The Taste of Emotion (4)

“……What did you say?”

“I’m not the Holy Empire.”

Parsih felt a chill down his spine at Yujin’s unyielding composure. He wondered what she was so happy about, if perhaps a goddess had descended for a moment, as she wore a smile so beautiful it could be mistaken for one, and declared with confidence-a filthy curse that didn’t match her radiant smile. Parsih’s throat went dry.

Was he found out?

In truth, even though he’d made a grand speech, Parsih’s claims were a jumble of sophistry and lies.

The reason the Holy Empire didn’t kill demons but sealed them wasn’t because they feared war and demons, but because ‘it was easier.’ They figured it was better to just put the demons to sleep rather than deal with them thrashing around until the moment they died. This wasn’t easy either, and it had the disadvantage of turning the sealed area into a sanctuary that no one could touch until the seal’s duration ended, but it was better than needlessly spilling blood.

The idea that demons loved war was also complete bullshit. Except for a few, including Barfeu-Gogos-nim, demons didn’t particularly enjoy war. It was just an exaggeration to deceive the girl in front of him. Parsih had been thinking only of escape from the moment he was blasted away by the shockwave until now.

His opponent was strong enough to single-handedly defeat a demon with a title.

He was the one who had to yield.

But he wouldn’t give up everything. He would try until he couldn’t. If that didn’t work, he’d aim for a mutual demise. At the very least, he’d take an arm. He didn’t know when Artania would wake up, but at least, to make it easier to deal with when she regained her strength.

“No matter how strong you are… you can’t face the forces of evil alone.”

He was prepared to bury his bones here. He had resigned himself to death when he swallowed the bomb. Regrets… he had them. Mountains of them, but what could he do? It was only natural for a chef to protect his guest. Parsih cleverly mixed lies and truths, defending himself and Artania.

“The forces of evil…”

But the girl’s face, as she listened to Parsih’s nonsense, was strangely flushed.

‘…This is the best!’

Yujin, who had no way of knowing about his lies, became excited at the thought that all demons would be trying their hardest to kill her. Unfortunate news for Parsih, but.

Being ambushed by a demon in the middle of the night and having her limbs cut off, being captured alive and tortured to death, being torn to shreds and fed to dogs…. Unlike humans, demons had no minimum of morality, so even worse things could happen. Truly a ‘demonic’ stimulus. Parsih alone had tried to cook her alive… what would other demons be like?

Her imagination ran wild, conjuring up every conceivable torment. Yujin unconsciously rubbed her thighs, trying to hide the sticky liquid flowing there.

“Sooo… you want me to let you go?”

“Yes. I have a close relationship with Barfeu-Gogos-nim-“

“No way.”

“….”

Parsih carefully asked again, preparing to draw his hidden weapons.

“Why not?”

“I wasn’t planning to kill you in the first place. I’m just going to break your horns. Then I’ll let you go.”

“You’re just saying you’ll kill me in a roundabout way.”

“I know. What horns mean to a demon.”

Parsih was better off because he was an Imp hybrid… but for Artania, a pureblood demon, breaking her horns was like a death sentence. Sure enough, her pupils, who had been barely sitting up with Parsih’s support, trembled as if there was an earthquake. Her lips were quivering, as if she wanted to say something, but Yujin deliberately ignored her.

“Now that I think about it… it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“What wouldn’t?”

“To slaughter you guys.”

“….”

Yujin, blushing and writhing as she spoke, was very sensual, and at first glance, decadent. She didn’t know it, but she looked quite lewd. Parsih’s gaze towards Yujin changed to one of looking at a lunatic. Crying, laughing, turning cold, and now even getting excited for some reason. Crazy bitch. Parsih muttered inwardly. Yujin swallowed a feverish breath and said.

“Live. And spread the word. That I broke your horns.”

“…Are you really. Planning to fight back?”

“I am. At least for now. On the side of humans.”

“Just. Because of that paltry sense of duty?”

“Not at all. I’m not enough of a great person to throw my life away for people I don’t know. I’ll help if I can, but that’s about it.”

“Then why!”

He clenched his fists until his hands bled. Parsih asked. Why. Why was she trying to kill demons even while facing the forces of evil alone? He also couldn’t understand. Humans who upheld their beliefs even at the cost of their lives were too difficult for demons to comprehend.

…Yujin’s true feelings would make him faint.

Yujin hardened her expression for a fleeting moment and said in a somewhat dumbfounded tone. Hiding her true feelings, which were filled with masochistic desires, she returned the words he had said.

“It’s funny that you, a demon, are saying that… why should I care about your circumstances?”

Selfish and stupid demon. She spoke as if deliberately provoking him. Wearing an expression as arrogant as a demon, she glanced over Parsih and Artania, and when she snorted as if they were pathetic.

-Kaang!

A blade popped out of a small gate that opened without warning. The blade, damaged to the point where it could no longer be used, resembled the disheveled appearance of the two demons.

‘…I didn’t think the provocation would work.’

To fall for such a common provocation so easily. Maybe Artania and the demons were narrow-minded. Yujin skillfully deflected the attack, scattered the surrounding Mana to prevent the gate from being created, and then pulled out a thread of Mana, crossed her hands, turned them around, and pulled them tightly to both sides.

“Ugh…!”

Parsih, whose limbs were tied up in transparent blue threads, staggered and fell like a wild boar caught in a snare. Only a Sword Master-class would be able to break free with strength. He shouted with a resentful expression.

“Khuk! Just kill me, human!”

