The Demon Kidnappers' Plot
Back when Han Ji-woo had been kidnapped by demons in the previous chapter.
Azid first checked the intruder's face. Two horns sprouting from its head, a squished-up mug, enormous ears. And flapping bat wings—this guy was Gaf, the 33rd in the Demon Realm hierarchy, a third-class high official demon ranking between 32nd and 72nd among the high officials.
"Has this bastard lost his mind?"
Irritated, Azid moved to act, but Astaroth's pale hand blocked him.
"I'll handle it."
"What's this now?"
"I can't forgive insubordination, that's all. In exchange, I get a bigger share of the next human meal."
The way she gulped down her saliva made it obvious this was just an excuse for more food. Astaroth had already become a slave to delicious cuisine. As the 29th in the Demon Realm ranks, she could more than handle a punk like Gaf.
"Capture him."
At the command, Astaroth's hidden wings burst through her back, tearing the skin.
But right then—a rare sight unfolded: Toryong transforming into a dragon and ascending to the heavens.
It was the ultimate skill from Toryong Art: True Body Descent, unleashing overwhelming power for a short time.
Toryong's razor-sharp teeth tore into Gaf's wing.
Crunch!
"Kuhahaha! First a human, now vermin from the mid-realm? What in the world is this? If the Demon King finds out, it'll be a court-martial!"
Even as chunks of his own flesh ripped away, Gaf didn't seem to feel pain—he just kept laughing maniacally.
But without wings, you're going down. Gaf's body lost its lift and plummeted.
Astaroth dashed forward, clamping her hand around Gaf's throat, while Toryong chomped the remaining wing. The moment Gaf's feet hit the ground, he was captured.
"How dare a third-class high official demon pull this shit in Prince's territory?"
Gaf met Astaroth's venomous glare without a care, cackling away.
Han Ji-woo, still gripped in the demon's grasp, was utterly dumbfounded.
What's going on here?
There were too many shocking points to count.
First: This demon named Gaf who popped up out of nowhere to kidnap him. What the hell was his motive?
Second: Toryong's sudden transformation! This one shocked him the most. Normally, the guy was just a big, half-crazy worm with some skills—nothing more, nothing less. But boom, he turns into a hornless dragon, flies up, and saves Han Ji-woo.
Third: From Han Ji-woo's experience, demons were seriously strong. That Andromalius he'd fought before coming to the Demon Realm? Azid said he was the lowest-ranked high official at 72nd. Even so, Han Ji-woo had needed Pet Physical just to barely take him down.
So Gaf had to be stronger than Andromalius at least. The name "Third-Class High Official Demon Gaf" floating over his head confirmed he was one of the top 72, so that much was clear.
Which meant even Han Ji-woo's Pet Physical wouldn't cut it against Gaf. Yet Toryong had shredded his wings and subdued him way too easily. No way did fully descended Toryong have stats that crushed a third-class high official.
All these pieces clicked together in Han Ji-woo's mind, leading to one conclusion.
This wasn't some impulsive stunt.
It was planned, and they'd deliberately let themselves get caught.
"You wouldn't have any complaints if your head went flying, right? After committing a crime like that."
Astaroth tightened her grip on Gaf's throat.
"Guhk! I just wanted to try some human meat for once."
Gaf barely squeezed out the words through his thin lips and crushed windpipe.
But his hand still hadn't released Han Ji-woo.
Suddenly—splash.
"...?"
A puddle formed at Astaroth's feet. Almost simultaneously, Azid blurred forward like lightning, and a beautiful woman's face emerged from the water.
"Bepahr!"
As Astaroth called out the demon's name from the puddle, Azid's demonic energy shot forth.
Whoosh!
But the woman's face had already vanished. And with it, Han Ji-woo and Gaf were gone too.
"Damn it."
Astaroth's eyelid twitched.
Bepahr. Third-class demon, 42nd in the Demon Realm ranks. In raw power, she was weaker than Gaf. But she had one annoying ability: spatial teleportation. Anywhere a single drop of water had fallen, she could appear.
In other words, Gaf and Bepahr had been in on this from the start.
"Azid-nim. If this goes on, the human who got taken...!"
They'll get eaten. She couldn't bring herself to say it. She knew how much hope Azid had pinned on Han Ji-woo.
But Azid didn't look as worried as Astaroth.
"Those guys won't kill Ji-woo."
"Pardon? Then... don't tell me."
Another possibility flashed in Astaroth's mind. It might be good for Han Ji-woo, but a disaster for Azid.
"They'll drag Ji-woo to the Demon King."
And report that the demon prince had been hanging out with a mid-realm human. That was a massive scandal in the Demon Realm. If it went public, even as a prince, Demon King Devil would have no choice but to execute Azid. Otherwise, his authority as king would crumble, shaking the entire Demon Realm's order.
With war just 100 days away, this couldn't happen!
Sensing the crisis, Astaroth muttered in thought.
