The monkeys, wielding knives in their hands, began to dismember the woman.
They meticulously sliced her skin into thin strips, stuffing them into their mouths, before tearing open her abdomen and pulling out her internal organs.
“Ugh… Haaack…”
The woman no longer screamed.
Indeed, she could not.
Her facial skin had long since been stripped away, and her tongue lay writhing on the floor.
Though she clung to life, it was evident she would not last much longer.
‘The man to my right is likely next.’
‘And after him, it’s most probable that I, seated across the aisle, will be their next target.’
Though his heart hammered wildly at the brutal spectacle unfolding before him—a horror he was witnessing for the very first time—Shin Ian forced himself to maintain a calm demeanor, his mind racing.
This current predicament was unmistakably an entanglement with a supernatural phenomenon.
The true nature of this urban legend was likely the ‘Monkey Dream’.
While the original legend spoke of small dwarves appearing to kill people, what now stood undeniably before his eyes were monkeys.
Although their appearance leaned more towards chimpanzees, they were, without question, primates.
Therefore, the blade specifically designed to slay primates should prove effectively potent.
According to the grimoire, primates meet an instantaneous death the moment a blade touches them, before they can even react.
A mere prick to their skin is enough to utterly decimate them.
Still, he couldn’t simply leap to his feet and charge at them in that instant.
For one, their numbers were overwhelming.
To make matters worse, every single one of those numerous monkeys was armed with a bladed weapon.
While a surprise attack might allow him to dispatch a few, eradicating them all would likely prove an insurmountable challenge.
Thus, he resolved to bide his time and seize an opportune moment.
His plan was to wait until they drew near to kill him, then ‘recreate’ two of them, while felling the remaining three with his blade.
This strategy would allow him to eliminate all the monkeys currently occupying his compartment.
He had no idea what the situation was like in the other compartments, but he harbored no optimistic illusions.
It seemed wisest to assume the worst possible scenario and proceed with utmost caution.
While the ideal outcome would be to end the situation by eliminating these creatures, should that fail, he might find himself needing to reach the driver’s cabin.
A headache already throbbed at his temples, yet Shin Ian inwardly steeled his resolve, patiently waiting for the monkeys to draw nearer.
“Uh, ahhhh!!!”
It was the turn after the woman’s demise.
The man, who had been sitting in a daze, instantly snapped back to reality and began screaming as a blade plunged into his body.
Shin Ian, in his mind, made the sign of the cross, silently praying for the man to find peace in the afterlife.
He felt no pang of guilt as he watched the man succumb to death.
‘I am no hero.’
‘I am merely a wizard.’
While he would undoubtedly intervene if salvation were possible, in circumstances where it was not, he refused to entertain any thoughts that might waver his resolve.
For only by doing so would his own chances of survival be maximized.
[Ukki-kik!]
A moment later, the monkeys, having meticulously carved up the man, let out a cackle and turned their heads towards Shin Ian.
Narrowing his eyes, he calmly observed their approach.
…He squeezed.
His grip on the grimoire and the knife instinctively tightened.
Shin Ian savored the smooth texture of the grimoire’s cover, patiently waiting for the monkeys to lunge with their blades.
And then, the very instant they slowly extended their hands towards him.
*Thwack!*
Shin Ian’s eyes snapped open, and he violently swung the grimoire clutched in his hand.
With a sickening *thwack*, the head of the leading monkey was twisted unnaturally backward.
[Ukki?!]
[U-Ukki-kik!]
The abrupt turn of events caught the other monkeys off guard, leaving them flustered.
Seizing this crucial opening, Shin Ian carelessly tossed aside the grimoire.
He then swiftly tapped two of the monkeys with his fingers, while simultaneously carving blade marks into the bodies of the remaining two.
The two monkeys struck by his blade instantly perished on the spot.
The monkeys touched by Shin Ian’s fingers completed their assessment and contorted their faces in alarm, but he proved swifter than their attempts to brandish their knives.
“Be reborn.”
*C-crunch!*
The instant the words left his lips, the monkeys were compressed on the spot.
Gazing down at their forms, now transformed into small cubes, Shin Ian wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.
[U-Ukiiiii-k… Ukki-k…]
One monkey, having been struck by the grimoire and sent flying, thrashed helplessly on the floor, unable to regain its senses.
Shin Ian cleared away the fallen knives scattered around it, then precisely jabbed a bladed weapon into its leg.
That was the end of it.
Shin Ian casually flicked off the viscous blood clinging to the blade, then gathered the compressed cubes and tucked them into his bag.
‘I’ve acquired two more materials.’
‘Not bad at all.’
Even without actively seeking out anomalies, he had already amassed three materials.
This suggested it would be worthwhile to attempt more alchemical experiments in his workshop.
Shin Ian nodded inwardly, then retrieved the fallen grimoire.
*Flicker.*
The moment the grimoire settled into Shin Ian’s hand, its pages began to turn on their own.
[CAUTION!!]
[This grimoire is not a weapon. You are strictly forbidden from physically striking anything with it or employing it as a tool.]
