Chapter 666: Random Box (1)

“So, this is what it felt like?”

“…Third Apostle?”

At the voice from behind, the boy, covered in wounds, flicked his gaze.

Worshippers in the pristine white robes of the cult looked up at him with awe.

A gruesome hill of flesh and blood, where countless corpses piled up like mountains.

Thick flowing blood and the pungent stench of iron filled the emerald fortress.

The Paradox Green Outer Fortress, once teeming with life and prosperity, on the outskirts of the Central Front.

Under the strict management of the Headro Warlords, it was one of the most prosperous fortress cities in the demilitarized zone.

The ramparts, once a trade hub where thousands of mercenaries, soldiers, and superhumans came and went, were now drenched in crimson bloodstains.

The massacre wasn’t committed by superhumans or thousands of cult soldiers, but by a single Apostle.

And not just any Apostle, but the Third Apostle, Hugh, who had been imprisoned beneath the cult’s main headquarters for decades, never showing his face.

“Um, if anything is uncomfortable for you…”

“It’s not that, so don’t mind it.”

Messy black hair, a vacant, unfocused expression. A detached tone of voice unfitting his youthful appearance.

A horrific appearance, with scars and lacerations etched like tattoos on his skin, and chains larger than his own body bound to his limbs.

Clank!!

Blood and flesh, once belonging to living humans, caked and dripped from various parts of the chains.

As the boy twitched his shoulder, as if annoyed, the chain binding his left arm moved like a living serpent, whipping behind his back.

CRASH!!

“Gak…!!”

With that single movement, the waist of a soldier who had lunged from behind the Third Apostle was crushed and severed.

The boy didn’t even glance at the dead body, convulsing and foaming at the mouth, as he propped his chin up and raised his gaze.

“When I journeyed with Him, I sometimes heard stories about angels.”

“Angels… you mean?”

Seeing the worshippers still confused and tilting their heads, the boy let out a small laugh.

“Back then, I simply thought it was a vague metaphor for the paradise we longed for… but it seems that wasn’t the case.”

The Apostle’s eyes, staring intently at the cloud-covered sky, twisted into a chilling expression for a moment.

“Far dirtier and more vulgar than I imagined, a backwash of emotion… Feeling it directly, I understand immediately. Was that truly our origin??”

“…”

The cult’s Apostles were strategic weapons, chosen as incarnates of an Outer God, imbued with a portion of its power.

Thus, in exchange for forsaking their humanity, they grew closer to the Outer God, suffering from a madness that prevented them from maintaining their sanity.

The Third Apostle, Hugh, who appeared as a boy, had also been afflicted with this madness long ago and imprisoned in the cult’s main headquarters.

Yet, he had never forgotten his short journey with Him, not for a single moment.

A brief journey he had undertaken with the cult’s Pontiff before becoming an Apostle.

He endlessly replayed the conversations they had shared back then, beyond the reach of his unending madness.

That was why the boy immediately recognized the aura of an angel that had briefly appeared and then vanished.

An angel said to have served the Pontiff before the cult itself, and then vanished.

That aura had descended somewhere in this world and then disappeared.

If he were his old self, he would have immediately abandoned what he was doing and rushed to present that angelic fragment to his Pontiff—

But the boy was no longer his old self, and Him, too, could no longer remain in the main headquarters.

As the boy, staring blankly at the massacre he had committed, stood up, the worshippers rushed forward to support him.

They didn’t mind the blood from the boy’s body staining their clean robes.

“Apostle, our missionary group will personally attend to you. Where shall we go?”

“Hmm…”

The boy, contemplating, looked around and then smiled faintly.

“First, I want to wash. Can you take me somewhere with water?”

“Understood!!”

Dozens of worshippers carried the boy, some supporting his body, others laboriously lifting and transporting his thick chains.

Carried by the worshippers, the boy comfortably lay back and blinked his eyelids.

The 2nd Apostle had granted his wish to die, but had not actually deployed him to a harsh battlefield.

Instead, it seemed to be testing how much the boy’s madness could endure, simply dropping him in places where he could commit massacres.

The boy, too, faithfully concentrated on tearing apart the lives before him, following that will.

The Paradox Green Outer Fortress, shattered by the boy, was one of the strategic strongholds on the Central Front, previously under the Headro Warlords’ management.

