A Heart Full of Resentment

The flames that had soared high began to die down, and the thick smoke dissipated. As the scene became clearer, it revealed Mammon, groaning on the ground, and a man grabbing the demon.

The scene widened to show the entire landscape. Mammon wasn’t the only demon fallen, nor was the man the only human present. Nearly ten demons lay scattered around Mammon, and at least one to three humans were engaged in various actions with each fallen demon.

“You filthy humans, how dare you…! Ah, aaargh!”

“Ha, haha! So, you’re a demon, huh? This female’s got quite the unique taste.”

“It hurts! It hurts so much!”

“Ah… Killing’s quite something. I like it.”

The female demon lay on the ground, wailing, as the humans took turns violating her, calling her a female. After they had their fill, they drove a sword into her neck and sliced downwards. Her body twitched once and then moved no more.

“Stop it! Ugh, ugh!”

“Sis, sis! Look at this. This monster’s got horns and wings. Think it’ll be useful? Let’s see… should we tear it off?”

“Aaaaah!”

“Forget it, just get the heart out first. The clan lord said it might boost our stats if we consume it.”

Elsewhere, the humans were engrossed in dismantling the demons, laughing as they severed necks, pulled out horns, tore off wings, and extracted hearts. The demons couldn’t endure it, their eyes rolling back as they met a pitiful end.

The scene returned to Mammon and the man. The man didn’t look unscathed either, with burns all over and significant bleeding from his left arm. But he was in better shape than the demon. Mammon was reduced to just a head and torso, his limbs severed.

“Hmm… not bad.”

The man surveyed his surroundings with a satisfied smirk. He then turned back to Mammon, reaching into the demon’s chest without hesitation. He tore through the flesh, and after three seconds, withdrew his hand, clutching something dripping with black blood.

Soon, a clear flame began to engulf Mammon’s entire body. The man, showing no further interest, tossed the burning demon aside. He then casually tossed and caught the heart in his hand, as if playing a game, and began to walk away slowly.

The flames and smoke rose again in the scene.

“That’s enough.”

As Satan’s voice echoed, the scene vanished, and the light of the magic circle faded. Darkness enveloped the space once more, and a profound silence settled in. The ‘Seven Great Demons’ were left speechless by what they had just witnessed.

As they remained silent, Astaroth broke the silence.

“Wow… what a devilish bastard. He’s a real piece of work.”

“Demon. Us.”

Baal hugged a teddy bear tightly and retorted. Astaroth scratched his head lightly and spoke quietly.

“So… Asmodeus? How did it come to this? Even if we overlook the other demons… why send Mammon?”

“Sending Mammon and the demons was Asmodeus’s original plan. However…”

Lucifer answered, pausing briefly before letting out a short sigh and continuing.

“The order got mixed up. Mammon was supposed to appear after succeeding in the Western Continent and sowing enough seeds in the Northern Continent.”

“But the Western Continent ended in failure from the start.”

Astaroth spoke incredulously, and Asmodeus hung his head even lower, now pulling at his hair.

“Kel… I know I was hasty. But! Mammon’s appearance was perfect. It was flawless, given the time and effort invested! I thought it was the perfect move to turn this frustrating situation around…”

“But it was completely blocked. They arrived right as the summoning ritual ended, didn’t they? Ah, so that’s why you were caught off guard.”

Asmodeus tried to defend himself, but when Lilith mocked him, he fell silent with a “Kel.” However, he shot a lustful glare at Lilith, which the ‘Queen of the Night’ didn’t miss.

At that moment.

“There was no problem. Although it was rushed, and I didn’t agree with the plan… at least there was no worry of the summoning being discovered. I thought so too.”

When Satan spoke, all eyes naturally turned to the ‘Adversary.’ Satan lightly tapped the armrest and continued quietly.

“But as Lilith said, they arrived right after Mammon’s summoning ritual ended. As if they were waiting for our weakest moment.”

“Secret. Leak.”

“An internal traitor, perhaps. But Baal, there’s another way to look at it.”

“Another way. How.”

Baal tilted his head in confusion. Satan smiled gently, removed his hand from his forehead, and finally looked up to survey everyone.

“Maybe they already knew the summoning location.”

“Are you saying the angels told them?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility, but there was no sign. Even though Mammon had significant influence, there was no noticeable change in causality.”

“Then…”

Astaroth asked, still puzzled, not grasping the meaning behind Satan’s words.

“Well… let’s end the meeting here for now.”

At that moment, Satan slowly rose. He was barely over 180 cm tall, an ordinary-looking man in terms of physique.

“Already? Where are you going?”

Astaroth shouted.

Thud.

But as the ‘King of All Demons’ took a step, the quiet space suddenly trembled. Satan took another leisurely step with his left foot.

“Today’s purpose was fulfilled by showing the video.”

“Even so…”

“It’s still not enough. And… while we can cooperate when necessary, aren’t we fundamentally independent entities?”

”…Just say you don’t know, or that you’ll find out. No need to be so cryptic and roundabout…”

Astaroth muttered quietly. Satan didn’t respond.

As Satan vanished from the space, the remaining six demons rose one by one.

Thud!

A young man leapt up a tree like a bird. As he grabbed a thick branch, he tried to propel himself upwards again.

Snap!

But perhaps he used too much force? The branch snapped with a sound, and the young man’s body swayed. He frantically waved his arms to regain balance but ultimately fell to the ground.

Thud!

He crashed to the earth. Reflexively trying to get up, he placed his hands down but collapsed again.

“Brother!”

A voice called out urgently, accompanied by the sound of someone running. Judging by the term “brother,” it was a male voice, yet it carried a somewhat feminine tone.

