Chapter 85

“What on earth is all this commotion?”

What on earth indeed.

“People from the Special Unit causing a ruckus in the middle of the night and putting the city at risk…”

And the commander herself showing up at my (temporary) home in the dead of night.

“We received a report that this building was about to collapse! Someone could’ve been seriously hurt!”

“…….”

“…….”

Ignoring the security team’s objections, it was none other than Yoo Se-byeol who had come upstairs.

She must have rushed over from her mission, still dressed in the usual Special Unit uniform.

In the dead of night, seeing me with the other two had normally made her eyes glaze over with the intent to draw her sword—but surprisingly, she didn’t.

Just her presence dissolved the tense air that had clung to the 80th-floor hallway like melting snow.

Relief came… but only for me.

“Yeon-hwa, right? You cannot recklessly use your abilities on civilians. Even if you come from a guild, forgetting such a basic rule shows a lack of awareness as a Special Unit agent.”

“There were unavoidable circumstances…”

“Fortunately, no accidents occurred this time. But what if your Word-Spirit had faltered midway and the couple who originally lived here couldn’t return? No matter how heavy your words, can they outweigh a person’s life?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

As Yoo Se-byeol scolded her, Yeon-hwa hunched her shoulders, speechless.

Cheon So-baek, the next target of her reprimand, looked equally guilty.

“Commander Cheon So-baek, the same applies to you.”

“M-me? Why… this was legal! I bought it!”

“You can’t guarantee that all residents agreed to vacate in under a day. Can you deny that the Red Magic Tower didn’t exert pressure during the sale?”

“Well… I am a well-known public figure, so…”

“Your fame has nothing to do with this. Holding the rank of Special Unit commander and using implied social status to undermine the dignity of office—do you intend to get summoned for a hearing?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

A rare scene unfolded in real time: a disciple of Cheon-seon apologizing to the granddaughter of the Sword Immortal.

Her voice, always sharp with justice, left no room for misunderstanding, whether the other party was a senior agent or an unfamiliar recruit.

Once she’d made Yeon-hwa and Cheon So-baek bow, Yoo Se-byeol immediately took control.

She sent Cheon So-baek back, warned Yeon-hwa, then contacted the Ability Management Bureau to declare the emergency over.

Afterward, she called a cleaning service to tidy up the apartment next door where I had stayed for a day.

“Yes, yes. Our personnel made a mistake. If you visit Special Unit Division 3 later, we will ensure compensation…”

She even apologized over the phone to the newlyweds who had been romantically watching the flames in Daegu. Only then did she wipe the sweat from her brow, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Watching all this unfold, I couldn’t help but realize something.

Contrary to what my childhood friend had taught me, there were people in this world who chose harmony and coexistence instead of violence and conflict.

Perhaps I had misunderstood Yoo Se-byeol until now.

I had imagined her as someone with extreme possessiveness, whose rational mind switched off whenever someone tried to take what was hers; a person with no regard for morality who would leash her subordinates.

But the truth?

“This mess is the result of your indecisiveness. If you didn’t want to get tangled in this, you should’ve handled it properly.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

Yoo Se-byeol was, in every sense, a true commander, only ever concerned with the safety of her subordinates.

“I still have much to learn. I will serve the Sword Princess faithfully for the rest of my life and emulate you.”

“S-Sword Princess!? What an outrageous nickname!”

“Hmm? Isn’t that your alias, Commander?”

“Y-yes, but don’t you go calling me that too!”

By now, I was approaching Yoo Se-byeol with the same respectful attitude I had toward the guild members of the Old Gods’ Wound.

Stepping out of the building, my own steps felt lighter.

The situation itself hadn’t changed much—tomorrow I’d still have to worry about where to stay—but this was a hundred times better than being caught up in another incident.

For now… maybe a visit to the bathhouse would be nice.

After deciding on my next destination and stretching lightly, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Good thing someone reported the building might collapse. I almost got a firsthand lesson in what it feels like when awakened powers clash violently…”

“Huh? No such report came in.”

No report?

Then how did she even know to come here?

Next to me, frozen with my arms stretched upward, I heard Yoo Se-byeol mutter softly.

“Well, I heard everything. From this afternoon onward, everything that happened with you, every conversation you had with anyone—I’ve been listening.”

“…What?”

Come to think of it, Yoo Se-byeol already knew that a newlywed couple lived next door.

I’d never mentioned staying here, yet she arrived immediately after her shift ended.

She even knew that the building had been transferred to Cheon So-baek’s name, and that she had used the Red Magic Tower’s authority in the purchase—things I had never told anyone.

Yoo Se-byeol knew everything that happened around me.

“You really talk to yourself a lot, Hayan.”

“….”

“At first, I thought you were having a conversation with another woman.”

It was a relief that it was only the two of them—otherwise, someone might have ended up with blood on their hands.

Her voice was calm as ever, yet somehow, it sent a chill down my spine.

Was it just my imagination?

The rubber band around my neck seemed tighter than usual today.

