Chapter 54

Chapter 54. Omen (2)

Around two hours earlier, everything had begun inside Heesong’s animal clinic.

“…Did you come here to die?”

Michael raised one fist at Valefor, who was casually surrounded by the Divine Beasts.

Startled, Valefor waved his hands frantically.

“Squeak! Of course not, squeak?! I got dragged here against my will, squeak!”

Jungon had already returned with Sia.

Heesong had gone into the basement for work.

That left only Michael, Valefor, and the Divine Beasts in the main room.

It was the perfect environment for Michael to kill him whenever he wanted.

Lick, lick.

The only fortunate part was that Samsik and Jeomrye seemed to like Valefor and repeatedly licked him.

At least while they were licking him, Valefor probably would not die.

“Then why were you dragged here?”

Michael bent down and brought his face close to Valefor.

“Squeak. Y, you’re too close… squeak.”

GRAB!

Michael picked Valefor up from between the Divine Beasts and glared at him like he intended to kill him.

“Do I look bored enough to play word games with you?”

SQUEEZE.

Michael tightened his grip.

The Divine Beasts looked worried.

Michael ignored them.

“S, squeak! I, I was caught while running away, squeak!”

“Running? From who?”

Hearing a proper answer, Michael loosened his grip.

“Squeak, squeak. R, Raum’s subordinates, squeak.”

Valefor coughed while answering.

“Raum? That scammer bastard?”

Raum, Demon of Distortion.

One of the 72 Demons and a specialist in deception.

“Why is that bastard chasing you?”

“I, I don’t know, squeak. They suddenly occupied my business, squeak.”

SQUEEZE.

Michael immediately tightened his hand again.

“You’d better use that brain of yours, tiny enough to be smaller than dust, properly.”

“…S, squeak. Maybe… after I offered the tribute. Squeak.”

Tribute.

Michael remembered Valefor had needed an offering for Greed.

Michael placed Valefor down so they could talk more easily.

The matter involving the tribute was also important to Michael.

If Greed accepted it, Greed’s attention would be drawn elsewhere.

“Tribute? I guess that went well?”

“Y, yes, squeak!”

The instant Valefor answered, he realized his mistake.

His eyes darted around, avoiding Michael’s gaze.

It was incredibly suspicious.

Michael remembered how angry Valefor had been because he failed to obtain the coffin Michael had been lying in.

Now he was avoiding eye contact.

“Hey. Don’t tell me you used something of mine.”

Michael deliberately threw out the accusation.

“S, squeak! Wh, what are you talking about?!”

The obvious panic instantly turned suspicion into certainty.

“You bastard. You can’t even control your expression, yet you’re trying to lie? Speak. What did you steal?”

Michael thought carefully about what he had lost while dealing with Valefor.

Then,

“Wait… fuck. My card. That was you, wasn’t it? Thinking about it now, it suddenly disappearing was suspicious. You stole it and ran, didn’t you?”

Valefor flinched.

The truth was that after being dragged to the monastery, Valefor had been so angry that he stole Michael’s card.

Then, as the deadline for offering tribute approached, he decided to offer the card to Greed.

He could not admit it belonged to Michael.

Instead, he exaggerated and claimed it was a priest’s card carrying traces of aura.

It looked like everything worked out, squeak…. Why did I have to slip up?

Luckily, the item did not exist in Hell, so the offering was accepted.

It could have quietly ended there.

One careless word ruined everything.

Valefor knelt and lowered his head.

“I, I’m sorry, squeeeeeak!”

Trying to deny it would only result in harsher torture.

Better to confess and suffer less.

“Oh? So you’re saying you’ll accept it whether I barbecue you or stir-fry you?”

Fwoosh.

White Flame appeared around Michael’s fist.

Valefor trembled.

“Squeak squeak! Th, that’s not… wait, squeak! I, I want to make a deal, squeak!”

“A deal?”

Michael extinguished the White Flame and stared at him coldly.

“I already told you. I don’t make deals with demon bastards.”

“Th, then, squeak…?”

Michael snorted and sat on a nearby stool.

It seemed Valefor needed something.

That meant Michael could slowly squeeze value out of him.

“First, what happened to you? Why are you still stuck like this?”

“Why suddenly ask about my body… squeak?”

Valefor became suspicious when Michael abruptly changed the subject.

Because of Michael’s history, there was almost certainly some scheme behind it.

The moment Valefor got caught in Michael’s scheme, he would practically become a slave.

Backing out seemed better.

“Never mind, squeak! I’ll solve it myself, squeak!”

“Sure. Just remember, entering is your choice. Leaving isn’t.”

“Squeak?”

Shing.

Michael drew Claw Peeler and aimed it at Valefor.

“There’s a demon walking around right in front of me. Why would I let it go?”

I knew this would happen, squeeeeeak!

Eventually, under Michael’s threat, Valefor began explaining.

“I couldn’t change back after the monastery, squeak.”

“The Golden Bull Monastery? Did Hagenti curse you or something?”

Valefor violently shook his head.

“Squeak! Definitely not, squeak! I think… it’s because of the sapling, squeak!”

“Sapling?”

After the monastery incident, the sapling had immediately been handed over to the Exorcism Association.

Michael knew almost nothing about what happened afterward.

Realizing that, Valefor carefully explained everything.

How he had blocked Sia and the believers inside the refinery.

How destroying the purification machine revealed the sapling.

“That’s what happened, squeak.”

After listening, Michael tilted his head.

Something else had been bothering him.

