The memory manipulation had worked properly. Ian looked down at her, limbs blown off and writhing, then knelt down nearby. Mariang smiled sheepishly without showing any caution even though he had approached her openly.
“My arms and legs…… are gone. Did I overdo it again and end up like this?”
“You don’t remember why they were cut off?”
“Yes…… I remember fighting some monster last, but beyond that……”
Mariang waggled her stumps around as she spoke.
It seemed the memory manipulation hadn’t been performed meticulously enough. Well, it was information he already knew, so he didn’t particularly regret it.
Ian tapped the cover of the grimoire with his finger and pondered Mariang’s disposition.
*Incorporating her as an ally is fine, but I have no intention of growing attached. She’s not even a mage completed as a human, and there’s no reason to embrace a woman with whom I have a personal grudge while shouldering the risk.*
To Ian, Mariang was useful but inessential. It was good to be able to extract information and obtain one-sided loyalty, but there wasn’t enough benefit to keep her around all the time. For now, leaving her be and calling her when needed was the best method.
There was a limit to dragging her around every time too. Rather than taking Mariang, whose face was fairly well-known, it was better to call Cecilia, and even better than that to call creatures from the outer sea.
*For now, it’s best to let her continue operating as Laplace while using her as a mole.*
Ian, having organized his thoughts, nodded and looked down at Mariang’s bright blue eyes.
“You simply lost while fighting a monster, and I just saved you.”
“……As expected of Master. You saved me again.”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, how long do you think regeneration will take?”
“Hmm……”
Mariang rolled her eyes around as if thinking, then answered carefully.
“Roughly three days……? I think it’ll take about that long.”
“……That takes too long.”
“I’m sorry…… I did receive transplanted werewolf bones, but since the bones were completely blown away, recovery is inevitably delayed……”
Werewolf.
A supernatural entity born in Europe just like vampires, called werewolves in Eastern countries including Korea.
Their characteristics were tough skin, growing stronger the more they bled, and regenerative abilities. But no matter how much mystical bone with regenerative abilities was transplanted, it couldn’t help but be less efficient than Cecilia, who had possessed regenerative abilities from birth.
Of course, Cecilia’s regeneration also required various conditions, but its speed was outstanding nonetheless. It was almost rude to compare her to Mariang. The current Mariang was nothing more than dead weight.
*I suppose it’s fortunate she’s at least light because she has no limbs. No, if she’d had limbs in the first place, she wouldn’t be dead weight.*
Ian let out a deep sigh and grabbed Mariang’s collar.
“I’m dragging you. Endure the scraping.”
“Ah, yes. ……Ugh……”
Drag, drag.
Ian dragged Mariang out of the ruins. Blood trickled from the bubbling severed sections, and her skin was torn by stone dust and glass shards. But Mariang only let out suppressed groans, not struggling.
The sky outside the ruins was still bright. Glass shards scattered inside the collapsed building reflected sunlight, scattering glittering light in all directions.
Compared to when civilization was still intact, the absolute amount of light was lacking, yet this scenery was beautiful all the same.
“.........”
Whoooosh.
Wind, shattered into fine pieces by colliding with buildings, blew strongly with a sharp sound. Ian left his fluttering hair as it was and turned his head toward the Cycler sitting in the middle of the road.
At the Cycler’s feet lay dozens of Reptilian corpses that hadn’t been visible before, torn to shreds. It seemed they had rushed over hearing the commotion, and the Cycler had handled them on its own.
There were almost no intact corpses. Given the Cycler’s fighting style, it was only natural.
Well, he had no particular complaints. For Reptilians, he only needed to harvest a few corpses. As he planned to simplify and store them using re-creation magic, it didn’t matter if the corpses were somewhat damaged. Ian approached the Cycler with a faint smile as it chewed on a Reptilian with loud crunches.
[……Krrk!]
The Cycler spotted him and tossed aside the corpse it was chewing. Ian stroked its foreleg.
“Good job. They suddenly attacked, right?”
[Krrk!]
“Yeah. Let’s load this on top. Help me.”
The Cycler nodded, hooked its claws onto Mariang’s clothes, and violently flicked her onto its back. Mariang rolled a few times on its bumpy back and gasped for breath.
She had probably landed with her chest compressed slightly. Ian climbed onto the Cycler’s back, paying it no mind.
“You okay?”
“Y-yes…… I’m fine…… *cough*……”
“Then that’s fine.”
Ian fixed Mariang’s body in place with blood vessels as before, sat on the Cycler’s back, and loosened his stiff shoulders and wrists. Perhaps because he had cleaned too vigorously, his joints ached slightly.
*Now I suppose I should deal with the Reptilians.*
Since he had exterminated the cultists first, it was now time to exterminate the lizards according to the original plan. Though he couldn’t eliminate all Reptilians on Earth, he intended to kill at least all those in Incheon.
