The Demon's Offer
Night had settled over the battlefield.
Belphegor slowly raised his hand. A flickering violet magical energy sparked at his fingertips.
That eerily ominous power drew lines, formed patterns, and eventually completed a single magic circle.
Flash!
The conjured spell activated!
Water Serpents
Kaaaaaaaaa———!
Water snakes burst from the magic circle.
Their targets were the insolent Brazilian hunters who had turned their backs and fled.
One, two. Countless serpents swarmed forward as if competing to be the first to sink their fangs into human flesh.
At that exact moment, spheres of light came flying in.
Crunch!
“Don’t look back! Just keep running!”
At Park Su-bin’s shout, the milky-white orbs tore through the horde of water snakes at terrifying speed.
They shattered the lead serpent’s fangs and crushed the head of the one right behind it.
The remaining snakes tangled together in confusion, blocked by the relentless barrage of light. At first glance it looked like a perfect defense, but the difference in composure was obvious from their expressions alone. While Belphegor remained perfectly relaxed, Park Su-bin clenched his teeth tightly, sweating from the strain.
And sure enough, just as he began to be pushed back—
Clap!
Park Su-bin brought his palms together. His black mink coat fluttered as it awakened the Cloak of Karakum.
The orbs flared with savage light all at once.
Crunch!
They devoured.
The horde of water snakes was sucked into the spheres of light.
Belphegor stared at the sight with piercing intensity.
“Oh? You’re eating my magic? No wonder you had the nerve to act so relaxed in front of me. You were hiding such a cute little trick.”
The moment Belphegor’s eyes shifted from simple curiosity to genuine interest.
And then—
“How fascinating.”
It was also the moment his words carried true sincerity.
The atmosphere changed. His magical power exploded. The air itself vibrated.
In an instant, violet magic circles filled the entire area.
The night glowed with malevolence.
Soon came the screams. A ghastly wail that seemed to rise from the deepest abyss of hell tore at the soul.
KKKKkkkkkkkk——!
And then.
The instant Belphegor’s smile flashed with chilling menace, the violet magic circles pulsed with eerie light.
“This is worth watching a little longer.”
“!!”
The magic circles scattered everywhere opened at once.
A waterfall poured forth. Lava erupted.
The waterfall transformed into a house-sized anaconda that opened its maw wide, while the lava flowing across the ground birthed fire-formed crocodiles that snapped their jaws, trying to swallow everything in a single bite.
All of it was aimed straight at Park Su-bin.
Grind!
“…Ugh!”
At first Park Su-bin had tried to block the overwhelming assault with walls, but he immediately realized the truth.
This power was absurd. It was completely different from any magic he had blocked before!
He had to use everything he had!
The Karakum Gauntlet on Park Su-bin’s left hand radiated light.
The orbs immediately shifted into a spherical shield around him, then transformed into the shape of a giant that began throwing wild punches.
A giant and its master struggling desperately within a catastrophe of water and fire.
And Belphegor watching with fascination.
“How curious. It clearly possesses physical force and magical circuits, yet it’s neither magic nor sorcery?”
Let’s see how far you can keep up.
Snap. Belphegor flicked his fingers. The magical energy surged violently as the spell’s output increased.
The anaconda formed from the waterfall grew larger, and when the fire crocodiles submerged in lava leaped out again, their numbers had multiplied.
Can you handle this too? Can you follow me this far?
Belphegor’s magical assault grew stronger by the second, as if testing him.
Frankly, there probably weren’t even a hundred people on the entire planet who could block this onslaught head-on.
If you narrowed it down to those under thirty? Not even ten.
But.
Even so.
Park Su-bin endured this hell where every second felt like an hour.
When the Karakum Belt awakened, the giant twisted the waterfall anaconda’s neck. When the Karakum Pendant activated, it smashed down on the lava crocodiles and tore them apart.
I endure.
I protect.
That is the path I have walked.
The path my hyung, Lee Shin, taught me.
Park Su-bin’s giant roared toward the sky, raised its fist high overhead, and slammed it down into the earth.
A tremendous boom followed.
CRAAAAAASH———!!
A massive crater formed as the shockwave reduced every attack to nothing.
When the dust cleared, the battlefield was revealed. The completely scorched earth made it hard to believe all of this had happened in less than five minutes.
In a space where smoke rose like the fires of hell, Park Su-bin was breathing heavily.
In contrast, Belphegor—whose assault had been erased—
“Hahaha!”
Was actually laughing with delight?
Clap, clap—
“Ah, I see! I’ve finally figured it out!”
“…!”
“To encounter a new truth here of all places—goodness! I’m terribly excited right now. But this is no time for that. Let me organize my thoughts first. How could I allow uninvited guests to interrupt a truth I’ve just encountered?”
The excited Belphegor snapped his fingers, and a violet curtain enveloped the surroundings.
A space that completely isolated sound, sight, and even ‘time’ from the outside world.
