The Law War (4)
Speaker Resource Management Corporation — System Control Branch.
As vast as the Otherworld itself, the System Control Branch spread out over an enormous area.
Beyond rows of warehouses and engine rooms stood modern office buildings.
"That should be the System Control Branch headquarters. Be careful. There are a lot of administrators," Richela said.
Son Yujeong swung her two short swords.
"Hah. Administrators or whatever—I'll smash them to pieces. How dare they kidnap my friend?"
"That wouldn't exactly be called a kidnapping if they were employed there, would it? Maybe your friend—"
"Shut up! You want to die?"
Son Yujeong lifted the chain at her waist, pressed her mouth to Richela's ear, and shouted.
Having only a face made even that a kind of torment, but no one offered her sympathy.
"Damn it! I can't stand this humiliation. Is there really a hell? And no chains, either."
"Hohoho! Of course there is! I'm invincible. Not even hell can stop me," Shirone said, frowning.
"Son Yujeong."
When Nane's scowl eased, Son Yujeong went pale.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Don't be arrogant. Never forget why Nane sent you to hell in the first place."
When Nane's face—with Bakji's sword embedded—flashed into Shirone's mind, Son Yujeong's eyes burned.
'Buddha. That bastard.'
The only difference between her and Shirone's Choeni Bardo was that she couldn't leave by herself.
'If she wants to return to reality, she has to reach Bakji. And that means…'
She had come to understand an emotion.
"Let's go."
At the entrance to the System Control Branch, men in suits stood guard.
"They're administrators. They call them agents. I heard they're vicious," Richela said.
Agents patrolled the grounds; among them were even Heukseung.
'Agents.'
Omega's records held only scant information on hell, but their infamy was well known.
They were Otherworld system experts, responsible for matters related to purification.
'If a Heukseung captures someone, the agents render judgment. Their authority in hell is absolute.'
"Charging straight in isn't a good idea. Even if we knock some of them down… handling the purification system is another matter," Etella said.
"Nonsense." Shagal stepped forward. "What are you hesitating for when you can cut these damn chains? Kill them all."
Rian blocked the way with Daejikdo.
"Shirone's decision comes first. If you interfere with the operation, you'll feel my blade."
"Fine by me. That woman'll die anyway."
"How petty. Are you so pathetic you can't even uphold your convictions without hiding behind a hostage?" Shagal sneered, eyes narrowing.
"What would you know?"
"I know plenty. A hyena who preys on the weak. If it weren't for the Taeguk chain, you'd be dead."
Illusions of short swords shimmered around Shagal.
"Oh yeah? Try me."
"Stop it. This is not the time for us to fight. Gathering information comes first," Etella said.
They knew that rationally, but the two already inflamed by anger couldn't look away.
"You're a piece of trash, you know that?"
Rian hated Shagal—who wouldn't?
"Kekeke, you hate me that much? Why? Because I tormented this woman? For such a trivial reason?"
"For such a trivial reason?" Rian snapped and stepped forward. Shagal yanked on the Taeguk chain.
"You fools! Puhahaha! Yes, I'm trash! If I can upset you, I'll do anything!" he shouted from behind Etella.
"Release Etella," Shirone said.
"Then you'll have to make me want to. Hey, woman. Tell these fools to obey my orders from now on. If not—" Shagal stabbed his own thigh with a knife.
"Ugh!" Pain transmitted through the Taeguk chain and Etella's face twisted as the blade plunged in again and again.
"Tell them! Quickly!" Shagal barked.
Losing his composure, Rian charged. "You bastard!"
"Puhaha! Want to cut me? Go on! I'm dying to see what happens!" Shagal shoved Etella aside, spread his arms, and waited for Daejikdo.
Rian ground his teeth. 'I want to cut him down! This villain!'
But because Etella was suffering, he couldn't bring himself to strike.
'Still…' His left fist shot up. 'Sorry, Etella. I have to land one blow!'
If he didn't make his strength clear now, Shagal would keep trying to control the group. And he needed to vent.
Just as his punch shot out, Etella grabbed Shagal.
"Ugh!" Using her divine transcendence to halt his movement, a pressure wave burst outward.
"Stop it," Etella said.
Rian had nothing to argue with her about.
"Kekeke, you came at me wanting to kill and this is all you've got? In the end, you're all talk." Shagal sneered.
Etella turned his face gently. "You, too. Stop it."
"Stop what? I don't listen to anyone. I'll torment you and torment you until you go mad."
As Shirone was about to intervene, Etella said, "I never tormented him."
'Sensei.' She turned to the party. "The Taeguk chain cycles endlessly. You can't say only one of them was wronged. It's not just his fault."
They were taken aback even more by Shagal's reaction.
"What are you saying?" Etella remembered the last moments she'd shared with Shagal in the real world, right before her life ended.
