Azazel let out a deep sigh as she looked at the sleeping figures around her.
This place was a monastery in a rugged land that even dwarves from the Northern Lands rarely visited.
Thanks to an unknown benefactor who occasionally brought food and money, they had managed to survive up to this point.
Was someone chasing after him?
“What a joke. Of all people, it had to be those brought here by my sister. Is she trying to play the family card now?”
Just the thought of that loathsome face resembling her own made Azazel’s irritation rise. The tentacles writhing behind her reflected her mood.
Scrape, scrape!
Then she heard a voice that sounded like metal scraping against stone in her ear. It was Morgidian, the foreign being she contracted with.
Surprisingly, he was a foreigner favoring humans. Rare enough to find a needle in a desert, really.
Right now, it was his arrangement that left her unharmed and amplified her abilities to make everyone sleep.
“Hmm? Morgidian, what’s wrong?”
That foreign being was noticing something odd and spoke to Azazel.
– I can’t see what kind of dream he’s having. It’s my first time encountering something like this. Someone who can resist the status of a foreigner…?
At her feet lay a white-haired man sleeping soundly. As she watched him, her tentacles trembled as if resonating with something.
“Could my sister be scheming? Since a succubus would resist dreamy nightmares…”
– No, this isn’t such a simple problem at all. The veins within that man’s body are clogged up with ‘something.’ As if saying, “Do not invade from the outside.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Right now, he’s peacefully dreaming in the dream I created.”
In order to win back Kang Si Woo’s love, who had cast her aside for her sister, Azazel was currently hiding in this remote monastery.
She just wanted to revert this broken world to nothing and meet the Kang Si Woo she once loved from the beginning again.
Now, she had become powerful enough to rip apart anyone from the Church who wouldn’t recognize her as a saint and could dig into people’s hearts to a point where even her sister Gabriel couldn’t reach.
– No, this is akin to another foreigner marking their territory.
Shudder, shudder!
As if proving Morgidian’s statement, her tentacles tried to approach Bing Yeon, only to freeze in place.
“This is unbelievable….”
Azazel had never seen anything like this before. A chaotic existence, coming from beyond the universe, that defied human comprehension was a foreigner.
Who on earth could emit such coldness as to freeze the body of a foreigner?
– Moreover, look at the children he brought along. Azazel.
Azazel glanced at the other unconscious individuals around her.
There was a black-haired girl in Eastern attire, and a blonde girl dressed in humble fabric typical of a countryside village.
Seeing Bi Wol and Verdandi, she could tell they were close to her age.
– One inherently bears the aura of malice, while the other holds the essence of goodness. They exist in a way that they cannot coexist.
“Like… a demon king and a hero?”
– Yes, the blonde girl is even infused with the blessing of a lesser being, while the black-haired girl is imbued with the fierce will of a star…
Wiggle, wiggle!
Unlike Bing Yeon who rejected her approach, the black tentacles lightly settled above their heads, and Morgidian began reading the information, sharing it with Azazel.
Normally, if it were another foreigner, they’d be bent on devouring brains or driving humans insane.
– Honestly, even I couldn’t come up with a peaceful solution without putting them to sleep. If someone resisted the foreigner’s rank and drew a weapon, victory and defeat would be unpredictable.
Morgidian was a foreigner who made an effort not to cause unnecessary harm.
The very reason he empowered Azazel was that he sympathized when he heard her story: “You had your beloved man taken by your sister?”
He merely aimed to give her the chance to meet Kang Si Woo before her sister did.
But what in the world was happening now?
The Heavenly Demon Star, the Heavenly Demon Bi Wol.
The heroic defender, Verdandi.
Including Azazel, the foreigner’s saint, three individuals who could butch down this world if they grew together were now in the same place.
Noticing the gravity of the situation, Morgidian trembled slightly in fear. Although Azazel had a contract and wouldn’t harm him—
– Where, in the world, did those monsters come from that have the potential to reach the realm of divine slaughter?
It was precisely because he caught a glimpse of future Bi Wol and Verdandi that truly terrified him, wondering if they could really kill him.
“What do you mean? They look like ordinary kids.”
Azazel asked Morgidian, her face filled with doubts. Aren’t they just children blissfully asleep? If anything, what was threatening about them…?
“I did glimpse a strange future. However, that future will never come to pass.”
It was the future in which they, as adults, bound the white-haired man to the bed and blindfolded him, preparing to assault him.
Azazel firmly resolved in her heart that because she hadn’t given up on Kang Si Woo, such a future would never arrive.
– I also think so. The master having an affair with their disciple—how bizarre that relationship would be.
As Morgidian retracted the black tentacles, he spoke to Azazel. He knew well how socially condemned it would be for a relationship to develop in a teacher-student dynamic.
– But how can that man take children who stand at the extremes of good and evil with him?
It was a sudden thought that arose. Normally, they would be eager to kill each other.
One side was said to be blessed directly by a god of light, while the other was a being akin to a demon king, destined to kill in order to survive.
– Now I understand, that man is someone who must not exist.
Creepy!
