episode_0166

CLVIII.

It is safe to say that the power of the Demon Race is a kind of innate superpower that more than 90% of them are born with.

And just like on Earth, there are gold and silver spoons, most of the powers that make one a higher level demon are set.

The demons who are born with powers strong enough to devour mid-level demons despite being low-level demons are destined to rise to the upper-level demons unless something special happens.

But not everyone becomes a high-level demon in that order. If that were the case, the demon world wouldn’t be filled with conflict and war like it is now.

Sometimes, there are rare cases where a person rises to the top of the Demon Race with powers that no one expected.

―From a book on the ecology of the demon tribe

Professor in charge: God of Time, Lee Hyo-joo

◈

“Brother!”

He gathered his thoughts while holding Catherine in his arms and rubbing her back, who was shivering.

The first thing that came out was a sigh of wonder, “Is this really the case?” Ironically, I never imagined that the warp gate we used for safety would end up putting us in danger.

What really pisses me off now is that it doesn’t seem like it was just ‘bad luck’ that I ended up in this situation.

A situation where everyone is scattered.

Why is it that there are no Arcana or any of the superhumans, and it is just the weakest of them all, Catherine, and me?

This is a level of bad luck and coincidence that is ridiculous to call just bad luck.

This is clearly someone’s plan.

This is the part that makes me mad.

It’s not an unfortunate circumstance, it’s someone’s plan, they didn’t anticipate that something like this could happen.

And there is only one being who knows that Catherine is the plan’s ace to many superhumans.

“Nitas.”

This goblin-shaming bitch.

If we ever meet for real, I will definitely, definitely, definitely beat you to death, then heal you and beat you again.

“Brother… ?”

“Don’t worry, Catherine.”

I looked around while stroking Catherine’s head, which was still shaking although it was better than before.

High, dark walls and a ceiling that seems to be cut off from the outside world. And there is a path that looks like a road leading to the front and back.

The developed vision of a quasi-superhuman tells me that if I follow that path, a new path will appear. The path ahead turns to the left, and the path behind turns to the right.

The shape is like,

“Labyrinth?”

Should I say it’s the same?

“Shall we take a walk for a while, Catherine?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“Kku, like in a dream?”

In the eyes where the tears have not yet dried, there coexist the incompatible emotions of fear and hope, yet somehow they seem to fit together.

“Yeah. Like in a dream.”

He answered firmly and resolutely, carefully wiping away the tears.

“Yeah!”

Then Catherine answered confidently, holding my two left fingers tightly. A smile appeared on her lips.

It’s not for nothing that I started walking.

Although there was no problem, there was the corpse of the Minotaur I had killed right in front of my nose.

I couldn’t stand there with Catherine.

Also, moving your body, even if slowly, will help you stay calm rather than standing still and shaking in fear.

Of course, I didn’t just walk.

[Is everyone okay?]

Nitas was checking the status of Arcana and her party with the unimaginable power of a Card Master.

[Honey?! Are you okay?]

[Master! Are you okay?]

[Oppa! Where are you?!]

[Master! I will release the spirit and find it right now!]

[My lord! Are you okay?]

[My lord! Are you safe?]

The only drawback to this communication channel is that two-way communication is only possible if the card master opens the channel.

That is, no matter how much the Arcanas send telepathy-like messages into their heads, they will be useless unless the Card Master decides to communicate.

[I’m fine for now. Who is next to you right now? Especially Santa and Hwang!]

Santa and Hwang.

In this labyrinth where you never know what might happen, there are two beings who are the most vulnerable. Especially Santa.

[I’m with my clown sister.]

[I am alone, my lord. But don’t worry.]

Santa is alone with the clown and Hwang is alone.

[Huh? No. If you don’t come down right now, I’ll fry you in a divine thunderbolt.]

Perhaps because he had only used this power a few times, Huang Yi made the mistake of transmitting what he said directly into the communication channel.

Of course, none of us would criticize that.

[My lord, I am with Shadow Inspiration.]

Shadow inspiration tank.

A superhuman who is the Master of Shadows and Catherine’s maternal grandfather.

good night.

I don’t know if this was intentional, a mistake, or just a judgment based on appearance.

At least the combination of Santa, the clown, Hwang-i, and the shadow inspiration is very good.

[The witch?]

[I’m with my mother Catherine.]

“Ah… … !”

“Brother?”

When I heard the witch’s report, my heart sank. I was so shocked that I could only stop walking and sigh.

Seeing me like that, Catherine suddenly got scared and felt the strength in her hand that was holding me, so I quickly put the duramen on the floor and stroked Catherine’s head with my right hand.

“They found Catherine’s mother. She’s with her witch sister?”

“Huh? Really?! That’s a relief.”

The good child smiled bashfully, glad that her mother was safe. But I had no time to look at Catherine’s smile.

I wasn’t thinking about it at all.

About Catherine’s parents.

Auntie Papi and Uncle Joseph.

These two people are complete powerhouses and must be protected.

[Uncle Joseph, is there anyone with Uncle Joseph?]

But there is no answer from anywhere.

In the worst case scenario, Uncle Joseph will be left alone, and in the best case scenario, he will be among the other superhumans who are not Arcana.

[Communication correction. Is that working?]

[It’s dead. Not only is communication blocked, but so is teleportation magic.]

[First of all, witch. Catherine is with me. Tell Auntie Poppy not to worry.]

After hearing the witch’s answer, I continued to listen to the report to understand the situation.

[May?]

[I’m with a woman named Canviel.]