Of course, it was work he didn’t necessarily have to do. Escaping was simply a matter of passing through the mirror, and once the Matron made a contract with a demon, there would be no more business here……
But anyway, there was nothing worthwhile to do until the Matron arrived. It was better to fill the Cycler’s belly than to simply kill time.
Ian settled into a comfortable posture and patted the Cycler’s back.
“Shall we go eat?”
[Krrruk!]
The Cycler cried out happily.
*
[Damned successor of Solomon!]
Hrrrrngh!
A small horse running through the city roared toward the sky.
The Grand Duke of Hell characterized by black hide and a red mane. Gamigin, ranked 4th among Solomon’s 72 demons, glared at the two women riding on his back and stamped on the ground.
[I answered your summons not merely to serve as a steed! I can teach you culture, necromancy and evocation! But what is this! Riding! Treating a demon like a horse! What in the world do you take me for!]
“An excellent means of transportation. Be quiet and just run fast.”
Eunha coldly retorted and pulled the chain. When the golden chain wrapped around Gamigin’s neck like reins was pulled, he ground his teeth and increased his speed even more.
[I am Gamigin, the Grand Duke of Hell!]
Gamigin, a count of Hell who would lightly devour a village upon being summoned.
As one of Solomon’s 72 demons, he was also closely watched by the Vatican, but unfortunately, the Lemegeton was a grimoire that gave superiority over all demons. To Eunha, the rank of Grand Duke meant nothing.
“Turn right here. Do it properly. You’re shaking me.”
[Puhihihihing!]
Gamigin performed a splendid drift on the broken road following Eunha’s command. Drowned souls flowing from his shadow assisted the sharp curve.
“U-uwaaaah……! I-isn’t this too f-fast……?!”
Yuna shouted, gripping Gamigin’s mane tightly. Eunha answered nonchalantly.
“This is rather slow. Roughly…… about 200 kilometers per hour, I think.”
“T-that’s fast……! I can barely hear anything……!”
“I can hear fine. I’m the contractor. And you should be able to hear fairly well too. I’m assisting you a lot with magic. Just endure it.”
“Eeeek……!”
Yuna weakly tapped Eunha’s shoulder with one hand. Eunha lightly ignored her somewhat petulant gesture and took out a national map she had scavenged, unfolding it.
The map was not in very good condition. But it was sufficient to roughly check locations. She took out a pentagram made of gold from her bosom and held it under the map.
“As I seek to preach Your will, please grant this blind one the sight of all.”
As she chanted the spell, the pentagram glowed and created a golden dot on the map.
It was a Catholic-system spell also called the Divine Compass. Since it could be used in any space, it was fairly useful.
[G-g-g-gih! I sense divine mana……! Put that away, you rotten wench……!]
Gamigin shouted, seemingly displeased by Solomon’s magic. Eunha snorted.
“Stop saying weird things and keep running. We need to turn left here.”
[Horses are not creatures that can run for long……!]
“You’re not a horse, you’re a demon. Stop whining and run.”
[Only calling me a demon when it’s convenient for you, you crazy bitch……! Just like Solomon……!]
Gamigin showered her with compliments and raised his speed even further. Yuna screamed shrilly, and Eunha’s expression hardened coldly as she saw Incheon, which they were finally entering. The broken mirror she had packed rattled in her bag, but she paid it no heed and gripped the map tightly.
*Where are you, Ian?*
The last place she had seen him was a road in Incheon, now in ruins.
At the time, he hadn’t appeared injured, but that might have changed with the considerable time that had passed. She needed to find him as quickly as possible.
“Please be safe……”
The moment Eunha muttered that and switched from the national map to a map of Incheon.
Kwaaaaaang!!
A massive explosion suddenly resounded from inside the city. The earth shook from the impact, and along with a dusty wind, the upper section of a large building flew and embedded itself in the ground.
“Ugh……!”
Stone dust burst from the shattered ground, and a shockwave erupted. Eunha squinted and checked the building debris that had flown in.
It was packed with finely shredded Reptilian corpses. Bodies cruelly burst, torn, and dismembered. They lay dead with expressions consumed by terror, never having even closed their eyes.
Needless to say, in a world where the supernatural did not exist and which had already perished, there was nothing capable of catching and killing Reptilians. Therefore, it was obvious who had done such a thing without even needing to wonder.
“Ian……!”
The moment Eunha muttered that without thinking, a beastly roar was heard from where the building debris had come.
A massive howl that sounded somewhat like a wolf’s.
Eunha immediately grabbed Gamigin’s chain and shouted.
“Run quickly toward where that sound is coming from!”
[I sense an extremely ominous energy……]
“Hurry!”
[Alright, alright. You damn bitch. Here I go.]
Gamigin grumbled and stamped on the ground.