* * *

‘Now, I’m finally entering the Demon Realm.’

It had taken much longer than expected, and they had ended up bearing unforeseen losses. Cadel clenched the pendant in front of the Retribution Gate, which was slowly emitting dark mana.

If they descended into the Demon Realm, it would be easier to summon Kunra. With his help, joining the Twilight Knight Order wouldn’t be too difficult.

The amount of dark mana was increasing, and the surroundings began to darken. Cadel looked back at the subordinates standing behind him. Their expressions were hidden by the mana, but he could feel that they were all watching him.

“We can do this. Right?”

It wasn’t a question. It was certainty. The certainty that, together, they could overcome this adversity, and because of that, the members responded with a firm nod and soft smiles.

“The Retribution Gate has opened! Everyone, move to the Demon Realm!”

With Ector’s loud shout, Cadel, who had turned his head without hesitation, closed his eyes tightly.

Demon Realm.

The sky had lost its light, the land could not produce life, and with every step, the shadow of death was etched into the underground world.

Carried on the wind were screams and the sounds of metal. Here, even someone’s laughter twisted grotesquely, and with every breath, the clean air was replaced by the choking dust that filled the lungs unpleasantly.

Everyone who entered the Demon Realm was momentarily silenced. The thick stench of despair and gloom that filled the realm was beyond imagination.

‘Even a sane person would lose their mind if locked in here for a week.’

The cracked ground made a creaking sound with every step. Cadel glanced at the dark magic shining through the gaps in the earth and surveyed his surroundings.

The knights following the Scarlet Scales Knight Order, who were leading the way, had mostly similar expressions. They were appropriately shocked, appropriately tense, and appropriately unsettled. The atmosphere of the Demon Realm was horrific, but the scenery wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to them.

“Aside from how excessively dark and gloomy it is, it’s not much different from a human village.”

It was as Garuel said. The Demon Realm they had descended into had houses and buildings presumed to be inhabited by demons, even wells. The skewers with peeled human skins, eerie cemeteries, and piles of corpses that they had vaguely imagined were nowhere to be seen.

After confirming that everyone had descended through the Retribution Gate, Cadel stopped and raised a hand. At his gesture, the knights who had been advancing halted. Through the disordered atmosphere, Cadel’s voice cut through.

“Let’s spread out and search the buildings.”

This place was an undeniable stronghold of demons. However, even after the Knight Order had descended into the Demon Realm and invaded the inner part of the village, no demons had attacked them. There wasn’t even a trace of any presence.

Cadel, who had suggested the search, pushed aside all his subordinates and set out on his own.

Having reached the outskirts of the village, he stood in front of a house made of unidentifiable black bricks. Holding his breath, he pressed his ear to the tightly shut door, and, ready to fire at any moment, he charged a fireball.

‘I can’t hear anything…… Is it really empty?’

Focusing a little more on the sound, Cadel harshly kicked the door. He had expected it to be locked, but the door opened with astonishing ease at a single kick.

Cadel fired a fireball into the house without hesitation, watching carefully for any screams or counterattacks.

“……It’s really empty, huh?”

As he entered, pushing through the black smoke, the interior revealed itself to be completely vacant. The opposite wall had been torn apart by a reckless attack, and there were only debris left from what had once been furniture.

“It’s definitely not just a facade of a house.”

As he nudged a broken dish on the floor with his foot, he squinted his eyes. It was a single-story house, so there was no attic to hide in, and there were no doors leading to a basement. This place was truly empty.

“Well, let’s leave it for now.”

Having confirmed that there were no enemies, Cadel clenched the pendant. As he infused mana into it and called for Kunra, a red aura quickly formed outside the pendant and materialized into shape.

“Looks like you’ve finally arrived.”

Kunra immediately sensed that Cadel had reached the Demon Realm without even having to check his surroundings. As soon as Kunra had fully manifested, Cadel gathered his mana and spoke.

“We’ve arrived in a place like a village, but I can’t sense anything. Did all the demons who lived here cross over to the Human Realm? Or are they in hiding?”

“You don’t even give me a chance to adapt.”

“Adapt? You’re only saying that because you don’t know what we went through on the way down here.”

At the sharp retort, Kunra sighed and slowly looked around the area. His gaze, which had lowered, seemed to sweep over the house nonchalantly, and then he spoke in an intrigued tone.

