The reasons for accepting the request were complex.
In less important order, Minjun wanted to find out exactly what kind of vampire Cathy's childhood friend was and thought it wouldn't be too bad to have a debt on the heir of a major conglomerate.
But the most important reason was Minjun's interest in finding the actual Dalant.
The next morning, Minjun went down to the bookstore on the first floor.
"An unusual family composition."
Lakefield adjusted his glasses as he watched the video shown by the shop owner.
"Half-Elf triplets? They seem to have a bit of an age difference for being artificially conceived twins."
Minjun asked.
"Will it take long?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. With such a unique family setup, we should find them quickly. Provided there isn't a barrier like the one the ancient dragon set up last time."
There was no one better than Lakefield when it came to locating someone.
And, after another day, the spirit summoned by the elf searched all over Korea and finally located the target Minjun had identified. This was a feat that would be impossible for spirits with either an excessively twisted or an overly strong ego.
Minjun felt the woman's identity, her outline, becoming clearer through Lakefield's words.
"We found the Half-Elves. However, they were with some kind of monster. It was a species with eight legs, but the spirit was scared and fled, so I didn't get a detailed description."
Lakefield, with a worried expression, asked.
"Are you going to rescue them?"
Minjun hesitated for a moment before replying.
"Something like that."
Lakefield seemed to accept this without further question.
"That's a relief."
It was clear that Lakefield believed Minjun would resolve the issue in some way and rescue those poor children.
Minjun left the bookstore and headed straight to a mixed-use building in Sangsudong.
'Unexpected.'
He hadn't anticipated that someone would stay in such a high-end apartment rather than in an orc community where illegal immigrants usually hide.
'It's true that many elves live here. So, it might be hard to spot if they blend in...'
Criminals avoided such places due to the dense coverage of CCTV cameras.
If she was the heir of the Mi-Cham family, she would likely have access to national CCTV servers to track the woman's whereabouts.
Moreover, considering the Auber Spider's ecology, it would have lured prey outside multiple times.
'Using invisibility magic here would probably cause a commotion due to the high-end building's security systems.'
The only reason Minjun could think of for not being followed by Mi-Cham was that she had transformed into someone else when going out.
A completely different appearance that was sufficient to evade Mi-Cham's tracking.
'So, she's polymorphing into a different form besides the pure-blood elf body?'
For ordinary species, this would be a very challenging and time-consuming task.
Creating a mental image of a transformation target more precisely than a 3D rendering is nearly impossible for those with average brains. Minjun had assigned the spell to Jenkins when transforming into a troll to invade the Celestial Nest for this reason.
'Creating even one type of prosthetic is hard for dragon-like species, but she can create different forms?'
Beeeep!
The location given by the spirit was the penthouse on the top floor of the apartment. As Minjun ascended in the elevator, he felt bizarre waves resonating in his head.
'This isn't magic, though?'
It wasn't the kind of mental energy magic represented by message spells.
It was a type that didn't require learning to use. A species that communicated through biological brainwaves was nearby.
As he approached the upper floors, Minjun sensed a strong odor. Finally, when he reached the penthouse door, he nearly clicked his tongue.
'Unbelievable.'
The door had a convincing barrier set up. It wasn't the kind sold by the Witch's Cooperative but was directly set up by a mage. It was likely designed by the spider inside.
However, the structure was quite peculiar.
'The spell itself is very basic. Nothing particularly advanced. But the craftsmanship of the design...'
To explain simply:
In most cases, if you want a result of 100 from a material of 1, you just multiply 1 by 100. That's high-level spellcraft.
But this barrier was designed to achieve a result of 100 by performing addition ninety-nine times in less than 0.1 seconds when the mage condensed their magic. Though a low-level spellcraft, its effect was similar to high-level spellcraft.
The problem was that such an operation would require the brain to perform calculations at speeds close to a CPU.
'Or the brain itself might be entirely dedicated to magical calculations.'
With that thought in mind, Minjun deactivated the barrier and entered.
As the door opened, he was almost overwhelmed by a terrible stench. It was an intense odor, likely a pheromone of another species that only Minjun could detect, which the other residents of the apartment would not notice.