[Why? You’re an aunt, right? Even though you’re not married, you’re still very old.]

May seemed to be arguing with Canviel. Obviously, May would win. Because our May is cute and factual.

[Master.]

At that moment, the voice of the punishment could be heard through the noisy voice of May.

[Found Mr. Joseph.]

[Huh? Really?]

[yes.]

“Catherine found her father. Punishment is with her sister.”

“Thank goodness. Right? Oppa.”

“Yeah. I’m worried… … .”

“I’m glad Catherine isn’t a cursed child. Really.”

Was that so?

Did this child feel that what happened to his family was his fault?

Catherine was shivering like a wet puppy and was hugged by him.

I picked up Catherine’s body, which was as light as a child, and lifted her chin so that it rested on my shoulder. I stroked her back and started walking again.

[Punishment? How is the old man?]

[It appears he fainted. Fortunately, he was with a boy named Judas, so he didn’t appear to have any external injuries.]

[Oh, with Pope Judas?]

[yes.]

Then there are three superhumans left.

Frey and Advakiel. And the Dragon Lord Twohorn.

And what about an ordinary person?

The whereabouts of four people, including former heretic judge Noel, were unknown.

There will probably be at least two of them together.

At the moment when I thought, ‘I feel somewhat relieved’,

“Wait a minute. Is that weird?”

I felt a sense of discomfort.

“Huh?”

“No, Catherine. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Oppa.”

“Why are you sorry? There’s nothing to be sorry about. I think it’s been a while since I’ve had a cozy date with you. I couldn’t play with you because I was training.”

“Hehe. Yeah, yeah!”

As I talked to Catherine, I continued to think about what was strange.

Why did you split us up into groups of two?

Isn’t that strange?

If they had all been left alone, there would have been people who died from things like the Minotaur that I dealt with so easily a little while ago. Like Catherine’s family.

My first thought was this.

The space isn’t wide enough to space them out one by one.

At least the superhuman senses are largely blocked or hindered by the walls that make up this maze, but they should be able to penetrate them and sense each other from a certain distance.

Even I can feel the movement of three monsters beyond the wall.

But another hypothesis came to mind, and the moment I thought of it, the word ‘no way’ suddenly popped out.

And usually, the word ‘surely’ is always a word that hits you in the back of the head.

[Auntie Papi or Uncle Joseph. Are you hurt anywhere?]

[Yes, Mr. Papi is fine. The Minotaur appeared at first, but I took care of it.]

[Mr. Joseph has also woken up. The Minotaur appeared here as well, but the Judas Army took care of it. Master. However, Mr. Joseph fainted as if he was startled by something.]

The assumption that I came up with while wondering if it was possible was,

[It seems like whoever set up this trap was more interested in Catherine’s family than the superhumans. They wanted to make sure they didn’t die a violent death and were captured alive.]

It was the capture of Catherine’s family.

It might have been a good idea to separate Catherine’s family, but then Catherine’s family would have definitely died.

To the monsters that are still moving ceaselessly beyond the wall.

If this assumption is close to the truth, then whoever made this up is truly a wicked person.

And if this assumption is true,

[Jester and Santa, May and Canviel, Huang Yi and Shadow Old Man who are not with Catherine’s family. Watch out!]

The target here may not be us.

As I was about to turn the corner, I delivered those words of warning with such authority,

Grrr.

The left wall, which had been clearly blocked, opened, and conversely, the right wall, which had been open, closed.

and,

―Kraaa―!

― Myarrr―!

― Qaaarrr―!

As if mocking my expectations, all kinds of monsters rushed at me.

◈ ◈ ◈

A dark, stuffy room.

It’s a room so blocked off that it’s questionable how one can enter or exit it, as there isn’t even a door.

The walls of this large room were showing a blurry image, as if a movie had been projected onto the walls by a projector.

Several of those too.

At first glance, it may seem similar to the office of the God of Magic, but the facilities are far more outdated than that.

But the owner of the room seemed to not care and couldn’t erase the smile from his lips.

“How are you doing, Daedalus?”

There is no door in the room.

Nevertheless, the fact that someone came in meant that they had the ability to do so.

“Of course. As planned.”

A man with a face so unidentifiable that it was impossible to guess what kind of eyes he had because his hair was tangled around his eyes answered without even looking at the beautiful woman.

“Gray, what about that fucking kid?”

“As planned. I said. ”

Was he annoyed by the woman’s repeated questions?

A bright red light pierces through the hair covering her eyes, piercing the beauty.

The woman shuddered at the horror and then hurriedly,

“I’m sorry.”

Only after leaving an apology did the man return his focus to the screen with a bashful face.

“Start!”

And like a child watching his favorite animation, the man is clapping his hands as he watches a certain scene.

I’m talking about a screen that just started playing showing Gray and a young girl encountering a horde of monsters.

“To that extent… … .”

“Be quiet. This is a crucial moment.”

The woman tried to say something, but the man paid no attention to her.

Even though she is a woman with such a beautiful appearance that any man would feel like giving his heart to her if he saw her now.

The moment Gray holds the girl in his left hand and holds the spear in his right hand on the screen where the monster pops out,

“It’s Showtime! Wall-F-21, Wall-F-27. Open! Ceiling-F. Down!”

The man who had been watching with an excited expression shouted and jumped up from his seat.

“Oh! Wow! Beautiful! Awesome! Alright! Wall-F-22, Wall-F-23, Wall-F-24, Wall-F-25, Wall-F-26, Wall-F-28. Down!!”

The man was jumping around in his seat and giving unintelligible orders.