Chapter 38: Deicide (３)

****

The Foundation is a terrifying place.

This happened during my first health screening after arriving at the Foundation… Among the countless vaccinations they tailored for me, there was one I’d never heard of before — a neurotoxin vaccine.

My head still hurts.

I forced myself to blink.

Back then, I’d asked the doctor while getting the shot. The answer wasn’t long. It was a preventive vaccination against the neurotoxins the Foundation commonly uses during operations.

Even if the opponent is a gifted individual, they don’t have the luxury of carrying around several guns like I do, nor do they always wear a gas mask.

Pfft.

Let’s just wait a moment. The colorless, odorless neurotoxin gas should be spreading through the building. It’ll take effect within seconds.

One, two, three.

Thump.

I heard the sound of bodies collapsing. Success. I raised my gun and sprinted forward.

Three people lay on the floor.

I can’t afford to let my guard down yet.

I need to neutralize them first to confirm.

I pulled the trigger three times, and blood soaked the building’s floor. But they could still be anomalous humans, so this isn’t enough.

I stabbed the bodies with my bayonet to ensure they were neutralized. They all seem thoroughly dead.

I scanned my surroundings once more.

This is the Yulje-myeon library.

Most of the windows and doors were barricaded, and there were traces of people having been here until recently. Are there survivors?

I shook off the stray thoughts.

The people I just killed were humanoid anomalies. If they’d been civilians, they would have answered “no” when asked if they were Foundation employees.

Or asked what that even was.

“Director Geum. What are you looking for?”

“I’ll find out what it is.”

I moved toward the stairs. The surroundings were deathly quiet. Except for me.

The sound of my combat boots, the rustling of my gear, my breathing through the gas mask, the clatter of my firearm. In the silent space, I alone was making noise.

“Who’s there?”

A human voice.

I rested my finger on the trigger and walked forward, gun barrel leading. A human form appeared around the corner of the building again—

Bang!

I fired. I think I hit, but I emptied the magazine in the direction where the form had appeared.

“Hey, are you going to kill everything you lay eyes on?”

The cat muttered.

That was the plan. At least in this building.

I advanced again, and one person lay collapsed on the floor. Blood was gushing profusely from their shoulder.

I aimed my gun at their head.

“Explain yourself.”

“You… earlier, we could have helped, saved people, worked together—”

Another trick.

I gritted my teeth in disgust.

Whoever they are, they erased an entire city of tens of thousands from the map. No one can be forgiven, and no leeway can be left.

“Who are you?”

He spat blood as he struggled to continue.

“We are… devotees of the God of Knowledge, children of the Infinite Study, the Librarians. We saw a great tragedy unfolding and came to help the people—”

The Librarians. Something that serves the God of Knowledge.

In the end, they’re just another group of anomalous humans and a Group of Interest. I can’t even tell what they mean by “help.” I gripped my gun.

Ah, I emptied the magazine earlier.

I stabbed the bayonet into the head of the person lying there. Dark red blood splattered in every direction.

“…”

Click.

The assault rifle was reloaded.

****

This is the library rooftop.

I don’t know if someone prepared it, but this seemed like a relatively safe spot. I sat in the corner of the rooftop and reorganized my equipment.

“Director. Your eyes are bloodshot right now, and your breathing is uneven. Are you sure you’re alright?”

I shook my head. I’m perfectly fine.

“I’m fine.”

“If you stop moving, the task force will come to rescue you soon. Let’s wait here.”

“And why is that a rescue? I’m a Foundation doctor and Director. I killed two demigod entities on the way here.”

“Do you want to keep moving?”

The cat fell silent for a moment.

“Director Geum. I understand everything, but promise me you’ll stay calm. You’re not in a normal state right now. On top of the cognitohazard and drugs churning around in your brain, the adrenaline—your pupils are dilated to the size of coins.”

“Understood.”

“Director Geum. Right now you’re under the influence of narcotics and a cognitohazard, and you’re carrying a rifle, a weapon of mass destruction, and multiple anomalies while wandering through town. You’ve killed three demigod entities. Right now, I’m not worried about the Director—I’m worried about everyone in this city. Whether they’re survivors, Foundation personnel, or something else.”

