Chapter 105
He had to run.
That was all he’d been told—just abduct a single ordinary civilian.
He’d vaguely expected there might be bodyguards, sure, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined there’d be a contractor capable of summoning Cerberus.
An ability far beyond anything he’d accounted for.
This was clearly a contract with a being on a completely different level from the crude demons his organization dealt with.
‘Fighting any longer would just be a waste of time.’
He had zero confidence he could win against Cerberus.
Desperately searching his surroundings for a way out, the organization member’s gaze followed the path of escape—
—and a gate opened.
“I’ll warn you in advance. I’m not letting you run.”
The door he’d entered through was already blocked by a massive gate.
The windows were completely sealed as well—there was nowhere left to escape.
He briefly considered going through the bakery and using the back door, but Cerberus was blocking that path too. There was no way through.
Surrounded on all sides.
With walls and gates cutting off every route, escape was no longer possible.
Jia calmly popped the remaining bread into her mouth in a single bite and spoke.
“Stay still. If you move even a little, I’ll send you to where Jingki is.”
Not a shred of hesitation.
From her emotionless tone, he could tell it wasn’t a bluff.
‘At this rate, I’ll be captured.’
Completely cornered.
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t see a way out of this situation.
Like a rat trapped in a corner.
There was only one choice left to him.
“Oh?”
Baring his teeth, even knowing full well he was about to die.
The man swiftly stabbed his own arm deeply with his other hand.
Blood gushed from the wound, soaking his clothes before dripping onto the floor.
Moments later, a vivid crimson light began to pour out from his arm.
Jia merely watched the scene in silence.
“I’ll make a contract.”
At those words, magical power enveloped his entire body.
The blood that had fallen reversed course, rising up and swirling around him like a vortex.
The violently surging magic quickly swallowed him whole.
“Gaaah!”
He groaned as pain stabbed straight into his brain.
Watching him, Jia could roughly guess what kind of contract he’d made.
“Idiot.”
In exchange for surviving the present moment, he’d pledged his soul to a demon after death.
When he eventually died, his soul would be handed over to that demon, doomed to spend eternity as a slave.
And yet, knowing that future, he’d still chosen to make the contract. He must have been truly desperate.
“Huff… huff….”
The storm of magic gradually settled, and soon his face began to change.
Unlike before, small horns had sprouted from his forehead.
Proof that he was no longer human—he had crossed the line into something else.
“Nice. Now you’ve become something similar to what you contracted.”
A body that could never return to being human.
Blinded by his immediate goal, he had foolishly lost his right to live as a human forever.
“How does it feel, becoming a monster?”
“It’s refreshing. I’ve never felt this good in my life.”
Overwhelmed by the powerful magic he’d never felt before, dopamine flooded his brain.
Unable to contain his excitement, he waved the dagger in his hand around.
“Now I’ll kill you and take the target.”
“Yeah, I know. After making a contract, it feels like you can do anything, right?”
Even in front of a demonized thug, Jia’s expression remained utterly calm.
Her dismissive attitude didn’t stir his emotions in the slightest.
All he could think about was how he’d tear that smug woman apart.
A future played out vividly in his mind—
A future where she knelt before his overwhelming speed, her dark-circled face drenched in blood.
It felt incredible.
Unable to suppress his grin, he stepped forward.
The instant he pushed off, the floor shattered beneath his feet.
A massive gust tore through the narrow bakery as he lunged.
He slashed his dagger toward Jia—but a gate appeared out of nowhere, and Cerberus’s arm shot out, blocking the attack.
Clang—!
The blade collided with its claws.
Despite the recoil forcing one arm back, he grabbed Cerberus’s arm with the other hand.
Kicking off it, he leapt diagonally upward.
Jia’s figure—previously hidden by the gate—came into view, and he hurled the dagger straight at her.
“Tsk.”
She already had three gates open.
Opening more at this point would drain too much magic.
She lightly twisted her body and dodged the dagger.
Seeing that movement, the man realized something.
“Looks like opening more than four gates is too much for you.”
“Wow. What an amazing discovery.”
Cerberus’s arm quickly withdrew back into the gate.
Then another gate opened toward the man, an arm shooting out to attack him again.
With agility on an entirely different level from before, he dodged every one of Cerberus’s attacks.
“If you don’t close the other gates, it looks hard for you to fight me properly.”
“Yeah, you’re dodging pretty well. It’s annoying—like a mosquito.”
She frowned slightly as she spoke.
She opened gates again to attack him, but he refused to be hit.
Whenever an arm emerged to strike him, he dodged—and the dagger hidden on his person flew toward her.
Jia kept shifting her body just enough to avoid each strike.
After repeating that meaningless exchange three or four times, Jia spoke.
“I don’t feel like exerting more effort. Can’t you just let yourself be captured?”
