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Chapter 75: The Incident (3)

“…”

Rambling while reading the thesis, I shut my mouth at some point. However, I kept revising it.

[This has a lot of wrong and inefficient parts. Keep the idea, but…]

Drent had an unfortunate incident during his first thesis defense, but to the original Deculein, he was a talent that he couldn’t even dare think of recruiting. It was an unexpected harvest for me, considering I thought only Epherene would fall under my command.

That put me in an unintentional good mood, which probably was what made me talk to myself out loud.

It wasn’t like me… No.

I didn’t even know what it meant to be me at this point.

“… Hmm.”

Deculein’s personality was “authoritarian.” The better the opponent was, the more he desired to make them bow down to him. Hence, when a genius became my underling, I felt a certain joy rise within me.

However, that joy was quickly replaced by something entirely different.

My [Iron Man] characteristic made my body develop hypersensitive senses, allowing me to recognize Allen’s secret. Those very same senses now emitted a similar sensation at the corner of my mind.

Whoever was holding the steering wheel…

It wasn’t Jeff.

“…”

However, I refrained from acting rashly.

Looking around the car’s interior, I found no danger perceived by [The Villain’s Fate], which was as I expected. After all, if it were a risk to get on this car in the first place, this attribute’s radar would’ve already caught it.

However, it did have a blind spot.

[The Villain’s Fate] indicated leading to death, not all danger.

I opened the window.

The passing scenery was nothing out of the ordinary, but when the wind that accompanied it came in, it was swiftly engulfed by a bright red hue, covering the entire road with it.

Beyond my eyes stretched a lifeless zone. The safest place, at least in this seemingly desolated area, was inside the car.

The moment I became aware of the current situation, a message popped up.

[Unexpected Quest: Encounter]

◆ Store Currency +1

A quest had been issued.

“An encounter.”

Unknowingly, I smiled.

I didn’t know who arranged this nonsensical meeting.

“… But I’ll think of it as an invitation.”

That would be far more convenient for me.

I looked at the person in the driver’s seat through the rearview mirror. Making eye contact with me, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything ungentlemanly. You’re not real anyway, right?”

He didn’t answer. There was still time.

I continued revising the thesis.

* * *

Vroom—

Gerek glared at Deculein’s car as it approached them in the distance. He was supposed to pursue him from a reasonable distance, but he found that frustrating, considering he was filled with murderous intent for their target.

“Why can’t I kill him?” Gerek asked.

Arlos, driving the car remotely, answered calmly. “Are you Gerek?”

“Yeah. I’m Gerek. I’m just like you now, Arlos. A ‘Puppet.\'”

She stepped on the accelerator without answering.

The puppet driving Deculein’s car now was a half-doll implanted with around 7% of her soul.

Hence, it lacked bodily wisdom and was immature and vague. However, what it saw, heard, and felt was fully transmitted to the puppeteer herself, allowing it to act as if it were the main body.

It was the only way to make her magic work perfectly.

A puppet that knew it was, in fact, a puppet wouldn’t move animatedly. More accurately, it wouldn’t have the will to do anything. It wouldn’t perform its duties properly and would occasionally refuse to receive orders.

However, since [Soul Departure] charged an extremely high penalty for completely transplanting one’s soul into a puppet, she developed an alternative method with great care.

“Does your puppet die as soon as your soul in it returns to you? Doesn’t it know what it is?”

“Something like that.”

“That’s cruel. Do they have no personality?”

“I’m making the necessary sacrifice.” She laughed bitterly.

He glanced at her.

“What sacrifice?”

“I don’t know if the current me is a puppet or the main body anymore.”

“…”

Gerek’s eyes widened.

Even her, thought to be the main body, might just be a ‘part of the soul’ given to her by the real Arlos, hidden somewhere.

Her memories might also just be a fake the main body had manipulated and instilled within her.

She was the master of the perfect puppet even though she was an imperfect human. Since the perfect puppet was a human, Arlos would live her whole life with the suspicion that she could be a puppet too.

