Chapter 249: Don't Come Any Closer!
Chapter 249: Don't Come Any Closer!
Baam!
Jerome was startled by the sudden noise.
He was still basking in the fantasy of his desired future while still diligently carrying out his task of organizing all the relevant experimental data regarding S-277.
Although Jerome himself had a deeply buried ambition, he was still merely an assistant with a slightly higher level of intelligence than a cleaning robot at this point.
Once Lord Raziel dealt with the bookstore, Jerome felt that he could probably be promoted and replace Margaret as the Head of Medicine at the Truth Union.
At the thought of Margaret, Jerome couldn’t help break into a gloating smirk.
That woman was a junior, yet her arrogance knew no bounds. Relying on her outrageous talent for arcanum medicine, she had even treated Jerome, her uncle, with contempt.
Simply put, Jerome hated Magaret with a vengeance.
When they had both been initially vying for the position of Head of Medicine, he had secretly reached out to offer Margaret a bribe, hoping that she would let him have the position.
Yet, Margaret had raised her chin and with a scornful look told Jerome that he did not deserve the position. While Jerome had put on a smile, he was livid inside and harbored hatred for her till now.
And after becoming his superior, she had decided to push forward a reform, cutting off Jerome's side income from the sales of illicit medicine. This ruthlessness of Margaret's infuriated him even further.
Of course, this is all a thing of the past, thought Jerome to himself as he smiled with great pleasure while organizing the data.
The last time he had seen Margaret was in this exact secret underground laboratory.
By then, the arrogant woman with her usual look of disdain had already become research material for studying homunculus consciousness. Tubes had been stuck everywhere on her body and her head had been incised, exposing a huge portion of her brain.
Of course, she was still conscious and in fact very active, which was the prerequisite for the experiment.
However, she was immobile and incapable of sensing her surroundings.
Her soul had been fixed in place within her physical body as though imprisoned in a dark cell for eternity, a torture way beyond one’s imagination.
Jerome would cackle uncontrollably with laughter when he thought of this place.
Lord Raziel’s research required extensive mentally resilient scholars with a high level of brain development to serve as research material for homunculi. And naturally, these materials came from the Truth Union.
The greatest resource from the Truth Union were these very scholars…
And the one who placed Magaret on the list, needless to say, was Jerome.
Now, with Margaret’s fate sealed and Jerome being the Deputy Head, ascending to assume the Head of Medicine position was only a matter of time for him.
After that… things were going to be much simpler.
Andrew, who was under the control of 'Spiritual Touch,' had been sent to the bookstore to become Jerome’s scapegoat and was likely to meet his end at the bookstore owner’s hands.
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There would then be a vacancy for the position of Vice-Chairman.
The Chairman who had announced seclusion in a bid to attain Supreme-rank had in fact gone to the Lower District to investigate a mysterious relic. Having disappeared for half a year and speculation based on current intelligence reports, it was likely that she would never return.
Finally, he, Jerome, would be the Chairman of the Truth Union, the next Supreme-ranked…
His reverie for what was to come came to a sudden halt.
The noise from behind him almost made Jerome's soul leave his body. His heart dropped and his hands trembled, nearly causing him to delete the file by accident.
This was Lord Raziel’s experiment laboratory, a place graced by the presence of a Supreme-rank. Why would there be such a huge commotion and significant aether fluctuations here…
Could Lord Raziel be conducting an experiment?
Jerome was reminded of the reflection of the bookstore on Raziel’s mirror, and another possibility came to mind.
Or is Lord Raziel dueling with the bookstore owner across time and space, and this sound is the aftermath of their battle?
Overwhelmed with doubt and confusion, Jerome stood up fearfully and turned around to investigate.
What he saw was the unmoving Raziel.
However, the only difference from before was that Raziel was now in a retreating motion and the chair that he was sitting on previously had turned into a pile of dust on the ground.
