Ch.75Chapter 75 – The Deal

While the situation in New York was being wrapped up, Shin Jaehyuk managed to escape by a hair’s breadth just before agents stormed the abandoned factory, having detected their approaching presence. As Kwak Taewoo tore the teleportation scroll, Jaehyuk stared in amazement at the instantly transformed surroundings.

“Continental-level teleportation… Impressive. Even the Vatican didn’t have many scrolls of this caliber.”

“…I don’t have many either. We need to conserve them unless it’s an absolute emergency.”

Jaehyuk smirked at the curt but sincere response. To think they were now working together after being at each other’s throats just hours ago.

“The world works in mysterious ways… By the way, where are we?”

Jaehyuk looked around curiously. It appeared to be some kind of cave. The walls were fitted with electric lights, and the interior contained a small generator, drawers, and furniture like a bed and table.

“My hideout.”

“…? This cave?”

“Yes. It’s hidden halfway up Mount Gwanak.”

Kwak Taewoo stared blankly at Jaehyuk as if to ask what the problem was. Jaehyuk returned the look with eyes that suggested he was observing a primitive human.

“You’ve been living in a place like this?”

Though Kwak had been officially declared dead when the prison collapsed due to the Gate incident, his identity was still that of a criminal. While creating a hideout in the mountains to avoid potential tracking made sense, wasn’t this too dirty and uncomfortable?

“You said you blackmailed Mr. B for weapons and a fake identity. Couldn’t you have just asked him to provide a hideout too? He would have easily agreed to that.”

“…! You’re right.”

‘…He simply didn’t think of it?’

Leaving Kwak Taewoo behind with his look of sudden realization, Jaehyuk brought his concerns about Mr. B back to the surface of his consciousness.

‘Come to think of it, Mr. B.’

The issues involving him remained unresolved. Jaehyuk still hadn’t learned why Mr. B had sold his information to Kwak Taewoo despite being his business partner. That was the reason Jaehyuk had risked asking Mephisto to arrange a meeting with Kwak.

‘I ended up forming a party with Kwak, but that doesn’t erase the fact that Mr. B betrayed me. And to think the man I’ve known my whole life was actually a demon?’

According to Kwak, Mr. B was a powerful demon capable of defeating the Four Heavenly Kings alone and buying time against the Demon King. He was also cunning enough to conceal his identity from Jaehyuk for twenty years.

‘He must be an ancient demon. Baphomet was his name? Hmm, Baphomet…’

Jaehyuk searched his past life’s memories but couldn’t recall any mention of Baphomet. All he knew was the origin of the initial ‘B’ that Mr. B had never honestly revealed despite Jaehyuk’s persistent questioning.

‘B for Baphomet. No wonder I didn’t know—there was no demon named Baphomet among those I knew. Still, for a demon of Four Heavenly Kings’ caliber, his name should have been well-known. Strange.’

More disconcerting than the sudden appearance of an unknown powerful entity was the fact that such a demon had existed on Earth for twenty years, ruling the underworld. Jaehyuk couldn’t even guess his purpose. He seemed friendly toward humans, but he was still a demon. Complete trust was impossible.

Just then, Kwak Taewoo asked while organizing his belongings:

“Now that we’re back in Korea, what are you going to do?”

“…I need to meet with Mr. B first.”

Kwak Taewoo snorted.

“How? He might seek people out himself, but he never seems to meet anyone when requested. You’d be lucky if he doesn’t ignore your message entirely.”

“I have a way.”

Jaehyuk turned on his smartphone. The screen displayed Gehenna’s website, specifically the reward section of Mr. B’s request.

“Whether broker or demon, he lives by his reputation and honors contracts…”

A wish. That was the reward Mr. B had offered for the mission. Jaehyuk tapped on his smartphone screen and sent Mr. B a message.

-I’m using my wish now. It seems you have quite a bit of explaining to do, and I’d like to discuss it face to face. Right now.

“Good. I’ve sent the message, so I should get a response within a few days.”

Jaehyuk flopped down on the sofa.

