90 episodes
26 The Realm of Demons (2)
It is very difficult to classify the enemies of mankind because their appearance and properties are so different, but if we have to, we can divide them into three types.
Beasts, Demons, and Signs.
If I had to pick the most difficult opponent out of these, I would choose the autograph without hesitation.
Demons, demons, monsters, etc.
As the prototype of all these things, he is cunning and does not like head-to-head matches.
Still, it is the most cruel and the power is also bizarre.
And he likes to put on human skin and imitate that human being.
– Among the considerations on monsters
* * *
The realm of the lost angel, Angelosh.
It was the name that immediately came to mind when Goeui talked about the Holy Blood among the mediums for improving the human body.
There were actually several types of Holy Blood, often called the blood of holy beings, but the best of them was the blood of an angel called a messenger of the gods.
angel.
An entity whose existence is unknown, even appearing only in the Bible.
Legend has it that such an angel descended upon the land of Angelosh, and it was true.
‘ Because the angel’s blood actually exists in Angeloche.’
Of course, let alone the world, even the people of Youngji still living in the territory were completely unaware of the existence of angelic blood.
In the next few months, the blood of such angels will be stolen by demonic beings and made known to the world.
And in the process, the destruction of Angelosh’s estate was a natural order.
Before that, Zion was thinking of obtaining the Holy Blood first.
‘ In order to obtain such a Holy Blood, I need that guy.’
Shion thought so and looked at Elesis, who was glancing at him for some reason.
When our eyes met, she turned her head in surprise.
Unlike the other two members of the mercenary corps, Elesis had never even come close to Zion.
She didn’t have much power yet, but did she feel something because she was a future saint?
“ The place you can see over there is the Angelosh Manor. It seems smaller than expected?”
At that moment, Lat’s voice came to Shion’s ear.
As he said, the scale of the estate that existed not far away was small enough to be called a village.
When you think about it, it made sense.
Because the scale of this mountainous estate, where not even magic trains run, could not have been large.
“ Let’s go in and find a place to stay.”
Zion and the mercenaries immediately move towards such a territory.
And finally, it was the moment they entered the estate.
‘ This is… … .’
Shion’s eyes, which were distinctive for a moment, began to sink rapidly.
Just like before the battle.
at that time,
“You ’re an outsider after a long time.”
Some of Young Ji-min, who discovered Shion’s party, approached nearby.
“ My name is Kelly. Are you some adventurous mercenary?”
Among them, a middle-aged man in the front introduced himself and asked for a handshake.
“ Haha, that’s right. I’m here to explore a nearby dungeon. I’m going to take a break and leave early tomorrow morning. Is there any place to stay in the estate?”
Rat, holding the man’s hand, asked with a characteristic sad smile.
“ As you can see, our estate is very small, and there is hardly any interaction with the outside, so there are no facilities for outsiders. Of course, there is no such thing as an inn.”
“ Hmm, is it?”
The light of trouble in Rat’s eyes was when he was young.
The man said to them as if he had remembered something.
“ Ah, if it’s okay with you, I’ll tell the lord one more time. Our lord loves adventure stories, so every time travelers come, he invites them to the castle to stay. Of course, instead of that, we have to talk a little bit more.”
“ Oh, would you please?”
Rat’s face turned red.
There was absolutely no reason to refuse.
It was much better than homelessness or homelessness outside.
Besides, such adventure stories were Rat’s specialty.
“ What are you going to do, Zion?”
Still, the employer was Zion, so Rat looked at Zion and asked.
“… … .”
However, there was no reply from Zion.
“ Jeon?”
No, you are right that I can’t answer that.
Is it because it is a twisted force in itself?
Heukseongha reacted sensitively to twisted things.
So Zion could see.
No, I could feel it.
Even a man who introduces himself as Kelin in front of him right now.
The girl looking over here with only her head sticking out from the other side.
An old woman with a kind smile.
that everything reflected in the eye is twisted.
Humans no longer existed in this realm.
‘I ‘ve already eaten everything.’
It was not simply disguised as a human in appearance like normal monsters or demons.
Something that ate all the insides of living humans and covered them with their skins.
The subtle sense of incongruity generated from it turned into a twist and touched Zion’s senses.
