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Jeong Gyeoul got lost on the way, just like always.

At least this time, she had a compass from the start, and thanks to Blandiya giving her directions, it was a bit faster… but still, a bad sense of direction is a bad sense of direction.

There was no miracle of arriving in just a few hours.

Should this be considered fortunate or a disaster?

Satan’s advance was faster than expected, and Mammon had also come out to stop him.

The place where they were confronting each other was a border outpost, so thankfully, there was no need to get lost anymore.

“Perfect timing, you’re all gathered here.”

Although the technique of detecting magic power spread by Satan had been blocked, no one could fail to notice Jeong Gyeoul flying in, radiating magic power.

The sheer force of her descent was so overwhelming that even if you wanted to ignore it, you couldn’t.

At first, both Satan and Mammon thought it was an attack aimed at each other and prepared to defend by gathering their magic power, but upon realizing it was pure magic without any killing intent, they held back.

From afar, her silhouette became faintly visible, and soon she landed right between Mammon and Satan.

She knelt on her left knee, her right hand on the ground, and her other hand spread wide as if ready to take off again.

There was no rolling to absorb the impact or any such movements upon landing.

Only a limited part of her body touched the ground.

She didn’t care about damaging her joints, only going for the cool three-point landing.

It was a hero landing.

Jeong Gyeoul slowly raised her head, her eyes glowing.

“Ta-da!”

The tension in the air, which had seemed like Satan and Mammon were about to clash, evaporated instantly.

Following the cliché that the protagonist always arrives late, she stole the spotlight with her hero landing.

Not only the expedition members of Satan and Mammon but also the generals and soldiers brought by the lords—everyone’s attention was drawn to her.

“Wow… that’s the most useless pose I’ve ever seen.”

“But it was cool, a pose worth trying at least once.”

Half cheered for how cool it was, while the other half mocked it as pointless bluster and superficiality.

Jeong Gyeoul’s face turned slightly red, but she stood up straight, pretending it was no big deal.

She placed her hands on her hips and looked around.

Right next to Satan were his deputy and generals.

Behind them stood the soldiers of the Satan Army, full of vigor.

Though they looked tense, not a single soldier showed fear.

It felt like they all believed in their victory without a doubt.

On the other side stood Mammon, his deputy, his generals, and soldiers.

A bit further away were the expedition members, including Heukgu and Heukrang.

The generals and soldiers next to Mammon seemed a bit weaker compared to Satan’s forces.

Both in terms of momentum and physicality, they seemed inferior overall.

‘They boasted they could win if it was just Satan… but it looks like they’ll be crushed before Asmodeus or Lucifer even show up.’

It felt like the outcome would be decided in less than a day if the expedition members weren’t there.

It was hard to tell if the Satan Army was that strong or if Mammon’s forces were just weak.

Jeong Gyeoul, who had arrived late, quickly scanned the surroundings and assessed the situation.

‘From the looks of it, the expedition team moved without a contract… Asmodeus and Lucifer aren’t here.’

But contrary to Mammon’s thoughts, it seemed they wouldn’t be able to stop the Satan Army even without Asmodeus or Lucifer’s intervention.

Which meant the value of the expedition team was skyrocketing.

Jeong Gyeoul wasn’t the type to let such an opportunity slip by.

“Customer.”

“…Stop the chatter and write the contract quickly. Can’t you see the situation?”

“That’s not the point. You said you could handle the Satan Army without Asmodeus or Lucifer joining the fight.”

“….”

Mammon, seemingly unaware it would come to this, couldn’t respond.

Seeing this, Satan smirked, further provoking Mammon.

“A lord relying on humans for help. Why don’t you bark like a Hellhound?”

“…I thought you were the best personality in the Demon Realm, but you’re worse than a snake, the greatest scammer and swindler. Please be quiet.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m negotiating with the customer right now. Please be quiet. You’re distracting me.”

All the incidents so far were orchestrated by the sinister Satan behind the scenes.

This meant Jeong Gyeoul no longer had any reason to treat Satan as the best personality in the Demon Realm.

Especially since they were now enemies.

As expected, she launched a habitual, mindless provocation at Satan.

“Sigh… didn’t you like the favor I showed you last time?”

“The favor was nice… but the malice you showed afterward was too much.”

“Invading Mammon’s territory has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, you’re going to invade the middle realm, right? Because of that, I haven’t even eaten and have been running around.”

She had expended a lot of stamina getting here from the dark valley.

Normally, she would’ve eaten a meal at Mammon’s castle before encountering the Satan Army… but it wasn’t that kind of situation.

