Chapter 775: The Last (8)

“It’s not called the 27th Legion or Corps now, right? The newly born continent will remember Belial as the sole ruler of 10,000 demons.”

“I just like the contents of the contract you sent over.”

“Thank you very much for believing and accepting the offer even with my lack of vision.”

‘He must have thought it over ways.’

Of course, it was most likely a difficult decision. Unlike Benignore, who found herself in a tough situation, Belial was living the life.

Considering that he had several businesses outside of the continent, I felt Belial made an unexpected decision. Of course, he didn’t intend to abandon those businesses entirely, but…

‘Honestly, I didn’t even expect him to do that.’

That was why I didn’t invite him like Benignore, but sent a separate contract instead.

It was difficult to know what he was thinking based on his continuous giggles, but there was no need to doubt Belial.

The moment the contract was signed, the people in this place became a community sharing the same destiny…

In fact, it wouldn’t be a losing business for him either. Rather than making diversified investments in several places, there would be a desire to invest directly in one smart business.

Perhaps he liked the deal that announced that Belial was behind the invasion of demons in angelic masks.

What was certain was that Belial’s attitude had changed a lot from before. Although it wasn’t a big deal, I felt like he was considerate of me, visiting the place in his human form.

He would have calculated that his current appearance, rather than the appearance of the devil, was easier to befriend or to make others put their guards down.

His current appearance was probably made with that in mind.

‘But why are you wearing glasses?’

He wanted to look smart to his partner, didn’t he?

I didn’t think it was for such a trivial reason. It could be that Belial transformed an artifact and brought it… There had to be a reason why he needed that, but that wasn’t my concern either.

One of the important things was that a trusted partner would be with us.

As I slowly turned my head, I saw Benignore looking at me with the expression like she had been betrayed.

Angels, no, lights, who originally hated demons, openly surrounded him.

Dialugia’s reaction wasn’t that different, either. She got up quietly and was on the lookout for him, and the silver light was trying its best to attack Belial.

I didn’t know if I could call that an attack, but I felt as if it was sparkling desperately and doing a headbutt. It was ridiculous, but it seemed like it was shouting for us to run away.

“I don’t think I’m welcomed.”

“Junior Lee Kiyoung? What’s going on? W-Why is he here now?”

“Do you know what you’re doing now? You’re attracting the commander of a Demon Corps.”

‘Dialugia, not you too.’

“It doesn’t seem like they want me… Can I ask if I can go back to where I was?”

“Is there any way I would let that happen? Come on, take a seat, Belial. Benignore, calm down as well. I can explain everything.”

“It’s been a long time, Benignore.”

“I don’t talk to demons.”

“Didn’t you just do that?”

“I can’t hear you. I can’t hear anything, okay? I can’t hear anything.”

“You don’t have to be so sensitive, Benignore. Even if it weren’t for this, aren’t you and I bound by a contract? If you think it’s an extension of that, you might not feel so bad. One more thing, even if you deny it, what happened between us won’t disappear. I think you remember it better…”

“T-That…”

“As Belial said, Benignore, it is an extension of the contract.”

“The one we did… the other day?”

‘Yes, the one we faked last time, that one. Do you remember how much divinity accumulated back then?’

Of course, I believed she remembered it.

“It’s not easy to achieve results in these times. Where there is darkness, there is light, and where there is light, there is darkness. I just decided that balancing that was the most important thing. We are in a situation where we work on the same continent, but since our departments are different, we will not have many chances to encounter each other.”

“Still…”

“The era of dividing black and white and confronting each other has already passed. A community working together with the common interest of the continent’s future is what we should aim for.”

“Belial is in fact a demon.”

“The fact that Belial is threatening the people will be the driving force behind those who live in the continent to come and find us. It’s not that I don’t feel sorry for the fear and pain they’ll have to deal with, but their darkness will be the sunlight that brightens the continent. Haven’t you already experienced that? Think of the things we can do with so much divinity. The continent will develop tremendously in the blink of an eye. Our finance team also believes that holding an event every five years will earn us the budget to manage the continent for 100 years.”

At this, I glanced at Dialugia.

“…”

She avoided my gaze on purpose, but as I continued to stare, she slowly nodded and spoke up.

“Yes. It is exactly 132 years. W-W-With only five years, we can earn for 132 years…”

“Thank you, Manager Lu.”

“…”

“S-Still… that’s a little… I still have a face to save…”

“It’s not just that, Benignore. Director Bell’s joining will be the driving force behind our subsidiary to move into a larger market.”

“…”

“Director Bell, how many businesses do you currently have…”

“Well… I haven’t counted them individually, but… it’ll be more than enough.”

“Now, let’s close our eyes together and think about it.”

“…”

“…”

“This isn’t just about our continent, but also the other dimension that Belial has under his jurisdiction. That one has already been devastated. Without dreams and hopes, and with everything violated by demons… It must be a world that has already been engulfed by darkness, a world where humans have given up on prosperity and struggle to live day by day. Let’s assume that this is the one commonly referred to as the apocalyptic worldview.”

