TRPM 63

chapter 63

I had thought about it once.

Why do terrorists commit acts of terror?

Some said it was to feel the thrill obtained through violence and murder.
Some said it was to prove that their beliefs were right.
Some said it was out of emotions like jealousy.
Some said it was for revenge.
Some said it was to change a rotten world.

Each terrorist had a different reason for committing terror.

“But why do they really do it?”

Why do they keep creating death and despair?
Why do they keep trying to lead humanity down a path of destruction?
When humanity should be uniting together,
when humanity should at least be trying to survive…

In that sense, I despised terrorists.

Before humanity’s collapse, the fundamental cause of extinction had been the black mist—that is, the monsters—but it was accelerated by criminals… and among them, the terrorists who caused immense damage to people.

“Even if humanity perished, there was still a chance for a small number of humans to survive…”

When I returned to the world after my secluded training, I didn’t know about other countries, but at least in Korea, the national system had completely collapsed.

People had been forming defensive lines around what were once cities just to survive.

…After finishing my seclusion, I joined them, and people came together to resist a future that threatened not just destruction but extinction.

If things had continued like that, maybe even a small number of humans could have survived.

Though the awakened ones manning the defensive lines were slowly being reduced by monsters, for a while, they could have held them back.

Even while fearing that extinction could come at any moment, they could have somehow continued to live.

But that was an illusion.

“The idea that the remaining people were united was only my illusion.”

In that precarious situation, the terrorists eventually struck.

I still couldn’t understand what they were thinking, carrying out suicide attacks in that situation.

Thanks to them, the barely-maintained defensive lines collapsed, and countless people lost their lives.

After that, I fought desperately to save even a few more people, but everyone I had fought alongside ended up dead.

When I entered a city in a state of complete focus, cutting down every monster I saw, I was the only survivor left.

The lesson I learned from that incident was clear.

“All terrorists must die.”

That’s why I killed the terrorists who entered the shelter without hesitation or remorse.

“(…Huh?)”

A terrorist muttered as his head was severed from his body.

He died without understanding what had happened to him.

“(…What…)”
“(…This kid, how did he get all the way here…!)”

I cut down the other terrorists nearby.

…By the way, I didn’t draw my sword from the pocket dimension.
I merely wrapped my hand in energy and sliced them.

“Because my hands are harder than most swords.”

My internal energy flowed better that way.

As I was about to kill the next terrorist, suddenly—

Clap! Clap! Clap!

One of the terrorists began clapping.

It was the man in the gas mask who had been talking about “ladies and gentlemen” when entering the shelter.

“He’s probably the highest-ranking terrorist here.”

I wouldn’t say he was the leader of the group that carried out this terror, but at least here, he was the highest-ranking one.

That didn’t mean he was stronger than me, though.

“(Impressive.)”

He stopped clapping and looked directly at me.

The emotion I sensed from his eyes behind the gas mask was…

“Joy?”

Wait. Joy?

Even though all his subordinates had just been killed by me?
Even though he himself didn’t know when he might die?

“(I didn’t expect that you, able to evade Oracle’s sight, would disguise yourself as a child and hide in the shelter.)”
“?”

…What is he talking about?

Oracle? That means a prophet, doesn’t it?

“(Oracle said it: our Sydney terror would fail halfway. And even Oracle could not see why.)”
“……”
“(We have waited a long time. For someone to overturn Oracle’s prophecy. Even Oracle himself.)”

It seemed their organization actually had someone with prophetic abilities.

…I had never heard of anyone with prophetic abilities, but theoretically, it was possible.

The Awakened System sent me back in time—it interferes with spacetime.

So this Oracle must have received time-related abilities from the Awakened System, much like my Harmonized Martial Arts can manipulate spacetime.

“(So?)”
“(Huh? Kugh?!)”

But what was I supposed to do with that information?

I spoke in English and thrust my hand into his chest.

He fell backward in pain, and I gripped his heart.

“(Just because this Oracle cannot observe the future… what does that have to do with me?)”
“(Ggh…! You…! You’re the one we’ve been waiting for…! Aaargh…!)”

They had been waiting for me?

