The battle between the Cassiubia League and the Demon Empire met an unexpected end with the intervention of a suddenly emerging third party—in which the 42nd ranking Marquess of Hell and the ruler of the oceans, Vepar, and the armies she commanded were extinguished, and a semi-permanent godly city was created in the area that used to be the Demon Empire’s territory.
It was a serious blow to the Demon Empire; the creation of the godly city would have especially struck the nail in their wound. If the Demon Empire wanted to recapture this land, it would be even harder than the Cassiubia League trying to fight Vepar inside her territory. In other words, it would be crazy of them to attempt it, and the fact that they couldn’t do anything would drive them mad; all in all, the Demon Empire would be in a bind, unable to do many things they would wish to do.
Still, not everything was settled yet. The Cassiubia League and humanity would have to decide the future of the godly territory at the center of this city. It was a big issue to settle, but at the moment, the two parties were basking in the relief that they had overcome the recent difficulty. The atmosphere was light. The Cassiubia League was simply happy that they managed to land a serious blow on the Demon Empire. Meanwhile, the heroes were also overflowing with joy. Without even making a proper altar, they pulled out the statue of Shahnaz and gathered around it to see how much they could progress.
‘I should continue on with this momentum.’ Chi-Woo thought. Since the heroes had played a significant role in this battle with Vepar, he thought the monster alliance’s attitude toward humans would have changed now.
‘Zel from the Cobalos clan. He was receptive to what I said.’ Thinking that he should talk to someone who was most amicable to him, Chi-Woo looked around in search of Zel.
“Hey.”
But then a voice called out to him. Chi-Woo turned to see a humanoid figure walking up to him; it was the half-demon, Murumuru. Although it was one of the commanders of the Cassiubia League, Murumuru wasn’t someone Chi-Woo wanted to talk to—especially since Murumuru’s hatred for humanity ran deep for some unknowable reason. He was about to get out of here when the half-demon faked a cough.
“That, just now…was quite amazing.”
“Huh? What?” Chi-Woo stopped walking. He thought he heard wrong.
“It was pretty good. And well…you fought Vepar well.” Murumuru wiped its nose and looked into the distance. “I am surprised. Not just about Vepar, but the fact that you actually built a godly territory.” His gaze shifted to Chi-Woo, his genuine surprise on display. Chi-Woo smiled softly. Even though they had a bad start, they felt like comrades now after going through several near-death experiences.
“So…I thought about it.”
‘Ha. This guy is being shy,’ Chi-Woo laughed inside his mind. He thought Murumuru should quickly apologize if it was sorry.
“Yes. No matter how I think about it, this is the better choice,” Murumuru said.
Chi-Woo thought there was no reason for him to refuse, especially considering the future relationship they would have. Thus, he planned to shake its hand if Murumuru offered it, but instead of a hand, a chilling blade touched Chi-Woo’s adam apple and made him freeze.
‘…Huh?’
Chi-Woo stood still; he hadn’t expected Murumuru to suddenly point its katana at him while pretending to make amends. Chi-Woo slowly lowered his head.
“I suggest you stop moving,” Murumuru warned.
It wasn’t his imagination. The purplish katana Chi-Woo had seen in battle was touching his neck.
“You,” Murumuru continued, “will have to die.” It was no mockery or a joke. The half-demon was being genuine. It thought it had to kill Chi-Woo. The noisy surroundings gradually became quiet. Both the heroes and the monsters were surprised by what they were seeing, which meant Murumuru was acting on its own. And even if Murumuru wasn’t, it was clear it wasn’t acting according to what the monster alliance wanted.
“That crazy…!” While waiting for her turn to pray to Shahnaz’s statue, Ru Hiana saw what was happening and shouted.
“Grrhh!” She gritted her teeth in anger, and she pulled out her rapier. She was about to rush in when Ru Amuh stopped her.
“Why…?” Ru Hiana was about to burst out in anger, but her rage quickly dwindled when she saw Ru Amuh’s face.