Various species such as orcs, humans, Valiens, and elves were stuck to the walls in spider webs throughout the room. The corpses were mostly in a state of disintegration, covered in bite marks. From their skeletal remains, Minjun could tell they were all male.
Minjun made his way towards the source of the smell.
Crash!
The door was blown off its hinges.
=No!=
Upon seeing the scene in front of him, Minjun was stunned.
"!"
The corpses he had seen so far had all been used as food, and the testicles were apparently not recycled. The evidence was that the only children present were the three Half-Elf brothers.
In the meantime, they had grown at a rate far faster than in the video.
Their faces were all similar. It was easy to spot traces of Edward. And beyond their appearance, Minjun could sense something that bound them all together.
A sensation that transcended the five senses told him. These children were not normal.
From the eldest, who appeared to be able to express himself clearly in language, to the youngest, who was just starting to walk, they stood silently in the center of the room, staring at Minjun without uttering a word.
Their faces were devoid of any expression. Empty eyes that showed no emotion.
And behind them...
'What is that?'
It was a form that exuded clear malice from the 'creator.'
=How... how did you get here!=
This 'nest' was protected by a thorough physical barrier but had no defenses against spiritual intrusion.
Whether it was because the spell focused solely on luring prey and repelling predators, or if the creator had not thought that far ahead, it was unclear.
As a result, the owner of the nest was extremely flustered.
=Who are you!=
The overall shape of the entity exuding mental energy resembled a giant spider lying on its back.
But the surprising thing was that there were also distinct traces of other creatures.
'...Mixed?'
=Why, why isn't it working?=
In the damp air, the scent intensified. It was trying to lure Minjun, but it had no effect.
He observed the entity with a frozen gaze.
As the spirit had described, it had eight legs. But only five of them were properly functional. The remaining three were either bloated flower buds or remnants of an evolutionary process, looking flimsy and distorted.
The functioning legs had visible segments characteristic of arthropods, but their ends were adorned with claws. The covering was not the soft exoskeleton typical of spiders. Instead, it was a glossy black scale, each plate clearly distinguishable to the eye.
The most grotesque feature, however, was the face.
It was grotesquely distorted, as if hammered by a mallet. The left edge of the lip and the left eyebrow were crushed together, exposing the teeth and gums. Where there should have been nostrils, there were elongated, split, pinkish patches of flesh.
This did not seem to be a result of injury. It was clear that this was its original form.
The head, which looked like melted and wrinkled plastic, led Minjun to conclude the creature's origin based on the overall head shape and, most importantly, the horns protruding from it.
'...A dragon?'
Indeed.
The creature in front of him seemed like a result of a violent mixing of dragon and spider.
'Disgusting!'
Minjun felt a wave of revulsion upon seeing it.
'Who? How?'
Then Minjun focused on another fact.
'Wait... if this monster is also a type of dragon, and if someone intervened to create this result?'
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
He reflected on the bizarre events that had occurred around him recently. Some were related, while others seemed entirely separate, but he recalled them all.
'There's a common thread.'
One: A dragon developed a virus to kill other dragons.
Two: A group appeared to steal that virus from the dragon's lair.
Three: A dragon attempted to kidnap another dragon to possess the dragon's spirit to save another dragon.
Four: A grotesque creature, a mix of dragon and alien, was discovered.
'This is too much of a coincidence.'
There was one keyword that connected all these incidents.
Dragon.
'What on earth is happening?'
As he pondered with a grim expression, the spider-dragon, or dragon-spider, desperately emitted mental energy. It was a frantic outburst after realizing that it couldn't lure Minjun.
=Protect me! Children! Protect me!=
The desperate cries were close to a tortured scream, a result of the exhausted mind. The combat abilities of the 'soldier' type creatures, who were less than ten days old, were not sufficient to overcome the current situation.
Screeeech!
The queen spider's mental energy resonated, and the soldiers charged at Minjun at various speeds.
