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As Kim Dohyun gazed at the Ring of the Abyss, it was when he burst into a hollow laugh as if he had seen it all.
“Hmm?”
“Why the long face?”
“Feels like something has gotten darker, doesn’t it?”
Surveying his surroundings, Kim Dohyun’s colleague Mine looked puzzled.
“It’s usually dark here, so what…”
Kim Dohyun’s expression froze in disbelief as he scanned the area. Just as his colleague had said, the surroundings had indeed darkened.
‘No, this isn’t just dark…’
All around was pitch black.
Enveloped in unease, Kim Dohyun turned to face forward. In an instant, his face was filled with shock.
“What…”
The sinister red marble emitting a ghastly light. The darkness oozing from it was staining the space black.
‘Then, this is all…’
At the chilling realization that dawned on him, Kim Dohyun’s face turned pale.
Turning his trembling head to check his surroundings, his eyes widened in alarm.
Beneath his feet where he stood, and upon closer inspection of the darkness on the wall, it was ‘squirming’.
“What about my ring?”
“Oh, damn!”
Stammering in thrilling terror, Kim Dohyun sprinted frantically.
In the opposite direction of Han Seyeon, a door not consumed by darkness came into clear view.
With a flushed face, Kim Dohyun grabbed the door handle and suddenly shouted, “No!”
The door was slowly being consumed by darkness. Kim Dohyun threw himself into a fit, reaching out his hand. And the door handle was precariously swallowed by the darkness.
“This…!”
As Kim Dohyun stared at the vanished door handle with a helpless expression, a scream filled with horror from his terrified colleague pierced his ears.
─aaah!
Kim Dohyun forced his unmoving body to turn around and look back.
The darkness oozing from the ring was swallowing Mine’s body.
With wide eyes, he gazed at the ring.
“What in the world is this ring!”
The red marble of the ring was absorbing Mine’s magic without a trace, eerily shining.
As Mine vanished without a trace into the inexplicable power of a shoddy red marble, Kim Dohyun was frozen in place, while Mine disappeared into the darkness.
Eventually, Han Seyeon’s eyes met his.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Ugh…”
As Kim Dohyun faced the chilling gaze, his jaw trembled, and his teeth clattered.
Frozen like prey caught in a spider’s web, his body refused to move.
“I-I misspoke. It’s a g-good ring! A good ring!”
“Exactly, right?”
Kim Dohyun trembled as Han Seyeon proudly complimented the ring and affectionately caressed it, smiling with satisfaction.
“What a crazy woman.”
Han Seyeon, who was caressing the ring, raised her head.
As darkness crept in from the ruby, Kim Dohyun pondered and shouted.
“You said you liked the ring, why are you acting like this!”
Han Seyeon chuckled and said.
“You called it cheap.”
The ruby mage slowly engulfed Kim Dohyun from below.
“I was wrong! I was wrong… aaargh!”
***
…30 minutes before the battle began, in the underground 3rd floor of the Grand Cathedral.
“Oh, it really disappeared!”
Undemon’s Mine, Baek Geonwoo, looked down at himself with an expression of disbelief as he felt the connection with Augustus vanish.
The curse that had bound him for 8 years didn’t seem to affect him at all.
“It’s just a temporary phenomenon, there’s no need to be too happy. Augustus’s reign will continue in half a day.”
“No! I’m grateful just for this!”
Baek Geonwoo bowed his head repeatedly while looking at me.
It wasn’t just Baek Geonwoo showing this reaction.
All of Undemon’s members seemed to be in a state of euphoria as if they had been completely liberated from Augustus’s rule.
I had only slightly loosened the bonds of the contract as a taste, but the reactions were more dramatic than expected. As I was feeling slightly ironic about it, Ivonne calmly explained.
“Please understand. Everyone is excited about being momentarily released from the curse they had resigned themselves to not being able to escape. Of course, I feel the same way.”
Ivonne smiled gently but brightly.
“Is a Mine also considered a person?”
Mines crave the mana of the superhumans.
It is an uncontrollable survival instinct; without mana, a Mine would be slowly devoured by the magic, eventually turning into a monster no different from a demon.
Mines influenced by magic have different emotional states and consciousness from humans.
However, looking at Undemon, they were somewhat different but clearly human.
For me, it was good news. It meant that it was relatively easy to clear debts.
“Haesol, have this!”
“You have it first!”
“Uh, thank you.”
Lying on the soft sofa, the twin girls came running with grape and apple bowls in hand.
“I brought it first.”
“But I said it first?”
As I ate the grapes, the girl who brought the apple screamed, “Oops!” Whether she did or not, I leisurely chewed on the apple.
“How is it?”
“How is it?”
Anticipating my reaction, I chuckled at the sight of the children with sparkling eyes.
“Delicious.”
As I patted their heads, the twins I liked, each named Lydia and Niel, giggled.
Of course, both were mages.
In fact, in terms of magical prowess, they were among the top children in Undemon, after Aren and Ivonne.
Sometimes, children with an inclination towards magic emerged, and Lydia and Niel were such cases.
I heard that Ivonne had rescued them from August’s base, but their image from the original work was like… “the worst.”
With a cruel nature and talent of the highest order, Lydia and Niel were growing up as named mages beyond redemption.
Despite their innocent appearance now, they were far from the children I remembered.
Anyway, one of the main reasons August aimed for Undemon’s headquarters was to retrieve these twins.
