episode_0030

Those little bastards.

Mess with Leah?

Right now I’m in the worst mood I’ve felt since ‘that day’. I feel like killing the Libra Goddess right now.

But it can’t be done yet. My existence must not be revealed. I had to fix Leah’s heart, which I couldn’t fix until the end, and wait in secret until my body was properly fixed.

Blue gaze overlapped the red window.

Mino, not even dreaming that his gaze was being eavesdropped on, was running through the passage with Leah and the Dog King to escape.

This is dangerous in the first place, but I will be satisfied only after seeing Leia escape safely with my own eyes.

I also sent the goddess’s actions to Galvein after organizing them for Abel, who was receiving orders from heaven. You son of a bitch, if you finally meet again, don’t do anything you’ll regret and be careful. I didn’t even have the chance to do that.

I want to run right now and save Leah. I want to tell her that I’ve waited too long. But I can’t do that.

Leah is not Leon.

I am not Abel.

Gray smoke billowed into the room.

“But why do I put you in my story…”

The beings of Pangea, before and after reincarnation, could not use the same name among those who shared the same soul. Since the name was already engraved on the soul, it was a law that could not be changed until the soul completely separated and became a ‘different person’.

This was a kind of defect that only occurred to people living on this land.

The reason is that he is using the name ‘Lucifer’ again, which he had abandoned in the evening.

That was the reason why Leah used a name that was an ambiguous mix of Leon and Noah instead of the two.

As she was looking at the red window, mocking herself for a long time, a strange expression crossed her face right around the time when Leah’s group came face to face with the armed angels and Praline standing at the center of them.

*****

“Krrrr… Damn… I clearly used a shortcut that only the Kings of the Kennel Clan know about, but how…!”

“It would be stranger if you didn’t know that you were acting so noisy and blatant. And I guess you forgot that I was once the successor.”

Got caught.

It’s strange that I didn’t get caught for making such a fuss. That’s right. But damn, I thought you were out! I have to eat the Kyeonjok while Pave is missing!

I calculated it myself and made a mess of it, but I guess I should have just bought it. Thinking about it, it would have only contributed to my mental breakdown, so I couldn’t go out with that injured tail.

That’s why we need an intelligent character in the party. He can remember the variables we forgot and make the operation perfect. Now that I think about it, Galvein, what kind of fights have you been having up until now…

I glanced around and saw that there were angels surrounding the front and back of the passage, so it seemed like it would be difficult to escape.

“You’ve worked hard to escape all the way here. Now, become a sacrificial lamb for my power! I don’t care if you become a cripple, just catch me alive!”

As if they had planned to do this without Praline saying anything, four angels simultaneously swung their swords and ran towards us. Damn, this guy is stronger than the one before!

Pave’s fist struck the angel’s forehead first. He didn’t faint, but the strength in his hand holding the weapon happened to weaken, so I quickly snatched the weapon and held it in my hand.

Pave approached another angel and persistently aimed for the head. The guard was already too busy blocking the beastly attack to stop it any longer. The pure white neck was so cleanly exposed.

-Phew!

The spear I had captured neatly stuck into the angel’s neck. It was not a fatal wound, as it only penetrated about 1/8 of the way. However, when Pave happened to push the angel away, he fell, and I was able to climb onto the angel’s stomach.

“How dare you be a traitor! In the name of Libra… Kkaaaak!”

The seasoning was already well done.

I pressed down on the spear with my weight before the angel, who had a hole in his neck and was unable to move properly, could move again, and later I slammed the tip of the spear down like I was hammering a nail into it.

“Die, die… die!!”

How far did it fall? The angel died as soon as his neck was broken. But there was no time to be absorbed in the sentiment.

“Pave! Right! ”

Today, I completely realized what Mino said about being weak to symbols. And that’s understandable, since Mino was currently of less help than Fabbe.

While I was killing one angel, Mino and the King of the Dogs were already outnumbered by three angels and were covered in wounds. No, to be exact, there were three of them. Even in this unfavorable situation, the two of them did not lose their reputation, and with the one angel who delivered the final blow, the angels became cold corpses.

Oh. Just now, Praline’s attack left a fatal wound on Pave’s ankle. It was a fatal wound, almost severed, to the point where it would be difficult to participate in battle.

Damn it.

The three of us took a step back, and the praline guy came back exactly twice that distance.

I am the only one who can fight here. With that mindset, I aimed the spear soaked in angel blood at Praline.

But as if I was being ridiculous, two more angels appeared from behind Praline. Shit, a total of 199, no… now that five of them have been defeated, there are only 194. Where did all these come from!

