Immersion. (1)
With the enemies closing in, opening the gate was too dangerous. Instead, Woojin and Braknark used ropes to climb up onto the top of the barrier.
Woojin suddenly looked back. Far off in the distance, he spotted the raccoon's corpse lying alone on the dirt ground.
'I forgot about that.'
Earlier, Woojin had captured two raccoon demonic beasts. During transport, one of them had died. He had set the carcass aside—but ended up leaving it behind.
'I should've at least taken the inner core out first… A bit of a waste, but it can't be helped.'
It wasn't anything critical.
With that thought, he gazed at the corpse. He had no intention of climbing back down the barrier. Going down there for that now would be foolish.
There was no way the abominations would leave that lump of meat alone. Just as he expected, a large abomination lumbered forward. Its jaws split wide open and swallowed the raccoon whole.
'So I set the table for someone else.'
Woojin let out a faint chuckle and turned to leave—
Crunch—!
The abomination's side bulged grotesquely. Soon, something tore through its flesh—a raccoon-shaped aberration emerging from within.
Woojin's eyes widened.
"…The one that was dead just came back to life?"
He had seen a raccoon transform into an abomination before—but this was different.
That time, a living demonic beast had mutated. This time, a corpse that had long since stopped breathing had become an abomination and revived.
Wondering if he had misseen it, he spoke to Braknark.
"Can they turn not just living creatures—but even dead corpses—into abominations?"
Braknark nodded without hesitation.
"Yes. I've often seen the mutants use demonic beast corpses to increase their numbers."
"So I wasn't seeing things."
Even dead lifeforms were assimilated once swallowed by an abomination.
Watching the revived raccoon, Woojin tilted his head.
"This isn't some zombie movie…"
The situation was absurd. The ability was even more grotesque than he had anticipated—making it difficult to properly assess.
After a moment of thought, Woojin asked,
"…Is there no restriction on that replication ability?"
"Restriction?"
"Yes. There must be conditions."
Even the most extraordinary abilities had limits.
They couldn't possibly turn every corpse into an abomination. There had to be some criteria—only bodies that met certain standards could be converted.
Braknark scratched his chin.
"I'm not sure… I've never observed them that closely."
It seemed he knew no more.
In that case, experimentation was necessary.
"Wait here. I'll need to capture more demonic beasts."
"Is there a need for you to move personally?"
Braknark gestured to his subordinates.
"Leave the menial tasks to these ones."
"…You're right."
Honestly, it was a bit of a hassle.
Woojin sat down in a nearby chair to wait. Before long, the gnolls scoured the surrounding area and returned with several hunted demonic beasts.
'I should've done this from the start.'
He skipped the middle steps.
There were twelve demonic beasts in total. Five were already dead.
Let's experiment with these corpses first.
Most of them were deer-type demonic beasts—apparently there was a large herd nearby. Woojin approached an especially large stag.
Slash!
He swung his machete and severed the stag's neck. The corpse was freshly dead, and warm blood dripped steadily from the clean cut.
Perfect bait for abominations.
Woojin tied a rope around the headless body and slowly lowered it beneath the barrier—like he was fishing.
'They react immediately.'
Drawn by the scent of blood, the abominations rushed forward competitively. The one at the front swallowed the headless stag whole.
The change came instantly. The abomination's abdomen swelled as if pregnant—then its belly split open, and a new aberration burst out.
A headless stag.
As if replacing its missing head, its chest split open like a gaping mouth. From the jagged opening, a long false tongue flicked outward.
Woojin let out a hollow laugh.
"You've got to be kidding…"
Honestly, he had expected it to fail. Yet it revived even without a head.
Braknark shook his head in disbelief.
"Truly horrific creatures."
"Yeah… this goes beyond my calculations."
Still gripping the rope, Woojin muttered. The line was taut. The headless deer thrashed violently, trying to escape the rope.
It almost looked like a pet dog tugging its leash, eager for a walk.
Braknark asked,
"What will you do with that deer?"
"Kill it. What else?"
Step back.
Woojin pulled on the rope, dragging the abomination up onto the barrier.
Originally, he had intended to burn it with an incendiary round—but the rope tied around the deer felt too valuable to waste. Instead, he raised the two-handed hammer he had once received as a gift—Skull Crusher—and brought it down on the deer aberration.
Crack, crack!!
"Ghk—Graaagh—!"
If he struck too hard, even the barrier might be damaged, so he controlled his strength.
Like tenderizing cutlet meat, he hammered it repeatedly until the abomination screamed wildly. After several heavy blows, it went limp.
Subdued.
Woojin untied the rope from its torso.
Then, with no further use for it, he kicked the corpse hard—like a soccer ball.
Boom!!
The abomination flew off the barrier and crashed far below. Its body burst apart on impact like a shell hitting the ground.
That prevented the enemy's numbers from increasing by one.
Woojin casually tossed the steel hammer aside and turned to Braknark.
"Bring the head I cut off earlier."
"Yes."
Braknark obeyed immediately, placing the severed stag's head before him.
"Will you lower that as well?"
