
“This might end up being a bit boring.”
Daihad muttered in a disappointed tone before turning towards Sama Ryeong. When she saw his expression which looked like he wanted her to ask a question, she had no choice but to open her mouth.
“Boring?”
“This is the first replica we’ve seen even after walking through the forest for a while.”
This man’s uniquely discomforting smile appeared on his face.
“What do you think is the reason for this?”
…Daihad was a better man than her first impression led her to think.
Contrary to his appearance, he was well spoken, had many talents, and possessed a deep level of knowledge.
Nevertheless, he had fatal flaws that completely overturned all of the above advantages, one of which was that unique smile.
Just looking at it left a bad taste in her mouth. It was enough for her to feel that the myth that one couldn’t spit on a smiling face was utter bullshit.
“Because someone reduced the number.”
Suppressing her discomfort, she voiced her reasoning. Daihad nodded.
“Considering the route, it should be Jacob’s doing.”
“…”
“That man said he wanted to go alone. That means he doesn’t think there is anyone who is a match for him in this forest. But that wasn’t necessarily arrogance. From the looks of it, the odds of Jacob’s judgement being true are very high.”
“…”
“That man probably intends to destroy all of the replicas in this forest on his own. Kuku. This leaves us at a crossroads of choice. Do we sit back and watch, or compete with Jacob and focus on getting rid of all the replicas… What do you think, Miss?”
Another flaw was that he was a terrible chatterbox. Personally, she disliked the latter more. She disliked people who talked a lot.
“Before that, there is something that should be mentioned.”
“Mm?”
“How are we supposed to complete this test?”
At those words, Daihad smiled faintly.
“I have a couple of guesses, would you like to hear them?”
“…please.”
“The first is simple, by killing all of the replicas in this forest. Personally, I believe that will cause some changes, even if it isn’t necessarily the right answer.”
That was a possibility that even Sama Ryeong had thought about.
However, if that were true, it led to the thought that this test was far easier than expected.
All six of the people currently in the forest had made exponential progress in the dump site. Or at least, that was the case with Sama Ryeong. Even if her enemy was her past self, she was confident in her ability to deal with at least five of them on her own.
Of course, there were still two tests that they still had to take, so it was possible for the first one to be a warm up.
“What’s the second?”
“The goal of this test might not be to destroy the replicas.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you say it earlier, Miss? It would be a good idea for us to work together. That way we can also share information about our ‘past selves’.”
“…but.”
“That might not necessarily be the wisest idea.”
She didn’t understand what he meant.
Even as he looked at her expression which clearly displayed her doubt, Daihad didn’t appear frustrated or annoyed. He just slowly explained it in the same tone without complaint.
“What if the replicas are simply obstacles that were placed in the field? And the real test was a survival contest between us?”
“…!”
“Jacob probably already thought of this. That’s why he refused to join us. He probably didn’t want to give information to those who might be his enemies, even if it was about his past self. Well, even before that, his actions might just be natural given the secretive tendencies of the people from Magic Planet.”
That was right.
Sama Ryeong finally understood Daihad’s words.
“Then, if nothing happens even after killing all of the copies…”
“Jacob will probably try to kill us. To elicit some kind of response.”
When Daihad said this as if he had nothing to do with it, Sama Ryeong asked.
“What about you?”
“Huh?”
“What will you do? Will you try to kill the others like Jacob?”
“If there is no other way then I will, but I’ll consider it a bit more first. As to whether there truly is no other way. The possibilities I just mentioned are so obvious that it wouldn’t be interesting.”
“…”
“I feel like it’s going to be a long night. Because it doesn’t seem like the sun will rise in this place.”
Sama Ryeong looked up at the sky.
Now that she thought about it, the moon had not moved at all since they arrived.
* * *
Sensing something in the silence, Lukas opened his eyes.
Haspin had long since left. Upon realising why he wanted his attention, Lukas stopped listening to him. He only remembered him emphasising that his words were very important.
He looked up at the sky.
With the crescent moon as his backdrop, a man was standing there.
He believed his name was Jacob. It was the man who had been staring at him since they were in the ‘dark room’. In Haspin’s case, he had tried his best to hide it, but this man didn’t. His confidence could be felt in the way he didn’t even try to hide his gaze.
He didn’t particularly care about it.
There had only been one thing that Lukas had thought about this entire time.