Should I just be dragged away like this? What about Abel? What about the Demon King’s Castle family?

As his mind became clouded, the tip of the spear naturally shook, and the angel did not miss that gap.

“Ugh!”

He was completely pushed back by the evil force and his spear was snatched away. Leah, not wanting to just take it, kicked the angel’s thigh hard with her foot, but unfortunately, the angel was female.

“Ouch! Ugh…”

The female angel also struck Leah’s stomach, perhaps knowing the meaning of her actions.

In an instant, everything before my eyes turned white and my body flew far backwards, crashing into the wall with a bang.

“Ugh, ugh ugh… Aah…”

My body wouldn’t move. Was I letting my guard down because of the one stroke of luck I got from Pave’s assist? Even an angel could do it?

My insides feel like they’re being crushed. My whole brain is focused on the thought that everything in front of my eyes hurts. My mouth is watering and my nose is bleeding. My body is rolling around on the floor in a horrible way.

“As long as I am here, kuluck… I cannot go past here.”

Mino blocked the angel’s path.

No. The King and I still have some use left, but Mino might really die.

As I raised my head with that thought, blood spurted out and landed on my face as if in response.

“…Mino?”

As I forcefully lift my eyelids, imagining the horrific scene, instead of the expected horrific sight, I see Mino with a confused look on his face…

The black hair that he had missed so much was fluttering in the air, and the sword that could be seen through the cloak was stained with the blood of an angel.

“I tried not to get involved as much as possible.”

And the voice that goes away – the voice that goes away?

As the pain subsided somewhat, I slowly raised my head and stared at the person in front of me.

The sword is short. And a little shorter. Crucially, it’s not male.

The person in front of me is not Abel. As I reached that conclusion, the sense of security that had been fading away pushed away the sense of relief and settled back down.

Rather, the woman in front of us was the imposter we were looking for.

To be honest, it’s a disguise that even I would momentarily confuse with Abel. Even Mino, who has been in the military for hundreds of years, still thinks that Abel got hit with TS magic by Galvein.

Rather, the one who was quicker to notice was Pave, who had shared information with me once.

“Kenjok slayer…!”

“…Ah, is that the King of Dogs’ younger brother?”

Obviously, the King of Dogs is Pave, but what the dog… no, that’s cat nonsense.

Even as he brazenly spouted nonsense, he was still aiming firmly at the woman’s black praline.

The expression on her face seemed like she wanted to say something, but she just kept her mouth shut.

“You… You back then…!! What kind of conscience do you have that keeps interfering with my work!”

At that moment, the silence was broken by the squeaking of pralines.

Worst choice ever.

A flash of color flashed across the woman’s eyes, and then, with a thud, the blood on the floor was covered in another layer of red.

The woman’s sword was swung, as if her anger had reached its limit.

Praline died just like that. It was a miserable end to her suffering.

“Uh… Uh…”

“Abel will be here soon. Then things will be sorted out. Before that, take this.”

He walked calmly through the bloody mud and handed over the artifact from last time to Faber from Praline’s severed neck.

To Faber…

…?

The woman, as if it were a given, passed the pavement and handed me the necklace, which was stained with blood and gold and looked rather unappealing from an aesthetic standpoint.

“Please hurry up and get it. I don’t have time.”

“Hey, are the eyes just for show? Can’t you see the owner of that thing behind you?”

“You can’t claim ownership because you’re dead.”

“No, it’s Pave, Pave! Isn’t that something that’s been passed down through generations? Isn’t that stealing?”

Oh, did you already steal it through robbery?

At those words, the woman who had been laughing slyly put the necklace on me as I was twitching and resisting.

“That’s meaningless anyway. And…”

Slap.

Mino and Pave fell apart in an instant, like puppets whose strings had snapped.

“The memories of both of them have been erased. No one should know that I exist.”

“Then why don’t you erase my memories…?”

“…Because you can’t erase it. Your body is too weak, and if you touch the brain, you might die. Those long-lived species don’t have even the slightest health problem. ”

I glared at the woman.

I know he saved her from danger, but he pushed the tribe that Fabbe cherished so much to the brink of ruin, and he was impersonating Abel, wearing the same clothes, the same color scheme, the length of his sword, his height, and except for the fact that he was a woman, he was just like Abel.

If there was another difference, it would be that Abel always smelled like sunflowers, but this woman smelled like cigarettes, which was so strong that it was instantly memorable.

“If you look at me like that, I’ll get hurt.”

“Why did you kill the Ken warriors…?”

The woman turned her eyes briefly and looked at the praline, her mouth agape.

