Masquerade (1)
The corners of Hesperon’s eyes twitched as he watched the situation unfold in real time through the senses connected to Ken.
‘Masquerade?’
A group of uninvited guests had barged into the gathering of the Burning Torch.
It was because of the exceedingly familiar name that had suddenly spilled from their mouths.
“That’s definitely…”
A name he had—more precisely, Heinz had—uttered exactly once.
Right after encountering Doctor, one of the highest-ranking members of the Beoncheonhoe, in Europe, he had casually tossed out the name of a fictional organization before disposing of him.
It was a name he had made up half for fun, and he had never spoken it aloud anywhere since.
‘But if they know that…’
It meant that Doctor, whom he had killed on-site, had not died completely, but had revived and succeeded in passing the relevant information on to the Beoncheonhoe.
…Of course, he had expected that might have been the case.
‘Hah, it doesn’t really change anything at this point. Something I’d assumed as a hypothesis has simply been proven true. More importantly, the problem right now is those bastards.’
His attention, which had briefly wandered elsewhere, focused once more on the intruders.
Not only the “Mimic,” who wore the Führer’s appearance like a mask, but also the six figures who had joined him.
As if proving that this was a trap they had prepared deliberately to target him, every single one of them was exuding a powerful aura.
‘Looks like they really came prepared, huh? Ken isn’t exactly weak no matter where he goes, but there isn’t a single one of them below him. And that guy over there seems to be the demon they call the Executioner…’
Hesperon unconsciously frowned as he confirmed the man standing silently at the very back, his hood pulled low over his head, yet radiating a presence that overwhelmed all the others.
An existence that even Ken’s fully matured senses could not properly gauge.
There was no need to spell out what that meant.
‘…This won’t be easy.’
And while Hesperon was briefly lost in thought, their conversation continued.
***
“Huh? Are you playing dumb, you bastard? We already know everything! We know they’re behind you!”
“No, that’s not it. I really have never heard of it before… Hmm, is that so? So that was the name.”
“…What?”
A hollow-headed man shouted as if barking at him, his face twisted in a scowl, while Ken calmly nodded as if he understood.
When Ken muttered that it was a more plausible organization name than he had expected, the Beoncheonhoe group finally seemed to realize he wasn’t lying, and looks of disbelief spread across their faces.
At their level, discerning the truth within someone’s words was not particularly difficult, which only made the situation even more absurd.
“What the hell? So you’re saying you didn’t even know the name of the organization you belonged to…”
The Southeast Asia branch chief of the Beoncheonhoe trailed off awkwardly, as though something about this was wrong.
If those words were true, then he wasn’t even at a level that could simply be dismissed as a mere underling.
Outsourced? A contractor? Part-time labor?
Whatever one called him, it did not change the fact that he fell far short of their original target.
Naturally, it was not strange that resentment seeped into the voice of the man who had suffered so much for this operation that he had sacrificed what little remained of his hair follicles.
However…
In truth, there were others present who had far more reason to explode with rage.
“—Masquerade or whatever, I don’t give a damn.”
From the center of the Burning Torch executives, who had at some point withdrawn and clustered tightly together, a woman’s voice forced its way out like a growl.
A single sentence steeped in dense emotion, as if she were chewing up and spitting out anger she had been desperately suppressing.
“I asked you—what happened to the Führer, to Frey—!”
Along with An’s shout, a ferocious momentum surged up from where they were gathered, as though it might explode.
At that, the “Mimic,” who had been watching Ken intently with his arms crossed, turned his head and directed the Führer’s face toward them.
“Haa.”
Then a short sigh slipped out.
On their side, bubbling rage had taken form and burned hot, but not even the slightest trace of emotion toward it appeared on the middle-aged man’s face.
As though a lion were looking down at a puppy barking right in front of its nose.
“Do you really need me to say it aloud for you to understand? How utterly stupid.”
“What…? You bastard…!”
“There is only one thing I can tell you about him.”
Immediately after those words ended,
A change came over his face, which had remained expressionless the entire time since his identity had been exposed.
Every muscle in his face twisted as though spasming, and an eerie, grotesque smile surfaced, enough to send chills down one’s spine.
And from the mouth of the Mimic bearing that distorted grin flowed a voice tinged with laughter and a strange heat.
“—Thank you for the meal.”
“…!”
The words were spoken as he stroked his stomach with one hand.
For an instant, a heavy silence swept over the surroundings.
But that silence did not last long.
“…You bastard!”
“How dare you!”
“I’ll kill you—!”
Considering that even An, who had exchanged telepathic messages with him several times beforehand, had noticed nothing strange until meeting him in person, it was in fact only natural.
That would have been impossible unless he possessed everything that had made up the Führer exactly as it was.
But even so, when something they had only suspected came upon them as reality, it could not help but cut all the deeper.
