The World Does Not Exist for ■■

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: ford53
=================

< Chapter 14: The Inevitable Encounter of the Mob >

No matter how much you pound iron, you cannot turn it into gold.

-Mage Uragan-

***

[Amazing, truly amazing.]

The necromancer, Bujoon, exclaimed from atop the titan’s head.

Below his coffin, on the concave head of the titan, Dung Beetle was dripping with blood and filth, glaring at him with murderous eyes.

Having walked the path of mana for a long time, Bujoon could tell. The human before him had performed a miracle.

It was a miracle brought about by immense will and talent.

[I apologize for treating you as mere vermin. You fought splendidly, and you have splendidly been defeated.]

He extended his hand toward the titan, conjuring a spell.

The spell inside the titan was already destroyed, but necromancers were excellent at recycling.

The remnants of mana that remained moved at his will.

On the remains of the titan, chunks of flesh wriggled and clumped together haphazardly.

Soon after, something burst out from between the flesh, like pus from a boil.

A mere corpse slime, haphazardly stitched together with flesh and bile.

A despicable being that didn’t even possess the form of a human, but even this was a formidable adversary for the badly beaten Dung Beetle.

[Do not be ashamed of defeat. It is simply that the fate destined for me does not permit your victory.]

“Geez…”

He barely managed to utter a word before Dung Beetle coughed up blood. It was a harbinger of death.

[To obtain a raw gem like you before my grand undertaking. This too is proof that fate is on my side.]

Bujoon, controlling the corpse slimes, slowly descended as the slimes cautiously encircled Dung Beetle, narrowing their formation.

The foremost slime touched Dung Beetle’s foot. He couldn’t resist and thus, gave one foot to the slime.

Following this, the slimes began to cover his body.

[Death is never the end. I will personally carve your corpse and make you into a Death Knight.]

Bujoon descended slowly, wanting to hear Dung Beetle’s last breaths in person.

[Reborn, you will join me in drenching the Academy in blood…?]

At the moment Bujoon had almost reached him, Dung Beetle pushed through the slimes and reached out his hand.

In his grip was a shotgun, slightly longer than his forearm.

Boom!!

The shotgun spewed fire. In desperation, Bujoon closed the lid of his coffin, but the silver bullets pierced through the profane magic protecting the wooden coffin, striking his true form.

[AAARGHH!]

He was engulfed in pain that he hadn’t felt in a long time, and the bones touched by the silver bullets crumbled.

However… there was no fatal blow.

None of the shotgun pellets had managed to penetrate Bujoon’s skull.

It was an event that could not be explained by mere luck but rather deserved to be called a miracle.

[Hahaha! What a pity, raw gem! Fate has decreed another as my true adversary, you cannot kill me!]

Dung Beetle did not argue. He squeezed out the little strength he had left, looking for an opportunity to kill the necromancer.

But Bujoon, mocking him, lifted his coffin high into the sky.

Bujoon had risen out of reach of the shotgun and grenades before coldly declaring.

[Now, die.]

The slimes squeezed Dung Beetle’s throat. Like a hunter’s noose meticulously strangling a tiger to preserve its pristine skin, they tightened precisely.

As Dung Beetle’s breathing grew faint and the murderous look in his eyes faded and became blurry, a light reflected in his retina from afar.

A lightning bolt flying through the sky…?

[What?]

Bujoon felt the fluctuating mana and turned his head, but by then, a brightly shining object was already plummeting towards him… no, crashing down.

“Dieeeeee!”

Lightning fell from the sky.

The Warhammer, emitting an intensely bright light, and the girl wielding it.

Instinctively, Bujoon maneuvered the coffin.

The moment he moved to the optimal route to evade the hammer falling in a straight line, Dung Beetle mustered his last bit of strength.

Shaking off the slimes, he sprung from the ground.

His broken leg screamed, and his heart felt like it was about to burst, but he jumped.

Shadow Skipping.

The same step that had evaded the titan’s fists now propelled him into the air, kicking the coffin.

Thump!

His kick didn’t have enough force to shatter the coffin, but it was enough to push the fleeing coffin back to its original spot.

[This is my destiny…!]

Before Bujoon could finish his words, the Warhammer broke through the coffin and shattered his skull.

The Warhammer didn’t stop after destroying Bujoon.

The lightning struck the concrete floor of the pier with force.

Kwaahhh!

The sound seemed like a hundred grenades exploding at once, shaking the surrounding area.

***

Dung Beetle was swept away by the shockwave.

He tumbled across the ground several times and hit a collapsed container before coming to a stop.

“…Ugh.”

The back of his head throbbed against the container.

A slight concussion was coming on, but with his body already in severe shape, the pain wasn’t too intense.

Dung Beetle shook his head to clear the concussion and turned his gaze toward the source of the loud noise.

There stood a girl in jeans and a jacket, holding a long hammer, her black hair lightly fluttering as if the show of divinity had been a lie.

She was quietly holding the hammer when her gaze shifted. The golden eyes of Dung Beetle, who had been quietly watching her, met her blue ones.

“Mr. Dung Beetle. We meet again?”

The first to speak was Park Seti.

She brushed her hair behind her ears and asked Dung Beetle.

“How is your body? Are you alright?”

“…As you can see, I’m fine.”

His broken ribs stabbed into his chest, and deep within his stomach, blood was surging up, but for some reason, he didn’t think they were fatal wounds.

After all, wasn’t it the body that had been revived even after having its throat slit?