‘ Is it the horse station?’
I couldn’t feel the magic, but it was an energy that could be hidden from the beginning.
It was too early for that time, but for now, the devil’s actions were the most likely.
Did the content of the chronology change again?
Or has it been like this since the beginning?
I couldn’t figure it out, but it was more important to reorganize my plans for the future than to think about it now.
‘ Maybe it could have been better.’
Shion, who finished her thoughts like that,
“ Go to the permanent residence.”
He answered Lat with a calm voice.
All of a sudden, Zion’s eyes turned to the huge castle in the middle of Angelosh’s estate.
* * *
The corridor of Lord Angelosh’s castle.
“ Something is strange… … .”
Watching the servants walking in front of them, Elesis whispered to Lat and Amber, who were next to them.
The lord who heard the story from Kelin was delighted and brought them into the castle, and that was not enough, so he invited them to dinner.
Therefore, she and the other two were unpacking their luggage and following the servant to the restaurant after a short break.
“ You mean Zion? Somehow, you’ve been avoiding me since before… … Isn’t it okay to say nothing else? It’s not as difficult as I thought.”
Amber said, recalling Zion Harness, who was not here at Elesis’ words.
Their employer refused to even eat dinner because they were tired from the long-distance travel, and chose to rest in their room alone.
“ No… … . It’s a burden because he’s so handsome, and the other one… … .”
“ Oh, that’s right, did you have an allergy to good-looking? So what?”
This time, Rat tilted his head slightly and asked.
“ Everything.”
“ All?”
“ Yes, all the people of this estate.”
A strange sense of incongruity felt from the moment I entered the Angeloche estate.
Words couldn’t put it into words, but Elesis felt that sense of incongruity in everyone she saw.
No, it wasn’t just people.
“ And these pictures are a little weird too.”
Numerous paintings hang on either side of the hallway where she and her companions pass.
Among them, the portraits of the characters were described with great precision.
It’s like seeing a living person.
Elesis felt a sense of incongruity even in those pictures.
“ Pictures? It’s not really an art museum, and it’s rare that there are so many paintings in a castle of an ordinary lord.”
“ No, not that… … !”
“ Haha, our lord’s hobby is collecting pictures. And it’s a pleasure to hang the paintings you have collected in the hallway and show them to your guests.”
The servant, who was walking in front, smiled and opened his mouth to see if he heard Amber’s words.
“ After dinner, take a look around. If you follow a few precautions, you will be able to watch safely.”
‘ Safely… … ?’ It was time for Elesis to once again feel a sense of incongruity in the words of the servant.
“ Come on, come this way. We wish you a pleasant dinner.”
As if he had arrived at the restaurant, the servant opened the door in front of him and gently bowed his head.
Elesis, who swallowed that sensation inside, followed the others and walked into the dining room.
The moment she and the rest of the party completely entered the restaurant, Toreuk!
The eyes of all the paintings in the hallway turned towards the dining room.
“ Oh, come sit down. Adventurers!”
One wife, one man and one woman.
The lord of Angelosh, who has a basic family composition, welcomed Elesis and his party into the restaurant with hospitality.
“ They said that they will explore the dungeon tomorrow, so I prepared a kind of meat to give you strength. I don’t know if it will suit your taste.”
“ Ha ha, no! Thank you for allowing me to enter the castle like this.”
Rat smiled kindly at the words of the lord who seemed to have a generous personality as much as his belly fat.
“ But where did you go?”
“ Ah, Zion-sama is not feeling well, so he is resting in his room. It’s against the rules, but he asked me to tell him I’m asking for your pardon.”
“ That… … I’ll have to send you a separate meal later.”
At Lat’s words, the lord put on a worried expression.
The meal following those words was very cordial.
“ The five gliders in front are running with their eyes gleaming fiercely… … ah! I really thought I was going to die. But then the arrows from the back are fab! And it poured… … .”
“ So what happened?”
“ Haha, who am I? Isn’t that a red-handed rat? Right after I caught it by hand… … !”
Rat constantly told stories of adventures that were as good as his field of specialization, and the lord and his family listened to them with their eyes shining.
‘ Is that a mistake?’