“I was just trying to kill that guy, but that guy just bounced damage around with the artifact and ran away. I got hit by the recoil. That’s an excuse, though.”

I didn’t 100% believe it, but that didn’t change the fact that he was my benefactor.

“Anyway, it will take some time until Abel arrives. They say a patient who has been through something this big needs stability, so give him some company to talk to.”

“What about the family?”

Actually, I didn’t say it expecting an answer. It was just something I blurted out because I felt frustrated when I saw Faber, wondering if fate could be formed in just one day.

The woman sprinkled a familiar potion on Mino and Pave. It was a rather expensive healing potion. As the potion soaked their bodies, Mino and Pave’s wounds were somewhat healed.

“You don’t know either―”

“You will know when you go out, even if you don’t want to know. Let me tell you something. The Kyeonjok lost their spirit as a fighting people a long time ago, and the propaganda spread by Praline was just adding fuel to the fire. You can’t put out a fuse that’s been lit once. Especially if that fuse has been soaked with oil. ”

“…”

“The elders of the Jian tribe were already pushing for going under the Lang tribe. The Jian King’s younger brother… No, the Jian King was the only one who didn’t know.”

“If that happens, we will essentially become a vassal state of the Lang tribe.”

“Below that, your identity will disappear. As of today, your loyalty will disappear.”

“Why on earth?”

Leah really couldn’t understand.

“Even though they are in a cooperative relationship, the Lang tribe has always been inferior to the Jian tribe. They wanted to bring down the Jian tribe and become the best fighting tribe. However, for the Jian tribe… there had been no battles for too long, and the Jian tribe, who had experienced battles firsthand, were now counted on one hand. They did not want to die in the face of the reality of the battle that had come. ”

“Pave is…”

“She’s a different breed. Her ancestors’ blood is so strong.”

With a bitter expression, she slowly prepared to leave, saying that Abel was approaching.

“Name.”

“…Name?”

“Tell me your name. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s ambiguous, but it’s hard to hate you because you resemble Abel. But I can’t call you Abel, so tell me your name so I can remember your benefactor’s name.”

“…Ah… …Lucy. Just remember me as Lucy.”

Lucyra, isn’t that just a perm from Lucifer?

Suddenly, he began to have a reasonable suspicion that his own name was not a combination of Noah and Leon.

Oh, in the blink of an eye, Lucy disappeared.

Instead, a voice calling my name from above came quickly closer with the sound of footsteps.

“Leah! Leah!! Are you still there?! Please, answer me…!! I shouldn’t have sent you. It’s my fault… Leah…”

“Here I am, Abel.”

Abel proudly spread his arms to show off his health, but the blood splattered on his clothes became more visible, and he burst into tears as if he was so sad.

Well, well, if I were to describe all of this, it would take over 1000 characters, so I’ll just not describe it.

“I’m sorry, Leah. I should have protected you better. It’s my fault. I almost killed you again…”

“You don’t use that stiff tone anymore. And those are the 52nd, 17th, 23rd, and 9th respectively.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go for now. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

Honestly, I didn’t really care, but even if Lucy had administered first aid, I was worried about Mino and Fabbe’s condition, and more than anything, I was already feeling sorry for Abel, who was hugging me like that and saying that he would kill the bitch who made him like this, and I thought that he would feel a little better if he at least breathed in some fresh air.

Thanks to that, I was a little relieved that I didn’t have to talk about Lucy.

“Ugh… Is your noble body safe? ”

“Woof… Krrr… Woof? …The Demon King? That guy…!”

As if they had both come to their senses, they dragged their bloody bodies and finally got up.

No, that expression would be misleading. It was Mino who got up, and Pave couldn’t even walk properly because of a problem with his mortally wounded ankle.

“…Okay, we have to get out. We can’t leave Leah here any longer. Mino. Help her up. We’re getting out of here. ”

Abel, who had returned to his usual cold voice, urged Mino on.

“Okay, I understand. Please come this way.”

“I don’t need any support! And this is my land, where are you going?”

Pave tried hard to pretend to be healthy, but his ankle was so injured that there was nothing he could do, so he fell down and was eventually dragged out by Mino, who was waiting by his side and supporting him.

“Ah, I still don’t know what’s going on outside. Of course, since I’m locked up. …Don’t be shocked. It’s not your fault.”

Why was it that Abel’s calm words predicted catastrophe?

Do you feel compassion in that voice?

Two men were supported and two women were supported.

The brief lull that occurred as I walked toward the entrance had to end at some point.

Slowly, Pandora’s box was opened and it was up to us to see the results with our own eyes.