I let out a sigh.

“If you want to keep me pinned here… then analyze the situation for me, Overseer. You know more than I do, don’t you?”

I stared at the cat. The cat opened its mouth to answer, then paused.

“Even if I did analyze it, most of what you know is what I know. There are multiple deity-class entities roaming the streets of Yulje-myeon.”

The cat stretched.

“That’s right.”

“I don’t know if the fog is something they made, or if the fog is trapping them. But I think it’s the latter. Because of the fog, they’re all gathered in here, killing each other.”

“Gods?”

“Demigod entities.”

“So someone summoned the demigod entities, trapped them in this limited space, and is working toward some kind of goal?”

“Mm.”

Now we’re getting to the heart of it.

“What could the goal possibly be?”

“I don’t know either. What I do know is that this looks like the worst anomalous incident since World War II. I don’t think a single survivor is left in the city.”

The shape of the incident was starting to come into focus.

Someone summoned deity-class entities into this city. Multiple of them, at that. And the fog is keeping them from leaving.

Whether out of boredom or for some other reason, they were leading their followers and toys to attack and kill each other.

I stood up.

“Let’s move to the next location. We’ll check the police station first, and if there’s nothing there, we’ll head to the largest government building.”

“Director Geum…”

I started walking.

I’d need to get back to the first floor to leave the building. I walked toward the rear of the building—

“Wait.”

Something’s wrong.

The Geiger counter let out a warning beep. It had been making intermittent sounds because of the nuclear blast, but there’s something else here—

I let out a sigh and stepped into the second floor. I didn’t even need to pull out my equipment. A powerful sense of wrongness was guiding my footsteps.

“Is that it?”

I lowered my rifle.

There were no hostile instances on the library’s second floor. Most of the unpleasant sensation melted away like snow. All that remained was a strong curiosity.

“Looks like a door the Librarians use.”

I lowered my rifle.

In the center of the library stood a single brown mahogany door. On one side, a grotesque eye motif was carved into the wood, and violet light leaked through the gap.

At a glance, it was some kind of dimensional door.

“Is that the origin of the problem?”

“I don’t think so. It’s probably just how the Librarians got into this space.”

I thought for a moment.

“Overseer, do you believe the Librarians didn’t cause this mess? Aren’t they the most likely suspects?”

The cat shook its head.

“You have to look at the big picture. There are countless Group of Interest assets inside this space. There’s no way to know who did what and for what purpose right now.”

Hmm. An unsatisfying answer, but it’s true that no clear conclusion can be drawn yet.

That’s why I’m playing it safe, and that’s why I killed every humanoid anomaly I saw in here. Still absurd.

Multiple Groups of Interest gathered in one place and set off an incident this big, and the Precognition Division and Intelligence Division didn’t catch wind of it beforehand.

“Let’s move. If that thing didn’t cause the problem, there’s no need to worry about it right now.”

Let’s get out of the library first.

****

Yulje-myeon being a small town, the police station, government offices, and library were all clustered close together. Getting to the police station shouldn’t take too long.

I peered outside from behind the library. A monster of some kind was blocking the way. It didn’t look like I could just sprint past it.

A massive spider, or maybe a scorpion or a crab? Either way, it was an insect-shaped monster with pincers.

The monster itself was the size of a truck.

The insect monster’s mouth held several objects that looked like human corpses. Around it, human-sized insects stood guard.

“How are you going to take that thing down?”

Beats me.

Earlier, I’d had a rough idea of what the monster was, so I could figure out a way to counter it. But I know nothing about that spider. Methods for killing gods, though…

It was a method I’d wanted to save, but I’d prepared it anyway, just in case I needed it.

I clapped my hands three times, and Popos appeared around me. One, two, three. Training them really paid off.

Twelve Popos gathered around me.

Just as the Macrobiology Division said.

Popos have special abilities, they like helping humans, and they can carry out spoken commands and missions.

Dogs and cats — it’s a regular zoo. Anyway, I pointed at the monster outside the window. The Popos followed my finger with their eyes.

“Go tear it apart.”

The Popos charged toward the monster, and I raised my rifle. A spider’s nothing.