“What will you do when you meet him?” Kwak asked.

“First, I’ll demand an explanation for his ‘betrayal,’ then use that as leverage to uncover his motives and gain some benefits. And of course, extort him a bit.”

Kwak asked with surprise:

“I thought you were a paladin? Shouldn’t paladins kill demons without exception?”

“That’s not wrong, but according to your information, he’s willing to cooperate with humanity and possesses formidable power…”

As he spoke, Jaehyuk discreetly glanced at the lower part of his status window—specifically, the civilization’s military power metric. The experience bar was almost full, indicating that the next Four Heavenly King would descend soon.

Jaehyuk judged that fighting Mr. B right before a Heavenly King’s descent would be too risky. Victory wasn’t guaranteed, and they might even become allies. Starting internal conflicts and depleting each other’s forces before facing the Heavenly Kings would be extremely foolish…

‘Tsk, if only the Magic Tower and the Vatican weren’t at each other’s throats… Huh?’

While clicking his tongue at memories from his past life, Jaehyuk felt his phone vibrate. There was a reply from Mr. B.

‘Already?’

-Coming to you now.

A very brief response. Jaehyuk frowned in confusion. It was unusual for someone as talkative as Mr. B to give such a short, direct answer.

‘He’s coming right away?’

What did this mean? Was there a hidden intention? Did he already know their location? As Jaehyuk tried to decipher the hidden meaning in the short message, he began to ask Kwak Taewoo:

“Does Mr. B know about this place—?”

At that moment:

———!!!

The air in the cave churned as the surrounding magical energy roiled like boiling water. As the magical density increased, the air became thick and stifling, like a suffocating dough.

“W-what’s happening!”

Startled by the sudden change, Kwak Taewoo looked around frantically for the source of the magical energy. And he found it.

A black hole forming in the middle of the hideout.

“A Gate…!”

Jaehyuk exclaimed in shock. He started to reach for his weapon but stopped as he recalled Kwak Taewoo’s words.

‘A Gate! Come to think of it, according to Kwak, Baphomet can create Gates—’

Just then, a voice emerged from the sphere.

“My, my, Jaehyuk. Didn’t you ask me to prepare a plane ticket? Seems that was an unnecessary request?”

It was a familiar voice. Before Jaehyuk could identify the speaker, someone began to emerge from the Gate, starting with the tip of their shoes.

“You made me waste my precious time. If you weren’t going to use it, you shouldn’t have asked in the first place.”

“You…!”

The playfully complaining voice reminded Jaehyuk of someone.

“Mephisto?!”

“Yes, it’s me. ‘Mephisto.'”

Jaehyuk was shocked by the sudden appearance of the information broker he’d met in New York. Mephisto chuckled innocently like a child who had successfully pulled a prank, then covered his mouth playfully and spoke in a completely different voice.

“And also ‘Baphomet.'”

This time, it was the voice Jaehyuk always heard during phone calls with “Mr. B.”

“I was worried you might see through my disguise, but it seems only someone like Kim Jaemin could penetrate my energy concealment.”

Jaehyuk was stunned to see the talkative information broker from New York. Mephisto was Mr. B? Since when? No magical energy had been detectable from him on the plane, but now a heavy demonic aura was pressing down on everything like a massive mountain.

Jaehyuk focused magical energy into his eyes.

「===

《Name》 Ba?homet

《Level》?뤿굹?ㅻ씪留섎굹踰졼뀗?묐??뤵뀅?;?ｃ뀍踰㏐컻??

¤±¤¸·¯¤̤¤;¾ýǪ;¤±¤§Á֤ɤ±¤¸´ٺ¢µΤ¿,¤±¤¤¤·¤©¤¸¤§¤¸¤²¤²¤¸¹̤̤±ß ¤½·볊¤Ϥ²·ù¤¿¹٤Ӥ¸¤§¤²·¯¤¿¤¸·礿¤±¤¤¤·¤½¤»¤º¤½Á꤃¤ӱ¤¿¤òǡ¤Ť¿¤ì¤Ѥ¼¤»ß

…

===」

“Ah, you shouldn’t look at that.”

