CH 238

Chi-Woo couldn’t believe his ears. He quickly looked at Ru Hiana. Her eyes, which had been blank just a few seconds ago, were now looking directly at him. Even though her pupils still looked hazy, it was slightly trembling, as if she had recognized him.

“Ms. Ru Hiana?”

Then Ru Hiana’s eyes glanced over Chi-Woo’s shoulder. “Keuk!” Her eyes opened wide, and she suddenly went into a seizure. “Ack! Aggggggh!” As if her trauma had been revived, she bowed her head and frantically crawled into a corner.

Chi-Woo turned around by reflex, and his expression hardened. The female demonic creature that he saw earlier was leaning against the fence while smiling at him. Since he had been so focused on Ru Hiana, he had failed to sense her presence.

“Yeah, I thought it was a little strange.” The female demonic creature opened her mouth with a cheery expression. “You used to go into a convulsion when merely smelling the drug, but you didn’t react at all this time even though I put it right under your nose.”

“…”

“After I saw that the human girl had died, I became suspicious of you, so I purposely went out and came back…and as expected, you really regained your senses, didn’t you?”

Chi-Woo looked at the female demonic creature, who spoke to him in a mocking tone, and got to his feet. He held the World’s Milestone as if he was going to crush it. Since he was caught, he might as well use this opportunity to beat this demonic creature to the verge of death and extract information from her.

“Are you going to kill me?” The female demonic creature chuckled. “Will that be okay? We made a deal, remember?”

Chi-Woo had been drawing his exorcism mana in lieu of a response but stopped when he heard what she said at the end. ‘A deal? What did she mean by that?’

“What? You don’t remember? Your mind really must have turned into mush.” She chuckled and continued, “You asked me to save your precious comrades, and you told me you’d stay calm if I at least spare their lives. Do you remember now?”

He was wondering what the deal was, but it was all too predictable.

“Do you think you can take everyone here and escape if you just kill me? You’re seriously not that stupid, right?”

Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed.

“If you understand, go back to your cage now. And we can have fun again. I’ll at least spare your friends’ lives. Well, one female has already died, but…I’ll pay more attention to my management from now on. Got it?” Her voice was gentle, but as she licked her upper lip with a snake-like tongue, her eyes shone with evil and despicable desires.

Chi-Woo gritted his teeth. The demonic creature in front of him was under a great illusion. Unlike his future self, Chi-Woo had a place to go back to at this point in time. Thus, he had no intention to follow her words. However, there was only one thing he was concerned about—whether he should seize this opening or pretend to follow through and seek a more definite opportunity. Even though it was easy to subdue one demonic creature, he didn’t know how much information the demonic creature in front of him knew, and he wasn’t sure how much information she would easily spit out.

The female demonic creature, thinking that Chi-Woo was agonizing over his choices, smiled and turned around. “!” Then she flinched, her smile wiped away from her face, and she gaped in fear. “Uh…Uh…” She was so shocked that she couldn’t even speak properly.

It was an opportunity to strike, but Chi-Woo didn’t get to seize it before she suddenly fell to the floor and knocked her forehead against it. Chi-Woo furrowed his brows; judging by how she was acting, it seemed a high-ranking demon had appeared. However, he couldn't sense any presence or detect anything with his synesthesia.

“What brings you…” The female demonic creature asked with a trembling voice, but there was no reply. “I-I was managing these humans! One human suddenly regained his senses and was trying to escape…!”

“…It is…” Then Chi-Woo suddenly heard a voice. “I…did…it…”

No, rather than a voice, it was closer to sounds escaping from a person’s mouth, or faint noises carried by the wind, and even though he strained to hear it, he could only barely make out the words.

“I…purposely…woke him…up…”

“Sorry…?” Confusion appeared on the female demonic creature’s face. “Are you saying that you purposely brought this male to his senses…? For what reason, may I ask…?”

The female demonic creature got a snort as a response. Then the voice said, “You…question…me…?”

“N-no, not at all! How dare I-!” The female demonic creature, who had slightly raised her head, lowered her head back to the floor.

“I was in the…middle of an…important experiment…but because of you…it’s ruined…”

“I’m sorry! I sincerely apologize! I haven’t been informed of anything like that…!” The female demonic creature was so terrified that she asked for forgiveness while crying. Then silence fell for a while.

While the female demonic creature kept her mouth shut and continued to shiver, an order for her to leave was finally issued. “…Get out…” The female demonic creature fled as if she had barely managed to escape death’s door.

Only then did Chi-Woo see a pale calf and small, white feet appear on the other side of the door. Subsequently, a figure appeared in front of Chi-Woo. At first glance, her narrow shoulders and willow-like waist made her look like a girl of a similar age to Hawa. Chi-Woo even mistakenly thought that Hawa had come back to live for a moment. However, closer inspection revealed that her hair was not silver, but white, and it was incredibly long, long enough to reach the ground. Both of her eyes were white, and it felt as if he was looking at a white-haired witch.

