Ep.31: Chapter 31 — Favored by The Outer God

The night was chilly, mist curling over the river like pale smoke.

From the streets, warning broadcasts urged caution for nighttime travel, while sirens announcing Gate appearances wailed faintly in the distance.

Even so, the park along the Han River, lit by the glow of the Blue Tower, still bustled with clusters of people.

Some were jogging, others cooked instant ramen by portable stoves, and a few Awakened laughed as they tossed choco pies to wandering shades of the dead.

I blended naturally among them, crouched by the riverbank with both hands submerged in the cold water.

Ripples spread across the surface, drawing a few shades closer. They circled me, perhaps expecting food—but then abruptly recoiled, eyes wide, before vanishing into the dark depths.

I was watching the water churn like a writhing salmon when I sensed someone behind me.

“Raise both hands and step away from the water. Now.”

A spear’s icy tip glinted in the water’s reflection, leveled at my throat before I could react.

The chatter of the Awakened and even the Blue Tower’s glow seemed to vanish, leaving only the chill in that voice ringing in my ear.

Slowly, I pulled my hands from the river and rose to my feet.

But the spearpoint never wavered, poised perfectly to pierce my throat and heart at once.

“Don’t even think about diving in. Corpses are supposed to be buried in the mountains, not the river.”

“Shouldn’t you at least introduce yourself to a civilian? Judging from your stance, you’re Special Unit, aren’t you?”

“I don’t give my name to suspicious individuals. Not in times like these.”

“You’re fast. I didn’t think you’d arrive this quickly.”

Her masked face was strangely familiar.

If she was running a classified mission against criminal groups, then she had to be Division 2.

And few Awakened spear users wielded such skill.

I suddenly remembered—the “Spear of Thunderclouds” Kang Ha-neul had a younger sibling.

“The faint current running along your spear… that movement, almost like an instant god-strike. Are you perhaps the ‘Spear of Thunder’ from Division 2?”

“If you know me, then you must also know there’s no escaping once I’ve found you.”

“Escaping isn’t on my mind. I’m just glad to meet you.”

Spear of Thunder—Kang Nabi.

Alongside No Yeon-hwa and Alexei, she was one of this year’s most talked-about recruits.

I wanted to tell her we were from the same class, but unfortunately, I had nothing on me to prove I belonged to the Special Unit.

And she wouldn’t care either way. On duty, she’d never lower her guard just because of words.

“You… are far too suspicious. State your name and affiliation.”

“Curious about who I am?”

“What were you doing just now? The water level spiked where you were standing.”

“If you want, I could show you directly.”

I shifted a step, dipping my damp sleeve back toward the water.

In that instant, Nabi twirled her spear.

A thunderclap cracked across the river, and a burning pain seared through my neck.

The blade had already kissed my throat. A thin line of blood gleamed along its edge.

“Tch.”

My neatly severed vertebra could no longer hold my heavy head. Gravity pulled it down.

The world spun in crimson spirals before plunging into perfect black.

The last thing I heard was her calm voice.

“I warned you to step away from the water.”

And with that—I died.

“He’s dead.”

“…?”

“I wanted to talk a bit longer, but she didn’t hesitate to cut him down. Given the situation, she must be on edge.”

I confirmed the link to my tentacle had snapped, then sat up.

The 60th Tentacle, Tentacle of Replication.

A clone I could control from afar—but flimsy, easy to destroy in a single strike.

Still, this was far from what I’d expected after boldly declaring myself to Ha Yeri earlier.

I rubbed at the phantom warmth along my neck and muttered:

“Why, though? I doubt any report was filed.”

“Su—?”

Then my Outer God, Mala-nim offered her opinion.

It was just a single hissed syllable with a lisped consonant, but as a devout believer who, every Wednesday on “no-leftovers day” at the cafeteria, stuffed all the bell peppers and carrots up my sleeves, I could interpret the will behind it well enough.

She meant: “Because you looked suspicious?”

“Me? In what way, exactly?”

It was a dark night; I had only pulled on a black robe and mask, stepped into a no-entry zone by the water, and dipped both hands into the river.

Aside from that, I merely happened to know the Special Unit officer’s division and name—hardly grounds for suspicion.

At worst, there was the minor charge that I hadn’t followed her orders. I couldn’t see why that made me the criminal here.

“Well, I have plenty of other clones elsewhere, so it’s fine. And even if I’d explained, the result wouldn’t have changed.”

“Why—?”

“Because what I’m doing runs directly counter to the Special Unit’s classified operation. In short, you could call it a deliberate provocation of a flood.”

I took out the mission plan and reread a line I’d memorized before leaving the lab.

The “dead” here didn’t have to be human.

If a certain quantity of corpses was all it took to trigger a deluge, then I just needed to fill that quota with things that were, effectively, nothing.

And in the Demon Realm, the most trivial, least threatening creature of all was the “tentacle.”

Of course, if I summoned the tentacles I’d personally named, it would be a disaster in the literal sense.

What I had released into the Han River earlier were merely ordinary tentacles.

“It feels silly for me to say this, but one big volley from the Firepower Support Unit’s grand-scale magic would clean this up neatly.”

A Seed of Calamity couldn’t send the dead back indefinitely.