“I like that on Unnie.” Gerek smiled broadly.

At the word ‘Unnie,’ Arlos frowned. “… I told you not to come out.”

“Unnie~”

Gerek grinned and ran to Arlos. With her shoulder, she shoved the fully grown man whose personality had switched to his younger sister’s.

“Unnie~ I love you so much~”

“Don’t cling to me. I’m driving.”

He was lucky to have had a pretty face for a man.

If he looked like a bearded bandit, she would’ve already killed him.

“Unniiiiieee~”

“You’re noisy, Zelin.”

Zelin.

Among all of Gerek’s personalities, she was the easiest to handle.

“But, Unnie, I don’t think I can stand this for much longer. I want to kill Deculein as much as my brother does. You know how I died, right?”

“I’ve heard about it dozens of times from Gerek.”

In response to her answer, Zelin’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Humpf. My stupid brother steals everything. I was the one who thought of all the topics we could use for conversation, but he’s the one who reveals them all…”

Grumbling, Zelin suddenly lowered her head and grabbed the hem of her pants. Soon enough, she asked in a lower voice.

“Unnie.”

“What?”

“I’m real, right?”

Arlos turned to look at her.

“Well…”

She was a puppeteer and a soul master.

It was no coincidence that she teamed up with Gerek.

“Don’t bother trying to find the answer to that.”

Gerek’s numerous personalities, which might be the result of a mental illness, could just be a ‘part of the soul’ that his main body had given.

“You’ll be fine if you don’t think about it too deeply.”

That polymorphism was his identity.

Living a life without knowing whether he was real or fake was quite blurry, and sometimes, like an anchor in his heart, he dragged all his emotions down to the gloomy abyss.

“Everything in the world is like that. If you never think too deeply about anything, you’ll always be fine. Believe in the resilience of your ego and… Live shallowly.”

“… Unnie~”

Zelin rushed in excitement, but Arlos pushed her chin away with her elbow.

“Piss off, Gerek.”

“Sheesh. How did you know?”

Zelin’s acting skills were excellent, but Gerek’s wasn’t.

She clicked her tongue.

“I don’t have time to play around.”

At that moment, she heard Deculein’s voice through the puppet’s ears.

—An encounter… But I’ll think of it as an invitation.

That damn professor’s intuition was astounding. In fact, she was ready to break the plan when he realized she was a puppet, but if she did, Gerek would be forced to go on his own.

That would be even worse.

“Deculein is taking this encounter as an invitation. He’s confident.”

“Really? That’s interesting. After all, he fought Rohakan to a tie. I couldn’t kill that old man either. When did he become so strong?”

Not long after, Arlos’s body trembled when she heard Deculein say something significant.

—Don’t worry. I won’t do anything ungentlemanly. You’re not real anyway, right?

Of course, he might be saying that since he was talking to a puppet, but if, by some chance…

Deculein was talking about the authenticity of her ‘soul’ itself…

“What is it, Arlos?”

“… Nothing.”

It couldn’t be. Only God could determine a human soul’s authenticity.

“We’re almost there.”

Their destination was already in sight, which was a vacant lot away from the imperial city. Its basement was empty under the pretext of being under development.

“Woooo~ I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Are there beasts in your personality too, Gerek?”

“Yeah, of course! The one I raised is. There’s some cowboy wielding a shotgun too! Hell, yeah!”

Smiling, Gerek roared like a tiger.

* * *

The car moved slowly. Buildings and street lights along the road gradually disappeared, and at some point, the entire vehicle sank into the basement of an empty, vacant lot.

Darkness filled the unknown space that stretched beyond the window.

They stopped in the middle of it.

Deculein looked at the driver’s seat, finding ‘Jeff’ had already turned into a mannequin.

Was it Arlos?

He looked out the window again, having no problems scanning his surroundings due to [The Villain’s Fate].

“…”

Deculein got out of the car, finding himself in what seemed like an underground parking lot.

Click— Clack— Click— Clack—

The sound footsteps echoed all around him.

“Good to see you.”