Even though she looked weak enough for a kick to break her bones, Chi-Woo didn’t let his guard down; he felt intuitively that the being in front of him was a great demon. Her power rivaled that of a high-ranking demon like Zepar; perhaps she was even in the top ten. Remembering that even Chi-Hyun told him to be careful of demons in the single-digit ranks, Chi-Woo pushed his exorcism mana to its peak.

“…It’s no use…that power…to destroy evil…” The white-haired girl continued, “You can give shock…for a moment…but can’t restore minds…that are already lost…”

The white-haired girl was probably referring to Ru Hiana’s condition, saying that no matter how much exorcism mana he put in her, it’ll be nothing more than a waste. In reality, all Ru Hiana managed to utter was ‘senior’, and her mind succumbed to terror after that.

“…This was it…” It was at that moment the white-haired girl gently tilted her head and raised her hand at the same time. A seven-sided die was suddenly between her index finger and thumb. Staring blankly at her, Chi-Woo inadvertently tightened his fist and opened it again. There was nothing in his hand. ‘When did she…?’

“I see…World…has not yet disappeared…no…maybe at the end…” She said some incomprehensible words and looked at Chi-Woo. “As expected…it was you…”

Chi-Woo felt perplexed. He didn’t know why, but it seemed this mysterious girl knew who he was. However, this was not the important part—she had taken the World’s Milestone. Even though he had tightly clenched onto it, she stole it from him without him noticing anything at all. He needed to retrieve it at all costs since it was the only way for him to return to the present. With firm determination, Chi-Woo was about to ambush her when—

The white-haired girl suddenly spun around. Why was she showing her back to an enemy? It was completely incomprehensible.

“Want to…work with me…” What she said next was even more perplexing. “Don’t you…need information…?”

“Wh…at…?” She seemed to be extending her help with gaining more information if her words were to be trusted. On second thought, she had been acting strange. Even when the female demonic creature reported the situation to her, the white-haired girl covered for Chi-Woo, saying that she was doing an experiment, and even chased out the demonic creature.

However, Chi-Woo couldn’t help but be suspicious of her because even though he didn’t know who she was, it was clear that she was a great demon. And it wasn’t as if they had a common enemy, in which case an enemy of an enemy would become a friend. Why would she support the Demon Empire while also helping him out? And as a high-ranking demon at that?

“Follow me…quickly…there’s not much time…” The white-haired girl hurried him along. Chi-Woo agonized if he should follow her, but his intuition was shouting at him to do as she said. Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why should I trust you?”

The white-haired girl who looked like Hawa stopped. She slowly turned around and, without a word, held out her hand. “…”

In a blink, the World’s Milestone was right back in Chi-Woo’s grasp. It really was an astonishing ability. Although she didn’t say anything, she was telling him to trust her by giving the die back. After Chi-Woo confirmed that the die was truly the World’s Milestone with his Spirit Eye, he stared at the white-haired girl’s back with conflicted eyes. After a slight hesitation, he followed her out.

* * *

After they left the barn, he saw a familiar scene. Although many parts had changed, there were still traces of the holy city, Shalyh. After going out, Chi-Woo grew certain that what had once been Shalyh had fallen to the Demon Empire. All they could see on the street were a variety of demonic creatures, and the Cassiubia League and humanity were locked up and raised in places like barns—not as prisoners, but as livestock and slaves.

Wherever the white-haired girl went, a small commotion erupted. Every demonic creature she encountered stopped what they were doing and politely bowed their heads to show their respect to her. Then when she passed by, every single one of them would glance up at Chi-Woo, who was following her. He didn’t know why, but some of the demonic creatures were visibly shocked and dumbfounded.

“Lower your head…” The white-haired whispered so that only Chi-Woo could hear her. “Don’t make eye contact…pretend to be drugged…”

Chi-Woo followed her instruction as it seemed she was telling him to not raise any unnecessary suspicion. Chi-Woo was only able to lift his head back up when the white-haired girl entered a house. After they were guided to a room in the corner, they finally faced each other.

“Soon…we have…a meeting…” The white-haired girl continued, “Few of them…will probably…bring their toys…” Her speech was choppy with pauses. “I’ll give you an opportunity…so try having a conversation with them…there might be a toy…that has their…mind intact…” Although she didn’t speak perfectly, Chi-Woo had no problem understanding her.

According to her, there was a meeting between great demons today, and some demons would be bringing their toys; those toys would either be monsters in the Cassiubia League or humans. The two guards in the barn had also said that when the city was captured by the Demon Empire, the great demons took the prisoners they liked as their personal toys.

Thus, the white-haired girl was telling him that she’d take him to the great demon’s meeting and arrange a separate space for him to meet other people to talk and gain information. Since they were special toys for great demons, they might still have their minds intact. Of course, they might be even worse off than those trapped in cages. Chi-Woo understood what she was saying, but he couldn’t help but grimace at the thought that the great demons were treating humans as toys.

“Until then…stay quietly here…”

“How can I trust you?” Chi-Woo cut her off. “Who are you?”