Looking at them like that, Elesis tilted her head.
The lord’s attitude was so polite that it was hard to believe he was a nobleman, and unlike before, there was no sense of incongruity.
‘ I may have felt wrong today because I was tired… … .’
at that time,
‘ Huh?’
A strange scene appeared in her eyes.
The lord’s wife was cutting the meat in front of her with a fork and dipping it with a knife.
A sense of incongruity revived once again with him.
Elesis looked at him carefully, but the lord’s wife was eating it with a fork after cutting it correctly again, as if she had always been.
‘It’s strange too!’
But the scene had already been etched in her mind, so it was time for her to grab her fork.
“ Excuse me for a moment.”
The woman of the lord, who had been listening to Rat’s story with bright eyes until now, said so and got up from her seat.
“ Where are you going?”
“ Suddenly, I feel a little nauseous. I am sorry that you have a guest.”
“… … Yes, I see.”
Youngju, who looked at the woman with a strange expression for a moment, nodded.
“ I’m sorry.”
“ Oh no! It seems you are not feeling well, so please go and get some rest.”
Rat waved his hand at the woman who bowed her head once again and answered.
After smiling faintly at him, the woman leaves the restaurant.
“… … .”
Elesis looked at the back of such a woman with shaky eyes.
* * *
Click!
A fully closed restaurant door.
From the mouth of the woman who stood there for a moment with her back to that door,
“ Hey, I can’t take it anymore… … .”
Words that didn’t make sense came out.
A woman’s expression as if hesitating about something.
“ Would it be ok to eat one person first?”
Soon after, the girl’s eyes began to glow with a shimmering light.
“ You said you don’t need everything except that priest’s bitch anyway. Then it’s about time to eat, wouldn’t it be okay if I decided on my own?”
A woman muttering like that, as if rationalizing herself.
With him, the corners of her lips began to rip right below her ears.
Absolutely impossible laughter due to the structure of the human body.
“ Yeah, it won’t matter.”
But for a female, or no, Chiral, a sign who dug into her and covered her skin, this was a natural laugh.
With that said,
“ Kihehehehehehehehehehehehe!”
Chiral starts running madly through the corridors of the lord’s castle, letting out a creepy laughter.
“ That guy… … That guy is mine!!”
In Chiral’s head, who muttered in a voice full of excitement, the image of a man with the name Zion Harness he had seen a while ago came to mind.
A face that is like a sculpture with pure white skin without a single speck.
That figure was close to the ideal Chiral had been looking for.
So, from the moment I first saw it, I couldn’t suppress the urge to dig into it and cover it with leather.
“ Come on! hurry!”
Now, beyond excitement, even madness begins to slowly appear in the young Chiral’s eyes.
Bump!
Chiral, who quickly reached the front, surrendered to his impulses and instincts, opened the door at once.
The room was dark.
None of the lights were on, and barely even the moonlight outside the window came in.
It’s really pitch dark.
‘ Where are you?’
Chiral looked around the room where there was nothing but darkness, looking for prey inside.
Eyes glistening with appetite.
But there was nothing that Chiral could see.
‘ I hope I knew ahead of time and ran away… … .’
That was the moment.
The ‘it’ came into Chiral’s eyes.
the edge of the field of view.
It was there.
Something pure white floating in the pitch-black darkness.
“ What is this… … .”
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see.
No matter how much you move your eyes.
no matter how much you turn your head.
It was always at the edge of the field of vision.
as if it were fixed.
“ Ah… … .”
A strange yet alien sensation from it.
The sensation begins to stir in Chiral’s head.
A scene that even he who deals with all sorts of bizarre powers can’t comprehend.
As the fear that rose from the depths of his heart with him covered Chiral’s whole body, it came to the side like an illusion.
But he couldn’t move.
I couldn’t resist.
Like prey caught in a spider’s web.
Already, Chiral’s body was completely controlled by it down to the tip of his finger.
“ I’ve been waiting for you to come.”
A voice that is unbearable.
With him, his eyes slowly draw arcs.
The moment Chiral’s eyes staring at him are dyed with complete fear, quad-d-d-d-duk!
Suddenly, darkness engulfed his entire body.