Chapter 191 – Performance Competition (1)
“Sigh…”
Surprisingly, the meeting went well, but after parting ways, Sandalphon couldn’t help but let out a sigh. He was certain that Michael would be furious about his actions.
Being in an equal relationship meant he couldn’t just push Michael around with authority and power.
“What is it? Uriel?”
[This is a message from Michael. Please come to this location right now.]
However, on his way to meet Michael, Sandalphon received Uriel’s transmission and was slightly taken aback. It was totally unexpected.
“Come over?”
It wasn’t difficult to know the location. Quickly pinpointing Michael’s whereabouts, Sandalphon increased his speed and raced through the nighttime cityscape of buildings, heading straight there.
At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary building. However, they, especially Michael, had no reason to enter such a regular building, which made Sandalphon bite his lip in worry, wondering if Michael had caused some big mess on his own again.
“Who are you? You seem to already know.”
Flapping his wings, Sandalphon landed and boldly entered the building lobby, noticing the atmosphere changing and smirking as he looked towards a specific spot.
“I have been waiting for you, Sandalphon.”
Just as expected, someone emerged from a dark corner of the lobby. A frail old man with balding hair, wheeling himself in a wheelchair with a creaking sound.
The old man soon made a grunt and stood up from the wheelchair, arms wide open to welcome Sandalphon.
“I am Seong Joo-yeok, the chairman of the Eunseong Group.”
“…Did Michael heal your body?”
Seeing the old man’s awkward movements, Sandalphon realized that Michael had healed him of his long-term ailments and disabilities through the miracle of Holy Power, and sighed.
*
“It’s almost time.”
The time promised by Asmael had run out. During that time, I mobilized all means to find a balance with me.
“When the match starts, there’s no turning back. Are you really satisfied with them? That’s what they say.”
“You are my best bet.”
Chuckling, I looked back at Shia. It wasn’t just Shia. There were Shia, Aria, and Rene. They were the allies I had chosen.
“We have one more than them, but it doesn’t matter. Those guys are all monsters…”
With these four, including myself, we would face the trio of angels. Of course, if it was a straightforward power struggle, we could never win. But rather, this was a performance competition that magical girls were used to.
“As originally planned, Aria, you take charge of the domestic matters in collaboration with the Frontier. The rest of us with free movements will handle the overseas activities.”
I had made some plans. It was a strategy to maximize our overwhelming experience from our activities on Earth.
“Please wait a moment.”
However, at that moment, Shia, who was communicating with Asmael, suddenly turned pale and stopped me.
“…What’s wrong?”
“They say the situation has changed. One more member has joined the opposing side, so we need to recruit one more on our side.”
“Joined? The enemy? What nonsense is that?”
It was news that even shocked me. But it couldn’t possibly be a lie. The angels had indeed recruited an ally of their own here.
“Sandalphon, that guy…”
I expected that Sandalphon, who was serious about the match, had pulled some trick. But that was not important.
“What should we do? If we need to increase our allies, who should we choose?”
“It’s fine. There are plenty of candidates… There was never a condition that they had to be magical girls. All we need is a mascot to tally the results on site.”
I frowned at Rene’s words and looked at Aria. After all, it would be difficult for her to handle domestic issues alone; I could just get her a friend.
“Wait here.”
I quickly moved to recruit her. After all, I knew exactly where she was.
“Come on in…”
“Let’s have a little chat.”
At a convenience store in town, I brazenly opened the door and, as soon as I walked in, cut off all connections to reality, ensuring no one could see or enter.
As a result, Jeon So-hyun, who automatically started with a greeting, froze up, staring down at me, her mouth only moving.
“Uh, what…?”
“The investment I made in you until now? It’s time for you to pay me back.”
She barely managed to open her mouth, but I didn’t give her a chance. Even though she had heard some things while hanging out with Aria, I wondered if she understood what I was saying as her eyes wildly shook.
“Sorry, but you don’t have a choice. I’m in a bit of a hurry here.”
“It’s not that.”
