Chapter 23: Trembling Giant (2)
Two days had passed, and it was the third day at the mountain lodge located at an altitude of 2,700 meters.
Last night, one of the security guards had visited the lodge for an investigation. Since there was a saying that “the culprit will definitely return to the scene,” even we, who arrived just yesterday, were not excluded from suspicion.
We cooperated diligently with the security guard’s random investigation. Even if it was a forged license, it was properly registered in the database, and our movements could prove our innocence. Our official reason for the visit was apany team-building event.
After chatting with the security guard and exchanging information, it turned out that the countyw enforcement authorities hadn’t even figured out if this was a simple disappearance case or not. Security guards in this rural area, with a poption density of only four people per square kilometer, could only be sopetent. They were elected officials chosen by votes to begin with.
The tired-looking security guard mentioned that they were expecting support from higherw enforcement authorities soon for the search. The county police would probably arrive within a few days, followed by the federal police.
We had breakfast, which consisted of grilled trout aged overnight in the refrigerator with mayonnaise sauce, fish mayo, sd, coffee, and egg sandwiches we had purchased in advance at the restaurant.
There was enough grilled trout for each person. We had spent the whole day yesterday investigating, and Kyung-tae had managed to receive one package of trout each time we went out.
In any case, Kyung-tae’s sociability helped.
“Shall we summarize?”
After finishing the meal and gathering around, I sat at the head of the table and made eye contact with my subordinates.
“The minimum number of confirmed missing persons is over thirty. We don’t know where they disappeared to, but at the moment, the forest and theke are the most likely destinations.”
The existence of the frozenke was another reason why the search was difficult, along with the thick fog in the forest. If you set up a fishing tent, used it to sink the bodies by poking holes in the ice, and waited for the ice to freeze again before taking down the tent, it would be a perfect crime.
Yesterday evening, I saw dozens of tents on theke. They belonged to anglers who spent the night fishing.
Furthermore, the Por Cluster wasn’t the only forest in this area. With the fog and the proximity of the camping grounds and lodging facilities, it was just one of the most prominent ces.
“Let’s assume that some kind of human hunting is going on here.”
I raised my index finger.
“First, as of now, there is nomonality among the victims. These are lives that wouldn’t be of any use to Round Table nobles. It’s also difficult to see this as a trap to lure me in. Why would hunters want to provoke the vignce of their prey? …Tsk. Even though it’s disgusting, I’m still in the position of the hunted.”
I felt ufortable, but I was still the prey.
The fact that there was nomonality among the victims was confirmed not only through two days of investigation but also by tapping into the security guards’ radiomunications. Different origins, ages, genders, rtionships, and sses. Those nobles wouldn’t be able toe up with a reason to murder an entire family, including a six-year-old child on a family trip.
In the first ce, trapping me, who possessed the “Eye of the Golden Age,” would be an almost impossible task. Unless they urately predicted the state of the forest, there was no point in wasting effort on an empty possibility.
I extended another finger.
“The second point. considering the estimated timeline of each disappearance case and the results of our investigation, the unidentified group of murderers doesn’t seem to be thatrge. Even if we assume a conservative estimate, it’s likely less than half of our group and at most double our size.”
So, they didn’t pose a significant threat to me and my team, especially within this foggy forest.
“The third point is that the victimse from various states. This means that there’s a high probability that this case will eventually fall under federal police jurisdiction. If we dy, it will be troublesome.”
Until the search was officially closed, we probably wouldn’t be allowed to move around freely due to the need for crime scene preservation. It might be different if the vast forest were easy to control, but it was not.
“The fourth point is, as I mentioned before, this forest is one of the obstacles I have to ovee in collecting the fragments and clues of the new magic spell—let’s call it the “Code.” How many of those do you think who possess the Code will willingly reveal their secrets?”
Unless I saw it with my own eyes, there was no way for me to avoid this danger.
I folded my fingers.