Baphomet waved his hand, blocking Jaehyuk’s view. The previously clear status window suddenly filled with strange noise, and the text became distorted and broken.

‘He interfered with the status window…!’

Jaehyuk was inwardly shocked by this unprecedented action and raised his guard. Until now, humans could only read status windows, not forcibly alter them.

As the atmosphere grew heavy, Baphomet clapped his hands once to redirect attention.

“I’m glad to see you’ve become friendly with Kwak Taewoo. I was worried one of you might end up dead.”

“We’re not friends. We’re merely cooperating out of necessity.”

Kwak Taewoo, who had been silent, objected. Baphomet smirked and continued:

“Anyway, yes, I did pass your information to Kwak Taewoo. I apologize. But I never wanted you dead. I did it with good intentions, hoping to resolve the animosity between you two. You might not believe me, but I was prepared to intervene if the fight got out of hand. In fact, I did step in once when you were in danger.”

“…I see. So that Gate that suddenly appeared during my fight with Skyscraper—that was your doing?”

Baphomet readily admitted it.

“Yes. I quickly intervened to help you escape to the alley, then replaced the exit with a real Gate. I was originally planning to intervene directly, but I didn’t expect Kim Jaemin to be in New York… I could only help indirectly.”

“Kim Jaemin? Why?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. You heard during your conversation with him, didn’t you? That he’s the Hero.”

Jaehyuk closed his mouth. His conversation with Kim Jaemin had occurred less than 30 minutes ago.

‘So he was monitoring me then too…’

Ignoring Jaehyuk’s tense demeanor, Baphomet continued:

“As a demon, that famous Hero is quite intimidating. When he was about to kill Kwak Taewoo, the best I could do was take the risk of luring him away quickly.”

‘Lured him away? So that was Baphomet’s doing.’

Kwak Taewoo recalled what had happened minutes ago—how Kim Jaemin, who seemed ready to behead him, suddenly stopped and teleported somewhere. Reaching the same conclusion, Jaehyuk muttered:

“So Kim Jaemin’s sudden teleportation was because he sensed your presence…”

Indeed, sensing the presence of someone like Baphomet would justify such an urgent departure. He probably thought an S-class boss had appeared in the middle of the city.

Baphomet wiped imaginary sweat from his brow and joked:

“That’s right. As expected of the Hero, his sensing ability is incredibly sharp. He detected me the moment I revealed a hint of my presence, from kilometers away. If I had delayed my departure by even a few seconds, I would have certainly been caught.”

“…You’re quite skilled at hiding and running away, like a proper demon.”

Baphomet laughed off Jaehyuk’s small provocation.

“Haha, I do pride myself on my disguises. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to organize ‘Gehenna’ from the shadows for hundreds of years without being discovered by anyone. Even evading the eyes of that so-called God.”

Baphomet instantly withdrew his heavy aura and casually crossed his legs, leaning back in the chair. Though annoyed by his making himself at home, Jaehyuk didn’t show it and asked:

“Why have you been helping me all this time? What’s your objective? Why are you cooperating with Kwak Taewoo? And—”

“Whoa, whoa, so many questions, friend. You don’t need to interrogate me—I was planning to tell you what you need to know. Just wait a moment…”

Baphomet cut off Jaehyuk’s questions and drummed his fingers on the table. He seemed to be considering how much to reveal.

“Hmm… You’ve probably guessed from Kwak Taewoo’s story? For now, let’s say my goal is to nurture you to deal with the Four Heavenly Kings.”

“For now?”

“Ultimately, my goal is to kill the Demon King.”

“The Demon King…!”

Though delivered in a casual tone, the words carried immense weight. While Jaehyuk trembled, Baphomet continued his explanation:

“Yes, the Demon King. But I don’t expect you to kill the Demon King.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s far stronger than you imagine. Comparing him to mere Heavenly Kings would be an insult. Even I, at my peak, would struggle to guarantee victory against the current Demon King. So I want to use your help to deal with the Heavenly Kings while I and my collaborator, the ‘Sage,’ conserve our strength for the final battle. Then, at full power, we can strike at the Demon King.”

