I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 353. Who’s the Bigger Madman? (6)

“Keter, Keter, Keter……”

Crown Prince Rukan repeated the name several times, then suddenly stood up. Despite being born with a disability and having used a wheelchair since childhood, he rose to his feet.

Meanwhile, Darian, who was outside the door, collapsed as his legs gave out. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by suicidal impulses and began strangling himself.

The walls of the room where Rukan was located were over a meter thick, yet Rukan’s “presence” pierced through and affected Darian.

“Has that guy come here?”

Rukan’s voice was devoid of emotion. Darian, barely stopping himself from strangling, mechanically replied.

“N-no. Keter is at the Browning Duke House. He said he came to meet Your Highness, and I overheard it.”

“Keter……”

“He swore on his soul that you would regret it if you didn’t meet him, so I had to inform you.”

Though the words were provocative, Rukan’s expression didn’t change.

Lately, his emotions had dulled. Just a few days ago, hearing that name or even looking toward the southern region where Sephira was would have upset him, but now he felt nothing.

Above all, the Grand Duke had said:

“You don’t need to worry about the southern region for now. Especially regarding Keter. Understood?”

Don’t concern yourself with Sephira or Keter.

Remembering the Grand Duke’s words, Rukan felt his hatred, anger, and interest in Keter vanish.

“I have no intention of meeting him. Handle Keter as you see fit.”

Just as Rukan’s eyes were about to close again—

“Keter said, ‘If you refuse to meet me, I’ll take it as the Grand Duke’s will.’”

Flash.

A blood-red light flickered in the darkness. Rukan’s stiff face twitched, then contorted.

“That bastard Keter……”

Keter was essentially asking Rukan:

—Are you just a scarecrow being controlled by the Grand Duke?

And that struck a nerve.

Though Rukan denied it, deep down, he harbored doubts that it might be true.

While the first provocation didn’t faze him, the second one completely set him off. Rukan stomped toward the door.

Though it was called a door, it was more like a wall—one designed never to open from the inside. This was for the sake of the “ritual” Rukan was undergoing.

Swish.

Rukan placed his palm on the door. To his surprise, the thick wall flowed away like water.

It took less than a second for the meter-thick wall to dissolve.

“Ah, Your Highness.”

Darian prostrated himself, bowing deeply.

Rukan glanced at himself and said, “Bring me clothes. And where is Keter now?”

“I lied to Keter, saying he could meet you, and confined him to a small villa in the mountains.”

“I’ll go meet Keter. I’m curious why he’s looking for me and what he wants to say. But—”

Rukan opened his mouth, revealing abnormally sharp teeth.

“All I need is his mouth to talk. Rip off his limbs. I’ll be there in an hour.”

*

A modest villa, about 10 pyeong in size.

Keter wandered around.

Though small, it had everything—a kitchen with cooking tools, a wardrobe, a bed, a table for four, and a sofa.

“Hmm.”

The villa, though not extravagant, was made of quality materials and well-maintained.

“So, they won’t let me meet him easily.”

But Keter immediately recognized this as a crisis. Things that seem harmless are often the most dangerous.

“If I try to leave, a barrier will probably activate.”

He could faintly sense the mana waves.

He had noticed it before entering but chose to ignore it. If he didn’t play along, Rukan wouldn’t meet him.

However, threatening Rukan by summoning the Milky Way in the sky like he did with Rakan wouldn’t work.

“That guy wouldn’t care even if his own child were taken hostage.”

At least Rakan was more human than Rukan. It wasn’t just because Rakan dealt with monsters from the Demon Realm—it was his first impression.

“But since he hasn’t completely abandoned his humanity, he’ll definitely come to meet me.”

Or maybe he won’t.

Either way, it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t just let him go, and they’d surely show off some monsters from the Demon Realm. At least it’d be entertaining.

“When will he arrriiive—”

Keter lay on the sofa, humming.

Then—

“They say even goblins come when called.”

A presence was felt outside.

But it wasn’t human.

By the time Keter noticed, he was already surrounded. The barrier was loose, as if they trusted the magical walls.

“Or maybe they don’t care if it’s loose.”

There were about four of them. Not “just four”—each one was on par with a Grandmaster.

“There’s someone controlling them.”

Monsters from the Demon Realm aren’t allies. They fight and eat each other.

For them to form an orderly circle, there must be a controller.

“How can I make this fun?”

If he hadn’t fought Demon Realm monsters before, the fight itself would’ve been exciting. But he had fought them in his past life, so it was a bit boring.

Of course, fighting Demon Realm monsters guaranteed some level of fun, but Keter found it stale.

“Ah, how about this?”

Tap tap.

Keter knocked on the wooden floor and smirked.

Moments later.

Crash!

The villa’s walls shattered as the monsters burst in.

Each monster was grotesque.

One with a giant eye and bat wings.

A spider with a human face.

A hedgehog with blades.

A gaunt, faceless human.

The four monsters broke through the walls but then did nothing.