“It’s not hiding. There’s definitely no one here.”

“So the demons who lived here have already……?”

“Look at this.”

With a casual wave of his hand, Kunra moved his arm as if brushing something invisible out of the air. Instantly, the space before them shook violently, and what had been invisible until now became clear.

“What is this……?”

“It’s a magic circle.”

“I know that without you telling me!”

The magic circle surrounded them. A spell made of dark purple mana filled the space they stood in. If it hadn’t been for Kunra, he might not have even noticed its existence. But that wasn’t the only problem. The shape of the magic circle itself was the issue.

“It’s in the shape of a clock. There are numbers written on it, too.”

The shape resembled a clock, but only the numbers and the hour hand were visible. Moreover, it didn’t move according to actual time. The hour hand was spinning at a pace much faster than the real time. Cadel furrowed his brows at the unfamiliar magic circle.

“Did they just mimic the shape of a clock? But even the hour hands in other magic circles are moving at the same speed…… What exactly is this?”

The hour hand, which had pointed to 3 o’clock, had now passed 6 o’clock and was heading toward 7 o’clock. Cadel, glancing at the rapidly moving hour hand, was overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of unease. Hesitating, he kneeled down and placed his hand on the magic circle.

“For now, I should deactivate the magic circle……”

But before he could infuse mana into it—

“Ugh……!”

Without a word, Kunra, who had been staring at the magic circle, grabbed Cadel’s cloak and yanked him outside. Almost as if he were flying, Cadel was thrown out of the house, gasping for air as he clutched his neck.

What was he doing? Bewildered and irritated, Cadel was about to protest when Kunra’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Everyone, get out of the house.]

Along with the voice came the sensation of his body being enveloped in scale armor. Cadel instinctively sensed that something was terribly wrong, and the very next moment—

Boom! Crash!

With a deafening explosion, a wave of intense heat, accompanied by strong pressure, slammed into them from the front. Kunra instinctively curled his body around Cadel, shielding him in his arms.

“Kunra……!”

“It’s a time bomb. To create such a trap with a magic circle…… impressive.”

Kunra’s eyes quickly caught sight of the magic circle, which was visible through the collapsing house and the falling debris. The clock-shaped magic circle had been a time bomb triggered by the presence of intruders. Once the hour hand made a full rotation and pointed to 12 o’clock again, the bomb would explode, obliterating the house and any unwelcome guests.

With such a dangerous magic circle, combined with concealment magic, had it not been for Kunra, Cadel would have been swept up in the explosion without even having the chance to react.

“……Tch.”

As the loud explosions reverberated around them, Kunra covered Cadel’s ears. Cadel, feeling Kunra’s hand over his ears, grasped it and braced himself, tightening his body.

‘Could it be that the whole village was a trap……? If it hadn’t been for Kunra, both I and my allies would have been annihilated.’

This was the heart of enemy territory. Their stronghold. Knowing that, Cadel should never have recklessly disturbed the village. The thought that his poor judgment might have caused harm to his allies made cold sweat drip down his back.

As the explosion, which had been deafening to the point of numbing his ears, finally subsided, Cadel staggered out of Kunra’s arms and gasped for air.

“I need to check on the subordinates.”

Despite the scale armor covering him and being held in Kunra’s embrace, his head was still spinning. Even in this state, Cadel was worried that his subordinates might not have been able to avoid the explosion, and he wanted to go find them.

“Wait.”

“Let go!”

Kunra had heard no information regarding the progress of the war. He had not checked on Cadel’s situation until Cadel called out to him, consciously aware of the system. He needed to understand the situation in order to take appropriate action.

But for Cadel, the safety of his subordinates came first. Kunra understood this well, so in the end, there was no choice but to delay the explanation. Asking for an explanation at this time would only result in useless information.

“With those short legs, you’ll only be wasting time. Should I carry you?”

“They’re not short!”

Kunra lazily followed Cadel as he hurried away. There was no sign of concern from Kunra about whether the humans who hadn’t followed his voice were injured. It wasn’t that he was indifferent to their well-being.

“Damn, without this shield, we’d all be dead.”

“My ears are still ringing.”

“Is that a fairy’s shield? How many times do I owe my life to it?”

