Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 132. The Well of Chaos (4)

“Here we are.”

A wooden door came into view. Between the upper floors and the residential area, there was a narrow area made of wood for some reason. According to Old Man Ri, it was originally a base for some organization, but now it’s a place seized by Taejoon Kim and his gang.

The appearance of the door and its position matched the information I had gotten from Old Man Ri, but just to be sure, I threw a question at another informant.

“Is your base here?”

Then, a voice that sounded like someone dying came back to me. To be precise, it was the voice of an A-Rank villain who was held in my hand, unable to walk properly and dragging along a long distance on the ground. The villain’s legs were ground against the concrete, skin peeling away, and blood was seeping out, leaving a trail that decorated the path we had run here.

Just like that other guy from earlier, this one too was on the verge of death. Even though it seemed this guy was dying from excessive bleeding, in reality, he had already undergone blood amplification through his own power. So here’s the thing: if you’re an A-Rank villain, it takes getting yourself beaten to this extent to lose your combat capability.

It would be annoying if he woke up and interrupted me again after fainting. However, I couldn’t just kill them since they were fundamentally heroes, and they had their own stories, making a public designation inevitable. It was a compromise of semi-death that I could later catch and throw into the Association.

Anyway, this guy had already half eaten through his lower body, so it was time to let him go.

Before that, shall I ask one last question?

“So, let me ask again.”

With a voice filled with passive emotion, as if eager to faint, it responded to me.

So here’s the question: “Why do you follow Taejoon Kim?”

It was a question I had asked many times on my way here. The villain looked like he might say something, but his mouth stayed shut. Is this guy also a bust? I never even expected anything.

“Well then, thanks for your cooperation so far.”

I swung my hand, which was gripping his head, wide.

“I’ll see you in prison.”

I opened my hand and released the villain. He belonged to the very organization I was approaching, the wooden door leading into it.

Crash!

“Strike!”

Having received enough rotation, the villain splattered blood in the air as he crashed into the wooden door, successfully breaking it down and fulfilling his role. Given that his head was smashed in, he probably fainted peacefully.

I slowly moved my legs toward the door. That was the enemy’s base. Not knowing what kind of traps could be waiting, I took my time to lure out any lurking enemies.

With a typical shuffling gait, the resulting clunky sound of my boots and the unpleasant noise made by the dragging hammer, all of it served to announce my presence here. The earlier excessive use of the villain’s shuriken was also to lure the enemies outside their base.

…What’s going on?

There was no response at all until I had reached the door with my unsteady steps. The corridor was unsettlingly quiet.

Not a single trace of presence could be sensed in this still situation.

Hmm. Were traps set up? Seeing that no one came out despite the ruckus, it seemed they were planning to welcome me in their base no matter what happened.

Well, it can’t be helped. Should I play along then?

I gazed beyond the wide-open door. Thanks to the villain who had rushed in ahead of me, I could clearly see the situation inside.

An office made up of high-end sofas, tables, and what appeared to be expensive carpets. I couldn’t sense anyone hiding in between. Still, it wouldn’t be strange if someone was indeed hiding.

This was the villain’s base, after all. A mere illusion of emptiness could certainly exist when viewed from outside.

Of course, this entrance also strongly suggested the possibility of being a trap. It might suddenly trigger a magic circle or explode, or a plasma splitter could come flying.

So the answer is…

As I intended to put that solution into practice, I slowly moved my foot sideways.

A thick wall positioned between the room and the hallway.

It was a cold wall made of gray concrete without a single window. But with a swing of my hammer, it turned into a new entrance.

“An hero has arrived! Villains!”

As a cloud of dust and debris rose from the destroyed wall, I boldly declared my entrance to the base. I tried to load my voice with mockery to provoke the enemy.

I knew that tactically, this was a mess. But it was the optimal method to get the enemies to come at me. There was no time; I needed to gather without delay and wrap this up.

“Do they not even offer hospitality when a guest arrives? This is why villains these days…”

As the dust settled, I reached the center of the room, arms wide open, but…

…Is anyone here?

The enemy’s base remained as quiet as ever. The sole noise of a villain who had dashed in earlier, transforming into a shuriken was now groaning as he lay fainted. What kind of situation was this?

I came charging into the enemy base, and yet nobody was here?

Was everything I did by suspecting traps just a waste of time?

That can’t be! There must be a reason behind this.

I dashed further inside the base. I was too impatient to waste time opening the doors covered in heavy fabric, so I broke through instead.

Inside were dormitories built with bunk beds. Clothes were strewn about, and the scent of sweat lingered on the beds, confirming that the villains had been here.

…But again, no one’s around.

