Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 38

EP.38 The Experimental Results

The pitch-black depths of the subspace pouch seemed endless. Jeong-hyeon placed a man inside, eager to see the results of his experiment.

‘It wouldn’t be bad if he came out dead, but I’d prefer if he survived.’

A living subject would be far more useful for various purposes. Hoping for the best, he turned his attention to the remaining individuals.

‘Now, let’s gather the rest of the experimental subjects.’

This time, he wanted to test if a near-death creature would remain alive inside the pouch, as the guide had claimed that “time stops” within it. With this goal in mind, he scanned for a volunteer.

“You bastard!”

Conveniently, one of the subjects charged at him, providing an ideal candidate. He congratulated the attacker by driving a sword into his leg, sending him crashing to the ground. With the sword still embedded, he pondered.

‘Where should I cut?’

He needed to inflict a wound that wouldn’t be immediately fatal but would ensure death. As he deliberated, a good idea struck him.

‘There’s no need to overthink this.’

Realizing the simplicity of his plan, he opened the subspace pouch. He shoved the fallen man inside and simultaneously drove his own sword into the man’s heart.

‘This should cover everything I need to verify.’

Satisfied with his preparations, he cleaned the blood from his sword.

‘Now, let’s do some cleanup while waiting.’

The subjects inside the subspace pouch would need time, so he decided to take care of the remaining, black-armoured individuals. Drawing upon the divine power, he felt it surge more intensely than usual, thanks to the rosary.

‘No wonder people in RPGs go to great lengths for good equipment.’

Channelling his divine power into his sword, he remembered Marpe’s sword wave technique.

‘I should give that a try.’

Attempting to replicate the move, he gathered divine power into his sword and released it in a slash. The resulting power wave, though not perfect, struck an archer in the distance. He observed the impact with a slight frown.

‘Not as impressive as I hoped.’

Clearly, his understanding of the technique was lacking, resulting in diminished power. Nonetheless, it was a start.

He decided to save practicing for later, opting to get serious now.

‘Alright, let’s take care of these guys first.’

Usually, he would need to prevent any of them from escaping, as it would be a hassle to hunt them down. But with Regina at his feet, he had no such worries.

For the first time, he thought Regina was useful for something. As he pressed his foot down on her, the two remaining soldiers couldn’t hold back and charged at him, shouting.

“Young Mistress!”

If they had tried to run, it would have been a pain to chase them. He was grateful they came to him instead. He swiftly decapitated the approaching swordsman and quickly threw his sword, embedding it in the mage’s body.

“Argh!”

He heard the distant scream and walked slowly towards it. The mage, terrified, shouted at him.

“Do you think Erza will let this slide? No matter how strong you are, if the leader comes…”

“If he comes?”

“You will surely… pay the price… Argh!”

He kicked the mage’s head before he could finish and drove his sword into the mage’s heart. His words were not worth listening to.

‘These bastards are obsessed with making people pay. Everything is about consequences with them.’

He dismissed them as incomprehensible, shook the blood off his sword, and turned his attention to the next task.

‘Now then.’

It seemed enough time had passed to check the results of his experiments. He first retrieved the test subject for the experiment, ‘Does a living person remain alive in the void?’

“Cough… cough.”

The man, coughing and gasping, was still alive after approximately ten minutes.

It was clear that placing a living creature in the void didn’t kill it. Jeong-hyeon was very pleased with this result and moved on to the next subject.

“… Huh.”

The man with a sword stuck in his heart was trembling. Observing this, he confirmed that the guide was right: time indeed stopped in the pouch. Jeong-hyeon then smiled widely.

‘This is perfect.’

Several ideas immediately came to mind. He could save allies on the brink of death by placing them in the pouch, or he could keep hostages in a stable condition without needing to feed them or tend to their wounds.

Satisfied with the results of his experiment, he grinned broadly and placed the trembling Regina into the pouch. He had plans to use her in the coming days.

‘As much as I’d like to keep stabbing her with my sword…’

He knew Regina’s disappearance would cause various problems and derail his previous plan to frame someone else. Deciding to carry her around for a few days, he closed the subspace pouch.

‘Now, let’s start the cleanup.’

Clean up, in this case, meant stuffing the corpses into the pouch. He methodically placed each body into the void, ensuring none were left behind, and finished the cleanup neatly.

***

With the cleanup complete, he headed straight to the infirmary where Lucia was. The main reason for this visit was to heal Regina.

‘If she dies suddenly, it would be quite troublesome.’

Planning to use Lucia’s healing magic to restore Regina fully, he arrived at the infirmary and called out.

“Lucia.”

Lucia, who was alone in the infirmary, greeted him with a bright smile.

“Jeong-hyeon! You’re here!”

She looked like a puppy wagging its tail, which made him chuckle. He decided to share the good news.

“I’ve brought something interesting.”

“…Interesting?”

Lucia’s expression turned wary at the word ‘interesting,’ clearly sensing that he had done something unusual. He waved his hand dismissively and reassured her.

“It’s nothing strange, so don’t worry.”

“…Really?”

Despite his reassurance, Lucia’s eyes remained suspicious. Feeling a bit exasperated, he sighed and continued.

“Yes. It’s someone you know, so you don’t need to worry.”

“……?”

Hearing the word ‘someone,’ Lucia froze in place. She stared at him, mouth agape like a nutcracker, and asked again in a dazed voice.

“Some…one?”

He nodded and pulled the bloodied Regina out of the subspace pouch.

“I caught her earlier. What do you think?”

“……”

Lucia’s face turned pale, and it seemed like her soul had left her body.

Seeing Lucia gradually lose her composure, he spoke to her.

“Anyway, can you heal her? It’ll be a real hassle if she dies.”

Lucia finally snapped out of her daze at his words and quickly began casting a healing spell. She shouted at him while doing so.

“You’ve turned her into a ragdoll! Why didn’t you just kill her?”

Not exactly what you’d expect a saintess to say. He gave her a wry smile and replied.

“That’s a bit much.”

Lucia looked at him with the most incredulous expression, shaking her head.

“You’re really… awful!”

Despite her words, she swiftly healed Regina, restoring her to her original state. He watched in amazement as Regina’s wounds disappeared almost instantly.

‘She looks as good as new… almost like she did before the fight, minus the torn clothes and bloodstains.’

He stared at the now-healed Regina for a moment, then drew his sword and stabbed it into her thigh.

“Really…?”

Lucia seemed to have a lot to say about this, but eventually, she just sighed and shook her head. He glanced at Lucia while moving the sword side to side, and Regina woke up with a groan of pain.

“… Huh… what… AAAAAH!”

Her scream echoed through the infirmary. He clamped his hand over her mouth and spoke firmly.

“If you don’t want a sword in your other thigh, shut up.”

Regina, tears streaming down her face, nodded and bit her lip to stifle her sobs.

“Good girl.”

His praise made her flinch, and she looked at him with a terrified expression. He maintained a neutral expression as he pulled the sword out of her thigh and placed it against her neck.

“Regina, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.”

With a calm voice, he posed his question.

“Why did you kill Erie?”

Regina’s eyes widened with a mix of horror and astonishment. She seemed to realize what he wanted. He gave her a cold smile as he waited for her response.