Episode 465. Side Story

Flames erupted everywhere. The sky was dyed pitch black.

Volcanoes that looked like they could erupt any second spewed ominous smoke, and creatures that looked nothing like humans walked on two legs.

Despite the chilling atmosphere, which suggested war could break out at any moment, this place was surprisingly peaceful.

– Yes, yes. Is this a citizen complaint? I’m coming right now!

– One order of eyeball noodles here!

The sounds of everyday life, so to speak, could be heard from all corners.

Hell had intelligent life, and society functioned under the Demon King’s rule.

The demons of Hell lived their lives in their respective positions.

The one who ruled this vast Hell was the Demon King.

The current Demon King was in seclusion under the guise of a ‘rest period’.

The Demon King’s Castle, located at the highest point in Hell, towered skyward so anyone in Hell could see it.

From his mansion room, Lucifer, who had been staring at the top of the Demon King’s Castle, spoke to his subordinate bowing his head.

“The Demon King’s Castle is still the same, I presume?”

“…Yes. The gates of the Demon King’s Castle are locked, and no one is allowed entry.”

“Impressive. So I shouldn’t have trusted the Demon King after all. What is he thinking?”

His plan was perfect.

No, ‘plan’ wasn’t even the right word.

The position of Demon King was rightfully Lucifer’s.

Among the Demon King’s successors, Lucifer’s faction was overwhelmingly powerful.

There was only one person who could stand equal to him.

Liliana Calliope, the Succubus.

‘…Everything started getting strange after she disappeared.’

Liliana Calliope was Lucifer’s sole competitor.

She was a mutant Succubus who didn’t use enchantment, despite being one.

Liliana, who rapidly expanded her influence with sheer power, defied the limits of her Succubus race and stood against Lucifer, the demon.

For Lucifer, who had never known defeat since being born a demon, she was a refreshing shock.

He thought Succubi were, at best, whores, so he became interested in Liliana.

A being who refreshed his boring life.

Lucifer enjoyed the competition for the Demon King’s seat with her.

But one day.

Liliana Calliope vanished without a trace.

The powerful faction she had built disintegrated with unnatural speed, and neither the Demon King nor the Succubus Queen mentioned her.

While it was common in Hell for a powerful individual to disappear suddenly, Lucifer felt a strong sense of unease.

Liliana Calliope. Unlike anyone else, she didn’t seem like the type to just disappear like that.

A long time passed after that.

With his greatest threat gone, Lucifer became the undisputed official successor to the Demon King.

It was incredibly boring, but he thought becoming the Demon King would solve everything.

It was a given that Lucifer would inherit the Demon King’s position.

…Until his father, the Demon King, suddenly went into seclusion.

“I can’t believe he’d act so erratically now.”

The sudden one-year rest period.

The Demon King sealed the Demon King’s Castle using all his magic without revealing any reasons.

“Can’t even figure out what’s going on…”

Lucifer’s demonic eyes glowed.

The demonic eyes were a powerful ability he possessed.

Lucifer’s demonic eyes could see through anything, allowing him to obtain any information he desired.

“…It’s impossible, isn’t it.”

He had already checked several times.

That Demon King’s Castle didn’t react even to Lucifer’s demonic eyes.

If it were invisible, that would be one thing, but this felt impenetrable.

It felt like a colossal wall stood before him.

If his demonic eyes, which even the Demon King couldn’t evade, felt a wall, what on earth was the nature of that magic?

Lucifer closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

Lucifer was lost in boredom.

Of the four Demon King successors, only he remained.

Chiron and Albedo had also suddenly disappeared around the same time the Demon King began his rest period.

He couldn’t even enjoy his hobby of eating human flesh anymore.

This was because the influx of humans into Hell had increased recently, leading to an oversupply of human flesh.

When human flesh was rare, he actively participated in its distribution and enjoyed it, but now that it was common enough for anyone to eat, his interest waned.

‘I actually had more fun competing with Liliana.’

Lucifer accepted the boredom and emptiness filling his being.