Morgidian peered into Bing Yeon’s body and realized something. The ominous energy constricting all of his veins.
“What do you mean by that…?”
– A human being whom those far superior to me are carefully watching, how could he be considered merely a human?
“He seems like an ordinary person at a glance.”
Azazel scrutinized Bing Yeon, noticing he lacked any significant features or weapons, responding to Morgidian’s judgment.
Normally, wouldn’t you think a dangerous person would be more brutish and intimidating?
The children he brought, whom they looked at bubbling with a shining sword of light, were indeed as threatening as the foreigner had said.
But—
– How can you not feel fear when you see an ant who speaks and receives affection from others?
The foreigner’s judgment differed from hers. Morgidian conveyed in a cold tone his thoughts to her.
Those higher beings beyond himself were of only one kind.
“Are you referring to those beings called Cosmic Origins?”
– Yes, they exist on a different plane from me, being classified as a great ancient presence.
Outer Gods.
Existences called absolute and ultimate gods that operate beyond the outer universe and within the depths of the absolute.
Such a man who garnered favor from those beings stood before her.
– An example would be to say that a human loving an ant is chopping off its legs and exposing it to sunlight. How could an ant understand such acts?
Their ecology was so distinct and filled with the incomprehensible that even using such an analogy felt insufficient.
It was no wonder that Morgidian, who was favorable to humans, was considered a peculiar being among foreigners.
“……”
– That man is dangerous. He must neither live nor die. We must pretend to be unaware and pass him by.
“Then does that mean we should abandon this place? No way! You said Kang Si Woo would come to find me one day!”
Azazel vigorously shook her head, making it clear to the foreigner that she would not budge an inch.
This spot was where Kang Si Woo, the hero character she played, had first met her.
The place where they temporarily said goodbye, promising to meet again someday.
She was desperately flailing against wanting to forget that memory.
– Azazel, it’s unfortunate, but we must escape quickly. The moment they discover we’ve touched that man, who knows what could unfold.
Trying to move Azazel out of the building, Morgidian began to manipulate her tentacles.
“Then I can just burrow into his heart and uncover his weaknesses!”
Not wanting to let him go, Azazel came up with a plan. She would enter the dreams of the white-haired man and sneak a peek at his thoughts from the past.
It was the quintessential method of seduction used by succubi.
– You must never do that. My senses are all warning me.
Morgidian unequivocally rejected Azazel’s proposal. Like she said, dreams of others were far too transparently visible to foreigners.
Bi Wol’s dream was one of living a happy life tied to Bing Yeon, while Verdandi’s was about becoming the world’s most famous, righteous hero recognized by all.
– But the moment you peek into that man’s dream, you will certainly die.
It was like standing before an endless void, covered in black crayon smudgies where nothing could be seen.
The instant Azazel stepped into Bing Yeon’s dream, she’d either plunge into endless darkness and go mad, or beg for death.
“What am I supposed to do then! We can’t kill him or let him live!”
Azazel was bouncing up and down in frustration.
A saint couldn’t kill a man anyway. Nor could she rush to the Church and declare that this man was favored by an Outer God.
She wasn’t even a formally recognized saint.
Born from a demon race and clueless about divine powers. In Azazel’s life, the only person who understood and loved her was Kang Si Woo, the player of the game.
– If I accept that man’s proposal, I might buy us some time. After all, foreigners can be fickle and capricious.
“Absolutely not! I will love only Kang Si Woo, follow him, and pledge my eternity to him!”
While Azazel argued heatedly with Morgidian, whose black tentacle was linked to her consciousness, some rustling sounds echoed and stirred the presence around them.
“…Ah, hell. Of all dreams, it had to be that one.”
The voice that cursed deeply and sighed belonged to the white-haired man whom the two most feared.
“Ah, y-you’re awake…?”
“Yes, thanks to someone, I really had a good sleep.”
It was Bing Yeon.
The moment he regained consciousness, he surveyed the area and confirmed that his disciples were trapped in sleep. The final bastion he had prepared was utterly obliterated.
“Excuse me, are you even a human? No one should be able to taste the powers of ■■■■■■■ and retain their sanity…”
Attempting once more to put Bing Yeon to sleep by naming the foreigner’s true identity, Azazel saw that, unlike before, he appeared completely unharmed.
“Was I played for a fool all this time? My name is Bing Yeon. I traveled here from the East to rescue you.”
He took a step forward, closing the distance between himself and Azazel.
Could he really be receiving the blessing of the Outer God? Azazel’s shoulders shrank, and her body instinctively stepped back.
“Azazel. Aren’t you going to consider becoming my disciple and leaving this harsh place? Winter will soon arrive, and you might end up spending months here all alone.”
Bing Yeon tried to persuade her.
“No, thank you. If that’s the case, then go ahead and try to forcefully subdue me.”
But Azazel’s stance remained unchanged. She would sacrifice her very life to protect this place.
“…In that case, I will insist on taking you away. The person you wait for will never come.”
Bing Yeon exhaled cold air as he prepared to take Azazel away, who waited for someone who would never arrive.
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