“D-Dirty demons… mean bastard…”

‘Why did you take it so personally…’

“It is a continent that even the gods have given up on. It is essentially no longer viable.”

“N-No… You can’t give up.”

“In a place where there is no hope, the 27th Legion appears once again. Belial descends to lead the demonic forces and smashes that last drop of aspiration that remains.”

“Mean bastard… Mean bastard! Disgusting demons!”

“Belial will shout to humans.”

“The only one that can stop me is Benignore. I must be grateful that the eyes of that bright and shining goddess cannot reach this place. Crumble, mortals.”

‘That’s good. We have good chemistry.’

“Sorry… my eyes couldn’t reach…”

I could see Benignore fully immersed with her eyes closed. Seeing her trembling with her fists clenched, she seemed quite angry. Even the tip of her nose seemed to have wrinkled.

“Humans will start to pray. Oh, Benignore. Save us. Please protect us from that fearful Belial. Where are you, our brilliant and shining goddess?”

“I… I’m here! I’m here!”

“And…”

Clap!

“A beautiful light appears, illuminating the already ruined land.”

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

“The myth of Benignore will be etched forever on that world and will remain as a myth on a long-desolated continent. With the emergence of a new myth, the existing faith will be dulled, and Benignore will become the greatest light of the continent, not only the present continent but also the continent in Belial’s hands. You’ll become their hope.”

“…”

“…”

‘She really likes money.’

I had never seen such an honest expression on her. She opened her eyes. I was certain her pupils were trembling.

Because of her pride, she didn’t send a sign of approval right away, but she seemed to be hoping for us to pressure her once more.

Maybe she would want to nod reluctantly. No, even if that wasn’t the case, she had an expression that told me she would be convinced with just a little more.

“I’m stepping back to spread the light.”

‘Say something, Director Bell.’

“As you may know, I am also all for moderation. What I really want isn’t for humans to perish and lose hope. There is fear because there is hope. Humans who have nothing to lose are not afraid of anything. Had the gods of today not denied us, maybe the current dimensions would be better than they are now. It is only humans who suffer in the fight between light and darkness. I want to put an end to this long-standing war, Benignore.”

“You have to decide to take a step towards the new beginning, Benignore.”

“I won’t say I want them to gain hope, but I don’t want them to live only in the dark.”

“The radiance that will light up the darkness is Benignore.”

“The harmony of light and darkness. We are offering a new path.”

“The decision…”

“A decision!”

“…”

“…”

“I… I can’t help it, I guess? If you say it like that… I can’t help it.”

She signed the contract while avoiding my glance slightly. The sight made me curious about the secret story of Benignore’s birth.

‘Are you from above? Or did you go up from the continent?’

What life would she have had as a human if it were the second option?

Looking at the fact that it wasn’t properly written on the Church, it seemed that there would be some secret story, but it probably wasn’t important enough to pry.

She didn’t seem to think that it was very important either…

Regardless, all that mattered was she decided to work together with us.

“It can’t be helped… if it is for the continent, right, junior Lee Kiyoung?”

Not making eye contact with Belial would be her last remaining prideful act.

Honestly, I thought it would be better not to.

Belial’s face right now was wondering why Benignore didn’t take the position of Demon Commander. I was sure she wouldn’t be able to stand that face.

She kept muttering with uncertain laughter, saying that she couldn’t help it, but seeing that made me feel like I knew why the four archangels criticized the existing gods.

As I turned my head quietly and made eye contact with Belial, it seemed he realized how he looked at that moment.

“You are greedier than the demon of greed.”

“…”

It was a small voice, but I certainly heard it.

“Then… It’s decided, right? Right? I look forward to the future. Yes…”

“Aren’t you curious about where and what the Legion was doing? It’s a place that has nothing to do with me anymore, but I’m wondering if I’m doing the right thing.”

‘Don’t talk to yourself. She can hear you.’

“Then what should we do now? Oh! Junior Lee Kiyoung will not be here all the time, right? First, it would be better to have a meeting about how to operate the continent.”

She was desperately trying to change the subject.

“Because junior Lee Kiyoung will want to go down. Yes. I can understand. I can’t do that because I don’t have the courage, but… it won’t be easy… still… I wonder if it would be possible if we gather divinity. No, is it even possible?”

A topic that was hard to ignore.

“Is it?”

I asked that, but it was a stupid question. If Lucifer could bring me back, I might be able to use divinity to go down. One problem was…

“Well… There are a lot of things I don’t know yet… but it might be.”

“…”

“If we collect divinity for about 50,000 years…”

What?

As I looked at Benignore to see if I heard it incorrectly, she nodded to show she wasn’t kidding.

Gazing down, I saw those who were still in the meeting.

-I will bring Kiyoung back to life no matter what. I don’t care how much time passes.

‘What bullsh*t are you talking about? I care, Hyunsung.’

-That’s right. Hyung-nim will definitely be waiting. He’ll be waiting forever!

I wasn’t that patient.

‘What is this, fuck…’

Honestly, I thought there would be another way. But that was…

Would we have an ending where we could only reunite after 50,000 years?

“…”

I couldn’t even laugh.