Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Two Choices
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“Where is the soul of Magan, who just died?”
A riddle-like question.
Deius’s body trembled faintly, struck by the shock of his identity already being pierced through.
What might happen if he misspoke here?
Would they really let him go?
Such thoughts swirled in his mind, yet he couldn’t help the greed rising within him.
If she truly was a demon...
Couldn’t she revive him?
Demons in legends and fairy tales often granted human wishes.
“W-well, your answer.”
Deius took a slow, deep breath at the secretary’s urging. He had no idea what the right answer was.
How could he know where Magan’s soul was? His head grew hot, tempted to blurt out that he didn’t know.
The throbbing in his right hand silenced him. That great Kim Shin-woo had staked his life in battle yet failed to kill the archdemon.
Even after mutual destruction using the gem called Remegaton, days later, the being had casually smiled and offered a handshake as if nothing had happened.
‘Did it really die that easily?’
The archdemon Magan?
His eerie smile still felt like it was crushing Deius. His empty right hand seemed to whisper the answer.
“It’s gone.”
The curt word drew puzzled looks from the others, but the secretary’s eyes twitched faintly.
“Magan’s soul is not here.”
Reading her trembling gaze, Deia stepped beside Deius, lending weight to his words.
She couldn’t see souls, but Deia had reached the same conclusion.
“Because he isn’t dead.”
The firm declaration carried conviction. He’d already said it aloud. Even if it wasn’t the right answer, he needed to own it boldly.
Those unaware Magan was an archdemon stared in confusion, checking his corpse again.
His body lay sprawled in gruesome ruin.
But in that instant, as the secretary’s lips twisted in humiliated fury, glaring at him...
“Heh, heheheheh!”
Mad laughter echoed from the darkness. The voice brimmed with immense joy, unnerving everyone.
“Hahahahaha! Yes! That’s right! You are Deius Verdi! That’s how it has to be!”
From the opposite side of the secretary.
The voice emerging from the darkness belonged to the man they all knew.
President Magan.
Hidden in the shadows beyond the light, he kept laughing.
“Only then can I savor that flavor of yours again! Only then can I devour you, my exquisite delicacy!”
The archdemon was genuinely delighted, convinced Deius Verdi was real.
“Has your momentum and presence softened because your right hand was severed? How human! Truly human! That’s why you’ll taste even better!”
“......”
“Nothing surpasses a human who bears karma, overcomes trials, and forges unyielding conviction.”
Whoosh!
A fierce gust extinguished the white flames born of the saintess’s holy power, plunging them into thick darkness.
“You’re a nuisance, saintess.”
The moment the holy power vanished, they realized Magan was moving.
Deia urgently tried to shout for someone to protect Lucia, but it was too late.
“Eek!”
With Lucia’s scream, flames erupted anew, illuminating the surroundings.
But this time, not white holy flames—these were the violet flames conjured by Magan.
Before the rising flames stood Magan, cradling the fallen Lucia in his arms.
Tairn, seeing this, swung his staff and charged desperately.
“Shh.”
Magan’s hand gripped Lucia’s throat, forcing Tairn to halt.
“One move, and it snaps.”
Giggling wickedly, Magan’s long tongue licked the unconscious saintess’s cheek.
“H-how...?”
“What is this?!”
“The president is dead...”
The people panicked at the sight of the living president.
The secretary stepped forward, calming them.
“This is the substitute I mentioned. Even if every one of you dies here, we can craft identical puppets and send them out.”
“Puppets?”
“Insane.”
“Did anyone suspect the Magan who announced the banquet’s start was a fake?”
Her single remark silenced the flood of condemnation. She was right.
No matter the method, they hadn’t realized the assassinated Magan was fake until she told them.
If they died here now...
And puppets crafted by the Clock Republic returned to their nations?
Gulps echoed loudly.
These were influential figures in their countries. Imagining puppets loyal to the Clock Republic in their places was horrifying.
“Do you grasp the situation now? We’re offering a chance. Die cold as bug food here, or survive for now.”
The crawling sounds they’d heard revealed their source. As the saintess’s holy power faded, hundreds of insects scurried past their feet.
They writhed excitedly, eager to devour humans.
“How do we survive?”
Jordia of the Jerman Kingdom raised his hand slightly and asked. Others shot him scornful glances, but he remained calm.
“As expected of the Desert Divine Beast, so wise. Remember the cigars we gave you before the banquet?”
“Drugs.”
