109. Shock and Terror (7)
"I don't remember anything."
The testimony of Choi Seon-ah, the legislator's daughter who had regained consciousness, was consistent. No matter what was asked, she kept repeating that she didn't remember anything. Min-jun looked at her with suspicion and asked again.
"So, what's the last thing you remember?"
"I've been at home every day, so everything that comes to mind is pretty similar. It's hard to pinpoint anything specific."
She had been missing for days before reappearing in front of Kwak Do-chul, and she claimed she had no memory of hiding her whereabouts.
"Kwak Do-chul testified that he received death threats from you before you went missing."
"That can't be true. I don't remember anything."
She shook her head and asked with a trembling gaze.
"By the way… did that person really die?"
Despite having slit his own throat, she expressed disbelief that she had no memory of it.
"Surely, that can't be true. How could I…!"
Then she started sobbing uncontrollably, burying her face in her knees and crying deeply. Min-jun felt a headache coming on.
'Even so, this is too convenient.'
She claimed to have no recollection of how she obtained the weapon, a deadly sword. Similarly, the troll who had been controlled by the sword had lost all memory from the moment he held it. In comparison, Seon-ah had even more erased memories.
'What's the difference between the troll and this woman? What could be the reason?'
Choi Seon-ah continued to cry for a while and then appealed to her father, saying she was having trouble breathing. The legislator said:
"I'm sorry, but could you give us a moment? Seon-ah is in a lot of distress."
The legislator patted his daughter. Meanwhile, Min-jun and Jeong-pal whispered from a distance.
"How does it look?"
Jeong-pal, who had seen his fair share of criminal cases, said,
"It doesn't seem like a lie, though."
Listening to her testimony, Min-jun also scrutinized her carefully. Even with the best efforts to conceal it, there are always certain gestures that reveal lying—such as wrapping oneself up, slightly opening the mouth, showing tense eyes, or a brief dilation of the pupils.
Yet, none of these were observed in Choi Seon-ah. In fact, her response was so exemplary it was even more suspicious.
"It's too perfect."
Min-jun stroked his chin with a skeptical look, then seemed to have an idea and nodded. He whispered to Jeong-pal,
"Stay here and keep an eye on things. I need to step out for a bit."
Jeong-pal had parked the car in the underground parking lot.
"Do you need me to get something else? I can go."
"No, I need to go myself."
"What do you need?"
"A frying pan."
Jeong-pal was mildly surprised.
"Oh, that item."
He was referring to an artifact capable of scanning deeper than the surface consciousness of surrounding entities.
Min-jun planned to use it to inspect Choi Seon-ah's inner state. Since no one else was allowed to handle it, Jeong-pal was the only option available.
"Go ahead."
As soon as Min-jun left, the legislator picked up the phone and called for the medical staff. The door opened, and a doctor entered. Unlike the previous group of doctors and nurses who had rushed in, this time it was only one male doctor who appeared to be the attending physician. It seemed he judged there was no emergency.
The doctor shone a light into the pupils and began examining. He asked various questions, checked the monitor, and made a show of writing something on his chart. Jeong-pal was puzzled.
'Does the attending physician do the charting directly here? This is an unusual hospital.'
In response to the legislator's inquiry about his daughter's condition, the doctor gave a brief reply, suggesting it was a psychological issue and could be resolved with rest.
That was a standard answer anyone could give. But...
'Why did he come alone?'
Jeong-pal felt uneasy. In such situations, especially in a VIP room, it was unusual for a doctor to come alone. Moreover, the doctor was focused solely on the machine, as if waiting for something.
'Was that machine being examined for a long time?' Having spent months hospitalized in police hospitals due to his job, Jeong-pal realized the situation was abnormal.
At that moment.
Crackle!
"What, what's that?!"
Choi Pan-seok was startled. Sparks flew from his chest.
"...!"
Jeong-pal recognized the phenomenon. It was what happened when an artifact lost its resistance and broke down. For someone of Choi Pan-seok's upper-class status, it was common to be equipped with protective artifacts in various forms around the body. It was basic personal protection against assassination or terrorism.
The fact that it broke meant...
"You!"
The moment Jeong-pal stood up, the expression disappeared from the doctor's face.
Pop!
White smoke burst from the doctor's collar and quickly filled the room.
"No...!"
Thud, the legislator fell to his knees. The detoxifying artifact had already ceased functioning. The man in the doctor's coat surveyed with a cold gaze. Choi Pan-seok's eyes were half-closed, and he couldn't move properly. Jeong-pal was similarly incapacitated, leaning against the sofa, unable to stabilize himself.
"Ugh!"
Choi Pan-seok writhed desperately. His eyes glared at the man with intense emotion. The man, unaffected by the unspoken curse, calmly confirmed that the obstacles had been completely neutralized. Only then did he proceed with his task.
The two orcs were barely conscious, but the human, Choi Seon-ah, had already completely fainted. The man disconnected the lines connected to her body.
He then chanted an incantation, focusing his mind and gathering mana. A golden magical circle appeared in the air. It was a teleportation spell.
With only a few seconds remaining before completing the magic circle and escaping with Choi Seon-ah, suddenly—
"Kraaaa!"
Jeong-pal charged towards him at lightning speed!
"...!"
The man, who had been weaving the complex magical circle, was shocked. His eyes widened. The detective, who had been half-paralyzed just moments ago, was now charging with full force. The magical gas seemed ineffective against him.
Bang!