Of course, she wasn’t grumbling just because she was hungry… right?

As a fierce staring contest unfolded between Satan, Jeong Gyeoul, and Mammon, the small (but bigger than Jeong Gyeoul) and cute Lee Ha-yoon walked in.

Her appearance was so natural and confident that neither the expedition members nor the subordinates of Satan or Mammon thought to stop her.

“…Hayan? The adults are talking…”

“What are you talking about? Here, eat this.”

Something cold and sweet entered Jeong Gyeoul’s mouth as she was speaking.

It was a familiar taste, one she enjoyed so much she ate it regularly, but she never expected to find it in the Demon Realm.

“What’s this…?”

“Chocolate. You probably didn’t eat, right?”

“…Thanks.”

Lee Ha-yoon, who had suddenly walked over, stuffed Jeong Gyeoul’s cheek with enough chocolate to puff it up, then returned to her spot with a satisfied expression.

In the middle of a battlefield where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were lined up on both sides, ready to clash at any moment.

Jeong Gyeoul, the mercenary captain, was negotiating with two lords.

Whether she was angry from not eating, nervous about the impending war, or just thoughtless, her expression was hard to read.

But Lee Ha-yoon’s chocolate shove melted her stiff expression.

At the same time, a look of disbelief appeared on Satan and Mammon’s faces, and the atmosphere became more relaxed.

“Ahem… Anyway, customer… no, esteemed customer, the previous terms are a bit difficult.”

“Did you just call me a customer…?”

“Don’t change the subject. I need to change the terms, okay?”

“…Whatever, just make the contract.”

“Wait, I want to know what the contract terms are.”

Just as Mammon was rushing to finalize the contract, Satan intervened in the negotiation table between Mammon and Jeong Gyeoul.

Jeong Gyeoul, who wanted to jump for joy at the nice situation, forced herself to maintain a slightly troubled expression.

“That’s a bit… We’re not godless demons, we’re humans, so it’s difficult to just reveal the contract details…”

“I’ll pay ten times.”

“…What?”

“Whatever Mammon promised, I’ll promise ten times.”

“…What’s difficult in the middle realm isn’t a problem here, so I was about to say it’s fine.”

As Jeong Gyeoul rubbed her hands together and turned toward Satan, Mammon’s panic was palpable.

She sent a strange signal behind her back to reassure him, but there was no way Mammon could understand a signal even the expedition members couldn’t decipher.

Regardless, Jeong Gyeoul, excited at the thought of fleecing Satan, continued.

“I’ll take half as an advance.”

“…Now? I don’t have it now, after the war…”

“How much do you have now?”

“About five or six gold coins.”

Hearing Satan say he had no money, Jeong Gyeoul leaned on one leg, crossed her arms, and glared.

“How about I hit you once for every ten gold coins you find?”

“We’re not some back-alley thugs. At our level, we can settle things verbally…”

“Do you want to get kicked by a shoe…? Why are you suddenly talking about shoes…?”

Mammon and Jeong Gyeoul hadn’t expected to write a dimensional contract.

Jeong Gyeoul’s plan to casually write a contract and take the advance had fallen apart from the start.

‘What kind of lord only has five or six gold coins…?’

Fortunately, there was still a way to get money.

“Lord Mammon. Since things have turned out this way, do you still intend to offer those terms?”

“…Double. I’ll double it for the contract.”

“Hmm… compared to ten times, it’s still lacking… but I’ll consider it?”

Jeong Gyeoul teased with a playful expression, and Mammon looked like he had bitten into something bitter.

“Damn it…”

“Huh? Damn it? If it’s that bad, maybe siding with Satan would be better.”

Mammon felt a sense of self-loathing at the back-alley thug-like negotiation he had never experienced before.

Depending on which side Jeong Gyeoul chose, the tide of the war could change.

All he could promise was not to invade the middle realm and the mercenary fee.

Conditions Satan could also offer.

No, Satan, who had sucked money through Heukgu and Heukrang, could offer even more, making his terms better than Mammon’s.

No matter how annoying Jeong Gyeoul acted, no matter how much self-loathing or regret he felt, Mammon had to carefully choose answers that would satisfy Jeong Gyeoul’s tastes.

“Please… don’t.”

“Hmm… since you’re ‘desperately’ asking and ‘politely’ requesting, I’ll ‘graciously’ help you. I won’t add anything extra to the contract. Just think of it as a debt of gratitude.”

Jeong Gyeoul emphasized certain words as she finished speaking and tossed the dimensional contract from her pocket to Mammon.

 

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