Chapter 320.

[Republic of Leores]

Beyond the Demon Realm Gate was a world full of mystery .

Three kingdoms and one republic stood on the continent of ‘Kruni’ . In this unfortunate world soon to be destroyed, Kim Suho was a sword commander of the Republic .

“…So, you’re saying that Baal is going to destroy this world?”

Currently in the office of the sword commander, Aileen, wearing a somewhat worn-out uniform, asked Kim Suho . In this world, she was a maid to a high-ranking politician of the Republic .

“That’s right . ”

“And we have to stop Baal to pass the Gate’s test?”

“Yes, exactly . ”

Kim Suho nodded and handed Aileen a book . Aileen frowned the moment she saw it .

“What’s this?”

“It’s an item I got as a reward for clearing a quest . ”

“Quest? Oh, right, I have a quest, too . What was your quest?”

“I had to enlighten the president’s daughter in the way of the sword . ”

“…What kind of a quest is that?”

Aileen grumbled and received the book . The words [Summary of the Past and the Future to Come] were written across its front cover .

“Hmm . ”

But the moment she opened the book, her face once again distorted into a frown . There were nothing but blank pages inside .

“What the heck . I don’t see anything . ”

“…Huh?”

Kim Suho widened his eyes in surprise, but soon understood what was going on .

“Ah, I guess I’m the only one who can read it . ”

“What? Why?”

“…Here, let me read you the most important chapters . ”

Kim Suho recited the book slowly enough for Aileen to understand .

“First of all, this world is also currently under the process of Demon Realm Transformation . Fortunately the people of this world discovered a type of ore called ‘purification crystal’ and the progress has slowed down… . ”

To summarize the ‘past’ part of the book— the people of Kruni had successfully averted Demon Realm Transformation, all thanks to ‘purification crystals’ and ‘devil hunters’ .

“…Devil hunters?”

Aileen opened her eyes wide .

“Yes, they’re humans who are particularly strong against devils . Devil hunters can inflict deadly damage to devils, whether the devil has descended or remains in the incarnation body . ”

According to the book, devil hunters of this world had already murdered a total of 8 devils .

Aileen shrugged and said, “Well, to me it sounds like stopping Baal would be awfully easy, then . ”

“No . The next part is the important part . ”

Kim Suho read the next paragraph out loud .

“…As the damage continued to escalate, the devils decided to stir up divisions between humans . Baal possessed the prince of Arunheim and ousted the clan of Leon, whose members had been devil hunters for generations . The eldest daughter of the Leon clan, Harin Von Leon, attempted to escape to the Republic but failed and was murdered… . Two months later, Baal descended . ”

‘Baal’, the strongest devil of all .

In the face of the malicious god armed with overwhelming force, the world without its shield—the devil hunters— crumbled easily .

“Baal…,” Aileen muttered, “So, we only have 2 more months left . ”

“Two months and three days . The world was destroyed in 3 days after Baal descended . ”

“What? 3 days? Seriously?”

Aileen’s expression stiffened .

Even Orden couldn’t have destroyed the world in just 72 hours .

“Yes, it took him 71 hours in total . ”

“…”

Aileen started biting her fingernails subconsciously . Kim Suho let out a small sigh as he watched Aileen chew .

“Aileen-ssi, quit your job and become my maid . ”

“…What? Your maid? Are you out of your mind?”

“We don’t have any choice here . The most important thing right now is for us to stick together . Also, we have to restore our power and Gifts . ”

Kim Suho shrugged . He had only managed to locate Aileen so far, but as sword commander, he could mobilize as many informants as he wanted . That was how he found Aileen in the first place .

With the right composite sketches, he was confident it wouldn’t take him too long to find the others .

“First, I’m going to gather our party and save the eldest daughter of the Leon clan . ”

“…Save her? Isn’t she already dead?”

Aileen asked doubtingly, to which Kim Suho grinned .