"Kraaaa!"
Jeong-pal rammed into the man with a headbutt. The magician spat blood. The spell, which had been almost complete, shattered into pieces. The gathered mana shattered inside his body like glass shards, piercing him.
The magician almost lost consciousness but managed to hold on.
'How is this possible?!'
He had taken thorough measures to disable all nearby artifacts as soon as he entered the room. The protective charm held by the legislator was a precious item sold only to VVIPs by the witch cooperative, and he had prepared to render even such an expensive artifact useless.
Yet, it didn't work on that orc police?
'What kind of protection is he wearing?'
While the magician couldn't understand, Jeong-pal was no different. As the gas filled the room and the legislator collapsed, Jeong-pal realized that he remained unaffected for some reason. It was an extraordinary situation.
But Jeong-pal did not immediately charge at the magician. The reason was that, upon releasing the gas, the magician had first assessed the condition of the two orcs. It was predictable how spellcasters think and act. If Jeong-pal attacked while the magician was that tense, other prepared offensive spells would likely have been unleashed.
So, Jeong-pal waited for a better timing.
Feigning the effects of the paralysis gas and stalling, he launched his attack just as the magician was preparing the teleportation spell.
"Ugh! This bastard…!"
The magician and the orcs tumbled on the floor, locked in a struggle. Jeong-pal's expectation that he could quickly overpower them once the physical fight began was off the mark. Humans were generally no match for orc strength.
However, it wasn't the case this time!
'He's a professionally trained individual!'
The magician, fighting with a poisonous resistance, was no ordinary mage. The combat continued, back and forth.
Then, amidst the chaos—
Boom!
"Argh!"
Even in the midst of the melee, a shockwave erupted between the orc and the magician as if a spell was cast. The detective was flung back with a scream, rolling on the floor and groaning. The magician's face contorted upon seeing this.
'I intended to kill him!'
Though the hastily cast spell wasn't very powerful, it was sufficient to handle a normal orc.
Yet, the detective survived.
But the magician could no longer afford to stay here. The noise had become too loud, and the mana was tangled, making it impossible to cast another teleportation spell.
Time for a change of plans.
"Tsk!"
The magician discarded his doctor's robe, revealing his solid physique. He lifted Choi Seon-ah and chanted another spell.
Crash!
The window of the VIP room shattered. With Choi Seon-ah in tow, the magician leapt out.
As Min-jun had already acknowledged, Yumtus was a superior priest, unparalleled on Earth.
Proving his extraordinary abilities, he had restored Choi Seon-ah without needing bizarre preparations or messy rituals like Yohime. His divine power was immense, simply from inducing a rush of brain chemicals that led to deep meditation.
He was seated on the rooftop, awaiting Min-jun's next instructions. Even after performing a near-miracle by reviving someone who should have been dead, he showed no signs of exhaustion or collapse. Instead, he remained quite composed.
Crash!
'Hmm?!'
He heard an unusual noise while eagerly awaiting the divine instructions.
The sound of breaking glass.
'What's happening?'
He looked down and saw a person flying out of the hospital building. The woman he was carrying looked familiar.
'That woman is!'
She was the patient whom the divine being had specifically commanded to be saved.
Though the exact reason was unclear, the divine command meant she was undoubtedly someone of great importance. And the situation unfolding before him was anything but ordinary.
'I can't just let this go!'
With swift judgment, Yumtus unleashed his divine power.
Whoosh!
A burst of energy emanated from his hand, radiating a sacred glow even in this tense moment.
The wave of energy struck the fleeing man directly.
While it might take a full day to stitch up torn organs, it only takes a second to rip them apart. The divine power operated in a similar manner. The brutal force of the divine energy hit the magician instantly. Its purpose and precision were lost on the recovery process. The accelerated cell division resulted in...
"Ugh!"
The magician felt a massive tumor growing from his body, disrupting his weight balance.
The expanding flesh dragged him down heavily. At the same time, immense pain surged through him. Despite his training to endure pain, he could only manage to stay conscious.
Ultimately, the spell was broken. The man fell to the ground.
Thud!
Bang!
The bizarre scene on the impact surface looked as though a balloon filled with blood had burst.
"Ugh!"
The magician realized he had failed his mission. He resigned himself to death without hesitation. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even cast a self-destruct spell. Just as he was about to bite down on his hidden poison.
"...!"
He felt whips wrapping around his ruined body. They squirmed like living snakes, binding him. The magician lost control over his body.
'No, this can't be...!'
In the tilted world as he lay, he saw a massive shadow filling his view. It was enormous, like a wave of dark, seething energy with a will of its own.
It stretched like vines, wrapping around Choi Seon-ah. It must have snatched her just before the fall.
A man was approaching with his back to the shadow.
"...?!"
He held a dagger in one hand and a frying pan in the other.
Even in his despair and pain, the magician could not understand.
'A frying pan...?'
A combination with no apparent meaning or purpose.
But once the man was close enough, the magician could no longer think of anything else.
The rage in the man's eyes was palpable. Seeing this, the magician felt a fear he hadn't experienced in a long time.
He instinctively realized. Those eyes could only be seen by someone of his own kind. The gaze of someone ready to express an overflowing rage with cruel and sharp precision. The sense that he would beg for death the moment he was ensnared filled his mind.
The man, walking like a grim reaper cloaked in darkness, spoke.
"...How dare you lay hands on my evidence?"
< 109. Shock and Terror (7) > End