“Wait…” Ru Amuh said, barely managing to repress himself. His hands were already on the hilt of his sword. “Be patient…for now…” His voice shook with suppressed emotion, and Ru Hiana looked away awkwardly. She felt a great wave of rage ringing inside Ru Amuh, and it was the first time she had ever seen the usually peaceful and calm Ru Amuh so enraged. But thanks to it, she now understood why he had stopped her. Their opponent had pressed a sword to Senior’s neck; they couldn’t afford to act rashly.
“What are you doing!” A small green monster popped out then—it was Zel from the Cobalos clan. It also looked quite stunned as it kept opening and closing its mouth.
“Remove your sword, Murumuru.” Thud. Sruthos rolled its feet threateningly. It seemed Sruthos was also enraged by Murumuru acting on its own, and it added in warning, “I told you to back away.”
But Murumuru spoke without taking its eyes off Chi-Woo for even a second, “I’m telling you. This is for the Cassiubia League.”
“Bullshit!” shouted Zel.
“No, it’s not,” Murumuru answered without wavering. “Didn’t you all see what this guy did?”
“That’s why we should treat him well! He’s a valuable ally who miraculously came to our doorstep when we needed one! Please think of the Demon Empire!”
“He’s human.”
“Damn it! Murumuru!”
“Even if he weren’t.” Murumuru sounded a bit more forceful now. “There’s no guarantee that he won’t be a danger to us in the future, if not now.”
In truth, Murumuru wasn’t completely wrong in a broader sense. Chi-Woo had immobilized a great demon like Vepar in just one blow, and he had actually succeeded in establishing a godly territory like he promised. Given his performance, his skills were comparable to their top commander, the dragon. No, what Chi-Woo had accomplished was something even the dragon couldn’t pull off immediately.
That was why they needed to kill Chi-Woo now. They might be on good terms now, but who knew what could happen in the future, especially considering Liber’s situation? In this world, no one was forever an ally or an enemy. What would happen if Chi-Woo turned against the monster alliance? They wouldn’t be able to stop him. Like one of the Abyss’ leaders, Huk Cheong-Ram, Murumuru had looked down on Chi-Woo for being a human at first, but insisted on killing him after seeing what he could do.
Rather than putting its hope on an uncertain future, Murumuru focused on the present and judged that taking Chi-Woo’s head right now was more important than anything else.
“Murumuru! Stop your nonsense—!”
“Stop!”
Murumuru said with a displeased face, “Let’s vote on it then.”
“W-What?”
“Vote. Isn’t it only right for us to have a vote if there’s a disagreement?”
Murumuru was right. The voting system was one of the laws that the alliance had set up. Thus, it was right to follow it, but Zel looked extremely frustrated.
“You’re really shameless! How can you say that when you’ve already pulled out your sword!”
“I’ll take full responsibility if my proposal gets rejected.”
“What?”
“If I lose, I’ll accept whatever fate he decides for me—whether he kills me, beat me up to his heart’s content, take me as a slave, or feed me to the dogs.”
Zel became speechless. There was a strange sense of confidence in Murumuru’s voice, as if Murumuru was sure that its proposal would be approved.
Murumuru said, “The vote will be held only by those present here. That doesn’t matter, right?”
Zel quickly scanned the area. Five commanders were present here; the only one missing was Magor, who had matters to take care of postwar as the direct commander of the troops. That meant they would have one less objection.
‘But even then.’ Zel was sure that the ancient tree would abstain from voting, and it would be fine as long as Sruthos and Zel cast an objection vote. Even if Murumuru and the other commanders voted in favor, the voting would end up as a tie, and the proposal would be rejected.
Zel replied, “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but…all right, let’s do it. I object.”
“I object.” Sruthos immediately expressed its opposition.
“I’m in favor.”
“I’m in favor.”
Murumuru and Silfide voted in favor straight away. Now, there was only one vote left—the ancient tree standing quietly.
It finally began moving its hollow slowly. “Fa..vor…”
Zel and Sruthos were shocked, and Murumuru smiled in satisfaction.
“Why, why did you…?”
At Zel’s question, the ancient tree glanced at Chi-Woo. “Didn't…say…name…”
‘What? Just for that?’ Chi-Woo laughed in shock.
