After the match, Motem returned to Hemis’s office.
Hemis was sitting on her desk as usual, legs crossed in that alluring way she had.
“How was it?” Hemis asked as soon as Motem entered.
Motem knew her question was about Choi Hyun-seok.
“He was an interesting human, just as you said, my lord.”
“In what specific ways?”
“…He was unique to the point where it’s hard to list them all.”
“Take your time and tell me. I’m curious about your thoughts.”
Motem closed his eyes for a moment and thought about Choi Hyun-seok.
Hemis waited, propping her chin up, for Motem to continue.
As if his thoughts were organized, Motem opened his mouth.
“At first, I was puzzled how a human could wield Demonic energy.”
“…”
“But not only did he wield Demonic energy at a high level, but he also used Mana together. It was something I couldn’t understand with my common sense.”
“That’s understandable. It was a phenomenon that even I couldn’t understand.”
Hemis nodded, agreeing with Motem.
Using Demonic energy and Mana at the same time was indeed mysterious.
Even Hemis, who had lived longer than anyone else, couldn’t understand why such a thing was possible.
She asked again, “Is that all? Is there anything else?”
“He is…”
Motem hesitated for a moment, as if reluctant, before opening his mouth. “He has a talent for combat. He instinctively knows how to fight, and his mental strength is also strong.”
“Oh ho. For you to praise his mental strength. That’s unexpected.”
“I hate to admit it, but he was quite a decent warrior.”
Motem admitted honestly.
Looking back, Choi Hyun-seok did everything he could.
He used his teammates to create the best strategy.
He perfectly showed off his skills.
No, he poured out more than he had and won the victory.
‘Especially that heterogeneous fighting spirit he used at the end. That was a technique that completely scraped away his flesh,’ Motem thought.
There is no power in the world without a price.
The Mana Explosion that Choi Hyun-seok used, which collided Demonic energy and Mana, was a power that he could not have originally produced at his level.
Even if he didn’t know the exact driving principle, it would surely put a strong burden on the caster.
‘His body must have been more battered than I was, who was directly attacked…’
You could see it by looking at Choi Hyun-seok, who collapsed to the floor as soon as the game ended.
He was exhausted as a price for using strong power.
It must have been a situation where it was difficult to move even a finger.
Even in the midst of that, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes were clear.
He accurately snatched the flag on Motem’s back.
“The will to achieve the goal without losing focus until the end… I thought that alone was better than the recent Demons, even though he is human.”
“I see.”
Hemis pondered Motem’s words, lost in thought.
Soon she nodded.
It seemed that things were somewhat settled.
“Anyway, good job.”
“No. It was an honor to receive your order, my lord.”
“Ohoho! What honor. I’ll call you again if there’s another job.”
“Yes. Anytime.”
Then Hemis clapped her hands as if she remembered something.
“Come to think of it, how are the other kids doing these days?”
‘Other kids’ meant the other subordinates in Hemis.
“Everyone is waiting for you to call them, my lord.”
“Okay. Tell them I said hello. It seems like there will be work soon, so tell them to wait.”
“Understood.”
“Shall we go back now then?”
Hemis flicked her hand, signaling Motem to come closer.
It was time to go back into Hemis again.
There is a huge world inside her body where all the contracted subordinates live.
But for some reason, Motem hesitated.
After pondering for a while, he opened his lips as if he had made up his mind. “Um… May I ask you a favor, my lord?”
“A favor?”
“Yes. If possible, I would like you to call me again in the near future.”
Hemis was surprised by Motem’s words and widened her eyes because it was the first time he had made such a request.
“Is there a special reason?”
“That human… I think I need to educate him at least once.”
Motem said as if spitting it out.
Hemis laughed loudly. “Ohoho!”
“…”
“Ohohohoho!”
“My lord…”
“You must be very upset that you were defeated by Choi Hyun-seok.”
Hemis’s words hit the nail on the head.
Motem bowed his head deeply.
He couldn’t forget Choi Hyun-seok’s face as he smiled at him at the end.
‘I’ll give you a proper mental education…’ Motem thought.
Motem, who looks calm, has a personality that can’t stand losing.
That’s why he was so angry that he was defeated by Choi Hyun-seok, who was much weaker than him.
“Okay. I’ll call you again soon, so don’t worry too much.”
“Thank you…”
Soon Motem approached Hemis.
