Chapter 103
“Good work.”
“If you thought it was a lot, you should’ve helped.”
It was only after the commotion had settled that Mephisto finally spoke.
The floor was scattered with blood-curdling liquids and chunks of flesh.
For an ordinary human, just seeing it would be enough to vomit.
The metallic scent of blood stung my nose, but I had grown accustomed to it by now.
Occasionally, an inexplicable stench would waft in, making my stomach churn.
But even that, eventually, became something I could ignore.
That realization surprised me about myself.
“At first, I thought you’d be shaken… but you adapted quickly.”
“Yeah.”
Juhyeok stared at the corpses.
One head, half gone.
One body with a burst chest.
One with fingers cut off, dead with eyes wide open.
The last one had only been lightly stabbed in the neck, yet bled profusely before dying.
“There’s no need to tidy up corpses in hell anyway.”
“Monsters passing by will come to eat them.”
Mephisto examined each corpse.
Some died brutally, while others had a relatively peaceful death.
She looked at both types in turn and asked:
“So, in the end, you weren’t planning to spare them?”
“Of course not.”
From the moment they were dragged through the gate, all were intended to die.
If any information could be extracted, execution was the answer afterward.
Otherwise, the gate contract would remain valid, and innocent citizens would still be in danger.
Juhyeok quietly, kneeling beside her, asked the observing demon:
“What about the contract and the gate?”
“After those guys all died, it disappeared cleanly.”
“Good.”
Juhyeok walked toward Mephisto, who was still examining the corpses.
“Open the gate so we can return home.”
“Going as-is today?”
“There’s nothing more we can do anyway.”
The information gained from torturing the three had been practically worthless.
Their common trait: an excessive hatred of humans.
All of them wished the world would be ruined by the gates and joined some organization to achieve that goal.
“The problem is, each one knows a different organization name…”
One claimed to belong to a human-extermination group.
Another, a gate-production organization.
Even though they were all in South Korea and had contracts with the same demon, each knew a different organization name.
“Maybe they deliberately created multiple names to confuse people.”
Despite the differing names, the fact they had contracts with the same demon meant they all moved under the same organization.
Practically, the intelligence gained was useless—but that was fine.
“If we stay still, they’ll come looking for us eventually.”
“…Because you killed all the organization members in Korea?”
“Exactly.”
All organization members in Korea had disappeared.
The opposing side would likely sense something was wrong and investigate personally.
Even if no information was obtained, handling them one by one would suffice.
“This could get dangerous, you know.”
“Me?”
“Not you…”
Mephisto shook her head.
She wasn’t concerned about Juhyeok.
Her worry was for those around him.
Now, he had drawn the attention of a mysterious organization capable of global-scale terror.
“If they realize you’re responsible, everyone close to you will be at risk.”
“Can they figure out it was me?”
“Not yet… but it’s only a matter of time.”
Even if he eliminated demons contracted by the organization overseas, eventually a witness might reveal the truth.
If he continued dealing with contracted demons abroad, his identity would inevitably be exposed.
“Shouldn’t the demon working with me help with that?”
“How? Handle all the CCTV and humans who saw your face?”
“Possible?”
“Difficult.”
She stated it definitively.
Even I hoped for a loophole, but some things were beyond her power.
Of course—it made sense. She was a demon, not a god.
“Then fine.”
“Why give up so easily?”
I expected her to demand more.
Seeing Juhyeok leave without discussion, I realized he had already plotted something.
Mephisto smiled and flicked her fingers, and the gate opened.
“By the way, what about that demon?”
“Huh? I haven’t thought about it.”
Ah, right. There was a demon whose contract had been voided.
Mephisto casually remarked:
“Should we kill it?”
“….”
Juhyeok paused, staring at the trembling demon kneeling, unable to beg for its life.
It had the same expression as those it killed before.
“Forget it. If you’re not planning anything, just leave it.”
“Sure.”
The demon collapsed to the floor with a look of relief.
Juhyeok entered the gate, leaving the demon behind.
“Let’s go.”
“Looking forward to your fun exploits~”
After Juhyeok disappeared, only Mephisto and the unknown demon remained.
After confirming Juhyeok’s departure, she closed the gate and approached the demon.
“I said don’t kill it—but if we let it go as is, won’t it bother me again?”
“Th-the vessel!”
The demon accidentally bit its tongue in surprise.
It repeatedly buried its face in the floor, insisting:
“That will never happen!”
“Good. You probably didn’t even know what you were doing, so it makes sense.”
Mephisto approached the shivering demon.
“Let’s make one thing clear.”
Squatting slightly, she whispered in the demon’s ear:
“Don’t tell anyone about what happened today. Meeting me and that human is a secret.”
Juhyeok must have had a reason for sparing it.
There was likely a network among demons. By sparing this demon, he could instill fear in other demons under contract with the same organization, prompting them to cancel their contracts.
He didn’t have the type of personality to feel useless sympathy for a demon—so there had to be a purpose for leaving it alive.
“Then this will end quickly.”
Trembling demons would try to break contracts, and the organization would weaken on its own.
It was like blowing your nose without even touching your hands.
“Ending it so easily isn’t fun, though.”
A rare feast of chaos, perfectly timed for entertainment.
Mephisto wanted to enjoy it a little longer.
“If you mention my name to other demons, I’ll come to erase you… understood?”
“Yes, ma’am! I won’t question it, I’ll just obey!”
“Good~ Go disappear before you change your mind.”
With a flick of her hand, the demon vanished without using a gate, amusingly silent.
“Still, today was fun~”
Watching humans, unaccustomed to killing, gradually get used to blood and guts.
The conflicts that arise in that process were always a gourmet delight.
“Pretending to be a psycho was really fun too.”
I wonder if Juhyeok even realized the expression he made.
I should’ve taken a picture.
With a slight sense of regret, Mephisto slowly left the scene.
“All organization members in South Korea have disappeared.”
“Yes. Because of that, all contracts with demons were voided, and all gates created in Korea vanished.”
“….”
The mansion was tense.
Still dark and oppressive.
Wherever you looked, the same view repeated.
The secretary stood firmly, in a space where anyone could lose balance and fall.
“I went to the demon to ask directly what happened…”
She hesitated before continuing carefully.
“The demon instructed us never to come to him again.”
“Not to go see him.”
“Yes, and according to the executive who visited him, he looked extremely terrified.”
The organization’s executive went to check on the demon.
Despite inquiries among other demons, the only response was to never come back.
Asking other nearby demons yielded only confusion—no one knew what had happened.
“Someone must have acted in Korea.”
“Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for all organization members there to be taken out at once.”
She seemed to speak, eyes fixed where he would have been sitting.
“Korea will halt its operations and strengthen security in other regions.”
“That’s probably the best course.”
If they reacted angrily to one breach, all previous efforts would be undone.
For now, Korea must be left alone to focus on other areas.
“Then proceed with that—”
Ding ding—! Ding ding—!
A bell rang in the room.
Sharper, more piercing than any other bell.
“Answer it.”
“…Yes.”
The secretary retrieved her phone at the urgent call.
She answered several times.
The emotionless voice gave no clue to the situation.
“Understood. I will leave the subsequent measures to you.”
After hanging up, she pocketed the phone.
In the same emotionless tone, she said:
“All contractors in Japan’s A-2 region have also disappeared.”
“…Ha.”
The man chuckled lightly, stroking his pet monster.
“Seems like we’d better revise our plans.”