In the game, it was a mandatory retrieval event, and Lydia and Niel were characters destined to become villains.
However, this was not a game but Eternity.
It was a world where, like Hansiyeon, the storyline could take any twist.
Moreover, if I wanted, I could easily break free from August’s dominance.
“Then I should stop it.”
I couldn’t just stand by and watch another villain emerge.
By loosening his control, I felt I could prevent them from being drawn in.
Since the twins, whose identities had not yet fully formed, were originally drawn to August by “dominance.”
Watching Ivonne, who had been bothering me with the twins, I said, “Ivonne, could you change my appearance with magic?”
Ivonne looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Your appearance? For what reason?”
“I just want a change of mood.”
“Understood.”
After fiddling with my face for a while, Ivonne finally smiled faintly.
“It’s done.”
Looking at the mirror on the wall, I saw a man with a cold and unfamiliar expression.
“Since you didn’t specify the appearance you wanted, I touched it up according to my taste. Is it acceptable?”
So, that’s Ivonne’s taste.
Without even asking, she must have wanted to play with dolls according to her preferences.
“It’s fine.”
It was okay, but honestly, the appearance didn’t matter much.
The important thing was whether I could hide my face from August.
If August found out that I could free the demon spawn, then there would be no trouble at all.
And so, as I finished preparing, weakening the contract August had imposed on the mages, a shrill siren echoed underground.
At that moment, some of the mages who had been resting and laughing stood in front of the elevator.
“They’re here.”
I got up from the sofa and approached Evonne, who was wearing a black robe.
“What’s going on?”
“It seems like someone tampered with the barrier outside. It’s rare, but it happens occasionally.”
Evonne didn’t consider it a significant issue, but the current situation was more than just a simple tampering with the barrier.
“August’s attack.”
Inside the Undemon, there were spies infiltrated by August, and today was the day the stronghold was exposed because of them.
Sure enough, miners coming down the stairs to report the situation.
“Let’s go together.”
I went up the underground with Evonne.
***
August’s sudden attack was shocking.
When we came up from underground, the rascals had already gathered at the entrance of the cathedral.
But there was no confrontation happening.
As if being controlled by someone, dozens of miners stood like lost dolls at the entrance of the cathedral.
Among them were agents of the Undemon who had crossed the external boundaries.
“This is…”
When Evonne opened her eyes wide.
Dozens of miners standing there all turned their heads mechanically to look at us.
“Long time no see, Evonne.”
“Long time, Evonne!”
“Long time no see, Evonne.”
“Hey, long time no see, Evonne.”
The various voices, tones, and movements echoing simultaneously from the mouths of dozens were so eerie that just watching them made one uncomfortable.
“…It’s Paut.”
Evonne said with a stiff expression.
Among August’s demon spawn, there were four executives.
They were able to control the demon spawn under August’s rule.
And one of August’s minions, ‘Paut,’ was playing this game.
《Huh?》
Paut, with an expression of surprise, looked at Evonne and the Undemon miners behind her.
《Why are you all unharmed?》
Currently, Paut was activating his ‘domination.’
The ‘threads of the contract’ reflected in my eyes were darkly tinted.
Paut was sending some idea to the miners.
However, that idea didn’t reach the miners and was cut off midway by the ‘energy’ I had buried in the thread.
《Hmm, this is really strange.》
I closely observed those who were scratching their heads or tilting their heads.
The demon spawn connected by the threads of the contract were divided into two categories.
Those with weak ties and those with strong ties.
The former was by coercion, and the latter, whether forcibly tied or not, was evidence of having made a complete contract with August.
“Oops, things are getting complicated.”
The only fortunate thing is that August’s entourage has yet to arrive.
“Ivonne, would you mind helping me out? I think I can do something about this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just grab me when I speak and teleport me to the desired location.”
After finishing my sentence, I extended my vigor towards the fellows who seemed to be enjoying our conversation.
Szaak─
Something, a thud. The sound of disconnection was heard.
And among the standing mines, the front row began to collapse.
It was a momentary loss of consciousness due to the shock of the contract being severed.
“Please move to the left.”
“Understood.”
Startled, Ivonne took my hand in response and leaped through space.
I appeared frighteningly to the left of the fellows once again, extending my vigor.
Another thud. The strands of the severed contract.
The mines collapsed one after another.
“These are!”
The retainers of Paut began to rampage belatedly.
Then, a lean man from Paut’s ranks flew towards us.
It was Paut, a high-ranking officer of August.
However, he couldn’t reach us and was blocked midway.
Kwaaang─!
The fellow who was hit by Aren’s lizard tail flew back and rolled on the ground.
Subsequently, as the unconscious mines woke up and the demon’s mines joined, a fight broke out in all directions in an instant.
Entrusting Paut to Aren, I looked beyond the unfolding battle. Along the path of the cathedral, ‘the four’ were approaching.
A pale young man in a black suit, a woman in a dress, and a giant man. They were positioned as if escorting the central youth.
Under the parasol held by the woman, the pale-faced young man walked leisurely, as if taking a stroll.
Despite the bloody battle unfolding before them, the space where the young man was seemed to maintain an eerie calm, as if cut by scissors, amidst the chaos.
─He writes interesting stuff.
A soft, melodious voice resonated in my mind.
─Wouldn’t you like to join my retinue?
The young man’s black eyes were fixed on me.
As if amused, eyes curved like crescents.
Contained within was a near-madness of ‘collecting obsession.’
The Five Demons. The Devil Maker, August.