A voice came from his right.

Without much vigilance, he looked towards the direction it came from. He found no remained calm.

“It’s been a while~”

Soon, a man dressed in cloak-like darkness appeared. Deculein identified him as soon as he saw his face.

Zukaken.

He was a Named character in the underworld.

“Oh, stop, stop. You mean don’t come any closer, right?”

Taking one step forward, he reacted noisily and waved his hand. It was an odd gesture.

“Don’t move more than that. Just stand there.”

Deculein looked at him through his lens.

──[Ruler]──

◆ Rating: Unique

◆ Description:

– Someone who plays politics.

– Through agreement, he can mimic the imitable attributes of others. (However, it is limited to attributes that are lower than unique, and there must be no violence involved in the process of an agreement.)

──────

As the only one among the Six Snakes to use the underworld as his base, he was a pretty special Named.

The dark district was still within the imperial power’s reach, so the risk was high, but he had long since solidified his influence and status with all kinds of bribes, earning him the nickname, ‘Ruler.’

“Don’t be too serious. You’re going to wrinkle your handsome face.”

He was dressed in an aristocratic outfit with no shortage of tailcoats. Sweeping his long purple hair to the right, he continued.

“I offer you a peaceful deal.”

Deculein quietly listened to what he had to say. This ‘encounter’ was a side branch of the main quest anyway.

“The ‘Altar’ wants your runes.”

“…”

“Give me your interpretation. After verifying its authenticity, they will divide the prize on your head by two and give half of it to you. You’ll get at least 100 million.”

“What do you think?”

Zukaken grinned, asking for his opinion. A robed man had appeared beside him.

“You’re too cocky,” Deculein answered.

“… Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue, he ruffled his long hair and shook his head, displaying his faint anger, then looked at him again.

“I know you. That’s why I want to settle this peacefully. I’m not asking you to hand over all of your runic rights. If you want, I’ll cast ‘Rights Magic’ on your runes. That way, only the higher-ups of the Altar would be able to see them. For that purpose, a wizard will accompany—”

“Zukaken.” He interrupted. “If you truly do know me, correct the tone of your voice.”

Within him boiled a wave of distinct anger that twisted his grudge against Deculein.

He found the professor’s arrogance so annoying that he couldn’t keep this going anymore.

“I’m not the kind of person you see eye to eye with.”

“You’re a piece of garbage that mimics a nobleman. From whom did you learn such a habit?”

Zukaken’s expression hardened at his words.

“…”

He licked his lips a few times then lowered his head briefly. Afterward, he grabbed the back of his neck and laughed.

“You’re still arrogant even though your situation isn’t ideal right now. Wake up.”

Sighing, he continued.

“The Altar can simply open your skull, get your brain, and get the runes. You wouldn’t like that, would you? Moreover…”

Snap—!

A barrier appeared when he snapped his finger, wrapping around tens of meters in radius from Deculein’s feet.

Zukaken stared at him outside of its perimeter.

“I’m sure you know better than me how strong and dense that barrier is, considering you’re a magic professor.”

A glance would be enough to know it would be hard to break.

“In accordance to your reputation for dealing with Rohakan, I prepared the utmost courtesy for you.”

Eerie energy soared into the air, a clear intent to kill filled the empty basement the top of the due to the appearance of a certain ‘person.’ same

“I’ll say it again, Deculein. This is not a request or suggestion.”

Deculein looked at the man next to the Ruler. He tried to determine who he was, but he couldn’t see his face.

“Is that your boyfriend?”

Startled, Zukaken yelled, “Stop acting crazy!”

“You’re one of the Snakes, yet you’re afraid of me?”

“Humpf. If I was trying to kill you, I would have killed you sooner. However, I respect the prestige you have shown in the underworld. I just want a peaceful solution to this situation.”

“How can you call yourself a man while being a coward?”

“… Hey! Show yourself. It seems Professor Deculein refuses to wake up!”

The darkness on the other side of the barrier lifted, causing the Head Professor’s expression to turn cold.

