All three of them agreed to do what Chi-Woo had asked, but on the condition that he helped them form a contract with Shahnaz. Since this was the advance payment that Chi-Woo had already agreed upon, he immediately headed to Shahnaz temple with the three. There were many people in the temple as usual. It wasn’t as crowded as the first day the growth system was activated, but there were many heroes who still hadn’t given up the chance to awaken.
Although Shadia followed Chi-Woo to the temple, she wasn’t feeling optimistic. She recalled how she had been rejected when trying to form the contract she had desperately wanted. She gave all she had to grasp the opportunity and convince the goddess, but Shahnaz didn’t listen; the goddess had given her a one-sided rejection and cut off the communication. That severely bruised Shadia’s pride as a hero, and she wondered if Chi-Woo would be able to convince such a self-serving god. She looked at Chi-Woo doubtfully as he bowed before Shahnaz’s statue.
—Hm…
Having conversed with Chi-Woo, Shahnaz groaned. She didn’t mind him asking her to form contracts, and his request wasn’t unprecedented. The problem was he was asking her to form contracts with heroes she had already rejected before—and three such heroes at that. In a way, it could be considered a rude request, yet Shahnaz didn’t shoot him down or get angry, but instead considered it seriously.
Shahnaz had nothing to lose forming contracts with these heroes. At the end of the day, while a contract might not always be beneficial to the hero, it would always benefit the god due to their superior position over the hero’s growth system. And Shahnaz had only refused the three heroes’ requests because she didn’t have much divinity left after using it to activate the growth system. If she had an overflowing amount of divinity left to use, she would have made contracts with more than 2,000 heroes. Shahnaz knew that she couldn’t be too picky in the current situation, but with her limited reserve of divinity, she wanted to prioritize the heroes who matched her in character and all other factors.
Nevertheless, Shahnaz felt gratitude whenever she saw Chi-Woo. There was such a thing as First Mover Advantage. It referred to the gains that a firm obtained by being the first one to introduce a particular product or service to a market. And since there was only one god currently on Liber, the heroes had no choice but to seek contracts with Shahnaz. If there had been another god, she wouldn’t have attracted so many people.
In the future, the number of people who sought Shahnaz would decrease every time the heroes secured a god. Thus, before that happened, she needed to make as many contracts as possible.
Thanks to the enormous sum of merits Chi-Woo provided to her on several occasions, Shahnaz was able to monopolize the market to great benefit. Thus, Shahnaz felt compelled to consider Chi-Woo’s position rather than simply ignoring his request. It was laughable that a god had to consider a mere human’s circumstances, but Shahnaz found it difficult to see Chi-Woo as a regular man. Furthermore, she had once been human in the past.
—I’m reluctant, but since it was you who made the request…I guess it can’t be helped.
Things unfolded as Chi-Woo had predicted. While Shahnaz was a god, she had flexibility.
—I wanted to save some divinity just to be on the safe side, but it’s not like I have nothing left—
‘No, that’s fine.’
—?
‘Those are the merits I gave you. You should use that however you like.”
—Then? I’m glad you’re trying to keep your word as a man, but right now…
Shahnaz was about to say that Chi-Woo had no merits left when Chi-Woo took out a water bottle from his backpack. She shut her mouth then. Chi-Woo smiled brightly and shook the bottle with the divine water inside.
‘I can also use this to substitute merits, right?’
—…If you are planning to just make contracts, three droplets are enough.
Shahnaz watched as Chi-Woo focused all his mind to pour exactly only three droplets. It was quite rude of him to do this, but Shahnaz let it go and considered everything Chi-Woo had done and said, particularly the response he just gave.
—He is strangely decisive about certain things.
‘Sorry?’
—No, it’s nothing. That’s enough.
Shahnaz cleared her throat and said.
—I will make contracts with those three.
Shahnaz ordered Hawa to call forth the three waiting outside. And soon, the three heroes walked into the temple looking a bit bewildered. Chi-Woo jerked his head toward where the statue was, and the three got closer a bit doubtfully and bowed. While waiting, Chi-Woo turned to the silver-haired girl, who was neatly dressed in shaman clothes nearby. Hawa was offering prayers while facing the three heroes.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Hawa since they separated at the fortress. Their time at the cave already felt like a distant dream.
