When I sliced his neck about halfway, the first to sense something was wrong was Yang Tae.
'It should have been a clean cut, though.'
I've severed someone's neck more than once—I know exactly how much force is required to send a head flying.
'Damn it. Am I spooked by someone who's already dead? Me?'
"Tch! One unlucky bastard to the end!"
Even a simple kick would have separated that dangling head from its spine, sending it rolling across the floor. What could he possibly be afraid of?
"Fine then… let's at least take the head back with us."
I pulled my leg back and snapped it forward in one swift motion.
Thud!
"...?"
Then, at the moment my foot should have bounced off the corpse's skull, the dead body seemed to twitch—and grabbed my leg.
"Why?! Why won't it come off?!!!"
The strength was unbelievable. With just one hand, the corpse held me fast—like an iron nail driven in with a hammer. I strained, but it was rooted in place; it wouldn't budge.
Crack! Crunch!
"Ugh…uwaaah!!!!!"
"What the hell is that?!!"
Fractured bone, torn free from the arm, made grotesque noises as it snapped back into place. More than that, the guts that had spilled out under my blade, the shattered ribs that had crumbled to dust, the spine, the skull—every part of that body was ripping itself back together, as if forced into regeneration, and it regained its original form before the eyes opened.
"Tha- that thing…were its eyes always like that..?"
Usually the pupil sits within the sclera, but this was the reverse. Pitch-black filled the entire eye, with red veins streaking out like blood-shot fissures from white pupils.
"Don't lose your heads! We outnumber them! If we kill him again—"
Yang Tae didn't get to finish. The leg that was gripping him—presumed to be Baekhyun—twitched once, then with a single motion threw him through the wall, smashing through three panels before impaling him on a pillar. That was the end of him.
"Ah? Ah…ah?"
"Wha-what was—"
Thud!—grr!
"E-everyone, run!!!!!"
The ones at the front were crushed and torn apart by a single punch. Before anyone could even question whether a lone young Liberi could summon such strength, their minds were filled with terror. Like prey before a predator, some collapsed to the ground, others wet themselves, and the few who managed to regain their senses fled in panic.
Unfortunately for them, they should have fled while the regeneration was happening—then they might have lived even one second longer.
Because the slaughter was only just beginning.
"Ugh… here again?"
Yeah, now I remember vividly. Last time I fell here, I met Ling and confronted the [Mountain Spirit] inside me. But this time…
"Ling…isn't here?"
This time, Ling was gone? No, the spirit itself was gone. Instead, I stood in the back alley of my own mind, the place I'd come to see the [Mountain Spirit].
"The door's open?"
Last time it had been firmly shut.
"Knock, knock, you bastard."
"I don't think you're supposed to do a knock with your mouth."
"That's none of your business."
"Looks like you've eaten up all your manners."
Manners are a luxury to someone my size.
"Anyway, this is too much. I got my head cut off and you still won't come out?"
Okay, last time you put on an awesome pyro display, I'll give you that—but this time my whole body was slashed apart and you haven't shown once.
"Hah… look over there…"
"What is that…?"
Behind the spirit's chamber stood a door wrapped in chilling steel chains, as if warning, NO ENTRY. And it was wide open.
"Don't think I'm stuck here for fun. Didn't I tell you I was imprisoned?"
Right. Now I remember that conversation clearly: that I was a failed experiment, and that this body I'd possessed was once dead.
"Your body became too unstable in an instant. So eventually 'that thing' was released. You died."
"I know I died. They cut off my head, after all…"
"Not in that sense. I mean you died in a different way."
"A different way…?"
"When that thing was released, your already fragile vessel nearly shattered. On top of that, my energy poured out in a flood. It won't be long before this body collapses and we both die."
"Is there any other way? All we have to do is stop that thing, right?"
"Do you really think so? What's moving your body now is an artificial monster designed to use my power. The rotten claws of Danguk's eternally corrupt bureaucracy."
No way—why would they dump something like that in a back alley?!!
"You really don't get it? The thing outside there can't be controlled at all. Because it just fights until it dies, they took this one, shoved it into you using a suppressor, and when the body still couldn't hold up, they dumped it somewhere dirty and quiet."
"So…if I sum up what you're saying, the sycophants of Danguk poured technology into this creation, sealed the [Mountain Spirit] into it with a suppressor, and when even that failed, they tossed me into a back alley?"
"The only ones abandoned here are that thing outside and me. Where the hell did you come from? You burst into our power struggle and suddenly trapped us both in solitary confinement?!"
Hmm…my identity?
"Uh…an otherworlder who had an accident? Or just some third-rate soul who died first and stuck itself in here? Honestly, I don't know myself."
If anything, I'm even more interested in figuring out what's going on with me.
"Hah…well, honestly I don't know either. I guess if things keep going like this, we're both screwed."
"Hah…there must be…some way, right?"
They say you can survive if you keep your wits about you, even if the world splits in two. There's bound to be at least one way out!
"It's impossible. My body's leaking power right now and you can do nothing. Either play dead or…pray for an absurd miracle from Behemoth."
And at that moment, a blue dragon, with astounding force, pushed something open, enveloped me, and whisked me away.
"A miracle...exists..?"
"Haha!! Miracles only happen when you truly crave them!!"
I'm not even sure how desperate I was, though. But hey, a good thing is a good thing!
"Hii…hieeek!!! S-please save me!! No wait, please grant me mercy!!!"
After Baekhyun was revived, seemingly consumed by something, the terrifying game of tag began. Like a machine devoid of emotion, he literally tore people apart—who wouldn't be terrified?
"Stop."
......
Then, a woman—out of place here and seemingly appearing from nowhere—stood before him. The one-sided hunt paused.
"I don't know who you are, but I assume you're the original owner of that body. Am I right?"
......
Shing!
Instead of an answer, a blade came at her—but Ling is Shei's eldest daughter and third-born. There was no way she'd be bested so easily.
Kyahooo—!!!!
'Am I dreaming right now??'
A crazy kid who sweeps through massive organizations like catching rats, and a beauty summoning a dragon that effortlessly takes down that kid. Yeah, this has to be a dream!! Haha!!
"Charging in without caution—do you realize you're ruining half your charm?"
......
"And on top of that, you, who could have been an excellent conversationalist, keep that mouth of yours shut. Do you know how much of a loss that is to me?"
......
"Hah…seriously. I want to hear an answer. In all the years I've lived, this is the first time my patience has crumbled like a dry leaf in winter."
'But you…you truly belong on the bustling side of life.'
So if the other you before my eyes could kindly step back inside, I would appreciate it.
'Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've seen you outside of a dream, isn't it? I'm curious how you'll react… but you must return to your fight. Let me be the only one to remember this encounter.'
"Then…you, if you could slumber for a moment there."
"Huh? Oh dear…Z..Z..Z...Z.."
The content of the dream…is me running away from that kid? I guess they must really fear you.
"And you? It's time to wake up."
"...Gah!!! Ugh..! My body..!"
It hurts…so much that I can't move properly… The clash between the body that was surging with adrenaline just moments ago and a mind that wasn't, the pain in my twisted joints that I ignored in a desperate bid to move, the nausea… and then…
"It's…so damp. Could this all be…blood?"
And when I looked around, the scene was gruesome. People torn to shreds, bodies impaled against walls, limbs twisted, necks snapped, eyes pierced…
In the midst of it all, of course I was stained dark red from head to toe. And my first thought upon seeing this carnage was…
"Wow, fuck, that kid really hits hard, huh?"
'Get a grip, you crazy thug-Magpie.'
It was simply awe—and a desire to skip the rest of this battle event. That was all I felt.