However, with recent issues among the Headro Warlords’ leadership, their territory was being ravaged frantically.

The cult, which had made a truce with the Order Alliance, was also greedily devouring the Headro Warlords’ territory, as if their truce had never been peaceful.

“If I fail even at failing, what will be left of me?”

Slowly closing his eyes, the boy muttered.

“I can’t last much longer…”

In the cult’s main headquarters, there were more Apostles, like the boy, who had succumbed to madness and begun to destroy themselves.

If the boy’s death could lead to meaningful results for the cult, then other maddened Apostles would also be released with similar objectives.

The meaning of the death he desired at the end of his madness was no more than that.

However, unable to discern what the 2nd Apostle, who handled all cult affairs on behalf of the Pontiff, was thinking by releasing him like this…

He simply focused on enjoying the sight and feel of the world, something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

With his back to the blood-soaked fortress, the sound of the Third Apostle’s chains dragging on the ground began to fade.

Whirr, whirr, whirr!

Riiing! Riiing!

“…This is deafening.”

Lennok, sprawled on his bed, snapped his fingers, and the phone rings echoing from all directions miraculously vanished.

By the sunlit bedroom window.

Lennok, who had fallen asleep face down in the dusty bedroom, opened his eyes blankly and gazed at his surroundings.

Vulcan, Mega-City, District 20. His standalone house, returned to after weeks.

He had fallen asleep immediately upon returning to this neglected mansion, where no one came or went, and was only just now waking up.

The ringing he had just silenced must have been from acquaintances realizing Lennok’s phone was back in range.

But Lennok, knowing this, had no intention of answering the flood of calls immediately.

[Master, are you awake?]

As he ran a hand through his disheveled hair and went down to the living room, the Cybernetic Spirit was gleefully playing amidst various odds and ends.

Artifacts and parts from various modified equipment he had acquired while working as an artisan in the Machine City, Machina.

Davi had come out to the living room before Lennok and was playing with them.

Crackle, crackle!!

Fierce electrical flashes sparked everywhere, and batteries melted from the heat.

But Lennok, turning his back on the chaotic living room, took out some nutritional supplements from the kitchen and chewed them down with water.

“…”

[Hehe, this “Incomer Repulsion Device” is really fun!]

Davi bounced like a spring on the extended electrical field.

The shape of the little fox spun wildly, rolling whenever it entered Lennok’s line of sight.

[No matter how precise the values I input, the results just bounce around randomly, it doesn’t move according to my calculations!!]

Davi, despite possessing powerful computational abilities, was a spirit who had personally reached a Hierarchy of Level 5 or higher.

If she manifested her Cybernetic Ability at full power, she could estimate events in the Cybernetic World merely through predictive computations.

Therefore, the Incomer Repulsion Device, whose calculations didn’t work properly, was like an amusing toy to Davi.

Davi had shown a rare interest in this device since her time in the Machine City, but circumstances made it difficult to play with.

That was why, as soon as she returned to Lennok’s mansion, she immediately began tinkering with the repulsion device as she had planned.

Lennok, perched on the table, blankly watched Davi play with the equipment and spoke.

“The batteries seem to be draining faster than expected. Should I replace them with new ones?”

[Oh? But it’s much faster than the estimated power consumption.]

Davi, flapping her five tails and bouncing, tilted her head.

“Let me see.”

Saying that, Lennok brought his hand to his right eye.

Activating his Mystic Eye with a slight magical rotation, Lennok looked inside the device and nodded.

“The filter used as the particle receiver is quite worn. There’s significant power leakage.”

[Gasp?! Are you saying the organic being who sold me the repulsion device cheated me…!!]

As Davi perked up both her ears and trembled, Lennok chuckled.

“You bought it near a low-tier workshop district. There wasn’t time to verify if it was a scam.”

Lennok, holding a glass of water, approached the repulsion device, bowed his head, and brought his Mystic Eye closer.

Current violently sparked around the device, but not a single current bent arbitrarily towards Lennok.

Lennok, propping his chin, muttered amidst the bundles of current that naturally deflected as if by arrangement.

“I see. It’s a custom filter using technology from World 2.0. To get another, it seems I’d have to go all the way back to Machina.”

Naturally, returning to Machina was impossible now that he had just returned to Vulcan.

Davi, frantically looking up auction order delivery, drooped her tail in despair.

