I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

There was no natural landscape that stimulated human imagination as much as the Sky City Hippodrome.

Numerous writers and artists drew inspiration from the floating island in the clouds.

Countless metaphors, proverbs, paintings, and songs originated from it.

However, discussions about the influence of Sky City on human architecture and engineering were subtle.

This was because the Hippodrome was not a constructed city but a ‘discovered’ one.

As someone familiar with the current Hippodrome where hundreds of airships come and go daily, it might be hard to believe, but it wasn’t long ago that humans were allowed to set foot there.

The prohibition of Sky City’s access wasn’t due to lack of technology.

Attempts to reach the Sky City existed long before the invention of airships.

People tried to conquer the Sky City by riding hot air balloons for years or training flying creatures like griffins.

But they all failed.

Some scholars proposed theories, citing the phenomenon as similar to the wind that blows when a carriage travels fast, but there were many eyewitness accounts that couldn’t be explained by that alone.

Priests argued that access to Sky City was forbidden by the gods. They warned that continuing to challenge the Sky City might bring down divine punishment.

Thus, Sky City remained a mystery for a long time.

Of course, it had been a long time since the cause of its mysterious force had been revealed.

There was an ancient city built on the Sky City.

The inhabitants were a race called Joins, with a stilted stature, beaks, and feathers.

They were the rulers of the continent before humans migrated to Columbia.

They possessed technology that was difficult to measure with current knowledge.

The force surrounding the Sky City was a powerful field generated by devices they created.

It was also thanks to this force that the island could float.

Although humanity hadn’t fully understood its principles, they learned how to manipulate it.

How to open and close parts of the field, how to control the height and speed of the island.

Thus, humanity built current cities on the traces left by the ancient people.

Of course, it took considerable time for the city to develop as it is now.

Issues such as transportation networks with the ground, sourcing materials for the improvement and maintenance of buildings, food supply problems, and disputes over city ownership had to be resolved through technological and institutional development for a considerable time.

Sky City began to take on its current form after the invention of airships.

With the innovation of aerial logistics, the city grew explosively.

Some expressed concerns that the city might fall, but it didn’t quench the desire of those who wanted to live in Hippodrome.

Many desired the privilege of living in the unique aerial residential area in the world.

Above all, there had been no problems with the island until now.

Enough time had passed for people to consider it natural for Sky City to be in the sky.

It had been such a long time that it was difficult to imagine the island falling to the ground.

Scholars were confident that even if a hundred of the largest airships made by humans were to crash into the island simultaneously, it would remain safe.

So when one airship struck the heart of Hippodrome, residents worried about people who might have been crushed under the airship carrying a lot of gunpowder rather than worrying about the safety of the island itself.

But when a second airship crashed into the same place, the situation changed.

The field generator malfunctioned, causing the entire city to tremble like a patient with a fever.

It was no coincidence that another airship carrying the same type of cargo crashed at the same location at the same time.

Those ‘accidents’ were attacks on Hippodrome.

The terrorist attack happened when the city was in the midst of a festival.

The streets were so crowded that they were uncontrollable by the usual security personnel, and half of the city’s leadership was staggering around the city drunk.

It was in such a situation that the terrorist attack occurred.

The lively streets turned into scenes of terror in an instant, and no one could control the chaos.

Half of the leadership, not drunk, was watching a performance at the Wonder Stage, the centre of the festival.

They tried to respond immediately after the terrorist attack.

However, they couldn’t communicate with the outside world.

The successive explosions might have caused the malfunction of the Sky City’s field.

A massive force field surrounded the Wonder Stage.

It blocked access to and from there.

“Argh! Why can’t we move forward!”

“Shut up! No matter how hard we push, it won’t budge!”

“Stop pushing! People in front will die!”

Hundreds, thousands of people tried to pass through the area where the field was generated, but the invisible wall didn’t budge.

Creak, creak.

The sound of iron twisting echoed throughout the Wonder Stage area.

The stone floor crumbled, and the iron chains and rebars connecting the main island and the Wonder Stage snapped.

The Wonder Stage was trying to detach from the main island.

However, most people didn’t even realize that the ground they were standing on was collapsing.

They were just running away from the being that was trying to kill them, which had made it this far.

“Argh! They are here!”

“They’re right behind us!”

“Please, let us out!”

The people behind screamed in terror.

Everyone turned around.

Shapes that seemed to mix human flesh, bones, and organs indiscriminately appeared in the distance.

“Kieeek!”

“Human!”

“Eating!”

They repeatedly shouted chilling words as they rushed toward the people.

Massacre ensued.

As chaos erupted with everyone trying to escape from the Wonder Stage, Pyrene was running towards the center of the Wonder Stage.

“Master!”

She followed the scent of her master using the sense of smell of the animal she raised.

“Master!”

However, no matter how hard she tried, all she could see were dead people.

Or something so distorted that it hardly looked human.

After wandering around for a while, she soon came face to face with a new form.

It was a black wolf as huge as a bear.

It was a creature Pyrene knew.

It was the animal her master raised.

