Chapter 136

“Oh! Found it!!”

At his shout, Woojin hurriedly turned his head.

“The Dragon Knight’s equipment! Right?”

Juter ran excitedly toward the black armor and sword hanging on one wall. Woojin, who was supposed to be the one looking for them, let out a quiet sigh.

‘Where’s that Black Opus thing?’

“Come here!! Hurry!!”

Juter drew the sword from its sheath.

SHING!

The blue blade that emerged radiated an incredible sharpness visible to the naked eye.

“Wow! Now I’m starting to want this!”

“... What do you think you’re doing?”

“This thing’s made of blue phosphorus. You really are lucky! Who knew something like this was still around?”

“Blue phosphorus? What’s that?”

“What else? Something damn rare.”

“...”

Juter began snickering, amused by his own words.

‘Trying to talk to a lunatic is exhausting.’

Pressing hard at his temples, Woojin held out a hand to Juter.

“If you’re done looking, how about handing it over?”

He didn’t know what blue phosphorus was, but having a weapon in that bastard’s hands was unsettling.

“Oh, of course, of course. I should.”

Yet as Juter nodded, he drove the sword into the floor.

BOOM!!

“Guard this.”

At his command, the Dragonfang Soldiers following them moved to block access to the sword.

“... What are you doing?”

Woojin frowned at the unexpected move.

“Sorry. This is actually my first time seeing the Dragon Knight’s equipment, too. I had no idea it would be made of blue phosphorus.”

Juter grinned.

“This is seriously dangerous stuff, you know? I’m just saying we should keep it here for a little while.”

“What kind of bullshit is this? Didn’t we agree not to interfere with what the other person takes?”

“You really don’t know what blue phosphorus is, do you? Well, I suppose that’s only natural for a little kid.”

“You crazy... We’re about the same age.”

Juter had been alive in the game, too. Woojin knew the bastard had lived well over a hundred years, but he feigned ignorance as he growled at him.

“Hehehe. The same age? How cute.”

Apparently pleased with Woojin’s reaction, Juter laughed and poked him repeatedly in the side.

“All right, let’s be friends, then. Listen carefully, my friend. Equipment made from blue phosphorus...”

Juter smoothly raised his index finger toward the sword.

THUD.

Astonishingly, before his finger even touched the blade, it was severed and fell to the floor.

“It can cut without making contact.”

CRUNCH.

He popped the fallen finger into his mouth, chewed it vigorously, and swallowed.

CRACK... CRACKLE...

Then new flesh began sprouting from his severed finger, like a lizard regrowing its tail.

“You’re more astonishing than the sword.”

Woojin could only stare in disbelief as the man’s body regenerated in real time.

“Hehehe. Actually, that’s the reaction I was hoping for.”

Juter waggled his newly regrown finger in front of Woojin as he answered.

“How do you get blue phosphorus?”

“Hmm... There are plenty of theories... but the most likely one is that it’s the shell of a Rift Stone.”

“A Rift Stone’s shell...?”

“An enormous rift opens when a dungeon forms. Once the dungeon is complete, the Rift Stone’s shell joins the split edges of that rift together. You follow?”

Woojin nodded.

“A dungeon is another space. For a new space called a dungeon to form within the space we’re in now...”

Juter held his palms apart, then brought them together.

“It’s the same as two different worlds being joined together.”

Looking at Woojin, he continued in a meaningful tone.

“That creates a subspace between them. A double-edged sword that can suck everything in—or spit everything out.”

“And that’s blue phosphorus.”

“Exactly. In short, that blade is surrounded by an invisible subspace.”

Juter reached toward the sword again.

WHOOSH...!!

Unlike the first time, when his finger had been severed and fallen to the floor, his index finger was torn away as though something had sucked it in.

“Did you see? You saw that, right? Amazing, isn’t it?”

Juter sucked at his torn-off finger stump and exclaimed with a child’s excitement.

“Getting it cut off is one thing... but what are you going to do about the finger that got sucked in?”

“Oh? This?”

Juter wiggled the stump as if it were nothing.

HUMMMM.

Then he reached into the pouch at his waist and rummaged around as though searching for something.

“Here it is.”

His pouch apparently wasn’t ordinary, but a subspace pouch: out came a severed arm far too large to fit inside it.

SLICE.

He cut a finger off the long arm, hastily smeared it with saliva, and pressed it against his own stump.

CRACK... CRACKLE...

The finger cut from the corpse began knitting itself onto his.

“Well? Isn’t this even more amazing?”

He asked Woojin proudly.

‘... You monstrous bastard.’

Woojin couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.

“Impressive.”

“Hehehe.”

Juter rose, his body bouncing with excitement.

“Anyway, that thing’s much too dangerous. So I’m just asking you to wait a little. You can do that much for me, can’t you, friend?”

“... All right.”

Woojin glanced at the Dragon Knight’s sword embedded in the floor. He’d never had a choice to begin with. Even if he refused, getting past the Dragonfang Soldiers guarding it to pull it free would be no easy task.

“Good, good. I knew you’d understand!”

Juter pushed Woojin along by the back, shouting,

“Now that we’ve found yours, my friend, let’s find mine!!”

The two headed farther into the treasury.

‘... No Dragonfang Soldiers.’