“Save the bluff.”
He slashed the dagger through the air as he replied.
“If we turn this into a battle of stamina, it’s obvious who’ll lose.”
She was maintaining two gates just to block his escape.
No matter how vast her magic reserves were, keeping two gates open while repeatedly opening and closing others mid-combat had to be an enormous drain.
And judging by her movements, she wasn’t particularly skilled in close combat either.
If this dragged into a war of attrition, the one at a disadvantage would be Jia.
She was fully aware of that herself.
“You’re right. Honestly, I’m not the kind of person patient enough for a stamina fight.”
She kicked the dagger embedded in the floor and caught it in her hand.
“So let’s end this here.”
The gates vanished.
Seeing Jia completely exposed, the man rushed at her immediately.
Jia stood perfectly still, not even meeting his eyes—only staring at the dagger in her hand.
‘Got her.’
Foolishly provoked into choosing close combat.
He was sure this single blow would end it—twisting her neck and concluding the long fight—
—but Jia would never have dismissed her gates without a plan.
As he reached a distance where he could have tripped over her nose, her face began to change.
Red markings spread across her once-pale skin.
Her eyes turned crimson.
And most decisively—
A horn far larger than his own emerged from her forehead.
‘…Danger—’
Instinct screamed at him.
Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, he tried to halt his step and retreat—
—but a small gate opened directly in front of her.
At the same time, another gate opened right in front of his eyes.
Not just his eyes.
Behind his knees, his ankles—everywhere, his body was densely surrounded by tiny gates.
“Pshhk!”
With a playful voice, she thrust the dagger.
The dagger she stabbed into a gate emerged from the gates surrounding him and pierced his body.
Not just one.
From multiple gates, her hands emerged simultaneously, stabbing all the targeted spots at once.
“Aaaaargh!”
Before he could even dodge, he was skewered midair by countless daggers.
Blood poured from every wound, soaking the floor.
“Ugh, gross.”
She frowned at the splattered blood.
Pulling her hands back through the gates as if disgusted, the gates vanished—
—and the body that had been floating, impaled by multiple daggers, dropped straight to the ground.
Thud—!
“Ugh….”
Eyes. Ears. Behind the knees. The tops of his feet.
Every part of him had been attacked—there wasn’t a single uninjured spot.
He had no idea where to even begin stopping the bleeding.
“You won’t die from blood loss, so don’t worry.”
She’d stabbed shallowly, only severing tendons—his life wasn’t in danger.
She’d said killing him would be fine, but keeping him alive would be more useful in many ways.
“You could’ve just behaved and let yourself be captured. You’re such a pain.”
Jia flicked the blood off her hands.
Since he clearly couldn’t escape anymore, she dismissed Jingki and closed every gate she’d created.
As she did, the closed door opened, and Ju-hyeok entered, already armed.
“If you were here, couldn’t you have helped instead of just watching outside?”
“Didn’t look like you were going to lose.”
“If you’d just kept quiet…”
Judging by how quickly he entered, he must’ve been watching even before she transformed into a demon.
Of course, he’d known it’d be hard to come in with a gate blocking the entrance.
Jia retracted her horn, gradually returning to normal.
The large horn shrank away, and her eyes turned pitch black again.
“I used a ton of magic thanks to this. You know this doesn’t even cover the cost of the bread, right?”
“You got paid for the job.”
“I handled it way better than expected. Doesn’t that deserve some incentive?”
“I’ll make it worth your while later. Let’s deal with this guy first.”
The organization member was still groaning in pain.
Ju-hyeok walked over and lightly stomped on the foot that had been pierced.
“Aaaargh!”
He screamed.
Realizing too late how loud that was, Ju-hyeok kicked his jaw, knocking him unconscious.
After confirming he was out, he spoke to Jia.
“Go to Mom and guide her outside to a safe place.”
“She must’ve heard everything already.”
“It’d be nice if you could smooth things over.”
“Seriously.”
Between the screams and Jingki crying, everything in the bakery must’ve heard it all.
What exactly was she supposed to smooth over?
Though exasperated, Jia headed toward the bakery.
“We’re going to the company building, so come there once you’re done.”
“Got it.”
Jia entered the bakery.
Now only Ju-hyeok and the unconscious man remained in the wrecked shop.
“……”
Staring quietly at the man, Ju-hyeok grabbed a large carton of milk from the fridge beside him and poured it over his face.
The cold milk splashed against him, and his eyes snapped open.
“Pff—!”
After confirming he was conscious, Ju-hyeok stomped down on the back of his hand.
“Guh—!”
Unable to even scream from the sudden pain, the man only groaned.
Ju-hyeok stepped closer and pressed his sword to the man’s neck.
“From now on, answer my questions with only ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
