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The Belphegor troops, who had approached nearby, all dismounted from their horses and walked toward Jeong Gyeoul’s group.

“Thank you for your help. I am Belarus, the seventh child of the Demon Realm’s Lord Belphegor.”

Belarus, who gave a surprisingly normal greeting, left the group no choice but to be flustered.

“Ah, yes… Hello.”

“I’d like to repay you immediately, but… as you can see, my current situation isn’t great. If you get the chance later, please come to Asmodeus’ territory. I’ll definitely repay you for this.”

“Asmodeus’ territory? Excuse me, but what happened to Belphegor’s territory…?”

Among the flustered group, Park Seol-hwa was the first to regain her composure and stepped forward to assess the situation.

“…Belphegor’s territory is currently at war with Satan’s army. It’s so bad that I had to flee to Asmodeus’ territory.”

“You said you’re the seventh child. What about the others?”

It might have been a sensitive question, but Park Seol-hwa didn’t seem to care.

The group also perked up their ears, clearly curious.

“My eldest brother stayed with my father on the battlefield, and the rest have scattered to the territories of other lords. The Satan army is stronger than we imagined, so the future is uncertain…”

Belarus freely shared information that seemed like military secrets.

The general standing beside him looked visibly flustered.

“We came just to express our gratitude, so we’ll take our leave now.”

When Belarus actually tried to leave after just saying thanks, Jeong Gyeoul was the one who got flustered.

“…You’re not going to ask for help or anything?”

“You’ve already saved our lives. It would be shameless to ask for more. That’s unthinkable.”

So far, the demons the group had encountered in the Demon Realm were all ridiculously kind.

Except for the Satan army, which had tried to crush them, it was hard to understand why this place was called the Demon Realm and why they were called demons.

Belarus was at the top of that list.

He was the birth of a divine being who could threaten Satan’s position as the most virtuous in the Demon Realm.

“…At this point, I’m starting to think Gyeoul exaggerated a bit when she talked about her Demon Realm travels.”

“Wow, that’s really over the top. It wasn’t like this originally, you know? Dantalion just chased me, and this… person, I don’t even know.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but… I can guess. I am a bit unusual among demons. Anyway, thank you. We’ll take our leave now…”

As Belarus bowed and prepared to mount his horse to head back to Asmodeus’ territory.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave like that? Hold on.”

Jeong Gyeoul stopped Belarus with a serious tone.

Tension began to rise between the group and the soldiers.

The general and soldiers placed their hands on their sword hilts, and the group’s eyes grew sharper as they noticed.

“Wait, everyone, hands off your swords. What kind of behavior is this toward our saviors?”

“Unnies, relax your eyes. We’re not here to fight.”

Jeong Gyeoul and Belarus, as representatives of both sides, stepped forward to stop their respective groups.

Still, Belarus couldn’t hide his tense expression and asked why they had been stopped.

“What’s the matter…?”

“We came from Satan’s territory, and there are surprisingly many soldiers guarding the rear. It’d be dangerous for you to go like this.”

“…There’s no choice. No matter how difficult the situation, we have to get to Asmodeus’ territory.”

A virtuous being of the Demon Realm who could surpass Satan.

Neither in the first nor the second journey had they encountered such a demon.

Of course, since the initiative now lay with Jeong Gyeoul’s group, it could be that he was just putting on an act.

If they had met in Belphegor’s territory, who knows what might have happened.

But Jeong Gyeoul trusted her eyes.

‘That guy seems genuinely kind.’

Jeong Gyeoul was ignoring Dantalian, but he was also a general of Satan’s army and the Demon Realm’s greatest strategist.

She thought it was only a matter of time before Belarus was captured by Satan’s army if they let him go like this.

“We’ll help you out a bit.”

“Gyeoul, we’re kind of just wandering around, but it doesn’t seem like we have that much leeway…”

“Yeah, if it were just to Belphegor’s territory, maybe… but you said you’re going to Asmodeus’ territory. How are we supposed to help?”

“One of us could just go with them and come back, but if everyone’s against it, there’s nothing we can do… It’s just too obvious they’ll get caught if they go like this.”

Honestly, Jeong Gyeoul didn’t care if they got caught or not.

But… looking at Lee Ha-yoon’s face, she was already deeply invested in the Belphegor troops.

It seemed like she’d be thinking about them the whole way to Belphegor’s territory.

If they could lower Lee Ha-yoon’s “darkening gauge” even a little, it was worth doing.