There were no bloodshed or other grotesque scenes like those caused by Lucy.

However, only traces of the pride of the tribe being trampled to the ground and disappearing remained.

“Awww―!”

“…Langjok? Why did the Langjok come here, huh?”

Pave threatened the werewolf, whose name was unknown but who seemed to be of fairly high rank, by pointing his claws at him in front of the entrance.

“Put those nails away. Do you want to throw away your pride, which has thrown away even the last courtesy like a dog’s tail?”

“What? You sold your liver to Zara? The Lang tribe has finally gone mad, huh?”

At the moment when the atmosphere between the two was about to become really tense, it was none other than the Demon King, Abel, who stopped it.

“…Stop it, stop it.”

“Why are you stopping me, woof! The Demon King has no right to interfere with you!”

“No, there is… To be exact, it is the right as an arbitrator.”

“What are you talking about, woof!”

Underneath Pave’s feet, a huge crack appeared, seemingly grabbing her ankle and pulling her down. Perhaps it wasn’t wrong, which was why I, who had become her best friend from that day on, closed my eyes tightly and turned my head away.

“As of today, the Ken tribe has been unified under the Lang tribe. This is something that the Ken tribe elders stationed in the Demon Realm and most Ken tribe members have agreed to. There is no more… Ken tribe. There are only Lang tribe’s subordinate tribes.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“…I also vaguely knew it only from the words I heard when I came in. It was around the time when I realized that Leah was safe and my head started spinning a little that I realized the truth for sure. ”

“Tell me that’s nonsense.”

“I think more people than I thought agreed with your brother’s plan, but when I heard Galvein’s urgent report and unilaterally broke off the meeting and rushed here, the terrified elders were watching us and when they found out that your brother was dead―”

“Stop it!!!!!”

Faber’s hand was clenched so tightly that blood flowed out. I knew that expression well. I had that exact expression on my face before I met Abel.

“Stop… I don’t want to hear it…”

A person whose very foundations were shaken as everything collapsed and he was betrayed.

Fabio’s expression was exactly that of a person like that.

“The Lang Tribe and the Demon Realm’s executive branch are in the process of enforcing the contract, so by tomorrow, the name of the Gyeon Tribe will completely disappear from the Demon Realm. Regardless of your denial of reality, your abilities are quite useful, so I recommend that you join the Lang Tribe as a warrior. You’re having a hard time because you chose the wrong race.”

After breaking through the discomfort and saying those words, the Langjok disappeared. It seemed like a natural thing to do since he had finished what he wanted to say.

“…The family… The will that has been passed down from the ancestors…”

“Please take a rest and think about it. You need sufficient treatment right now.”

Mino began to speak with difficulty, perhaps sensing the hostile gazes of the surrounding tribesmen.

“Ma- Right. Do you know Galvan? Oh, of course I know… Anyway, there’s a Lich in the Demon King’s Castle. Let’s go get some healing magic! ”

When I forced myself to speak, Abel soon agreed. Even though he had sensed danger to his lover and had rushed out, he had already ensured her safety, and the atmosphere had become so bad that he was not so closed off that he would not listen to her.

“Okay. Mino, take out your wings. Fly and move. ”

“I lost a lot of blood in battle… I am ashamed.”

“Okay. That’s how much he sacrificed himself among the angels to protect Leah. Hurry up and accept it.”

Abel cut his palm with his fingernail and sprayed the blood on Mino. The two exchanged opinions with their eyes, as if the blood had touched them. As soon as the blood touched them, they each held their women firmly in different ways and jumped into the sky to escape.

Fabbe was still staring blankly into space and not saying anything, but as I was trying to comfort him, his wounds started to sting and his body fell asleep, so I lost consciousness right there, and in the end, I couldn’t do anything.

*****

A few days passed.

And now, next to me was Fabbe, who had accepted the situation.

If I were to explain in detail, it would be a bit long, but first, after arriving at the Demon King’s Castle and receiving treatment, Pave shouted that it was an unfair contract and that the Demon King’s Castle should leave.

However, after the somewhat oppressive and old-fashioned-looking Demon gave him a bundle of papers, Pave had no choice but to accept that the elders of the Ken tribe had formally handed the Ken tribe over to the Lang tribe through a contract process, and that most of the Ken tribe was cooperating smoothly and were even satisfied with the current situation where there was no more fighting.

She went through all kinds of hardships to avoid dying in the battlefield where the Ken Clan would have to be dragged out, but to the Ken Clan, who had already been tainted with the rotten root of indolence from above, she was nothing more than a thorn in their side. Why else would they have come up with the unthinkable idea of crawling under the Wan Clan and passing on the duty of battle?

