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Swing and stab.

Crash and break.

Head, torso, arms, legs.

The moment it hit the ice spear, it shattered, tore, and split apart.

Of course, the ice spear wasn’t unscathed either.

Sometimes it clashed with the spears and swords of the Satan Army soldiers.

Other times, it had to pierce through their armor and shields.

But the ice spear wasn’t a weapon forged in a blacksmith’s shop; it was a weapon created by magic.

Even if the ice spear broke or shattered, throwing it away would instantly create a new one.

Though it had limited durability, as long as there was magic power, the spear itself was infinite.

Every time a blue light appeared, red blood gushed out.

Even the seemingly fearless soldiers flinched, but that was only a small fraction.

They still didn’t stop rushing into Jeong Gyeoul’s space.

The ice spear, true to its name, was neither a sword nor a mace but a spear.

Its superior range was its advantage, but that same range was also its weakness.

The thought was that if they could just close the distance, they wouldn’t be able to move as freely as they were now.

It was a valid point, an obvious weakness when thinking of a spear as a weapon.

Crack!

Unfortunately, not a single demon succeeded, and that was the problem.

To be precise, even if they managed to close the distance, it was impossible to injure Jeong Gyeoul.

Dozens, hundreds of soldiers surrounded a single girl.

Occasionally, there were demons with good agility mixed in.

Some demons carried unusually sturdy weapons or wore armor, seemingly custom-made rather than standard military gear.

Covering all 360 degrees perfectly without the help of magic or supernatural abilities was tough even for Jeong Gyeoul.

But there was something holding her back from using other abilities recklessly and depleting her magic power.

Satan was throwing soldiers at her while focusing on recovery.

Even if she created a new ice spear every time one broke, the recovered magic power was greater.

As for stamina, whenever she got winded, she could go to where the expedition team was fighting, rest a bit, and then return.

There was a limit to stamina, so it wasn’t an infinitely usable method, but it was enough to conserve energy for facing Satan.

Of course, if the generals stepped in, it wouldn’t be so easy to conserve stamina like this.

‘So, I’ll leave the strong ones to the expedition team and Mammon’s generals.’

Jeong Gyeoul strictly dealt with only the soldiers, reducing their numbers.

Glancing diagonally behind her, Mammon’s soldiers were fighting bare-handed without swords.

Soldiers who succeeded in killing their opponents picked up weapons from the ground and rejoined the battle.

‘…Ahem.’

Jeong Gyeoul quickly turned her head away.

She felt like some Mammon soldiers were looking at her but chose to ignore it.

She tried to erase the memory of silently using and breaking countless soldiers’ weapons.

She focused solely on defeating the Satan Army.

‘Since I broke their weapons, I’ll fight for them instead. It’s fair.’

The Satan Army swarmed endlessly, like angry bees whose queen had been attacked.

Kill one, and five would rush in.

Kill five, and ten would rush in.

It was as if they were multiplying endlessly.

Wherever Jeong Gyeoul passed, corpses piled up like mountains, and blood flowed like rivers.

“Shit… is this for real? She’s single-handedly annihilating our army…”

“She’s just a human! Eventually, her stamina will run out, and then… gah!”

No matter what the Satan Army soldiers muttered, Jeong Gyeoul just silently walked forward.

By then, the soldiers’ eyes began to change.

Humiliation? Insult? Shame?

The emotions they felt toward a crazy human who was taking on an army single-handedly weren’t those.

It was awe, as if they were looking at a god, and the fear of dying while opposing that god.

More and more soldiers began to throw down their weapons.

“What are you doing! Pick up your weapons!”

“…No, we can’t win. That’s just… a calamity.”

The ice spear, a mix of blue and white, would turn red within 10 seconds of being created.

As the blood-stained, menacing weapon swept past the soldiers.

One soldier instinctively threw himself to the ground, rolling away.

The soldier next to him, who didn’t dodge, had his head fly off.

Realizing he was alive, he threw down his weapon and flattened himself on the ground.

Jeong Gyeoul didn’t break her promise to spare those who threw down their weapons.

“…I’m alive.”

It wasn’t just the soldier who had rolled on the ground.

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

The groans and screams that had been increasing began to decrease at some point.

The soldiers’ eyes, now lifeless, were filled only with fear.

The act of throwing down weapons seemed to spread like a contagion among the soldiers.

Ten soldiers became five.

Five became one.

Finally, when even that one didn’t block her path.

Jeong Gyeoul realized the war was over.

“Pant, pant… how many did I kill?… This is nothing compared to the Satan Church incident.”

Asmodeus, whose hand was crushed by Jeong Ha-yul, was still sprawled out.

Lucifer, whose limbs were severed by Jeong Gyeoul, was still regenerating.

