Chapter 197 - North Korean rabbit

Chapter 197

It was obvious that directly attacking the experimental subject inside the tank would be difficult to inflict damage.

Gaspard had personally blocked Arpad's attack, showing just how important he considered it.

It was clear he had likely fortified its defenses even more securely than his own.

In our current state, neither I nor Arpad had the strength to destroy the subject.

That's when a memory from the Magical Tower before my regression suddenly surfaced.

The horrific memories from the time I lived as Gaspard's experimental subject.

Among them, the incident where I learned Gaspard could transfer his consciousness to another body.

"Ah. To waste a spare life on such a ridiculous accident. This is outside my calculations……."

I'm talking about the time Gaspard shielded me to save me from an exploding experimental subject.

Gaspard was rather loose-lipped. I often saw him chattering away to specimens preserved in jars or mindless experimental subjects.

As one of the few among his subjects capable of conversation, I must have been a prime audience.

Thanks to that, I was able to hear in detail about the cause of that subject's explosion.

'He definitely said it was because it was an experimental subject that applied both divine power and magical power simultaneously.'

When two opposing forces are placed within a single body, even a slight imbalance in equilibrium causes a massive shock.

The subject naturally shatters into pieces, sweeping away everything around it.

Based on this, what would happen if that meticulously crafted subject, into which he had undoubtedly poured all his care and resources, met the same fate?

'We could break the barrier surrounding this space and deal Gaspard an even greater blow.'

In fact, the most important and effective point was that we could shock and destabilize Gaspard's mind.

He would feel pain and shock on the level of watching his spouse or child be killed before his eyes.

This would be very effective both as revenge and as a means for our escape.

The plan I devised was simple.

'Destabilize the flow of magical power in the external space to disrupt the internal equilibrium of the subject!'

Who knew that memory would be so helpful.

Even Gaspard only learned this fact after an explosion accident had occurred once.

The current Gaspard must have only recently begun applying divine power to his experiments.

Moreover, due to me and Arpad, he hadn't had a stable environment to consistently continue his experiments.

Naturally, it was clear he wouldn't know this fact.

The simplest and most effective way to destabilize the flow of magical power was combat.

Especially when magic and aura clashed.

I asked Arpad to disrupt the flow of magical power within the basement as much as possible, and watching Gaspard's reaction, I became certain.

'Gaspard still doesn't know this fact!'

If he knew, he wouldn't have placed the experimental tank beside him while fighting Arpad.

No matter how many layers of barrier protected it.

We dragged out the time as long as we could, turning the surrounding magical flow into as much of a chaotic mess as possible.

Finally, I could see the desired result with my own eyes.

The experimental subject floating in the tank began to writhe violently.

Magical power tinged with red pulsed inside its body, beginning to move with increasing ferocity.

It soon encroached upon the domain of the divine power, which had been maintaining a precarious balance.

The two opposing forces, refusing to mix, spun incessantly against each other.

That fragile equilibrium finally shattered.

The very moment I proudly and triumphantly declared to Gaspard that I would smash everything he had to pieces.

*Crack—!*

Gaspard turned around with an expression as if he had heard the world itself cracking.

He seemed to have even forgotten his fight with Arpad.

"No!"

But his realization came too late.

It was the result of our efforts to keep him from noticing the situation inside the tank and to draw his attention as much as possible.

The fissure spread in an instant, and finally, unable to withstand the internal pressure, the tank shattered.

A tremendous shockwave swept through the surroundings.

*KWA-GWANG—!!!*

* * *

The port city of Veneta, located at the eastern edge of the Empire, was peaceful again today.

There had been an incident where members of the mercenary guild suddenly scurried around searching inside the city, but that too had quieted down.

Yesterday, there was confusion at the docks with people gasping in fear and awe at a sudden light, some even worshipping it as a miracle.

There was absolutely no precursor to this fragile peace being shattered.

In fact, the two previous incidents could be seen as precursors to a major disaster, but it was natural people hadn't noticed.

Because even the two parties who had unintentionally caused the incident hadn't predicted this situation at all.

But regardless, what was meant to happen, happened.

The city of Veneta developed around the lord's castle at its center, with the main streets stretching east and west.

On these streets, a market was open year-round, selling both cultural goods brought in from eastern trade and the Empire's abundant local products.

It was a bustling area always crowded not only with Imperials but also with people from other continents.

That's when the sky and earth shook together.

*BOOM! KU-GWANG—!*

A tremendous impact struck all around, noise tore at eardrums, and the windows of buildings near the lord's castle all shattered.

"Kyaaak!"

"What, what is this?!"

"Save me!"

Amidst the people's screams of shock and terror, there were those who noticed the anomaly first.

Someone muttered blankly.

"Wh-what is that on the castle?!"

Those who had flattened themselves on the ground or fallen over all raised their heads at once.

Above the chaotic marketplace, a section of the lord's castle wall, which had stood sturdy for over a hundred years, had crumbled, revealing a hole.

Through that gap, something bizarre began to reveal itself.

* * *

The moment the explosion occurred, Arpad used all his remaining strength to protect me.

I don't know how he did it, but the black serpent had somehow come to surround us.

Thanks to that, he didn't lose his life despite the aftermath of the explosion.

After the shockwave passed.

I barely managed to collect my senses and check on Gaspard.

Now that the thing he cherished so much was destroyed, I wondered what expression Gaspard would have.

"……."

Gaspard stared blankly at the shattered tank and the traces of the experimental subject, about one-third of which remained inside.

He seemed not to care in the slightest that his own body had been turned to rags after taking the brunt of the explosion's aftermath.

With soulless eyes, he checked each piece of the broken equipment and the remnants of the subject.

When his gaze, which had been scanning everywhere, finally reached me.

I was astonished.

"?!"

Not because of a level of despair, but because life had instantly returned to eyes that had been utterly empty, like those of someone who had lost and been stripped of everything.

"It's truly regrettable and a waste, but there's nothing to be done. I knew it was a failure anyway."

Gaspard extended a hand so shattered the bones were visible.

'What? How?!'

Gaspard smiled brightly, providing the answer to my question.

"The best materials are still left, so I can just start over from the beginning."

The innocent smile of the mad mage made my mind go numb.

The traces of the experimental subject remaining inside the broken tank began to writhe and crawl out.

Toward Gaspard.

It wasn't just what remained in the tank.

Even the finely shattered and charred fragments wriggled like small insects, crawling toward their master.

I realized what he intended to do.

'He's going to absorb the subject to recover his strength, then capture us again and repeat the experiments!'

Truly insane words.

But Gaspard was a mad mage who would do just that, and he had the ability.

Before I could even speak aloud, Arpad also noticed this.

Gathering his nearly depleted strength, he unleashed a sword aura, but it couldn't stop Gaspard and the subject from merging.

The fragments of the experimental subject filled the parts of Gaspard's body that had been shattered and charred by the explosion.

The parts cut and slashed by the sword aura instantly healed over and were filled with flesh.

*Crunch, crackle-crack!*

The sound of bones breaking and realigning echoed grotesquely.

Gaspard curled his back round. As if in agony.

And the next moment.

*Snap!*

A single twisted wing, with traces of golden scales visible between the dark red lumps of flesh, pierced through Gaspard's back and grew.

Hair tinged with gold and irises stained red. The pupils, once human, split vertically long.

A bizarre form, as if human and dragon were haphazardly mixed together.

I had already seen something almost identical to that.

'It's almost exactly the same as the experimental subject he made from Arpad's corpse before my regression!'

A shiver ran down my spine.