Chapter 32

Demons and black mages had a relationship much like crocodiles and plover birds.

The demon lent the summoner power, and in return, it took whatever it desired as payment.

It wasn’t something sanctified by an Oath like with an Outer God, nor was it as absolute as a blood pact of master and servant.

If anything, it was closer to a personal contract—individual to individual.

And apparently, Patel hadn’t exactly honored his contract faithfully.

“Is this where you live?”

“That’s because you never gave me a proper dwelling! The deal was clear—share the enlightenment of Black Magic, and in return I serve you until I regain my strength. That was the agreement, wasn’t it?”

Her den was a sewer tunnel along the riverbank.

Inside the narrow, dark pit, Velada had made her “home.”

A rotting park bench dismantled into a makeshift bed. Torn-down illegal banners used as blankets.

One good rain and the waterline would rise over her head. Not to mention the homeless and petty criminals that wandered here. It looked dangerous.

Velada plopped down on the creaking bench, grumbling.

“Even if things were urgent, I was a fool to rush here just because of your so-called reputation with the Magic Tower. Back when I commanded the Seventh Legion that trampled the Demon Realm’s wastelands, I could never have imagined such treatment.”

“……”

“And yet, you seem to have done quite well in hiding. Dressing up dolls in clothes that suited your tastes, was it?”

Her glare turned to Mala-nim, gleaming brilliantly from head to toe.

But I didn’t feel the slightest urge to sympathize with her.

Really, who told her to leave the Demon Realm—a place far more livable—for Korea, a country with a birth rate of 0.03?

Still, since I was pretending to be Patel, I asked after her, out of formality.

“What have you been eating all this time?”

“Ha! I don’t need your help. I’ve managed just fine!”

She crawled under the bed and rummaged, then proudly pulled something out.

An empty choco pie wrapper.

“I tricked those fingerless shades! Pretended to open the packaging for them, then stole it all. Even in death they’re fools—thanks to them, I never went hungry.”

“Oooh…”

“Of course, they resisted. Attacked me when my mana ran out, tried to bait me with fakes like Mong Shell instead of choco pies… but in the end, I drowned their leader and claimed this territory!”

No wonder there were no shades around, even though we were still connected to the Han.

So this was how she’d been scraping by.

I pulled a choco pie out of my pocket.

Velada’s eyes widened the moment she saw it.

“Want one?”

“You’ll give it to me?!”

“If you explain the Council to me in detail.”

“Hmph! I was going to anyway. If you act recklessly there like you do here, you’ll lose your life.”

We pressed deeper into the sewer.

Collapsed ground, sinkholes, broken subway rails—the ruins of Seoul’s foundations stretched before us.

I carried Mala-nim in my arms and followed Velada.

From time to time she glanced up at the dark ceiling, squeezing through cracks in the rock with her small frame.

Her bare feet were already turning red. The body she’d taken in crossing over wasn’t very sturdy.

She might have been at least Familiar-class, but the vessel she had was barely worthy of being called an Incarnation.

Maybe I should buy her shoes later?

As if reading my thought, Mala-nim tugged my collar lightly.

Don’t get attached, it meant. I knew that well enough, so I kept walking silently and asked another question.

“So, what exactly is this Council?”

“It’s a gathering point for demons who crossed over. Some destroyed Gates to come through, others came by contract, like me. Different paths, but the goal is the same.”

“Summoning Archdukes.”

“More precisely, summoning ‘their own master.’ Don’t assume everyone there is on the same side.”

Non-demons could only enter with an invitation.

I touched the letter I’d received from Aldrick, speaking in a cool tone.

“How many?”

“Hm, about a hundred. The numbers shift often, so I can’t say for sure.”

She said she didn’t attend every meeting, but that was the last count she’d seen.

What shocked me most was that even close to a hundred demons had gathered beneath Seoul.

How could that many exist underground, with the Special Unit right above?

Velada looked back at me, unimpressed, and corrected my assumption.

“If that many Familiars had crossed to this little land, there’d already be war. That number is the sum across the continent. Don’t be afraid.”

“But right now, we’re directly beneath Seoul, aren’t we?”

“Of course. This is simply the safest place I know.”

Velada looked up once more at the barren ceiling of the sewer and said:

“The Council isn’t a place. It’s a time.”

“A time?”

“Yes. Out of the twelve constellations in the sky, when the four you call Outer Gods are set aside, there’s a fleeting gap among the rest. That’s when we can slip through.”

Eight times a year. Only two hours each time.

For that short window, demons could shift their consciousness into the gathering space. Velada extended her hand to me.

“Are you ready?”

The river’s water level was rising fast.

Ha Yeri, alerted of the emergency, rushed through Incheon to reach the sluice gates connecting to the West Sea.

Beside a harbor stacked haphazardly with rusted containers stood the West Sea Reclamation Office.

Now it served as the Bureau’s command post.

Inside, a wall of monitors displayed the river’s mouth.

Deputy Commander Park Mu-cheol was already waiting.

“Report.”

“If the level rises any higher, we’ll be forced to release the gates. They’re at their limit.”

“Who’s responsible for this?”

