"I don't remember anything."
Assemblyman Choi Panseok's daughter, Choi Seona, had regained consciousness, but her testimony remained frustratingly consistent. No matter what she was asked, she simply repeated that she had no memory of the events. Minjun, looking doubtful, pressed her again.
"Then what is the last thing you remember?"
"I spent every day at home, so all my memories just blur together. It's hard to pinpoint anything specific..."
She had been missing for several days before appearing in front of Kwak Do-chul, yet she claimed to have absolutely no memory of disappearing in the first place.
"Kwak Do-chul testified that you called him and threatened his life before you vanished."
"That's impossible. I don't remember that."
She shook her head, her eyes trembling as she asked a question of her own.
"But... is he really dead?"
"No, it can't be. How could I...!"
With that, she began to sob. She buried her face in her knees, weeping bitterly. Minjun felt a headache coming on.
'Still, isn't this a little too convenient?'
She couldn't even remember how she obtained the murder weapon, the Sword. Similarly, the troll controlled by the Sword had lost its memory from the moment it gripped the hilt. Compared to the troll, however, she was missing far more of her memories.
'What's the reason... for the difference between the troll and this woman?'
Choi Seona cried for quite some time before gasping for air and pleading with her father. The assemblyman immediately intervened.
"I apologize, but could you give us a moment? Seona is having a very hard time right now."
As the assemblyman patted his daughter's back to comfort her, Minjun and Jeongpal stepped away to whisper among themselves.
"What do you think?" Minjun asked.
Jeongpal, an orc detective with enough years in violent crimes to know better, replied.
"It doesn't look like she's lying."
Minjun had also been watching her carefully during her testimony. No matter how hard someone tried to hide it, a liar always gave off tells. They might cross their arms protectively, part their lips slightly, tense their eyes, or show a brief contraction of their pupils.
But Choi Seona showed none of those signs. Not a single one.
If anything, that made her even more suspicious.
Her reaction was almost too perfectly textbook, as if meticulously crafted to prove she wasn't lying.
"It's too perfect."
Minjun stroked his chin skeptically before nodding, a sudden thought occurring to him. He whispered to Jeongpal.
"Keep an eye on things here for a second. I need to grab something from the car."
Jeongpal had parked in the underground lot.
"Did you forget something? I'll go get it for you."
"No, I need to bring it up myself."
"What do you need?"
"The Frying Pan."
Jeongpal let out a soft gasp of realization.
"Ah, right! We have that guy!"
It was a Magic Tool that claimed to be capable of scanning a sentient being's mind just below the surface of their consciousness.
Minjun intended to use it to peer into Choi Seona's mind. Since he had set it so that no one else could touch it, he couldn't send Jeongpal in his place.
"Go on, then."
Shortly after Minjun left, the assemblyman picked up the phone and called for the medical staff. The door opened, and a doctor walked in. Unlike earlier, when several doctors and nurses had rushed in together, this time it was only one man who appeared to be the attending physician. They must have determined it wasn't an emergency.
The doctor shone a penlight into Seona's eyes to check her pupils. Then he asked a few questions, checked the monitor, and pretended to jot something down on his chart. Watching this, Jeongpal felt a sense of confusion.
'Do attending physicians handle charting themselves here? What a strange hospital.'
When the assemblyman asked about his daughter's condition, the doctor gave a brief reply. He said it was a psychological issue and that she simply needed rest.
It was a generic answer anyone could have given. But...
'Why did he come in alone?'
There was a reason Jeongpal felt something was wrong. In a situation like this, especially in a VIP ward, a doctor rarely entered alone. Furthermore, the man kept staring at the medical equipment, as if waiting for something.
'Do you really need to stare at that machine for so long?' Due to the nature of his work, Jeongpal had spent months hospitalized in police wards, so he quickly realized that the current situation was far from normal.
Right at that moment.
Crackle!
"W-what?!"
Choi Panseok panicked. Sparks flew from his chest as he shouted.