Park Su-bin looked down at the violet magic circle now beneath his feet and shouted in fury.
“You—don’t tell me…!!”
“You noticed? My, you really are something special!”
Belphegor wasn’t the only one who had been observing his opponent. Park Su-bin had also studied him while enduring that brutal stretch of time.
What abilities did he use? What kind of magic? Offensive power? Defensive power? Specialties? And weaknesses?
And now… it had become clear that the enemy had touched the supreme law known as ‘time.’
His magic wasn’t composed of magical power alone. This was a miracle that could never be achieved with simple mana from the start.
To reach this level, something else was absolutely necessary. For example—sacrifices…
“Correct. My magic is a fusion of mana and sacrificial power. By the way, the number required to create this space was 111. A beautiful number, isn’t it?”
Indeed. The moment this space was created.
The 1st Corps members scattered across the battlefield had turned to ash. To be used as fuel.
“Actually, I don’t really like calling them subordinates. Backup batteries? Magic catalysts? Philosopher’s stones? That’s how I treat them.”
“!!”
“My truth is quite violent. There are limits to what mana alone can handle. I need a catalyst to connect with this world. I simply engraved that onto them.”
“How could you do that to your own comrades!”
“Why not? I’m the one who gave them power in the first place. What’s wrong with me using the power I granted them however I wish? On the contrary, I’d like to ask you something. How are you using a truth without paying any price at all?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Gates. The thing you’re using is a gate, isn’t it?”
“!!”
Yes. Gates.
Strictly speaking, Park Su-bin’s orbs didn’t eat magic. They simply sent it to another dimension through a gate.
“This world contains countless truths. The natural laws like fire, water, wind, and earth, or the human laws like time and lifespan.”
Belphegor instantly teleported to a distance where Park Su-bin could reach him if he stretched out his hand.
While Park Su-bin tensed and adjusted his stance, Belphegor snapped his fingers again. A chair and table appeared, along with a cup of steaming tea, as if they had always been there.
Belphegor sat down at the table with perfect ease, took a sip of tea, and gestured with his chin toward the seat across from him.
“Care to sit?”
Park Su-bin naturally ignored the invitation. Belphegor chuckled as if he had expected it and continued.
“Now that I think about it, your guild has an unnaturally high number of people who have touched truth. The protection of Hwarang, the speed of that little girl who follows you around, the white one’s eyes, the Maestro—or rather, the Mountain King is easier to say. That spirit of his too.”
“…”
“The gate you’ve touched is the same. If I had to classify it, I’d call it a truth of dimensions.”
Anyway.
“Gate-type and dimension-type truths are incredibly grand and high-dimensional. Therefore, according to the law of equivalent exchange, they demand an equally enormous cost. For example, that gate slave you people stole consumes his own intelligence.”
“You’re insane…”
“Heh, for a vulgar slave to glimpse a great truth, that price was actually quite cheap. Anyway, the situation is so enjoyable that I’ve talked too long. What I’m curious about is this.”
Belphegor pointed at Park Su-bin with his finger.
“While someone has to offer their intelligence just to transport a gate, why is it that you—who split gates, divide them, and even pour will into their forms—pay no price at all?”
“…”
It was impossible.
Gates were miracles that could be called the work of gods without exaggeration.
To touch such a miracle without any price could only mean that the gods had ‘permitted’ it.
And Belphegor already knew who had performed this unbelievable miracle.
The savior who had liberated humanity from the terror of gates.
The great man who created the Bureau and completed the modern awakened world.
“The Archmage, Jamal Popper.”
“!!”
“Can you hear the voice too?”
“!!”
At Park Su-bin’s flinch, Belphegor laughed like a child.
“Just as I thought. Not only the voice, but gates as well! You really are one permitted by the gates! You’re the same kind of human as that Popper! Hahahahaha!!”
The deepest secret of the Bureau.
Every single statement was nuclear-level information.
Park Su-bin couldn’t collect his thoughts. Belphegor kept laughing madly.
“I don’t usually say this, but… would you like to become my disciple?”
“…”
“Does being a disciple hurt your pride? Then how about a partner?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Haha, no. I am being more serious right now than I have ever been in my entire existence.”
The Park Su-bin before him was a human who stood in a similar realm as Jamal Popper.
The same as the archmage who had changed the world and restored the use of magic.
Belphegor was certain—this boy likely possessed a talent unique in the entire world.
So how could one who pursued truth possibly let him slip away?
“As a mage, I am exploring truth. The path of exploring truth is truly long, arduous, and lonely.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Simply… I want you to walk beside me.”
Belphegor spoke with sincerity, but Park Su-bin’s reply was, of course—
“Fuck off.”
“Hahahahaha.”
“You think I’d follow a lunatic like you?”
Park Su-bin raised his middle finger.
Belphegor clutched his stomach and roared with laughter as if it was the most amusing thing in the world.