Yujin, who frowned as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, stepped firmly on Parsih’s left shoulder, who had fallen like a caterpillar, and bent down. At the same time, she performed a linked hand seal. When she made the hand seal and clasped her hands together, a small blade made of earth sprouted out.

“Then… I’ll cut you off first.”

“….”

Saying she was going to cut it off from a man didn’t sound very good, but who cared. Now that she had extracted all the information, she was getting bored. Parsih’s horns were incredibly small for a demon. So small that she wondered if he was even a demon. A small, adorable horn sprouting from his forehead… Yujin snorted at the pathetic sight and tore off the horn without hesitation.

-Tteudeuk!

“Aeuuuugh….”

Yujin stared at Parsih’s face, groaning in pain, for a long time, and then tilted her head, wondering if something was wrong, and asked.

“The magic isn’t disappearing. Are you even a demon?”

“…I’m an Imp hybrid. Even if my horns are cut off, the Mana accumulated in my body remains the same.”

Yujin nodded roughly and moved to cut off Artania’s horns. The foul-mouthed demon miss, whose clothes were torn, slightly revealing her breasts and genitals. Thanks to the Mana Yujin had injected, she was unable to move like a patient with total paralysis.

Her horns were bigger than Parsih’s, and even bigger than Gaolise’s. If Gaolise’s horns wrapped around her temples like snails, Artania’s horns were a classic shape that extended long and curved from the back of her head. She didn’t know exactly if the size of the horns symbolized strength, but it seemed like it would be fun to break them.

“Are you ready?”

She asked, knowing she couldn’t answer.

Yujin shuddered at her own slightly vicious and sadistic appearance.

Haa… Copy Ego. It seemed like that guy’s ego was mixed in a bit.

Annoyed, she shook her head violently and held the knife in reverse grip.

And plunged it into the base of the horn.

-Kwadeuk!

As it was a vital spot for demons, there was tremendous resistance, but thanks to her Mana control, which surpassed even dragons, it shattered like tofu. Perhaps she had misjudged her strength, as one horn had turned to powder. Artania shed a tear when the horn powder piled up on her eyebrows. Yujin couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. A snicker that leaked out. Heueu.

-Kwadeuk!

She successfully removed the remaining horn as well, and withdrew the Mana she had injected into her body. Artania, who had now regained control of her body, writhed in a fit.

“Aaa… Aaaaaaaack!!”

The screams of what was once a demon filled the ruined fortress.

‘If you can break them, try to break them.’ So she broke them for her. She thought that she would accept defeat without regret because of her resolute and passionate attitude, but it was the opposite. Artania, who had screamed for dozens of minutes until her voice was hoarse, began to curl up in a corner and tremble. Rotten eyes. Broken horns with only the cross-section remaining. Tattered clothes. She looked like she was in a panic to anyone who saw her.

Yujin ignored the desperate screams and asked Parsih.

“Where’s the exit?”

She didn’t bother to say that she would break her way out if he didn’t tell her.

Tak! With a snap of her fingers, the threads that bound his hands and feet were cut. With this, both Parsih and Artania were free. Although she had confiscated their horns. Parsih said in a hollow voice.

“…Go out and go straight to the left, and you’ll find a cylindrical staircase. Go up that, and you’ll be on the surface.”

“Thanks. Take care.”

A curse full of pretense.

She bid farewell with a bewitching smile.

“Ah, ah… Euh, euh…”

“Haa….”

The broken moans of a demon turned human.

The chef’s resentful sigh, filled with bitterness, who had lost everything.

All that was left for them was the Imp’s meager Mana and broken cooking utensils.

The taste of defeat, so terribly miserable…

Was bitter.

* * *

‘Shit….’

She should have just broken her way out….

The castle was deeper than she thought, and the stairs were spiraling, so climbing up was a pain in the ass. She couldn’t break the stairs halfway up. She seriously considered destroying everything and getting out, but decided to just walk up.

“Haa…!”

When she saw the blue sky and smelled the refreshing air. I finally won the battle against the stairs. The feeling of being out of breath and her legs trembling wasn’t bad either.

“Haeueueue….”

She let out a lewd groan and sat down. She felt the squishy mud on her butt as it collided with the ground.

‘That’s right… she said it was a swamp…’

Leaning against a damp, rotten old tree, she slowly drew up Mana.

She remembered Parsih’s gate and reverse-calculated the location coordinates.

“Tsk.”

It was a bit far away. No… let me correct that. The swamp I was in was fucking far away from Bridonia. Roughly 140km from the center of Bridonia. She sighed heavily. Should she go back down and ask them to teach her some spatial magic? Damn it. She had to create a gate to return and break the horns.

I used some strength for the first time in a while to scan a wide area. A super-long-range map scan of a radius of 400km. A huge amount of Mana poured out of her body to the point where she made a sound of “Eok”. It quickly recovered after a few minutes, though.

‘The closest town is…’

A small to medium-sized city slightly northeast of Bridonia came to mind.

It seemed like she should make this her destination.

‘Hmm….’

Northeast of Bridonia.

Small to medium-sized city.

When the two keywords combined, someone’s words suddenly came to mind.

Agnes. A word she had thrown at me when we parted.

―Kahalia is a small to medium-sized city slightly northeast of Bridonia. It’s a bit of a stagnant city in terms of adventure… but that will be the end of it today. The lifespan of the labyrinth is-

Kahalia.

A labyrinth… she said one had appeared.

Many thoughts came to mind, but I didn’t want to waste any more time, so I shook off the mud on my body and started to get my bearings.