CH 10

At that moment, I blanked out as if I was hit on the head with a big hammer. I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t feel the scars on my hand. The warrior broke through the barrier in the monster’s territory. He was hurt like that yesterday and suddenly went back out today?

Was there a quest like that? No, it can’t be. Most of the quests that came near the Devil’s Castle are related to the defeat of the Devil, or only a few light requests from the NPCs. Occasionally, there were quests to deal with creatures, but breaking the barrier of the monster’s territory was something I have never seen or heard of before.

‘I expected for the story to be somewhat twisted, but why this way?’

I couldn’t afford to think deeper. No matter how much I didn’t want to admit properly, I was the Devil now, and I can’t just wait and watch the demons die. In addition, most of the creatures living in that area were middle and low-grade. Strong monsters like Deran and Derakal either roamed by themselves or lived in deep dungeons.

Obviously, if fully armed humans and the warrior attacks, the damage will be enormous. I quickly started to move.

***

Haron, breathing heavily, asked the commander of the knights of the lord.

“Sigh, isn’t this enough?”

Fire was burning the area through, and the monsters were fleeing deeper. Blood was dripping from Haron’s sword. He had no idea how many he even killed. Haron then wiped the blood of his chin with the back of his hand. However, the commander of the knights remained steadfast when he saw the scene.

“What are you talking about? We’re still far out.”

“…”

“If you’re struggling, then aim for the rest of the smaller ones here.”

A clear disregard. Although Haron was much higher in status and strength, the actual command was given to the commander of the knights. He knew Haron wouldn’t be able to give out orders, so he was able to act cheekily.

“We’re going to have to kill a hundred more.”

The commander said and jingled the pocket in his hand, which contained the Mahone Stones. The other soldiers also mercilessly massacred the fleeing baby creatures, rather than dealing with the larger ones that were harder to catch, in order to win as many stones as possible.

Seeing it, Haron gritted his teeth slightly. No matter, he still gets shaken at the sight of the young babies being slayed. While Haron was busy dealing with many strong monsters that might be a threat to the humans, other soldiers were excited to kill the weak and pocket the Mahone Stones. But that wasn’t enough, for the soldiers found a demon whose leg was hurt and had a hard time walking, and decided to stab him.

“Hey, look at him. He’s limping.”

“Polaris, if you touch him, won’t he jump up and down?”

They bullied the injured creature with their swords as if dealing with an interesting toy. While dragging his bloody legs, the demon groaned while still trying to protect the younglings. Even though it was an order from the superior to kill, those men’s acts were unacceptable. Human nature really does come out when dealing with something weaker than themselves. Haron couldn’t contain his anger any longer and turned to stop the soldiers.

“… Hey!”

At that moment, he felt his vision spinning and his body swung forward.

‘Why… maybe it’s from being injured plus overworking.’

Haron lifted his head up as he felt his body boiling on the inside. What unfolded before him was the lord’s soldiers collapsing and rolling on the ground.

“Ugh, be sure to… save me…”

“Hyuk…!”

It happened during the short period of time where he stumbled with dizziness. Haron was temporarily unable to grasp the situation properly, and he blinked his eyes.

“This, what…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, a terrible pain struck his body. He collapsed because the pain was so intense and he had never felt it before.

“Ugh…”

He couldn’t even scream properly. It was a feeling of putting a heated skewer that’s also on fire all over the insides and outsides of his body. He didn’t get any new scars, so only unknown pain lingered around him.

Besides him, all the other soldiers had their eyes rolled back. It was such a pain that ordinary humans couldn’t bear.

“Keuk.”

Haron bit his lips. The recent physical strain, mental stress, and the pain right now makes him want to give up everything. He’d rather just lose his mind completely, but his body wouldn’t let him do so easily.

‘Even if I die here…’

His hands, which were shaking and holding the sword tightly, began to relax little by little. It wasn’t like he was originally attached to life anyways. There was no regret nor reason to live, definitely, until at least some time ago. When Haron closed his eyes, a faint voice echoed through his ears.

‘I… I was worried about you.’

‘I told you. I was worried about you.’

“Crazy.”

Haron mumbled quietly with his eyes closed. He was so grateful at that time, well, because it was the first time someone has said something like that to him before. Even in the midst of pain, laughter flowed out.

‘I wish I could see you one more time.’

***

When he had his eyes opened again after feeling as if he had lost his mind for a while, someone was putting a wet white cloth over Haron’s face. Under his head was something soft, not the bare ground. It wasn’t as fluffy as a pillow, but it wasn’t hard either. It just felt cozy.

“Sorry. I couldn’t control my powers properly, and it was my first time using it too.”

The sound of someone’s words hummed into his deaf ears. A shadow shone over the hem of thin cloth covering his eyes. He couldn’t hear her very well, but guessed that it was a woman, given her voice and the soft shadow. Haron wasn’t able to answer at all, but she kept muttering to herself.

“If you use your strength to target many people, the stronger ones will suffer more. Yes, I understand. But I didn’t know I was going to target you.”

She said in a slightly troubled tone. At the same time, a careful and gentle touch swept his cheek. Haron felt his pain diminishing little by little each time she touched him.

“But since I did it in a hurry, you should understand. I know you didn’t do it deliberately, but there were a lot of kids who were cut by your sword.”

“…”

“Just as you have people to protect, I have them too.”

The woman’s words, which were sitting softly in his ears, were mixed with emotions that were buried deep down, and then cooled again. It was a blame on herself, however, it felt unfair.

‘Who the hell is she?’

It was the big question floating in his head as if he were in the midst of a dream. He had wanted to take off the cloth and check who it was right away, but sadly, his body did not budge as if it were jello. She had a sweet voice and feathery touch. It felt peaceful. Her hair fluttered over the cloth that covered his eyes, tickling Haron’s face. Although it wasn’t very clear, the hair seemed somewhat familiar.

‘… Silver?’

At that moment, Haron felt himself awakened. He hurriedly lifted himself from his spot. But the woman was nowhere to be found and instead he was being surrounded by people.

“Hya, the warrior is awake!”

“Somebody go get the lord!”

As soon as Haron woke up, the room turned upside down and became noisy. He grabbed his head and looked around. The warmth and tranquility he felt just now was shattered and disappeared so quickly that he wondered if it were a dream.

“…Warrior!”

He could see the lord running faraway in the hallway towards him.

“Warrior! You’re awake! What a relief!”

The lord smiled and ran towards the bed where he was. Haron opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“…How did this happen? Where are the rest of the soldiers?”

“The rest were wandering around and are just starting to wake up one by one. It seems like the Devil did something.”

“The Devil…?”

He frowned slightly. He heard the name thousands of times while working as the warrior, but it was the first time he felt such a direct influence. When the lord was sweating and looked at the aide next to him, who added an explanation.

“All the other soldiers and you were suffering from severe pain, even though there were no special wounds on your bodies. It’s quiet now, but it was one of the abilities used by the Devil, and the symptoms were very similar.”

“Yeah, that’s it. Maybe…I wonder if the Devil who was quiet, got angry because you broke through the barrier…”

Haron’s expression, which was listening to the lord, gradually rotted.