“Hmm. I’ve been noticing this for a while. Your way of speaking changed a lot.”

“Squeak? N, no way. Is it because I’ve been a rat for too long, squeak?!”

Valefor panicked after hearing that.

Tears even formed in his eyes.

Apparently the realization had deeply shocked him.

I understand roughly what’s happening now.

Valefor had once possessed decent influence within Greed’s faction.

Then he returned to Hell in the form of a rat.

Some demons must have assumed that meant he had lost his power.

In that case, demons around him targeting his position was not surprising.

Michael leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and placing his interlocked hands near his mouth.

“You want me to take your bar back from Raum?”

Michael looked like an examiner finally reaching the important question.

Valefor’s ears twitched.

He wondered if he had misheard.

“Squeak squeak? Did you eat something strange, squeak?”

“If you don’t want it, forget it. We’ll pretend I never offered.”

Fwoooosh!

Michael ignited White Flame along Claw Peeler and glanced toward Valefor.

“The kids seem to like you. They’ll probably be sad for a while.”

He rested the sword over one shoulder.

Then extended his opposite hand toward Valefor.

Wiggle, wiggle.

He even gestured for Valefor to take it.

Valefor stared suspiciously at Michael’s fingers.

This was obviously a test.

If he accepted, he would definitely recover the bar.

If he refused, he would probably become food for the burning Claw Peeler.

“F, fine, squeak. You’re the only one I can rely on, squeak….”

There was nothing to consider.

Valefor tightly shut his eyes and grabbed Michael’s hand.

“Good. I’ll take it back for you. And I’ll make sure it doesn’t create problems for your life in Hell.”

Hearing the surprisingly positive answer, Valefor carefully opened one eye.

“R, really?”

Michael was offering far better service than expected.

That made Valefor more nervous.

Normally, Michael was the kind of person who would shrug even if Valefor was put on trial in Hell for cooperating with him.

Now he was offering to protect Valefor’s reputation?

“Who are you, squeak?! Michael would never make an offer like this, squeak!”

“Correct. I’d never make an offer where I lose money. Which brings me to the important part.”

Tap.

Michael crouched in front of Valefor until their eyes met.

A wicked smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Valefor looked directly into Michael’s eyes.

They practically had currency symbols inside them.

His greed was overflowing.

“My services are expensive. You understand what that means, right? You run a business, after all.”

Only then did Valefor understand Michael’s real objective.

Of course, understanding it changed nothing.

Like a frightened rat, he could only ask carefully,

“H, how much… squeak?”

Even knowing he was willingly stepping into Michael’s grasp, Valefor could not refuse.

* * *

Returning to the present, Valefor’s bar, V.F.

“There may be damage because force will be used during the process, so please keep that in mind.”

“Woof!”

“Meow!”

The Divine Beasts had followed Michael too.

After Michael’s announcement, more than ten demons blinked.

“What the hell is that bastard saying?”

“Force will be used? Is he challenging us?”

“Perfect. We needed as many sacrifices as possible anyway.”

Demons wearing suits surrounded Michael.

Valefor whispered into his ear.

“Th, this is really okay, squeak?”

Of course Michael would not lose against demons below high rank.

Valefor’s real concern was how Michael planned to keep Hell from learning what happened.

Michael already understood that.

He lightly stretched his body.

“There’s a saying that if there are no witnesses, it counts as an assassination. From this moment onward, every bastard here was assassinated.”

“Squeak! What kind of logic is that?!”

“All right, we need to start working. Stop talking now.”

Valefor wanted to argue about the nonsense.

Michael immediately silenced him.

Shing.

Michael drew Claw Peeler and examined the demons.

Raum did not seem to be among them.

Sacrifices. So they weren’t trying to steal Valefor’s territory?

Michael focused on the word sacrifice.

Sacrifices for what?

Before coming here,

“Raum? I don’t think I saw him, squeak.”

Valefor had said he had not seen Raum.

That could mean Raum had not descended into the human world yet.

Are they trying to summon Raum through a ritual?

Michael could not be sure.

Raum might already have descended and simply be preparing something elsewhere.

While Michael thought, changes began occurring among the demons.

Crack, crack. Hummm, hummm.

Some demons twisted their bodies, shedding their human shells and revealing their true infernal forms.

Others used thread-like demonic energy to lift objects into the air.

“Demons really are becoming stronger overall.”

Ever since the trial ended, the average demon in Korea had become far stronger than when Michael first woke up.

Perhaps they had been strengthened through experiments like Hagenti’s.

Perhaps a Great Demon had descended from Hell together with powerful followers.

Michael suspected something else.

An Omen.

Since Korea had been confirmed as the final destination, it would not have been strange for one to begin at any time.

If these demons were part of the Omen, Michael needed to discover who the first Horseman was and which demons served it.

“Then I should finish this quickly. Kids, help me.”

“Meow! (Okay!)”

“Pant, pant! (Leave it to us!)”

Small spheres made of aura emerged from the Divine Beasts and entered Michael.

It was the same amplification Jungon had experienced.

“Good job. I’ll give you snacks later.”

“Meow! (I love snacks!)”

“Woof woof woof! (Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!)”

Raum’s location and the meaning of the sacrifices could be investigated afterward.

If Michael eliminated the demons and searched the bar, he would find something.

“Inhale…. Exhale….”

Michael controlled his breathing and lowered the sword diagonally.

Slide. Tap!

He charged into the demons.

Aura flowed through the blade, making it shine with beautiful pale-white light.