Chapter 279

Chapter 279

“Director...” Oh Hee-Jin muttered as he saw Han Dae-Ho approaching.

His eyes had been gradually turning red and transforming into those of a demon, but they once again regained the clarity they had back when he was a human.The tentacles that had sprouted on his body stopped attacking and floated in the air. Han Dae-Ho took a step toward Oh Hee-Jin.

He was already injured. If Oh Hee-Jin attacked him, he would suffer an injury that might immediately threaten his life. Nevertheless, he did not stop moving toward Oh Hee-Jin.

At that moment, a woman whispered into Oh Hee-Jin’s ear.

—Kill him.

The woman’s face, which had a leisurely smile all along, now showed a clear look of confusion. It was because Oh Hee-Jin was not listening to the woman’s words at all. Despite the woman's command to kill Han Dae-Ho, Oh Hee-Jin remained still. The tentacles and his arms remained unmoving as he waited for Han Dae-Ho to approach.

—If you don't kill him, you will die. Kill him immediately.

The woman commanded him again.

—Immediately.

Splat!

Oh Hee-Jin's tentacles wrapped around Han Dae-Ho's arm and tore it off. Blood spurted from his arm in all directions.

Despair crept onto Oh Hee-Jin's face. Oh Hee-Jin had not willfully moved the tentacles and attacked Han Dae-Ho. He had been forced to follow the woman's command.

"Di-director. I'm sorry. Di-director... director..." Oh Hee-Jin desperately called out to the director with a monstrous voice.

Despite his face contorted in pain, Han Dae-Ho steadfastly smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm okay."

He approached Oh Hee-Jin again. Han Dae-Ho's steps, which were always confident and strong, were weak. His trembling legs revealed how severe his injuries were. He stumbled and tripped over a couple of times, and his consciousness faded in and out, but he continued to approach Oh Hee-Jin.

And when he arrived right in front of Oh Hee-Jin’s face, Han Dae-Ho’s lips trembled as he said, "Are you okay?"

Han Dae-Ho placed his hand on Oh Hee-Jin's shoulder.

His shoulder had malformed into a grotesque abomination through repeated battles. Sharp scales were sticking out of his skin, so just touching his shoulder caused wounds to appear on Han-Dae Ho’s hand.

However, Han Dae-Ho paid no attention to this and he continued to pat Oh Hee-Jin's shoulder with his remaining arm. More wounds appeared on Han Dae-Ho's palm.

"Is that the power you truly desired?" Han Dae-Ho asked.

He knew the inferiority that Oh Hee-Jin harbored in his heart. No matter how much training he underwent, his body could not become stronger. He was born with a small frame and lacked muscles, so no matter how hard he tried, he could not overcome those with talent.

Because of that, he admired strength and despised his weakness. That was why he accumulated knowledge instead of physical strength, and that became his power. Han Dae-Ho considered Oh Hee-Jin to be a reliable and capable subordinate.

Although Han Dae-Ho had a strong physique, he did not have the desire to pursue knowledge. He had resolved various problems that could not be solved by strength alone thanks to Oh Hee-Jin's knowledge.

"You were much stronger than me. I have always thought of you that way," Han Dae-Ho said.

Oh Hee-Jin's eyes shook. The woman's face contorted grotesquely.

—Kill that bastard right now! Right now!

"Stop. Before you become even weaker," Han Dae-Ho said.

Blood continued to flow from his right arm, which had been cut off by the tentacles. However, Han Dae-Ho did not even try to stop the bleeding. He just let the blood flow. Oh Hee-Jin trembled and shed tears. The tears were not black. They were pure and clear—they were human tears.

Splurt!

A piece of wood flew over Han Dae-Ho's shoulder and pierced Oh Hee-Jin's chest. The piece of wood which flew over while spinning fiercely, created a huge hole in Oh Hee-Jin’s chest.

Blood poured out from the hole. Oh Hee-Jin covered the hole in his chest using his tentacles. Despite his ability to quickly recover from any injury or wound, Oh Hee-Jin could not fill the hole in his chest.

"Ah..."

Thud.

Oh Hee-Jin kneeled down and looked beyond Han Dae-Ho's shoulder, toward the culprit who had thrown the piece of wood. It was Sun-Woo.

