Chapter 101
“Hellooo~”
Mephisto greeted everyone who had arrived through the gate with a cheerful expression.
The two who had already met her several times weren’t particularly surprised by her appearance, but Yena’s eyes widened in shock.
“A demon!”
“That’s right. A demon.”
Unlike Mephisto, who greeted them casually, Yena stiffened completely.
She hurriedly pressed herself against Juhyeok’s side and spoke.
“J-Juhyeok…”
“It’s okay. She won’t do anything strange, so just stay still and watch.”
Reassuring her, Juhyeok turned his gaze away.
He went straight to the point with Mephisto.
“So, why did you call us?”
“Straight to the point? Well, not bad.”
She took a seat and lit a cigarette.
After taking a deep drag and exhaling, she continued.
“I hear you’ve been really busy lately?”
“Busy, yeah. And you know why, so there’s no need to spell it out.”
“Right. That’s exactly why I called you.”
She seemed to already know everything about the gate-related situation.
Mephisto smiled faintly as she spoke.
“Gates have been increasing lately, so every country’s in a state of emergency.”
“Thanks to that, we don’t even have time to train—we’re just going from gate to gate.”
“That situation’s giving me a headache too… If things keep going like this, Earth will be completely covered in gates, and I won’t even have time to enjoy myself.”
Mephisto clearly didn’t welcome the current situation.
As gates increased and humans lost their breathing room, her one source of entertainment would come to an end.
True human desire only reveals itself when people are well-fed and at ease.
“If this keeps up, extinction won’t be that far off.”
“That sounds like you’re confident the number of gates will keep increasing.”
“Yeah. Unless someone stops it.”
She flicked ash from her cigarette.
The playful look on Mephisto’s face slowly faded.
“Some demons have been gaining power lately and causing trouble. They’ve probably made contracts with humans, grown stronger, and are now fighting over hierarchy.”
Earth wasn’t the only problem.
In Hell as well, a few demons who had randomly contracted with humans were disrupting order and running wild, forgetting their place.
Of course, since they were on an entirely different level from her, they wouldn’t dare bother her directly—for now. But that, too, was only a matter of time.
Demons who gained power often forgot their limits, and if a bunch of them started swarming her, she’d end up having to personally clean up the riffraff who should’ve been doing the dirty work below.
To prevent such an inconvenience, she needed to firmly imprint the difference in their standing ahead of time.
“That’s why I thought we needed to cooperate right now, and called you.”
“By cooperation, you mean you can deal with the increase in gates?”
“Of course~ As long as you help, it’s more than doable.”
Juhyeok listened quietly, then a question arose.
“If demons are the problem, it seems like something you could handle on your own.”
“Unfortunately, that’s a bit difficult.”
She took another drag from her cigarette, looking genuinely regretful.
“My demonic power is so overwhelming that the moment I show myself, they’ll immediately run away, you know?”
Ideally, Mephisto would have liked to deal with the issue the moment she realized what was happening.
The problem was the sheer amount of demonic power she possessed.
If Mephisto stepped in, demons who judged that it wasn’t yet time would instantly hide themselves.
Worse, they’d realize they were being hunted and erase all their traces, so acting personally wasn’t the best option.
“What I need is someone with low demonic power—someone who can make the enemy lower their guard, yet still overpower them quickly.”
“So that’s why you called me?”
“Our interests line up perfectly, don’t they?”
As a human, Juhyeok couldn’t allow gates to cover the Earth.
As a demon, Mephisto would find it troublesome if low-ranking demons started running amok in Hell.
Since they shared the same goal, there was no reason not to cooperate.
“So, you’ll help, right?”
“As long as you’re not asking for payment.”
“I told you—we’re aligned.”
This wasn’t a one-sided favor.
It was a relationship meant to benefit both sides.
Mephisto was the type who believed firmly in give-and-take, which was why she didn’t bring up compensation even now.
“Then let’s go deal with it right away.”
“I heard you already cleared two gates today. Are you sure you’re okay going immediately?”
Juhyeok answered her slightly concerned tone by pointing at Jia.
“If you told her to bring me directly, doesn’t that mean you planned to deal with it right away?”
“Sharp as ever.”
As she stubbed out her cigarette, a small gate opened at the same time.
“Shall we move, then?”
“Yeah.”
Juhyeok entered the gate without hesitation.
Jia followed after him, and just as Yena hurried to follow—
“Yena?”
“….”
Mephisto called her name.
Yena felt a flicker of curiosity about how Mephisto knew her name, but she remembered her promise to Juhyeok.
“There’s nothing for me to talk about with you.”
