episode_0089

“Devi… What did they say? There’s a report that a city-scale curse has been activated in the area occupied by those guys.”

“A curse of that scale?”

“They said it’s a curse that can only be activated by someone like the Demon King?”

“…! That’s absurd! Are you saying that such a powerful being is hiding in a place like this?!”

“Well, we still don’t know if it’s here. It happened three years ago.”

At the mention of three years ago, Hamul closed his mouth.

“‘No way…’”

Hamul fumbled with the past when he had attacked Lian’s mind three years ago and ended up receiving fatal wounds before fleeing.

“No, no. According to what I observed, that guy was just borrowing the power of the dark sword, he had no power of his own.”

Though a little uneasy, he deliberately brushed off the connection between Lian and the curse.

“They said the organization that took over that area was most hostile towards the western region, right? So, it’s most likely that this ‘Nest’ organization is involved in this incident.”

It meant that Hamul’s goal and Potensien’s goal were the same. Since Hamul’s desire for revenge was stronger, he pushed aside his uneasiness.

“Alright, then let’s go kill that guy right away!”

“No. Now is not the time to hunt him down.”

Potensien said with a glint in his eyes.

“Leave everything to me. I will definitely kill that so-called saint.”

Feeling even a sense of madness in his eyes, Hamul had no choice but to silently agree.

***

Compared to the other Four Heavenly Kings, Potensien is younger and has a strong image of a reckless young man who charges forward without hesitation.

However, he didn’t gain the position of one of the Four Heavenly Kings through gambling. When hunting, he always showed a rational side.

“It’s all, all the fault of that Nest guy!”

Listening to Hamul’s story, not rushing into Nest immediately, and finding information about Atan, the former boss of the Deviatan organization, were all preparations for a thorough hunt.

“That guy has been playing with us from the beginning, tossing us around like we’re nothing!”

Spitting blood, Atan’s appearance was very different from before. He wore tattered clothes, heavily intoxicated, yet unable to conceal his “hatred.” It was somewhat pitiful. His organization had been disintegrated because of Lian, so it was natural for him to be so enraged.

“Who is that guy?”

Fotensien threw the question like kindling, as Atan erupted, spewing out information.

“The real boss of the Nest organization! The blackguard who holds Cardishan in the palm of his hand and toys with everything! The slaughterer, Lian!”

Fotensien’s laughter deepened at the intriguing name.

“What did he do to be called a blackguard?”

“That’s -…”

People often blame others when trying to manage excessive stress. Having suffered tremendous stress due to the destruction of his organization, Atan probably resorted to blaming others for all his problems.

Naturally, he must have been under immense stress, shifting all his hardships and troubles onto Lian, given that he had a clear target to resent.

“And the collapse of the eastern mine was also the work of the slaughterer, Lian?”

“Yes! He knew from the beginning that I had gone there! When I talk about this, those scoundrels mutter nonsense about delusions of persecution… After that incident, considering the benefits gained by the Nest organization, they wouldn’t dare utter such nonsense!”

Nest, empowered by Noah, and the deserted eastern land.

It was only natural that the nest, which had swallowed up the western land in no time, would set its sights on the eastern land. As Nest’s power expanded, it naturally began to influence various places.

Hiding his true identity and operating in the east, Atan couldn’t help but get involved in Nest’s activities.

Atan, who thought all his misfortunes were due to Lian, revealed to Potensien how wicked a villain Lian was.

“He seems more dangerous than I thought.”

Potensien reconsidered with relish.

“There’s nothing quite as enjoyable as bringing down a fool who thinks he’s the smartest.”

After organizing the information obtained from Atan in his mind, Potensien left Atan, who had started crying while drunk, at the bar and slipped out.

“That guy, can we afford not to kill him?”

“If what he says is true, Lian must know that Deviatan’s boss is still alive. Killing him rashly could attract attention.”

Despite his appearance, Hamul inwardly admired the remarkably rational attitude.

“If it’s him, he really might be able to bring that guy down!”

Recalling the humiliating figure Lian had presented to him, Hamul laughed triumphantly.

“Ugh…!”

He spat out rainbow-colored vomit on the floor.

***

Three years is a longer time than one might think. Although there were minor incidents, if there was a time that could not be denied as “peaceful,” it felt even longer.

