King of Outlaws (3)
In the past, the 'other' world I fell into was a place where only Awakeners could survive.
The air, mixed with demonic energy and magic power, was intolerable for ordinary humans.
So, I should have died.
If I hadn't had the authority of Shin Ah-yeon and Estella, I wouldn't have lasted even a week before dying.
But because I had that authority, I survived, and ended up catching the eyes of the humans living there.
'How is he alive without a mana hall?'
At the ti, I didn't understand their language, so I didn't know what they were saying, but thinking back on it now, it must have been sothing like that.
In a world where soone without a mana hall couldn't survive, how did I look to them, not dying even though I was suffering?
'I shouldn't have just followed them, thinking they were the sa humans as .'
That's what I thought, but the truth is, if I hadn't had that power, I never would've been able to return to my original world.
Anyway, I was the only human in that world without a mana hall, so I ended up being subjected to all kinds of human experints.
To be precise, they were experints to transplant the power of demons
into humans.
In order to let humans use the powerful strength of demons, these experints were carried out in secret, without the demons knowing.
Of course, any ordinary human would have died, every last one.
But my body, which didn't die, finally brought the experints to a successful conclusion.
'Success! This bastard is fully adapting to the demonic blood...!'
I blew off the head of the guy shouting that and escaped the lab.
Naturally, there were people who tried to stop , but because I possessed far more strength than expected, there was no one who could stop
there.
Then, as I escaped the laboratory and passed by the iron bars where countless test subjects were imprisoned, I ended up eting her by chance. The Saintess hidden behind the wall I destroyed to get out.
"You really go all out, don't you."
I'd felt it during Shim Chun-hoo's ti but, back then, demons had been performing the exact sa procedures on humans that humans here were now suffering from.
The purpose was obvious.
They were trying to create soone like .
It went without saying, but I had only survived because I had Estella's authority.
Otherwise, there's no way the experint could... have succeeded.
'Wait a second.'
If surviving without Estella's authority was impossible, then it ans that if only that part is resolved, it's possible. A way to prevent the body from continuously collapsing due to demonic blood.
Suddenly, I thought of a thod.
It wasn't perfect, but it was a power I could imitate to so extent.
"Guide ."
"Huh?"
"I said, guide
to the lab."
I spoke to the so-called ruler of Sector 4, who was sprawled out on the ground.
He seed to be hesitating about what to do.
"If you guide , you'll be killed by the demons, right?"
"That's..."
"Do you want to die here by my hand, or risk dying later to the demons? At least in the latter case, you might be able to run away."
I watched as Hopkins swallowed nervously.
The other people at the auction seed to have sensed the odd atmosphere, and were slowly leaving the auction hall.
Even if he was the ruler of Sector 4, no one felt obliged to help him.
"Ivan Hunt."
I called out the na of the guy who must have been hiding sowhere, looking at the hesitating man.
"Well, I figured things would turn out like this."
Ivan appeared smoothly by my side, as if he had just moved through space.
It wasn't modern magic.
Circle magic—with a considerable level of proficiency.
"... Did Estella teach you circle magic?"
"It's like a gift the Goddess bestows upon her follower. A reward for carrying out my duties faithfully, I suppose."
From Ivan's words, I could guess why he obediently listened to Estella's orders.
Estella had both his life, and curiosity about circle magic as collateral.
In the end, mages are always obsessed with new magic.
Estella's consciousness must have used that point.
'Whether it was just a thought-form, or actual consciousness, I'm not sure...'
Maybe it was also like a personality embedded deep within Shin Ah-yeon's consciousness.
"I-Ivan Hunt."
"Poor Hopkins, ran afoul of the worst opponent."
The instant Ivan appeared, Hopkins's body began to tremble.
His face, filled with terror, looked even more frightened than when I'd beaten him.
'What exactly did this bastard do in the past?'
He was such a villain, it was no wonder Estella had kept him alive for so unknown reason.
Maybe noticing my glance, Ivan grinned, flashing white teeth.
"Don't look at
like that. I'm just an old man who's got little ti left anyway."
"Nonsense."
"It's not nonsense. I really don't have much ti left."
He said this, then looked at Hopkins.
"Though maybe this guy's life will end even sooner."
At Ivan's words, Hopkins's face shook violently.
"I-I can't take you to the lab."
"Why? Are you more afraid of the demons than of dying here?"
"That's not it! The lab isn't in Sector 4. We only take leftover test subjects and put them up for auction, that's all."
He didn't seem to be lying.
Not quite sure, I glanced at Ivan, but he simply shrugged.
"They only show up here occasionally—I've never been deeply involved with the demons, so I wouldn't know. I only t them last ti for a job, and even then, not directly, but through a Korean manager."
Now that I thought about it, Ivan didn't seem to know much about the demons, despite being part of UnderStellar.
He probably didn't even know that UnderStellar was directly connected to the demons in the first place.
'So, even the demons choose who to share information with, huh.'
It seed not all mbers of UnderStellar were necessarily on the demons' side.
Ivan was too unpredictable, so even the demons wouldn't recklessly share important information with him.
"Anyway, then where is the laboratory?"
I asked, gazing intently at Hopkins, and his pupils shook.
"It's in the center of the island."
"The center?"
"The King's Tower."
Ivan supplied, following up on Hopkins's words.
"So, it's there?"
"Yes, yes."
"I see. That tells
enough."
Ivan said this and waved his hand.
And Hopkins's head fell cleanly to the floor, severed.
