Chapter 87: A Break That’s Not a Break

Knowing the threads’ locations like the back of his hand, his movements were decisive. He didn’t just avoid the threads; he even used them to his advantage.

He fluidly moved through the threads, sometimes guiding monsters to be sliced apart, other times tearing into them himself, all while conserving his energy. As he grew accustomed to it, he even began pushing monsters into the path of the threads just as nearby 2nd Corps members swung them.

Ben, clutching the medical bag tightly, watched the scene unfold, his expression gradually turning peculiar.

“The momentum has shifted.”

The monsters, who had been charging recklessly, had become hesitant. Given Demon-nim’s nature, their cautious behavior would usually give him more room to rampage.

“But it’s not enough.”

Even with this many kills, the number of monsters didn’t seem to diminish significantly.

When is backup arriving? Has fifteen minutes ever felt this long?

“Cough!”

“Demon-nim!”

“Stay back!”

Stopping Ben from rushing over, Deon pressed the dagger into the monster’s forehead, then used the leverage to leap back inside the thread barrier.

Unable to stop its momentum, the monster slammed into the threads and was sliced into pieces, which fell in a shower of gore. Amidst the falling remains, Deon quietly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. It was stained with a mixture of monster blood and possibly his own.

“Are, are you alright…”

“It’s nothing.”

He had tried to avoid direct hits, but the accumulated impact had finally overwhelmed him.

Cough, Deon coughed up more blood, then abruptly stopped, a thought striking him. Damn it. A curse escaped his lips.

“If only I’d held out a little longer.”

The momentum he’d painstakingly built had crumbled. The strongest presence had bled. The monsters’ hesitant attacks intensified once more—no, they were even fiercer than before. Deon gritted his teeth.

“Fifteen minutes… it should be almost up.”

He roughly composed himself, drew a fresh dagger, and stepped back outside the thread barrier. He grabbed a nearby monster and stabbed it relentlessly, as if venting his frustration.

His random stabs were deliberate, though. He made sure to keep his breathing ragged. He had to appear more, more brutal to make them hesitate. Only then could he regain control of the situation.

“But… Demon-nim doesn’t look well!”

“……”

“If you take a moment to be examined, the 2nd Corps Commander and the 2nd Corps can surely hold them off. You should get checked out before continuing…”

“……”

“Demon-nim!”

Deon spun around abruptly and threw his dagger. *Thwack!* The dagger grazed Ben’s cheek and embedded itself in the carriage wall.

Blood trickled down Ben’s cheek, and he quickly shut his mouth.

It wasn’t just the dagger; the red eyes glaring at him radiated a chilling, viscous bloodlust.

“Shut your mouth. You’re being a nuisance.”

“……”

“I distinctly said it was nothing.”

Even from a distance, his low growl vibrated clearly in Ben’s eardrums.

Monster blood thickly coated his face, blurring his vision. His narrowed eyes, even in that state, blazed with undisguised madness as they fixed on Ben.

“Weren’t you expecting this anyway when you started all this?”

“……!”

The arm holding the medical bag twitched. Ben’s eyes widened as if an earthquake had struck.

Unable to respond, his lips merely quivered. Deon stared at him coldly before speaking in a low voice.

His tone was less angry and more dismissive, laced with contempt.

“Act properly.”

Stop acting so clumsy.

“……”

“……”

A brief silence fell amidst the chaotic background noise before Deon turned away.

He moved again, a clear satisfaction on his face at the absence of the irritating voice, but it didn’t last long.

“Demon-nim!!”

He didn’t even bother to reply. Deon whipped around, ready to throw his dagger with lethal intent, only to raise an eyebrow.

Behind!! Behind you!

Ben was sprinting towards him, yelling frantically.

Driven by urgency, he used the medical bag as a shield, deflecting and identifying the unseen threads as he ran towards Deon. But before he could reach him—

*Thwack-*

Blood splattered.

Deon, who had just turned another monster into mincemeat, slowly turned around. Another monster stood there, a dagger plunged into its vitals.

Deon noticed the monster’s hand reaching for his head, tilted his head with interest, then stepped back with a bright smile. Suddenly, cuts appeared all over the monster’s body, spraying blood.

“……Ha.”

The monster was instantly mangled.

The brutality was undeniably reminiscent of his own handiwork, but he hadn’t done it. Realizing who had arrived, Deon called out the person’s name with a knowing smile.

“Sillua.”

“Greetings, Demon-nim! Long time no see!”

***

The shocking sight snapped me out of my daze. I stared blankly, alternating between the mangled monster corpse and the woman before me.

A stylishly short bob. Daggers in both hands. The vertically slit pupils that amplified her already unhinged aura, combined with her brutal methods!

My instincts screamed to avoid getting involved with this demon, but sadly, I already knew her.

7th Corps Commander, Sillua.

She wielded daggers and, along with the 9th Corps Commander, was responsible for the border between the human and demon realms… Should she even be here?

“I heard that Demon-nim was having a solo party here and rushed over!”

“……Where did you hear that from?”

“The Demon King told me!”

“……”

I quietly looked around.

Threads forming a defined space. A relentless surge of monsters pouring into it.

It’s a trap. And we’re the bait.

The alcohol might have erased some of my memories, but I was certain this wasn’t a party.

“Demon King…!”

