I have an easy way to know how many months it’s been since the Otherworlders showed up here.
Well, it’s because my physical and mental cycles come around once a month.
And today happens to be the 14th Raging Day celebrating the birth of the Otherworlders.
To congratulate them, I held a small ritual deep in the cave.
Tap, tap, tap…
I won’t go into detail about what I did in that ritual.
Describing it specifically felt embarrassing, and honestly, it was a bit too “gay.”
To put it briefly… I let a few things go. A lot, actually.
These days, Raging Phase B has taken a peculiar turn.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been exposed to so many stimulating scenes lately, but it feels like sexual desire is piling up more than anger or depression.
Raging Phase already drew blood to the lower half, but especially lately, the symptoms have gotten worse.
I can’t tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
“Phew…”
But over time, the excitement did fade.
The long night passed, and morning arrived.
What remained was a strangely fishy smell and the existential crisis that followed me.
‘How many times have I done this without any reward…’
The whole world didn’t look beautiful, just a bit self-loathing. But hey, it’s better than feeling depressed.
“……..”
While lost in thought, I stepped out of the cave.
Once the Raging stopped, the first thing I preferred was seeing the sunlight.
That way, I would be assured that night had passed, and my mood would improve a bit.
Besides, after doing this routine for decades, it felt uncomfortable not seeing sunlight.
As I stepped outside, the fresh smell of grass tickled my nose.
“…! …!!”
Along with that, I heard a voice coming from somewhere.
It wasn’t Chaerin or Haneul, as they’d both already come by recently.
However, it wasn’t a voice I could ignore either.
“…Look! Is Yor nearby…!”
Amidst the cries, my name was mentioned.
I frowned deeply and sighed heavily.
“Ha.”
I was tired to death. What kind of person was calling for me?
If I had my way, I would have loved to ignore it and sleep, but I couldn’t. Ignoring them didn’t guarantee they’d leave.
So, I shook off my fatigue and walked towards the voice. I figured I should at least see who it was.
“…Oh, what? It hasn’t been long since I called, but you came quickly. Were you nearby?”
When I met the voice’s owner, I couldn’t help but frown.
It wasn’t exactly a welcome face. What was her name again? Niki Tanesha, right?
She was another enhancer like me and a member of Lemegaton.
She also nearly ruined my relationship with Yoo Chaerin by suddenly revealing my identity to her.
Well, it ended well, but I was left with bad memories.
So, upon seeing her, I immediately snarled.
“Didn’t I tell you to fuck off back then? Did you come back just to die?”
“Whoa, whoa, calm down. I’m not here to recruit anyone today.”
“……..”
Hearing that, I eased my guard slightly. I didn’t feel any hostility from her anyway.
She looked quite tired too.
While I was giving her a glare, a strange thought crossed my mind.
Wait, she’s also an enhancer; how did she get here in the forest so early in the morning?
I couldn’t help but ask her about it.
“How’s the Raging Phase? Didn’t it just start yesterday? How did you get here so fast?”
“The Raging Phase? It’s a bit bothersome, but I can still move around just fine. So I struggled through it to get here this morning.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
…That’s it? Just bothersome?
Whether A or B, don’t you have to clear the whole day when it bursts?
I mean, sure I wander around the forest when B hits… but I wouldn’t have the confidence to move around with reason like that.
‘Does the Raging Phase apply differently based on the enhancer?’
A thought popped into my mind.
I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t seen how others handled their Raging Phase.
While I thought about that, Niki spoke up again.
“Sniff, sniff, but don’t you smell something strange? There’s a sort of fishy stench…”
When I heard that, I felt slightly embarrassed.
Shit, thinking back, I hadn’t really showered properly after letting a few things go.
It couldn’t be helped. I only planned to see the sunlight for a bit, but now I bumped into someone unexpectedly.
“…Shut up. Just tell me the purpose of your visit today.”
I grumbled as I shifted the topic. Fortunately, she didn’t think much and went along with it.
“It’s simple. I’m here to share some information.”
“Information? Suddenly?”
A new information courier? That sounded a bit interesting.
“…Just hear me out.”
Thus, she began explaining what had happened last night.
It was about a ritual I hadn’t paid any attention to—regarding the Altar Occupation.
*
The attack on the Kimaris Altar drew a lot of attention.
Anything involving demons is always important for Lemegaton.
Among those involved, Niki was one of them. She was a capable team leader with considerable skills.
However, it didn’t take long before she heard some unfavorable news.
“This battle is already lost.”
“…What?”
“The opposing side is overwhelming. You need numbers to fight, and at this rate, even if we occupy it, we’ll lose it quickly. Tsk.”
It was the words of the 4th tribe leader himself.
The commander in charge of the battle was already declaring defeat.
That was how vast their numbers were. Individual combat power was still unknown, but they’d already lost in sheer numbers.
Nevertheless, the commander couldn’t back down before the fight even began.
They had to at least feign a fight. That way, they could maintain their reputation and shed the label of being a coward.
So, the leader made another decision.
“Let’s raid their camp when the moon rises. Since it’s dim, even if we lose, retreating should be easy.”
It was a sort of show-off battle.
After all, they could deal some damage to the enemy and minimize their own losses. Among the officers following the leader, no one objected.
