Give the elixir. The discord will cease.

–English Proverb

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The Dead Man, with arms extended horizontally to the ground, was slowly approaching Stangerson.

The dismembered corpse I had seen at the Physic Garden was now walking on two legs, its entire body flawlessly regenerated—save for the clothing, which remained sliced apart along the severed edges where the blade had struck.

“I can appreciate the body being put back together, but making it move of its own accord? There are limits to how much one can insult the dead.”

The sight of a corpse being controlled by a bug and walking bipedally was nothing short of astonishing.

A monster on a different level from the common Dead Men made by Modern Clan monks, which couldn’t bend their joints.

“Indeed, if the citizens saw that, they’d go into a frenzy.”

Said Lestrade with beads of cold sweat streaming down his face.

He seemed relieved by the fact that he had, according to my instructions, sealed off every area between Scotland Yard and Baker Street.

From 10 Downing Street, where the Prime Minister resides, to the west of Covent Garden, the east of Soho, and up to Marylebone.

The constables of Scotland Yard had blockaded the streets and evacuated civilians to prevent the new Dead Man of Frankenstein from being seen.

Given the recent terror incident of poison being dumped into the Thames, it wouldn’t have been difficult to fabricate an excuse for the lockdown.

“Right. If such an absurd creature, which isn’t even an ordinary Dead Man, roamed the streets, chaos would ensue.”

“What do you mean by chaos, Holmes?”

“It means, we can’t let some petty Unorthodox Leftwing Monk interfere with Her Majesty the Queen’s, reign.”

I continued speaking as I approached the Dead Man with my sword.

“To have the dead rising to harm the living is an act against the heavens. Especially if it’s not just an ordinary Dead Man, but one that imitates the living. Rebels dreaming of treason might incite this as the ruler’s lack of virtue and attempt a rebellion.”

This is not nonsense.

A similar incident occurred in France over 50 years ago, sparking the July Revolution.

The Home Secretary allowed the district to be sealed off, anticipating citizen backlash because of this.

For one who has sworn loyalty to the Crown and country, allowing a band of traitors to overthrow Her Majesty would be unthinkable.

“D, don’t come any closer! Ahhh!!”

Meanwhile, Stangerson, who had some experience with combat, was throwing stones with his cuffed hands as he saw Hope’s corpse approaching, but none hit the target.

Amazingly, the Dead Man twisted its body swiftly, evading all attacks.

-Screeech!

It continued to walk towards Stangerson, who had his back to the civilian houses.

Whether it was reacting to the ring or Stangerson, its movements appeared no different from a living person at first glance.

However, while observing it, an interesting hypothesis emerged.

“Watson, did you ever learn the Fingertips in the army?”

“I trained in it during combat, so I consider myself fairly skilled.”

“I hope you can show mercy so Stangerson won’t die at the hands of that creature.”

“Wait, are you asking me to kill him instead?”

“Sorry for the misunderstanding. I momentarily forgot what mercy means to a soldier.”

Nodding, Watson immediately held her right hand, index finger extended, with her left hand and fired her internal energy.

-Bang!

The compressed energy bullet was fired. The target was not Stangerson, but the Dead Man.

To anyone, it seemed like a perfect army-standard Fingertips.

Yet, the corpse dodged it as if it had eyes on the back of its head.

“…Unbelievable.”

Watson looked at me as if asking for an explanation, shocked.

“Truly a masterpiece created by the worst monk.”

Even humans can’t dodge Fingertips so skillfully.

I could roughly guess the principle.

The corpse moved by sending signals to the muscles through the dozens of parasites living inside its body.

The corpse displaying such agility must be channeling the energy of the elixirs it absorbed to enhance its strength.

Dodging Fingertips was possible, because the hidden insects inside could sense the killing intent.

The reason the body could achieve perfect motor coordination despite the large number of parasites was probably—

“It seems the Dead Man is moved by a polymorphic colony of organisms consisting of multiple parasites.”

One is all, and all is one.

The harmony was possible because the parasites in the body grouped together like a siphonophore.1

Frankenstein, although a criminal, was truly an extraordinary man.

To use Hope’s vengeance to unleash such an absurd thing in London.

Had I not intervened, a large-scale riot might have erupted in the heart of London.

Given the eccentricities I’ve heard of him, this may well be nothing more than another experiment. But no matter—I’ve already prepared a countermeasure.