Regardless of what species' blood was mixed in, they were still human intelligence, and more importantly, they were children who hadn't even reached their second birthday. Though they approached like brainwashed beings, Minjun couldn't bring himself to kill them.
Minjun cursed and spat.
"...!"
Powerful anti-magic resistance not typically found in ordinary Half-Elves repelled his spells, despite their bodies lacking any visible artifacts.
Minjun immediately switched his method of suppression. Shadows emerged from his feet, flowing across the floor and taking the shape of vine-like tendrils that ensnared the children.
Immediately after, he was struck with chills once again. The shadow whips bound the children tightly, but none of the three cried out.
As he fully subdued the children, Minjun understood why the monster lay still instead of retaliating.
Fwoosh!
From the rear of the upside-down spider, a soft, translucent sphere oozed out along with slime.
It was an egg.
As it fell to the ground, the outer membrane burst, revealing the body of a wet, newborn Half-Elf child.
The fourth child.
At the moment Minjun broke through the door, the monster had been in the process of birthing another soldier.
The newly born child opened its eyes clearly. It did not flail its limbs or cry.
Calm and silent eyes.
'Who created such a hybrid?'
Minjun felt confused.
He had no intention of killing the monster immediately. But how would he subdue it?
Curses were ineffective. It was like fighting a dragon. So he would need to use a method similar to how he captured Edelriness.
The problem was that such a 'dragon' did not exist in Minjun's memory. It couldn't be categorized as a fire dragon like Jenkins or a thunder dragon like the Celestial Nest.
Thus, the most troublesome issue was this: He had no knowledge of how to determine how far he could tear it apart before it would die.
It was absurd.
'A dragon I don't know about!'
Even he, recognized as the top butcher in the region after his master passed away two hundred years ago, couldn't grasp it.
He was angry.
He directed his misplaced fury at someone who wasn't even present.
'So, they should at least do some proper breeding! If such a freak is born and starts spreading, it's people like me who have to clean up the mess!'
Ironically, Minjun, who prided himself on having killed more dragons than anyone else, considered himself the greatest lover of dragons. No one else on this planet would kill dragons on as grand a scale as he did. Therefore, if such a disgusting and abominable dragon were to freely intermingle with livestock, lay eggs, and roam around, the likelihood of him being affected by it...
'Wait, what?'
Minjun barely pulled himself out of his deepening concentration.
'What am I thinking?'
With labored breaths, Minjun returned to the mindset of a prisoner. He recalled the mindset of someone captured and used that perspective.
He reconsidered a realistic method for capturing the creature.
Pushing aside the disordered memories.
'Since I can't discern the anatomy, I can't just tamper with the head.'
He might end up crushing the brain instead of targeting the area responsible for magic.
'So if I'm to capture it, this is the only way!'
Once the decision was made, his hands moved swiftly.
Seething black vapor spread out.
=Kyaaaaaa!=
The monster was prepared to sacrifice even the children it had birthed if necessary. It counterattacked with the intention of destroying its nest and unleashed basic spells. Not every creature births offspring solely for spreading DNA. From the beginning, those children were mere tools for the monster's intimidation, lacking reproductive functions. They were disposable sentinels and workers.
However, the monster's spells were all nullified by Minjun. The prisoner even managed to recover the newly born baby amidst the chaos by using shadows.
Only after that did Minjun finally cast aside the flickering darkness with a blade-like sharpness.
=Kyaaaaaa!=
The monster's eight legs, whether functional or just remnants, were all severed and pulled out. It finally ceased its resistance, fell to the ground, and began to bleed.
'Got it.'
It was truly an unpleasant task.
Minjun was unsure whether his foul mood was due to the monster's grotesque form, the flood of unexpected old memories, or the faces of the children bound in shadows, staring at him with blank expressions.
Then, after a brief silence.
Squeeeeak...
The brainwaves controlling the children ceased.
At that moment.
"...Uuaaaang!"
The youngest child, who had just been born today, finally burst into tears. And that cry spread sequentially to the other boys born at three-day intervals.
Thus, the four boys, who had held back their first cries until now, began to wail long and loud, as if determined to release all the emotion they had been holding back.