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Chapter 235
“Why?”
“

” Seo Dawon didn’t respond.
Kim Olim began to place some strength in the hand holding me back. I was so surprised by the pain that my body flinched. “Nngh
! Why are you guys doing this?”
Kim Olim only let me go after I groaned. However, the atmosphere still seemed eerie; the expressions of the servants watching us seemed rigid. Jung Garam’s normally grinning expression had been erased, and the Assassin slowly stood up from the sofa. “Why does it keep getting worse?”
“Huh?”
“Choi Lee-kyung might become a cripple at this rate
” At first, I wondered if Jung Garam was speaking to me, but it seemed like he was talking to himself.
However, his last sentence was quite creepy, so I couldn’t help but interrogate him further, “What does that mean?”
“

”
However, everyone clammed up at my question synchronically. Seo Dawon, who was standing behind me, came close, “How much can you see?”
“What?”
“The thing around Koo Hui-seo
 how much of it can you see?”
Though I was nervous, I turned my gaze back onto Koo Hui-seo as the Mage requested.
In that short while, Koo Hui-seo had been temporarily released from those tentacles. To be exact, the tentacles appeared to be torturing the ex-chimera rather than simply attacking him. It strangled the man and released him momentarily, when Koo Hui-seo struggled to escape, it repeated the process all over again

However, the tentacles still only existed within the shadows; in the physical realm, it seemed as if Koo Hui-seo was struggling on his own. I hesitated, unable to figure out what was happening before me, but Seo Dawon placed his hand on my shoulder, as if to urge me to answer. So, I explained exactly what I saw, “The shadow
looks a little strange. I can’t actually properly see anything, but it looks as if tentacles within his shadow are harassing Koo Hui-seo
”
“And smell?”
“Smell?”
“Doesn’t it smell strange?”
“I
 no.”
I didn’t really
smell anything in particular. I could only smell the subtle scent of the diffuser that Choi Kyung-sik had made after he joined. To be exact, I could only smell the gentle, soft smell of cut grass.
I sniffed hard and turned to the Mage, who was patiently waiting for my answer, “I can only
smell the diffuser.”
“

” Seo Dawon’s expression didn’t lighten. He frowned–like a doctor looking at a patient whose body was failing them–before quickly hiding his grimace when he saw my anxious eyes. However, he had more to say, “If by any chance you smell blood
”
“Hm?”
“Or the stench of a rotting corpse, tell me immediately.”
""
“Ah, alright.”
As soon as he heard my response, the Mage reached out to Koo Hui-seo.
While we talked, Koo Hui-seo was unable to endure the pain and drooped onto the floor, unconscious. The tentacles were still pressing on his body, but I could only see its movements through the shadow on the wall. In the real world, Koo Hui-seo seemed to have collapsed, alone.
However, as Seo Dawon reached out to the tentacles, as if he were about to use a skill, the tentacles flinched; they raised their languid bodies sharply. Because of that, Koo Hui-seo’s body flung onto its side, as if he had been kicked. That sight was somehow disturbing.
“[Lightning Globus].” Seo Dawon activated his skill as soon as Koo Hui-seo’s body moved.
Soon, a golden magic circle rose around Koo Hui-seo; when it faded away, an electrifying black current appeared in its place, slowly forming into a round sphere. It was only as big as a ping-pong ball, but, every few seconds, it made a threatening crackling noise. If one were to touch it, they might be electrified.
Perhaps the tentacles had a degree of intelligence; they began to hover around the skill, shirking back at each threatening zap. They didn’t touch the skill recklessly; like a snail’s eye stalk, the tentacles cautiously reached out before shirking back without evening grazing past the sphere. As a result, the tentacles naturally shrinked in overall mass.
However, the black tentacles were still weighing down Koo Hui-seo’s body. I had no idea how much they weighed, but Koo Hui-seo’s face, below that mass, was so pale that I thought he would choke if we left him to his own devices.
“I don’t
think he’s breathing,” I said.
“
[Levitate].” Upon hearing my mumbles, Seo Dawon released a short sigh and floated Koo Hui-seo’s body about 5 centimeters off the ground.
The tentacles, busily shaking in the shadows, began to wrap around Koo Hui-seo’s torso and knot around every joint. Like they were carefully packaging the man up.
The mass didn’t try to escape nor vanish; Koo Hui-seo was still unconscious. I thought the tentacles’ behavior was an ominous sign. Watching those tentacles tie themselves around Koo Hui-seo’s elbows, I asked the Mage, “Why are they doing that?”
“

” Seo Dawon looked wordless down at me. When I returned his gaze, wondering why the Mage was silent, he answered, “What are they doing?”
“Huh?”
“I can’t see anything.”
Startled, I looked into the Mage’s eyes. Couldn’t they see Koo Hui-seo’s tentacles before? Seo Dawon gave me a serious look before suddenly stroking my eyelids. “I simply guessed at the location, following your gaze, and used one of my skills.”
“What?”
“My skill is unable to hit anything and is just hovering around.”
At those words, I looked back in Koo Hui-seo’s direction. There were definitely threatening spheres floating near the tentacles, like drones, but they were indeed doing nothing else. I turned back to the Mage, “But you’ve seen those tentacles before!”
“At that time, Koo Hui-seo consciously manifested them.”
“What
? But
”
“Right now, Koo Hui-seo isn’t controlling them.”
“Then
 Why can I see them?”
“

” It felt like Seo Dawon had some guesses as to this situation but did not answer. I had an ominous feeling.
At that moment, the tentacles’ behavior took a strange turn. Koo Hui-seo, who had been surrounded by the tentacles, suddenly rose to his feet.
I realized then that the tentacles had merged into five very long and thick tentacles. Those five thick, stem-like tentacles intertwined behind Koo Hui-seo’s back, like long ribbons, and were permeating into Koo Hui-seo’s back.
At that moment, something that appeared to be a black hand popped out of his back. As I watched, I almost screamed in astonishment. Seo Dawon attentively looked at me before holding my hand.
C-c-crunch–
One of Koo Hui-seo’s arms twisted in an unnatural direction. To be exact, his right elbow fully bent in a way that it shouldn’t. I was mesmerized by that gruesome scene and could only watch, dumbfounded.
The ex-chimera moved unnaturally, as if he had become a doll puppeteered by strings. Perhaps the tentacles were trying to remedy the ‘accident’ that had just occurred; one tentacle slithered up to his right arm
 It tried to return the elbow to its original angle, but, understandably, the elbow’s angle still seemed strange. The bones had already been smashed after all.
In that state, Koo Hui-seo opened one eye–the bloodshot left eye that I had been worried about since earlier. For the first time, I saw ‘it.‘
“
. Hui-seo-ssi.” Though I called the ex-chimera’s name, I was sure that ‘that’ wasn’t Hui-seo. That unidentified being, who stared at me, seemed to have no intention of hiding it wasn’t Koo Hui-seo.
Furthermore, the numerous shadow tentacles disappeared when that man opened his eyes.
At that moment, Seo Dawon said to me, “Summon me, Lee-kyung-ah.”
“Huh?”
Seo Dawon didn’t say anything further and stared at ‘that.’ Though I wanted to hear an explanation, I soon smelled a horrible scent and had to stop talking. “Nngh
 What is this
smell
”
“
What?” Seo Dawon looked at me as soon as I spoke. I felt like I was going to choke on this unfamiliar scent–one of the worst things I have ever smelled in my life. Waves of unpleasantness wafted over me, again and again; it was as if I was being dunked in sewage water. It was so terrible that I couldn’t even open my eyes.