“Ms. Hawa.”
As soon as Chi-Woo called her name, Hawa flicked her head around and looked in his direction.
“Have you been doing well these days?”
“Yes.”
Chi-Woo started a small-talk, and Hawa replied instantly. She seemed to have given her response thoughtlessly since her focus was elsewhere. With a small smile, Chi-Woo told her, “I am planning to go somewhere with those three.”
Hawa looked indifferent; her eyes seemed to be asking, ‘So what?’
“It could be really dangerous. I can’t guarantee safety.” Chi-Woo murmured quietly so that only she could hear him. “But you may come with us if you wish.”
Hawa’s forehead wrinkled. She had not expected the offer.
“Why would I do that?”
“Don’t ask me,” Chi-Woo cut her off and said. “Rather than ask me what you need to do, shouldn’t you show me what you can do?”
Hawa’s eyes widened. Chi-Woo’s response indicated that he hadn’t forgotten the promise he had made to her on their way back to the fortress. Chi-Woo was basically telling her, ‘You wanted to be a hero, right? I’ve set up a path for you to become one. Show me why I should go out of my way to make you a hero.’
Reading between the lines, Hawa nodded more vigorously this time. “Yes, I understand.”
* * *
The contract was put in place.
“Nangnangnanganangnang!” Nangnang jumped down the stairs and screamed in happiness. Shadia looked dazed; she seemed to be wondering whether she was dreaming or awake. Just in case, she put mana into her thumb to form a small light. And when she checked her user information, her denomination was already put into the system. Forming a contract had felt like a faraway dream, but it was brought into reality so easily thanks to one man.
“Fufu…This cool and heavy feeling…it’s been a long time…!” As if he was advertising to everyone around him that he had made a contract with Shahnaz, Nangnang zigzagged around swiftly with a satisfied smile on his face. Now, he no longer had to wander around the square waiting for some kind-hearted hero to help him.
“I was growing sick of the prolonged humiliation and persecution I had to endure. It’s now time for me to go back to being the Swift Nangnang of the Myo people.” Then Nangnang stood and raised both of his cute paws toward Chi-Woo. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Nangnang wagged his tail to show how happy he was. Chi-Woo suppressed the urge to ask if he could grab Nangnang’s tail and swing it in circles since Nangnang was feeling so grateful.
“But what do we call you?” Snowy Mountain asked after being silent the whole time. “You haven’t yet given us your name.”
Chi-Woo had been expecting this question sooner or later. “You can call me whatever you want.”
Even though Chi-Woo had replied casually, they all tilted their heads with solemn understanding.
“Are all of you satisfied with the advanced payment?” Chi-Woo quickly changed the topic before they could ask more questions about his name.
“Yep! This is enough! I wouldn’t mind setting out now! No, I want to head out at once!” Nangnang had been jealous of others, but now that he was in a position to show off to others, he jumped around and shouted in excitement.
Shadia and the Snowy Mountain also nodded. They could finally utilize the growth system, so they didn’t have any complaints.
Chi-Woo was still having trouble tearing his gaze from Nangnang’s tail as he continued, “Going right now is a bit… We have to each make our preparations.”
Nangnang replied, “But there’s nothing for me to prepare.”
“Then let’s gather tomorrow night. I’ll explain the mission in more detail then.”
Shadia asked, “Why tomorrow night?”
“Is there a reason why it must be tomorrow night?” Snowy Mountain also asked in puzzlement. It was common knowledge that it was best to go off on an adventure during the day because heading out at night brought unnecessary risk.
“It’s not far away.” Chi-Woo made a small smile. “And it’s a place we need to go when there’s the least number of people possible.”
* * *
Empires were often associated with emperors. With their sovereign position, emperors ruled over even kings; they were the absolute supreme leader of an empire, second to no one in status. However, this did not always reflect reality. The Demon Empire on Liber did not have an emperor; there was no single, unified ruling entity, but several groups. The same was true of the Abyss Faction, as it was led by two monarchs, a queen and a king, who each controlled nine powers. Together, they were the Two Army Joint Alliance.
