Chapter 79: It Was All Your Plan!
I hurried my steps with a complicated expression, the two kids following close behind.
“Oh my! A mistake!”
A big flowerpot crashed down on the path we had just walked, landing squarely on the head of a passing guy.
“Ugh!”
The guy, with his face pixelated like a video game glitch, started to go cold.
“Oh dear, what to do?”
A middle-aged woman who dropped the flowerpot rushed down to the first floor, glanced at the body, and after a moment of contemplation, dashed back inside to fetch a rug, covering the poor guy with it.
“Humming, hum-hum…”
With an awkward little tune, she went back into her house. It was like a scene straight out of a gag show, with all sorts of outrageous happenings pouring down like disasters.
‘Let’s quickly head to where the Nest organization is.’
As I thought that, my steps began to slow down more and more. It felt like someone had grabbed my ankle and was tugging me back. Before I realized it, my feet just stopped dead in their tracks.
“….”
I turned around to take in the chaotic street.
This is the land of the Demon King. A ruthless place where the weak are exploited while the strong enjoy everything.
In this land, everyone who’s committed a sin is considered a criminal.
‘But…’
That should only apply to those who have actually done evil deeds. Kids like Iris and Jess, who are slaves, shouldn’t have to suffer a fate like this.
I couldn’t move forward because of those few weaklings holding me back.
In a dark fantasy world, the one thing you can never have is a sense of guilt. Especially when it’s guilt over something that isn’t your fault—it’s a huge energy drain and leads to endless frustrations.
That’s why I needed a solid reason to stop this disaster.
‘…If I leave like this, the residents of the eastern lands taken over by Leviathan will be slaughtered and the area will be abandoned. If a sudden disappearance of this many residents happens, Erboan, the Demon King’s right-hand man, might come looking for them.’
Erboan, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. He’s a strategist in the Demon King’s army and is considered the strongest among them. Unlike the others, he’s not careless and actually wonders about even the smallest incidents.
Even if the Leviathan’s territory mysteriously vanished in just a few days, Jiso or Raina would probably shrug it off thinking, ‘They must’ve had a fun fight!’ but Erboan would suspiciously send subordinates to investigate for sure.
In the original story, Erboan is the mid-boss you can run into just before facing the final boss. And he’s ridiculously strong.
If Iris, who’s still at the baby chick level, bumps into Erboan, or if Erboan starts questioning Iris, she could easily be killed before she officially becomes a hero. Or worse, brainwashed and led to corruption.
‘So I can’t let this incident blow up too much.’
As I started to find a reasonable excuse, my shoulders felt lighter. I turned to Jess and Iris, who had also halted their steps.
“I think I need to go somewhere for a bit… can you wait here…”
“You’re leaving us?!”
“Heenng…”
Iris looked up at me with teary eyes, while Jess drooped her ears and filled her eyes with tears.
‘Ugh…’
I was completely defenseless against their puppy-dog eyes.
“Is it okay if I go to a dangerous place?”
“Yeah!”
“Of course! Wherever Master goes, I’m in!”
In an instant, the two dried their tears and nodded vigorously. I had no choice but to take them with me.
To Leviathan’s headquarters.
*
Finding Leviathan’s headquarters wasn’t too tough.
“Heh heh… no matter what you say, I will never spill my secrets…”
Crash!
“Argh! Th-that’s a limited edition Elliejou 82 vintage!”
Crash!
“Aaaargh! N-no! That’s a 172 vintage!”
Jess, acting like a cute cat, knocked over expensive bottles displayed and smashed them on the floor. The tied-up man turned pale as he spoke.
“I-I’ll talk! P-please stop…”
Crash!
“Aaaargh! That’s a 327 vintage?!”
Classic gag world behavior.
They claim their lives don’t matter, but break something connected to their hobbies, and they’re crying rivers of blood.
“Please, please, stop hurting my babies… I’ll… I’ll spill everything…”
I noticed Jess was about to cause more chaos, so I quickly signaled her to stop. She nimbly returned to my side.
“So, where’s the headquarters?”
“It’s in the ‘Dawn Dew Tavern’ near the city wall… in the basement… ugh…”
Before long, the man was crying blood and groaning in agony, and ultimately passed out from shock.
After that little sacrifice, we headed straight to the headquarters.
Crash!
“You jerk! I’ve disliked you for ages!”
“Oh, you scumbag!”
Clang, clank!