“I knew you’d say that. Well, it doesn’t matter. From the beginning, you never had a choice anyway.”
“…!!”
A massive wave of magical power suddenly crushed the surroundings.
The pressure was so intense that even Park Su-bin’s back bent for a moment.
This was bad. This wasn’t pressure on the body—it was crushing the soul.
And then. Belphegor’s laughing body began to writhe grotesquely. Something was rising beneath his uneven skin.
It looked like a demon desperately struggling to break free from its host’s flesh.
“Long ago, there was a mage. The mage claimed it was unfair for only a select few to monopolize truth. He dreamed of an ideal world where everyone could obtain great power. A power that required neither enlightenment nor selection. The mage desired it, and he discovered it.”
“From monsters.”
His skin began turning black.
Crack, snap. Bones were being reassembled.
“People say humans who can use mana are the strongest lifeforms, but monsters are born already containing mana.”
And among them, boss monsters—
“Even a mere level 7 boss is difficult to defeat alone. A level 8 boss is said to make one-on-one combat impossible.”
Human monsterization.
The mage’s truth lay hidden there.
When his skin changed to an ominous gray, his muscles swelled abnormally, his hands and feet transformed into long, sharp claws, black wings sprouted from his back, and finally goat horns crowned his head like a diadem—
———!!
A demon that shattered human will, filled it with helplessness and despair, and trampled the flames of hope.
The Commander of Sloth, Belphegor, spread his wings.
“Try to endure this.”
The moment the word ‘this’ left his lips, a terrifying pressure crushed the entire area.
It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t sorcery either.
It was one step higher—a ‘Word of Power’ formed from truth itself.
“Hurry!! It’s urgent!”
“I know, kid.”
“Yeah.”
“South America really can’t be trusted. Fucking bastards.”
Yu Ri-ra was getting impatient.
Chang-gwi Yang Kang-cheol and Cross Iruha nodded, while Sword Master Park Gwang-seob grumbled and picked up the pace.
They were moving at a speed vehicles could never match, yet Yu Ri-ra’s insides only burned hotter.
Oppa was right. These guys are rotten!
The corps commanders and their legions were handled by rankers and elite forces, while the monster waves were left to the average hunters below them.
This was the safest, most stable strategy Lee Shin had chosen.
Yet some of the Brazilian rankers in charge of their sector had fled without reporting in.
Yes. It was Sector Z—the exact place where Belphegor had invaded and Park Su-bin was holding the line.
This was the first time Yu Ri-ra had ever seen Lee Shin that furious.
Idiots. If you didn’t have the confidence, you should’ve said so from the start. What the hell is this mess after pretending to have pride?!
At the very least they should have reported it! How is “communications were cut off” any kind of excuse?!
Yu Ri-ra was deeply disappointed in this country.
The silver lining was that, thanks to the Korean rankers under Lee Shin’s command brilliantly holding back Hyeol-bong and the Crain legions, they were able to pull forces away like this.
And there’s this too.
Yu Ri-ra tightly gripped the object in her pocket.
It had been delivered by Lee Shin’s private jet through the darkness of night.
The item Lee Shin had insisted on delivering to Park Su-bin no matter what.
By the time they reached Sector Z, Baek Yeon-woo had already arrived and was pounding on the violet barrier.
“—Fuck!!”
“Yeonu, get back!”
“!!”
The moment Baek Yeon-woo leaned backward.
Yu Ri-ra slid forward, pulling a heavy sniper rifle from her pocket.
Not at the ground, but in the air. The moment the lightning that had filled the surroundings stopped as if by a lie, Yu Ri-ra’s pupils dilated.
She aimed.
At a specific spot on the violet barrier. The tiny crack that had begun from Baek Yeon-woo’s greatsword.
The instant she pulled the trigger, the frozen time resumed.
BOOOOM——!!
The lightning precisely shattered the crack in the violet barrier and punched a hole through it. Through that small opening, the Sword Master and Chang-gwi’s weapons forced their way in and tore away Belphegor’s barrier.
What they saw inside was—
Belphegor with his mouth wide open, about to breathe out at Park Su-bin.
“!!”
Baek Yeon-woo’s sword and Cross’s crucifix blocked the ray of light Belphegor fired at Park Su-bin.
Crrrrrrack———
The creature had completely transformed into a demon, just as his name suggested.
Before they knew it, the Sword Master and Chang-gwi had joined the fray to hold him back.
In the midst of it all, Yu Ri-ra—who had turned into lightning—caught the collapsing Park Su-bin.
“Su-bin, are you okay?”
“Ugh… I-I’m… fine.”
“No, don’t talk.”
Just—
“Eat this first.”
Yu Ri-ra took out the single pill she had been carrying and placed it in Park Su-bin’s mouth.
“Oppa told me to give it to you.”
That it was finally time.
To answer the voice.
Park Su-bin closed his eyes as he listened to Yu Ri-ra’s whisper.
At that moment.