As he spread his voice, the mana that enveloped the area also wrapped around them. This vast mana protected all humans, except for Cadel, who was with Kunra.

“An ice shield…… Lord Hyron?”

As Cadel hastily moved forward, he noticed the ice shield that surrounded the knights and gradually slowed his pace. Kunra quickly caught up with him, standing side by side.

“Excessive protection is for yourself. Right now, there’s nothing more important than you.”

“Don’t say that. There’s so much that’s more important than me, which is why we can still fight.”

Cadel, irritated by Kunra’s advice, shifted his gaze. What he was looking at was a single house still standing amidst the ruined village, and in front of it, the back of Garuel, who stood motionless.

Cadel, keeping an eye on the knights who were still assessing the situation, approached Garuel. Up close, Garuel appeared unharmed and in good condition. He shook off the ice shield around him and looked inside the house with a grim expression.

“Garuel!”

“……Knight Commander.”

Garuel slowly turned his head and gave an awkward smile. Cadel pulled him by the arm, pulling him away from the house.

“There was an invisible magic circle set up inside the house. If it hadn’t been for Lord Hyron’s shield, we all would’ve been seriously injured. Since your house is still intact, it seems there was no trap there. What’s the difference?”

“No, there’s a magic circle here too.”

“What? Then…… did you not go inside the house at all? It’s said to be a magic circle that activates when it detects the presence of humans. If it hasn’t been triggered yet, we need to carefully deactivate it……”

“I did go inside. I stayed a little longer even after hearing Kunra’s voice.”

Then why was only the house Garuel entered still intact? Seeing the confusion in Cadel’s eyes, Garuel let out a low sigh. He then turned away from Cadel and took a step toward the house.

“What are you doing, Garuel?! It’s dangerous, come out!”

“Don’t follow me, just watch from there.”

Cadel, shocked, tried to stop him, but Garuel’s attitude was calm and indifferent. Even though he knew the house would explode, why was he acting so recklessly? Cadel didn’t understand at all, but he couldn’t just forcefully stop him either.

As Garuel entered the house, he turned back to look at Cadel through the wide-open door.

“Even if I go inside, the magic circle won’t activate. As you said, Knight Commander, this magic circle only activates when it detects the presence of humans.”

“What does that mean……?”

“It seems they judged me to be a demon.”

Garuel gave a wry smile, then quickly adjusted his mask, trying to act nonchalant.

“As long as it’s just me inside, the house won’t explode. If you give me a little time, I’ll try to deactivate the magic circle alone. I’ll also check for any other traps while I’m at it.”

Cadel bit his lip as he watched Garuel’s back. There was no sign of agitation, anger, disbelief, or frustration in Garuel. It was as if he had resigned himself to everything, silently accepting whatever had happened to him.

It didn’t sit well with Cadel. The way Garuel seemed so numb to the pain as if it no longer affected him, irritated him. Suddenly, in a fit of impulse, Cadel dashed into the house without hesitation.

“Knight, Knight Commander?”

“Kunra has already figured out everything about the magic circle. It’s pointless to waste time here. Let’s just blow it up.”

“But……?”

“It’s a terrible magic circle. We can abandon it.”

Who’s the demon here? Garuel was no match for the arrogant demons. His brilliant conviction couldn’t be diminished by anything.

Cadel irritably dragged Garuel outside. After loudly warning about the impending explosion, Cadel quickly evacuated the nearby knights and created a double shield over himself and Garuel.

Then, turning to the still-stunned Garuel, he spoke.

“This isn’t where you belong. You’re just passing through, looking for something you lost.”

“……”

“So don’t make that face like you’ve been forcibly dragged back to your homeland.”

Garuel’s place was the high skies, the clear air, the land teeming with life and light. Demon blood could make him strong, but it couldn’t make him miserable.

For a moment, Garuel met Cadel’s firm gaze, before finally softly lifting the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“Even with the mask on, you can feel that?”

“I guess you don’t know, but you’re pretty transparent. Just being near you gives off this vibe like ‘I’m bitter,’ you know?”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

Knight Commander must really like me. His playful remark was swallowed by the explosion that followed. Reflexively, Garuel pulled the stunned Cadel into his embrace and kissed him on the forehead.