With nothing but the remnants of their lives left, the owners had vanished. I looked around the room hoping to find some clue, but sorting through the chaotic mess of the room could take hours.

Next.

I broke the wall again and moved to the next room. This time, it seemed a bit different.

The third room was entirely different in atmosphere from the previous ones.

The only thing in the room was a single bed placed amidst piles of trash.

Beer cans, meat bones, soju bottles, plastic bottles that once held medicine, a broken syringe, and torn notebooks.

There was nothing uniform about the chaos. Adding to this, the walls were bizarrely filthy.

It seemed someone had vomited as there were pools of bodily fluids in the corners, and countless black markings were scribbled all over the walls.

Let’s take a look.

The Black Marauder is coming.

“Why won’t anyone believe me?”

“She listened to me.”

“The pit calls to me.”

“He gave me strength.”

“To the depths of Imprinting.”

“It’s time.”

“It calls to me.”

The Black Marauder is coming.

Most of it was incomprehensible gibberish, but some parts were sentences I could understand.

It was the maddening scrawl of a lunatic. The excessive hostility and anxiety gleaned from the scrawls were clear.

Yet, the single thread of coherence that remained allowed me to identify the room’s owner: “Taejoon Kim.”

It appeared I had found a clue about the individual I was searching for.

That thought crossed my mind, prompting me to read the sentences again.

Though weakened, a hero with mind magic must have had a solid mental barrier. Yet this hero went mad and wrote such things?

It was understandable to tremble in fear of the people.

However, how could someone of a sound mind be so easily taken by the temptations of this Otherworld?

And so, the questions I had since coming here were finally being answered.

Why did the villains seem so abnormally loyal to Taejoon Kim?

There was no sign of the villains being corrupted, so… had they been subjected to mind control?

Given that Taejoon Kim’s original ability had been emotion manipulation, it seems that aspect has been enhanced.

But was it strange that the upper echelons of the Association remained intact?

It seemed the conditional enhancements had either worked well on the villains or something like that.

Of course, even if it had succeeded, the Association isn’t such a fragile organization that a few high-ups being mind-controlled would bring it down, but there must have been some slight chaos.

Tch.

He seems useless even after falling into corruption.

If he was going to fall, at least cause some chaos in the Association to give us an opening.

Having fallen, he would just sit there scribbling nonsensical scrawl in a delusion.

While lamenting the fallen hero Taejoon Kim, I continued to look around the room.

In any case, it seemed Taejoon had fled in fear. If I were to chase him down, I would need clues…

Given that it was confirmed that Kim had partially fallen, the importance of securing him just escalated.

Thinking that some time wasted is inevitable, I started rummaging through the trash by tearing off the bed leg.

How filthy.

While wading through the annoyance of the trash heap, the only things that came up were vomit or clothes soaked in blood, rotting food scraps, or—

“What the heck…”

To my surprise, I found the body of a small monster with bite marks left on it.

Could it be that he chewed it raw?

I mused beyond what I had imagined about Taejoon’s deteriorated mental state as I examined the corpse.

Clatter.

With a sound of clanking, I managed to uncover something within the mess.

A blue waterproof bag with its opening tied shut with a string.

I lifted the heavy bag and shook it, another clattering sound echoed.

Was that a noise from inside?

It looked similar to a body bag, perhaps there were remains of the bitten monster inside as I hoped, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Still, with a sliver of hope, I cautiously opened the bag.

…Perfume?

Unusually many perfume bottles were inside.

There were some that appeared empty, while others were half-full, and some hadn’t even been unwrapped yet.

Despite their differences, only one thing was the same.

They were all a type called “Dragon’s Essence” perfume… Quite the expensive item.

That fool Kim had covered himself in expensive stuff since his hero days, and even after his fall, it remained unchanged.

I thought as I pulled out an used perfume bottle from the bag.

This was my first discovered clue.

With such a large quantity, it seemed likely he sprayed himself with it to mask his vomit scent.

Thank goodness, regarding the scent, I really don’t like smelling like a dog…

Well, it’s unavoidable.

I heightened my senses drastically and opened the cap of the perfume.

A maddening fragrance swept in. A thick bitter smell. Its overwhelming weight made it impossible for an ordinary person to perceive.

It boasted the base of high-end perfume, impressively resistant to any other scent and gracefully enveloped my nostrils.

“Harsh. I remembered.”

Suppressing the reflexive urge to retch, I closed the perfume’s cap.

Then I lifted my head.

I sensed a faint smell.

Even amidst the stench of rubbish filling Nanjido, the lingering scent of a floating perfume whale wafted in.

It wasn’t as instinctively stimulating as before, but it was enough to stir the thrill of the hunt.

To capture my prey.

I crouched low and plastered myself against the ground again.

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