He thought he would feel something new if he became the Demon King and ruled Hell.

That’s why he waited only to become the Demon King, so it was absurd that the Demon King’s Castle was sealed just before his boring life was supposed to end.

“What could possibly be happening in there…”

Lucifer scowled as he looked at the Demon King’s Castle.

Had the Demon King betrayed him after all?

But no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t find the reason.

Once the one-year seal ended, the Demon King, having exhausted all his magic, would lose his power.

Then, naturally, the Demon King’s seat would be his.

It wasn’t that the Demon King was being greedy and didn’t want to hand over the position.

If he had been that kind of person, he wouldn’t have acknowledged Lucifer in the first place.

“Hmm?”

Just as Lucifer was lost in his unending thoughts.

A magical light appeared before his eyes, accompanied by a solemn voice.

“If you accept this, all your worries will be resolved.”

“How can someone do this?”

Lucifer, startled by the voice echoing in his ears, examined the magic.

Even Lucifer, a powerful being in Hell, had never encountered such magic before.

A magic circle that traversed space!

Who dared to do this to him?

Lucifer’s demonic eyes glowed as he deciphered the magic circle.

“…I can’t see it.”

It was the same as the Demon King’s Castle.

An unknown power that his demonic eyes couldn’t penetrate.

About to erase the magic out of unease, Lucifer sensed a faint scent of Earth within the magic.

And… amidst the faint scent, there was something pulling Lucifer in.

“Earth’s magic? No, this is…”

The scent of kin, detectable only by the Demon King’s successors.

It was the familiar magic of a sibling.

“A sibling… and with such potent yin energy.”

A space-traversing magic circle, the scent of Earth, and a sibling’s magic.

Among his siblings, there was only one with strong yin energy.

“Liliana Calliope.”

Although the magic’s origin was unknown, Lucifer reached out, not avoiding the power that was drawing him in.

*

Tuesday morning. Rebecca’s room.

After Lee Hoyeon and Nam Daeun left for the Academy.

Rebecca summoned Liliana and Scarlet to her room.

“Haaaw. What’s up? I’m sleepy.”

“It’s been a while since Master Rebecca summoned us like this.”

“Mm-hmm. Both of you, sit here.”

Rebecca intended to share her worries with others.

While supporting her husband was a wife’s duty, Rebecca was willing to accept any woman Lee Hoyeon liked.

That’s why she called them.

It would have been perfect if Nam Daeun were here too, but since it was an urgent matter, she planned to share it with Daeun later.

“First, I have a confession. Recently, Baby Appa and I secretly created a magic…”

At Lee Hoyeon’s request, Rebecca had kept the fake dungeon magic circle a secret from everyone.

Of course, living in the same house, she couldn’t keep it entirely secret, so she passed it off as magic research.

The other women in the household knew that Rebecca and Lee Hoyeon were working on something, but they didn’t pry.

But today, Rebecca decided not to hide what she knew and revealed it.

That she made the magic circle at Lee Hoyeon’s request. And that Lee Hoyeon’s condition had been strange while the magic circle was being completed.

If he wouldn’t tell her his worries directly, she had no choice but to find them out.

Rebecca planned to gather everyone’s known information to figure out Lee Hoyeon’s concerns.

“So… I secretly made a fake dungeon summoning magic circle with Baby Appa.”

Hearing Rebecca’s explanation, Liliana and Scarlet tilted their heads.

It was because they weren’t used to Rebecca suddenly saying things like this.

“So… you’re saying Rebecca and Lee Hoyeon made a magic circle to summon fake dungeons. Hmm. I understand.”

“It’s not like that guy does weird things just today or yesterday, but dungeons? I wonder what their purpose could be.”

“I don’t know the use either. But the use isn’t the important part. Isn’t Baby Appa’s condition a bit strange lately?”

“Is it? Hmm. Now that I think about it, it kind of seems that way.”

“I definitely think so…”

Liliana agreed vaguely, while Scarlet nodded firmly.

When they first met, Lee Hoyeon seemed more playful and relaxed.