Shin Ian read the words inscribed on the page and let out a wry chuckle.
It appeared the grimoire was rather displeased by his act of wielding it as a weapon.
“My apologies.”
“I promise not to do it again.”
Upon receiving his heartfelt apology, the grimoire vibrated once before unfurling to a different page.
[As a wizard, it is inevitable to occasionally become entangled in supernatural phenomena.
While one approach involves calmly examining the nature of the mystery and formulating a strategy, there also exists a more primal and straightforward method.]
[That method is annihilation.]
[Should you eliminate more than half of the entities comprising a supernatural phenomenon, the phenomenon will ultimately lose its power and dissipate.
Therefore, if a clear strategy eludes you, systematically eliminating them while you devise a plan is a perfectly viable approach.]
As if its ire had subsided, the grimoire offered a method to escape the current predicament.
Shin Ian quietly read the inscribed text, then hummed thoughtfully before closing the grimoire.
“So, the instruction is to kill them all, first and foremost.”
As outlined in the grimoire, this was indeed the simplest course of action.
The inherent problem, however, lay in Shin Ian’s less-than-exceptional physical capabilities.
No monkeys remained in the compartment where he now stood.
Yet, the supernatural phenomenon persisted, unequivocally indicating that similar horrors were unfolding in other compartments.
Systematically hunting down and eliminating each one would prove to be an arduous task.
If he were to openly traverse the passages, a surprise attack would no longer be feasible, meaning he would have to face at least five monkeys in direct combat.
This prospect did not seem easy; even if successful, he would likely emerge with stab wounds somewhere on his body.
Yet, what choice did he have?
To escape, he had to act.
The urban legend of the ‘Monkey Dream’ inherently lacked any escape method within its original lore.
If this were merely a dream, he might have found a way to manipulate it, but this was stark reality.
The conventional solution of simply waking up from a nightmare was unequivocally unavailable.
Thus, annihilation emerged as the sole viable solution.
Shin Ian roughly swept back his sweat-soaked hair, then unfurled the grimoire, seeking any magic within its pages that might prove useful in his current predicament.
The grimoire, sensing its master’s intent, promptly displayed one of its inscribed spells.
[MAGIC TO LULL MYSTERIES TO SLUMBER]
[This spell imbues a specific object with a potent scent.
Any mystery that inhales this fragrance will experience an overwhelming urge to sleep, immediately entering a state of slumber.]
[Ingredients: A magic circle drawn with the blood of an anomaly, an object to be imbued with the scent, 25ml or more of scented candle wax or perfume, 100ml of female blood, and ether.]
While the ingredients were rather intricate, the spell’s effect was perfectly suited for his current predicament.
The crucial question, however, was how to acquire these ingredients…
“…Ah.”
A sudden realization struck Shin Ian, and he moved towards the deceased woman, coming to a halt before her.
Her appearance was ghastly.
Dead with her eyes still wide open, her grotesque form was enough to induce nausea.
She was likely someone who would have lived a peaceful life, had she not become entangled in this supernatural phenomenon.
It was truly a lamentable fate.
‘May you rest in peace.’
Shin Ian silently offered a prayer for her soul, then cautiously opened the backpack she had been clutching tightly.
“It’s here.”
Fortunately, a bottle of perfume lay within.
The bottle contained slightly more than half its original volume.
With the perfume bottle’s total capacity being 100ml, the remaining amount was more than sufficient for the spell.
Shin Ian promptly secured the perfume, then settled himself into a corner.
Within the confines of his padded jacket, he meticulously drew a magic circle using the monkey’s blood.
He then poured the perfume onto the circle, intuitively adjusting the quantity.
Next, he filled the now-empty perfume bottle with the woman’s spilled blood, carefully drizzling it around the perimeter of the magic circle.
With these preparations complete, Shin Ian positioned his hand slightly above the magic circle and began to chant the incantation.
“I bestow upon thee a peaceful rest, and pray that you may enter into a joyful and happy slumber.”
The incantation concluded.
A strong, distinctive perfume scent began to waft from his padded jacket.
Shin Ian immediately donned the padded jacket, now imbued with magic, and exhaled slowly.
‘Surely no one witnessed me casting that spell.’
Despite his rather conspicuous movements, the people seated remained utterly motionless.
It seemed they only reacted when the monkeys directly plunged their knives into them.
Nevertheless, just in case, Shin Ian moved into the next compartment, proclaiming loudly.
“Hear me, you wicked byproducts of evil! The servant of the great God shall judge you, so rejoice and receive the spear of judgment!”
These individuals had already been exposed to the supernatural.
If their ears and eyes were truly open, they would have realized that urban legends were, in fact, real.
Therefore, it would not be strange for an apostle to be acting in the name of God.
This provided an excellent cover identity.
Shin Ian dredged up his shallow knowledge of Christianity, making the sign of the cross as though he were a devout believer dispatched directly from the Vatican.
The grimoire, discerning his intention, scattered a pure white light throughout the surroundings.
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen! Crusaders, join me!”