"..."
Jeongpal recognized the phenomenon. That was exactly what happened when a protective artifact lost its resistance and shattered. A high-society figure like Choi Panseok naturally wore defensive gear disguised as jewelry all over his body. It was basic personal protection against assassination or terrorism.
And for it to shatter meant...
"You!"
The moment Jeongpal leaped to his feet, all emotion vanished from the doctor's face.
Poof!
White smoke erupted from the man's collar, instantly flooding the entire room.
"No...!"
Thud. The assemblyman collapsed to his knees. His detoxification artifact had already stopped working. The man in the doctor's coat swept a cold gaze over the room. Choi Panseok's eyes were half-closed, his body paralyzed. Jeongpal didn't look much better; he slumped against the sofa, unable to move.
"Urgh!"
Choi Panseok twitched desperately. He glared at the man, his eyes burning with intense malice. But the man ignored the silent curses radiating from the assemblyman. He merely stayed calm, confirming that all the obstacles were completely neutralized before finally setting to work.
The two orcs were barely holding onto consciousness, but the human, Choi Seona, had already fainted completely. The man removed the wires connected to her body.
Then, he began to chant a spell. He focused his mind and gathered his mana. A golden magic circle formed in midair. It was a Teleport.
He planned to take Choi Seona and escape as soon as the magic circle was completed. But in that crucial moment, just seconds away from his goal—
"Raaargh!"
With the speed of lightning, Jeongpal lunged at him!
"..."
The man, in the middle of weaving his complex magic circle, was horrified. His eyes widened. The detective who had been half-paralyzed moments ago was charging at him with full force. It seemed the magical gas hadn't affected him at all.
Crash!
"Argh!"
Jeongpal slammed into the man with a brutal body check. The magician coughed up blood. The spell, which had been on the verge of completion, shattered into pieces. The mana he had gathered fragmented inside him, tearing through his body like shards of glass.
The magician almost lost consciousness but gritted his teeth and held on.
'How is this possible?!'
As soon as he entered the room, he had triggered a countermeasure to neutralize all surrounding artifacts. The talisman the assemblyman carried was a precious item sold only to VVIPs by the Witch Cooperative, yet the magician had come thoroughly prepared to render even such an expensive Magic Tool useless.
Yet, it hadn't worked on this orc police officer?
'What the hell is he wearing?!'
The magician was completely baffled, but so was Jeongpal. The moment the gas flooded the room and the assemblyman went limp, Jeongpal realized that, for some reason, he was perfectly fine. It was bizarre.
However, he didn't immediately rush the magician. The moment the gas detonated, the enemy had instantly checked on the two orcs. Jeongpal knew exactly how spellcasters thought and operated. If he had attacked while the man was fully on guard, he would have been hit with a prepared offensive spell.
So, Jeongpal bided his time for a better opening.
He stalled by pretending to succumb to the paralyzing gas, only throwing himself forward the moment the magician committed to casting his Teleport.
"Ugh! You bastard...!"
The magician and the orc tangled together, rolling across the floor. Jeongpal had assumed that once the physical struggle began, he would easily overpower the man. Humans simply couldn't match the brute strength of an orc.
But that wasn't the case!
'This guy has specialized training!'
Resisting with venomous intensity, he was no ordinary magician. They tumbled back and forth in a fierce struggle.
Then, suddenly.
Boom!
"Argh!"
The magician had somehow managed to chant a spell amid the chaotic brawl, and a shockwave erupted between them. The detective was sent flying with a scream, tumbling across the floor with a groan. Seeing this, the magician's face contorted.
'I launched that to kill him!'
Because it was cast in haste, its power wasn't immense, but it should have been more than enough to obliterate an ordinary orc.
And yet, the orc had survived.
But the magician couldn't afford to stick around. They had already made far too much noise, and his mana was so tangled and chaotic that he couldn't cast another Teleport.
It was time for a change of plans.
"Tch!"