“I’ll prepare a place for you to stay for now. There’s a room left in the basement of my mansion anyway.”

“M-mansion? You live in a mansion, Commander?”

“Not exactly my main residence, just a place I visit sometimes. It’s deep in Mount Cheonsan, so no ordinary person can find it, and the security is tight enough to prevent any ‘accidents inside’.”

‘Tight security’—a phrase that seemed more intense than usual.

“If you don’t have anywhere else to go, I can call a car for you… How does that sound?”

Even without my childhood friend’s advice, I could tell I needed to choose my next words very carefully.

And a little while later…

“Oh, brother. You’ve returned.”

Late at night, back at the dorm, Alexei greeted me as usual.

I barely acknowledged him and climbed the ladder to my bed on the second floor.

A thin, dusty, cheap mattress and blanket.

It felt strangely cozy, like it had been waiting just for me.

“You left a letter behind and disappeared; I was worried. Did you manage to find a place to live with your sister?”

“….”

“Brother, what happened?”

“Alexei.”

“Why?”

“May I keep the light on while I sleep for the time being? And I think the broken door should be fixed as well.”

Part of me wanted to curl up in the same bed as him, but that would be a little embarrassing, so I decided against it.

Back in my own little sanctuary, I finally enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep on a comfortable bed after several days.

As a bonus, I made a silent vow to never spend more than two hours in sunlight at a time for the rest of my life.

A few days later, my ambitious plan to rent my own apartment had gone up in smoke.

I had arrived at the Ground Zero construction site.

Finally, the day had come.

The day the biggest drain on my bank account, courtesy of the government, would finally disappear.

In other words, today was the day the Cult of the Void’s mural at Ground Zero would be completed.

Just the four pieces of that mural had cost roughly a year’s living expenses for a four-tentacled family.

Looking back, all the fuss about roommates and tentacles had really just been a quirk of my situation—I had a decent salary, but I still needed a cheap place to live.

Mala-nim had, in response to my complaints, grabbed a red marker from somewhere and scribbled a line along the tip of one of her tentacles, saying,

“Money isn’t what matters. The message does.”

And I swear, as much as she was my Outer God, I wanted to smack her for being so infuriating.

She probably saw some strange post in the Special Unit’s forest forum again.

Anyway, about four months had passed since the mural project began.

And today, coinciding with Mala-nim absorbing the third Star Scar, the suffering I had to endure finally ended.

“Patel, why are you staring at me like that? Have you… fallen for me?”

“….”

“Ah! Don’t press where the horns were cut! That spot is sensitive!”

I was so overjoyed that I couldn’t help but pound Velada’s temples sixteen times per second.

She fumed, lamenting, “If only the other horn I left in the Demon Realm were still here, I wouldn’t be subjected to this humiliation!”

But little did she know… that power was already in my pocket.

And part of it resided inside Mala-nim herself.

“J-just you wait, Patel!!”

Velada, mimicking my actions to dodge the orphaned children rushing at her, ran into the chapel’s interior.

Once she disappeared, the area grew considerably quieter.

Unlike last time, there were no crowds of onlookers for today’s final construction.

Probably because, during construction, some ancient tentacle fossils older than the history of the Earth were discovered on the site… or maybe a laborer choked on live octopus and was rushed to the hospital, fueling ominous rumors that kept people away.

Oddly enough, the cult welcomed it. They saw it as a sort of sacred barrier that kept the criminal groups in Sector 4 at bay.

With Mala-nim regaining power, the surrounding area was beginning to shift.

A few perceptive demons had already noticed.

“What a foreboding painting,” muttered Flauros, approaching from the direction Velada had run.

“I don’t intend to interfere with your plan to infiltrate the cult and track the Apostle of the Outer God, but be careful not to get too consumed by it.”

“Consumed?”

“The abyss, when stared into, also stares back at you.”

Well, that made sense.

I was the Apostle of the Outer God.

And if staring at myself in the mirror in the morning counted, the abyss really did stare back.

“These sorts of grotesques, like relics scattered across the Demon Realm, can cause unpredictable ripple effects simply by existing. Consider this my only warning.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have no interest in the painting. I have other plans today, so excuse me.”

Flauros’s words were grandiose, yet she was merely leaving to attend choir practice. Her combat outfit flapped as she turned away.

Finally, I was truly alone.

I reflected on the past and, beneath my mask, shed tears of joy.

Nearly a year had passed since I joined the Special Unit.

Back when I had first crossed over from the Demon Realm, I could never have imagined achieving such concrete results: a church dedicated to Mala-nim had been constructed, the mural completed, and three Star Scars recovered.

Though one Star Scar still resided in Yoo Se-byeol’s body, extracting it would be as easy as pressing grapes into wine.

I was currently scouting a suitable winery.

By now, surely, even Mala-nim—the ruler of the void and endless chaos—must be satisfied.

“Mala-nim, my esteemed Outer God.”

I knelt and raised my left hand toward the sky.

『Fear not.』

A single, brighter and shinier white tentacle emerged, glinting in the sunlight as it extended outward.