Although he still had that vibe now, he had definitely changed compared to back then.

“He clearly seems to have serious worries, but he won’t tell me even when I ask.”

“His worries… Honestly, it’s quite obvious.”

“Yeah. Do you have any guesses, Scarlet-ssi? I have no idea what he wants to do with the dungeons.”

“It’s probably about women, in the end.”

Scarlet was certain it was about women.

Most problems surrounding Lee Hoyeon were related to women.

“A woman problem? Lee Hoyeon can have any woman he wants, right?”

“Liliana. That tone isn’t appropriate for your husband.”

“Sorry.”

“Liliana-nim. My thoughts differ slightly. He’s a womanizer, yes, but he tries to pay attention to all women. I think that’s the problem.”

Scarlet, while handling Lee Hoyeon’s affairs, became well aware of his private life.

Lee Hoyeon meets women all day long.

A life of a casual womanizer, by anyone’s standards.

Honestly, it wasn’t a good look from a woman’s perspective.

Scarlet initially thought he was just a womanizer. But Lee Hoyeon’s behavior was quite extreme.

A womanizer, by definition, is someone who pursues only their own pleasure while disregarding the other person’s feelings.

It’s illogical for a womanizer to keep seeking women even when their own body is being overworked.

Uniquely, Lee Hoyeon seemed to prioritize the feelings of other women over his own.

“A woman problem… Hmm. Maybe so. Baby Appa has a lot of women around him.”

“Yes. He cares about women to an unusual degree. Honestly, satisfying his desires should be possible with just the women at home.”

“Scout. I alone am enough!”

“He doesn’t seem like the type to crave affection, so there’s definitely a secret he’s keeping from us.”

“But we can’t solve the woman problem. I think there’s something about the dungeon magic circle. Baby Appa’s condition was truly strange while he was making it.”

Rebecca clenched her fist tightly.

The fake dungeon magic circle was definitely important information.

She was convinced that combining the information Scarlet and Liliana had would lead to the answer.

“Rebecca-nim. Could you please elaborate on this fake dungeon magic circle?”

“It’s literally a magic circle that constitutes fake dungeons. It can create dungeons similar to real ones. Baby Appa hid the final process, so I didn’t get to see the completion… Ah. He did mention mixing a lot of Hell’s magic into the magic circle.”

“Wait a moment. Hell’s magic and fake dungeons… Something comes to mind.”

Scarlet frowned at the familiar words.

Hell’s magic.

She knew, of course, that Lee Hoyeon could use Hell’s magic.

The problem didn’t seem to be that.

There was definitely a place Lee Hoyeon had shown great interest in throughout the break.

“Anomalies in the dungeon and the black pillars.”

Lee Hoyeon, with the help of the Iris Guild, went on-site investigations several times a week.

Even though it was a troublesome task requiring permission, he moved immediately upon hearing that permission had been granted.

The excuse was magic research.

But Scarlet knew better than anyone that Lee Hoyeon had no time for magic research.

“Dungeon anomalies” and “fake dungeon magic”.

“Hell’s magic” and “black pillars”.

There was a connection.

She felt certain there was a secret she didn’t know about in that place.

“There’s someone I’m concerned about.”

“Who is it?”

“The leader of Iris Guild’s first team. Irene.”

Lee Hoyeon’s meetings with Irene increased sharply under the pretext of investigating the black pillars and dungeons.

Perhaps they were sharing a secret.

Although Irene hadn’t spent much time with Lee Hoyeon, there were secrets they could share precisely because of that.

“Irene? Do you think she can solve Baby Appa’s worries?”

“I can’t be sure about that… but it’s worth asking. If we learn a secret only she knows, perhaps new information will emerge.”

“I remember seeing that woman in France too. How are you going to ask her?”

“Let’s talk it over slowly once Daeun-ssi arrives.”

“Yeah. Right. We should ask Daeun for her opinion too.”

Rebecca nodded.

Something was starting to unravel.

She thought it was a good decision to tell everyone after all.