The magician threw off his doctor's coat, revealing a well-built physique underneath. He hoisted the assemblyman's daughter over his shoulder and began to chant another spell.
"I don't remember anything."
Assemblyman Choi Panseok's daughter, Choi Seona, had just regained consciousness, but her testimony remained consistent. No matter what she was asked, she simply repeated that she had no memory. Looking doubtful, Minjun pressed her again.
"Then what is the last thing you remember?"
"I spend every day at home, so all my memories just blur together. It's hard to pinpoint anything specific..."
She had been missing for several days before appearing in front of Kwak Do-chul, yet she claimed to have absolutely no memory of disappearing in the first place.
"Kwak Do-chul testified that you called him and threatened his life before you vanished."
"That's impossible. I don't remember that."
She shook her head, her eyes trembling as she asked.
"But... is he really dead?"
She wore a look of pure disbelief, acting as if she hadn't personally blown his head off.
"No, it can't be. How could I...!"
With that, she began to sob. Burying her face in her knees, she wept bitterly. Minjun felt a headache coming on.
'Still, isn't this a little too convenient?'
She couldn't even remember how she obtained the murder weapon, the Sword. Similarly, the troll who had been controlled by the Sword lost its memory from the moment it gripped the hilt. However, compared to the troll, far more of her memories were missing.
'What's the reason... for the difference between the troll and this woman?'
Choi Seona cried for quite some time before complaining to her father that she was having trouble breathing. The assemblyman immediately intervened.
"I apologize, but could you give us a moment? Seona is having a very hard time right now."
As the assemblyman patted his daughter to comfort her, Minjun and Jeongpal stepped away to whisper.
"What do you think?" Minjun asked.
Jeongpal, an orc detective with plenty of years in the violent crimes division, replied.
"It doesn't look like she's lying."
Minjun had also been watching her carefully during her testimony. No matter how hard someone tried to hide it, a liar always gave off tells. They might wrap their arms around themselves, part their lips slightly, tense their eyes, or show a brief contraction of their pupils.
But Choi Seona showed none of those signs. Not a single one.
If anything, that made her even more suspicious.
Her reaction was almost too textbook, a perfect example of someone claiming they weren't lying.
"It's too perfect."
Minjun stroked his chin skeptically before nodding as if a thought had occurred to him. He whispered to Jeongpal.
"Keep an eye on things here for a second. I need to grab something from the car."
Jeongpal had parked in the underground lot.
"Do you need to bring something up? I'll go get it."
"No, I have to get it myself."
"What do you need?"
"The Frying Pan."
Jeongpal let out a soft exclamation.
"Ah, right! We have that guy!"
It was a Magic Tool that claimed to be capable of scanning a sentient being's mind just below the surface level of their consciousness.
Minjun intended to use it to peer into Choi Seona's mind. Since he had set it so that no one else could touch it, he couldn't send Jeongpal in his place.
"Go ahead, then."
Shortly after Minjun left, the assemblyman picked up the phone and called for the medical staff. The door opened, and a doctor walked in. Unlike earlier, when several doctors and nurses had rushed in together, this time it was only one man who appeared to be the attending physician. They must have determined it wasn't an emergency.
The doctor shone a penlight into Seona's eyes to check her pupils. Then he asked a few questions, checked the monitor, and pretended to jot something down on his chart. Watching this, Jeongpal felt a sense of confusion.
'Do attending physicians handle charting themselves here? What a strange hospital.'
When the assemblyman asked about his daughter's condition, the doctor gave a brief reply. He said it was a psychological issue and that she simply needed rest.
It was a generic answer anyone could have given. But...
'Why did he come in alone?'
There was a reason Jeongpal felt something was wrong. In a situation like this, especially in a VIP ward, a doctor rarely entered alone. Furthermore, the man kept staring at the medical equipment, as if waiting for something.
'Was that machine meant to be stared at for so long?' Due to the nature of his work, Jeongpal had spent months hospitalized in the police hospital, so he quickly realized that the current situation was far from normal.