Cheoeeeoeoeok!
Hemis’s lips widened greatly and swallowed Motem in an instant.
“…”
Motem disappeared without a trace, just as he had appeared.
Hemis, who was left alone in the office, walked silently to the window.
“For Motem to praise him this much… I knew it, but he’s really a crazy guy.”
From the beginning, Hemis knew very well that Choi Hyun-seok’s talent was beyond common sense, especially when it comes to handling Mana.
His growth rate is so amazing that even she sticks out her tongue.
In other words, she knows better than anyone else that Choi Hyun-seok’s talent is outstanding.
Even so, there was a reason why she sent Motem out and asked him questions.
That’s because Motem’s eyes are so picky and his standards are so high.
Hemis also valued Motem’s ability to evaluate qualities that are not simply outwardly visible, such as the sense and mental strength needed for battle.
The result was, as expected, the highest score.
“Choi Hyun-seok, what should I do with you?”
Hemis pondered seriously.
In fact, Choi Hyun-seok was nothing to her—just a toy.
She just wanted to play with him appropriately and see how long he could last.
But not anymore.
The situation that started with her little game is changing.
Hemis was convinced that the more Choi Hyun-seok grew, the more interesting things would happen.
“Did you say a new wind must blow…” Someone’s habitual words flashed through her mind.
“Well, that would be fun in its own way.”
Hemis smiled crookedly, thinking that it wouldn’t be bad either.
***
Choi Hyun-seok, who was lying on the floor, groaned. “Aigo… I’m really going to die.”
“Hero, you look fine, why are you pretending?”
“What? Fine? You don’t know anything about fighting, but you’re only good at talking!”
He was furious, but in fact, he understood Rachel’s reaction because Choi Hyun-seok had no wounds on the outside.
What he is suffering from now is not an external factor, but an internal problem.
“It’s like my whole body is twisted from using too much Demonic energy.”
“It feels like you’re twisting it like you’re wringing out a rag!?”
“Yeah. That’s how I feel.”
The reason why his body hurts is simple.
First, his insides were shaken when he used Raid-Run style martial arts because he forcibly produced an output that his body could not handle.
After that, he used Mana Explosion right away without rest.
Thanks to this, his body, which had already been damaged, was completely destroyed.
It was a natural result, since he used two techniques in a row that would make his body creak even if he used only one.
“It would have been a little better if Mana Explosion had been registered as an official fighting spirit. I guess it still needs more time.”
“But you won. That’s all that matters!”
“That’s true.”
Choi Hyun-seok smiled.
As a result, Choi Hyun-seok won the flag and advanced to the next game.
Since he was given a generous rest period of ten days until the next game, there is no problem in recovering his body.
“They said there are 6 teams that advanced to the next game?”
“Yes.”
“Since there are 4 people in each team, a total of 24 people have advanced.”
“That’s right.”
“Then the number that needs to be dropped in the future…”
Choi Hyun-seok summarized the general situation.
“Eight people are selected to fill the existing battalion commander positions. Five battalion commanders are needed for the newly created regiment, and one regimental commander. Is that fourteen in total?”
“That’s right!”
“It’s almost done. Isn’t it over if we get rid of 10 more people?”
It’s simple math.
The current number of remaining people is 24.
The number of people to be selected is 14.
Of course, the game will end if 10 more people are eliminated.
However, Choi Hyun-seok’s case was a little different.
“No, no! The lip monster [referring to Hemis] said that Hero must be in the top 10!”
“Huh?”
“So Hero has to wipe out fourteen more guys from now on!”
The condition Hemis demanded was the final top 10.
Since there are currently 24 passers, he must defeat 14 more people in the future.
“It’s going to be annoying…”
The remaining games will not be able to pass by luck like before because the time has come to really clash purely with force.
“They said the next game is a personal survival?”
“Yes. They said it’s a fight until the last one survives.”
“The game content is really terrible.”
It was the worst.
Among the current passers, Choi Hyun-seok’s personal power is by far the weakest.
In addition, it is easy to become a common target because he is the only human.
“And they said there will be a lot of magical beasts.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have to worry about the magical beasts, not the participants.”
The next game will be held in a different location, not near the Black Star—Inesimote.
It is said that powerful magical beasts are teeming in that place, which has the nickname of the Land of Magical Beasts.