“Frey… khh!”
He had been the leader who founded the Burning Torch and guided them until now, their spiritual pillar, and, personally, An’s close friend as well.
Yet to someone already under enormous stress from his derailed plans, the anger of such victims felt only like delicious prey.
“Well, well? You lot ran away with your tails between your legs while Freddy stayed behind to buy you time, and now you’re pretending to worry about him? Khuhut! This is so absurd I can’t help but laugh!”
As though the timing were perfect, the Southeast Asia branch chief, who had clashed with them countless times before, stepped forward and sneered.
“He was certainly an impressive bastard. Our plans failed more than once because of him. He had already succeeded in escaping from us several times, so I suppose he must have had confidence.”
The branch chief shrugged as he praised his opponent as if acknowledging him.
But the ridicule lingering at the corners of his mouth made it abundantly clear that his words did not come from goodwill.
“If there was one misfortune for him, it was that he just so happened to be the leader of incompetent fools like you. Now, look! In the end, this is what happened to him, isn’t it? Ah~ it really was hilarious. That bastard never gave up until the very end, but when he was on the verge of death, he fell into despair and…”
“Shut your mouth! Viper! The Führer is not someone who can be insulted by a wretch like you, who never once managed to defeat him!”
The branch chief, who had been gleefully running his mouth, was cut off by a furious shout from the other side.
As though they had touched a reverse scale he had secretly been sensitive about.
After a brief silence, he opened his mouth again in a voice that had sunk lower.
“…Hoo, fine. The one left standing at the end is the final victor anyway. And allow me to correct one thing. This body is not a viper. I am Nagaraja.”
“Hah! Nagaraja, my ass. Viper suits you perfectly, you low-down, shameless son of a bitch.”
“Kpuhuhu… Good. Very good. Let us see how long that spirit of yours lasts.”
The space began to tremble under the momentum boiling up from both sides.
Because one side had resolved itself for death, it appeared at first glance to be an even clash between dragon and tiger, but in truth, the difference in strength was so vast that this exchange itself should not even have been possible.
‘…Ah, this is beyond the level where guts can do anything, isn’t it? The moment they clash, they’ll be wiped out in an instant.’
Ken, who had finally learned the name of the organization he belonged to thanks to the enemy,
analyzed the situation calmly with a frown, being the most objective person present.
In terms of sheer numbers, their side had the advantage, but in the current situation, that indicator had little meaning.
‘There are six beings on the Burning Torch side who have crossed the wall. Since they aren’t demons like me, I can’t be certain, but roughly speaking, two marquis-class and four count-class, perhaps?’
Even then, An and Malpi, who seemed to possess the highest standing among them, appeared to be far from combat types.
If he were to measure their actual combat power, he should consider them six count-class fighters.
‘It can’t be helped. I heard many combat-type transcendents were sacrificed in the process of shaking off pursuit.’
On the other hand, the Beoncheonhoe side numbered only seven in total, but every last one of them was at least marquis-class.
Nagaraja, the branch chief, even seemed to be duke-class, and the demon called the Executioner was at a level even Ken could not properly measure.
In reality, even if he joined the fight, the scales of victory and defeat had already tilted so far that nothing could be done.
‘…This is hopeless. Forget helping them—I’ll have trouble just keeping myself alive. I need to get out of here immediately.’
Right now, he had been summoned to Earth through some kind of method.
As long as the summoning could be canceled, he should have been able to return to the Demon Realm at any time… or so it should have been…
His body, which had been furtively gauging the situation, froze in place.
‘Huh? What? Don’t tell me?’
Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation, his eyebrows trembled.
Just then, there was one other person who let out a gasp for the same reason as Ken.
“Ugh! Why? Why is everything else working, but the spatial blockade alone won’t release…?”
It was Malpi, the one who had constructed this secret space.
She squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate and tried connecting again.
However, no matter how many appropriate administrator privileges she presented, the firmly shut space had no intention of opening, like a broken electronic door lock.
Even if she had actively used auxiliary magic tools to reduce the burden on the caster as much as possible, this was by no means an ordinary situation for someone like her, who prided herself on having mastered this field.
“Kuhuhu, trying to run away now is useless. This space has already been completely sealed. We put in some effort to make sure we could hunt down the Masquerade bastards.”
Since their escape methods had gotten the better of him several times already, he had truly gone to tremendous lengths to prepare this time.
Nagaraja, who seemed to have noticed her reaction, continued with a sneer and glared at Ken with eyes tinged faintly with irritation.
His entire demeanor reeked of annoyance, as if to say that after all that effort, the only thing they had caught was this small fry.
-Hey! Employer! At this rate, I’m really going to die! Hurry up and do something! Or just send me back!
But Ken had no room to complain about the unfair treatment.