Right at that moment.
Crackle!
"W-what?!"
Choi Panseok panicked. Sparks flew from his chest as he shouted.
"..."
Jeongpal recognized the phenomenon. That was exactly what happened when a protective artifact lost its resistance and shattered. A high-society figure like Choi Panseok naturally wore defensive gear disguised as jewelry all over his body. It was basic personal protection against assassination or terrorism.
And for it to shatter meant...
"You!"
The moment Jeongpal leaped to his feet, all emotion vanished from the doctor's face.
Poof!
White smoke erupted from the man's collar, instantly flooding the entire room.
"No...!"
Thud. The assemblyman collapsed to his knees. His detoxification artifact had already stopped working. The man in the doctor's coat swept a cold gaze over the room. Choi Panseok's eyes were half-closed, his body paralyzed. Jeongpal didn't look much better; he slumped against the sofa, unable to move.
"Urgh!"
Choi Panseok twitched desperately. He glared at the man, his eyes burning with intense emotion. But the man ignored the silent curses radiating from the assemblyman. He merely stayed calm, confirming that all the obstacles were completely neutralized before finally setting to work.
The two orcs were barely holding onto consciousness, but the human, Choi Seona, had already fainted completely. The man removed the wires connected to her body.
Then, he began to chant a spell. Focusing his mind, he gathered his mana. A golden magic circle formed in midair. It was a Teleport.
He planned to take Choi Seona and escape as soon as the magic circle was completed. But in that moment, just seconds away from his goal—
"Raaargh!"
With the speed of lightning, Jeongpal lunged at him!
"..."
The man, in the middle of weaving his complex magic circle, was horrified. His eyes widened. The detective who had been half-paralyzed moments ago was charging at him with full force. It seemed the magical gas hadn't affected him at all.
Crash!
"Argh!"
Jeongpal slammed into the man with a body tackle. The magician coughed up blood. The spell, which had been on the verge of completion, shattered into pieces. The mana he had gathered fragmented inside him, tearing through his body like shards of glass.
The magician almost lost consciousness but barely held on.
'How is this possible?!'
As soon as he entered the room, he had triggered a countermeasure to neutralize all surrounding artifacts. The talisman the assemblyman carried was a precious item sold only to VVIPs by the Witch Cooperative, yet the magician had come thoroughly prepared to render even such an expensive Magic Tool useless.
Yet, it hadn't worked on this orc police officer?
'What the hell is he wearing?!'
The magician was completely baffled, but so was Jeongpal. The moment the gas flooded the room and the assemblyman went limp, Jeongpal realized that, for some reason, he was perfectly fine. It was bizarre.
However, he didn't immediately rush the magician. The moment the gas detonated, the enemy had instantly checked on the two orcs' conditions. Jeongpal knew exactly how spellcasters thought and operated. If he had attacked while the man was fully on guard, he would have been hit with a prepared offensive spell.
So, Jeongpal bided his time for a better opening.
He stalled by pretending to succumb to the paralyzing gas, only throwing himself forward the moment the magician committed to casting his Teleport.
"Ugh! You bastard...!"
The magician and the orc tangled together, rolling across the floor. Jeongpal had assumed that once the physical struggle began, he would easily overpower the man. Humans simply couldn't match the brute strength of an orc.
But that wasn't the case!
'This guy has specialized training!'
Resisting with venomous intensity, he was no ordinary magician. They tumbled back and forth in a fierce struggle.
Then.
Boom!
"Argh!"
A shockwave erupted between the orc and the magician, triggered by a spell chanted amid the chaotic brawl. The detective was sent flying with a scream, tumbling across the floor with a groan. Seeing this, the magician's face contorted.
'I launched that to kill him!'
Because it was cast in haste, its power wasn't immense, but it should have been more than enough to obliterate an ordinary orc.
And yet, the orc had survived.
But the magician couldn't afford to stick around. They had already made far too much noise, and his mana was so tangled and chaotic that he couldn't cast another Teleport.