He could feel the misaligned bones returning to their places throughout his body.

“You look curious. Shall we play a question game? It’s a game where two people take turns asking and answering questions. What do you say?”

“Do I have a right to refuse?”

“Of course you do. Though, I’m not sure the police will grant you that right.”

It was an overt threat. Dung Beetle hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“…Fine, but I’ll ask the first question.”

“Suit yourself. The order doesn’t really matter in this game, anyway.”

Dung Beetle looked straight into Seti’s smiling eyes and posed his first question.

“…Who are you?”

“Starting with a philosophical question? Hmm… Should I answer in the style of Hegel, or perhaps Nietzsche?”

“…”

“It’s a joke. Don’t look at me like that.”

Park Seti, leaning nonchalantly on the handle of the Warhammer that reached her waist, gave a crooked smile.

“My name is Seti. Born on October 31st, place of birth is Gaseong Research Complex 2, and my family name is Hong.”

“…Hong family from Hamheung?”

“Oh, right. My surname isn’t actually Park, it’s Hong. And yes, Seti is my real name. Hong Seti. Heh, it sounds like a medication, doesn’t it? A strange name.”

She shrugged and continued.

“Hmm, my profession is a special admissions candidate for Lord Howe Academy, and I dislike silver and beans. Well, that’s all that comes to mind for now.”

“…Is that the answer you think I wanted when I asked my question?”

“Then ask a more detailed question next time. Your turn, isn’t it?”

Dung Beetle moved his returning-to-sensation right hand and felt around his waist.

Two grenades remained.

Dung Beetle assessed whether he could escape from Park Seti… no, Hong Seti with the two grenades.

‘Impossible.’

Even if his body had been intact, it would have been impossible with a broken leg. Especially when considering her swooping down, brandishing that shimmering Warhammer.

After ending his brief contemplation, Dung Beetle decided to continue this bizarre conversation until his broken leg healed.

“…Alright, what are you curious about?”

“Do you remember your mother or father’s faces? Was either one of them not human?”

‘…What?’

Taken aback by the unexpectedly scandalous question, Dung Beetle frowned slightly.

“Oh, that… I expressed that poorly. What I meant to ask was, do you come from a special bloodline?”

“Special bloodline? What exactly do you mean?”

“Angels, monsters, beastmen, fairies, and so on… beings from beyond the dimensional gates. Well, it’s pretty clear you don’t have dwarf blood in you…”

To the question of whether his parents were non-human, or if one had slept with a non-human and given birth to him, Dung Beetle couldn’t think of anything to say.

After a brief silence, Dung Beetle sighed and replied.

“I don’t know. As I told you at the bar, I’ve never met my parents.”

“Ah, then my question was wasted.”

Hong Seti uttered carelessly, her seemingly insincere smile chilling.

“…It’s my turn to ask now.”

Dung Beetle thought of a question to buy time. After a while, he posed a rather provocative question.

“What about your parents?”

“My parents?”

“Yeah, to name their daughter Seti, they don’t seem like ordinary parents.”

Hearing Dung Beetle’s question, Seti revealed a grin, like a girlfriend who had found a naughty magazine in her boyfriend’s drawer, deviously smiling.

“My parents are… hmm, bluntly put, pathetic people.”

“…What?”

Following the scandalous question with self-deprecation? Dung Beetle blinked in disbelief.

“…I won’t say you have to love your family, but maybe you should… use a more refined expression. Insults about family tend to come back to you.”

Although his advice was intended to be nonchalant, it turned out to be sincere. However, Hong Seti just shrugged.

“My parents happen to be drug addicts and prostitutes. Considering that, isn’t calling them pathetic humans quite the refined expression?”

“…”

Dung Beetle’s expression twisted abruptly. He wasn’t accustomed to… such coarse conversations.

“Then it’s my turn again, right?”

As Dung Beetle was still rattled by the self-deprecation, Seti continued nonchalantly.

“Why did you kill the government people?”

“…”

“If you were only targeting the necromancer, there was no need to throw a grenade at the government people, was there?”

Realizing the implication behind the question, Dung Beetle regained his composure.

“…You’ve been watching from the start.”

“If you have a telescope and the perseverance to stay put, anyone can do it.”

Watching Seti brazenly admit to stalking, Dung Beetle swallowed a sigh.

It was more shocking that he hadn’t noticed her pursuit than the fact that he had been stalked.

‘I rushed into action too hastily.’

The regret was short-lived. Learning lessons from mistakes was something that could be done later, at leisure.

For now, he needed to understand her true intentions.

“Why are you curious about me killing the government people? Murder is just murder.”

“Answering a question with a question is against the game rules.”

“…It’s better than answering with a lie.”

“Mr. Dung Beetle, you’re ruining the point of the question game.”

Hong Seti, seemingly amused by the situation, curled her lips into a smile.

“Just to clear up any potential misunderstanding. I didn’t ask that question because I’m siding with the government. I don’t get along with them.”

“…Everyone who pays taxes says that.”

“I’m a student, so I don’t pay taxes.”

With that, she turned her head slightly, looking in the opposite direction of Dung Beetle.

“Hmm… How about this? I’ll show you why I dislike the government, and if you find me trustworthy, then you’ll answer my question properly.”

The only entrance to Pier 13, the only spot untouched by the titan’s destruction.

Following her gaze, Dung Beetle narrowed his eyes without realizing it.

Beyond the darkness of night, headlights from a car were approaching the pier.