Editor: WilsonWilson
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The same thing happened on the next day and even the day after that. Whenever Lara and her demons rushed to a place where the Hell Corps had gathered, someone had already come and killed them all. It felt like they were playing hide and seek. For some time, the unilateral fighting continued to stir the Gorgon Mountain Range.
Then, one day, when the sky was darkened, Lara heard from Valac that about 200 monsters were about to invade the city with the demonic beasts.
“200? Can you fight them?”
“You keep underestimating me, I think I can deal with 200 monsters…probably?”
“Can you win? Can you really win?”
“Maybe it’s possible if the demon troops aren’t there…”
Since Valac ate Lilith, what was an impossible battle for him had now seemed possible. Lara looked at Valac with incredulity throughout the journey.
They arrived at the open space that he had been investigating in advance and hid in the bushes so as not to be caught.
“It’s quiet.”
Lara whispered. As she said, the forest was too quiet. If there were 200 monsters gathered there, their screams and smells should be felt from far away, but only the sound of a few people mixed with the sound of the wind could be heard.
Were they the ones who had secretly killed the hell corps that Lara had been trying to hunt and ran away? Lara sprang to her feet to inspect the open space in the forest. Her vision showed the Barbarians and the knights lying about in the middle of the open space. Some of them were familiar faces. It was Oscar, Domino, and Lampion.
Then, there was Demian.
‘Demian?’
Lara stopped moving. As soon as she saw his face, she felt choked up and became speechless. As she stood far away and looked inward, Valac leaned close behind her and whispered.
“Aren’t we supposed to hide our identity? Shall we run away? It looks like those guys came first again and struck them all… We should go back now, right?”
Lara did not answer. Valac’s eager question did not reach Lara’s ears.
Was it Demian? Or was it Abraxas? Was Abraxas hunting the Hell Corps with the Barbarians while pretending to be Demian? Or was Demian granted Abraxas’ powers and had returned to his comrades?
Demian was lightly dressed, he had the Hautean royal sword that Sonnet had given him some time ago on his waist. His posture was crooked, and he ruffled his disheveled hair.
A white face, a deep gaze, a heavy and cold atmosphere—everything was of Demian.
“Master…”
Valac called out to Lara and asked her to go back, he did not want to run into the Barbarians.
But then, Demian turned his head her way. He looked at Lara. Lara also looked at him. It was suffocating just like when she met him for the first time after going back to the past. Lara could not take her eyes off Demian. She could never read his blue eyes, yet it was the first time she felt so close to them.
Lara looked at Demian without moving an inch, it was as if she would not even miss a single breath of his. Through his eyes and facing his soul. It was both a short and a long time.
After witnessing Demian from afar, Lara turned silent for a while. Fortunately, the Barbarians and the knights of Tarragon were there. Otherwise, she would have run to Demian right then and there, and she would have grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.
“Where to next?”
“Huh? I thought we were going to attack only one group a day?”
“But we didn’t.”
“Well, that’s because they beat us to it.”
“Those monsters knew they didn't stand a chance fighting alone, that’s why there were 200 of them this time. But there may be another group somewhere else. Hurry, go and locate where those monsters are, search starting from near the city.”
“Now?”
“How many there are, what kind of species they are, and what tendencies they have. How many of them are demonic beasts, how many of them are monsters, and check if the demon troops are with them or not.”
“But Paimon is better at that than me…”
“Shut up and go.”
When Lara gave a cold warning, Valac hunched his shoulders and nodded.
“I will take you to the hill before going.”
“Just go now.”
“But it’ll be danger-… well, I guess it won’t.”
After saying that he kept forgetting that Lara was the demon lord, Valac disappeared after leaving a message for her to summon the giant of fire if she encountered the Hell Corps.
Being left alone, Lara walked very slowly as if she was waiting for someone. A white breath came out of her mouth and crumbled into the air. Snow fluttered from the gray sky. Perhaps it was because she was in a mountainous area, but the snow was not piled up beautifully as she saw in Dandelion. A cold, sharp snowflake scratched her cheek.
Lara walked slower. Every step she took, she counted and walked.
For Lara, ‘waiting' was against her nature, yet she could not come late. She had already died once to love him. So unless it was to prevent the destruction of the world, there was nothing that could stop her feelings for him.
After wandering around among the dense trees, following Lara's footsteps were another set of footsteps—ones that were longer and larger, and ones that belonged to a man.
It was Demian.
Whenever Lara took a step, he also took a step. He stepped on the spot where Lara stepped and he walked at the same pace as her. When Lara avoided snow flurries, Demian just got hit with his whole body.
Step by step.
The two walked aimlessly like that. They went deep into the mountains alone, out of sight of any demons, any Barbarians, and any mountain animal. Lara never looked back as she walked ahead. She had felt the heavy presence that followed her from behind from some point on, though she did not greet him.
The wind grew stronger and stronger. Lara’s long hair fluttered as her cape came off. In the forest full of pointed conifers, the snowflakes wandered astray.
Lara stood up under a huge cypress tree. Whenever the branches shook, the frozen snow would break into small pieces and flutter like flour.
A large demon soldier stood in front of her. It was big and strong, like the one that killed the Emperor. A dreadful bloodthirstiness poured out of its eyes with its hard outer skin as if it were covered in armor. As soon as it found Lara, it opened its mouth wide and pulled itself up.
All she had to do was to summon and show the giant of fire. Lara knew about that. However, she stood still as if she were nailed to the spot and did not run away even after seeing the hungry demon soldier move.
Instead, Demian was the one who took action. Walking behind Lara, he came forward without a sound and wielded his sword. He cut off the demon soldier’s arms and knocked it down in a flash. Then, he plunged his sword into its heart.
There was a flood of dark red blood. Everything was covered in its blood. But Demian was fine. Even while standing in the middle of the battlefield, he returned to Lara without a drop of blood on him.
Lara looked up. Demian was looking at her. While getting hit with the white snow, he stood close to Lara and looked down at her.
Lara asked.
“Since when?”
“What?”
“Since when did you replace Abraxas?”
Demian just smiled. A smile resembling the snow irradiated on his face.
“You tried to fool me?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I know best that I can’t fool you.”
Only Lara could recognize the difference between Demian and Abraxas. And Lara recognized him at once with just a glance.
“Since when? Are you completely back to you now? What about Abraxas?”
Lara pestered Demian. Her white, fine hand shook Demian’s arm. Demian lowered his head and leaned his forehead on Lara’s shoulder. Then, he laughed with a wet sigh.
Lara felt so far away from him, and now, she was right in front of him. She had reached him.
“Why didn’t you run away?”
“Because I knew you would save me.”
“And since when did you find out?”
“From the beginning. There’s no way you wouldn’t follow me.”
Demian laughed again.
It was extremely painful to fight Abraxas. It was almost impossible not to lose himself in God’s memories—something that was more than the stars in the sky. Demian struggled and despaired with a sense of helplessness that he could not do anything in the memory of God. He was just a mere fragment. Would he be able to stand up after eating God? Was Lara aware of all this?
He remembered each time. The scarlet eyes flowed endlessly towards him.
I trust you.
A voice akin to a miracle.
It was joy, and it was longing.
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