“Shersha…”

When asked about her identity, the girl easily revealed her name.

“Are you a great demon?”

“Seventh rank…”

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Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. He had expected her to rank high, but the truth was beyond his expectation. Still, he found it strange that she didn’t act like a great demon at all. For example, Zepar was very arrogant when revealing his identity. He showed great pride in being at the top of the demon hierarchy. In comparison, there was no trace of arrogance or even pride in Shersha’s response despite her ranking seventh; she just sounded empty. It was as if he was dealing with air floating in the sky.

“It seems like you know my situation to a certain extent,” Chi-Woo said.

“…A little bit…” Shersha nodded slightly. “Not all…only what I see…”

“Anyway, why are you trying to help me? You’re a great demon.”

Shersha suddenly closed her mouth, and Chi-Woo, who felt frustrated by her sudden silence, said again, “You helped me just now, and you’re trying to help me again. Is that right?”

Shersha nodded again.

“Then tell me what you know!”

“…”

“You’re a great demon, so you must know better than anyone, right? About what has happened so far! If you want to help me, all you have to do is tell me right now!”

If Shersha really wanted to help Chi-Woo, she could just tell him everything then and there—tell him when, where, and what happened, and what he should do. However, Shersha only tried to help Chi-Woo get information and didn’t directly relay any to him.

“One…” After a short silence, she said, “Just…one…” Shersha finally spoke up. “Opportunity to…say what you want me…to say…I need to…give you…the most important information then…!” Shersha’s tone slightly went up at the end. “No one…other than us…knows this information…” Then she narrowed her eyes, and her breathing became laborious. Her empty expression suddenly became filled with pain. “But…with this information alone…” Shersha put her hand on her chest; she tightly clutched her clothes in pain and continued, “So…after gaining…other information…” Then her words quieted into a murmur.

Chi-Woo furiously blinked; he didn’t know why she was suddenly acting like this, but it didn’t seem like she was acting. Beads of sweat popped up on Shersha’s forehead; for some reason, Chi-Woo felt he shouldn’t ask further, but he still asked, “What do you mean? I have no idea what you’re saying.”

After barely calming down, Shersha looked conflicted; she looked like she was put in a difficult position and couldn’t explain. She seemed to hesitate for a while and then walked towards Chi-Woo with a look of determination. Standing right in front of him, she raised her hand and held his head. However, Shersha couldn’t carry out her intention because Chi-Woo had taken a step back, and her height barely reached his chest.

“…Ah.” Even when she stood on tippy-toes, she still couldn’t reach his face. “Ah.” She tried jumping, but it was another futile attempt.

“…”

“…”

Silence fell. “Believe me…” In the end, Shersha asked him in an earnest tone. “Please…please believe me…”

Chi-Woo saw Shersha’s teary eyes and fell into intense conflict. Should he believe her or not? He didn’t feel any malice from her. “…If you’re trying to trick me, you better think again.”

After much consideration, Chi-Woo fell on one knee. At the same time, he stretched out his right hand and placed it on Shersha’s head. He planned to use his exorcism mana as soon as she did anything suspicious.

Shersha’s expression became slightly brighter when their eyes met at eye level. Soon after, she gently put her hands on Chi-Woo’s temples and slowly moved her face closer to his. As soon as their forehead touched, Shersha closed her eyes.

* * *

“Heh, is that true?”

“Yes. I’m certain of it. I’ve immediately come here to report it after witnessing it.”

“Hmm. How strange. Okay, got it. You can leave now.” When the giant woman beckoned for her to leave, the female demonic creature, who was prostrating herself on the ground, carefully got up and withdrew. She was one of the guards who had been guarding the barn.

When the female demonic creature left, the woman murmured to herself, “Shersha…Shersha took one of the human males…” In all honesty, this was not unusual in the slightest in the Demon Empire. It was a society that ran solely on the rule of survival of the fittest. The strong took everything; taking someone as a slave frequently happened among low-ranking demonic creatures and even among great demons. One such example was when Zepar, who was now exorcized and gone, defeated a relatively high-ranking demon like Astarte and enslaved her. Thus, it was not even news that a great demon had taken a slave to kill time, but…

“Why would…Shersha?”

But there were always exceptions. An insignificant event became significant when Shersha was the one involved; she was a special case within the Demon Empire. Shersha was the seventh-rank great demon, the only Saintess in the Demon Empire, and a prophet endowed with the power of foresight. Unlike other great demons, Shersha did not show off her power and wasn’t interested in looting or spoils either.

She had offered Shersha to play together with some good males she picked out, but all her invitations had been ignored so far. It had been like that all this time. So why would a great demon nicknamed the honorable noble suddenly take a human male for herself today?

“How fun.” She couldn’t help but be curious. “There’s definitely something fishy about it…definitely something…” The woman had a strange glint in her eyes, and she suddenly raised her hand to yank the necklace in her hand.

“Isn’t that right? My dear cutie. Haha!” She lovingly patted the hair of a human male who had a leash on his neck in the form of a necklace.