It is said that there are even guys who defend dead Praline. The reality is that the Lang tribe does not like that kind of atmosphere and instead values Pave more.

In any case, the Jian tribe was successfully unified under the Lang tribe.

Oh right, since Praline’s name came up, I had something else to say.

It’s a story about angels, but the truth is that Abel secretly put a spell on me that ‘automatically summons me when I’m about to die’.

However, the magic did not activate for two reasons: it was not intended to kill, but only to kidnap, and the angels had intentionally struck them lightly and with as little killing intent as possible so that they would not be affected by the magic. It is not known whether this was because the angels saw through the fact or because it was a stroke of luck.

The reason I was able to kill an angel is because the moment I counterattacked, my survival instinct would mix in with my attack and I would call Abel, so I guess it would have been better for me to not counterattack and just die by myself… Galvein guesses.

And it is said that Abel was completely blinded and launched an all-out war-level invasion against the heavens and the goddess.

Not me, the casualties?! When I was surprised by Abel’s tyranny once again, Hira kindly explained the Demon King’s system. Well, most people wouldn’t understand anyway, and the Demons wouldn’t die, they would just be summoned back to the Demon World. And there are Demon Kings in various dimensions, but the Demon World they use is all the same Demon World… that’s all I understood.

Suddenly, when Abel went crazy and a sword was brought up to his neck, the goddess eventually made a condition of a notarized memorandum promising not to harm me by any means until I die, including no direct attacks, no cardiac massages (I call them this for convenience), no attacks by subordinates (no preemptive attacks, no killing), no restraints such as confinement, and no attacks by outsourced companies such as mercenaries or assassins. Abel suppressed his anger and accepted for my sake.

Well, attacks by the Empire or the Goddess’s followers are inevitable, but I didn’t expect it to go that far.

And this is surprising, but it is said that aggression relationships bound by contracts like Abel and the Goddess of Libra are common.

There are countless goddesses, warriors, and demon lords in countless dimensions, and at first they are sincere, but in the end, the goddesses and demon lords, who are long-lived, become thick-headed.

The goddess who lives off of her faith and for whom invasion is advantageous when appropriate, and the demon king who is bound by various interests, meant that these two were beginning to conspire.

Of course, it is not common for the goddess to be A and the demon king to be B.

Perhaps Praline originally intended to have a quick splurge and escape to the Demon World before Abel arrived, in order to receive the Demon World’s death compensation and the subsequent protection of the Goddess of Libra… but it seems that it fell through because Lucy simply separated her head, which was just a decoration, from her body with a sword. Now that I think about it, that’s all I can think of.

Finally, the King of Dogs… no, now it was just a story about Pave.

The Achilles tendon she injured in battle took quite a while to heal, and during that time, Mino and I helped her quite earnestly and kept her company.

Especially Mino helped with the treatment, of course it could just be the camaraderie that came from surviving the battlefield…

As everyone who knows knows, it’s because it’s -퍼-, so I think it’s even more so because it’s a number.

You could say it’s ungrateful to think that way about a loyal subject who saved you, but you had your own reasons.

One day, during a normal day, while chatting with Mino, Mino said on his own

‘Since the water race is a certain amount of animal, it’s quite possible. Those with only animal ears and tails are about 10% animal. The water race varies depending on how thick their blood is, but if it’s very thick, they’re up to 50% animal. So they look… good.’

It is quite doubtful that Lucy would be so devoted to Pave, whom she admitted to having thick blood, as she claimed.

The Lang tribe kept sending her love calls, but she refused, saying that she would protect the last pride of the Jian tribe. And then she said that she would rather become my bodyguard than work under them.

Abel, who happened to be passing by, heard this and that was the cause of the trouble.

He muttered that since I was in the position of the Four Heavenly Kings, things that didn’t even know the subject kept trying to mess with me, and that there was no reason not to kill them since they were already setting their own lifelines on fire, and that he would raise my position even higher, and gave the position of the Four Heavenly Kings to Faber.

Pave was dumbfounded by the impromptu armband throwing, and when he was given the armband as well, he muttered with a dejected expression, “”I really got obsessed with something so meaningless, woof…”.”

Well, just a few days ago, Pave, who had been losing in the power struggle because of the Four Heavenly Kings, had been paying a lot of attention to them, and because of that, he had left a bad first impression on them, but now that he found out that they were just throwing things around like a bouncy ball, it’s understandable that he’d feel empty.

Hey, that thing coming out of Pave’s body looks like a sari, but am I mistaken?