The wings of the Decepter fluttered threateningly. Though ash, dust, and sand irritated her eyes, Laila stood firm while shedding tears.

‘If I hesitate, I’ll be at a disadvantage.’

Eustar’s sword was too heavy. It was impossible to hold it up for long. She couldn’t really kill the Decepter, but to threaten him, she had to act quickly.

“Haaap!”

Laila shouted as she swung the sword behind her shoulder and activated the runner. As speed picked up, her body, which had been tilting backward unable to bear the weight, became uncontrollable.

Laila focused solely on not losing grip of the sword, and as the Decepter’s massive body drew near, she turned her shoulder with all her might.

—Ugh…!

It worked. Laila thought. She wanted to stop the runner, but due to the weight, turning direction was all she could manage. The lowered blade scraped the ground with a grating noise.

—You insolent thing!

As the enraged Decepter swung his grotesquely protruding claws, the ground split with a ‘boom, boom’ sound, and black flames shot up from the cracks.

Some of them approached Laila like lolling tongues, clinging to her jacket. If it hadn’t been specially made to deal with magical beasts, her right arm would have turned into a black lump of charcoal.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Laila shook off the embers and raised her sword again.

Her shoulder was screaming, and one of her elbows was clearly cracked or broken. This attack would probably be her last. She had the will, but it was physically impossible.

The Decepter said.

—You’re trembling just holding the sword, yet your tongue is so long!

Just as he was about to swing his claws once more, Laila’s body moved a beat faster. This was possible because she had always observed how Eustar fought magical beasts.

He would first defensively analyze the beast’s pattern, then move faster than the beast could anticipate to launch a fierce attack.

As the Decepter’s body drew near, Laila raised the runner’s output to maximum. Just as her feet almost left the ground, she kicked off with her heel and leaped up, shouting.

“That’s…”

Laila’s entire body, gripping the sword, curved in a semicircle. Holding the sword hilt with both hands, she jumped high, aiming precisely at the Decepter’s crown.

“My line!”

The gleaming blade plummeted like an arrow under the faint sunlight.

It was the very moment when the sharp sword was about to pierce the strange crown covered in scales and feathers.

—Stop.

With a sensation as if the air had frozen solid, Laila’s body abruptly halted in mid-air. The low, heavy voice that resonated was not unfamiliar.

Laila, now suspended in the air, moved her gaze in confusion. Strangely, there was no counterattack from the Decepter…

“Ah!”

Laila’s suspended body suddenly spun in the air like a leaf in the wind. At the same time, the invisible spell binding her was released, and the sword that had fallen from her hand plunged deep into the ground.

“How reckless.”

The owner of the voice was indeed Badin. Catching Laila as she fell from mid-air, he reprimanded her in an impassive voice.

Furrowing her brow sharply, Laila bared her teeth like a growl and pushed against his shoulder.

“Let go!”

Badin released his arms as if it were no big deal. Laila, nearly tumbling down, barely managed to regain her balance and screamed, “Ah!” She couldn’t move her right arm.

—Badin, you—!

The Decepter still wasn’t moving. No, it was clear he couldn’t move.

Unlike Laila, he was twitching, but that was all. Badin must be restraining him. Laila looked up at the Decepter’s fiercely burning eyes while catching her breath.

Badin said.

“Why don’t you do something about that stinking body of yours.”

—You cursed bastard! I won’t let this slide! Release me! I said release me!

“Cursed bastard, thank you for the compliment. If you promise to leave my daughter alone, Decepter. I’ll release you right away.”

A growling sound came from between the Decepter’s teeth.

Laila stared at Badin with a rather surprised expression. Despite subduing that enormous demon, he didn’t look strained at all. If anything, he seemed to be enjoying the situation a little.

The Decepter, who seemed to be struggling to break free from his spell, let out an angry cry and said.

—Fine! Fine, I say! Release me now!

Badin’s eyebrow slightly raised.

“Be prepared if it’s a lie.”

He moved his hand slowly. It was an elegant gesture, like that of a conductor belonging to a royal palace. The Decepter’s wings fluttered once, but this time the ash and dust didn’t reach Laila.

As if surrounded by an invisible circular barrier centered on Badin and her, it flowed backward along a transparent boundary.

The Decepter’s panting body slowly began to shrink. Little by little it reduced, finally transforming into the form of a human—or something close to human—that Laila knew.

The Decepter’s eyes, glaring at Laila and Badin, looked as if flames might burst out at any moment. But he was docile… Just seething, unable to lay a hand on either Laila or Eustar.

