Episode 395

The quickest one to come to his senses was surprisingly Jisal. He moved faster than anyone else and removed Obi, who was dangling from the ceiling. Then he did the most useless thing possible in this situation: He checked for a pulse.

"D-dead." Jisal stated the obvious.

For those who had been denying reality just a moment ago, this single action was a good stimulus.

Larsen exclaimed, "R-really? No, how—"

Jisal gritted his teeth and muttered in a low voice, "How should I know that?"

Normally, Larsen would've realized that his superior was in a bad mood and kept his mouth shut. However, in his panic, he kept talking. "There is no way the vice principal would've taken his own life. Could it be that someone faked this? L-look at this! There is a scratch on his neck and dried blood under his fingernails! It is proof that he struggled until his airway was blocked—"

Jisal snapped, "Hey, you idiot! Is this your first time seeing a suicide? Don't you know that when someone hangs themselves, their hands thrash until they die?"

"Ah..." Larsen's face turned red and he fell silent.

Then complaints came from the other guards.

"Shit... What is going on so early in the morning?"

"W-what should we do now?"

"First of all, what should we do with Vice Principal Obi?"

Jisal couldn't take it any longer and shouted sharply, "Report it first, you idiots! Someone, hurry to headquarters and report what happened! Just in case, take the vice principal to the infirmary! Try CPR or whatever it takes. Then I..."

His voice lowered a bit as he concluded, "I need to look around here a bit more."

I looked at Jisal. Ever since the other day, I'd realized this lazy, fat-looking man was surprisingly capable. Sometimes there were such people. They were the type to scratch their stomachs without motivation in a peaceful environment, but would demonstrate hidden abilities when faced with extreme situations or crises.

I asked, "Can I check the body for a moment?"

Jisal replied, "Why the body?"

"Maybe it isn't Vice Principal Obi."

"What nonsense are you saying? Anyone can see that it is the vice principal's face."

"You never know. If this is a murder disguised as a suicide, someone might've used another corpse or puppet as a stand-in."

"How can there be such a finely crafted puppet? Sigh. Forget it. It's up to you." Jisal waved his hands as if he thought it was troublesome to persuade me and started searching the room.

Meanwhile, I checked Obi's body. In truth, I didn't have the discerning eye to distinguish between a person and a puppet. The only way I had to identify a finely crafted puppet was the method Leone had taught me at the academy—checking the breathing.

However, a person who was already dead didn't breathe, so that method couldn't be used. Maybe an autopsy could reveal something, but I couldn't dissect a corpse on the spot for many reasons.

Fortunately, I had a way to tell if this corpse was the real Obi or not. I looked at his wounds. However, I wasn't checking the neck, swollen and red from the pressure of the rope. Instead, I looked at the places I had beaten him yesterday. I carefully checked the inside of his cheek, his abdomen, his buttocks, and his thighs before finally sighing.

It is Obi, I concluded. I naturally knew the traces I'd created.

This wasn't a puppet or a stand-in. It was no doubt the Obi I'd met and talked to yesterday. So all that remained was to determine whether this was suicide or homicide.

At that moment, Jisal muttered in a low voice as if he had discovered something. "This..."

I asked, "What did you find?"

"A will... Well, I don't know if it should be called that. There's only one sentence written on it."

I received the note from Jisal. It contained only three words: God will die.

It was definitely too short to be a will. It felt like some kind of dying message.

"God will die... What kind of nonsense is that? He didn't even believe in religion," Jisal muttered in confusion.

Actually, Obi was a religious person. He belonged to the Dark Church and was even a priest.

I thought about the message. The wording was something that could be left by a disappointed person defeated by the storms in the world, who had lost the ability to live any longer and taken his own life. But no matter how I thought about it, that didn't match the behavior of the church's members.

—The gods can't die. They can only be forgotten. Bah. What an unpleasant fellow.

The lingering will contained inside the Black Dragon Fang grumbled.

I naturally thought of what happened at Sandstorm Hill. If we hadn't stopped by that place, Vulcanus would've been abandoned by his believers and forgotten, just like the rest of the thirteen dragon kings.