It was lying dead with its body torn apart and gouged on the ground.

It was clear that the wolf had fought to protect someone.

Pyrene instinctively searched the vicinity of the ruins where her master had been blocking with his body.

Bones and flesh were scattered so badly that it was hard to recognize the shape.

She thought her master might be dead.

Not long after she examined it, groans were heard from a pile of rocks.

“Grrr.”

As she unconsciously approached, a snake blocked her path.

It glared at the spot menacingly.

It was only then that she realized that the opponent might not be human but a monster.

She caught her breath and spoke.

“I am Pyrene, an Assistant Professor in Lekachep! Who are you?”

There was silence for quite some time.

Just when she began to suspect that the opponent might have died in the meantime, an answer came.

“Pyrene?”

The owner of the voice revealed itself in the darkness.

Legs covered with about a dozen hard shells rested on the ground.

Every time the shell on the back moved, it made a clacking sound.

Pyrene almost screamed in horror.

It wasn’t human.

It looked as if a god had tried to cross a snail and a crab and ended up discarding it.

“Monster!”

Pyrene quickly stepped back.

The snake hissed and bared its fangs towards it.

The monsters she encountered here today immediately attacked when it saw a human.

Instinctively, she guarded against its approach.

However, contrary to expectations, it didn’t make any move and just stared at her intently.

A black fleshy mass, with eyes, nose, and mouth indistinguishable, wriggled.

“Grrr.”

The creature groaned again.

Pyrene realized that the monster was dying.

Its shell and flesh were crumbling down slowly like a sandcastle.

The words that came out of its mouth were something she never expected.

“Put me in your glass bottle.”

“…What?”

She was surprised not only by the fact that the monster spoke normally, but also by what it said.

It was mentioning her Inspira, a ability she had recently awakened.

Only her master knew about its existence.

“How…?”

“Hurry, put me in! There’s no time!”

Pyrene hesitated for a moment at his urgency, then took out the glass bottle from her pocket.

She didn’t know how it knew about her ability, but she decided to rescue it for now.

Her world inside the glass bottle was a fascinating place.

The animals inside remained in a pristine state, untouched by time, without aging or changing as if time had stopped. There was no need to feed them.

Perhaps she could use her ability to save the monster from dying.

When she uttered a specific word, the monster began to be sucked into her glass bottle.

There are conditions for being trapped in a bottle. Firstly, the opponent must not be human. At least, she shouldn’t perceive them as human. And their consent is required. They cannot be forced into confinement under any circumstances.

The demon in the bottle recalled the words she had said a few days ago to her master.

It soon felt its body stabilizing inside the bottle.

The gamble was successful.

Its collapse ceased in this place.

Originally, its body couldn’t survive without drinking a specific substance constantly from a flask.

However, here, it could maintain its vitality without such measures, as if it was inside the bottle.

The demon in the bottle observed her beyond the glass bottle.

It was a useful ability.

It needed her to survive.

Escaping from the clutches of the scientist’s hand and crawling into the place again where it had to enter the glass bottle was a funny thing, but still, it was satisfied. It was better than the time when it didn’t know when it would be disposed of.

The demon in the bottle instructed her to escape from the Wonder Stage.

Thanks to its power, she could barely escape from that hellish place without encountering the monsters and finding gaps in the barrier.

“Here! We have survivors here!”

Dozens of airships were searching for survivors on the ground.

The Wonder Stage eventually collapsed and crashed into the sea, but fortunately, those who were right on the edge were able to jump out before that happened.

“Were you inside the Wonder Stage?”

Pyrene hesitated for a moment at the investigator’s question, then shook her head.

Emergency relief shelters were receiving care from hundreds of survivors besides her.

A few of those who were said to have been inside the Wonder Stage were separately summoned and underwent intensive investigation.

The investigation itself was nothing special.

It was just asking detailed questions about what happened inside the Wonder Stage along with physical examinations.

However, if the creature inside her glass bottle was discovered during the process, it was a problem what would happen to it.

While escaping from the Wonder Stage and recovering her body here, Pyrene came up with one hypothesis.

All the monsters she saw there were based on humans.

It was certain that the people at the scene were the ones who were distorted by some magic.

Pyrene muttered as she looked at the creature crouched inside the glass bottle.

“Are you…?”

While she was forming a hypothesis, the demon was also planning in its mind.

It was a fake apostle created in the laboratory.

And it was none other than Cinepecus, the apostle of Cinepecus, who was rumoured to collect all the stories of the world and had a reputation to love gossip, rumours and fame.

It stared at Pyrene beyond the glass.

It was a useful ability.

It needed her to survive.

She was a woman with a strong dependence on her master and twisted possessiveness.

There was a glimpse of excitement in her eyes as she peered into the glass bottle.

The feeling that she might have acquired her master even in the form of a monster.

Controlling her as she desired was a piece of cake.

It was ready to play its part.

“…You figured it out, Pyrene. Yes, it’s me. Your master, Ursus.”

The demon whispered in the bottle.

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Chapter 177: Demon in the Bottle – 16