Chapter 109

I recognize him from memory—the demon known as Lust's right hand, the Sword Demon Matsumoto Ken, alongside his brother and strategist Matsumoto Ren.

"The Sword Demon's brother?"

"You seem to know of me."

"Oh, I know you very well."

Not to his brother's degree, but this one was just as deranged by Lust's favor. Where Ken wore his madness on the outside, Ren's madness festered underneath.

"Oh, I know you very well—the shameless wretch who sold out his own brother chasing Lust's favor."

"That's rather unpleasant."

Clearly displeased, he glared at me while adjusting his glasses.

"Shall I keep going?"

"Watch your mouth—"

"The one who wanted Lust's favor, only to watch what little he had get stolen by his own brother. What a fool."

"I told you to shut up!"

At my provocation, Ren flared up and unleashed his demonic energy. At some point, he had completely forgotten that Lust was standing right there.

"You've been rubbing me the wrong way since the moment I saw you!"

Snarling, he charged at me. Before my regression, it had been common knowledge: put Ren and Ken side by side, and Ren was the one who exploded into blind rage. A pressure point, in other words.

'Still exactly the same.'

I watched him come storming toward me.

"Guys like you only come to your senses after a beating!"

Ren raised his fist. Even Lust, so fixated on me moments ago, showed no intention of moving.

"Ha..."

"DIE!"

I sighed and swung my fist straight into his oncoming face.

Thud!

"Gahk!"

"Huh?"

I sent the onrushing Ren flying. Something has felt off ever since I greeted her and looked at Lust properly—like watching a child utterly obsessed with something. 'Is that really Lust?' The Lust I'd seen before my regression carried the image of a coldly aloof queen, yet now she wore the face of a yandere lost in obsession, which left me doubting she was the real thing. I studied her, trying to make sense of it. "Hehe."

Juliet smiled bashfully at my exclamation.

Honestly, all I had done was improve the quality of the soil. Everything else—the crops themselves—had grown through her effort alone.

"You really worked hard."

"It was nothing. You took me in even after I lost my fight."

"And after that, this is somehow *more* unreasonable?"

"I suppose field work just suits me."

Juliet's face as she said it looked, to anyone, like a genuinely happy person. It hadn't turned out that way because I'd wanted it to, but seeing her so content left me feeling quietly proud myself.

"No—it's me who should be thanking you."

With those words, I patted her on the shoulder.

At that moment, a system message unfolded before my eyes.

"Huh?"

At the same time, Juliet's body began to change. Her once-meager wings grew fuller, her skin tightened and took on a healthy glow, and her previously frizzy hair swayed with new luster.

"What is this...?"

I was so flustered that words failed me, and I clicked my tongue at an effect on par with a full-body reconstruction.

"Do you feel anything off?"

"Um, no."

Juliet shook her head, apparently feeling nothing at all. I immediately opened the status window that was now visible to me.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

After ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠checking the status window, I couldn't close my mouth. Gods, demons, and angels cannot use status windows—the system included. Every stat displayed before me was either Juliet's innate ability or something she had cultivated herself.

"Master? Is something the matter?"

Juliet asked worriedly from beside me, but I wasn't lucid enough to answer.

'Every single skill is A-rank or higher...'

An SS-rank skill was mixed in there too. What bothered me even more was the line at the top: *Han Jin's First-Class Angel*.

"The phrasing makes it sound like I'm some kind of god..."

"Sorry?"

It was deeply unpleasant. Frowning, I read the status window's contents aloud to Juliet. Having heard everything, she looked even more stunned than I was.

"F-First-Class Angel?! Me?!"

"Uh, yeah."

Her shock centered on a different part than mine, but I answered her question anyway.

"Me... a First-Class Angel... Me... a First-Class Angel..."

After hearing my answer, Juliet seemed to have left her senses entirely, repeating those words over and over while smiling blissfully.

'I knew angels ranked themselves internally, but... is this really something to be this happy about?'

A First-Class Angel was a rank equal to the Seven Angels, called the gods' proxies. Only special cases like Metatron, the Scribe, stood as exceptions.

"Juliet, I'm glad you're happy, but could you come back to earth for a moment?"

"Hehe, a First-Class Angel... me... a First-Class Angel..."

It took quite a while for Juliet to collect herself after that.

* * *

"Hoo... you lot ready?"

"Contractor, is that even a question?"

"Yes!"

"I shall become your blade whenever you command, my lord."

—I am ready at any time!

Their answers came back in order: Cheongun, Cheong-ah, Juliet, Gleipnir. I smiled and looked down. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen the glittering lights of a city like this.

"Why the hell would Lust build her headquarters in a place like this..."

I clicked my tongue, staring at the headquarters cloaked in illusion magic. With my complete immunity to mental attacks, an illusion of that caliber was easy to see through.

"Looks like I'll have to start big from the opening move."

Like Envy's place last time, this wasn't some deserted patch of land, which meant casualties were possible. So my plan was to throw out one massive strike from the start and force the people nearby to evacuate.

"The people aren't that stupid, Contractor. There shouldn't be much to worry about."

"Fair point... anyone who sees what a demon looks like would run regardless."

Convincing myself of that inside my head, I looked down again. We were currently on Cheongun's back, with Darkness and Moonlit Shadow pushed to their limit so that even Cheongun was hidden from view.