It was time for a change of plans.
"Tch!"
The magician threw off his doctor's coat, revealing a well-built physique underneath. He hoisted the assemblyman's daughter over his shoulder and began to chant another spell.
Crash!
The windows of the VIP ward shattered into pieces. Carrying Choi Seona, the man leaped outside.
*
Just as Minjun had acknowledged, Yumtus was an outstanding priest, with almost no equal to be found on Earth.
As proof of his unrivaled abilities, he didn't require bizarre components or messy rituals to heal Choi Seona, unlike Joachim. Simply by overstimulating the pleasure-inducing chemicals in his brain and sinking into a deep meditation, he was able to manifest an incredible amount of Divine Power.
Currently, he was sitting on the rooftop, waiting for Minjun's next order. Despite having just unleashed enough miraculous Divine Power to revive someone who should have been dead, he hadn't collapsed from exhaustion. In fact, he still had energy to spare.
Crash!
'Hmm?!'
As he joyfully anticipated the avatar's command, a strange noise caught his ear.
The sound of breaking glass.
'What is happening?'
He looked down, only to see a human launching himself out of the hospital building. Furthermore, the woman slung over the man's shoulder looked very familiar.
'That woman!'
She was the very patient the avatar had explicitly ordered him to heal!
He didn't know the exact circumstances, but since the avatar had gone out of his way to command it, she must be a woman of utmost importance. And the situation unfolding before his eyes was definitely not normal.
'I cannot just let this pass!'
Acting on quick judgment, Yumtus unleashed his Divine Power.
Flash!
Power surged from his hands. Even in this urgent moment, he meticulously concealed the holy radiance.
The shockwave slammed directly into the fleeing man.
Suturing torn organs together could take a full day of surgery, but tearing them apart required barely a second. The application of Divine Power operated on a similar principle. Imbued with vicious intent, the force struck the magician instantly. It was healing power stripped of purpose and precision. It abnormally accelerated cell division, and the result...
"Ghk!"
The magician felt massive tumors sprouting from his own flesh. His balance was destroyed.
The swelling masses of flesh dragged him down with their heavy weight. At the same time, an unimaginable agony washed over him. Trained to endure pain, he desperately tried to hold on. However, merely retaining consciousness took everything he had.
Ultimately, his spell broke. The man plummeted toward the ground.
Thump!
Splat!
Because he fell with the tumors facing downwards, a grotesque scene was painted across the concrete. It looked exactly like a balloon filled with blood had been dropped and popped open.
"Urghhh!"
The magician immediately realized his mission had failed. He didn't hesitate to choose death. Due to the pain, he didn't even have time to chant a self-destruct spell. Just as he was about to bite down on a hidden poison capsule—
"..."
He felt a whip coil around his mangled body. It writhed like a living snake, completely binding him. The magician lost all control over his own limbs.
'N-no...!'
In his tilted view of the world from where he lay, he saw a gigantic shadow filling the space ahead. It was a boiling darkness that undulated as if possessing a will of its own.
It had stretched out like vines to wrap around Choi Seona. It must have snatched her right before they plummeted.
And walking forward with his back to that shadow was a man.
"...?!"
A man holding a Dagger in one hand, and a Frying Pan in the other.
Even in despair and pain, the magician couldn't understand it.
'A Frying Pan...?'
A combination whose meaning and purpose were hard to find.
But the moment his opponent drew close enough, the magician could no longer think of anything else.
Boiling rage seethed within the man's eyes. Seeing it, the magician felt genuine terror for the first time in a very long time.
He instinctively understood. Those eyes could only belong to someone of his own kind. The gaze of a person who had pushed his boiling anger to the limit and was now entirely prepared to express it with cruel, piercing precision. A heavy premonition filled his mind: the moment he was caught up in it, he would definitely end up begging for death.
Wrapped in darkness, the reaper-like man spoke.
"...You dare touch my evidence?"
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