“Help me!! Please!! I’ll confess, just please!!!”

“If you want to live, come this way.”

-Papapap!

Stangerson, before I even finished speaking, mustered all his remaining strength and used his lightness skill.

Due to his arms being bound, he fell clumsily midway, but he somehow managed to evade the Dead Man and successfully hid behind Watson.

“Then, Lestrade.”

“…Yes?”

“Bear with it for a moment.”

“What do you mean?”

“That Dead Man, it’s going to be tricky to deal with.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the corpse turned towards us.

Its muscles were grotesquely swollen, shrouded in a heat haze born of its power.

-BOOM!

The next moment, with a thunderous roar fit for a cannon’s discharge, the Dead Man hurtled toward us.

Spider web-like cracks etched into the ground.

Its target was, of course, Stangerson.

“Damn it.”

Lestrade calmly stepped in front and drew up his power.

“Haaa!”

-CLANG!

From the body of the inspector who collided with the Dead Man charging at a ferocious speed, a thunderous sound erupted.

“Ugh…!”

“Are you alright!”

Lestrade waved his hand to reassure the subordinates who rushed over.

The inspector successfully used Iron Vest to harden his body and clothes with internal energy, blocking the corpse’s body slam.

“Indeed, the martial arts of the Royal Forest Rangers, heir to Shaolin’s techniques, is solid, as expected.”

However, judging by the dark red blood flowing from his mouth, it seemed he hadn’t completely absorbed the shock.

“Haven’t yet mastered the Golden Bell, have you.”

“You knew…and still had me do it…!”

The injured Lestrade knelt on one knee.

I immediately swung my sword, targeting the now motionless Dead Man, but it swiftly leaped into the air.

“Now, Watson.”

Taking advantage of the moment the creature was suspended in the air without a foothold, Watson once again fired Fingertips.

However, the Dead Man swiftly bent his body like a bow and bounced back to evade the attack.

“Is it the Waist Snap? That’s not a skill a Dead Man should possess.”

“What kind of nonsensical creature is this…?”

It seemed that the creature could use the body technique and moves that Hope had mastered in life.

“Judging by the recreation of Muscle Memory, it’s best to consider this as facing a Gentleman2.”

-Screeech!!

The corpse, having gained distance, rushed towards us again.

Unlike before, its tightly clenched fists glimmered with a dark red energy.

As suspected, it appeared it could manipulate internal energy to some extent.

Moreover, this smell, it was clear that its fist aura was mixed with poison energy.

“It’s dangerous. Don’t try to block it with your bare body.”

“I know that much!”

Eighteen armed officers, equipped with batons and clubs, blocked the path of the Dead Man, who relentlessly pursued the decoy, Stangerson.

“Deploy the Eighteen Constable Formation!”

A small-scale formation deployed under the authority of the Scotland Yard Chief, derived from the Hundred and Eight Inspector Formation.

The individual internal energy of each constable might be weak, but when their numbers combine into sheer force, the story changes.

“We will judge the criminal with martial arts!!”

“Take this!!”

“Haap!!”

Following Lestrade’s command, batons and clubs swept forward.

Officers skilled in shooting, aimed to snipe using the gaps intentionally left open in the formation with Fingertips.

The seamless formation, demonstrating combined martial skills within the inescapable encirclement.

The Inspector and Constable Formations were the seamless tactics that sustained Scotland Yard’s arrest rate despite the individual officers’ lackluster martial prowess.

-Krrrk!

The problem was that the hidden bugs inside had gorged on all sorts of precious elixirs from Chelsea.

“Pull back the officers! Lestrade!”

The headless corpse leaped into the air and spun in place as if dancing. It moved like a beast rather than a human.

-Whoosh!

In the next moment, the corpse was enveloped by a semi-transparent red sphere.

-Sizzle!

A hemispherical area with rotational force.

All the weapons that came into contact with that energy corroded into dust.

“Ahhhh!!!!”

“Drop your weapons! Now!”

Fortunately, thanks to my timeous command, the corpse poison didn’t engulf the officers’ hands.

“…Did I see it wrong? It seemed like the Dead Man used protective Enhanced energy.”

“You’re not mistaken, Watson. That was indeed Enhanced energy, mixed with corpse poison.”

At this point, it was beyond absurd.

A Dead Man protecting itself with Enhanced energy, something unattainable unless one reaches Transcendence.

