Chapter 144. Those Who Move (2)
The northeastern region of China centered around Beijing was controlled by Asmodeus, commander of Pandemonium’s Eastern Region First Command.
At present, Asmodeus was gathering troops and preparing for another invasion.
Ha Mina was also moving behind the scenes.
If the full-scale invasion began, there was a real possibility that this time, all of China would fall under Pandemonium’s control.
Gremory wanted our cooperation to stop that from happening.
“Gremory.”
I slowly spoke while looking at the red-haired woman sitting across from me.
“You are one of Pandemonium’s Seventy-Two Demons. No matter how friendly you are toward humans... aren’t your actions now a betrayal of your comrades in Pandemonium?”
Belial was also friendly toward humans, but that wasn’t why he had betrayed Phenex and the other demons.
Belial was cooperating with me only to prevent Lucifer’s resurrection.
For Belial, protecting Lucifer’s honor was more important than anything else.
Gremory, however, seemed prepared to betray Pandemonium simply because she genuinely liked humans.
“To be honest, I don’t possess much sense of camaraderie toward the others.”
Gremory answered calmly.
“After Lucifer’s death, the unity among the Seventy-Two Demons weakened considerably. Internal conflicts have become common.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Things are very different now from when we all lived crammed together in one corner of that brutal hell.”
After saying that, Gremory let out a small sigh.
“Kim Nameless, of course I have no intention of betraying all of Pandemonium.”
She continued.
“The only ones I oppose are Pandemonium’s pro-war faction.”
The pro-war faction.
The extremists centered around Moloch, the Governor-General.
Phenex had also belonged to that faction.
“They demand nothing but war, without any real vision for the future.”
Gremory’s voice remained calm.
“Suppose we exterminate humanity and conquer the entire surface world. What happens afterward?”
“I’m not sure.”
“At the very least, it will not usher in some glorious new age.”
She shook her head.
“Pandemonium currently lacks the ability to govern the entire vast surface world in a stable manner.”
Gremory clearly had a negative view of a world ruled by Pandemonium.
“Considering the violent nature of the pro-war demons, once humanity is exterminated, they will simply begin fighting among themselves.”
“A long civil war will devastate the land.”
“In the end, the world will become no different from hell itself.”
"..."
“For Pandemonium’s future, it would be far better to develop our culture and industries through exchange with humans than to start another war.”
Her argument made sense even to me.
The western coastline of the Korean Peninsula under Belial’s rule had prospered greatly through trade with humans.
Meanwhile, the northern Korean Peninsula once ruled by Phenex had seemed far less developed in comparison.
“The future I want is one where we purge Pandemonium’s pro-war faction completely... and establish a genuine partnership with humanity.”
True peace with humans.
That was Gremory’s wish.
“Kim Nameless, I believe humans and demons can coexist.”
"..."
“We remove the pro-war demons from Pandemonium, then publicly declare that Pandemonium has no intention of attacking humanity ever again.”
“And afterward, we sign an official treaty with humans and promise to cease all hostile actions.”
There was passion in Gremory’s voice now.
“Through that, humans and demons can join hands and achieve true prosperity together.”
“So you believe that is possible.”
“Yes. I truly do.”
Then Gremory carefully added,
“Of course... I understand that humans harbor resentment toward us demons.”
“We were invaders, so naturally they would.”
“But I believe that with enough time, even that will naturally be resolved.”
“With enough time...”
“Yes. I do not expect humans to trust us immediately.”
Gremory nodded.
“We simply need to wait for time to heal those wounds.”
She really did seem to want genuine harmony with humanity.
Looking at her face, I fell into thought.
I didn’t think there would be a demon this naive.
Of course, Gremory was still a demon.
She wasn’t simply kind and innocent.
The problem was that she understood humans far too casually.
“Gremory, believing that time alone will naturally resolve everything is far too optimistic.”
So I spoke coldly.
“Time alone will not solve it.”
“What?”
“That is how the aggressor thinks.”
I looked directly at her.
“Not the victim.”
Gremory flinched.
“People who have suffered do not simply forget what happened to them.”
“And this wasn’t some small incident. The damage occurred on a national, even global scale.”
“It is not something that disappears just because time passes.”
“Then... what should we do?”
“You cannot simply wait for time.”
I answered plainly.
“There must be a thorough apology.”
“And there must be proper compensation.”
If Gremory and the peace faction took control of Pandemonium, that wouldn’t be impossible.
“If we do that... can we be forgiven?”
Gremory asked nervously.
“If we apologize and compensate them, will humans forget the past and forgive us?”
“No.”
“What?”
“Even a sincere apology and proper compensation cannot erase the past.”
My voice remained cold.
“People will continue to remember.”
“They will remember that Pandemonium invaded them.”
“W-Wait.”
Gremory hurriedly interrupted.
“Just now, you said we needed to apologize and compensate them.”
“That is something you obviously need to do.”
I continued.
“But believing that those actions alone will cause the victims to completely forget the past and forgive you is still naive.”
"...!"
“The past does not disappear, Gremory.”
Of course...
if sufficient apology and compensation were provided, relations could improve.
If they showed genuine sincerity and maintained that attitude consistently, improvement was inevitable.
Most aggressors failed precisely because they couldn’t do that properly.
But I saw no need to mention that part right now.
Gremory wanted humans to forget their unhappy memories and truly harmonize with demons.
If that was what she wanted, telling her that apology and compensation alone would solve everything would be dishonest.
“Th-Then what should we do?”
Gremory’s voice became desperate.
“Is there no way?”
“Are demons and humans doomed to never become true partners?!”
“That isn’t what I mean, Gremory.”
I shook my head.
“In peaceful times, it would be difficult.”
“But these are not peaceful times.”
“What?”
“There is a clear enemy.”
“A clear enemy...?”
“Pandemonium’s pro-war faction.”
“What do you mean...?”