As peaceful times lengthen, love is bound to blossom.

“Sister, how long are you going to keep hiding?”

“But, but…”

Nest’s boss Noah, with a flushed face, was avoiding Lily’s gaze earnestly.

“What if it makes you feel bad…?”

“You’ve known about it for years, haven’t you?”

“Even so…”

As Noah rolled his eyes back and forth, offering excuses, Juliana, who was lying on the sofa (she was just floating, but she looked like she was lying down), reading a romance novel, spoke.

Lian needs to come with another woman for Noah to come to his senses. Sigh…!

“…!”

At Juliana’s words, Noah’s eyes widened and he began to shake anxiously. As Lili couldn’t hear Juliana’s voice, she thought Noah’s expression was shaking because of her words.

“Now you’ve established your position within the organization. Even if the boss of Nest is a woman, no one will say anything, right?”

“I know that, but…”

“Besides, it’s extremely uncomfortable there!”

“Uh…”

Noah had also grown in the three years. With the emergence of secondary sexual characteristics, his flat chest had developed curves and protruded more than an average woman’s size.

The problem was that its size was larger than that of a typical woman. He had intended to confess to Lian that he was a woman, but time had passed without him doing so.

He was struggling to suppress the feeling of disgust that he might feel when he found out that a friend he had always thought was a man turned out to be a woman.

Thanks to using a binder to suppress his chest, he hadn’t been exposed as a woman to Lian, but it was inevitable that he felt uncomfortably suffocated.

Lili was pointing out this fact. …Of course, she wasn’t just pointing out that fact.

“Why are you hiding such a great weapon? Haven’t you read romance novels, unnie? It’s the kind where the male protagonist unknowingly starts to throb when a friend who he thought was just a friend suddenly shows a feminine side! Have you never seen that?”

“Lili, novels and reality are different.”

“They’re not! Noah unnie isn’t lacking in any way! She has a great weapon, she’s pretty, and she’s talented!”

“L-Lili…”

As Noah buried his face in the desk in the study, turning red, Lili spoke softly, teasing him.

“If you keep acting like that, some other girl might just snatch Lian oppa away! If that innocent oppa finds out, he’d even give up his heart.”

“Even though my brother spends most of his time between the annex and the main building… he still goes back and forth to the exterior of the main building from time to time. He’s been approached by kids who seem to be targeting him, saying they’re giving out lunch boxes.”

“…!!”

Whenever Lily spoke, it felt like a huge rock was falling on Noah’s head. She looked at Noah and spoke firmly.

“So, if you could just -…”

Before she could finish her sentence,

Crash!

The building shook as if an earthquake had struck, and a loud noise reverberated. Noah, who had been sitting like melted marshmallow, suddenly sprang up. Lily also looked towards the direction where the sound came from with a stern expression.

“An attack?”

“How did they find this place…”

Currently, they were in the real main building library, not the external main building where the officers were staying. This meant that someone had attacked and knew the location of the real main building.

Without a word, the two of them simultaneously rushed out of the library.

At that moment, in the annex,

“Aaah!”

“Eek!”

The confusion spell didn’t even block the loud noise. As a result, the children sat trembling, their heads covered with their arms.

“It seems like we need to evacuate immediately.”

“Oh, okay!”

The teacher, who had been absent-minded, snapped to attention at Lian’s words and began to lead the children.

“Come over here, everyone!”

Accustomed to peaceful living but having experienced terrible times, the children followed the teacher’s instructions calmly, more composed than ordinary children.

“Teacher! Please lead the children from the front! I’ll follow from behind!”

“Yes!”

Although the teacher was older, Lian was much stronger, so the teacher led the children out of the annex without complaint.

“Iris, please go with the teacher in case there’s an attack from the front.”

“Okay.”

“Jess, make sure no one gets lost under the influence of magic.”

“Got it!”

After asking two people for a favor, I watched the children escape from the annex. In preparation for such a day, a portal had been set up outside the annex.

The children began to move towards the place where the portals were, following the teacher and Iris. I stood at the back door of the annex and watched the children escape.

“Wait… one person is missing.”

Counting the number of children one by one, Lian looked around inside the annex with a stern face. There is still a child left inside the annex!

Without hesitation, Lian immediately jumped into the annex.