Then maybe this was a warning, a sign that all the remaining followers were doomed to die.

Jisal suddenly said, "He organized the documents until the end. He even stamped everything. That is very like the vice principal. However, he skipped one."

I asked, "What do you mean?"

"This one." Jisal handed over a document. "This is the transfer case I mentioned before. Gustav was to be moved to the top floor."

"What happened there?"

"What do you mean, what happened? He was transferred in the end. It was a decision from above, so even the vice principal couldn't influence it. I heard the transfer finished at dawn today, so he is probably on the top floor now."

At dawn, I was supposed to have met Obi.

Jisal and I pondered the situation for a while. Then the door swung open and a guard entered.

Jisal was shocked to see that it was one of the guards he had given orders to earlier. He asked the guard, "Why did you come back? Go to headquarters and report."

The guard replied, "T-that... Something is wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"The front door won't open."

"What nonsense is that?"

"It isn't nonsense! The main door, which we could enter and exit freely yesterday, won't open now. It is as if someone has glued it shut! Five guards pushed it but it wouldn't budge."

The moment Jisal frowned, I suggested, "Then I will give it a try."

***

I slammed the Black Dragon Fang against the old iron door. Naturally, the blade had been infused with mana to form concentrated sword energy.

Baaang!

The entire tower shook violently as if an earthquake had struck.

"Hah..." I panted.

There wasn't a single mark on the iron door, despite the fact that there were sword scars around me.

I was also a bit confused. To put it in a somewhat exaggerated manner, normally the door would've shattered without much difficulty after being attacked by the Black Dragon Fang. Right now, it felt as if the strike hadn't landed properly.

It wasn't that the destructive power was lacking, though. For some reason, I felt like it was impossible to break this door with physical force.

I wondered what would happen if I took the form of Luan and used the White Sun Eclipse. I had no way of knowing without trying it, but even if the door broke, the shock would bring the whole tower down.

Jisal asked, "Have you checked the other doors as well?"

The guard replied, "Y-yes. It is the same for the side doors and windows. They won't break even when I swing a hammer at them."

"What the hell is this..." Jisal muttered. He thought about it for a moment before bringing up something very important. "So when was the last time the door was opened?"

"Uh... I-I need to check the records of the communication crystals first."

"Let's go to the monitoring room."

We immediately headed to the monitoring room and checked the records.

Jisal flipped through the communication crystal records and frowned. He said, "Wait. It was around 5 a.m. when the door last opened."

A man whose entire body was restrained was visible on the paused screen.

Jisal muttered, "Gustav... The front door could still open until this guy was transferred."

I finally saw Gustav. The culprit who had dragged me to this labor ground in the desert.

First of all, he wasn't wearing a straitjacket as I had been told. I could tell the reason for that right away: There was probably no straitjacket that could fit his body. He was practically a solid lump of flesh.

He had to weigh at least 350 or 400 kilograms, or perhaps even more. Such a weight was more comparable to that of a beast than a human. In any case, he was incredibly heavy and massive, so he was carried in via a cage on wheels.

Jisal concluded. "In other words, the punishment building has been isolated since he entered."

The guard asked, "How is that possible? It is just one prisoner. His whole body is restrained and he is helpless..."

At that point, I spoke up and presented a new possibility to the guards. "Maybe he is a church member."

Jisal repeated, "A church member?"

"That's right. I have been in a situation like this before while wandering the world."

"Hm." Jisal narrowed his eyes. "I learned a bit about Gustav earlier while searching the vice principal's office. It is said that he is the head of an organization and can stop even the crying of a child. He must've dabbled in a lot of illegal things. So his being a church member isn't strange at all. The only concern is that to use a spell of this scale, there are usually conditions that need to be met, including the need for specialized tools."

"That's right," I said. What he'd pointed out was the part I was most puzzled about. It was impossible for a priest to exercise this level of power at will.

"Ah...!" At that moment, Larsen let out a strange cry. Naturally, all eyes shifted in his direction.

Jisal asked, "What is it? Why are you doing that all of a sudden?"