“Heh, they’re legal in the Clock Republic. Though not the kind sold in markets.”
The secretary slowly drew cigars from her bosom.
“Smoke these, and you’ll have no choice but to obey us. And you’ll do it gladly!”
Her words amounted to mind control. Even Jordia’s eyes wavered, but cheers erupted elsewhere.
“W-wait. Cigars?”
Tom of the Valestan Duchy—the only one here who’d smoked cigars—panicked, patting himself down.
Seeing this, the secretary smiled and reached out.
“Ah, let’s see how it’s working.”
Snap!
She flicked her fingers, and Tom’s expression calmed. He bowed his head slowly, then let out a chuckle.
“Ridiculous. Why was I so panicked? What a fool I was.”
“Tom?”
The duchy’s heir cautiously called to him. Tom spread his arms with a beaming smile.
“This is it! This is what I’ve sought my whole life! Ah, why did I ever fear it? This is pure joy!”
“T-Tom?”
“No need to fear at all. Ah, now I’m even embarrassed by my panic.”
Tom beamed with genuine joy. He wasn’t a different person—he was clearly Tom, truly happy.
“Tom! Snap out of it!”
At the heir’s shout, Tom merely shrugged.
“I’m perfectly sane. I’ve simply awakened to truth and reality. Ah, my past life was such folly.”
Tom’s sudden change.
Naturally, the others disapproved.
But the secretary smiled warmly and proposed.
“Smoke the cigars and join us? Or die cold as bug food here?”
The demon’s ultimatum.
Silence filled the banquet hall, broken only by crawling insects. The first to approach the secretary was Han So, the elder from the Han Empire.
“A body that’ll die of old age anyway. I can at least avenge the empire that discarded me, once called a war god.”
“Han So-nim!”
“How could you?!”
Condemnation erupted from the Han Empire delegation, but the hunched elder stood resolutely before the secretary.
She smiled and offered a cigar.
“Welcome.”
“Ahh.”
Han So’s hand rose toward the cigar—then higher still.
Boom!
His fist, coiled in an instant, smashed perfectly into the secretary’s jaw.
“How dare you test my loyalty!”
Han So relentlessly struck the airborne secretary. The delegation, realizing he’d feigned betrayal to fight with his life, cheered.
The war god Han So knew this was his peak, his life’s final blaze.
A flash of brilliance.
He exuded the prowess of his war god days.
Crunch!
But insects swarmed his feet, gnawing his flesh. He gritted his teeth.
Boom!
He slammed the floor, repelling them with mana and wind pressure.
“...!”
Only a few scattered; more piled on from behind.
“Aaahhh!”
Screams and spurting blood. The secretary rubbed her struck jaw, scowling.
“Old man’s got strength.”
Crunch!
Her hand pierced toward Han So’s heart like a spear amid the insects.
The life of the man once called a war god who pacified an era ended in futility.
Devoured by bugs, not even a corpse remained.
“Fine, kill the entire Han Empire group.”
At her words, Tom of Valestan charged first, tearing into the delegation per her command.
His massive frame suited the bear moniker, and his brutal style matched.
Even amid the slaughter, others dared not move.
The secretary’s gaze dared them, like Medusa’s petrifying stare.
Soon after...
The insects that devoured the Han Empire delegation morphed into human shapes.
From the valiant war god Han So to the rest.
The secretary pointed, smiling.
“See? No matter your choice, it doesn’t matter to us. Things will flow as we desire.”
Yet they offered this ultimatum because...
As demons, they craved toying with humans.
“You’d have to think that way.”
A quiet woman’s voice pierced the heavy mood. Deia, standing between her brothers, fixed her gaze on the secretary.
“You’re demons. So you go through this elaborate process just to toy with humans.”
“......”
“Do you really think you’ve balanced the scales evenly? From my view, you want us to smoke those cigars.”
One path led to certain death; the other sacrificed humanity for slim survival.
Deeper scrutiny revealed otherwise.
Smoking granted a future, however controlled—perhaps treatable back home.
Smoking meant betting on that hope, discarding one’s current self.
They dangled that hope, subtly urging them. Most couldn’t bear sending flawed puppets to their nations.
Deia’s finger pointed at the emotionless fake Han Empire delegation.
“There’s something wrong with those, right? Isn’t there?”
“Hoo.”
“Pretending it’s two choices, when you just want things your way.”
The secretary’s rising smirk slowly, very slowly, fell.
“You siblings are truly annoying.”