“And saving humanity is just a bonus,” he added. Despite his playful tone, his face was deadly serious. Jaehyuk carefully observed his expression, trying to determine if Baphomet was telling the truth. However, his poker face was too perfect to discern any hidden intentions.

Kwak Taewoo asked:

“Kill the king? A demon?”

“Why? Did you think all demons are loyal to the Demon King? Even the Heavenly King Beelzebub had a terrible relationship with the previous Demon King.”

“I thought demons instinctively followed their superiors’ orders.”

“That’s only true for newborn demons with instincts encoded in their genes. Ancient demons like me have many grievances against the current Demon King.”

“So you want a kind of coup?”

“Let’s put it that way. It’s good for you humans too, isn’t it? If the Demon King dies, invasions of the human realm will cease for at least a few hundred years while they select a new king. Depending on the next Demon King’s disposition, invasions might stop altogether.”

Jaehyuk pondered this. As the old saying goes, “Use barbarians to fight barbarians.” Using a demon’s help to strike at the Demon King? It didn’t seem like a bad idea…

‘According to Kwak Taewoo’s experience, he genuinely wants to kill the Demon King. His collaborator, this “Sage,” likely shares the same goal.’

According to Kwak Taewoo’s testimony, the Sage, like Baphomet, could face a Heavenly King in direct combat. Even the Demon King would struggle against a coordinated attack from two such powerful beings. Following his plan, there seemed to be a real chance of defeating the Demon King.

‘Plus, with Kim Jaemin, who killed the previous Demon King… Even if Baphomet betrays us after killing the Demon King, we could handle it.’

Even considering the worst-case scenario, there was no reason to refuse the proposal. After calculating in his mind, Jaehyuk nodded.

“Alright. I’ll cooperate with your plan.”

“Ah, wait. There’s one small condition.”

Jaehyuk tensed at this last-minute interruption.

“What condition? You’re not changing the terms now, are you?”

“It’s nothing major. Just a small, reasonable condition.”

“…Let’s hear it.”

“Don’t tell Kim Jaemin about this plan or about me.”

“Kim Jaemin?”

Baphomet sighed dramatically.

“Yes. That so-called Hero loses his mind whenever he sees a demon and attacks mindlessly. That would be troublesome for both of us, wouldn’t it? So let’s prevent such a terrible situation from the start.”

“Hmm.”

It was an understandable reason. Having heard Kwak Taewoo’s story, Kim Jaemin probably knew about Baphomet’s existence but didn’t actively pursue him because he didn’t know his whereabouts and wasn’t causing trouble. Considering his excessive obsession with his mother’s safety, providing information about Baphomet would likely not end well.

“…That’s an acceptable condition. But I have a condition of my own.”

“Oh? A condition? Let’s hear it.”

Baphomet smiled with interest.

“I want to meet this ‘Sage.'”

A powerful figure presumably on par with Baphomet. Judging by the name, Jaehyuk guessed the Sage handled the intellectual aspects of their partnership. Direct conversation would help him determine whether to trust them…

Unfortunately, Jaehyuk’s wish couldn’t be granted.

“Hahaha, I’m sorry, but that’s not possible right now. He’s busy focusing on other matters. He’s being extremely careful to ensure someone who’s asleep doesn’t wake up… But when the time comes, you’ll definitely meet him. And when that happens, he will seek you out, Jaehyuk.”

It was a puzzling statement. Though Jaehyuk didn’t fully understand the meaning, he accepted that meeting the Sage wasn’t possible at the moment.

“…I understand. I’ll be satisfied with that.”

“You’re always so reasonable. I look forward to our Heavenly King hunting partnership.”

Jaehyuk firmly grasped Baphomet’s hand in a handshake. And the demon who had contracted with the paladin smiled contentedly, like a businessman who had just secured a deal.