"Anywhere there's water in the Demon Realm..."
Her gaze dropped to the floor. That puddle hadn't been there from the start. It formed the instant Gaf got snagged by Toryong while trying to nab Han Ji-woo and plummeted.
Looking closer, it was yellowish and gave off a funky smell.
"This is piss."
Exactly. Gaf had deliberately pissed himself to create it.
"Astaroth."
"Yes."
"No way those two losers cooked this up alone."
Thinking about it, yeah. No matter how much Azid was ignored and shunned in the Demon Realm, third-class high officials wouldn't dare strike like this. Azid would die too, but Gaf and Bepahr would face the same for treason.
Which meant they had a backer covering them.
Azid stroked his chin in thought.
To have that kind of pull, it'd have to be a first-class demon at least.
The names of first-class demons scrolled through Azid's mind by rank: Beelzebub, Agares, Vassago, Gamigin, Marbas, Valefor, Amon.
The one most openly hostile was Beelzebub at #1, no question. But he wasn't the type for sneaky plots like this.
Agares was an inscrutable old man with no real grudge or incidents against Azid.
Vassago, Gamigin, and Marbas just ignore me.
That left two: Valefor and Amon. And they were the only first-class high officials Azid had beaten the crap out of. It was hushed up, but the high official beatdown incident was public knowledge among the elite.
The perpetrators of that event.
"Astaroth. Between Valefor and Amon, who's more likely to pull this shit?"
After a brief pause, Astaroth answered confidently.
"Amon."
"Why?"
"For starters, Amon got beat worse than Valefor. Valefor was bedridden for three months, but Amon was out for a full year."
"And?"
"Amon's ability: past and future sight. He can peek into a target's past or future. He's probably been spying on you constantly."
"Is that something he can spam anytime?"
"Yes, but with restrictions based on the target. Against weaker foes, cooldown's a week. Stronger ones? Two weeks to a month, depending."
"Future range?"
"Three days from now."
In short, Amon had been peeking into Azid's future whenever he had time, looking for dirt. And recently, he'd glimpsed Azid cozying up with Han Ji-woo.
"If Amon really predicted this with future sight, he got insanely lucky."
"Is Amon the only one with a grudge against you?"
"Hell no. Plenty who've eaten my fists."
"Exactly. And among those grudge-holders, there might be one who can temporarily boost luck—like 'Seir'."
"Seir? Who the hell's that?"
"Third-class high official, 70th rank. That handsome guy riding a silver horse with giant griffin wings on his back."
"Oh, that pretty-boy parasite-looking fucker. His power boosts luck?"
"Yes. So Seir might've lent his power, knowing Amon had his back."
"Whatever. Beat it out of Amon first, and the rest'll spill."
"But before that, the Demon King will find out about the human."
Azid grinned.
"Will he, though?"
His gaze shifted to Toryong. The Toryong Art had worn off, returning him to giant worm form, and he was now sniffing around the dirt here and there.
"Hey, worm!"
Azid called, and Toryong popped up, head caked in soil.
"Yo-ho-ho-ho~ Even worms bite back when chomped! Why'd you call, hmm?"
"What're you doing?"
"Curious about my actions? Shall I spill, spill? The pondering worm! The brooding worm! But kind-hearted worm! I'll tell you~ Just before Ji-woo-nim got nabbed by those demons! He told me: 'Make 100 pyeong of land fertile. Then it's all over!' Yep!"
Azid nodded.
"I heard that too, just now."
"Yo-ho-ho! 'Just now' means~ you and Ji-woo-nim shared telepathy?"
"The moment Bepahr teleported, I planted a bit of my demonic energy in Ji-woo's body."
In other words, Azid's demonic blast hadn't targeted Bepahr—it was for implanting in Han Ji-woo.
Astaroth gasped.
"Pardon? No way, even for a deranged... I mean, addle-brained prince, are you sane? Sharing your demonic energy with a lowly human?"
"Shut it. Not the time. And technically, I'm half-human myself, so what's the big deal?"
Azid's demonic energy seeped into Han Ji-woo's body, allowing temporary mental communion and conversation.
"Plus, he can tap some of my authorities now, so at least he won't get punked by those demon scrubs who nabbed him."
"Sigh, fine. The energy share was unavoidable. He might hold off Gaf and Bepahr, but not Amon."
"Ji-woo told me and the worm: Make 100 pyeong fertile, and it's done."
Astaroth couldn't follow Azid's logic. Hell, even Azid didn't know why fertile land fixed everything.
But Han Ji-woo was still communicating now.
"Once that's done, I can leave the Demon Realm anytime."
Han Ji-woo's missions here were two: Fill 30 low demons to bursting satisfaction. And make 100 pyeong of land fertile. One down, one to go—then back to Hidden Space penalty-free.
But Han Ji-woo had no intention of wrapping it up like that.
"Don't worry about my safety. Let's figure out how to screw over Amon."