"Let's begin."

Determined to finish before anyone else came back, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I set my footwork into motion. The Nameless Footwork. First Step: Heaven Splitter.

The moment my foot fell, the concealment fell away—and the sky cracked open.

"Th-that's a dragon!"

"Run!"

"The sky is breaking!"

Those who witnessed the sky created by Heaven Splitter fled in terror. And the demons of Lust's mansion were staring straight up at me.

I didn't attack right away; instead, I pinned the shattered fragments in place in the sky.

"Everyone, go help evacuate."

"Understood."

"Yes!"

At my words, Juliet and Cheong-ah descended. Cheong-ah drove people out with her illusions, while Juliet used the divine radiance unique to angels to guide them away.

"About time to begin."

"I'm ready as well."

Cheongun gathered breath in his mouth. He was still an imugi, but he possessed power on par with a newly born dragon.

"Fire!"

KWA-KWA-KWAAAANG!!!

My attack and Cheongun's struck simultaneously and slammed into the barrier the demons had spread. Since that barrier's strength lay in illusion, it couldn't withstand our attacks in the slightest and crumbled on the spot.

While evacuating the civilians, Juliet was rather unsubtly preaching about me. The day she became my First-Class Angel and I examined her abilities, I had decided to keep her strength hidden for now.

'It isn't time to reveal it yet.'

If I made it public now, I would be swept into a storm I couldn't hold back. That much, I wanted to avoid. Still, this operation needed every pair of hands it could get, which was why I had brought Juliet along in the end.

"Cheongun, let's descend."

"Indeed."

Cheongun and I drifted slowly down. Because I had aimed the leaking shockwaves around my intended target with Gleipnir, nothing but Lust's mansion had taken damage.

"Ugh!"

"Kahk!"

"Aaaagh!"

The moment we descended, the demons' screams bored into my ears. One had lost his legs, another his arm, and another the most important part of a man's anatomy.

'No women in sight.'

Not a single woman lay sprawled among them outside. That was only natural—women who turned to Lust's line were rare; most chose Greed instead.

"Cheongun. Kill them all."

"Gladly."

I left the mansion's exterior to Cheongun and went inside. I didn't know what it was built from, but even our combined ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠assault had left the place with nothing more than scratches.

"Then, shall we find out where they are..."

I wandered the mansion at a leisurely pace, opening doors and checking most of the rooms. Among them were men and women in a state I could hardly bear to look at.

'Lust is genuinely insane.'

Thinking that, I pulled the pairs apart and covered each of their bodies with cloth lying nearby. And at last, I found the room where Lust was.

"Now then, let's see how I should welcome her."

Saying that, I slid the door open—and in that instant, attacks came flying from both sides.

"Die, you Chosen-jin!"

"Die, you mongrel!"

Both of them swung their weapons at me with tremendous battle cries.

"Ha..."

I sighed and caught the attacks coming from either side. The moment they were stopped, shock spread across both their faces.

"If you're going to ambush someone—DON'T shout first!"

Matching the rhythm of the syllables, I hurled the two of them into the walls on either side. They crashed into the walls and dropped unconscious.

"Do they think they're the protagonists of some comic book...?"

If they had been the protagonists, that attack would have worked. Because they'd be the protagonists.

"Anyway... I suppose this is my first time seeing you in person, Lust?"

I greeted her in an insolent drawl. This was, after all, a fight I had already won, so I could afford the composure to show it.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!"

"Wh-what's wrong with her?!"

The moment I looked at Lust, something was unmistakably wrong. Like a child obsessing desperately over something...

'Is that really Lust?'

The Lust I had seen before my regression had the image of a haughty queen. Now, though, she wore the face of a yandere drowning in obsession, which left me doubting she was the real thing.

"You are Han Jin, I presume."

Then a demon beside Lust spoke up. His face was etched clearly in my memory—Matsumoto Ken, the Sword Demon called Lust's right hand, and Matsumoto Ren, his elder brother and rumored strategist.

"The Sword Demon's brother?"

"You seem to know of me."

"Oh, I know you very well."

Not to his brother's degree, but this one was just as deranged by Lust's favor. Where Ken wore his madness on the outside, Ren's madness festered underneath.

"Oh, I know you very well—the shameless wretch who sold out his own brother chasing Lust's favor."

"That's rather unpleasant."

Clearly displeased, he glared at me while adjusting his glasses.

"Shall I keep going?"

"Watch your mouth—"

"The one who wanted Lust's favor, only to watch what little he had get stolen by his own brother. What a fool."

"I told you to shut up!"

At my provocation, Ren flared up and unleashed his demonic energy. At some point, he had completely forgotten that Lust was standing right there.

"You've been rubbing me the wrong way since the moment I saw you!"

Snarling, he charged at me. Before my regression, it had been common knowledge: put Ren and Ken side by side, and Ren was the one who exploded into blind rage. A pressure point, in other words.

'Still exactly the same.'

I watched him come storming toward me.

"Guys like you only come to your senses after a beating!"

Ren raised his fist. Even Lust, so fixated on me moments ago, showed no intention of moving.

"Ha..."

"DIE!"

I sighed and swung my fist straight into his oncoming face.

Thud!

"Gahk!"

"Huh?"

I sent the onrushing Ren flying.