The Dawn Dew Tavern was a disaster, no worse than other places. Actually, it was even more messed up. Broken bodies were scattered everywhere, and there were humans being devoured by monsters.
‘Must be worse since it’s the headquarters.’
I glanced at the hellish tavern lobby and headed toward the kitchen.
“Strange? This should be the place, right?”
A pretty woman was flipping through a recipe book, and behind her, something black with writhing tentacles was being created.
“Ugh! It should be fine!”
She poured chopped stuff into a pot and started stirring.
Sizzle!
With the sound of the ladle melting, the woman’s humming filled the air. I gestured for Iris and Jess to be quiet and quickly zipped through the kitchen.
‘Here we go.’
Pushing aside a long cabinet at the back of the kitchen revealed a stairway leading down. But there were banana peels scattered everywhere on the stairs. I even noticed some sporadic bloodstains.
Rumble.
As we took a step down, the cabinet slid closed on its own. I swallowed hard and spoke to Iris and Jess.
“Sit here and slide down.”
“Huh?”
“…?”
I plopped Iris down on the stairs and gently pushed her like she was on a slide.
Whoosh!
Banana peels flew up, and Iris began sliding down smoothly. Jess followed with sparkling eyes.
‘Phew… good things for beautiful girls even in a gag world.’
Usually, someone would tumble down the stairs, hitting their head on the ceiling and walls, but when it’s a pretty girl sliding down, it’s all gentlemanly-like.
I followed the now-clear path down.
“Master! Master! One more time!”
Iris and Jess landed safely, sitting atop a pile of Leviathan members. They looked like they had completed the landing without a scratch.
“We don’t have time, so no.”
“Aww…”
I patted the sulky Jess before passing by the pile of members and heading further inside. Each long corridor had doors, but none looked like a boss room.
I continued deeper and gently opened the fanciest-looking door. I could hear rough noise filtering through the small crack.
Bang, crash!
A man presumed to be the boss was banging violently on the meeting table.
“If it’s not a curse or large-scale magic, how do you explain what’s happening right now?!”
“W-well…”
“Stop just repeating that you don’t know and think of a way to fix this!”
The place that seemed to be the meeting room was surprisingly intact compared to the bloody chaos outside.
The executives of Leviathan were finally realizing that the current situation was artificially made, and their voices rose in seriousness.
‘This chaos will end once they stop threatening me.’
Everything started because Leviathan threatened me; once they quit, it would all be resolved!
I composed myself and whispered to Iris and Jess.
“I think I need to talk to them inside… They might not like me and could threaten me. So, can you hide here and help me if things look dangerous?”
I figured if I just told them to hide, they’d definitely refuse, so I gave them a solid reason. Both nodded firmly.
“Yeah, I’ll protect you, Brother.”
“Me too!”
“Shhh.”
I quieted Jess, who was eager to yell out, by placing my finger on her lips, and she widened her eyes, drooping her ears adorably.
The two found a spot to hide beside the door. I adjusted my clothes and summoned the demonic sword.
[Keh heh heh…]
“…?”
The demonic sword, summoned dramatically, gave off an eerily creepy laugh.
[So you think ‘Blood Wave’ is cool too, huh?]
“….”
Honestly… I’d gotten so used to hearing ‘Blood Wave! Blood Wave!’ from the sword that it felt familiar now. Is that why my ancestors always warned to choose friends wisely?
Just as I began recalling what my ancestors looked like during the rituals, a loud crash snapped me back to reality. As I peeked inside, I saw a large, ornate vase that had stood proudly in the meeting room, now shattered. A baseball rolled innocently across the floor.
“Attack! Attack!”
“Damn it! How did they get in?!”
The serious mood exploded into chaos, and everyone in the meeting room started rushing for the entrance.
Creak.
I quickly opened the door just before they could burst out.
“It’s Nest! It’s Nest’s people!”
“The Slaughterer from Nest is here!”
The ones leading the charge screamed and began to trip over themselves. Those following them rolled over too.
Bang, crunch! Thud! Smash!
With all kinds of brutal sounds mixing together, about twenty people in the meeting room collided into one another. Luxurious tables and chairs tipped and shattered, and the chandelier above swayed ominously.
As I stared blankly at the rising cloud of dust, wondering what to say next.
“All of it!”
“…?”
“It was all your plan!”
A guy with disheveled hair and a black eye pointed at me and shouted.
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