When the aura and voice of the skeleton that had been waiting in the dark room had changed, becoming ominous. In other words, it was the moment when it had become the Corpse Ghost, one of the Twelve Void Lords.
…Corpse Ghost was a being on par with Yang In-hyun, who had driven him to death.
Lukas got up from his seat.
He understood what form this world was made in.
So there was no need for him to be bound by the shackles of this test.
* * *
A round table sat in the middle of a dark place. It was a room without any sources of light, but it didn’t hamper the vision of those there.
On one of the chairs in the room sat a very bizarre and disturbing creature.
In truth, it might be more accurate to say it was resting on it, instead of sitting.
This was because the creature didn’t have a butt. It didn’t have arms or legs. In fact, it didn’t even have a body.
The part that could be called its body was just a spine. And attached to this yellow spine was a head. Even the face on the head was of an ugly old man*. Countless flowers of death bloomed on the old man’s wrinkled face. (*: Not confirmed to be a ‘man’)
“Would you like something to eat?”
Corpse Ghost, one of the Twelve Void Lords, spoke.
His voice was filled with an aura so horrific that his disgusting appearance wasn’t even that much of a bother. It was like worms that burrowed into the ears of the listeners, driving them crazy before ultimately driving them to death.
But the woman sitting across from him simply smiled.
“What do you have?”
“You already know.”
“That’s true.”
Pale chortled.
After a while, a skeleton walked in with a plate of food. The plate contained a surprisingly tasty stew.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Pale scooped the stew up with a spoon. She ate very messily without even an ounce of decency. Pieces of meat covered the white table.
Corpse Ghost silently watched this scene.
“I ate well.”
Pale roughly wiped her fingers and mouth with a napkin.
“I thought you wouldn’t like it, but I hoped the food would suit your taste”.
“You do know that’s a stupid thing to say, right?”
“Huhuhu…”
Corpse Ghost chuckled.
The smile on Pale’s lips disappeared. The skeleton collected the plate and cutlery as well as the scattered pieces of meat.
It was at this time that she spoke.
“I don’t know what your intentions for making a test like this are.”
“…”
“I know that you always inspect the people that leave the dump site, but it is originally much simpler than this, isn’t it? Why did you put in so much effort as to create a world?”
“Aren’t each and every one of them interesting? It’s very rare for people with such presences to be gathered together like this.”
At that moment, Corpse Ghost’s eyes glanced to the right.
There, a screen made of turquoise light floated in the air.
On it, the people taking the test were displayed.
“Of course, this isn’t exactly a coincidence. The Deceiver is dead, so those guys are bound to react… The Void Lords must also prepare to react.”
Pale knew who Corpse Ghost was referring to when he said ‘those guys’.
Beings who were more powerful than God.
Those who stood at the very top of the countless beings in the Three Thousand Worlds.
The Rulers.
“There’s no need to exaggerate. Haven’t you already killed one of them?”
“That case was a bit… That Dragon’s specific inclination, as well as the matter of that ‘beast’s ignorance of this world… It is the result of the overlapping of numerous complex factors. Moreover, I’m not even sure if it was completely killed.”
“Hmph.”
Pale looked at the screen with a bored expression.
“So what do you intend to do now? No matter how many copies you pour in there, I don’t think anything will change. As you said, they are all interesting and strong.”
“I can now start the next phase.”
“Next phase?”
Corpse Ghost smiled grimly.
“Not so long ago, a very interesting person came to my territory. He said he wanted to join my territory.”
“Hmm?”
At that moment, a figure appeared behind Corpse Ghost.
Pale couldn’t help but blink when she saw their appearance.
“…wow.”
She made a sound of bewilderment.
“One of the King Candidates.”
“Right.”
“Amazing… Don’t tell me you accepted him, did you? I’m sure you can guess why he came under you.”
“He’s aiming for the name Corpse Ghost, to be precise, the position of one of the Twelve Void Lords.”
Pale let out a laugh.
“And you let him in despite knowing his ambitions?”
“The dump site accepts everyone. It has been so in the past, and it will continue to be so in the future.”
“That’s a really boring principle.”
Her gaze turned back to the being.
“But he certainly matches the atmosphere in this place well. Uh, what was his name again?”
“Originating from Universe Number 2731361-”
Interrupting Corpse Ghost, the being answered on his own.
[Diablo Kairak.]