What was stranger was that Raziel maintained this retreating stance while staring at the unchanged bookstore within the mirror.
“Lord Ra…Raziel?”
With trepidation, Jerome called out cautiously, “Lord Raziel, are you alright?”
There was no response.
Raziel continued staring at the mirror as though he hadn't heard Jerome. It was at this moment that Jerome noticed that the great, wise old scholar was trembling...
Jerome thought that he was imagining things.
How can this be?!
His eyes widened as he did a double take. Raziel was indeed trembling.
Just like an ordinary person witnessing something utterly frightening, the great scholar was trembling violently as though he was going to make a run at any moment. Even his breathing was rapid and heavy.
Fear gripped Jerome. With only the two of them in the silent laboratory, things had become eerie, and a rising urge to escape was slowly building up in him.
What’s going on?!
What’s the matter with Lord Raziel?
What could possibly strike fear in a Supreme-ranked?
As these three questions reverberated in Jerome’s mind, Raziel suddenly moved.
He had hardly had time to rejoice when he realized that Raziel was 'dancing around' for nothing, making inexplicable little movements as if he were thinking about something.
And at the same time, Raziel went into a strange, bizarre, unintelligible rave.
It was as though he had lost his autonomy when making strange gestures while speaking in an unintelligible tongue. Soon, he began chuckling which got louder over time.
Stupefied by the scene before him, Jerome gulped and backed away slowly while stammering, “Lord, Lord Raziel, please wake up, don’t you scare me… Lord Raziel?"
"Raziel!
"Snap out of it!
"Please snap out of it!
Jerome was on the brink of losing his mind.
He was fine just moments ago, why did he become like this all of a sudden?!
Nothing happ… Wait a minute, Raziel was only doing that one thing, looking at the bookstore through the mirror!
Don't tell me… No, no, no, how can that be…
Jerome shook his head in disbelief and denial. As he was backing away in shock, he witnessed a scene that he would never ever forget.
Sometime after breaking out in laughter, Raziel bizarrely pressed his fingers against his temple before digging in and reaching for his brain.
Jerome stood dumbfounded as he watched the Supreme-ranked scholar reach his hands into his head and squashed his own brain, unleashing a sonorous pop.
“Ho…Heheheh…”
An eerie smile hung on Raziel’s face as he withdrew his arms. On his hands were a mixture of red and white remnants of his brain, and there was a huge hole in his head.
Jerome’s expression couldn't be described with words. His teeth were chattering and his heart nearly stopped beating as a looming sense of fear engulfed him.
The now brain-less Raziel let out a long sigh as if he had just done something really satisfying and comfortable. He turned over to Jerome as if nothing was amiss and patted his shoulder. “What’s the matter? Did I frighten you?
“It’s alright, everything has been dealt with. It is all coming to an end. Don’t you worry, carry on with the organization of the data," continued Raziel with a slight smile.
Jerome stiffly eyed the bloodied palm resting on his shoulder before shifting his gaze to Raziel’s head. The empty interior was visible through the hole and in there, an eye suddenly opened from within the remnants staring straight at him.
All of a sudden, Jerome started grabbing his hair with great force and let out a piercing scream.
"Arrghh—!!"
“Jerome?”
“Argh, ahhhhhah — Don't come any closer!”
“Jerome, don’t be afraid, Can you continue with the organization of the data? I believe you can do it.”
"Arghhhhhhh—"
Krackk!
Jerome's neck was snapped and his body tossed aside by Raziel.
"Blabbermouth." Raziel frowned as he sat on Jerome’s original seat, patting his own head. “What a crazy fellow…”
He stretched his neck before operating the computer with a grin. “That bookstore owner had tampered with my consciousness indeed. I feel so much better now.”
"Ahh, what was I going to do... Oh right, perfect my creation. It appears that the materials for S-277 were not the most perfect. How could she possess any flaws, perhaps I should provide her with a higher quality philosopher’s stone as an actuating force…”