I hoped it wasn’t the case, but my threat fell flat.
“I wanted to thank you for the opportunity.”
“Really? It’s troublesome and hard, and you didn’t have to get involved.”
“No, I wanted to repay you from the moment I first met you.”
The first. She uttered that while smiling faintly.
What did that word first refer to? When I was led to Kim Soo-jung as Lee Jin-ah? Or when I changed her fate in the form of Takilas?
“I’m on your side.”
“I think I heard an explanation from Aria.”
With a click of my tongue, I eventually decided to induct her as the final member.
Now all conditions were met. A competition that would unfold instead of a grand war that would determine the fate of the continent. In fact, compared to a grand war, this might not be anything significant. But this competition ultimately would result in a win or loss.
The Demon King must not lose to the angels. The Demon King reigns on the earth and challenges the sky.
If I lose, I will lose my very reason for existence. Just like my predecessor Demon King.
And like my past self, a new challenger would emerge, take my head, and claim my position to become the new Demon King.
“This is…!”
“This is the mark given to those who participate in this competition.”
Jeon So-hyun flinched at the faint mark engraved on her palm. Now everything was set in stone.
“Razak. Those who catch him will essentially have a significant advantage.”
With the competition starting, there was no time left for leisure. Summoning Plesea to set up my proxy, I quickly crossed the West Sea with Rene and Shia.
The target, Razak, was still lurking, waiting for an opportunity. Before he hid deeper or was caught by those angel scoundrels with an SSS-class monster, we had to catch him.
“By the way, what are they doing now?”
“The last sighting was this morning; Uriel crossed over Seoul’s skies. However, the other two angels were not seen.”
“…Did they decide to leave Uriel behind domestically? I’m curious where the one who joined them went as well.”
Rene shared the details of her investigation. The angel scoundrels weren’t idiots, so it was obvious they would split their forces.
If Uriel stayed behind domestically, Aria and Jeon So-hyun would compete against Uriel.
“Still, we’re at an advantage.”
But I had something to rely on. It was the fact that the local forces were much closer to us. Both the Frontier and Casilena were on our side.
The intelligence they provided was our biggest weapon.
“Find them.”
Entering Razak’s territory, I unleashed my magic generously to manifest a large spell.
A massive tracking spell to trace the earth’s magical energy spread across the sky, quickly zeroing in on the suspected position of Razak.
“Isn’t it harder than expected? But I can narrow it down.”
The answer didn’t come immediately. After all, the hiding Razak wasn’t found by me or even the angels. But now, I had the necessity to catch and tear him apart.
“There are enemies on the ground.”
“Let’s push through. Aren’t they all about the results, Ren?”
“Y-yeah, that’s true.”
Just as Ren nodded, startled by my assertiveness.
I swiftly dropped down to the ground, unleashing my magic to obliterate the legion soldiers rushing at me from all directions.
Moreover, it wasn’t just me attacking. Rene and Shia, who had come along, were also assaulting the soldiers, quickly cleaning up the area.
“…Looks like both Michael and Sandalphon have crossed over. But they also can’t find him.”
“We need to hurry.”
Just feeling the Holy Power spreading in the air made me realize what kinds of monsters were doing what and where.
They, too, would spare no effort in searching for Razak so we had to hurry as well.
“Evil detection… Takilas. I detect evil that could lead to results in this area.”
At that moment, Rene executed a spell, turning to me with an awkward expression.
“Did you create this spell?”
“Yes. It’s a spell to track down any potential source of evil. However, this spell does not capture evils above a certain level.”
“Then it’s easy. We can split up.”
Usually, I wouldn’t have listened, but now each of those was precious. I decided to send Rene to that place. We were hanging out together for this very purpose.
“The presence of evil means there were survivors in this desolated land. I’m wondering if Rene will be okay.”
“Rene is strong. The strongest among your group.”
I scoffed at Shia’s words.
Aria, Jeon So-hyun, Shia, and Rene. Among the 18-year-old angels, Rene was actually the most reliable one to leave behind.
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