However, the Demon Empire’s organization structure was even more complicated. A total of 66 high-ranking demons held a varied amount of power and authority. A hierarchy existed in the Demon Empire, and it thoroughly followed the law of survival of the fittest. In short, it was basically a feudal system in which anyone with enough power became lords and ruled over weaker demons.
Each of the 66 demons had their own forces, and no one was loyal to another. The strong strived to expand their forces, and those who were comparably weaker relied on the strong for their safety. As a result, infighting was commonplace between demons. However, all demons followed one rule without exception—even if two groups were fighting to their deaths, as soon as a foreign threat attacked the demon empire, they would immediately stop fighting each other to face the outsider together.
A passing onlooker might think of demons as beings obsessed with fighting, who only stopped fighting to fight another war, but this was not the case. They at least knew when they should and should not fight…like right now. A hearing was currently underway in the Demon Empire’s main base. Excluding those who were already annihilated by other factions or were at the frontlines, all demons had come together for this meeting.
The reason why so many demons had gathered was because the abyss, a faction that even the Demon Empire could not underestimate, had invaded the Demon Empire’s territory. So far, they had only reached the border, but it was of serious concern as the abomination of Babylon, who was one of the strongest individuals even among the Abyss faction, and her queen were personally leading the army.
They convened in the darkness without even a glimmer of light. A figure in a loose robe pondered gravely. He was the main subject of attention in this hearing, and one of the leaders who had come up with the use of mutants, which ended up causing the magic suppressing the mutants to explode. He tried desperately to think of a way to get out of this situation.
He believed it unfair for him to be put on the spot. None of them had expected the Abyss to attack them; if everything had gone according to plan, the Abyss faction should have been in a dilemma and wouldn’t even be able to pay any attention to them. Who would’ve thought the Serinitas’ special force would be so easily destroyed? All of the demons attending the hearing should know that as well. Even Bael, who ranked number 1 out of all the 66 demon leaders, was in attendance.
No matter how much he protested the unfair treatment he received and reminded them that he was merely following orders, the others refused to consider his circumstances and let him off the hook. If he wanted to safely get out of this hearing, he needed to suggest a solution to solve their present conundrum. Fortunately for him, there was a card up his sleeve that would do exactly that. While it would be somewhat of a bluff, it wasn’t a complete lie, either.
“If your humble servant may make a suggestion.” As soon as he spoke up, he felt chills spread through his body. He gulped as an enormous pressure loomed over him. ‘The King leading the army in the east’, ‘First Monarch in Hell’, and ‘Grand Duke’—Bael, the demon who held these titles, was now looking at him.
“There’s a way to force the Abyss faction back and return the border back to how it was.” Since the Demon Empire was the one who provoked the Abyss first, they needed to at least restore the previous status quo. “While we were conducting an experiment in Salem’s capital, we found a place that looked unusual. I would call it a coincidence, but it was hidden away so well that I also passed it by without noticing it…”
After a pause, he continued, “The reason why I hadn’t reported this finding until now was because…my master told me not to speak of it, and it was such a strange place that I can’t explain with mere words. I’m speaking of the royal palace of Salem. It looked difficult for me to approach without sufficient preparation, and since I was doing another task at that time, I didn’t find out more about it.”
Moreover, if they utilized that area well, they could create a clear line of defense against the Abyss faction.
He had revealed a secret he shouldn’t have told. His master would be furious if he found out. However, it didn't matter because his master wasn’t able to protect him from this situation. Thus, he had no reason to maintain his loyalty.
His words had a clear effect. The demons began murmuring amongst themselves, and the icy atmosphere broke into disorder. When the commotion died down, he heard someone say, “How do you plan to use a place that is already under the Abyss faction’s sphere of influence?”
His lips curved into a smile. “You need not concern yourself with that. My master, who first found that place, has already gone inside.” His master was Andras, the 63rd ranking demon.
* * *
When night approached, three heroes and one native gathered in front of Chi-Woo’s house as planned. With Chi-Woo as their leader, the group left for an adventure—not outside the capital, but towards the royal palace.