“You don’t have to talk. Just listen.”
Blocking the gate with her body, Mephisto continued softly.
“It’s hard for me to just ignore the overflowing desire inside you—it keeps drawing my attention.”
Mephisto gently looked into Yena’s eyes.
“No, is this anxiety? Desire born from anxiety ends up devouring the self.”
“….”
“I can feel it. I’m a professional in this field, after all.”
Desire born from anxiety.
Those words stirred something inside Yena.
I’m anxious?
She’d never thought so.
Sure, with gates appearing so often, she’d felt a vague unease about the future—but surely that kind of anxiety wouldn’t be enough for a demon to exploit.
What kind of anxiety was sleeping inside her, for a demon to be diagnosing her like this?
“You look like you don’t know yet. Well, that won’t last long.”
“…What are you even—”
“If we talk too long, he’ll scold me. Let’s get moving, shall we?”
Cutting off the conversation unilaterally before Yena could respond, Mephisto smiled pleasantly and disappeared into the gate.
Left alone in the study, filled only with unanswered curiosity, Yena felt confused by the meaningless-sounding words echoing in her head.
It’s probably just a demon talking nonsense.
She had nearly broken the promise she made with Juhyeok.
Demons were beings who always dragged humans into ruin with sweet words.
No one who got swayed by them ever met a good end.
Convincing herself it was nothing more than manipulation, she quickly stepped into the gate.
“So, what now?”
What appeared beyond the gate was another gate.
After checking the location, Juhyeok confirmed it was a newly formed gate.
Approaching it, Mephisto replied.
“I’ll detect the demonic power in the gate and trace it back. Very discreetly, so the other side doesn’t notice.”
She waved her hand near the gate for a moment.
Closing her eyes, she focused.
“Be quiet now. This part requires delicate work.”
After moving her hand a few more times as if conducting, she soon opened her eyes.
Her hand stopped moving, and the corner of her lips curled upward.
“Found it.”
“Already?”
“For a great demon like me, tracking demonic power is easy.”
She answered with a smug expression.
Standing beside the gate, Mephisto continued.
“From here on out, it’s your turn. When I open the gate, go in immediately and subdue the demon who owns this gate.”
The moment the gate opened, they had to rush in and subdue the demon before it sensed anything and fled.
Even a brief hesitation could alert the enemy.
“If it’s just going in and dealing with it right away, couldn’t you do it yourself?”
“The gate itself won’t give me away, but the moment I enter, my demonic power will spill out of it.”
If that happened, the demon on the other side would immediately sense Mephisto’s presence.
That was precisely why she’d called Juhyeok.
“If you go in, they’ll just think some D-rank hunter accidentally wandered into the gate.”
“And while they’re letting their guard down, I take them out immediately?”
“I like how fast you catch on.”
Mephisto pointed to the empty air beside the gate.
“I’ll count to three and open it. Go in alone. Got it?”
“….”
Juhyeok didn’t answer and instead looked around.
Indeed, neither Jia nor Mephisto could go with him.
Jia carried Mephisto’s demonic power as well—if she went along, the demon would flee instantly.
Those two couldn’t accompany him.
However, there was one thing that bothered him about going alone.
“Ms. Yena, you’re coming too.”
“What? Me too?”
Juhyeok gestured for Yena to come over.
At his words about moving together to catch a demon, Mephisto chimed in lightly.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go alone instead of dragging along extra baggage?”
At that, Juhyeok snapped his head around and glared at Mephisto.
With a cold expression completely unlike the one he showed Yena, he spoke.
“I really don’t like the way you talk.”
“I’m not wrong, am I? Demons are at least B-rank. It’d be safer for her to stay with us.”
“I can handle fighting while protecting one person.”
Against an ordinary demon—not one on Mephisto’s level—protecting her while fighting was no problem at all.
“More importantly, taking her with me is much safer than leaving her with you.”
“You think we’d eat her or something?”
“Something like that.”
Walking toward Yena, Juhyeok added casually,
“I’ve already let my guard down once today. That’s more than enough.”
The two had exited the gate a bit later than Jia.
And when Yena emerged afterward, there was a subtle change in her expression.
Anyone with half a brain could tell that Mephisto had pulled something strange again.
“If you understand, then hurry up and open the gate.”
“…Tch.”
Clicking her tongue, Mephisto walked over to Juhyeok’s side.
Before opening the gate, she muttered in an annoyed tone.
“How boring.”
Juhyeok gave no response.
In the end, Mephisto finished counting and opened the gate.
At the same moment, Juhyeok grabbed Yena’s arm and stepped through the gate with her.