“We don’t know which group yet, but the cause is clear. Look at this.”

A monitoring officer zoomed the camera.

The waters, usually swarming with shades, showed something else—dark currents writhing like eels beneath the surface. Tentacles.

The room gasped.

“Those are….”

“Monsters!”

“How could that many appear at once?”

“Shouldn’t we send troops to Seoul immediately—”

“Calm down. No casualties have been reported yet.”

The command post erupted in urgent debate. The question: how to stop the flood.

“Didn’t the Magic Tower issue a warning beforehand?”

“The Blue Tower’s Astronomical Wing was already on emergency surveillance, but they claim nothing unusual was detected. At the very least, this wasn’t caused by a collapsing Gate.”

“Then what’s the solution?”

“Can’t we just deploy the Special Unit to wipe out the tentacles?”

“It won’t matter. Alive or dead, once that many monsters flow into the Sea of Decay, the flood will begin.”

“C-Commander….”

Moments later.

As the command post paused briefly before deciding whether to open the sluice gates, Kang Nabi carefully approached Ha Yeri.

She reported that she had spotted a suspicious figure by the Han River who looked like a black mage.

She had struck them down, but when she moved to recover the body, only a severed tentacle remained.

Ha Yeri listened, then brought her outside.

“Agent Kang Nabi.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any deceased relatives?”

“…What?”

Her golden hair tilted slightly with the weight of the sudden question. But Ha Yeri only checked her smartwatch, as if waiting for someone’s call, and continued matter-of-factly.

“I’ve heard nothing about deaths in the family line of the Confinement Immortal. There were three siblings, correct?”

“Ah, yes. I have two elder brothers.”

The Spear of Thunderclouds, Kang Ha-neul.

The Spear of Thunder, Kang Nabi.

And the Spear of Lightning, Kang Cho-won.

All three were children of Kang Si-hyeon, the Confinement Immortal, one of the Seven Immortals.

Each was assigned to a different division—Divisions 3, 2, and 1—but their relationships weren’t exactly warm.

“Why do you ask this suddenly?”

“Because I cannot send all of you to the front lines. Whoever caused this, the flooding of the Sea of Decay is already certain. What matters is what comes next.”

“What comes next…?”

“Hunting the shades that will surge onto the coast. If it’s mostly monsters, cleanup will be easy. But if we cross into the center, things change.”

The Sea of Decay’s most horrific trait was that the dead returned as enemies.

And deep in its core waited the fallen—the countless Awakened from guilds and the military who had already died failing its conquest.

“Killing comrades who were alive just yesterday is difficult, even for the Special Unit. All the more if it’s family or friends.”

“……”

“If even one of you dies on the field, the sea will surely drag them back out… and send them to their surviving kin.”

That was what calamities did.

Kang Nabi’s eyes narrowed as she listened. She wiped the blood from her spear tip and spoke coldly.

“Cho-won won’t fall. So if anyone dies, it will be that Division 3 bastard.”

“You mean Kang Ha-neul?”

“Yes. But don’t worry. Even if it’s family—if they come back at me, I won’t hesitate to finish it.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Ha Yeri nodded, saying she would take that into account for deployment, then gestured for them to head back inside.

“You mean we’re going to assault the center of the Sea of Decay?”

“This is a good chance. Thanks to those tentacles, the Special Unit’s forces can be preserved at full strength.”

“That’s true.”

“Once a path is opened, reaching the center will be far easier. But it’s not my decision whether we do it.”

“If not you, then who… ah.”

At that moment, Ha Yeri’s smartwatch chimed.

Kang Nabi realized whose call she had been waiting for.

“Looks like approval has come.”

From the Commander of the Archduke Extermination Unit. In other words—the Commander-in-Chief of the Special Unit.

Once the operation began in earnest, the entire Special Unit would be mobilized.

But before Nabi could prepare for battle, Ha Yeri gave her an unexpected order.

“There’s still time before the sluice gates open. I need you to bring me someone.”

“Bring someone…?”

“An Awakened from Division 3.”

Personnel could be requisitioned from other divisions if necessary.

Especially in situations like this, few had authority above Ha Yeri, known as “Minor Justice.”

But why did she say “bring” instead of “request”?

Nabi frowned—until Ha Yeri forwarded a chat log from her smartwatch.

— SenaChok: While chasing a criminal group, I discovered a potion that makes you grow ten centimeters taller with each drink.

— Ha Yeri: ?

— SenaChok: I’ll skip the mission for now and check it out, for the sake of my commander—who searches the Bamboo Forest every night for ‘ways to get taller.’

— Ha Yeri: Are you mocking me right now?

“Is his name SenaChok?”

“No. Sae Hayan. I’ll send you his details. Do whatever it takes—find him and bring him here.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. He will be included in the assault on the Sea of Decay’s core.”

Ha Yeri was usually known for her composure, her lack of outward emotion. But on her face now, Nabi saw unmistakable fury.

“So… is it true you search the Special Unit Bamboo Forest every night for ways to get taller?”

“……”

“Commander Ha Yeri?”

“…Is that a problem!?”

It had to be for the sake of the mission, Nabi told herself. It had to be.