We’re desperately fighting for our lives, and she calls this a party…?

No, wait. It’s more likely that Sillua misinterpreted it as a party.

Not knowing how this crazy demon would react, I suppressed my anger and even a sigh, muttering in exasperation.

“How did you even get in here…”

“Oh, it’s nothing much. Like this—”

Sillua swung her dagger, locating one of the threads, then pressed down on it, creating an opening. The dagger cracked, but she ignored it, squeezing through the gap and grinning at us from the outside.

“Just like that.”

“……I’ll have to make the threads tighter next time.”

The threads meant to trap and slice enemies… they can be stretched?

Develania, who was watching from a short distance, glared at her corps members.

Ignoring them, I belatedly realized my uncomfortable condition and started peeling off the unidentified bits of flesh sticking to me. Sillua, who had come back in and was staring with sparkling eyes at my blood-soaked, disheveled state, cautiously spoke up.

“Ah, but Demon-nim. There’s a monster behind you…”

*Thwack!!*

*Thud.*

“……?!”

“… or rather, there was.”

Ugh! What is going on?!

Ignoring Sillua’s seemingly disappointed tone, I whipped around.

I heard something smashing behind my left shoulder, and debris rained down! Before I could even brush off the red bits clinging to me, I saw Ben’s pale face.

He desperately avoided my gaze, for some reason.

Looking down slightly, I saw the bloodstained medical bag.

I’m pretty sure it was clean in my memories…

“Right, he’s a maniac too.”

Judging by the situation, he must have smashed the monster’s head with the sturdy medical bag. Probably for my sake.

I appreciate it… but it’s terrifying.

“I-I’m sorry, Demon-nim, it’s just…”

I haven’t even said anything yet.

I just stared at him, but Ben, his face ashen, stammered an explanation before abruptly clamping his mouth shut. His lips trembled.

“He saved me, so why is he apologizing?”

The question remained unasked. Sillua had grabbed him by the collar moments before.

Her vertically slit pupils glared fiercely at Ben.

“If you know you did wrong, you should kneel. How dare you disregard Demon-nim?”

“……”

“Do you think Demon-nim wouldn’t have noticed that?”

Why is she suddenly getting angry? It’s scary.

And disregard? It wasn’t disregard. He saved me.

“If I knew there was a monster behind me, I would have dodged, not just stood there.”

As expected of a corps commander, her imposing aura made me instinctively flinch, but Ben was no pushover either. After a momentary hesitation, he raised his hand, gripped Sillua’s wrist, and met her gaze head-on.

“My apology was to Demon-nim, not the 7th Corps Commander.”

“……Cocky. Is it because you were once the Demon King’s personal physician? Are you going to start being disrespectful to Demon-nim too?”

“……That’s why I was apologizing for my rudeness. Please release my hand.”

“Still defiant. What if I get angry and just kill you?”

“Would you violate the agreement? My charge is the 0th Legion Commander. The Demon King and the 0th Legion Commander, Demon-nim, are the only ones with the authority to punish me.”

There’s a basic agreement that personal physicians aren’t to be killed arbitrarily unless they fail to perform their duties properly. The decision of whether they failed and if that failure warrants death rests with the patient who suffered the consequences.

This was the basis for Ben’s audacity in talking back to other corps commanders.

My role as his charge prevented me from treating him lightly, and the agreement prevented other corps commanders from killing him.

“…….”

Getting caught in their power struggle would be a death wish. I quietly shut my mouth.

Sillua, who had raised her dagger in anger, glanced at me before lowering her hand with a frustrated hiss. It was obvious she was trying to suppress her annoyance, but Ben wouldn’t let it go.

“The reason you’re angry isn’t because I ‘disregarded Demon-nim,’ but because you couldn’t watch Demon-nim tear the monsters apart, isn’t it?”

S-Stop it. What are they doing, bickering in a place swarming with monsters?

Even as the two of them engaged in their staring contest, Develania and the 2nd Corps fought diligently, but for some reason, the monsters were regaining their ferocity.

Develania seemed to notice this too. She tossed a chunk of a dismembered monster between them, her voice laced with irritation.

“Can you two cut it out? What about the border? You came all the way here just to have a staring contest? Did you come to hinder us?”

“Ah, Develania was here too? I left the border to my adjutant. The Demon King said it should be fine. He said the Empire isn’t in a position to attack right now.”

“So, the Demon King sent you?”

“Yes! I’ve been nagging the Demon King for the past few days, saying I was bored, so he sent me here.”

She nagged the Demon King….

Still, is this really okay? Like her, the 9th Corps Commander, who is also in charge of border security, has been in the Demon King’s castle since before I arrived and hasn’t left.

In other words, there isn’t a single corps commander on the border with the human realm right now. What if a ‘hero’ or someone strong attacks?

Develania was speechless. She pursed her lips for a moment before sighing and running a hand through her hair.

“Either way, if you’re not going to help, why don’t you go back?”

“Of course, I’m going to help! Ah, but first, I’d like to see Demon-nim mince just one monster!”

“……Excuse me?”

Why me, all of a sudden…?

Startled, I reflexively looked at Sillua, meeting her gaze.

And I watched as the intense excitement in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a dullness.

Her vibrant energy instantly gone, Sillua mumbled in disappointment.

“……It’s not Demon-nim….”

“……?”