Mad Scientist, Kendrick
“What in the world is going on!?”
Kendrick, the director of the underground facility, couldn't comprehend the sudden chaos.
The intruder who had barged in was literally a force of nature, slaughtering every Cult member in sight without a word.
Combatants, researchers, even worshippers—no one was spared. The massacre ignored all targets, swiftly breaking through every defensive line they had established.
The speed was monstrous.
“We’ve lost contact with the last defensive line…”
“Director! We need orders!!”
The Cult members gathered in what appeared to be a command center looked to him for guidance.
However, he was a research director, not a combatant. It was painfully obvious that even if he stepped forward, the situation wouldn't change.
“Damn it… Damn it…!!”
He hadn't expected the Thorn Carpenter's combat prowess to be this overwhelming.
The Cult combatants slaughtered so far were considered highly skilled within the organization.
While not on par with the Black Knights, the Cult’s core fighting force, they were capable of easily handling mercenary groups or even a company of the Kingdom's army.
The fact that they were annihilated in mere seconds without even putting up a fight sent shivers down his spine.
“The final defensive magic has been breached! He’ll be here any minute!”
“W-We have to stop him! Do whatever it takes to keep him from getting here! Everyone, attack!”
With things having escalated this far, there was no room for mercy.
Even if their identities were exposed to the Kingdom, they had to escape with the data from the experiments conducted here.
“The Experimental Subject! What’s the status of the Experimental Subject!?”
“Adjustments aren’t complete…”
“You idiot! Do you think adjustments matter now!? We’ll all be dead if we hesitate!! Wake it up! Wake it up and make it fight him!”
“U-Understood!!”
A Cult member nodded at his frantic shout and ran off.
Watching him go, Kendrick gritted his teeth, a grinding sound echoing in the room.
“Thorn Carpenter…!! You dare…!!!”
He would repay this humiliation tenfold. Muttering to himself, Kendrick followed his subordinates, their destination unknown.
* * *
What unfolded was nothing short of a massacre.
“U-Uwaaagh!?”
“A-A demon!! It’s a demon!!”
Pools of blood spread across the floor.
Thorns erupted from the shadows.
The screams and death throes of fleeing cultists filled the air.
The facility descended into utter chaos.
“Death to those who defy the great Death!”
Some Cult members drew their weapons and charged at Rudell…
Thud! Thud!
…only to be impaled by shadow thorns erupting from the ground, becoming nothing more than mangled heaps of flesh.
Thus, the battle, if it could even be called that, concluded…
“Doesn’t seem like there’s anyone else in sight.”
Rudell nodded as Kurt, pulling his axe from a fallen cultist, spoke.
Despite the gruesome scene before him, Rudell felt nothing.
He had merely disposed of the trash that needed to be disposed of.
That was the extent of his emotions at the moment.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Go deeper inside.”
If there were more cultists, he would simply eliminate them.
Thinking this, Rudell headed deeper into the facility.
“It’s quiet.”
The dark corridor was deathly silent, as if the cultists he had just eliminated were the last ones.
A sense of foreboding washed over him, but he had no intention of stopping.
He was determined to completely eradicate the Cult's roots from this place today, no matter what.
As he continued down the seemingly endless corridor…
“Wait.”
Rudell looked at Kurt, puzzled by the tense expression on his face as he stopped.
“There’s something ahead.”
“Something ahead?”
Rudell looked ahead, but saw nothing but thick darkness.
In that instant…
“…!!”
Rudell caught a disturbing whiff of mana emanating from ahead.
He held his breath and drew upon his own power.
A shadowy veil erupted from his shadow, blocking the path ahead.
Simultaneously, sharp, red thorns struck the shadow barrier with a dull thud.
“This is…”
Thorns formed from mana imbued with a crimson aura. He had seen this before.
“[Ooooh…!!]”
As Rudell held his breath, a pair of crimson eyes gleamed from the darkness beyond the corridor.
“As I thought…”
It wouldn't end so easily.
The unidentified being had appeared once more.
Looking at the False Thorn Carpenter, Rudell's expression hardened.
The mana was significantly stronger than their previous encounter.
The Cult had undoubtedly done something in the meantime.
“What are you going to do?”
“Take it down.”
Of course, he had no intention of backing down now.
“[Uwaaaaaaa-!!]”
The False Thorn Carpenter’s crimson eyes flashed as it observed Rudell preparing for battle.
