Episode 130

Torso’s fusion ability was not magic that created something out of nothing.

‘It’s a kind of recycling-like concept.’

Kang Tae-min got rid of countless chimeras along with his alter ego, and realized when he saw the chimeras that returned.

At first glance, it seemed to form randomly, but he had shape memory ability.

Thanks to this, he remembered all the body parts of the chimera, and noticed that the same body was formed into another chimera.

‘So, the material used for recycling must be denatured with water both in blood and flesh.’

It was not enough to simply tear, cut and mash. It was just an act of changing form.

To this, he harbored poison.

“No, no, no… !”

“This cannot be one… !”

The chimeras started screaming.

The artifact, ‘Venom Kanine’ replaces mana with toxin. And all the alter egos created by Kang Tae-min are made of metal parts he formed with mana.

In other words, the existence of his alter egos was as good as poison.

‘The effect is good.’

The clones didn’t even have to attack separately.

With each step they took, the pink mucous membrane turned black and warped. The bodies of the chimeras that had attacked to absorb the alter egos were tattered and tattered.

A clot of dark red discolored blood fell to the floor with a muddy sound. As before, the mucous membrane absorbed it.

“We are gone… ”

“I disappear… !”

The body parts of the reappeared Chimera were still in a state of decay. The chimeras were frightened and tried to get away from the clones.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t deny it?”

“Why are you running away?”

This time, the alter egos did not let go of the chimera. It split the body of the escaping Chimera and rather entered the interior.

The chimeras, rotting from the inside and collapsing, changed their lives.

‘It won’t take long.’

The Black Iron Man Corps advanced, covered in blood and flesh. Everywhere was stained with death.

Kang Tae-min calmly watched the scene.

* * *

The barrier area of the torso was rapidly shrinking. The rotted area did not change even if it was fused again.

The chimeras were gathered in one place like cornered rats.

“To become one.”

“What’s bad… !”

“Don’t hate me.”

“Don’t abandon me.”

The moline chimeras fused with each other again. Dozens or hundreds of heads and body organs were entangled and wriggling.

“My mother abandoned me.”

“Dad left me too.”

“My lover used me.”

“I just hated being alone!”

Torso protested as if he was unfair. However, it did not work for Kang Tae-min.

“therefore?”

The clones split the flesh. Taemin Kang looked at the howling torso and continued.

“The world has made me this way, because I am not loved. What, do you want to talk about that?”

He didn’t like that kind of storytelling. It was because I had seen a lot of things the villains did to get their sentences commuted during the trial.

“Evil is not made that way.”

The light shining through the helmet visor became clearer. Kang Tae-min took the rip-and-tear and headed towards the center of the Chimera.

Even inside the cracked flesh, parts of the body that could not protrude were wriggling.

“Everything is a result of your choices.”

Is there only one person in the world who has been abandoned by someone in a situation like the torso?

If Torso was right, all of them would have to forcefully try to be with someone else.

But the reality is not.

“Sah, save me… !”

“I don’t want to die!”

“aaa… !”

“please please… ! I will do anything!”

Torso’s heads screamed evil. Naturally, Taemin Kang tried to ignore him.

The end was now approaching.

However, he had no choice but to stop for a moment.

“Head, let me tell you something about the head!”

It was something the original torso would not have said. But as she was driven to death, the longing of the countless soul fragments that had fused with her surfaced again.

With the sound of a slap, there was not much of the body of the torso remaining between the pieces of flesh.

It was a level that could be eliminated with a single step or gesture.

“… Where is Head hiding?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Head doesn’t have to hide… !”

“Finding Rex will be faster!”

The chimera’s heads answered individually. Taemin Kang frowned.

“Rex? Are you a member of Nobody?”

“right… !”

“Feels like Head’s aide, secretary.”

“Where she is, there’s probably a head.”

As if a dam had collapsed, his willpower was broken, and information flowed out. Kang Tae-min put the story about Rex that Torso knew into his head.

