5 Major Systems (2)
Son Yujeong said nothing.
It wasn't that she found it repulsive—she simply didn't know how she was supposed to react.
"So in the end you fell into hell too. Ha! I knew it! Come join the Satan Church."
Son Yujeong finally spoke.
"You… are you okay? It's none of my business, but you look really bad."
All eyes turned to her.
Could anyone remain unmoved after hearing such a blunt appraisal from a close friend?
"…Not okay?"
Mortasinger suddenly twisted her face and grabbed Yujeong's shoulder roughly.
"What do you mean by that? Are you jealous of me too? You hate how pretty I am that much?"
She who could handle hidden codes to some degree was surely sincere, but—
"Tell me honestly! How do I look?"
The last scrap of reason.
The mage's logic—deeply versed in how the world worked—kept illusion at bay.
"Answer me… now."
Tears welled in one of Mortasinger's contorted eyes, and Son Yujeong understood.
Regret.
It looked like a plea to be saved.
Without showing any emotion, Son Yujeong slowly stepped back and fell into the line behind the group.
Mortasinger choked out, "How can you do this to me?"
"Sorry."
Lying to Yahweh that way, Son Yujeong's golden pupils flared instantly.
"Kiiii!"
She swung two Yeoui blades without even a preparatory motion, and the floor blew apart.
"Get down!"
Shirone and the others threw themselves aside.
Ethella, who leapt without thinking about the landing, was stopped from behind by Shagal.
"You—"
As she looked at Shagal in bewilderment, an explosion sounded from the wall.
A huge hole had been blown through it.
Mortasinger was being gripped by Son Yujeong's hand as Yujeong crossed the void out of the company building.
"Let go! What are you doing!"
"I'll get you out. At least you won't ruin anything. Go anywhere but here."
"What about you?"
"I'm full of Gingoa. I bought time to save you, but Yahweh will catch me."
Landing on the ground, Mortasinger shook her head.
"No. I belong to the Satan Church—"
"Go!"
Son Yujeong bared her teeth like a monkey and shouted; Mortasinger's shoulders trembled.
"Snap out of it! Are you in your right mind? Do you really think your face is beautiful right now?"
"I, I—"
At first she doubted, but being among the Satan Church's devotees had made her forget what was right.
Son Yujeong gripped her shoulder.
"It's a madhouse over there, but you're not one of them. You were always much smarter than me. The old you would have found a way to turn this around. And you… you were really beautiful."
She had always defended Mortasinger like an elder sister, no matter what mess she made.
"Really? Am I really not pretty?"
How many times had she brainwashed herself to be so lost even now?
Richera cut in. "Well, I may not even have a lower half anymore, but I have to say this—you are just a—"
"Shut up."
Son Yujeong cut her off. "Leave now. I'll handle this place."
"No. I'm going with you. I can't keep living here alone."
"I told you you can't go. Yahweh is a pervert. He'll wrap his hands around my neck with every excuse and enjoy it."
Fussing with the gold band at her throat, Son Yujeong suddenly blinked.
"Huh?"
Escorting a Siok trainee away was basically stealing Yahweh's enemy.
Why wasn't the Gingoa decreasing?
"She's fine."
Son Yujeong was certain.
She hadn't chanted the Gingoju. But why not?
"Are you going or not? I don't care either way, but I don't want to stay here," Richera said.
Agents were planted everywhere, yet Son Yujeong remained deep in thought.
Lete asked, "Is it okay to leave her? If she chants the Gingoju right now, Son Yujeong will be summoned back in an instant."
"She chose this."
Shirone couldn't bring himself to interfere.
"Even if it's reckless, deciding to fight for a friend must be sincere."
Lete nodded.
"Fine. Then let's get to the point. How about you finally accept my offer?"
Shirone couldn't insist.
The True Tone cannot manifest from Siok into reality. But… he couldn't give up easily because something lukewarm still lingered in his mind.
The six brains. What had he missed there?
Rian pulled out the floor plan and said, "Shirone, over there."
A group in black robes was descending the stairs from the thirteenth floor.
"Siok."
The One-O'clock of Pride sneered.
"Long time no see, Yahweh."
Lete's brow twitched slightly.
Siok normally followed my orders. Yet to show himself against Yahweh—
The only reason Shirone couldn't kill Havitz was that such an incident mustn't happen.
Yahweh, who had cut out demons for humanity, couldn't treat Havitz like a mere wizard.
A head-on clash would be hopeless for Siok. So why come here to fight…?
Of course—for Satan.
Havitz—no, that Satan bastard—how badly was he losing in reality?
As the Miracle Stream spread from Shirone's body, Mupa's face revealed his true colors.
"Ughhhh!"
Even the cultists posted at the entrance exuded massive hostility.
Shirone said, "Think whatever you want. Satan's temptations are useless against me."
That's true.
So Siok used the tactic of luring Yahweh's associates and attacking them.
Rian, Ethella, Shagal.
