The fight between the attacker and Galm ended so one-sidedly that it didn’t even seem worth describing. With nothing but that mysterious right arm and having faced countless battlefields barehanded, how could Galm, who now wielded the same weapon, possibly lose?
Honestly, it was like an adult playing with a child, or a world champion fighting against an elementary school student. Galm returned to the lab with the attacker, who was knocked out cold.
First, I cut off the right arm of the attacker and tied him up, preparing a confession drug for him. This kind of research was illegal, so I really didn’t know much about it—just a few snippets I’d seen from the internet or papers from decades ago…
Still, I figured it was better than doing nothing. When the attacker opened his eyes, the confession drug was already seeping through his veins.
“What the…!”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“Y-you dare… dare to cut off the right arm bestowed upon me by His Excellency…? You inhuman monsters!”
“You’re the one who’s not human. Do you have any idea how many have died because of your attack today?”
The citizens of City E had been notably trained to evacuate thanks to the warning received in advance. At least when a villain attacked, they could escape to safety faster than any other city.
Still, it was impossible to prevent casualties. Evacuating only happens after an incident occurs, so they couldn’t issue an evacuation order knowing an attack was about to happen in City E.
Thanks to this, for the first time in years, there had been a fatality caused by a villain in City E. The news was already in an uproar, and the boss was extremely furious about it.
“─This means we can use everything we have without hesitation.”
“…The Federation won’t let this slide.”
“Ah, are you talking about human rights and things like that?”
“Right. Even if it’s a global corporation, it can’t just ignore the Federation—”
“Sorry, but I’m not affiliated with Evilus.”
The attacker, hearing my words, blinked in confusion. Witnessing his bewilderment, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
And it’s only now that I’m beginning to understand why the boss established the villain organization.
“─I am a villain. An evil scientist.”
“What? What are you-”
“As an evil scientist, I don’t really have to care about laws and human rights.”
Evilus’s sword.
Prepared for Regalia to wield whenever she pleased.
Tools that tread the fine line between legality and illegality.
I wondered why a large company like Evilus would operate a villain organization. But it turned out to be the opposite—being a large company like Evilus allowed them to confidently run a villain organization.
“Alright—let’s start with introductions?”
“Should I mention that I’m [Baphomet Corporation’s 7th Apostle, Hurgritch]?”
“Sounds good, sounds good; the drug seems to be working well.”
I grinned as I looked at the Apostle. His expression began to sour more and more.
“Those who take lives lightly should be treated the same way.”
I started the interrogation. His history began to spill out of his mouth, from the most trivial parts of his life to the secrets he would definitely want to keep hidden.
“A devil?”
“In his own words, he claims to be an Apostle of Baphomet.”
“Baphomet… are they from City B?”
I reported all the information gathered through the interrogation to Regalia. Upon hearing my report, her expression twisted with disgust; it seemed that even a leader of a large corporation was unfamiliar with the existence of such devils.
Well, isn’t it a time when science and superpowers have conquered everything from the moon in the sky down to the depths of the ocean? I would bet that there’s not a single secret left on this blue planet for humanity, so the existence of devils must be quite alien to them.
“A devil… scientist. Do you know anything about it?”
“Hmm, I’m seeing this for the first time as well.”
“Hmmm—so that means it’s not a particularly dangerous existence, right?”
“…No, just because I don’t know doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. In fact, it could be more dangerous the less I know.”
“Haha—! You don’t know something? That’s quite amusing.”
I couldn’t help but give a wry smile as I observed Regalia, who was excessively trusting. There are countless secrets in the world, and among them surely are things I don’t know. How should I react to such unwavering trust? It felt genuinely perplexing.
As I kept smiling, Regalia nodded as if she had made a decision.
“─It’ll be an all-out war. I will use everything I have to crush Baphomet.”
“Are you sure that’s okay? How long has it been since you acquired Omega?”
“Even if it’s not okay, it can’t be helped. A king has a duty to protect his slaves.”
Regalia said as she crunched her teeth.
“Do you really think I’ll forgive those who dared to cause a ruckus in my territory…?”
She shivered with rage and immediately gave the order for the villain organization’s upper executives to mobilize. The executives, already furious that City E had been attacked, were eager to head out immediately.
Seeing them ready for battle, I handed over the device I had prepared for hypnosis resistance while making the confession drug.
“─Here, if you wear this, you won’t fall for hypnosis.”
“What is this…?”
“A choker?”
Having handed over the choker meant to be worn around the neck, I told them not to take it off for any reason and leaned back comfortably on the sofa. Galm tilted his head in confusion and asked,
“Scientist. Aren’t you going?”
“Me? To that place? Why?”
“Well, as a member of the evil organization, it’s to exact revenge for the attack on your base.”
“Why would I go? There’s nothing I can do there anyway. It’s best for a scientist like me to stay hidden at the base.”
“…I guess that makes sense.”
However, the idea that I would remain at headquarters and not participate in the revenge mission seemed to disappoint Galm, so I shrugged to reassure him.
“And I’m here because I have work to do.”
“Work?”
“Yes. It might be even more important than you attacking the enemy base.”
“Hmmm… So when I reach City B, the enemy base will be half destroyed?”
“What’s with that… Don’t get your hopes too high. I’m just experimenting.”
I said that to Regalia, and she nodded, awaiting her orders.
“─Evil Organization, move out.”
“Hail Evilus.”
“Hail Evilus.”
Thus, the combatants set off toward City B. With the exception of the first and sixth executives, who had not revealed themselves yet, all executives participated in the situation.
