-Quack-!
The sound was not very loud compared to the explosion and shock because it burst from inside the body.
This was one of the tricks devised to avoid coordinate disturbance caused by the atmosphere of the Demon Realm.
It was a method to designate the inside of a target that does not have an atmosphere as coordinates and cause an explosion inside the body.
Although it did not work on creatures with a will, it was still quite a useful means, especially since there were times when the Demon Realm had no mana to interfere with the body, even if it was not an undead creature.
-Clang…
Luke quietly watched to see if the abomination had really perished from the shock of the elements that exploded within it.
“Hah…”
Luke let out a deep sigh and brushed his hair back.
He was tired.
Using the 5th Circle destruction magic while being afflicted by gas and drugs that prohibited mana and disturbed coordinates was an incredibly exhausting task, even for Luke.
It wasn’t an easy feat, even for his past self who had reached the 8th Circle.
Moreover, unlike back then, he was still at the 5th Circle now.
If it weren’t for his overwhelming magic power, he wouldn’t have even been able to dream of such magic.
Well, although it was tough, at least he hadn’t used his last resort, divine power, so there was some meaning in this struggle.
By the way, who would have thought that such technology existed…
He could never have imagined it was possible to recreate the atmospheric conditions of the Demon Realm through alchemy rather than magic.
Not to mention, a high-powered weapon that uses no mana whatsoever…
Indeed, it seemed there were still many things in this age that he didn’t know about.
To think such dangerous objects were hidden away in unseen places.
‘I feel like I need to come up with some measures as well.’
Unlike in the past, he felt keenly that the Circle alone was definitely insufficient.
Officially, the 5th Circle did not exist in this era, but it was still just the 5th Circle.
It was not a level of power that could overwhelm all situations.
However, raising his Circle would require a significant amount of time.
The Circle absolutely required a level of mana that could support it.
Collecting this much mana in less than a year was quite hasty, but reaching the 6th Circle was still extremely far away.
Still, forcing himself to raise just the Circle would only result in a foundation that was like a castle built on sand.
After all, the Circle was a method that risked life itself.
Moreover, instability for the Circle, which is himself, was particularly dangerous.
Growing the Circle to suppress the goddess and Parvati, while recklessly rushing and risking annihilation, was against the essence of the matter, wasn’t it?
Thus, he was considering other methods as much as possible…
‘I need to expedite the doll project.’
Once he wrapped things up, he felt he should visit the doll maker.
Well, he had already secured some materials and funds for the doll at the festival…
Luke slowly approached Seyeo, who was sprawled on the floor.
“It’s really over now.”
The mist was gradually thinning, and the abomination was dead.
He had also taken the cane it had been using and dropped it, and because the breath had directly hit his eyes, he couldn’t see either.
“Seyeo, are you still alive?”
He should be alive since he hadn’t killed him.
Given that his body hadn’t melted away and still maintained a human form, it seemed to be certain that he was alive, just as Luke intended.
Seyeo smiled bitterly while holding his burned face.
“Oh my, oh my. What a shock I received. They say a woman’s words are poison… but now I see fire sometimes comes out too.”
“…You’re still noisy until the end.”
Luke shook his head at Seyeo’s joke.
He used to be treated like a little girl, and now he was being treated as a wicked woman.
Is it because he has no weight of life that even his jokes lack consistency?
Luke wanted to retort, but as his mouth burned from the breath, he wasn’t on friendly terms enough to share jokes with him.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re alive. I have many questions to ask.”
“…What if I don’t answer?”
“If it’s too hard, there’s no need to say it.”
‘Reading the memories of a lich is sufficient at the 5th Circle.’
“Heh, is that so?”
He didn’t voice those words, but Seyeo seemed to understand the implication.
As he heard Luke’s voice and footsteps approaching slowly, Seyeo grinned.
-Clang-.
A strange metallic sound echoed again from his embrace.
It was a ‘Dwarf’s Cane’ made in a much smaller size than the initial one.
Luke’s eyes widened slightly again upon seeing it.
‘Hmm, it seems I searched all the pockets…?’
Why did he miss it?
Luke slightly lowered his gaze from the tip of the cane he was aiming.
What he saw was Seyeo’s abdomen, smeared with black blood.
Indeed, it made sense now that something was wriggling in his embrace; he had been hiding something like that.
It seemed he had probably left the small cane inside his belly as a last resort.
