The Demon’s Sword and Shield
The Demon’s Sword and Shield
“Shut that mouth immediately!”
The village elder, who was always calm, suddenly shouted.
“What are you all doing! Hurry!”
He struggled to his feet, even waving his cane. He looked urgent and agitated.
Confusion spread across the farmers’ faces.
“Elder?”
“W-why are you like this all of a sudden?”
For the elder to lose composure like this was rare.
“You’re all being bewitched! Don’t you see?!”
Despite his outburst, the people only hesitated, not moving.
“Have you all gone mad together?! Must I report you to the Church before you come to your senses?!”
If the Great Saint Church learned of the village’s situation, they would surely dispatch an Anti-Demon Unit. Among them would be Inquisitors. The village would not remain intact under their investigation.
The villagers knew this reality well.
“But…”
Was it not too tempting to refuse? To be told the whereabouts of their missing children—what parent could resist that? Had they been offered wealth or glory instead, they would have already turned away.
One farmer lowered his head. Another swallowed a groan, recalling his daughter’s face.
Gaf was no different. His hand, gripping Johan, was trembling.
The demon looked at the elder with a relaxed expression.
“You speak words you don’t even believe. Elder, you will never report this. So, farmers, pay me the price and receive the answers you desire.”
The elder’s face twisted. His already wrinkled skin creased even deeper as he lunged forward.
“If none of you will do it, then I will…!”
He drew a dagger from his garment and thrust it toward Johan. Just before it reached him, a young man grabbed the elder from behind.
“E-elder! Please, calm down for now!”
The old man struggled in the young man’s grasp.
“Wretched brat! Let me go, can’t you see I must cut out that vile tongue?!”
“Are you trying to kill him?!”
“If necessary!”
Johan let out a faint laugh.
“Elder, did you not say it yourself? That killing me would bring misfortune.”
The elder shouted, his face flushed red.
“Gaf! How long will you let that filthy tongue speak?! The Great Saint Marziel is watching! Are you not afraid?!”
Johan shrugged.
“I’m sure the shredded Marziel is watching very well.”
To insult the Great Saint—there could be no greater blasphemy. Everyone pretended to clean their ears.
Unbothered, Johan looked at Gaf.
“It seems the elder has no intention of speaking with me.”
Then he raised the corners of his mouth.
“Gaf, what about you? Will you tear out my tongue as the elder commands, or will you make a deal with me and find your daughter?”
He exchanged glances with the farmers as well.
“The longer you delay your decision, the longer your children’s suffering will continue. Remember that.”
Immediately after, a terrible pain struck Johan.
Gaf had gripped his neck tightly. Had it been an ordinary infant, its spine would have snapped.
Johan was different. He merely furrowed his brows without showing any great pain.
A demon’s body was much sturdier than a human’s.
Of course, pain was another matter.
Johan glared at Gaf. His dark red eyes glinted eerily.
“…What are you doing?”
“How could I trust a damned demon.”
Despite his rough words and actions, Gaf’s voice was somewhat softened. He was conflicted.
Inside, Johan smiled.
He needed to drive in the wedge.
“The collateral for this deal is each of our lives. What could be a clearer trade than that?”
The elder, still restrained by the young man, shouted.
“Gaf! Do not be deceived! It’s a demon’s whisper!”
Johan did not even spare him a glance. He only stared into Gaf’s eyes and spoke.
“You call me a demon, but that is not entirely correct. You know, don’t you? Red blood runs through my veins.”
Technically, he was a half-demon. A damned half-breed. A mongrel that belonged nowhere.
Johan’s expression softened slightly.
“It means I also possess human emotions.”
Gaf let out a bitter laugh.
“Human emotions? Nonsense. I’ve seen plenty of those who carry demonic energy. Their drive is always malice. Even cultists who fall later are like that—what about you, born with black blood?”
He paused, staring at the horn on Johan’s forehead.
“You claim you have half human blood? Look at yourself. You’re far closer to a demon than a human. Your red blood has already rotted away. You are nothing but a filthy hybrid.”
Johan looked down at himself.
Red tattoos were engraved across his black skin. The smoke that wrapped around his rag-like body was demonic energy. Darker than pitch black.
To anyone’s eyes, he was a demon.
Why had he transmigrated into such a body? Johan felt sorrow but let out a faint laugh.
“Well, you’re not wrong.”
He added nonchalantly.
“So, Gaf, can you not bring yourself to trade with a filthy hybrid?”
Gaf grit his teeth loudly. He did not want to succumb to such a harmful whisper, but it was hard to hold his resolve. Was Illea, who had gone missing, truly alive? He wanted an answer no matter what. His daughter was the only thing left of value to him.
And this demon said that Illea was still alive.
He could not help but waver.
Gaf muttered.
“…What if I torture you.”
Perhaps he could extract the truth that way.
But would the demon survive without dying? Uncertain. No matter how much stronger a demon’s body was than a human’s, this hybrid was still just an infant.
It would not be strange if it died easily.
Johan looked straight into Gaf’s eyes.
“You would gain nothing.”
Gaf, who had been deep in thought, let out a sigh.
“…Fine.”
His wavering eyes began to sharpen.