The one with eyes looked around—

The one that detected by smell sniffed—

The one with echolocation scanned the area—

But Keter was gone.

The monsters, ordered to kill the human inside, realized there was no human. So they froze, like dolls.

After ten minutes, a man in monastic robes entered the ruined villa.

“Tsk, did he escape?”

There was a hole in the villa’s floor. It was quite large and deep.

“Did he use magic? No human could dig a hole this size and depth.”

Rukan and Rakan didn’t know about Keter’s Five Elements Divine Artifact, Toban. So while they were puzzled by the sudden tunnel, they didn’t dwell on it.

The man in monastic robes pulled out a flute from his pocket. It resembled a human finger. He began to play.

No sound was heard, but the monsters seemed to receive a command. Two entered the tunnel, while the other two went outside.

“What a nuisance, that Keter.”

The monster tamer, who had ordered the monsters to “catch the escaped human,” sat on the sofa.

“Whether he’s called a Divine Archer or whatever, in front of Demon Realm monsters, he’s just a mole scurrying away. Heh.”

“Busy, aren’t we?”

“……?!”

Thud, thump!

The monster tamer grabbed the dagger at his waist, but faster than that, a hand shot out from inside the sofa, covering his mouth and twisting his arm.

When Keter’s face emerged from the sofa, the monster tamer’s eyes widened.

“Huh?!”

“You, why are you sitting so slouched? Let me fix that.”

Crack!

“Guhhh!”

The monster tamer’s back bent like a bow. With just one move from Keter, he was paralyzed from the waist down.

“Oops, wrong bone. Here?”

Snap!

“Khhh!”

The pain was so intense that blood and saliva dripped from between Keter’s fingers covering his mouth.

“Raise your hand if it hurts.”

Crack!

Keter dislocated his shoulder while telling him to raise his hand.

“Ew, gross.”

Keter wiped the blood and saliva on the monastic robe and threw the monster tamer to the ground.

“Now, your name is Hans. Hans. What’s your favorite dish?”

“Ugh, Keter. The so-called Divine Archer of the south, hiding in a sofa like a thief. Aren’t you ashamed?”

Hans, still able to endure, mocked Keter. Keter nodded.

“What? You like pasta?”

Keter went to the kitchen and brought back various cooking tools. But Hans’ expression remained arrogant.

“Heh. Go ahead, torture me all you want. It’ll just be a waste of time.”

“Huh?”

Stab.

Keter stabbed Hans’ thigh with a skewer.

But Hans’ expression didn’t change.

“Ah, I see.”

Hans couldn’t feel pain. The groans earlier weren’t from pain but from anger at being ambushed.

Monster tamers are immune to torture. They feel no pain.

But—

Swish.

Keter pulled out thin needles from his pocket and began inserting them into Hans’ head without hesitation.

Pop, pop, pop!

“No matter what you do… huh? Ugh!”

At first, it felt ticklish, but soon the sensation expanded into sharp pain.

“Ah, ahhh……”

Keter clicked his tongue as he inserted needles into various parts of Hans’ head.

“Whoever did your surgery did a sloppy job. If it were me, I’d have removed the pain nerves entirely. But they just deactivated them. All I had to do was reactivate them.”

Easier said than done. No ordinary physician in this world could do it. Only the physicians of the Gray Tower, who engage in inhumane dissections and experimental surgeries, could manage it.

And Keter was the disciple of Franken, the master of the Gray Tower.

Click.

“Gaaaaah!”

With one needle, Hans regained the ability to feel pain and let out a deafening scream.

The scream was loud enough to be heard hundreds of meters away, but no one would hear it. They had set up a magical barrier to contain Keter, so not even sound could escape.

“Patient, it seems you enjoyed the procedure. Since you’re so likable, I’ll do it for free.”

Keter wiped the blood and fluids from the needles on Hans’ clothes and picked up the cooking tools again.

Clink, clank.

The sound of the cooking tools made Hans’ body tremble like a leaf.

“Do you know how to make pasta? It looks easy, but it’s quite labor-intensive. First, you have to knead the flour……”

Thwack!

Keter struck Hans’ thick thigh with a solid wooden mallet.

“Guh!”

The skin split, splattering blood on Keter’s face. Keter wiped it off, frowning.

“Tsk. Too much splatter.”

In Liquor, Keter had many nicknames, one of which was “Human Chef.” He literally cooked humans alive.

No one subjected to Keter’s torture had ever kept their secrets. Keter’s human cuisine was horrifyingly cruel.

In his past life, Keter would have acted immediately if he needed information—

‘But hanging out with my brothers made me lose the taste for it.’

Not that he regretted his cruel past, but now it just felt uncomfortable.

“I don’t do things I don’t like.”

Keter set the mallet down.

Hans, interpreting this as Keter giving up on torture, sighed in relief.

Thud.

Another needle pierced Hans’ skull.

“Huh?”

“But I still need to hear what I need to hear.”

While Keter avoided cruel torture, he had no qualms about using acupuncture to force confessions.

“Now, tell me. How were you controlling the Demon Realm monsters?”

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