“A guy named Rex was the first to follow Head?”

“It will.”

“Rex is the first Awoken that Head selected.”

“It was the first time I recognized Head.”

Kang Tae-min’s brow narrowed. Head’s faithful confidant and the information that she was a woman brought up bad memories again.

– This child…

-Noname…

The criminal’s voice that I heard while my mind was blurry. The voice of the villain who killed both his parents but somehow kept himself alive.

‘It was definitely a woman’s.’

The enemy of parents is not just No Name. Planning and execution were separate.

Maybe this Rex is the executioner.

It was something that hadn’t happened with the return, but it was definitely a nightmare Kang Tae-min had.

“What is the criteria for that ‘selection’?”

If Rex had been selected first, that criterion could have been a clue. At Kang Tae-min’s question, the heads opened their mouths.

“I said it was the will to change the world.”

“If the criteria are met, you can see the head.”

“But only exceptional candidates get ‘baptism’.”

Willingness to change the world.

It was clear that it was related to the barrier area. From the beginning, Head was looking for an Awakener who could use the barrier area.

But what does baptism mean?

“Is baptism the ability of a head?”

“The fit will be baptized.”

“When you are baptized, your powers are amplified.”

“They said that unselected humans have no meaning in this world.”

The human beings who made up the body of this chimera, which the torso consumed as a material, were like that.

“People who have no will to change the world.”

“Good people even without it.”

“I said you can do whatever you want.”

After that, a few more questions and answers came and went, but nothing meaningful. Surprisingly, Torso didn’t have much information about No Name.

Rex delivered the plan most of the time when Nobody was making things up, and No Name watched them.

And they stopped it only when it seemed like it would be a problem.

‘Should I leave the execution to Rex?’

Other than that, it was left to the autonomy of each member. Because of that, Ko Jeong-hwan was able to freely pursue Hwang Ye-ri.

This Chimera incident was also a plan made by Torso alone.

“I can’t hear anything more.”

“Are you going to save me now?”

“I-I will only be here.”

Most of the barrier area rotted away and disappeared. Beyond the vanished boundary, Kang Tae-min’s sub-space was visible.

Torso’s barrier area spread out in subspace, so there would be no harm to others.

Instead of answering, Kang Tae-min moved his alter egos.

“Ouch… !”

“Your promise is wrong… !”

“why… ?!”

The Chimera, which began to decay rapidly, struggled.

“If there is a good person even if you don’t have it.”

Kang Tae-min looked down at the shrinking chimera and said.

“There are good things that need to disappear like you.”

* * *

Association Headquarters, Situation Room.

“All remaining Chimeras have been removed!”

Bae Seung-joo let out a sigh of relief at the employee’s report. Even that was amazing to block dozens of Chimeras that appeared simultaneously.

“There are a number of reported injuries, but zero fatalities, both hunters and civilians survived!”

Even more thrilling was the fact that no one was killed despite a terror attack of this magnitude.

Bae Seung-ju shook his head with a satisfied smile.

“Good job everyone. Announce the end of the situation in 10 minutes.”

Dissolving the situation right away could cause confusion even while leaving the shelter. First of all, the management personnel had to be notified first and sent out sequentially.

Bae Seung-joo listened to the walkie-talkie while the association staff were busy preparing.

It was to express gratitude to the strongest people who were the protagonists of this solution.

“All Chimeras have been confirmed dead. Again, a big thank you to the 5 guilds for their help.”

<What? Is it over already?>

The first to answer was Kwon Seong and Jung Jun-hyeok. It was a crisis for others, but it was a joyous opportunity for him.

<This, unexpectedly, ended blandly.>

<Singy, be careful with your words. Citizens’ lives were at stake.>

Ju Taiji scolded him. But what came back was Jung Jun-hyeok’s snort.