“Ugh…”

As a small groan was heard, Laila’s ears perked up. She spotted Eustar struggling to get up and quickly ran to him.

“Eustar! Goodness, come to your senses. Are you alright?”

Eustar’s face was a mess of cold sweat and dirt. His complexion was pale, but at least he didn’t seem to be in pain, which was a relief.

Blinking slowly like someone who had just regained consciousness, Eustar let out a long sigh.

“…I’m fine, Laila. What on earth is going on…”

Laila said.

“It’s because of the Decepter.”

At that, the Decepter whipped his head around and snapped.

“It’s because of your damned meddling!”

Eustar raised his head and frowned. He sighed, looking alternately at the suddenly docile Decepter, his own sword stuck far away in the ground, and Badin standing with an indifferent face, as if he couldn’t make sense of it all.

“What’s all this about?”

Eustar said. But no one answered his question.

The Decepter was clearly restraining himself from wanting to throw a fit. Glaring at Badin while panting, he said.

“What kind of trick is this, Badin? What are you up to, dragging these stupid humans around?”

Badin snorted—a chilling sound.

“Trickery is your specialty, isn’t it, D? You’re picking a fight with the wrong person.”

“Get out of here before I blow you away. This is my territory.”

At that, Badin’s red eyes turned a deeper shade. Something like black smoke flickered behind his shoulders, and a voice so chilling it sent shivers down one’s spine rang out.

“You’d better watch your mouth, Decepter. Remember, it’s not out of any old sentiment that I’ve left you alive.”

The Decepter let out another growling sound. But that was all. Laila, even forgetting the pain in her right arm, watched their confrontation and pondered.

What kind of relationship do these two have? Is it simply because the Decepter is weaker than Badin that he obeys so readily? Or…

Then Badin chuckled once more.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that form, but your slimy face is still the same. As for your taste.”

“Get lost, I’m sick of looking at you.”

“The one who should get lost is you, D. Because this is still my property. ‘Legally’ speaking. You’d be surprised how picky human laws are. They’re flimsy but complicated. Quite contradictory and interesting.”

The Decepter glared at him, grinding his teeth. Badin, still in his nonchalant attitude, moved his neck this way and that as he spoke casually.

“Do you really not know that you’re able to stand here with those stinking feet of yours because of my consideration? Either leave on your own feet, or be banished. I’ll let you choose. This is a favor I’m doing out of old times’ sake.”

“Looks like you’re trying to interfere with me, but don’t you know it’s futile?”

Badin looked at him as if he was saying something stupid.

“Have I ever added a word about your business? You’ve got some strange paranoia. Just because you go around meddling here and there carelessly, do you think all the demons in hell do the same?”

At that moment, Laila and Eustar forgot even the gravity of the situation and gaped like fools side by side. The Decepter’s expression was truly a sight to behold.

It was an expression of… indescribable insult. He seemed to feel both anger and shame simultaneously. A demon feeling shame, is that even possible?

The Decepter’s hair, which had shot up, flickered and shook even more violently.

“If you don’t intend to interfere with my business, why did you show up? In a place that’s not even your territory!”

Badin glanced at Laila for a moment.

“I came to give you some fatherly advice since you’re bothering my daughter.”

At his nonchalant answer, not only the Decepter but even Laila, who was listening, wore an expression of disbelief.

Badin said.

“Learn to wait patiently for the right time, Decepter. What you want will end up in your hands anyway, won’t it?”

“Don’t preach to me with that smug attitude!”

“You should know that preaching is my specialty, right? I’m warning you, don’t even think about laying a hand on my daughter again. Do whatever you want with that human male.”

This time, Eustar was left speechless with an incredulous look.

But what happened next was even more absurd.

The Decepter, who had been seething like a child whose candy was taken away, vanished without a trace. Even Eustar couldn’t sense his presence, so it seemed he had left as Badin had said.

Laila and Eustar were still staring at Badin, unable to grasp the situation. Then Badin slowly turned towards the two and spoke to Eustar.

“I don’t like you, foolish descendant of Hyanmorik.”

Eustar, who had been looking at him with bewildered eyes, retorted bluntly.

“Do you think I want to follow you around because I like you?”

Badin completely ignored his retort and gazed at Laila intently.

At that moment, Laila felt a tingling sensation in her right arm that hadn’t been moving. Startled by the sudden feeling, she looked down at her right arm with a surprised expression.

“What’s wrong, Laila?”

Eustar grabbed her arm. It didn’t hurt.

Laila looked at Badin with a dazed expression.

“What did you just do?”