episode_0066

Terraim was secretly touching his chin as if it still hurt from where I hit him, and was glancing in this direction.

Even if I wanted to complain to someone that I hit them, I would have to explain the whole incident, and then I would have to tell them what happened, so I couldn’t tell anyone.

‘I should have woken up faster.’

I’m so sad that this will probably be my last chance to dig it up myself.

“Now, soul disease. Come forward.”

The officer in charge of mediation calls me forward after reviewing the order he gave as Atir to see if there are any problems.

I follow his words and go up to the podium.

“I will tell you the truth as I see it.”

As I opened my mouth, a smile appeared on Terraim’s face for a moment, then disappeared before anyone else noticed.

You would think that things would go smoothly since they have already given an order to use Atir to testify perjury.

‘Today will be the last time I can smile.’

He turns his gaze away from Terraim and begins to speak.

“The woman Deshade brought-”

More than 20 people in the tent are paying attention to me.

“-It is not the demon who commanded everything. Rather, they are victims and demons who tried to save us.”

People making noise.

You may have known the general story through the bickering between Terraim and Hygenic, but the words made by a soul soldier who cannot tell a lie have a different value.

“The demons were trying to save us? That’s nonsense.”

“But these are the words of a soul sick person who cannot lie. I have no choice but to say what I saw.”

“Still…”

“Isn’t this an order sent through Atir? There are no lies.”

A look of embarrassment appears on Terraim’s face. He comes to his senses and continues talking before he can do anything else.

“The ones who fought us were the puppeteer and another male demon who came under the orders of the demon king. The demons used the corpses of dead demon warriors to create mixtures to attack us, and the puppeteer who created them was the commander. That demon held the most necessary key to conquering the castle.”

‘I was holding a strange box that controlled the castle, so it’s not a lie. It is not a lie to say that he is the commander since he is the one who made the mixtures move.’

Although there is a sign of Asmodeus, I am afraid that it may be influenced by Atyr even if it is late, so I am telling the facts in as much detail as possible, but carefully only talking about the main points.

“And the demon woman brought by Deshade is the victim. They used this woman as a medium through which they attempted to bring down the devil.”

bang!

At that time, Terraim knocks on the table, stands up, interrupts me, and comes in.

“In that case, you must kill that demon even more! If that demon bitch is the cause of all the incidents, aren’t we already in danger just because she’s here? We must kill it before it summons the devil again!”

The other officers are upset.

Terraim continues to talk without missing the opportunity.

It was an added bonus that the officer in charge of mediation could not easily intervene in his angry appeal.

“We already know through records how scary it is for the devil to come to earth! If you are officers trained in the kingdom protected by Gaia, you would know how much time and resources we invested to restore the ancient kingdom after it was completely destroyed. Officer over there, where are you from?”

Before speaking, Terraim points to an officer.

“Yes, yes? I am from the Raikuld region.”

“Yes! Raikuld was also destroyed by the devil, and it took about 100 years for the granary to be restored! Not just there! Three demons descended at the same time and killed all living things! If you don’t kill the demon-bearing demon now, it will wake up at some point and try to kill your family, children, and the people next door! Are you going to let such a monster live? That’s a no-brainer! Isn’t that right, everyone!”

Terraim pushes others without a break.

They try to create an anxious mentality and contagious it.

Some people have already started whispering their anxiety as if they were agreeing with him.

But even for a moment-

“I came down to stop it.”

Suddenly, Deshade, who had been quietly listening to Terraim and me, opens his mouth.

“I have come down to prevent a situation where humans bow their heads in despair and sadness again, to listen to and soothe your anxieties, and to prevent this earth that supports humans from being destroyed by the devil. .”

This support comes at just the right time.

Terraim deliberately distorts his expression and spreads his arms exaggeratedly, as if he knew this would happen after seeing Deshade.

“The lie is finally revealed here! You introduced yourself as a god who loves humans. But those demons are not humans. It is our god who protects demons who embrace evil? That’s ridiculous! Gaia is the only one who truly loves humans!”

Deshade responds to Terraim’s words.

“Then what on earth was Gaia doing? Even at the moment when the devil was about to descend, the god who did not come down to earth, did not even send a paladin to follow him, and did not even warn you, where and what is he doing now?”

‘I’m curious too.’

Deshade stabbed the Gaia Church in a sore spot. In fact, none of them were priests who had received a direct message from Gaia in the last ten years.

Unlike Gaia, I told everyone about Deshade, who took action directly.