<If you have complaints, will you fight for a long time? Now that I’m feeling better, I’m in a perfect situation.>

<Tsuttuk, I mean, I don’t want to do business with you.>

<Both of you, if you are going to quarrel, call separately.>

Hwang Ye-ri intervened and stopped the two of them. And she immediately brought up the matter.

<The by-products from the Chimera are each taking care of themselves, right?>

“Ah, yes. I won’t get involved in that. We will pay compensation according to the number of chimera processed separately.”

<That’s what I mean. Good is good, but be sure to calculate.>

Joy came out of Hwang Ye-ri’s voice at Bae Seung-joo’s answer.

<There are no fatalities, but property damage is a bit worrying.>

<There must be a lot of people who say it’s rather good, right? Building owners and tenants get a lot of compensation.>

Hwang Ye-ri answered Pyo Ji-hoon’s words as if it was not a big deal.

“Ah, come to think of it, Johanna-sama. Is the special ward okay?”

Bae Seung-joo immediately asked a question about property damage. The special ward is located on Veritas property, so the possibility of damage is slim, but it was comforting to check.

<Of course. There will be no property damage in the special ward or in the area I manage.>

She even created a barrier to make sure there was no damage to her surroundings. Thanks to that, the chimera was contained and neatly removed.

Johanna said that, then paused for a moment before adding another word.

<Ah, come to think of it, there must be one. A cafe near a private property collapsed.>

“… Are you talking about just one cafe?”

Bae Seung-ju asked involuntarily. It was hard to imagine the explosion of just one cafe, unless there was damage to the nearby area.

<… Well, something like that happened. Anyway, no need to worry.>

Johanna did not elaborate. He didn’t have to tell me that he was the one who exploded the cafe, and that it was because he was in a bad mood.

<Rather than that, has there been no news from Mr. Kang yet?>

Kang Tae-min was supposed to have pursued Torso, the main culprit, separately under Seol Gyu-jin’s special order.

“I don’t think that Sensei will fail, but… ”

<I don’t know if he ran away again.>

<Well, because I didn’t catch Pete.>

Jeong Jun-hyeok snorted at Pyo Pyo-hoon and Hwang Ye-ri’s answer.

<You really don’t know what. I can’t imagine Mr. Kang failing. Even if the portal opens, he won’t have a chance to enter.>

he said in a confident tone. And as if he was right.

<This is Kang Tae-min.>

Kang Tae-min’s radio came in at the right time.

“Are you all right?”

<How did things go?>

<Did you catch the torso?>

successive questions.

Kang Tae-min calmly replied.

<Unfortunately, the arrest failed. Because of the strong resistance, I had no choice but to kill him.>

“ah… ”

Bae Seung-ju let out a low exclamation. However, it was impossible to blame Kang Tae-min.

‘Safety took priority over arrest.’

His principle of principle also had priority.

If they had tried to arrest Torso, they should have supported Kang Tae-min. However, he prioritized the chimera response and the safety of the citizens.

Therefore, Kang Tae-min’s failure to arrest and the murder of the villain had an aspect of himself.

“All right. You worked hard.”

Bae Seung-ju believed Kang Tae-min would have made the best choice.

* * *

Veritas Guild, Special Ward.

When the evacuation situation was lifted, the researchers returned to their respective places.

“Now, check the condition of the patients.”

Despite the evacuation order, all the isolated patients were in the isolation room. It was because the isolation room built in case of mutation was stronger than the shelter.

Because useless stress can promote mutation, the patients did not know about the external situation.

However, the personnel in the ward disappeared at once, and I trembled with anxiety for a moment.

‘Other than that, everything is normal.’

That’s also true, because of the hard work of Johanna and the Veritas guild members, Chimera couldn’t even step inside the private property.

Instead, there was one very minor problem.

‘But why are these dates two weeks back?’

The date on the computers used in the ward had been changed all at once. I checked the CCTV just in case, but no one touched the computer.

“Let’s check for viruses just in case.”

However, the cause of the problem could not be found. The only thing that changed was the date.

So they didn’t care too much.

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