"Yes. I want to test something."
If the headless body could transform, would the reverse also hold true?
He tied a rope around the stag's antlers and lowered the bodiless head beneath the barrier. As before, the aberrations approached and swallowed it.
They waited for signs of change.
"…Not this time, it seems."
"Yes. No change."
The abomination that swallowed the head showed no particular transformation.
Apparently, a head alone could not form an aberration.
Woojin pulled the rope back up and slaughtered the abomination. Sensing what was needed, Braknark brought over more demonic beast corpses—they would need fresh bait for continued experimentation.
'Shall I divide it into upper and lower halves?'
Like slicing a fish, Woojin split the stag's torso into two. One half contained the upper body, the other the lower. The chunks were nearly equal in size and weight.
He tied each piece separately with rope.
He handed one of the ropes to Braknark.
"Let's try lowering them at the same time this time."
"Understood."
Together, Woojin and Braknark lowered the two halves of the divided carcass beneath the barrier. The abominations waiting below immediately swallowed the bait.
The result they faced right after…
"…Only the upper half became an abomination."
Only the upper body—the half that still had the head attached—transformed. Lacking its lower half, the deer aberration staggered about awkwardly on its two forelegs. The sight was grotesque.
"I'm starting to see the pattern."
One last test.
Woojin carefully split open the stag's chest and reached inside, feeling around. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for.
The inner core of the deer demonic beast.
After extracting only that, he lowered the intact carcass beneath the barrier. One of the abominations swallowed it whole.
He waited.
…Nothing happened.
Just as Woojin had expected.
"It seems they need the inner core to become an abomination."
Even after a demonic beast's breath ceased, its power remained stored within the inner core. Thanks to that, Woojin had been able to accumulate strength by hunting many demonic beasts.
The mutant abominations had gained the ability to corrupt the inner cores of other lifeforms, turning them into their own kind. That was why even dead demonic beasts could be reborn as abominations without exception.
In other words, the conclusion was—
"…This might actually be easier to deal with than I thought."
Woojin muttered to himself.
Braknark, standing beside him, looked puzzled.
"What makes you say that?"
"That ability is useless against humans."
Unlike the lifeforms of the Demonic Realm, humans possessed no inner core. If they clashed with the Order Alliance, the number of abominations would steadily decrease instead of increase.
Moreover, in exchange for gaining the ability to multiply, the abominations had lost their unique regenerative power. Their former capacity to recover from any wound, combined with their multiplication ability—both now rendered meaningless.
"Is this what you'd call racial compatibility?"
The Second Expeditionary Force had been utterly crushed after facing the gnoll tribe—but against these mutant abominations, they might have held their ground surprisingly well.
Braknark tilted his head.
"Then what about the humans who've been assimilated?"
"…What do you mean?"
"Just as I said. There are occasionally mutant abominations that bear a human shape and scent. They're far more troublesome to deal with."
Very rarely, there appeared mutant abominations presumed to have once been human. It was unexpected information.
Woojin thought for a moment before asking,
"When were they first sighted?"
"Even before we left our homeland and moved south. I saw one again recently."
Whenever the mutant abominations launched coordinated group assaults, a human-shaped variant would sometimes appear among them.
Particularly powerful—and intelligent.
They looked almost like commanders.
"What on earth are they?"
Braknark asked the question quietly.
Woojin crossed his arms and fell into thought.
"I'll need to see one with my own eyes to be sure…"
He turned his head.
His gaze shifted toward the forest beyond the barrier. The forest where the cries of abominations echoed endlessly. Somewhere within that darkness lurked the creature Braknark had mentioned.
"…I'll be back shortly."
"You're heading into that forest?"
"There's something bothering me."
"You intend to confirm something."
Braknark did not attempt to stop him. Woojin had not earned the title of Guardian through luck.
"Do you require anything?"
"Bring me some tree sap."
"Yes."
Before long, the gnolls returned with a bowl filled with fresh sap drawn directly from the trees of the Demonic Realm. The scent was pungent.
Woojin smeared the sap over his body. It was to mask the smell of sweat. Since the abominations had no eyes, eliminating his natural scent made it nearly impossible for them to detect him.
His preparations were simple and complete.
"I'll return within two days at the latest."
"Travel safely."
The farewell was brief.
Woojin grasped the rope. His body descended smoothly down the barrier, like a helicopter rappel.
Soon, he landed on the ground.
What followed was not particularly difficult. Woojin's presence was faint; the blind aberrations could not perceive him.
As with all things in the world—once you learned the trick, moving undetected among abominations was simple.
"The hard part is building up that experience."
As he continued forward—
He spotted the creature Braknark had mentioned.
A mutant aberration bearing the shape of a human.
Woojin concealed himself behind a rock and observed it.
Something familiar caught his eye.
"An iron mask…"
The abomination wore a crumpled iron mask over its face—a common item used by the Dark Order priests.
Woojin tilted his head slightly.
"…Don't tell me they were assimilated too?"
Any lifeform possessing an inner core could become prey to the abominations' assimilation.
The Dark Order priests were no exception.
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