“Everyone! As soon as Deshade knew the signs of the incident, he headed to the center without hesitation. He then performed a ritual there to completely separate the demons from the demons. If this is not something that only God can do, who else can? If there is a competent priest who can do that, I hope someone can answer this soul disease.”

Unless it happens in a natural way, there will definitely be no chance of meeting Asmodeus for the time being. It is a real fact that the ceremony has definitely ended.

“Then of course…”

“No, but Terraim, isn’t he an elder of the Gaia Church?”

“What’s important right now is the God in front of you, isn’t it? There were even testimonies of mental illness.”

“It is true that there was no prophecy in the Gaia Church. It’s different than before. In the past, if something happened, the paladins would come running and the Holy Knights would be dispatched, but these days, if the incident seems to have spread, only then do they move.”

“Shh. Still, be careful what you say. Do you think you can turn Gaia’s priests into enemies in the kingdom and sleep comfortably?”

“Still, this doesn’t seem right…”

As I continued talking to Deshade, people gradually began to gather opinions in this direction, perhaps because it was a credible testimony of a spiritual illness.

It’s getting easier now that I have God on my back.

But Terraim did not give up.

“But in the end, they are demons! We never know when they might betray us, come into our home, and strangle us. Don’t you know what the demons have done to us so far! They broke the agreement, stuck a knife in our back, and kidnapped our fleeing people! You can tell right away just by looking at historical records. We trusted them many times, but they betrayed us dozens of times. Demons are irreversible creatures! They are monsters!”

Although it is a bit exaggerated, it is still the truth. The numerous agreements made with the demons were never properly kept.

‘But that’s only based on what you can see.’

Terraim is trying to include Astesia in the category of hostile demons that officers have encountered the most. Even Astesia, the victim.

The Astesia I saw was different from the previous demons. Even though they are demons, they are demons that tried to communicate with humans until the end.

Deshade also knew this, and that’s why he chose to bring people face to face with Astesia.

God answers Terraim’s words and calls me.

“Commander of humans. I can’t understand that that child is the same demon you are talking about. Bishop, please bring the child to me. He will be waiting in the tent next to you.”

“I understand. Oh, and he calls me bishop. Let’s talk about that later.”

I answered Deshade’s command in a low whisper and went out and entered the tent next to it.

‘Were you this close?’

There is someone covered in a blanket on a chair on one side of the tent, and there are soldiers waiting with swords drawn on either side of the person.

Pink and purple hair sticking out of the blanket.

Even though she was covered in a blanket, I immediately recognized it as Astesia.

After telling the soldiers the situation, he calls Astesia.

“Follow me. Astesia.”

“…”

I take Astesia’s hand, who doesn’t respond in any way.

My hands are cold and shaking.

You can hear the shouts of Hygenic and Terraim from the tent next to you. I can occasionally hear Deshade speaking.

Astesia was here alone, covered in a blanket, listening to the whole story.

The girl with the heroic heart who was willing to die was nowhere to be found. There is only one woman, alone and trembling among the people.

This may seem rather ordinary.

‘If, at a young age, people with bright blue knives are standing next to you and they are discussing whether to kill you or not, then of course you will do this.’

Looking at that, Astesia seemed like it would be difficult to make a big statement. I have to work harder here.

If Terraim taps into people’s emotions and incites them, I can do the same.

I don’t know if Deshade thought of it too, but so far it’s a good choice.

So I told her to have a little more courage.

“You just have to tell it like it is.”

“…”

“It may be a little scary, but trust me.”

“… Yes.”

Astesia followed obediently. He seems to have realized that this situation is the most important moment for him.

Holding Astesia’s hand, we go back into the tent, stand on the platform in the middle, and talk.

“Everyone, take a look. This is the demon you are so afraid of!”

As I take off the cloth covering Astesia’s head, her hand holding my hand becomes stronger.

And the officers who always encountered only the swarming demons on the battlefield witnessed demons whose heads had just begun to touch their waists and whose bodies had no magical power due to the demon’s blood running out.

“Asmodians? Were there such small demons?”

“Aren’t you just a child? It looks different from the demons I used to know, but what can I say… it looks much more like a human.”

“I can hardly feel any magic power, but is it just an ordinary weak demon?”

People whispering while looking at her.

Terraim noticed the reactions of those people and quickly stepped forward to block everyone’s path.

“Don’t be fooled! That bitch is a succubus! These are base things that deceive people and lead them to destruction! All the emotions you feel are due to the charm of this succubus. That bitch just eats people like other demons!”