“Who knows? There are 198 more people like us in this world, after all . ”

**

[Lotio Mountains, the peak of Ploriun]

We reached the peak of Ploriun . Due to the severe cold of -50 degrees, we felt as if our bodies were splitting in half but got used to it over time . Harin and I exchanged glances and then started going down the mountain .

“Six more peaks this size and we’ll reach the Republic,” Harin said, leaving footsteps across the white snowfield .

I remarked sarcastically, “Thank god . ”

“…Hang in there . ”

Harin gave a small smile . She seemed much more comfortable around me after the incident back at the cave .

“Oh, and… the one who murdered your family was probably a Djinn, not a devil . ”

Harin whisphered, walking closely behind me . Her tone was cautious .

I threw a glance at Harin .

“…You’ve been thinking about what I said this whole time?”

“Of course I was . How could I not?”

Harin smiled, and I continued to walk .

The climb down was much easier than the climb up .

After 3 hours, I could feel the cold dissipate .

Wild boars, hawks, and monsters such as Yeti began to appear, but Harin and I hunted them down with our sword and crossbow . The boars and the hawks were especially great food items, and we stored them in Harin’s spatial pocket .

“…Wait . ”

However, when we reached the midpoint, I felt a faint presence .

The owner of the presence was spying on us, so he or she was definitely not a monster . Or a passerby, for that matter . What kind of person would climb this mountain voluntarily?

There was only one conclusion .

“…Take out your sword . ”

Harin did as she was told . sssk— The sound of metal colliding against the sword sheath rang out .

I took out my crossbow and fitted a bolt against the bowstring . Kiiik— The sound of bolt and bowstring rubbing against each other rang out .

There was no such thing as a secret in a place so quiet and so open as this mountain range . Just as we noticed their presences, the enemies must have noticed our hostility .

It was then .

Six assassins in white robes jumped out from below the snow-covered hills and above the barren trees .

Their target was clearly us .

“…It’s Icarus,” Harin muttered as she glared at the enemies . She sounded angry and troubled .

“Icarus? What’s that?”

“They’re a group of assassins who work for Arunheim’s royal family in secret . Looks like they’ve been waiting for us to arrive . ”

“…Mm . ”

I nodded and looked at the assassins surrounding us .

It would be hard for me in my current state to handle all of them .

…At that moment .

Suddenly something strange happened . One of the assassins looked at me and began trembling .

Confused, I turned my gaze to the assassin .

The assassin was too small to be a man and had black hair poking out of her robe .

Finally she called my name .

“…Kim Hajin?”

“…Huh?”

My eyes widened . I saw through the assassin’s robe .

The woman underneath the robe, whose eyes were sparkling like obsidians in surprise, was none other than Boss .

“Boss?”

“Y-Yes! It’s me!”

She nodded hastily and, one step, two step, three step… slowly approached me .

The other assassins looked bewildered . Surely they had no idea what was happening .

When Boss got near enough, I whispered into her ear .

—What are you doing here?

—…I don’t know . I was with them when I woke up .

—Ah, really?

Boss probably became an assassin the same way I became an F-rank sharpshooter . I glanced at the assassins over Boss’s shoulder . They were still frozen in confusion .

“W-What’s going on? Have you been working with them this whole time?” Harin yelled in shock .

“Huh? Oh, of course not, I’m on your side . ”

I shook my head and pulled Boss towards me . The fight just went from 2-6 to 3-5 . Now everything felt more balanced .

“…Boss?”

“Hmm?”

I whispered, “Could you take care of them?”

Boss nodded with a smirk .

“Of course . ”

“How much of your abilities have your recovered?”

“I’ve still got a ways to go, but… . ”

Suddenly a dark shadow rose from behind Boss . The shadow turned into sharp blades that resembled the legs of a spider .

“I can take care of them . ”

The shadow blades flew towards the assassins, and the assassins stepped back in bewilderment . Only the leader of the assassins came forward .

“…Aiken! Just what are you doing-”

“My name is not Aiken . ”

However, Boss had no intention of listening to him .

Chwaaak—! She wielded her shadow, and the blades swiftly penetrated the assassins .