Did he trust Woojin? Or was he underestimating him?

Juter had ordered every Dragonfang Soldier that had accompanied them inside to guard the sword. Now it was just the two of them.

STEP. STEP.

Only their footsteps could be heard, yet an inexplicable tension hung in the air.

“There’s something I’m curious about,” Woojin said, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“What are you going to do once you find this Black Opus thing?”

“Why? Are you interested in alchemy, too?”

“Not particularly... It’s not just alchemy. I have questions about all sorts of things in this world, but I haven’t had anyone to ask.”

“Anyone to ask? That’s strange. Isn’t one of your companions an elf who’s lived longer than a human?”

“She is my companion. That’s why I can’t ask.”

“You can’t ask because she’s your companion? You’re an odd one.”

Juter tilted his head.

‘I don’t know what might happen to someone who tells me about the other world, so I have to ask someone who can die for all I care.’

Woojin smiled as if it were nothing.

“Found it!!”

At that moment, Juter shouted and ran toward the back of the treasury.

HUMMMM...

An elaborately worked formula adorned the treasury’s rear wall. Overcome with emotion, Juter not only caressed the array but even kissed it.

“This is it... This is it...! The thing I’ve wanted so desperately to find!!!”

Juter shouted, his eyes sparkling.

“... Now that you’ve found it, I’d like to leave.”

“No, no! You can’t leave.”

“Why?”

“You asked earlier, remember? What I’d do once I found the formula.”

Juter grinned.

“What would an alchemist do with an alchemical formula? Experiment, of course.”

“... What?”

SNAP.

At that moment, Juter bit his thumb. Red blood welled from the torn skin, and he pressed his thumb firmly against the array on the wall.

“You need a test subject to run an experiment, my friend.”

The magic circle began radiating a brilliant light.

[ROOOOAAAR!!!]

Something like a monster’s howl began sounding from within the array.

The circular array divided into seven sections like a roulette wheel, and they began lighting up one after another. Had this been the game, perhaps messages like these would have appeared.

[Juter Boas casts Black Opus.]

▶ The transmutation circle activates.

▶ One of five effects manifests.

▶ Manipulation, Growth, Debilitation, Revival, Death.

[Black Opus - Debilitation takes effect.]

▶ The effect applies to all beings that come into contact with the creation.

▶ Reduces vitality.

▶ Weakens the mind.

▶ Weakens various physical abilities.

...

An endless list of effects. It was more formidable than any curse, yet Juter frowned in dissatisfaction.

“No. No.”

CRUNCH.

He pulled the arm he had cut a finger from out of his pouch and shoved it into the array.

[SKREEEEE!!!]

A grotesque sound came from within.

RUMBLE...

He kept taking things out of his pouch and pushing them in, as though feeding it.

Severed arms, monster flesh, a charred-black skull, a foul-smelling plant...

As he crammed in all manner of things Woojin had never seen before, the array’s red glow astonishingly began to change color.

An ominous black.

Surely, in the game, he would have heard this explanation:

[Black Opus - Death takes effect.]

But even without it, this time he understood perfectly well.

[SKREEEEEE!!!!]

For a black shape had begun surging out of the array with a grotesque scream.

“... Setsuna!!!!”

Woojin shouted at that instant.

WHOOSH!!!

Setsuna, who had been hiding against his chest, flew toward the array with all her might.

“Hehehe.”

But Juter made no attempt to stop her, as though he had already anticipated Woojin’s move.

“Oh, there’s one thing I forgot to mention. The test subject? It’s not you. You’re just here to watch.”

“What?”

“You’re just a human. What use would I have for something like that?”

Woojin realized his mistake. The bastard had been after Setsuna from the very beginning.

WHOOSH!!

At that moment, an arrow flew in and struck Juter squarely in the forehead.

“... Ghk?”

He staggered and toppled backward.

BOOM!!

KABOOM!!!

At the same time, fireballs rained down on him.

“Ow, ow, ow...”

Juter sprang to his feet with the arrow still lodged in his head. His skin was scorched black, but he looked at Ruen and Irurin as though nothing had happened.

“What are you two doing?”

SHLUK.

He pulled the arrow from his head as though he felt no pain.

No—pain wasn’t even the issue here. He had survived an arrow through the head.

That inexplicable sense of wrongness Woojin had felt when they first met him—this was why.

He was no longer human.

He was a monster that wouldn’t die.

“Raaagh!!”

Woojin swung his sword at him.

“Ugh.”

Juter reached into his pouch. Woojin didn’t know what he would pull out, but he had to stop him, no matter what.

WHOOSH!!

Woojin used Sprint.

When Juter withdrew his hand from the pouch, it held a blue liquid resembling [Malfran Juice].

“Damn it!!!”

Woojin reached out, but fell just short.

Only half a step.

One corner of Juter’s mouth rose grotesquely, as though mocking him.

“I suppose you’ll all just have to die.”

GULP.

The instant the liquid passed down his throat—

SHUNK!!!!

A sword burst through his Adam’s apple.

“... Huh?”

Blue liquid dripped down the blade.

“Die yourself, you fucking moron.”

Goun yanked the embedded sword sideways, spitting out the words held back until now.

THUD.

Juter’s head fell to the floor.