"I was the one who took Shagal in. I'm the only one who could resent him. But I no longer resent him. I realized what I have to do." Taeguk's fate. "This man's life is my life. So please—be kind to Shagal."
Silence followed.
A sense of sacrifice rose in the air, gnawing at them though it wasn't their duty.
'Sacrifice.' It was a conviction. A single sword.
"Understood. Having heard Etella's resolve, I will not judge Shagal further," Rian said.
Etella turned back to Shagal. "You should help us too. You want to break the chain, right? If we combine our strength, we can do it."
Do I…want to break the chain? Shirone asked aloud. "Then we'll plan our operation. First, we need to understand the Otherworld's system."
While the group discussed strategy, Shagal stayed apart.
Etella's feelings traveled along the chain to him. He recoiled inwardly: 'Hypocrite.' The warmth and kindness he felt made him sneer. 'Actually, I must be disgusting. If I happen to die, I'd be overjoyed as if I'd taken the world. So—' Shagal's eyes reddened. 'What bad luck.'
Through that nameless, vast emotion, a blade-sharp rage welled up. 'Don't pity me!'
He was evil among evils.
"Kraaa!" Shagal roared and suddenly sprinted for the System Control Branch.
"Shagal! Kyaa!" The chain shot out, extending some thirty meters, and Etella was dragged across the ground.
"That idiot!" Rian led the pursuit, but Shagal had already reached the entrance.
Agents spotted him and blew whistles. The shrill alarms tore through the air.
—Intruder! Intruder!
Agents in identical uniforms swarmed from every zone like a hive.
"Krrrgh!" With his vision gone, Shagal perceived them as a single enemy.
'Swift blades.' Heat haze shimmered; countless short blades fell like rain.
An agent grabbed Shagal's shoulder. "You bastard…! Ugh!" A blade struck his right eye and dozens of holes ripped through his suit.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" The agent became a porcupine of wounds, but Shagal didn't stop.
"Gaaaaa!" His fury didn't subside. 'Die! Die! Die!' If his stamina could hold, he would have repeated the motion forever like a machine.
He wanted to destroy something, though he didn't know what "destroyed" meant.
"Gaaaaa!" He kept stabbing—until form changed, until every cell was torn apart, until atoms themselves were crushed. 'How will I finish it? Somehow I'll finish it!'
Such relentless obsession.
Shirone and the others arriving at the entrance were struck dumb by the scene of brutal overkill.
"My god…" Even agents dared not approach; this level of malice was unmatched even in hell.
"Stop it!" Etella cried. Her heart reached through the chain, but meeting Shagal's greater malice, he struck back.
"Gaaaaa!" Why did it feel shameful? 'She was the one shamed. Why me? Why of all people me—!'
Why me? 'Yes, I'm a murderer. I killed. I'm a villain. So I deserved punishment. I died. I fell to hell! If that's not enough…' He wouldn't mind more pain. 'Just answer me this one thing—why me? Why does my past not exist? Why make me love Tia if it was all fake...?'
If God exists, shouldn't at least that be reasonable?
"Shagal!" Etella poured everything into reaching him, but the more she tried, the stronger his fury became.
"Kraaa!" Thousands of short blades slashed forward, tearing agents' bodies to pieces.
A voice from above announced, "Thank you for the generous purification. Remaining purification time: 87 hae, 2,875 gyeong, 3,241 jo, 6,401 eok, 721 man, 38 hours."
Shirone lifted his head. "What?" He remembered purification being on the order of roughly four billion hours. 'So that's what this is.' Taeguk's karma. But both central figures were halfway lost to reason.
"Stop! Please stop!" Etella cried with everything she had, and at last Shagal's onslaught halted.
"Hah! Hah!" Where the swift blades had been lay mangled corpses.
"Shagal… Shagal…" Sharing each other's emotions, Etella's hands trembled and Shagal's eyes bled tears.
"Are you all right, Sensei?" Shirone finally understood how the Taeguk between them amplified.
'This is hell.' If Etella forgave Shagal, he would trample her again with even greater rage. 'Its infinite repetition.' The threshold would only grow, and that vast emotion alone seemed poised to erase their karma.
"You gave quite a show," an agent said, approaching with a Heukseung. He had a different bearing from the others. "I'm Makula, head of the System Control Branch's purification team. If we'd been notified in advance, your people wouldn't have made mistakes."
"Will you let us in?" Rian asked.
"Of course. You're VIPs to our company. Follow me—I'll guide you."
Makula turned and walked away. Rian looked to Shirone for his thoughts.
"What should we do?"
"Whatever his motives, it's better than fighting. Let's at least enter the headquarters."
As the party followed Shirone, Etella and Shagal slowly rose to their feet.
They did not meet each other's eyes.