His eyes, as they rolled on the floor, seed to question why he'd been killed even though he'd obeyed.
"I'm not the one who said I'd spare him—you did."
Ivan then looked at , as if asking if I agreed.
"... That's true."
What a crazy bastard.
Not that it bothered —Hopkins deserved to die anyway.
'But now things are about to get troubleso, I suppose.'
Up until now, killing the sector rulers below 8th place hadn't mattered much, but a ruler within the top 8 dying changed things.
It was only because two had died so quickly that there hadn't been much commotion yet, but soon enough, people would start reacting.
'The King's Tower, huh.'
As long as I checked that place, my investigation would be almost complete.
***
Figaro first sensed sothing strange when Hopkins, ruler of Sector 4, died.
He hadn't thought much about it when there had been trouble with Negan, ruler of Sector 8.
Among the higher ranks, the ruler of the marginal Sector 8 changed most frequently.
He'd just assud it was so assassination.
But less than a day later, Hopkins of Sector 4 died.
And it happened at the auction, in front of a crowd.
"Ivan Hunt."
And the Asian man beside him.
They had no reason to pay attention to the Odyssey, much less to so small country in the East.
They were criminals; no one had any reason to recognize Park Jung-woo, especially since he was the manager of the Korean national team.
All they saw was so unidentified, non-Awakener Asian man beating up Hopkins.
"... Is he the new guy?"
Around this point, Figaro started to guess.
Park Jung-woo.
The man the demons were desperate to kill if ever given a chance.
Soone whose story he'd heard more than once since joining UnderStellar.
Directly—from the 'demon' inside his own body.
【Don't go alone against him. Your strength is not yet complete.】
"... Is he that much of a threat?"
The demon called Algard, on hearing the na Park Jung-woo, warned him.
Usually reticent and almost mute, this demon was like a god to Figaro, granting him earth-shaking strength.
One of the top-rank demons.
Of the many demons in existence, there were fewer than twenty with that supre power.
"They say he's headed for the King's Tower."
【This place is just a laboratory. There's still so information left, but you'll have to accept that loss.】
The entire place was nothing but a breeding ground to cultivate their 'army' and 'test subjects'.
Even though so information hadn't been destroyed, it didn't matter.
【There's a monster in the lower levels of the lab anyway.】
If Park Jung-woo ended up fighting that creature, even he'd have trouble escaping with any useful information.
In fact, the reason the Alcatraz lab had been abandoned was that very creature.
***
King's Tower.
According to Ivan, it was a place that only the victor of the King's Struggle could enter, and only once.
"They say it's a place to prepare for becoming UnderStellar."
"That's awfully vague, coming from soone who's been there."
"It's because I joined UnderStellar before the demons got involved."
Apparently, letting the victor of the King's Struggle join UnderStellar had only beco a rule about 10 years ago. Ivan, who'd been out of the loop, didn't know the whole story.
'So, UnderStellar has been coexisting with the demons for about ten years.'
Well, thinking about Alcatraz, it made sense.
There's no way such an artificial island could've popped up overnight.
"By the way... is this really what you'd call a tower?"
Despite the na King's Tower, at the center of the island was a gigantic hole.
Rather than soaring upwards, the "tower" sank deep into the ground.
And it only went as far as five subterranean levels.
It was fairly well maintained and shaped like a fortress, but there was nothing about it that looked like a laboratory.
"If I'd known it would turn out like this, maybe I shouldn't have killed him right away."
Ivan frowned and sighed.
It would be tough to search for sothing specific in this massive tower.
"No, that guy wouldn't have known any more anyway."
"Really?"
"Besides, I've seen a building like this before."
Coincidentally, I had seen a structure of this type in the past.
The place where I was experinted on was exactly this kind of structure.
"So you know the way?"
"Well, yeah. It's not exactly the sa, but I know how to find the way."
Ivan looked at , as if to ask how, and I raised my fist.
"It's fastest to just punch down through it."
"... What?"
Before Ivan could catch my aning, my fist ca crashing down on the tal floor.
KWAANG!!
The floor, several ters thick tal, shattered with a single blow, opening a neat hole. As expected, a new space lay beneath.
A passage leading sowhere.
'Not this one.'
That passage was fake.
I threw my fist again.
KWAANG!!
The passage collapsed, revealing another path.
Every ti a new way appeared, my certainty grew.
As I thought, this King's Tower resembled the 'Coffin of Stars' of the Empire.
A nightmare laboratory created by humans to acquire demon power—a giant 'coffin' built to imprison the Saintess.
Fundantally a labyrinth, it was impossible to find the way by simply walking.
I could say so with confidence, having wandered through one for days.
"Sotis I can't tell if you're careful or just reckless."
Ivan stuck out his tongue but made no move to stop .
He must agree this was the quickest way.
Tak.
I kept destroying the tower's floor, descending lower and lower, until suddenly the air grew chillingly sinister.
It was thick with demonic energy.
"This is it."
Halting my raised fist, I landed on a pitch-dark floor.
For a place called a laboratory, there were no lights, just utter blackness.
"Looks like we landed in the middle of a corridor."
Using magic to float down gently, Ivan snapped his fingers, and instantly the surroundings lit up.
"No one's here."
The atmosphere was strangely chilling.
There was still so sheen on the floor in the light, so it was clear soone had used it recently.
If the place had been abandoned longer, there'd be a thick coating of dust.
'What is this place...?'
Gazing into the dark corridor, I frowned.
Sothing felt... very wrong.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
The best thod to find the way is to make it yourself.
【????????(??????)】
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