“Brother! Hyun! Are you okay?”

”…Ugh. I’m not dead.”

The young man, Hyun, managed to roll over and look up at the sky. Suddenly, a small head popped into his view, eyes filled with concern. Hyun gave a bitter smile.

“Move, will you? I’m already dizzy… My head hurts.”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. Everything’s spinning. The sky’s spinning. The moon’s spinning. The stars are spinning.”

“Brother…”

As Han-gyeol lowered his head dejectedly, Hyun sprang to his feet. He let out a long sigh and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

A forest. That’s all he saw. Towering trees and dense underbrush. The night in the heart of the forest was accompanied by an eerie silence and stillness.

Hyun’s eyes, scanning the forest, were filled with fatigue. His eyes were sunken, and his lips were parched. His attire was almost ragged, resembling a beggar. It seemed his inability to get up earlier wasn’t just due to the impact of the fall.

“Brother, what should we do now…?”

Perhaps driven by rising anxiety, Han-gyeol cautiously called out to Hyun. But Hyun didn’t answer immediately. He simply raised a hand, signaling for silence, and after a moment, nodded.

“Alright. No one’s around. We can relax for now.”

“Then, how about resting for a bit? You’ve been exhausted since we got out of there…”

“No. We can’t.”

“But brother…”

Han-gyeol pleaded with a desperate voice, but Hyun shook his head firmly. Now that his head had cleared a bit, Hyun picked up a black spear and remained vigilant.

“We’re not out yet. We’ve only escaped the worst part. Unless we get out of this mountain, resting isn’t really resting. This whole mountain is as good as the enemy. Understand?”

“But we’ve been wandering these mountains for days now. Wouldn’t it be better to stop pushing ourselves like this…?”

Yet, Ahn Hyun seemed resolute, showing no intention of changing his mind. He lowered his spear and ruffled Han Kyul’s hair roughly.

“Hey, kid. When our leader took us around, this was nothing but a warm-up. How can you start complaining already?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Han Kyul forced a smile, not wanting to whine any further.

The warmth between them was fleeting. Soon, the two young men had to face the harsh reality again.

“Han Kyul, let’s keep moving. We need to head downwards, no matter the direction. Our priority is to get off this mountain.”

Ahn Hyun spoke up. Han Kyul nodded and began to follow Ahn Hyun’s unsteady steps.

Crunch, crunch. Crunch, crunch.

How long had they been walking? The sky grew darker, and the path was nowhere to be seen. Despite their steady pace, it felt like they were on an endless road. An eerie chill crept over them, and the only sound in the dense forest was their footsteps.

Han Kyul glanced around and spoke in a weary voice.

“Maybe we should’ve listened to the Clan Lord. We shouldn’t have come here…”

“I’m regretting it too. We should’ve listened when Ha Yeon told us not to.”

Ahn Hyun agreed, prompting Han Kyul to speak again.

“Do you think the Clan Lord will be really angry when he returns?”

“Soo Hyun? Probably. We took on a mission without permission, failed it, left the clients behind, and ran away. We’ve tarnished our perfect mission success rate. Plus, he specifically told us not to take any interest or assignments related to this place… He won’t just be angry.”

As Ahn Hyun laid out the facts, Han Kyul shivered. He had seen the Clan Lord angry a few times during his time with the mercenaries. It wasn’t that Soo Hyun was quick to anger, but when he did, his fury was relentless, something Han Kyul knew all too well.

Sensing Han Kyul’s gloom, Ahn Hyun gave a bitter smile.

“Don’t worry. It’s not your fault. I dragged you into this… Anyway, let’s focus on finding a way down. Getting scolded is better than dying, right?”

”…”

“Right?”

”…”

Ahn Hyun stopped walking. The silence behind him was unsettling.

He quickly turned around to find Han Kyul standing there, staring blankly. Ahn Hyun rushed over.

“What are you doing?”

”…Hyung, just a moment.”

Han Kyul lifted his head, holding something in his hand. Ahn Hyun looked down to see a broken tree branch.

“What’s the big deal about a branch…?”

In that instant, a realization flashed through Ahn Hyun’s mind. He quickly raised his head, scanning the forest around them.

His gaze stopped at a particular tree. It was the same tree he had climbed earlier, only to fall. The broken branch in Han Kyul’s hand matched the one from that tree. They had been walking in circles.

But not everything was the same.

Creak… Creak…

A slow, grinding sound of something swaying and wood creaking reached their ears.

“Damn it…”

Ahn Hyun cursed instinctively, sensing something was terribly wrong. He slowly raised his eyes from the base of the tree.

The first thing he saw was the dark blue hue of the tree’s base.

Next, he noticed something like a black plastic sheet fluttering gently in the wind.

Then, he saw what looked like a pair of ghostly pale feet, swinging slowly back and forth, as if something was hanging from a rope, swaying like a pendulum.

Creak… Groan… Creak… Groan…

Ahn Hyun suddenly realized how dark it had become. The moonlight that had faintly illuminated their path was gone.

Creak… Heehee… Creak… Heehee…

Ahn Hyun swallowed hard, his throat dry and parched with fear.

Finally, he looked up fully at the tree. When he saw the long hair cascading down to the ground and the blood-stained white clothes—

Crack!

With a sound like something shattering, whatever was hanging swooped down like the wind.

A chilling laugh and a piercing scream echoed through the dark forest.

---------------------------= Author’s Note ---------------------------=

Soo Hyun will appear at the end of the next chapter.

We’ll start unraveling things slowly from the next installment. :)