[Th-that’s wrong… Even if I order the filter by missile delivery, it’ll take over two weeks! That’s enough time for me to get tired of playing with it already.]

“…Missile delivery?”

Lennok let out a hollow laugh, imagining that brutal delivery method for a moment.

He couldn’t tell if the world was truly falling apart, or if he simply couldn’t keep up with technological advancements.

“Well, don’t worry, there’ll be a way to get the filter without going all the way to Machina.”

Lennok said, pouring coffee grounds into the coffee machine.

“I’ve thought of a way to utilize the displacement property of that repulsion device. Let’s start by giving Jenny the meeting location.”

[Huh, Master? You’re going to experiment with it already?]

Understanding the implication, Davi turned off the repulsion device and immediately hopped onto his head.

“Wouldn’t it be better to try it while my senses are as sharp as possible?”

[But… your magic hasn’t fully recovered yet.]

“And I need to explain why I was gone, so let’s call everyone and deal with it all at once. Might as well use them as test subjects too.”

Davi, contemplating, perked her ears.

[Test subjects, huh… Now that I think about it, that’s a very good idea.]

“Right?”

As Lennok nodded with a tired expression, Davi’s tails swayed in the same direction.

[I’ll contact them right away!!]

She used the phone to multitask system processes, sending different messages simultaneously to his acquaintances.

Lennok, sipping his coffee, suddenly added as if remembering something.

“Davi, you know, there’s no need to message Aris…”

[Huh? I already sent it?]

“…Never mind. Let’s just get ready.”

Speechless at her efficient work, Lennok sighed and stood up.

“If I’m inviting people to the mansion, I’ll need to clean and do some shopping.”

Across from the bustling street near Lennok’s mansion.

Several men and women with sturdy builds were gathered in a cafe, sipping coffee.

Their unique appearances drew gazes even from outside on the street.

Yet, no one dared to speak to them.

Because in this city, those with unique or extravagant appearances were well known to be equally dangerous.

However, those gathered inside the cafe were so tense that they hardly even registered such stares.

“The world has certainly changed a lot.”

Dylan muttered, awkwardly rubbing his neck.

A bizarre outfit of a neat suit worn under a pro-wrestler mask.

“To think the day would come when Van would invite us to his house.”

“Yeah. I never thought that stiff guy would invite us to a party.”

Mila replied beside him, uncomfortably swinging her arms.

Wearing a bluish shirt, she seemed uncomfortable in such attire itself.

“No, does Van even know what a party is in the first place?”

[Don’t let your guard down, youngsters.]

Mad Manson, standing nearby, chided with a pathetic air.

[If it’s the Van I know, he might think going on a bounty hunt together is a party.]

“…For someone who talks so annoyingly, you seem to have prepared quite thoroughly.”

A pair of men and women dressed in tuxedos and dresses.

Absurdly, heavy robot heads were placed on top of the men’s and women’s heads, as if they were a couple.

Mad Manson had personally brought two of the bodies he controlled to observe Lennok’s mansion.

“Aren’t you actually looking forward to the party more than anyone else?”

[This is why youngsters… don’t understand the significant meaning of being invited to a high-level wizard’s mansion.]

Manson calmly retorted to Mila’s mocking words.

[A wizard’s mansion usually doubles as his laboratory. Do you still not grasp the meaning of inviting guests to one’s laboratory?]

“…Gasp, no way?!”

At Dylan’s voice, which had turned slightly excited like a boy’s, Mila’s expression twisted in disgust, and the two male and female Mansons nodded simultaneously.

[If we’re lucky, we might even receive an artifact or a gift made by the wizard. Therefore, it’s right for us to prepare to make the best impression on Van.]

“You greedy bastard. So you really did think of Van that way!!”

[If you don’t like it, you can stay out. But what’s with that comb?]

“Ahem, I just realized I tied my hair carelessly today.”

Mila casually clearing her throat and neatly combing her hair with a comb.

Dylan and Manson stared at Mila with cold eyes.

[Oh, so that’s it.]

“Hmph… if only I couldn’t speak.”

“I think everyone’s misunderstanding something…”

Soo-ryun, watching their antics from the side, sighed and shook her head.

“Van isn’t the kind of person who would fall for such tricks and give out extras in the first place. It’s better to just be natural than to needlessly fuss.”