However, there was a downside: Niki couldn’t participate in the battles when the moon rose.
After all, she was an enhancer too.
Fortunately for her, her Raging Phase was relatively mild. Still, it wasn’t enough for her to join the fight. So she decided to wander around the nearby village while the battle went on.
Her body felt prickly, but moving around was way better than just sitting still.
It was during this moment of wandering beneath the dark night sky.
“—How dare you…! To disregard the kingdom’s noble laws and hide a criminal!!”
“I’m sorry! Please spare my life…!”
“Such nonsense! Those who threaten humanity must pay with blood!”
“Ahhh! Father! Nooo!”
Disturbing shouts came from somewhere. Even the sound of weapons clashing echoed softly.
“…What’s going on?”
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Niki moved toward the noise.
And what she found were several cold corpses and a lone knight, breathing heavily, wounded.
Though not part of the battle, she recognized the dead bodies well enough; they belonged to the village chief’s family.
For some reason, the knight had killed them.
Her gaze shifted inward, revealing a new person.
A girl clutching her head painfully, her thigh adorned with a dark red tattoo.
“Ugh, my head…!”
So she was an enhancer. Who would’ve guessed she’d find a new one in this place? Unexpectedly, Niki’s eyes widened.
Quickly, she pieced together the situation.
The injured knight had stumbled into the chief’s house, discovered the hidden enhancer, and killed the chief.
Like those with Demon’s Blood, hiding a bearer was also a grievous crime.
“What the hell, who are you?!”
Regardless, she couldn’t just stand by and let it happen.
As a member of Lemegaton and a fellow of her kind, she couldn’t allow an enhancer to die.
Thus, Niki swiftly dealt with the knight and took the little girl away.
Even in a Raging state, she had enough power to handle an ordinary wounded knight.
The chief’s family had already been slaughtered; all she could do was save the child.
By this point, the girl was half out of her mind.
“Crying… father, mother…!”
Already suffering from the Raging Phase, having her caretakers killed was too much for her.
Niki felt a pang of sympathy for the little girl.
She directed her steps toward the tent of the 4th tribe leader, who was still assessing the battle situation.
Seeing Niki enter, the leader asked.
“Hmm, what’s going on? Who’s this little one?”
“She’s an enhancer. I saved her from almost being killed by a knight.”
Niki quickly explained the situation to him.
“Hmm, oh…”
The leader nodded in interest as he listened to the full story.
“To think there was an enhancer hidden in such a small village. How interesting.”
“Yeah, but do you have an extra tent? I think we need to protect her for a while.”
“Hold on a moment…”
The leader took a short glance between the girl and a map laid out on a table.
He seemed deep in thought.
After a while, he looked at the girl with a twisted, thin smile.
“Hey, kid. Don’t you hate those guys?”
“……..?”
Up until that point, the girl was still engulfed in sorrow.
Her tear-filled eyes gazed up at the leader.
“How can you not feel hatred for the knight who killed your family? I happen to have a way.”
“What? No, wait a minute.”
Niki stepped in at that moment. She could clearly see what he was intending to do.
Stopping the leader’s words, she asked.
“What the hell is this? Instead of comforting the child, you’re encouraging her to rampage?”
“Think about it calmly, Niki. There are so many people gathered in one place. What would happen if we unleashed a Mine here?”
There’s no doubt it would result in a significant offering. The leader chuckled, finishing his thought.
Niki cursed at him, trying to block his scheme.
“You bastard…”
Honestly, she wasn’t even that interested in demons.
Her reason for joining Lemegaton was simply that it was a comfortable place to live.
She was a criminal by birth, so she ended up dabbling in crime at some point.
Yet this was too much.
Encouraging the child to sell her soul?
But it was already too late. The child was already slightly intrigued by the leader’s words.
“What’s the method…?”
With tearful eyes, the little girl looked up at the leader. Though she was still crying, a hint of hatred was beginning to show.
The leader gently suggested to her.
“The method is simple. You probably already know it.”
“……..”
What came next was predictable. No persuasion was needed.
The little girl became a Mine and ended up killing 120 people.
And the 13-year-old child met a glorious end.
*
“…I hate to admit it, but you’re right. This place does serve demons.”
From then, it was simple.
Seeing her kin go wild and feeling disgusted by the tribe leader, she quickly headed to me.
The relationship between us hadn’t been great, but she turned to me, a fellow of her kind.
“It’s true that it’s a comfortable place, but they see us as tools.”
The cause was the knight, but in the end, it was Lemegaton that turned the girl into a Mine.
She seemed burdened with many thoughts about it.
I was shocked too.
A Mine had appeared again. And 120 people had been sacrificed. Did it mean a demon could show up again?
Along with sympathy for that child, my perception of that tribe leader soured drastically.
But then, a bigger question arose.
I looked at Niki and asked.
“Did you come all this way just to share that one piece of information? Even with the Raging Phase hitting you?”
“…Yeah. Honestly, I don’t like you, but we’re both of the same kind. You still haven’t joined our side.”
Niki took a breath and continued.
“And I didn’t just bring this one piece of information. There’s something else that might help folks like us.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you. It’s something the Lemegaton people would never share, even if they died.”
I focused more on her words.
Phew, she took a breath and began to speak to me.
“There’s a way to permanently eliminate the Raging Phase.”