Chwaak… . Scarlet blood splattered on the snowfield .

Watching the scene unfold, Harin dropped her sword by mistake .

**

A campsite on Ploriun, 1300 meters above sea level .

We decided to take a break before moving on to the second mountain, ‘Lokio . ‘ The tent was stored in Harin’s spatial pocket, and it was my responsibility to set it up .

“…How do you two know each other? You called her ‘Boss’ . Were you members of the same squad?”

Inside the cozy tent, Harin looked at me and Boss in turn . I could only shrug at her question .

“She’s a friend of mine from home . Don’t worry, she’ll be a great addition to our team . ”

Despite my word of honor, Harin still looked uneasy . I glanced at Boss, and she put her hand on Harin’s shoulder .

“Worry not . I’ll protecteth thee . ”

“…”

Why was she speaking like that? I suppressed my laughter . Harin also frowned in suspicion, but soon nodded with a sigh .

“It’s not like I have a choice… . I’m tired . Let’s get some rest,” Harin remarked bitterly and lay down on the tent floor .

Boss pointed at Harin and mouthed a silent question .

—Who is this woman?

I answered .

—An important client . She’s a devil hunter .

—Devil hunter?

—Yes . I’ll explain the details later .

“Enough with the silent conversation,” I said with a smile, “We should get some sleep, too . ”

I was exhausted, which was only natural considering I climbed a 5000m tall mountain in just 3 days .

“…Okay . ”

Boss nodded, and I lay down on the tent floor .

“Huaam~”

With a big yawn, I closed my eyes .

Ssk— ssk—

Shortly afterwards, however, I heard a sound . I opened my eyes and saw Boss spreading her blanket and getting ready to lie down next to me .

“…Ah . ”

“…”

Our eyes met, and we stared at each other in silence .

It was Boss who first let out a dry cough and said, “…There’s not much space . ”

Zzz— Zzz— It was then that we heard Harin snoring . I glanced at Harin to make sure she was asleep and nodded .

“Yeah, well, it’s okay . Please lie down . I’m going to let it slide this time . ”

“Slide…? …Well then . ”

Slightly bothered by my choice of words, Boss lay down next to me sulkily . Just as Boss had said the tent was very small, and my shoulders touched hers as we lay next to each other .

…10 minutes passed by in absolute stillness .

I was tired but couldn’t sleep for some reason . Because I couldn’t sleep, I turned to my side . There, Boss lay straight like a vampire in a coffin, her eyes closed .

“Boss, are you sleeping?”

No answer . She seemed to have fallen asleep as soon as she lay down, even though she said at one point that she didn’t need sleep .

With a smile on my lips, I stared at Boss .

“Hmm… . ”

Was it because I hadn’t seen her for long? Or perhaps it was because I met her at such an unexpected place that I felt extra glad to see her? She looked prettier tonight than usual .

I slowly reached for her hair . I brushed the soft, silky strands with my hand .

“…”

Still no response from Boss . I proceeded to pinch her cheek .

Streeetch— Her cheek stretched easily . It was so soft and tender that I felt as if I was touching a mocchi . I could get addicted to this .

As I continued to play with Boss’s cheek… .

“…”

Boss opened her eyes .

She turned her head to the side and looked at me and my fingers alternately .

I slowly let go of her cheek .

“What are you doing?” asked Boss .

“Hmm? Oh… nothing . It’s just that… . ”

I smiled at Boss and stretched my hand towards her head . Then I picked up a leaf that had been stuck in her hair .

“You had a little something there . ”

“…”

Still Boss looked at me without a word, and I too looked into her eyes .

Our gazes stayed intertwined for a long time— long enough for me to notice that her hair and clothing were disheveled .

…It was then .

Her scent penetrated me from a close distance .

I could feel her breath on my nose .

Her red lips came into my view .

Suddenly, I was consumed with a certain desire .

—Gulp .

I swallowed hard .

My heart started beating fast—

And I moved without thinking .

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