Chapter 153
Then, suddenly, a wizard appeared.
And that was how the cult met its end.
“Kuh, keugh……!”
A ruined chamber. The Circulator, having torn down even the outer walls and the ceiling, prowled across the blood-soaked floor and thrust its muzzle toward the survivor who was still breathing. The cultist trembled violently at the sight of those teeth caked with blood and scraps of flesh.
“S-s-save me—”
Crunch!
Before he could finish, the Circulator bit down and swallowed his head. Blood burst outward, and the headless corpse flopped to the floor. Ian tapped the Circulator’s shoulder with his grimoire and lightly swatted its hind leg.
“I told you not to eat the head. I have a lot to collect.”
[Grrrr…….]
“No means no, even if you’re disappointed. Anything below the head is fine, so help yourself.”
[Grrr.]
The Circulator licked its lips and devoured the lifeless cultist’s body. Ian tilted his head as he pulled Mariang’s body down from where it had been strapped to the Circulator’s back.
Her limbs, which had clearly been blown clean off and vaporized, had now recovered to some extent. They were far from normal, but pure white bones had started growing again from her shoulders and thighs. That said, they were only bones, so moving them still seemed difficult.
‘She doesn’t even have joints, so if I handle her wrong she’ll just crumble. Well, it doesn’t really matter.’
At any rate, it was a body that would keep regenerating as long as he fed it blood. There was no need to worry even if a few bone joints broke. He didn’t know the principle behind the regeneration, but figured it was probably because some mystical organ or other had been transplanted into her.
It wasn’t that important, so Ian lost interest and laid her body on the floor.
“Y-you filthy minion of the demon!”
That was when it happened. The still-breathing cult leader cried out as blood poured from him. Ian’s eyes turned toward him.
“We are the ones who preach God’s will! How dare you—cough, how dare you ruin God’s paradise?!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ian drew a revolver from inside his coat. He pointed the barrel at the cult leader and pulled the trigger.
Bang!!
The bullet that flew out with the deafening report pierced the cult leader’s chest. The moment the round, having crushed through skin, muscle, and bone, finally reached his heart, his breathing stopped cold. Thus died the cult leader who had managed to retain some influence on the Korean Peninsula.
He didn’t feel much.
Even if this wasn’t reality, if they’d killed innocent people he would have offered them at least a minimal prayer for the dead. But everyone here was a bunch of heretics who captured people alive and killed them. There was no need to waste sympathy on them.
‘There are plenty of corpses. Before making the contract, let’s gather materials first.’
Ian took out a cigarette and put it between his lips, then slipped the revolver into the gun holster.
“Gather the bodies in one place for me. You can do that, right?”
[Grrr!]
“That’s right. Dad believes in you.”
[Grrr! Grrrgh!]
As if repaying Ian’s trust, the Circulator hopped about gathering the bodies. It simply swallowed the ones that were too badly damaged, and began neatly stacking only the relatively intact ones to be used for the contract in the center of the ruins.
Ian left the Circulator alone and walked over to the cult leader’s body, which had only just died.
The corpse of an old man who died with his eyes bulging open. If this were reality, it wouldn’t be strange for him to spring up and recite the Lord’s Prayer, but unfortunately there was no Mystery here except for the Reptilian. There was no need to worry about some cult monster suddenly possessing the corpse and giving birth to a new Mystery.
‘I’ll probably need the eyes and tongue, and maybe the ears. I’d better take the nose too.’
It was a thoroughly insane thought, but for a wizard it wasn’t all that strange.
Ian took out the ‘primate-killing knife’ he’d brought with him and carefully cut away the cult leader’s facial features. Fortunately, the knife was quite sharp against primates in particular, so he could cut them off quickly.
……Snick.
After cutting off the ears, tongue, and nose, he finally plucked out the eyeballs, and the optic nerves came out with the sticky blood. They were unnecessary, so he cut away everything he didn’t need.
“……Seeing them all piled up like this, it is a little disgusting.”
Ian, with a slight furrow between his brows, put the collected alchemy materials into a bag. A bag containing human eyes, noses, ears, and the like was pretty gruesome, but replenishing supplies whenever he could was the right thing to do.
And besides, ever since he became a wizard, his stomach had gotten a lot stronger, so he didn’t even feel nauseous. This much was easy enough.
“Should I gather the rest too……?”
Ian roughly set down the cult leader’s eyeless corpse and collected the facial features from the rest of the bodies as well. Thanks to that, he obtained 20 eyeballs and 20 ears, along with 10 noses and 10 tongues. These were materials harvested from a total of 10 corpses.
There were far more than 10 corpses, but not many of them still had intact faces, so this was effectively the limit. It was unfortunate, but unavoidable.