He was busy communicating nonstop with the source of all this trouble, the one who had shoved him into the current situation, in order to find some way out.
Fortunately, even though the space had been sealed, there was no problem communicating through the “Chains of Covenant.”
-Hmm, I see. Their words seem to be true. The summoning cancellation function has been completely blocked. How on earth did they do it? Phenomenon fixation? A reversal of cause and effect?
-Don’t just admire it! I’m going to die at this rate! Seriously! Do you think those bastards are going to leave me alone?
-Of course they won’t. They’ll probably squeeze your soul dry for information until they hit the limit, then disassemble you from head to toe and strip out every last bit they can recycle, won’t they?
-If you know that, then do something!
These were bastards who could arbitrarily control even a space made by someone else’s abilities.
They even had a demon on their side, so half-baked tricks would not work.
Hesperon knew that as well, so he could no longer afford to drag his feet.
-Can’t be helped. Then endure it for just a little while.
-…What? What is it? What are you planning to do that sounds so ominouuugh… Kek!
Ken’s body began to convulse. Through the “Chains of Covenant,” which had been embedded deep within his mental landscape before he knew it, an enormous energy began to flow backward into him.
‘Ghk! Th-this is…!’
The curse that had once tried to swallow him whole, and a branch of energy split off from this very body.
It was rushing into him with tremendous force.
As though trying to fill the deficiency in the existence called Ken by any means necessary.
With the help of Hesperon’s many skills, Ken temporarily achieved unity of qi (氣) and body (體), and his rank began to soar toward lofty heights.
“…Oh? You’re doing something interesting.”
Since his aura was rising so openly, naturally, the others had no choice but to notice the change.
Among them, the man who had been standing quietly at the very rear of the Beoncheonhoe group without saying a word reacted particularly strongly.
“I’ve seen demons from other places a few times before… This is quite interesting.”
“…Hey?”
“That one’s mine.”
Despite Nagaraja’s cautious call, the hooded man—the Executioner—paid him no mind and said only what he wanted to say.
At that, Nagaraja slowly closed his eyes, took a light breath, and opened his mouth as gently as he could.
“You know, don’t you? That guy is one of Masquerade’s lackeys. I’ll admit what he says isn’t entirely trustworthy, but as long as it’s certain he has a connection to them, you know we need to capture him as intact as possible and wring out everything he knows—”
“Get in my way and I’ll kill you.”
“…Fine. Do as you like.”
And at the curt reply that came back, he quickly gave up.
There was nothing he could do when that living nuclear bomb reacted like this.
Unless the Society Master or Oracle stepped forward personally, there was probably no one who could bend that man’s will.
“Then we’ll be cleaning up those small fry, so please don’t kill him, all right? As long as he’s still breathing, we can try something.”
“I’ll make an effort.”
The Executioner spoke in a voice that inspired no confidence whatsoever, even tinged with laughter, and began trudging forward.
Toward the prey that would entertain him, after he had spent such dull days ever since taking down the Generalissimo.
Craaaack—!
The next moment, his appearance changed completely.
Jet-black scales sprouted all over his body, and his frame swelled to over three meters. Four sharp horns jutted upward, a pair of bat wings spread wide, and a long tail, its tip as keen as a spearhead, lashed like a whip.
The great demon bared saw-like teeth and grinned.
[Let’s see just how much fun you can give me.]
Since inheriting a demon’s karma—an overall record of 9,986 battles, 9,977 wins, and 9 losses.
Aside from the 9 losses where he had challenged the Beoncheonhoe Master whenever he had the chance and been smashed to pieces, he had won every single fight.
The strongest fighter of Beoncheonhoe—the Executioner—laughed savagely and lunged at the otherworldly demon that had just raised its head.
***
A secret space filled with machines on every side.
‘I did strengthen Ken as much as I could for now, but…’
Sitting in the armchair at the center, Hesperon stared blankly at his right arm, the bandages now removed.
Even with all the avatars working together under the lead of the dwarf Howard, they still needed more time to complete the sealing sphere.
That was how absurdly overwhelming the power dwelling within this arm was for someone at his level to handle.
‘…Still, it’ll be hard for him to beat that thing with just that.’
At best, it was a stopgap measure.
He had not truly crossed the wall; he had merely used every trick available to force in a strengthening agent, so of course there were limits.
Not only was the power incomplete, but it likely would not last very long either.
“Still, it should be enough to buy time.”
Hesperon rose from his seat and twisted his arms and legs this way and that, loosening a body gone stiff from lying around all day.
‘Now, then.’
Then he slowly closed his eyes and checked the condition of his other avatars.
“Let’s send in some real reinforcements.”
Reinforcements who would properly reveal themselves to the world—
And serve as the opening declaration of “Masquerade.”