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The round diamond exuded cold energy on Demian’s palm. After sparkling variously based on the angle of light, the diamond soon disappeared into Demian’s clothes.
“You don’t seem like someone who likes accessories but you really cherish that necklace. Is it a keepsake from your parents?”
A knight from Sias asked. Demian smiled and shook his head.
“I have no parents. The one who made this is a guy.”
“Then why…”
“This necklace is part of a pair.”
It meant that the other one was with his lover. The knight from Sias made a sound and beat his chest.
“Do you love her?”
“Is that even a question?”
“How much do you love her? Are you going to marry her?”
“Marry?”
Demian, who had been answering indifferently, hesitated for a moment and closed his mouth. He contemplated and kept his mouth closed for so long that the knight who asked the question became embarrassed.
“I shouldn’t have asked the question…”
“I have never thought about it.”
“About marriage? But you have a lover. Why haven’t you thought about getting married?”
“Well, because…”
Lara was not a woman whom he could have to himself. For a moment, Demian unknowingly strained his face at the thought.
Lara was a saintess. She was the only daughter born by Thousand Gold Isadora and was Hautean’s and the Tarragon Empire’s lifesaver. On top of that, she was also the savior of the world chosen by the God of Fate.
“Damn it.”
A curse instinctively popped out of Demian’s mouth. The knight who was talking to him from one subject to another to get close to him quickly had his face turn pale.
The knights from Lafort, Sias, and Moltan were terrified by the inhumane military power of Demian Drake, the mighty warrior of the saintess who came from the Tarragon Empire. They wondered why there was a madman on the battlefield when Demian first entered the battle.
Not surprisingly, the first enemy Demian had to deal with was the head of a long-standing group of demon worshippers in Lafort.
On the battlefield full of dark smoke and various black magic, Demian walked alone into the battlefield with an irritated look. Then, he dragged the body of the head out.
He probably got lucky.
The knights who witnessed the scene believed that Demian won by sheer luck and those who failed to witness the scene did not believe the news and thought it was just a false rumor. However, even on the next battlefield, and even on the one after it, Demian strode along with his longsword and killed the head of the enemy and dragged him out every time.
“It's because of that annoyed look you have when you handle things, people don't respect you, they're just afraid of you. You should smile and wave a little. You should also say something regardless if you mean it or not, something like you support the unification and peace of the three Eastern countries…”
“Shut up.”
Demian got worked up over nothing when Nicholas nagged at him. After that, Demian began giving orders to Nicholas, regardless of whether Nicholas’ men were looking at them or not.
“Can’t you handle the matter quickly? I thought you were a member of the royal family. If your subordinates like to just sit around, kick them or something.”
“Why are you so impatient? You looked like you were the most relaxed when you were next to the saintess.”
“I’m wasting my time because of you.”
“This is so unfair for me…”
Nicholas muttered. He was doing everything as fast as he could, so much so that his anxiety prevented him from sleeping. But the man who was the mighty warrior of the saintess scolded him for not being able to do it faster. That was also just because he wanted to quickly go back to the saintess.
“I’d rather have a drink with Paimon than talk to you!”
“Shut up and get out.”
Nicholas went out with an upset face. The remaining knights looked at Demian, who kicked a royal out like a dog, with full respect.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Demian was staying in the border city of Lafort and Sias. The fierce battle between demon worshippers and union forces had also entered a lulled state to some extent.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Nicholas became the King of Sias. When Nicholas returned with the Imperial army, Sias went with the easy path and chose to side with him instead of going with the difficult path and choosing to fight him.
Lafort’s morale was now extremely low. It was because of traces of demon worshippers being found everywhere. If they kept denying it, Lafort would become a public enemy of the union. Then, Moltan would continue to look around and sneak closer to the winner.
“Good night.”
A young maid set down a towel, pajamas, and heated milk down by Demian’s bedside with a frightened face.
Perhaps she had just become an adult, but she was a maid with a pretty face and a clear voice that rang like a bell. Her thin dress was worn up to her knees, revealing her white calves. There were signs of corsets on her slender waist. Her long hair was coated with fragrant oil, smelling fine. Makeup was clearly put on her face. Even after greeting Demian, she did not go outside, and instead, glanced at him.