“It will take at most one or two days. I need to understand the magic of this forest.”
And byying the foundation of the circuits now, I could attempt further exploration when the forest’s abilities became stronger and moreplex in the future. Having the key to the analysis, the magical potential of a single organism weighing 6,600 tons was iparable to an ordinary forest.
‘It will probably be one of the best and worstbyrinths in the world in the future. In terms of scale, it will probably stillg behind ces like the Amazon.’
Therefore, I was convinced that the knowledge I gained at this time would generate a snowball effect in the future.
“Any objections?”
No one among my subordinates spoke up in response to my question.
“Then we depart at 09:00.”
Except for the one team that would apany me, the rest of the personnel were stationed on the outskirts of the forest. I had decided to ce them there not only to avoid <i>wasting </i>them recklessly but also to call for reinforcements in case the situation became dire. It was a cement that considered securing an exit in case of a simr situation.
And at 09:30,
I crossed the fence and took the first step into the forest, where faint snowkes were falling. I arranged the formation in a zigzag pattern with me in the center.
“Maintain this distance as much as possible, and even if you fall due to an irresistible force, return as quickly as possible. This is my advice to all of you.”
Even though they already knew this information, the four, including Kyung-tae, took my advice very seriously. epting the possibility of death was not something to be taken lightly, especially when facing death. Furthermore, if that end was one of the worst diseases, it was even more so.
Once we entered the fog, we no longer needed to hide our weapons. The subordinates dressed in alpine camouge retrieved their guns from their bags and silently and swiftly assembled them. They were using Russian-made low-noise rifles called “Vikhr,” short and lightweight for easy carrying and concealment. The length, including the silencer, was simr to the Korean K-2 rifle. The only downside was that the ammunition was a bit scarce.
“Hyungim.”
“Yeah.”
I received the gun Kyung-tae handed me, pulled the trigger slowly, and then pushed it forward. I didn’t forget to push it one more time for a final check to ensure the chambered round was securely in ce.
‘It’s warmer than outside.’
It seems the mist in the Por forest also served to retain warmth. It was simr to how the water inside ake in the dead of winter was warmer than the outside. If the sole purpose was to retain moisture, a different form of magic would have manifested, as dense fog interfered with photosynthesis.
I hadpleted my preparation for exploration by wearing body armor and a ballistic helmet.
“Let’s move.”
I didn’t need to personally determine the basic exploration route. Using the satellite map of the forest, I had already set reference points by marking GPS coordinates. Connecting these points would create a path spiraling toward the center from the outside. These reference points would also be helpful in regrouping if we got scattered.
I only needed to speak up when a stop was necessary. Sometimes, I stopped to sketch circuit diagrams, memorize the flow of magic, and mentally draw an outline of the massive circuit, almost as ifmitting it to memory. This wasn’t as simple as copying and pasting code; it was far moreplicated unless the magic was in a usable form. Currently, about 99.9% of the forest’s circuits were cluttered, which made it even more challenging.
Within the dense fog, my visibility was reduced to around 30 meters. Regardless of my eye’s capabilities, my brain couldn’t handle the flood of visual information.
asionally, I would change direction, wondering how much further we had to go. At the edge of that 30-meter visibility range, a very unpleasant symbol appeared.
“Stop.”
At my quietmand, the formation halted. I took a few steps forward and carefully examined the area around the symbol for any threatening elements, such as magical ambushes or traps. This might be possible only for Round Table’s elites, but there was no harm in being cautious.
Only after confirming safety two or three times did I speak up.
“Follow me.”
While deviating from the nned route for a moment, I took the lead. Here, the formation would be rearranged ording to our pre-agreed-upon n: two to the left rear and two to the right rear.
Kyung-tae discovered a hand sticking out of the snowfield and stared at it with a stiff expression.
“This is…”
“One of the missing persons, I assume.”