Judging by his reaction, I had no reason to doubt it.

And it was true that the Oracle could not observe me.

After all, my Harmonized Martial Arts could interfere with spacetime, so precognition wouldn’t work.

But…

“(In the end, you are all terrorists.)”

I didn’t care what the Oracle had prophesized.

I didn’t care what their ultimate goal was.

“(There is no reason to spare you, after releasing doppelgangers in Sydney, causing casualties, and trying to kidnap the people gathered in the shelter.)”
“(How… How do you know about the doppelgangers… Aaaagh!)”

I withdrew my hand.

In other words, I had ripped his heart out.

“(Guhhh….)”

Being an Awakened, he might survive for a brief moment.

Thinking that, I placed my other hand on the dying terrorist’s head, as I always did as an artist in Korea—to read memories.

Of course, as with all criminals, I didn’t spare him.

“…He’s dead.”

After extracting the necessary information, I confirmed he was dead and glanced around the blood-stained shelter.

Hmm…

“…I should clean this up before leaving.”

Leaving the blood and bodies behind would be inappropriate.

So I lightly used a verbal spell.

“Purification, Cleanliness.”

The terrorists’ blood turned into clean water.

I then incinerated their corpses with a total-concentration technique, minimizing residual traces, and left the shelter.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t know exactly where the Oracle was.”

But he knew a lot about this plan.

And he knew which shelter his comrades were heading to for the kidnappings.

“I’ll interfere with that first.”

And while I was at it, I could also extract information from their heads.

The terror in Sydney took a long time to suppress.

Even with numerous Awakened dispatched, it took time to capture all the doppelgangers causing chaos.

Fortunately, Awakened who had been tackling dungeons or in other cities came to help, making the search easier.

However, one fact became clear during the search…

“(What? They avoided the shelters to lure the Awakened?)”
“(Seems so. Like they intentionally diverted attention from the shelters….)”
“(No way….)”
“(Yes. The real target is the shelters! The ones we dealt with until now were just bait!)”

Once they realized the terrorists’ true goal, the Awakened rushed to the shelters.

They were shocked to find the entrance guards dead and the citizens inside unconscious from sleeping gas—realizing too late what had happened.

“(…Wake the people and check the records. There should be entries in the security office. Putting people to sleep with gas means someone was kidnapped….)”
“(The kidnapped will likely be used to create doppelganger-like chimeras?)”
“(Most likely.)”

The Awakened woke the people and checked if anyone was missing.

The result…

“(…Everyone’s safe?)”
“(Yes. At least in this shelter.)”
“(Other shelters report the same.)”

Strangely, everyone in all shelters had only been knocked out by sleeping gas. Fortunately, no one had been kidnapped.

Except for one.

“(…A child named Han Gun-woo, following Awakened Yeon Mirae, has gone missing.)”

An Awakened cautiously informed Yeon Mirae.

The boy, a student of the Aura Master, had been kidnapped.

Why only he was taken was unknown, and there was no one bold enough to confront the Aura Master about it.

“…Are you okay, Mirae?”
“…Yeah, I’m fine.”

Rachel asked, worried about Yeon Mirae.

Rachel knew Han Gun-woo was strong for his age, but he was still a child.

She was concerned for his safety.

Of course…

“Was he kidnapped intentionally? Or is this a misunderstanding?”
“From what I can see, it was probably the Artist who prevented the kidnapping in the other shelter.”

Yeon Mirae and Arthur, knowing Han Gun-woo’s strength, weren’t worried.

Instead, they realized he had gone to Sydney to deal with the terrorists personally, so they focused on their own tasks.

“Let’s focus on hunting the doppelgangers first.”
“Mirae? But Gun-woo…”
“It’s fine… Gun-woo is strong.”

Yeon Mirae said this to reassure Rachel.

“……”

To Rachel, it seemed Yeon Mirae was hiding her worry over her precious student being kidnapped.

“Yeah. Let’s leave rescuing Gun-woo to the local Awakened.”

Rachel stood beside Yeon Mirae, thinking she had to suppress this terror quickly, at least for her distressed friend.

“……”

Arthur just gave a bitter smile and stood next to Rachel.