“But if there is even a shred of falsehood in your words.”
Suddenly, Gaf’s face twisted like a demon’s. He spat out the words as if coughing up blood.
“I will tear you to pieces and kill you.”
He had sold his convictions to a demon for the sake of his daughter.
Anger, despair, murderous intent, shame, self-mockery—all sorts of negative emotions struck Johan.
An ordinary person would have felt disgust under such hostility.
Johan was different.
A faint excitement began to rise within him. It was a kind of pleasure. A sense of fulfillment born from instinct. Gaf’s pain was giving Johan a thrill.
‘…Could it be.’
Because he was a demon. They were monsters that fed on human suffering.
As proof, the smoke around Johan became even rougher. The now-evil demonic energy mingled with the moonlight streaming through the storage’s bars, scattering eerie phosphorescence.
His red eyes gleamed even more ferociously.
The farmers recoiled in fear.
Their fear was being sublimated into yet another source of nourishment.
Johan’s expression changed constantly. He giggled, then twisted, then filled with delight, then fell into despair… Dozens of flashes of madness passed within moments.
To humans, it was a grotesque and terrifying sight.
Johan bit his tongue hard. If he did not hurt himself, he felt he would lose his reason.
Fortunately, the pain pulled him out of the swamp of malice.
He collected himself and looked around. Fear was etched into everyone’s gaze. No one could open their mouth.
In the uncomfortable silence, Johan briefly fell into thought.
He had once vowed not to harm others unnecessarily. Even if he was not a paragon of virtue from a moral textbook, he wanted to live by at least the minimum principles. That was Johan’s creed, and yet, he was now a demon.
He had become a monster that fed on the tears of others.
Nausea surged.
“…Damn it.”
The low voice sank into the silence. There was no response. Only tense breaths sounded intermittently.
How much time had passed? Gaf’s voice broke the stillness.
“Demon, I have given you my answer.”
There was no point in pondering. Dying while lamenting his circumstances would be too unfair. He had to survive for now.
Johan cut off his thoughts and opened his mouth.
“…A wise choice.”
The elder had a fit.
“Gaf! You wretch! Do you plan to destroy the village?!”
Villages that made deals with demons became targets for extermination by the Great Saint Church.
Gaf calmly replied.
“I will make the contract alone and leave this village with the demon.”
He meant he would shoulder all the burden alone. The other farmers, who had lost their children, cleared their throats, avoiding Gaf’s gaze.
“D-do you think such nonsense will work?!”
“It will. I am an outsider.”
Saying that, Gaf looked at Johan.
“What do I need to do?”
A contract with a demon. A transaction where souls were pledged as collateral in exchange for something. In the novel, all demons utilized contracts and possession. For them, it was as natural as breathing—a sort of instinct.
The method of using contracts was engraved in Johan’s mind as well.
The demon beckoned with a finger.
“Come closer.”
Gaf frowned and leaned in.
Johan spoke.
“I will tell you your daughter’s whereabouts. You will protect me. The collateral is your soul. Do you agree?”
If he agreed, Gaf would have to protect Johan with his life. If Johan died, Gaf’s soul would fall into hell.
Gaf closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and then lifted his eyelids again. Resolve was in his gaze.
“I agree.”
Johan raised the corners of his mouth in a long smile.
At the same time, the demonic energy surrounding him began to surge. The smoke throbbed like a heart, spitting out strands of black haze.
Malice began to fill the storage.
Everyone froze.
The elder shouted.
“Stop! Don’t do it!”
Johan extended his small hand toward Gaf.
“Accept it.”
The demonic energy floating in the air all shot toward Gaf at once. The mercenary looked very flustered, but he did not resist.
He simply inhaled the demonic energy into his lungs.
“It won’t harm your body.”
However, if the promise was not kept, the demonic energy would crush the contractor’s heart.
Gaf grimaced. It was not surprising, given that he had inhaled all that turbulent demonic energy.
“…Is it over?”
The malice dispersed, leaving only a faint residue.
Johan nodded.
“I will keep my promise first.”
Saying that, Johan swept his gaze over the people.
Many here were parents in the same situation as Gaf. They were all waiting for Johan’s mouth to open.
Johan’s gaze stopped at one place.
He was looking at the elder.
The old man was quiet now. However, his breathing was very irregular. He looked anxious.
Johan slowly opened his mouth.
“Elder.”
He wore a relaxed smile, the smile of a victor.
“Where did you hand over the missing children?”
The old man’s face turned deathly pale.
The farmers murmured in confusion.
“W-what does that mean…?”
“Elder?”
Johan continued.
“I will give you a chance to confess with your own mouth.”
At the same time, the elder violently shook off the young man restraining him.
“Y-you wretched demon bastard!”
He lunged forward, gripping the dagger.
Unfortunately, the old man’s charge did not reach Johan.
It was blocked by a large hand.
It was Gaf. Holding Johan with one hand, he gripped the elder’s face with the other.
Gaf’s eyes wavered with distrust toward the elder.
“…What confession is he talking about?”
Johan was satisfied. He had gained a reliable ally.
A demon’s contractor who betrayed the Great Saint. Gaf, captain of the Kandeya Mercenaries, would now become the demon’s sword and shield.