It was hard to believe that such formidable internal energy was gained in just one day.

The bugs had consumed various elixirs all at once but managed to harness the energy without suffering side effects, successfully converting it into their own internal energy.

Truly, it was a harmony impossible for humans.

“They’ve really created such a monster.”

It’s impossible for me, at the threshold of the Peak, to break that with a frontal attack.

It’s impossible to cut through Enhanced energy with Sword aura.

However, if the Enhanced energy is that of my level, my sword made of Cold Iron can penetrate it.

The issue is that the Enhanced energy surrounding it is thicker than the length of the blade, making it meaningless.

If even a part of my body were to touch it, I would have to live the rest of my life crippled. In the worst-case scenario, I would, of course, lose my life.

“If we get closer, we’ll be hit by Enhanced energy and corpse poison, but the sword won’t reach, and even if we break through the defense and cut the body, it just regenerates.”

“We have no solution like this…and we can’t even request support.”

Watson and Lestrade already seemed half resigned.

Neither could bring themselves to suggest using Stangerson, whom the Dead Man was targeting, as bait to escape.

They knew that once Stangerson was dead, the insects would rampage, slaughtering citizens indiscriminately, making it meaningless.

“This much was roughly within my expectations.”

Therefore, the words I spoke were enough to surprise the two of them.

“…You were expecting this?”

“I mentioned earlier, didn’t I? That I would prepare a way to handle it.”

Holding Hope’s head in my left hand and a sheathed cane in my right, I faced the Dead Man.

The opponent it intended to use its killing techniques on was only Stangerson. Against all other foes, it meticulously conserved its strength, responding with purely defensive techniques and evasive footwork.

A type of hunter that conserves energy for efficiency and pours everything into the moment it severs the prey’s lifeline.

I knew well how to incapacitate this overly smart creature for a bug.

First, to mock it with the prepared trick, I needed to divert its attention from Stangerson to myself.

-Kirrrrrk.

The Dead Man crouched and attempted to leap toward Stangerson once more.

I seized the moment when the corpse’s muscles stiffened, focusing all my power into my eyes.

-…!!

A sharp pain climbing through the eye sockets.

The killing intent, gathered from my entire body, was enough to divert the Dead Man’s hostility toward me and slow its movements.

“Yes. You can’t ignore me, can you?”

Even if I can only use half of my internal energy and only a few techniques, it doesn’t matter.

Killing intent is the sword wielded by the heart.

No one can surpass my resolve to perish with my enemy, no matter the cost.

“Even the most insignificant of creatures are aware of their natural predators. Come at me with the resolve to die.”

Though it couldn’t understand human language, the creature was definitely wary of me.

A haze of massive internal energy rose above the corpse.

The creature was frozen, unable to even realize that I was weaker.

This was the moment I had been waiting for.

-Whoosh!

Without any warning, I tossed Hope’s head, which I was holding in my left hand.

-Thud!

The Dead Man caught it with one hand.

It seemed it had already realized that part of the swarm was hiding inside the skull.

“I promised Hope. I’d make sure to bury him next to his fiancée back home.”

Without any sign of caution, it reattached the severed head to its neck.

Just as I saw during the day, black slime covered the cut, and soon, Hope’s head and body were perfectly reattached.

“Then, let’s begin. As the supreme being, I’ll grant a lowly insect three moves.”

As I taunted it by flicking my fingers, the Dead Man surprisingly understood my intention and began to gather its internal energy.

A force even stronger than before.

Once the head was reattached, the substance of the absorbed medicine started circulating throughout its body.

“What a foolish act!”

Watson, horrified, ran over and grabbed my collar, shaking me.

“Boosting a Dead Man’s power! Are you out of your mind!!”

“In your eyes, it might seem like I’m aiding the insect, Watson. Look again.”

“What does that mean…?”

“The creature has already fallen into my trap.”

Turning her gaze back to the Dead Man, Watson’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“That’s—”

A specially crafted elixir forcibly inserted into the jaw was rapidly being absorbed inside the Dead Man’s mouth.

“The best way to catch an insect is with medicine. It’s elementary, my dear.”

No matter how strong it is, a mere creature cannot surpass human intellect.

1. ED: Siphonophores are a group of marine animals closely related to and resembling jellyfish ️

2. TL/N: ‘Gentleman’ is the term for Murim Warrior ️