It was an effective play, and among them Rian's force could match Yahweh's.
One catch is all it would take.
All the surviving Siok, excluding the two who had died, activated hidden codes aimed at Rian.
Ethella clenched her fist. "We're fighting too."
At that moment the Taeguk chain rippled and strength poured out of her body.
"Hah!"
When she came to, Shagal was holding her and sprinting for the exit.
"Stop!"
Without answering, Shagal smashed through the tenth-floor door and raced down the corridor.
When a thunderous noise erupted where Shirone stood, Ethella flailed.
"Put me down! Put me down, I said!"
Shagal didn't let her go until he'd taken a long detour through the maze-like passages.
"Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"
The truth was, Ethella knew why they hadn't stopped Shagal despite the interacting Taeguk chain.
"We didn't have to fight."
He had acted for her sake.
"Don't be mistaken. Do you think this makes me happy? Have you forgotten what you did to me?"
Being dragged toward evil against her will tormented Ethella.
"Being unable to die is a curse. Don't get your hopes up. Nothing you want will happen."
She didn't say outright cruel things, but her intent was clear.
Shagal said bluntly, "Is that so? You talked about morality, but in the end you're only that much. Fine. I didn't care anyway."
Worthless trash.
Ethella felt her blood chill and pain tighten in her abdomen again.
"Aah."
Shagal turned away coldly.
"Come with me. We need a way to break this chain. If we cut this damned tie, neither of us will need to suffer."
Ethella wanted to strike his retreating back, but she calmed herself.
Stay calm.
The abdominal pain eased, and opposing Shagal any further felt dangerous.
"What are you two?"
Rounding a corner, a Satan Church cultist jumped in alarm and raised a defensive stance.
"Good. If you live here you'll rot. Answer my questions. If you lie—"
Illusions shimmered around Shagal and a hidden short spear appeared in his hand.
"You die."
"…Kukukuku."
The cultist raised both hands as a two-meter spear materialized.
"A mere dagger? My hidden code makes a spear—"
Shagal grabbed the cultist's forehead and shoved him straight at the wall.
Using the rebound, he slammed the man's head against the wall seven times in an instant; the cultist half-lost consciousness.
When the cold touch of a blade pressed at his nape, his eyes went wide.
"Eek! S-s-save me—"
"Last chance. Which department manages karma here?"
"Guh—!"
The cultist's lips trembled with fear.
Karma Management Department.
A roar of combat echoed through the room lined with large monitors.
"This bastard… ugh!"
In just three minutes the commotion ended and twenty fallen agents were erased.
"What a pain."
Ethella watched Shagal head for the monitors.
He's gotten stronger.
Probably since he slaughtered agents at the System Control Division's entrance.
The power of Taeguk made him stronger. In short… he was getting more corrupt.
"You say I can learn my past here. I just need to know what I was. I don't need karma or anything."
Shagal called to her. "Come over. I don't know how to do this."
Curious about the ties Ra Enemi had manipulated, Ethella cooperated.
"All the devices are biological. Since they use blood, maybe putting your blood in will work?"
Without hesitation, Shagal drew a dagger and slit his own wrist.
As his blood fell, something in the demonic language began to inscribe itself across the screen.
She couldn't translate it, but from the next images no explanation was needed.
"What is this…?"
A circus troupe's performance filled the screen—an image Shagal knew all too well.
"Ah—"
Though Shagal himself didn't appear in that footage, he instinctively understood it.
"Mother."
A fierce-looking woman who resembled Shagal performed aerial acrobatics to thunderous applause.
Cause. It showed the reason Shagal existed.
Images flashed like scenes from a lantern, and an unfamiliar smell followed.
Shagal's memories—
Smell carries past information.
Without more screens, they were pulled straight into the time when Shagal had existed.
Shagal's mother had caught the eye of a wealthy patron who came to see the circus.
It could scarcely be called love; she was abandoned the moment she became pregnant.
"Wah! Wah!"
Born in a filthy room no one cared for, Shagal entered the world like that.
Three months later, his mother took him to a back alley.
"Hah. Hah."
Staring at the baby sleeping fitfully, her face twisted cruelly.
"Useless thing."
She threw Shagal to the ground like trash.
"Heh heh. Hehehe."
Shagal laughed as if he were watching a delightful performance.
Yes, that felt more like him.
It wasn't a pretty sight, but in that fallen state it was almost a relief.
The woman who had abandoned Shagal turned to run, then suddenly stopped.
The baby's cry.
After long inner conflict she bit her lip, ran back, and leaned over the child.
"Live well."
She put a few coins from her pocket into the swaddling and left forever.
Coins for a baby—what use were they!
Watching Shagal cry tears with a smiling face, Ethella felt heavy-hearted.
'Poor soul.'
Some time later, someone came to take Shagal from the orphanage.
"Huh?"
Both of them were stunned.
"No. That can't be."
Ethella's teacher—and the man Shagal would later kill with his own hands—was Raphael of the Karsis Order.