The figure was exuding a death itself was a death

“Is that Gerek?”

“Right. You know him too. He’s quite a famous guy.”

Multi-personality Gerek was a monster with combat power that ranked among Named madmen. At the time, he was a mass of death variables for Deculein.

Deculein grinned. “What makes you think you can control him?”

“I can’t control him. If you break the barrier, he will kill you.”

From Gerek’s feet, the death Deculein followed its red movement with his eyes.

“And if you don’t accept my proposal, he’ll break the barrier himself and kill you.”

was blocked by the barrier.

It was a hint [The Villain’s Fate] was telling him.

“… This is weird.”

“Uhuh.”

Deculein looked into it through [Understanding], learning that it was an independent type of magic that utilized an intermediary. Therefore, it didn’t matter who the caster was. It worked solely through that link.

That meant its owner could change at any time.

Of course, it would require enormous calculation skills and time, but he had enough skills, and since its size was small, it wouldn’t take long for him to calculate it.

“….”

He analyzed it using [Understanding], traced the flow of mana inherent in it with [Vision], reversed the circuit and magic, and modified its intermediary with the [Rockelock’s Yukline Cane] in his hand.

In no time at all, he had completely stolen the barrier.

Soon after, Deculein took his revolver out. Six bullets were already loaded in it.

“Ohh. What a wonderful accessory.”

Zukaken just shrugged. Deculein raised the gun, aiming at the ceiling of the barrier, and pulled the trigger.

──!

He fired five bullets in total.

Although there were no scratches on the forcefield, it attracted his target’s attention.

“Gerek. Can you hear me?”

“… I can hear you, but I am not Gerek.” He replied.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Who are you?”

“Zelin. My brother won’t come out. No matter what you do, I won’t let him make a mistake here.”

“That’s cute.” Deculein quietly nodded. “Still, he must be watching.”

“… No. It doesn’t matter what you do. It won’t work.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as he calmly checked the revolver’s remaining ammo. He had already used five bullets.

“One bullet remaining.” He spoke indifferently, closed the gun’s cylinder, and spun it, making it impossible to tell which chambers were empty.

“Gerek.”

Deculein then put the gun to his temple, causing Zelin’s eyes to widen.

It was as if he was about to commit suicide.

“Let’s play a game.”

Realizing what he meant, she covered her mouth. Gerek was beginning to run rampant inside their body. Zukaken simply frowned.

Click—

The sound of the revolver’s firing pin flipping back echoed in the air.

Once he pulled that trigger, there would be a certain probability that a projectile would come thundering into and through his skull and brain.

“Will I kill myself before you can kill me?”

An empty chamber.

Or the only remaining bullet.

Deculein apathetically continued.

“Or will you wake up before I can kill myself?”

He looked at Zelin with an unbreakable fortitude.

Frantically, Zukaken muttered, “Hey, hey! Don’t be fooled! That wizard must be doing some sort of trick!”

But it was all in vain.

Whether or not magic was at work in this Russian Roulette, those sensitive to magic knew best.

“Are you going to let me go like this, so boringly?”

Click—

He put his finger hand on the trigger. With the muzzle resting on his temple, Deculein smiled.

Zelin’s expression distorted.

“First.”

Click—!

Zelin trembled in response to that empty percussion sound.

“I got lucky.”

He flipped the revolver’s firing pin again, at which point she shook her head and shouted.

“This won’t work!”

Deculein’s smile was still in full display, dawning upon one of Gerek’s personalities.

“… Zelin, right?”

Zukaken accompanied Gerek, saying it was simply out of courtesy.

After all, Gerek was a monster no one could control.

Naturally, once his rage had been incurred, he would unconditionally target Deculein.

But what if his mental illness reached its peak?

It would turn him into a madman who wouldn’t even be able to tell allies and opponents apart.

“So, was the pain of drowning tolerable?”

Zelin didn’t answer. Her expression darkened.

“…”

Deculein looked down at her feet and smiled spreading everywhere except towards his barrier.

Perhaps they didn’t only apply to him.