Demian twisted his lips and said with a smile.
“I don’t know who ordered you to do this, but go tell him; If he does this one more time, I will cut his limbs and throw him into a hungry demonic beast’s cave.”
“Pardon?”
“If you came in by yourself with no one telling you to do this… You’d better get a hold of yourself. There’s nothing beneficial for you to live like this.”
The maid’s hands were trembling. Since she did not talk, Demian did not know who made her do it or whether she voluntarily stepped up. He took a gold coin out of his pocket and threw it at the maid.
“I don’t need any attendants.”
“My apologies, my lord.”
The maid barely managed to let the words out of her mouth and hurried outside.
Thud.
It was the sound of the door closing. Soon, midnight would pass and dawn would come. Cold air came from outside the window, it had been a long time since autumn last came. Demian took off his shirt and threw it without care before sitting down by the window. Then, he took off his necklace and stared at it.
Lara did not contact him, she also did not answer his call. Somehow he had an ominous hunch. Demian had been talking to her every night since a few days ago.
“Lara.”
The receiver was filled with reddish lights. Demian slowly called Lara’s name twice.
“Lara.”
There was no answer. She would not have been in danger because she would be with the Barbarians. It was also unlikely that Abraxas would have let her be in danger in the first place.
What in the world is going on?
Demian sat there in the same position until dawn and called for Lara. The receiver emitted lights several times but the voice that he missed was nowhere to be heard.
Demian eventually put on the shirt he had taken off again. Then, he ran to Paimon’s room, which was close to him.
“Paimon!”
Paimon was nowhere to be seen. Despite being a demon, he had a strong sense of vanity, so he only wanted something elegant and luxurious. But his splendid room was empty. From clothes, shoes, bags to accessories, Demian could not see any of the things that Paimon used all the time. Demian grabbed the knight, who had been waiting outside the door to monitor Paimon, by the collar and asked.
“Did Paimon run away?”
“Pardon? No, he went into his room before midnight and never came out.”
“What?”
“What’s wrong? He… Oh, oh no!”
When the knight saw the empty room, he was surprised and ran inside. Looking closely, the window was fixed closed from the outside.
Did he run away? Did he return to hell after feeling dissatisfied being stuck in a human’s clasp?
Demian judged that would not be the case. Paimon pledged obedience to Lara, he heard that it was an oath with absolute power. There was no doubt about it too since it was guaranteed by God himself.
At that time, an unfamiliar trace came into Demian’s eyes while aggressively investigating the vacant room on the brink of destroying it all. It was a trace of a small animal with claws hanging from the outer window frame and scratching the window. The windows were high up and the walls were smooth with nowhere to step on, so it must have been a beast with wings.
It was either a bird or bat.
Seeing that the upper window frame was torn instead of the lower window frame, it must have been a bat.
“Valac.”
Demian muttered before pushing the knight and running outside.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Demian ran to a temple in the city. Since it was a small and shabby temple, there was no proper God statue or prayer room. Demian entered the temple and looked at several sculptures in front of a candlestick.
Where is Abraxas?
Demian searched for the God of Fate with his eyes. The sculptures were much smaller than his forearms and their old and decaying state meant that there were many worn or broken parts. Demian knew nothing about God, he was not confident in telling Abraxas apart from such small and similar sculptures. So, he shouted out of nowhere.
“Abraxas!”
God did not answer. Whenever Lara called, God appeared in a hurry as if he had waited for her. The God who always listened to her was not in the temple.
Demian gritted his teeth and said.
“Come out right now. If anything happens to Lara, I will not forgive you even if you are God.”
Black energy was mixed in Demian’s blue eyes. Only his rough breathing filled in the dark temple.
“Abraxas.”
The candle shook violently. It critically burned and rose high as if it had been poured with oil.
In just an instant, the candle was extinguished.
There was only black darkness in the temple where the light disappeared. Demian stood there still and waited. When his eyes got used to the darkness, a pale moonlight leaked through the open window. God was there, in the shadow of the moonlight.
It was Abraxas, the God of Fate.
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