Still, this much was enough to make the dying facial-features set. Ian nodded in satisfaction and turned toward the bodies the Circulator had gathered. The Circulator, which had been rolling its round head around like a ball, lowered its body when Ian’s gaze landed on it and panted.
‘Come to think of it, it does look a bit like a puppy.’
He let out a small laugh, stuffed the bag into his pack, and walked toward the Circulator.
“Did you collect them properly?”
[Grrr.]
Ian patted the Circulator’s head, which was whining low in its throat. The rough, scratchy feel wasn’t pleasant by any stretch, but it was tolerable enough once in a while.
“Good job. Now give me a little space. If anyone comes near, keep them from getting in.”
He took his hand away and said, opening the grimoire.
[Rrhk.]
The Circulator nodded and lumbered out of the ruins.
Silence fell. The wind blew in, striking the broken outer wall and making a sharp noise, while the thick stench of blood pricked at his nostrils.
Ian stood still for a moment, catching his breath, then checked the bodies piled into the mess one by one and selected the ones that were still in the best shape.
Though ‘intact’ still meant some had highways running across their heads, or neat little air holes punched through their chests and bellies, their limbs were still attached, so it wasn’t a major issue.
“Shall we begin…….”
Ian stretched once to loosen up, then began reading the instructions written in the grimoire.
The magic circle was quite complicated. It was also large, so it looked difficult to attempt anywhere that wasn’t spacious.
But this place met every condition. He rolled up his coat sleeves and brought over the water the cultists had stockpiled, using it to clean the blood off the floor. He set aside only the corpses he would use and just shoved the rest into a corner.
Swish…… swish…….
It took roughly 20 minutes to wipe away the blood with a wet cloth and clear off chunks of organs and the like. It would have been nice if there were a spell that erased blood on its own, but since nothing of the sort existed, he had no choice but to do it himself.
For a moment he considered having the Circulator do it, but that was clearly impossible, so he stubbornly focused on cleaning. Once he finished, there was enough space to draw the magic circle.
“Phew…….”
Ian wiped away the sweat, took a marker from his pocket, and drew the magic circle from the grimoire onto the floor.
After about 30 minutes, the magic circle was complete.
Fortunately, it had been drawn properly. He nodded in satisfaction, dragged over Mariang’s still-unconscious body, and dropped it in the center of the magic circle. The other ten corpses were carefully arranged around her as if drawing a circle.
That completed the preparations. Ian set several chunks of aberrant flesh he had brought in his bag at the top, bottom, left, and right of the magic circle, then stepped outside and opened the grimoire.
[W-woong!]
At the chance to reveal its signature spell for the first time, the grimoire vibrated briefly. Ian let out a snort of laughter at its cute display.
It was only for a moment. He quickly began focusing on the spell.
“God’s shackles are merciless.”
He chanted the spell written in the grimoire. The chains hanging from the corners of the grimoire clinked as they began to lengthen. In an instant they grew long enough to reach the floor, and slowly crept toward Mariang’s neck.
“Mercy is granted only to me, the proxy, so without my permission you may not break the shackles, nor be freed through death.”
Clatter-rattle.
The chains wrap tightly around Mariang’s neck. Fragments of the separated chains pierce the bodies of the corpses arranged in a circle. Blood sprays, and the flowing blood quickly gathers around Mariang’s head. It soon becomes a blue spike.
“O foolish slave of mine. Thus shall you become my hands and feet.”
Puk.
The spike smoothly pierced Mariang’s forehead. But no blood flowed, and no wound appeared. It simply stood there stiffly, as if a spear had been planted there. If he voiced the memory he wanted to manipulate in a spell-like form, the spike would melt and mold her brain.
There was no need to hesitate. Ian immediately murmured the manipulation he had prepared beforehand.
“Your brain is not your own, human child. You will regard me as your master and benefactor, and you will regard yourself as an inferior human being and a fool.”
Clatter-rattle!
At the end of the manipulation, the chains wrapped around Mariang’s neck tightened fiercely. They seared a mark like a strangulation scar into her neck, and the blue spike stuck in her forehead slowly melted and flowed into her brain.
This was the end of the magic. Ian looked down at her, bound atop the blue-glowing magic circle, and uttered the closing spell.
“As His proxy, I command you. Open your eyes.”
Fwoosh……!
At the end of the spell, the chains spread in all directions and covered the magic circle. In an instant, the circle was hidden beneath nothing but chains, and within a few seconds they converged rapidly toward the brand engraved on Mariang’s neck.
And then, the moment all the chains were sucked into the brand.
“……Mm.”
Mariang, who had been unconscious until now, slowly opened her eyes. After staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment, she turned to Ian with a faint smile.
“Ah… Master, you saved me again.”
Deep loyalty and affection shone in her blue eyes.
The corners of Ian’s mouth curved upward.