A dark red mana spread outwards, disintegrating the surrounding structures as it was consumed by the power.
Rumble…!!
Soon, a low tremor shook the ground, cracks spiderwebbing across the floor of the corridor…
Crash!!
…followed by a deafening roar as the floor collapsed.
The two plummeted into the darkness below, landing in a vast, shadowy space.
“This is…”
Rudell was taken aback.
He hadn’t imagined such a place existed underground.
He wondered just what lay beneath the Royal Capital.
And then…
“Khahahaha!”
“…?”
Rudell turned his head towards the sudden laughter.
He saw a man standing on what appeared to be a platform.
He was gaunt, with stark white hair. Behind his large spectacles, violet eyes burned with a blazing madness.
“You’re…”
Rudell recognized him.
Kendrick.
A mage affiliated with the Death Eater Cult, he was the epitome of a mad scientist in the original story.
The crimson plague that had devastated the Empire was his handiwork.
And most of the enemies that had endangered the protagonist’s group were his creations.
“Thorn Carpenter! I don’t know what you’re thinking coming this far, but your fate ends here!!”
“Wow…”
Rudell couldn’t help but be genuinely impressed by the man’s cliché villainous monologue.
He hadn’t expected anyone to actually utter such lines.
Of course, considering this was a world inside a novel, it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.
“Kurt. Get him. Don't let him escape.”
“Understood.”
Eliminating this man would significantly weaken the Cult's forces.
Kurt nodded at Rudell’s words, drew the axe strapped to his back, and hurled it straight at Kendrick.
Clang!
“H-Hiik!?”
The axe flew with a sharp whistle, narrowly missing Kendrick with a deafening clang.
He collapsed to the ground, staring in terror at the axe embedded beside him.
“W-What are you doing!! Do you know who I am!? The world would suffer a great loss if a genius like me were to die!!”
“Don’t make me laugh. You’re just lunatics.”
Monsters wearing human skin, treating their fellow humans like insects.
The scene he had witnessed earlier reinforced this fact.
“Eeek!! Experimental Subject 121! Kill them!”
Kendrick, staring at Rudell with wide eyes, yelled at the False Thorn Carpenter—Experimental Subject 121—before turning and fleeing.
“Trying to run!”
Rudell tried to pursue him, but…
“[Oooooh-!!!]”
With a monstrous roar, the False Thorn Carpenter, Experimental Subject 121, began to radiate an immense amount of mana.
It surpassed even the combined power of Rudell’s own mana and the mana from the bracelet Kahran had given him.
Kurt, also sensing the imminent danger, stared at the creature with a hardened expression.
“Kurt, I’ll handle this somehow. You go after him.”
“Understood.”
Kurt nodded and sprinted towards the passage where Kendrick had disappeared…
“[Goooooh-!!]”
The False Thorn Carpenter roared and reached out towards Kurt.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Crimson thorns of mana, formed behind its back, shot towards Kurt like projectiles.
“Not a chance!”
But Rudell wouldn’t allow it.
Shadows erupted from beneath his feet, intercepting and deflecting the crimson thorns.
Experimental Subject 121 turned to face Rudell…
“I’m your opponent.”
“[Oooooh-!!]”
Experimental Subject 121 roared at Rudell, who taunted it by beckoning with his finger.
Meanwhile, Kurt could be seen pursuing Kendrick down the passage.
‘This should buy enough time.’
It was logically impossible for Kendrick, whose physical abilities were described as average in the original story, to outrun Kurt.
All that remained was for Rudell to deal with the monster before him, Experimental Subject 121.
“Haa…”
Bracing himself for a difficult fight, Rudell channeled his mana.
And then…
Thump…!!
“…?”
Rudell looked up towards the source of the sudden thudding sound.
It was coming from above them.
“[Oooh…? ]”
Experimental Subject 121 also looked up towards the sound.
Thump…!! Thump…!! Thump…!!
The thudding grew louder, closer, shaking the ground around them.
“Could it be…”
‘Another enemy?’
‘At a time like this…’
Kendrick's presence here meant that his other experimental subjects could also be present. Things were getting complicated.
As Rudell prepared for battle…
Kwaaaboooom!!
With a deafening roar, the ceiling above them crumbled…
“Rudeeeeeeel—!!”
“Eh…?”
A dumbfounded sound escaped Rudell’s lips as he saw the girl emerge from the falling debris.
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