However, the ancient tree waved its branches, indicating that wasn’t the only reason. “Human…hiding something…very…important…”
“…”
“If we…don’t know…better to get rid…”
Chi-Woo was startled. The ancient tree was right that he had a lot of secrets. It didn’t know exactly what he was hiding, but it could clearly sense that Chi-Woo was desperately trying to hide something. As it was, the monsters couldn’t trust him, since his secret could be relevant to the monster alliance. In a way, the ancient tree thought it might be better to finish Chi-Woo off while they were here as Murumuru had said.
Silence fell; Chi-Woo seriously considered if he should at least reveal his name now.
“It’s been decided.” However, Murumuru didn’t even give him enough time to think. Without hesitation, it moved to slash Chi-Woo’s neck with its katana.
Slam! But Murumuru’s katana wasn’t able to cut Chi-Woo’s neck. It was bounced off by a protective barrier that had popped up out of nowhere.
“What?” Murumuru was startled by the sudden interference. Ru Amuh and Ru Hiana, who were about to move, also stopped in surprise.
“I came here because I thought something fun was happening here, but—” A shrill voice spoke up. “What’s happening here?” A platinum blonde woman walked with her hands on her hips.
“Damn it! A magician!” Murumuru tried to quickly make another move, but failed to achieve its goal because Ru Amuh had quickly stepped between them. He wasn’t the only person that moved.
“Aw, I’ve made a move for nothing. Apu!” Ismile, who had approached Murumuru and was ready to attack, murmured a complaint as Afrilith’s magic blocked Murumuru’s blade.
“Ack!” Murumuru quickly moved back and shouted while looking back. “What the hell are you doing! Prepare for battle!”
Zel exclaimed, “Murumuru…!”
“This is the result of the vote! Don’t tell me you aren’t going to follow our rules now!”
As Murumuru said, the result of the vote was absolute for the alliance. Once the results were decided, they had to accept and follow through no matter how much they hated it. Some of the alliance members began to look at each other, and after faltering a bit, took up arms. The heroes weren’t going to stand still either.
“Teacher, your order please.” Ru Amuh gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword, radiating an extremely murderous intent. It was as if Ru Amuh would tear Murumuru into pieces as soon as Chi-Woo gave the word. Afrilith snorted and raised her hand, while the other heroes pulled out their weapons and got into a fighting stance. It was at that moment—
“What the fuck are you doing?” A girl walked right into this tense situation. “I was going to take a break because I was tired. Why must you start fighting again so impatiently? What the hell?”She had short, black hair and black eyes—it was Kabal.
Murumuru was startled that a god would come forward. “God Kabal…?”
“You wanna die?”
“No, why?”
“Why?” Kabal snorted. “Were you the one who brought me back to life?” She crossed her arms. “Or were you the one who gave me divine energy to recover my territory?”
Murumuru remained silent. It didn’t know what to say. It hadn’t expected a god to be so secular.
“Hey.” Kabal called it out like a gangster and demanded again, “I asked you if you wanna die.”
“…”
“If you want to die so desperately, continue.”
At Kabal’s clear warning, the monster alliance’s fighting spirit was visibly dampened. Kabal now ruled over this area. No guest would insist on fighting after receiving warning from the owner of the land. After all, this was now holy territory under the god’s jurisdiction.
Then, Kabal continued, “I’ve warned you. I don’t know what’s going to happen after this.” She shook her head and turned around, sounding like she wasn’t going to get involved no matter what happened next. It sounded like she was trying to avoid a troublesome situation, whatever it was.
Murumuru frowned. It seemed she was going to intervene personally when she first appeared, but now she was suddenly stepping aside? Why?
“You guys are in trouble,” Ismile said with a laugh.
This human had also stepped in earlier, but now he was laughing with his hands behind his head.
“A scary guy has shown up. What are you going to do now?”
Murumuru wanted to ask what he meant, but it couldn’t. There was a sudden commotion behind it. Murumuru turned towards the source. Soon, the monsters in the monster alliance slowly parted to make way, withdrawing slowly without exchanging any words. Then, through the dense group of monsters, a man casually walked out as if he was walking out of his house.