The corpse was not in normal condition. I walked around the circr symbol, using my boot to clear away the hard-packed snow around it, ensuring that my subordinates could see the rest of the corpse.
Inside a circle created by tearing apart a human body to make it elongated, there was a star drawn with blood. The star had an inverted shape, and outside the circle were seventy-two Latin characters resembling a star, written with blood. It was a symbol of devil worshipers who drew dark power from the Acausal Realm. Their belief itself was nonsense, but the problem was that the star inside the circle was not the seven-pointed star but the seven-star.
‘If it’s the seven-star, it’s the lineage of the British.’
Traditional devil worshipers used the inverted pentagram as their symbol because its shape resembled the head of a goat. However, followers of Satan rooted in Ennd uniquely used the seven-star. This change urred when the real mage, Grace, joined them, stealing the wisdom of the Round Table. Her followers were known as the Order of 7 Angles (O7A) because of this.
“Heh.”
Kyung-tae, who was at the perimeter, nced at the dirty symbol. His amazed reaction was due to asional education about potential hostile forces.
“Do you think those Satanists from the ind came all the way here?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“It’s too sloppy to think that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“The order of the characters is wrong.”
I referred to the 72 characters of Kabbh (magnum nomen Domini Semenphoras licterarum), which express the name of God that I couldn’t dare to utter. Devil worshipers, who turn crosses and stars upside down, also write these characters in reverse order, as if it were obvious.
Would the real mages from the Witch Council make such a mistake?
That was impossible.
“It might be the work of the Yankee faction that received orders from their homnd.”
Despite the persistent tracking, hunting, and suppression efforts by the Round Table Cab, the new stream of devil worship created by Indian witches spread rapidly worldwide. However, such underground church-like expansion inevitably came with the loss and distortion of doctrine.
The symbol itself had no magical effect.
Kyung-tae nced at it once more and furrowed his brow.
“The state of the body is quite… unusual.”
Indeed, the corpse wasn’t just torn apart; it was “unfolding” like nt roots. If blood vessels and capiries prated the skin and branched out in all directions, it might look simr.
I said,
“It’s not a corpse.”
“What?”
“From a nt’s perspective, there might just be a nutrient clump here.”
“….”
Those torn apart might be due to human activity, while the pulling could be the forest’s doing. When pulling in moisture, other substances might havee along, and perhaps the root tips in the cold sensed their taste. Or maybe they caught a scent floating in the air
As evidence, the direction in which the remains were spreading and moving was tilted towards where surface and underground roots and stems were closer and more abundant.
Kyung-tae, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly understood my point and grinned.
“So, it’s an environment where you can kill people without worrying about the body being discovered?”
“To some extent.”
“Sounds good, doesn’t it?”
What he meant by “good” was not only about the current moment but also the satisfaction of knowing that this environment could potentially kill people without concerns of bodies being discovered. Even if I were a skilled forensic scientist, it would be difficult to gather detailed information from a corpse damaged in this way.
However…
“No, it’s not all good.”
Kyung-tae, correcting my words, suddenly smiled and wore an ambiguous expression.
That’s right. Could it really be considered good?
In an environment where any action wouldn’t easily be known – or could be easily covered up – how many lunatics would emerge once real political and economic interests began to intertwine in this maze? Just given anonymity, Satan could possess anyone, whether they were humans or not.
Creatures in the green maze would reveal their true nature without shame, not even realizing they were at the bottom. Those people around me were more likely to be a hindrance than help.Author''s Thoughts
Disimer:
This novel is a work of fiction! While it may incorporate elements inspired by our "real" historical world, including historical events, settings, and cultures, it is important to note that the story and characters are entirely products of the author''s imagination. Any resemnce to real persons, living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work should be enjoyed and interpreted as a work of fiction and not as a representation of historical facts or reality.
Also, if you find some error in trantion please do let me know by tagging me (@_dawn24) in our Discord server. Since this series is kinda hard to trante. But I''ll try my best to make it at least readable :)
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