"T-that... The person in charge of feeding the prisoners on the top floor today is me. I had completely forgotten until now. Ahaha..."

Jisal's expression distorted when he heard those absurd words. He said, "Ah, you little brat. Is it time to feed the prisoners?"

"I-I am on duty, right?"

"Yes. You are really good and sincere."

"Hahaha..." Larsen let out a low laugh. "T-then I will give them the food as quickly as possible."

"What nonsense! Just stay here. It isn't the time to worry about the prisoners."

"Huh? N-no." Larsen refused.

"What?"

"That isn't allowed. I have to feed them. I also need to clean the confinement rooms. I have to clean them, check how tightly the restraints are fitted, and make sure there is nothing wrong with the other devices."

"Have you gone mad? Come back to your senses, you crazy bastard. Do you think we're serving VIPs? Don't talk nonsense and just stay still—"

Suddenly, Larsen screamed like a madman and drew a dagger from somewhere. "I have to feed them!"

"W-what?"

"Is he really crazy?"

Those nearby were startled and surrounded Larsen, but he wildly swung the dagger as if to threaten them. He yelled, "G-get out of the way! Out of the way! I need to feed them! I have to give them food! Give them food!"

I finally realized that Larsen's eyes, attitude, and facial expressions weren't normal. His eyes were glazed as if he had taken some kind of drug. His whole body trembled like a leaf in the wind.

It was only now that Jisal let go of his stubborn attitude. "Hey. Calm down for now, Larsen. Something is wrong with you."

Larsen said, "I-I don't know about that. I, I have to feed him..."

Jisal saw this and gulped. He said, "I understand. Alright. Feed them as much as you want. I will leave it to you. Understood?"

"Ha, haha...! Yes! Yes! Thank you! I've got it!" Larsen smiled widely and nodded. Then before anyone could say anything else, he rushed out of the monitoring room.

Jisal said, "Follow the communication crystals according to the path he is moving."

A guard replied, "U-understood."

I fixed my gaze on the screen, watching as Larsen ran down the hallway. He didn't head to the kitchen but went straight to the top floor. It was strange. If he wanted to feed them, why didn't he grab some food?

That question was answered when Larsen reached the top floor. He headed straight toward Gustav, who had just arrived on the top floor.

"Haha! I'm here!"

I wondered what was so amusing.

Larson smiled brightly as he approached Gustav and removed the muzzle. Gustav wasn't surprised or confused. He smacked his lips a few times. Then he opened his jaw as wide as it could go.

Crack.

It was a bizarre sight. Gustav's jawbone fell almost to his abdomen, stretching in a way that was impossible for humans. However, that wasn't as shocking as the scene that occurred immediately afterward.

"T-that crazy guy!"

"What is he doing?"

Larsen stuck his head into Gustav's open mouth.

"Did I enter properly? I entered well! It is good to chew, right? Is it okay? Haha! Enjoy your meal!"

Snap.

Gustav's jaw closed and Larsen's head was crushed like a watermelon. Half of the screen was covered in blood that had splattered on the communication crystal.

Crunch, crunch.

I heard the sound of bones being chewed along with a mixture of brain matter and flesh.

One of the guards couldn't stand it and vomited on the spot. He must've seen all types of things working at the labor camp, but I figured he couldn't stand the sight of a person he knew being eaten alive.

"T-three meals a day! It is truly... a fine human custom...!"

The chains that bound Gustav's body shattered. As the guards stiffened, Gustav stopped moving. He showed no signs of leaving the confinement cell. He sat down on the spot, looked at the communication crystal, and spoke to us.

"D-do you understand now? M-meals... if you don't send them on time... I will eat all of you...! I'm going to binge...! Oho, ohuhuhu..."

My fists clenched tightly. For some reason, I had a feeling that the sun had vanished from the sky even though it couldn't be seen inside the tower.

Contagious madness was one of the precursors of a demon king's descent that I had once experienced.

No, this wasn't a precursor. Maybe the demon king had already been summoned. The way Gustav spoke was in a tone very similar to the monster in my memory.

It shouldn't have been possible, but I somehow felt like our eyes had met.