Although the game is played at the entrance, not the center, the difficulty was likely to be extremely high.
It was an obvious story when you look at the actions Hemis has taken so far.
“Be careful. Other participants can flick off the heads of decent magical beasts while picking their noses. Hero can’t do that.”
“I don’t want to either!”
Choi Hyun-seok shouted, disgusted.
I don’t know why he uses such a metaphor.
Then Rachel spread her chest wide. “But don’t worry!”
“Huh?”
“The other guys are alone, but we’re together! I’ll show you my true colors in survival!”
“Rachel, one plus one is not always two.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing… I’ll look forward to it.”
Choi Hyun-seok said reluctantly.
He was too tired to argue with Rachel anymore.
Rachel looked at Choi Hyun-seok with suspicious eyes and then smiled. “Look forward to it! The time has come to show Rachel’s real power!”
“Wow… I’m so excited…”
“Please respond properly!”
“Wow. Excited.”
“Tsk, that’s it!”
Rachel is confident.
Although she is currently treated as a second-class citizen… even that arrogant hero will have no choice but to acknowledge her superior abilities when the game actually starts.
“Just you wait and see!”
“There’s an old saying that there’s no scary guy who says just you wait and see.”
“Oh, really!”
“Sorry. It’s like an instinct.”
Choi Hyun-seok was the type who would get thorns in his mouth if he didn’t make a tackle even for a day.
***
At the same time, in the Holy Empire of Gatrein, Pope Orban was receiving a report from his confidant, Cardinal Elrond.
“The Demon King has rejected the request to remove the Gourmet from the Black Star.”
“Is that so…”
“Yes. It seems that the Demon King is burdened by being at odds with the Gourmet any more than he is now.”
The Pope was planning to attack the Black Star and disrupt the tournament.
The Demon King’s army must not change.
It is better to nip the seeds of change in the bud.
There is also the benefit of reducing Hemis’s position within the Demon King’s army.
However, one prerequisite was required for this operation to be carried out: Hemis must not be at the Black Star.
Hemis’s estimated power exceeds the hero level and is at the legend level.
Those who are called legends are not people that even the Pope can move carelessly.
Most of them are living in seclusion, and there is only one legend who actually follows the Pope’s orders.
He could not put such an important card into such a dangerous task.
Therefore, the key to this operation was to move Hemis, but… it seemed that the Demon King was not going to cooperate.
“There is another problem. There is currently a traitor at the Black Star.”
“Are you talking about that runaway girl as a traitor?”
“That’s right. It seems that the Demon King has broken his promise to stand by and has taken action.”
“The Gourmet and the traitor… It will be difficult to win with a head-on fight.”
The traitor was referring to Park Hyun-ah.
Although she is seen as one step below Hemis, Park Hyun-ah is also evaluated as straddling the legendary level of power.
As many as two powerful people with legendary power.
Entering such a place was no different from suicide.
“It seems that you should cancel this operation…” Cardinal Elrond carefully brought up the topic.
The Pope shook his head firmly. “This incident began when the Gourmet kidnapped the next Saintess, Abelson Marriott.”
“…”
“In the first place, the Demons are just a necessary evil that we have kept alive. Those guys don’t know their place and are running wild. I can never stand idly by.”
The Pope will not let this matter pass.
Hemis was too much of a nuisance and a variable.
Before, the Demon King was controlling her, so he left her alone, but now that the reins are being released, he has no choice.
A colt that runs wild without knowing the world must be killed by cutting off its neck, Pope Orban thinks.
Perhaps the Demon King noticed his thoughts and sent Park Hyun-ah to the Black Star.
“Come to think of it, I remember that there was a report from a new spy this time that the game location would be changed.”
“That’s right.”
“God is helping us.”
A smile flashed across Pope Orban’s face.
The bugs are crawling out of their homes on their own.
He had abandoned God, but God had not yet abandoned him.
“That’s good. Let’s test the hero on this opportunity. And…” The Pope explained the detailed operation plan.
As his words continued, admiration grew on Cardinal Elrond’s face.
“That’s all. Can you proceed well?”
“Yes. Just leave it to me.”
The Demon King’s biggest problem, the Gourmet… since he is quite a big shot, it is foolish to confront him head-on.
First, cut off his arms and legs, make him unable to do anything, and then take his life.
The operation that will begin now was in no way lacking as its beginning.