‘Well, I didn’t think to search inside his body…’
It definitely was small and did not appear on mana detection methods.
If he hid it inside his body like that, it would be difficult to find.
It wasn’t like a sword or bow, which needed large space to exert sufficient lethality.
It was quite an excellent weapon concealment method.
But…
-BANG!-
A huge sound reverberated again.
However, the projectile fired from his cane couldn’t even touch Luke’s hair this time and only lodged itself in the pillar.
“…”
“Ha, ha. I missed again, didn’t I…”
After all, it was a blind arrow.
No matter how tired he was, Luke’s defensive capabilities were not so diminished that he would be caught off guard by the same tactic he had seen once.
Luke spoke towards him.
“The way you pulled out your weapon was novel, but it has no meaning if the surprise attack doesn’t work.”
“…”
Seyeo grinned.
Indeed, that was true.
He had sent a subordinate ahead before showing himself to snatch the doll from the doll maker, used the mist he had prepared to steal mana to put ‘that’ in the facility to sleep, and restricted combat with the abomination and the cane.
And yet, in the end, it had turned out like this?
Ah, if ‘he’ had seen this sight, he would have found it truly amusing.
“Give up. Then I won’t kill you.”
“Ah, is that so?”
-Tap.
Seyeo obediently lowered his hands.
The small model created for concealment had only two rounds inside it.
With one missed, in such a situation where his vision was impaired, he could never face the girl left with the remaining shot.
However…
-Clang.
“Nice to meet you.”
Seyeo suddenly brought the tip of the cane to his own neck.
“…? Wait—!”
Realizing what he was attempting, Luke hurried to stop him, but his exhausted body couldn’t keep up with the speed of his finger pulling the trigger.
“Well then, see you later, sample.”
–BANG–!
The sound echoed.
———-
In the end, Seyeo died like that.
This time it was not a round for anesthesia but one created purely for kill, and Seyeo’s head was cleanly destroyed by the power of the cane.
He had tried to read his soul, but even that was obstructed by the mist, making it impossible.
Thus, his plan to discover secrets through him was completely in vain.
“…Ah.”
Luke looked at the corpse, which had begun to melt, and pinched the space between his eyebrows in frustration.
He never wished for this kind of outcome.
At this rate, he would end up gaining nothing.
Suicide, huh…
“…”
Just to be sure, he lightly kicked Seyeo’s jaw to check inside, and it seemed there was indeed a method of suicide without needing the cane.
The poison inside the teeth was quite a classic method of suicide, wasn’t it?
The choice of the gun was likely because he preferred a one-shot finish.
“Hah…”
Luke sighed.
‘Well, this way it looks like I won’t get my hands dirty…’
Since he couldn’t read the memories, he would have to find out the things he wanted through clues directly.
It had become much more troublesome.
‘What is Nidhogg?’
The only thing he was able to faintly glean in the last moment was that one word.
Not knowing whether it was the name of something or a phenomenon or a clue, just a single word.
Since it was the most intense memory that remained in the last moments, it was certainly the most important word…
If he had read the memories properly, he would have immediately understood its meaning, but now he couldn’t know.
‘So, you still won’t be helpful until the end, Seyeo.’
Luke collected the canes and the still unused bullets Seyeo had, as well as the containers that appeared to have held gas and various pharmaceuticals, and got up.
Now all that remained was to return home.
‘Will I make it in time…?’
Yerna and Dayton’s confirmed sleep time was about to end.
If they fell into a deep sleep, it wouldn’t matter…
Otherwise, it was quite a precarious situation.
Well, there was still the option of finding a suitable location to attempt teleportation.
Accelerating Arinseia’s supercomputer, he had once personally proven that teleportation was possible about once a day.
So, as long as he reached a stable location in space without interruption, he could teleport to his room in an instant.
Though it did require high computational tasks with time acceleration using an hourglass of reverse heaven, limiting it to about once a day.
But he thought again that carrying this cellphone around these days had become bothersome.
Thinking about it, since Arinseia would cover the computing power, there was no need to take the form of a cellphone. Wouldn’t it be better to find a reasonably powerful core and make an accessory for the terminal?
Since all the terminal needed was to output…
‘Hmm… That seems like a good idea.’
Yes, this is a topic that could be researched in various ways, but for now, he should focus on getting out of this underground.
“This is maddening.”
After glancing at the broken elevator, Luke’s voice directed weakly towards the stairs sounded almost like a dying breath.