“Then I’ll go.”

“Master?”

Lee Ha-yoon felt a bit uneasy about sending herself.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her abilities, but she didn’t know how her constant emotional shifts and 14-year-old sensitivity would play out.

The other expedition members also didn’t seem too keen on volunteering.

Fortunately, Kim Yu-shin stepped up at the right moment.

“From what I saw earlier, it didn’t seem like I’d be needed on the way to Belphegor’s territory… If I escort them and return quickly, it shouldn’t be a problem. In situations like this, it’s best for the eldest to step up.”

Experience was something that couldn’t be ignored, whether it was magic power or combat strength.

In the Demon Realm, where everyone except Jeong Gyeoul was a first-timer, the experience of a Hwarang was the most reliable strength.

“…Sorry, but I’ll have to ask you to do this, Master.”

“Alright, don’t worry.”

Belarus seemed to have something to say, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He didn’t know how to react to the fact that the people who had saved their lives were now offering to escort them.

‘To think there are still such kind humans in the Demon Realm…’

Kim Yu-shin gathered his belongings and approached the Belphegor troops.

“I object. What we saw was the skill of a mage. This person seems to be a swordsman with no relation to that… How can we trust a human we’ve just met and let them join our group?”

A soldier from Belarus’ side spoke up.

The general gave him a look, and he quickly shut his mouth, but the general seemed to agree with the sentiment.

“You doubt my skills… How about this?”

*Poof*

Kim Yu-shin, who had chuckled, disappeared before the soldiers’ eyes.

“…What the!”

In an instant, Kim Yu-shin vanished from the soldiers’ sight.

They looked around in confusion, but Kim Yu-shin was nowhere to be seen.

While the other soldiers were panicking, the general immediately reacted, taking a defensive stance and guarding Belarus, but it seemed he hadn’t seen Kim Yu-shin’s new form.

Kim Yu-shin appeared behind the general, lightly knocked him over, and placed a blade at the young master’s neck.

“Ugh! What is this!”

The general quickly got up after being knocked down, but the young master was already taken hostage.

Jeong Gyeoul nodded, having confirmed their level.

‘If they had gone like that, they’d have been captured for sure. Even the general couldn’t react to that move…’

Whether the Belphegor troops were generally weak or if they had been given a weak general because Belarus was the seventh child, it was clear that they’d be dealt with by Dantalian at this rate.

“If we wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t bother escorting you around. We could just finish you off right here. By the way, any one of us here could do it.”

“Ugh…”

The general hung his head in shame.

He seemed both humiliated and ashamed in front of Belarus.

“…We’re truly grateful for your offer, but I’m curious why you’re helping us when you have nothing to gain from us.”

“As you said, we have nothing to gain. Back home, we all have wealth and power comparable to lords. If I had to give a reason… it’s that you went out of your way to avoid us when you were fleeing earlier. And that you genuinely just wanted to say thanks before leaving?”

In a world where saving someone from drowning would make them demand you hand over your belongings.

These days, it’s gotten worse—saving someone from drowning would make them sue you for why you saved them.

Honestly, 90% of it was because of Lee Ha-yoon, but there was no need to bring that up in front of her.

“Just for that reason…”

The expedition team’s offer to help for such a trivial reason brought tears to their eyes.

They had been fleeing from Satan’s army for two weeks.

Even in villages under Belphegor’s territory, they avoided soldiers out of fear of Satan’s army’s retaliation. The fact that humans they had just met were willing to help moved them deeply.

“It’s not much, but I’ll find a way to repay you. Thank you so much.”

After seeing Kim Yu-shin’s skills and hearing Jeong Gyeoul’s words, the soldiers and generals hung their heads in shame.

“As fugitives, we had to protect the young master, so we reacted too sensitively. We’re sorry.”

“…No need to apologize. It was a natural reaction from your position.”

They couldn’t linger here forever, so they bid farewell and went their separate ways.

And so, a week passed.

“Hey, human, what are you doing here? You wanna die?”

“Hey, hey, calm down. They’re here to make our night more fun.”

They had finally arrived at Satan’s army camp.

“Wow, we finally met a demon who acts like a demon! I told you! That’s what demons are like!”

Jeong Gyeoul, who had spent the week being suspected of embellishing her Demon Realm travel stories, smiled.

“Ugh! We could’ve teased them more, but why did those guys have to show up at this timing?”

“Too bad. Nothing’s as fun as watching Gyeoul tease people.”

 

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