"Ha, ha. Ah, aah. Aaah—!"

The woman plunged into the frozen valley and made eerie sounds as she scratched her body frantically with her sharp nails. Black blood flowed from the deep wounds. The clear valley was quickly tainted black with the woman's blood. The few minnows in the valley died and floated to the surface.

"Aah... This one, that one. All of them..." the woman murmured endlessly as she scratched and peeled her own flesh with her nails.

She reviewed the previous battle. Her minion, whom Jun-Hyuk called ‘Chang-Shik,’ had died so ridiculously easily that it was absurd.

She hurriedly turned Oh Hee-Jin into her second minion, but he also died. His mind was swayed by a single word from the man named Han Dae-Ho, whom he had served as a subordinate when he was a human, and he died in such an underwhelming way.

Where did it all go wrong? Choosing Chang-Shik as her first minion? Choosing Oh Hee-Jin as her second minion? Or attempting the battle without sufficiently securing enough demonic beasts and demons?

No, none of those were the issue. Her preparation was not bad. The problem was that black-haired boy. He easily killed Chang-Shik, her first minion, and finished off all the demonic beasts and demons in the Sheepfold. He even dealt with Oh Hee-Jin, her second minion.

“The Cult Leader...”

The Voodoo Cult Leader was the problem. If it hadn't been for him, there would have been no issues. The inferior members of the clergy gathered at the cathedral would have all been killed off, leaving only the superior ones to be chosen as minions.

Thus, she would have become the strongest Container of Satan among the Satanist executives, and she would have finally been able to enjoy the honor of becoming the Lord of Hell.

However, the Voodoo Cult's leader had ruined everything. If only she could kill that bastard somehow—no, if he could even be turned into a minion instead...

Splatter, splatter.

Suddenly, someone walking on top of the valley water approached the woman. She was startled and turned her head as she had not sensed any presence earlier.

The woman was taken aback by the man's figure and said, "Jun-Hyuk?"

It was Jun-Hyuk, the Satanist executive of Envy and one of the containers of Satan. The woman blinked her eyes as if she couldn't understand at all.

"Did you escape? From the underground prison? How?"

"No, this is a taxidermied creature. The original is still in prison," Jun-Hyuk said casually.

The woman examined Jun-Hyuk's appearance a little more closely. However, no matter how much she looked, it still looked exactly like Jun-Hyuk. It was too elaborate and perfect to be called a taxidermied creature resembling Jun-Hyuk.

The woman stared at Jun-Hyuk with an astonished expression for a while.

Then, she angrily said, "You! Because you said to aim for a promotion ceremony! I listened to your words and tried to help you, and this is what happened to me. I lost my minions, my demonic beast, my demons, everything! I lost all of them!"

"Oh, really?" Jun-Hyuk replied casually.

Jun-Hyuk had advised the woman’s subordinate, Chang-Shik, to attack during the promotion ceremony. Jun-Hyuk provided all the groundwork for the attack during the ceremony, as well as all the information. The woman had unwaveringly believed Jun-Hyuk's words and aimed to cause a commotion.

At first, the woman couldn't understand why Jun-Hyuk was helping her. As a Container of Satan, he was her competitor.

However, upon hearing Jun-Hyuk say, "I can’t do anything while trapped inside this prison, so if you cause a commotion during the promotion ceremony, I will escape from the underground prison during that chaos," the woman naively set aside her doubts.

As a result of trusting Jun-Hyuk, the woman lost all the minions, demonic creatures, and demons she had trained so far.

The woman glared at Jun-Hyuk with intense eyes.

"If only you hadn't said such things—!"

"Well, you should have believed a person that was worth believing in."

With a smirk, Jun-Hyuk opened his mouth, and at that moment, a giant finger appeared behind Jun-Hyuk, accompanied by a dark flame. Before the woman could resist, the finger drew a line across the woman’s throat.

Creeeak—!

With a chilling sound as if metal was clashing, the woman's throat was cut, and it did not grow back. She couldn't turn into smoke and escape. The woman died without being able to utter any last words or pleas.

She died, just like that.

After picking up a fingernail that fell from the woman's body, Jun-Hyuk put it into his mouth and said, "Now, there’s only one left."

A fingernail, as large and as sharp as the woman's, slowly grew from his finger while emanating demonic energy.