“Battle formation!”

Byron instinctively shouted before his mind could fully grasp the situation unfolding before his eyes. His voice, rising from deep within his gut, gripped and shook the air of the vast wasteland.

“Move away from the sink! Maintain distance!”

The experienced knights and senior members regained their senses first.

They pushed and toppled the lower-ranking members who were in disarray due to lack of field experience to safety, then took battle positions while protecting themselves and their comrades from the humming, vibrating energy of the sink.

No one knew what would emerge. Ghosts? Monsters? Or something even more terrible? Most of them didn’t know ‘how’ sinks were created. The branch’s magical device always detected the sink’s energy first. Always.

“Keep your distance from the sink!”

Himierd, who regained her composure after Byron, pushed through the members and drew her sword.

“The range could expand! Don’t get sucked in!”

Before she could finish speaking, a contingent on the west side crumbled from the right edge. Without any warning, the expanded sink swallowed three members in an instant.

“Branch Chief!”

The members who witnessed their comrades disappear right before their eyes cried out urgently and stepped back.

Something like a rusty hook caught on the edge of the widened sink. They all heard a growling sound. It was the sound of a beast echoing from deep underground.

A massive armored insect-like creature twisted its way up from beneath the sink. A buzzing sound began to emanate from beneath its shell, which looked as hard as rock and disgustingly glossy.

Like an adult insect that had just torn out of its pupa, it was struggling to spread its damp wings.

As its crumpled wings reflected the dim sunlight, bizarre claws shaped like sharp hooks dug into the ground with a crunching sound.

Similar creatures began pouring out from various places. Swarms of monsters, or ghosts. Beings whose nature couldn’t be precisely determined were endlessly crawling up.

Marnak and Felix joined the battle. Himierd was already commanding the members, launching attacks before the giant armored insect could prepare to take flight.

When one of its wrinkled, damp wings was cut off, it opened its mouth wide and let out a strange cry. Even from afar, Byron could see the blade-like teeth densely lining the monster’s palate.

‘Damn it, we can’t get bogged down here.’

While directing the experienced knights of the 1st Branch to lead the members, he slashed and stabbed at visible monsters, moving swiftly along the edges of the chaos. He was searching for Baso.

King Ord’s hoarse voice rang persistently in his ears.

— Baso will be near the city. Find him. He might be a different being, but if he recognizes you, he’ll take on a familiar form.

What could it mean? Neither Byron nor the other branch chiefs fully understood Ord’s words. The phrase ‘might be a different being’, and ‘will take on a familiar form’…

‘Is Baso not human? That can’t be.’

A ghost with its mouth wide open appeared before Byron’s eyes.

As its decayed, skeletal fingers gripped his solid shoulder, he felt an eerie chill and pain. The pain, literally aching to the bone, nearly made Byron drop his sword.

“Ugh… Marnak!”

At his call, Marnak Deiamer, who had been creating barriers around the members, instantly pulled the trigger.

As the bullet, filled with holy water inside consecrated silver, tore the ghost’s body to shreds, Byron was finally able to escape the terrible pain.

“Branch Chief Byron!”

Marnak shouted.

Behind him, a bluish barrier spread out in a circle, protecting the knights and members.

“Find Baso!”

I will. Byron thought. With no time to respond, as soon as the tingling in his shoulder subsided, he readjusted his grip on the sword and scanned the edges of the battlefield, surveying his surroundings. Screams and shouts, sharp bursting sounds, dull impact noises.

If hell truly existed, would it be filled with such sounds?

Would this buzzing vibration, this unpleasant rhythm that seemed to eat into one’s mind, rise from the center of the fire pit?

“What a mess.”

It was a low voice. Surprisingly, that near-whisper clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

And suddenly, the monsters’ movements became strange. Those that had been frantically rushing towards the members all at once began to flinch and noticeably guard against one particular spot.

Byron found Baso standing on a roughly hewn rock and gaped blankly. Why, how was he standing in such a place?