If I forced multiple artificial surges, its strength would wane, and we could push all the way to the center.

The Counterintelligence Unit hadn’t realized that yet; they were on high alert, scrambling to lower the rising water level—but they were already too late.

My other clones scattered along the Han were shoving countless tentacles into the current.

Carried downstream, the tentacles would hit the sluice and, the instant they touched seawater, dissipate—spiking the water level in a blink.

The sight of that countless mass of tentacles swimming alongside the shades was almost beautiful—like pink river dolphins swimming upstream in the Amazon.

“Then we wait, and when it’s time, we go fetch it. Star Scar.”

I gazed down at the peaceful river, all preparations complete—when another unwelcome presence stirred behind me.

“S-Stop. Right now.”

I’d known an incident of this scale would draw attention, but this was faster than expected.

Which division was it this time?

I really didn’t want any more unnecessary friction with the Special Unit.

I was about to prep an escape with the 98th Tentacle when someone cloaked in black cloth approached.

“This time, you’ve crossed the line. Pa—Patel!”

And instead of what I expected, the intruder blurted out a completely unexpected name.

Patel.

That dear name traced back to my very first mission with No Yeon-hwa.

It was what we called the senior black mage from the Black Tower—the mentor who taught a fumbling rookie like me so much.

He had gone on ahead due to an “unfortunate accident,” but his legacy still lived on deep in my chest.

Even so, to mistake me for my senior?

The only similarities were that I wore a black robe like a black mage might, that I could wield Black Magic…

…and that I happened to be wearing the same mask Patel used in his basement.

“How dare you try to flood the sea on your own, without the Council’s approval? Overstepping your station as a black mage, aren’t you!”

“The Council?”

“Playing dumb? You received an invitation from that Aldrick fellow!”

Invitation?

I recalled the item I’d received during my last outing with Mala-nim—the one pressed into my hand by a mysterious figure outside the supermarket.

Now the pieces were starting to fit together.

I didn’t know the details, but these people must have been part of a criminal group trying to recruit me.

The “Council” wasn’t on the list Ha Yeri had given me, but this could be a good chance to wipe them out anyway.

I was just about to wordlessly slam an Extreme Magic into the intruder’s skull when a small, black childlike hand lifted and pointed at Mala-nim beside me.

“To think you’d grow arrogant just because you managed to leave behind the husk of an Incarnation…! Had you offered the sacrifice properly, our Lord would have descended upon this land by now!”

“Our Lord…?”

Incarnation. And words hinting at someone even higher.

Neither sounded like something a petty gang member would say.

The way she spoke, as if she knew Patel had tried to summon an Archduke through the Revelation cultists in Ground Zero, made me pause. I drew back the magic.

A sudden thought struck me about this one’s true identity.

“Your Lord… don’t tell me you mean ‘the Hooves of the Statue’?”

“Y-You lunatic! The Lord is not someone a wretch like you has the right to name!”

The outstretched hand reeked of sulfur.

Beneath her ragged cloth, I glimpsed the clawed feet and tail of some black beast.

And her yellow pupils, set in sclera as black as ink—no mistaking it. Demon eyes.

From her reaction, it was clear—this one was a servant of Gamigin, the fourth-ranked Archduke, the very being Patel had once tried to summon.

Normally I’d just say, “A demon? Then die,” and finish it in one blow.

But from her, I smelled opportunity.

A chance to slip inside this so-called Council.

“Yeah. I’m Patel.”

“Of course. When I couldn’t reach you, I thought you’d died in Sector 4. Where have you been all this time…?”

“By the way, what was your name again?”

“Wh-What? You’ve forgotten the very name of the one who first guided you down the path of magic?”

For demons, a name was like an Awakened’s epithet—it declared the essence of their being.

Carved into them from the moment they first stood on the barren earth, never erased.

To lower demons, hearing their name spoken lightly by someone else was an insult.

As expected, she hesitated, then her eyes gleamed as she declared:

“Velada.”

“Vela?”

“That’s all you need to know. More importantly, how long do you plan to ignore the Council’s summons?”

Hmm. Not a name I had stored away.

Judging from appearances, she wasn’t particularly strong. Nothing to worry about for now.

The only thing that caught my eye was her horn.

Or rather—the fact that one of the two, the hallmark of any demon’s brow, had snapped off, leaving an ugly stump.

“I was planning to go anyway.”

“Hmph. Don’t even think about running off midway. Your fate will be decided tonight.”

“My fate decided?”

“For trying to flood the Sea of Decay! Even aside from that half-baked Incarnation you brought forth, punishment awaits you.”

“Grrr—”

At being called “half-baked,” Mala-nim ground her teeth in fury.

Velada was talking about the egg left behind after Patel’s death—what she mistook for an empty husk of an Incarnation.

She had no idea that Mala-nim had devoured it, used the Star Scar, and forged a body of her own. To her, it was just a shell without an owner.

No wonder she confused me with Patel.

There couldn’t possibly be two black mages in Korea both walking around with an Incarnation in tow.

“Follow me. If we dawdle, pests will swarm.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What’s with the sudden politeness? Have you finally grown up?”

“Lead the way. I’ll grant you the honor of my presence.”

“…That’s more like you.”

I lowered my voice, adjusted my mask, and followed after her.

31 — Chapter 31