Satan, who was recovering his stamina and magic power…

Looked at the scene caused by a single human and sighed.

‘We can’t win against that…’

In the battlefield where only silence flowed.

Clang—

The sound of the last remaining weapon falling was heard.

***

The Mammon Army soldiers killed Lucifer and Asmodeus without a chance to stop them.

The two lords who led the Demon Realm met such a futile death.

But no one had the guts to touch Satan, who still looked intact.

The expedition team and Mammon were looking down at a horned demon kneeling with his head bowed.

“We have to kill him.”

“Hmm… but we said we’d spare those who threw down their weapons.”

“If we leave Satan alive, he’ll cause trouble again.”

“Half of the soldiers we brought are dead, and we’ve suffered massive losses. If you become Satan’s restraint, wouldn’t that work?”

After being beaten this badly, why are they still so scared?

“Right now, it might be possible, but after years, decades, and finally centuries pass, I might not be able to stop Satan.”

“Wow, you’re really going on about how weak you are.”

“…”

Satan, who had fallen from the Demon Realm’s best personality to its greatest failure, had a look of complete resignation.

This wasn’t the Satan I knew.

It was like a child who grew up seeing their father’s broad back, only to realize as an adult how narrow it really was.

Is this what they call a love-hate relationship?

I didn’t want to kill Satan.

“Hmm…”

As I pondered, Park Seol-hwa approached me.

“How about just taking him to Earth?”

“…To Earth? Satan? This horned demon?”

“If you help, I think we can make a restraint device that even a transcendent-level being would be bound by. With that, we can limit his power to around S-Class… and put an ankle monitor on him to manage him. It’s like getting an S-Class hero for free.”

“…The Association would throw a fit.”

“That’s nothing if you, me, Ha-yul, Yu-shin, the Clock Tower, and Taebaek step in.”

The expedition team suddenly seemed terrifying.

The youngest daughter of the Taebaek Group, the guild leader of Daehyun, Kim Yu-shin leading the Hwarang (former leader of the Five Stars Guild), the heir to the Clock Tower, the Demon King Jeong Ha-yul, and me, the strongest in the world.

If we add Satan to that…

We could go toe-to-toe with the US or China right now.

“Ah, isn’t there also that setting where demons lose power when they cross into the human world?”

“That’s when they descend through a summoning ritual, not when they move using a Dimensional Stone…”

Park Seol-hwa’s words were persuasive.

I didn’t really want to kill him.

But leaving him alive would just cause Mammon to throw a fit.

If we left him, Mammon would definitely kill him.

Honestly, that kind of ending wouldn’t be so bad.

He’s lived long enough anyway.

If we use Satan as a hero, we’d benefit.

Jo Se-hee, who was once a great thief, was influenced by us and became a hero for the Association.

Why can’t Satan do the same?

“I’m against it. Why should we carry around a ticking time bomb? Our country isn’t lacking in heroes. Managing Satan might require even more manpower.”

“That’s a valid point.”

Park Seol-hwa’s opinion was countered by Jeong Ha-yul.

That also makes sense.

When you weigh the manpower needed to monitor and manage Satan against the benefits he could bring us.

The former might overwhelmingly outweigh the latter.

Looking at him now, kneeling and having given up everything, he might seem obedient.

But once on Earth, he might just cause chaos again.

“I… since it’s obvious you won’t hand him over to England, I’ll abstain.”

Lin Hazel needlessly voiced her useless opinion.

What to do…

“How about hiring Satan as an instructor at the Academy and having Gyeoul join the Academy to directly control him?”

“…”

The master said something even more useless than Lin.

That’s just trying to make me work harder.

“First of all, can a demon even qualify as an Academy instructor? And if we hire him as an instructor, wouldn’t that be the president’s responsibility?”

“Even if his level drops to S-Class, it’d be too much for me to handle alone.”

So shameless and so brazen.

“No, don’t even think about making me do that. I’m taking at least a year off when we get back.”

Park Seol-hwa and Kim Yu-shin are in favor.

Lin Hazel abstains.

Jeong Ha-yul is against.

I’m still neutral.

Hayan will side with me, so I can consider it as two votes…

“I’m against it.”

“…?”

Hayan suddenly cast a dissenting vote.

Now that she’s grown up, she’s not the little girl who used to rely on me anymore…

I felt a strange, bittersweet feeling, like watching a daughter going through puberty who won’t talk to her dad.

Two in favor, one abstention, two against.

Now, my vote would decide the outcome.

“If I say ‘Coca-Cola tastes good,’ will you hit me?”

“Yes.”

“Would you abandon me instead of Satan?”

“Gyeoul, you live here. We’re leaving.”

You heartless humans.

 

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