The next thought that struck him was that this was absolutely not Baso. He could see flames burning like real fire in his eyes.

The calm and cautious demeanor that always characterized him as he served like a shadow behind Ord was nowhere to be seen. He was arrogant and fierce, and it seemed as if he could sweep away everything here, including Byron, if he so wished.

“Byron, step back!”

It was Himierd’s voice. Even if she hadn’t been so cautious, Byron would have stepped back anyway.

Baso’s body rose straight into the air, then descended surprisingly slowly. The humans focused their gaze on this unbelievable sight, while the monsters tried to flee.

Himierd saw Baso’s appearance slowly changing. She knew it wasn’t human, that it was something more serious than a monster, but when the flames that shot up behind his back began to spread and flicker through his hair, she couldn’t move an inch.

This is not something humans should face. Himierd thought. Humans cannot stand against that… She saw the spot where Baso stood turning pitch black.

Baso spoke.

“I’ll help.”

Even the branch chiefs, including Byron, felt a shiver run through their bodies at the voice that had become even more ominous. Baso looked at each of their faces clearly, as if trying to remember them, then said.

“Who will make a contract with me?”

The moment those words fell, Himierd swung her sword and charged at Baso, or rather, at the Deceptor.

She didn’t know exactly what his identity was. But it was clear that a demon was wearing Baso’s shell. She couldn’t contain her anger.

“Will you do it?”

Himierd’s body, which had been moving quickly, suddenly stopped as if tied by invisible ropes.

In reality, she felt an impact as if her ribs were breaking and all her internal organs were being damaged. Only after the sword that had been firmly gripped in her hand fell to the ground did Baso release the restraint.

“We will not make any contract with a demon. Return to where you belong.”

As Marnak, who had a background as a clergyman, stepped forward, Baso’s face grotesquely distorted.

Starting from his left ear, the skin began to slowly burn away, revealing his true form underneath. As black as coal harboring embers, with an eerie heat seeping through every crack.

Baso’s lips twisted into a distorted arc.

“The longer you foolishly waste time, the closer Eustar and that witch come to death with each passing moment.”

He tilted his head back and cackled. Then he said this.

“If you make a contract with me, I can at least open a gate into the city. I can’t operate properly inside that city, but you humans should be able to.”

Byron asked.

“I don’t understand why you want to help His Highness the Prince.”

“That’s not what’s important right now. Didn’t your king order you? To find me and rescue Eustar as quickly as possible. He did that solely for his brother’s sake. My goal is to stop those madmen of mages. Now, who will take my hand?”

Felix, known for his quick temper, pulled out the sword he had stabbed into the ground upside down and increased the output of his Runner. He despised mages, but the idea of making a contract with a demon was unimaginable. Any sane human would feel the same.

“I’ll do it.”

“Himierd! What are you saying?”

Felix shrieked, staring at Himierd. But her resolve was firm.

The voices of Byron and Marnak telling her to calm down alternately faded and intensified. Like her consciousness, or life itself.

After her parents and the previous king and queen met their gruesome deaths, her family literally collapsed. The life that seemed like it would unfold smoothly mocked Himierd and left her behind.

From then on, she couldn’t bear to live without falling into a death-like sleep once every cycle. Only when asleep could she not recall the sense of distance from the life that had drifted away from her.

“I’ll do it. Leave the others alone. Do you promise, demon?”

“Of course I promise. And soon, mad mages will come out of this place. I’ll deal with that too. Of course, just to the extent of lending a hand.”

“Fine.”

The Deceptor approached Himierd with a triumphant smile. One of his nails could be seen sharpened like a freshly made pen nib.

“I’m not suggesting a formal contract. We have our own rules and try to avoid overlapping contracts. Just a slight scratch. Don’t be too scared.”

Himierd spread her palm towards him. For some reason, she could sense that this demon wanted that.

“Smart.”

The Deceptor, speaking as if pleased, swiftly cut across Himierd’s palm with his sharp nail in one go.