“No!”

He rejects Terraim’s claims and explains Astesia to everyone.

“This child has been raised in a convent since she was young! This is a child who grew up without eating human meat. Rather, this is a child who decided to give up his own life to save humanity!”

“Can you prove it? Proof that they didn’t eat people.”

Terraim goes in front of Astesia and bows down to stare directly at her.

“Say it, demon bitch! Confess to eating people! Reveal your ugly side in front of this elder of the Gaia Church!”

“Stay back! The child is not scared!”

As Astesia begins to tremble under the pressure, Hygenic runs up and pushes him away.

“Now, tell it like it is.”

Thanks to Hygenic, Astesia calmed down after a while and said.

“Well, I didn’t eat people. Since I was raised in a convent, I never even touched human meat. And since she’s a succubus, there’s no need for that. The succubus is the only demon among demons that can continue to live without consuming real food.”

When people heard Astesia’s words, they started talking again.

“Look. I heard you didn’t eat people?”

“Do you believe that?”

“Compared to the past, the blood of the demons has become softer, so the number of times they directly eat us has decreased… but I’m not sure.”

“Grew up in a convent, it’s amazing that you survived.”

“A wizard I used to know told me about the characteristics of a succubus. It’s exactly what that kid said. They say they can survive just by absorbing energy.”

“Why does that wizard know that?”

“… You don’t know?”

Each person’s knowledge emerged from here and there, and that knowledge began to support Astesia’s claims.

Terraim makes a loud noise again, somehow preventing people from going to the side of defending Astesia.

“That can’t be possible. I heard that demons will become weak if they don’t eat human meat!”

“Well, that is the story of our ancestors. People today don’t have to do that…”

“Shut up! You are trying to deceive people with lies again!”

“Stop leaving. Terraim!”

Hygenic forces Terraim, who continues to scold him, to retreat.

Parr-

At that time, a pair of small bat wings on Astesia’s head flinched, perhaps out of fear, and Terraim seemed to have seen that.

“See all. Proof of receiving the power of that devil! If we remember not only those demons but also their ancestors and their origins, we will understand. The ancestors of those years deviated from the human path and grew their power by eating their own people. They are abominable. Among your ancestors, there are probably very few people who have not been eaten by demons at least once! But are you going to claim that that demon bitch is also innocent?”

‘Is it a sit-in this time? ‘At this point, it’s madness.’

However, the madness seemed to have a greater effect than I thought, and some people even got behind Terraim and began to defend it in earnest.

“They said demons cannot be rewritten.”

As Terraim grins at the change in the atmosphere around him, Deshade, seeing this, steps forward again.

“Yes. It’s not that I don’t understand. All the demons you met must have been like that. They must have been monsters that kill humans, feel jealous of humans, and eat humans. The fact that such people have existed for a long time is a fact that never changes.”

“It’s true! So what exactly are the demons in front of you? If it’s the same, it’s the same; it can never be said to be different! Because demons are all the same!”

“But-”

Terraim got excited and scolded Deshade, but the god did not back down.

instead-

He defends Astesia by holding her other hand.

“This God, I will guarantee the purity of this child’s heart in my name. This child was willing to give up his own life to save humans, and while growing up among humans, he never hurt anyone. Elder of Gaia, before you are a demon that has never eaten a human. What on earth does this look like?”

God did not scold.

Unlike Terraim, he did not shout or scare him by showing a distorted expression in front of his eyes.

I didn’t even ask for consent from others.

But people listen to Deshade’s words and look at reality.

Now they are discussing the demons of the past and the demons they met on the battlefield before, but the Astesia in front of them now is not only a demon, but also a demon who deflects everything they are thinking about.

After hearing that, Terraim must have thought that this argument was unreasonable, and found another breakthrough.

“It is a lump of abomination. We are all being deceived! Yes, that’s right! Who can prove that the demon really lived in a convent? Do you really think that demons can grow up in a human convent without being detected? No way! This is probably a lie to somehow survive.”

People also looked at Terraim’s words as if they were wondering how he could prove it.

‘This is not a good trend.’

I also only heard that Astesia lived in a convent.

Even if Astesia were asked to provide evidence now that this was a story from a long time ago, it is obvious that there would be nothing.

But did they say that if you pray and don’t give up, hope will come down to you?

Just when I thought it wouldn’t be easy for me to overcome this argument, an unexpected person came inside.