Yet, Soo-ryun herself, who said this, was wearing a pristine white ‘Dopo’, the traditional formal attire of her family.

Beep!!

“Ah, Jenny contacted me.”

Dylan looked at his phone and tilted his head.

“She said she’ll bring the company personnel, so we should go ahead?”

“Well, no reason to refuse then. Let’s get going. The coffee here is terrible.”

[Don’t you usually prefer alcohol over caffeine?]

Bickering incessantly, they nevertheless stood up and walked towards Lennok’s mansion.

The loud voices and large, utterly bizarre superhumans instantly drew the attention of those nearby.

But their continuous conversations began to falter as they wandered, unable to find Lennok’s mansion.

They distinctly remembered the address Van had given them, yet at some point, they realized they were circling the same street.

“…Huh?”

“We can’t find the way. What’s going on?”

A flustered Dylan and Mila scratched their heads, looking around.

Naturally, it was almost unheard of for them, high-level superhumans and skilled mercenaries, to make the mistake of getting lost.

Spatial awareness was an indispensable ability for those with physical abilities.

Even if one lacked natural talent, it was one of those experiences forcibly learned to survive in this line of work.

Manson, belatedly recognizing the nature of their déjà vu, nodded.

[I see. Everyone, try turning off your magical perception completely.]

“What does that have to do with this situation… Hmm?”

The moment they narrowed their senses according to Manson’s words, strangely, their sense of direction in their minds seemed to re-establish itself.

A sense of unfamiliarity, as if they were only now fully realizing a strangeness they hadn’t noticed until now.

Only then did the mercenaries’ expressions change, realizing this wasn’t merely a coincidence or mistake.

“…This must be Van’s doing, right?”

[Who else would do something like this?]

Manson nodded and took the first step.

[It’s not that we can’t find the address; it’s that magical perception makes it impossible to pinpoint the location.]

“But this doesn’t make sense either. How can simply perceiving magical usage distort one’s thought process…?”

Soo-ryun also muttered, as if unable to comprehend.

All the mercenaries gathered here were skilled individuals who had mastered Property Transformation of magic, or possessed powers equivalent to it.

Yet, not only did such individuals get lost simply by extending their magical perception, they didn’t even notice it.

Beyond merely deceiving senses and perception, the chilling truth was that the wizard was interfering with all actions mediated by magic.

This is not a level that can be simply dismissed as being from another magic user.

If he has surpassed existing common sense and laws, reaching a state where he can ‘play’ with them, then Van must have—

“Indeed, unless he has transcended Hierarchy in the Machine City…”

[Weren’t we coming here precisely to ask about that?]

The two male and female Mansons standing beside her interrupted Soo-ryun.

[He called us here because he intends to have a conversation. Anything beyond that can be confirmed later.]

“Yes. That’s true.”

Dylan nodded.

“And even if Van has changed, how much could he have changed? The friendship forged from fighting that old crocodile together won’t just disappear!”

“Why is that your friendship, exactly?”

Fortunately, the group’s mood seemed to return somewhat as they started finding the right way.

But their boisterous voices miraculously vanished the moment they stood before the mansion.

“…”

A quiet street lined with standing trees on both sides. An outer district with spacious private residences spaced generously apart.

Dylan looked back at his companions, a hint of tension in his expression.

“This is the place, right?”

[…According to the address.]

“Shall I knock?”

“Wait a moment. Let me prepare myself…”

KABOOM!!

Before Dylan could even take a deep breath, the wall next to the main gate shattered, erupting in dazzling light.

Dozens of feather-like shards, like an angel’s wings, scattered simultaneously, sticking to parts of the street and exploding.

But the explosion, before it could even spread outside the street, repaired itself on the spot, as if time were rewinding.

As the others’ bodies stiffened slightly at the unexpected reaction, a voice echoed from beyond the now-open gate.

“I won’t make you do anything dangerous enough to require mental preparation.”

“…Van.”

Lennok, his face smudged with soot and a hammer in hand, leaned against the gate, smiling.

“Come in, let’s talk.”

Behind Lennok, cracks resembling shattering glass crawled out of the doorway as if alive, distorting space.

Crackle, crackle…!!!

“…”

Was it an illusion if the quiet mansion suddenly started to look like an unrivaled demonic realm?

Mila, staring at the sight in horror, muttered inadvertently.

“It’s not a party after all…”