After watching the combatants leave, Vira and I headed to the lab. Inside the lab, the Apostle bound without an arm and the extracted evil devil’s right arm were laid out.
“What do you plan to do with that?”
“Hacking.”
“…Hacking?”
I ignored Vira, who looked puzzled, and connected various mechanical devices to the devil’s right arm. Whether devils truly existed or what kind of being they were… interfering with reality in this way was indeed an evil act.
If interference from there to here was possible, then interference from here to there was also possible.
‘Which devil, or whatever being this is—let’s at least see what they look like.’
I started hacking.
A Life Hacking against a single life.
Evilus employees rushed about in a frenzy, preparing for the impending attack.
“Move quickly! We’ve detected signs of an S-rank villain organization breaking in!”
“Grab the important items only! Personal belongings can wait!”
“Hey, are you running fast enough!? Hurry up!?”
As junior employees hurriedly dashed about with computers and file boxes, Lize, seated in the Chairman’s Office, was biting her nails and frowning.
“─Why is it that reports are coming in only now?”
“Um… I’m very sorry, ma’am. I’m at a loss.”
“Enough with the apologies! Just tell me why this is happening!”
“E-Every electronic device in City E went temporarily offline… The employees who went to monitor the Apostle were only able to contact us after escaping the city.”
“You expect me to believe that nonsense?!”
Lize slammed her desk and jumped up, glaring at the sweating executive in front of her.
“Suddenly all electronics break down!? Especially at the crucial moment when the Apostle attacks City E!?”
“We received a report as such…”
“That’s impossible! Logically, it doesn’t make sense for everything to suddenly malfunction at that timing!?”
“We will punish those responsible.”
“Do you think punishing them will solve this issue?”
Lize sent the board members away to bring back solutions. There was no time for pointless bickering now. Reports had come in that the 7th Apostle sent to City E had fallen, and there were intelligence alerts that all members of the evil organization were heading toward City B simultaneously.
What this indicated was that the enemy, regardless of how they managed to overpower the 7th Apostle, had discovered they were behind it and concealed that fact until the combatants set off.
It was incredibly unbelievable. Thinking that the evil Apostle could betray them made it even more implausible. Both physically and supernaturally, the Apostle, as a worshiper of the same devil, should not have been able to betray them.
The very idea of extracting information from him seemed implausible, let alone doing it in such a short period of time.
‘How on earth…?’
There was no time to ponder. Lize gently knocked on the door to the Chairman’s Office. A disappointed voice came from within.
“Come in.”
“Yes, Father…”
As Lize stepped into the Chairman’s Office, she felt the pressure of magical energy encompassing her entire body. The aura from the other-dimensional devil was so palpable.
This was a signal that the devil was indeed disappointed. If she slipped up, it could cost not just her life but the very existence of all of Baphomet Corporation.
While she trembled at the realization, the chairman slowly opened his eyes.
“I will proceed with the ritual.”
“…Yes, understood. Father.”
“The sacrificial offering this time is you. You understand that, right, Lize?”
“…I understand.”
“Let’s go.”
Hearing the chairman’s words, Lize lowered her head obediently and followed him. The chairman’s exclusive elevator descended underground, a place unknown to regular employees.
As if pre-arranged, devil worshipers awaited in the underground, having finished preparing for the ritual. Standing on a magic circle drawn with blood and corpses, Lize sensed her fate as she stepped into it.
‘This is my duty. The duty of the master of Baphomet Corporation…!’
Moments later, as soon as she stepped into the magic circle, the worshipers began chanting spells from all around. The prayers for the devil’s incarnation. The magic circle began to glow alongside the incantation that made her head spin.
From the other dimension, in a place akin to heaven, Baphomet reached out a hand to influence the earthly realm through her body.
─■■■m̴̢̱̭̗̪̊̄͌̓̓͝ǫ̶̝͍̫̳̈́͐̈̈́͡l̶̡̥̰̞̟̃͑̊͂͂͠■■■
“Whoa, whoa—! Baphomet!”
“Baphomet—!”
While the worshipers rejoiced at the devil’s descent, Lize, who had been sacrificed and connected to the devil, was overwhelmed by a different emotion. Confusion. A rare sensation she had never imagined feeling from a devil.
At that moment, unlike the other worshipers who could not understand a single word from the devil, Lize, connected to it, could understand part of its words.
‘What… have you touched…?’
As the incomprehensible words finished, the devil vanished like melting snow. It seemed she heard a scream of anguish from somewhere. At the same time, all the devil worshipers present felt the despair of having their souls torn from them.
A pain that could only be felt when a contract was forcibly broken. As they were stunned by the sudden pain and failure of the ritual, a massive arm burst through the ceiling and grabbed the devil worshipers. Those catching a glimpse of the arm laughed in joy.
“Devil has truly descended! From above… kuah-!?”
But it was not so. The arm that squashed the devil worshipers like pulp cleared away the concrete as if it were sand and revealed the owner of the arm, a beast clad in the hide of a tiger, not the Baphomet they knew.
“─So you all are gathered here? Insects.”
“…A beast?”
“He descended in the form of a beast?”
“That can’t be true—!”
As numerous devil worshipers gasped in shock, only Lize, the sacrificial offering, was able to recognize the owner of that hand. The sharpest fangs possessed by the master of City E. The Beast King, Galm.
Why Galm’s right arm was connected to the devil’s arm was a mystery… but one thing was certain.
‘Ah— it’s over.’
Indeed, in the next moment, the devil worshipers began to fall one by one, succumbing to the attacks of the upper executives that followed shortly after.
They fell helplessly. Like powerless, incapable people.
With no ability to resist, they lost.
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