A Betrayed Master Will Not Return

16 – The Best Leader (11)

Emily and I stepped out of the room for a moment.

Still caught up in deep shock, I spoke to her in the most calm voice possible.

“Just in case, it’s better to give up expecting that person to have any humanity left. Once someone becomes a fish demon, their essence becomes distorted regardless of intelligence.”

“…Yes.”

“That person will be disposed of immediately after the interrogation. Don’t make any requests out of pity to spare their life.”

Warning that it is more of a warning to do not get involved in getting rid of the devil rather than comforting.

Even for me, the attitude was a bit too severe, but it was an unavoidable action in the current situation.

The residents who became Deep To in Part 1, regardless of whether they maintained their sanity, casually committed acts that no human being could do according to the devil’s instincts.

Cutting off the fiance’s heart or eating the father’s intestines.

Even swallowing the parents’ young children.

As it literally showed that it was no longer human but the devil, I knew very well that showing weakness to them was a very dangerous thing.

Therefore,

I drew the line as firmly as possible to prevent the person, Emily, in front of me from having any false expectations or sympathy.

Certainly, even while doing this, I knew very well that it was not a simple matter for the person who had lost a precious comrade…

“Of course. Naturally, the devil must be completely destroyed. I won’t care how you kill him. No…if possible, please dispose of him thoroughly and painfully.”

‘…’

It was somewhat unexpected that he didn’t entirely reject what I said.

The expression of shock just now was completely gone, and Emily suddenly showed a fierce hatred towards the devil.

There is no regret for becoming a devil, and instead, watching her request firm retribution, I began to think, ‘Then, what was the emotional turmoil just now?’

At that moment…

“Oh, and…”

“?”

The next moment, Emily started to look tense again.

Then, with her head still down, she spoke to me.

“And… truly… I am truly grateful. If it hadn’t been for your help, something irreversible might’ve happened. If I had fallen for that devil’s temptation… Ah…”

‘Was it you?’

She seemed to have just survived a precarious situation related to that devil, though I didn’t know the specifics. Seeing her shudder at the thought, I belatedly realized why she had been so traumatized until just a moment ago.

*

While expressing her gratitude to the devil hunter before her, Emily began to shake off the shock she had been harboring and felt increasingly enveloped by a deep sense of relief.

Honestly, she didn’t care one bit whether that Simmons fellow lived or died.

A devil, for any reason, must be destroyed without exception.

Even if it were an old ally who had transformed, it made no difference to her.

Once it becomes a monster that has forsaken humanity, it was only right that it be cast into the pits of hellfire.

There was no room for mercy or leniency in such matters.

However,

Separate from that, the fact that a horrendous event nearly occurred because of her own mistake genuinely chilled Emily to the core.

Influenced by the ‘devil’s’ story, she had almost acted according to its wishes.

Her role was to lead the choir, the only remaining force within this church, and take proactive measures to eradicate the demons.

On the surface, it didn’t seem like a terrible idea, but the reality was a perilous trap that could’ve led to the complete annihilation of the choir and the destruction of the city’s final bastion.

‘How could I, a servant of the Almighty Lord, be toyed with by a mere devil… to make such an egregious error…’

While lamenting her naïveté for having believed the devil’s words,

Emily naturally turned her thoughts to the devil hunters who had prevented her mistake.

Particularly, she began to feel a profound trust towards the man named Gelard before her.

“Right, it’s best to leave the work to the professionals here. Bumbling around cluelessly would only increase the casualties. To minimize the damage as much as possible…”

Unlike the Devil Hunters from the north who had been ineffective, these people had shown from the start that they were reliable.

Concluding that she had no choice but to trust their words if she wished to escape this crisis, Emily immediately asked the man looking at her with a cold face.

A way to overcome this situation…

Or, if that was impossible, a way to minimize the damage.

*

“Cough, cough, cough…”

The demon dying in front of her, emitting a strange noise.

Watching as the creature, once called Simons, drew its last breath, Jeanne bore a refreshingly pleasant expression as though she had just stepped out of a shower.

“Whew~ It’s over, it’s all over. Honestly, it was a close call, but luckily it seems like we’ve managed to shake everything off.”

“Ugh… you did well.”

“Tha… thank you for your efforts…”

The two of them forced a bitter smile while watching Jeanne, who spoke with a glittering enthusiasm.

Just then, their eyes caught a glimpse of Gelard entering the room at the perfect timing.

“…”

“Welcome, master. Did everything go well?”

Jeanne, amidst the blood and flesh, asked with a breezy smile.

Gelard seemed momentarily at a loss for words at her demeanor.

Without having the luxury to worry about the details, he looked at Jane and said, “Well, I was allowed permission more easily than I thought. How is your end?”

“I succeeded. Honestly, I was a bit worried when covering up here and there, but luckily it flowed smoothly when I needed to make the decisive blow.”

“And then not forgetting to finish it off is an added bonus….”

“Well… it doesn’t matter anyway since that guy was going to be killed…”

Besides the necessity of gathering information, these women were telling stories that neither side really wanted to know from Gerald’s perspective. Nevertheless, feeling relief on both sides for successfully finishing the job, they immediately started to organize the situation.

Information obtained from the devil named Simmons,

And the permission and support given by Emily.

Based on this, the four devil hunters divided their tasks and immediately began executing them.

“I’ll say it again, you should never fight without fire. You’d better give up everything and retreat.”

“Don’t worry, Master.”

“Umm… I will keep it in mind.”

“Okay, then let’s get going. Like I said, Gabriel and I will take the west zone and the two of you will take care of the north.”

“Got it. Let’s go, Nico.”

“Yes. I understand.”

With those words, the devil hunters left the church and immediately split into two groups, heading north and west, respectively.

Once again, setting up a guard stance against the sound of weeping from afar…

‘How much time could this possibly buy us?’

*

Jenew, heading north, braving the fog.

But the calmness she had while torturing the demon earlier was no longer present on her face as she moved with caution, relying on the dim light of a small lantern.

And at that moment, just like before, she felt the movement of fish demons through her magic detection net, following her and Nico at a distance.

They weren’t attacking right away, but as they could strike at any moment, she made sure not to let her guard down.

“This is… a lot more annoying than I expected. I wish they would just come at us all at once. How long do they plan on just lurking around?”

“They probably won’t move until they see an opening from us. They must be quite clever, remembering what happened earlier, aren’t they?”

“Didn’t they have intelligence that rivaled humans in their human days? In that sense, I guess it’s clear why the Devilhunters up north couldn’t do anything and got attacked.”

“Supposedly they can even take on human forms, right? As Gellerd said, we should consider anyone approaching us as an enemy.”

“Well, at least until we blast them with fire… don’t worry, I remember…!”

“Hm?”

At that moment, Jenew and Nico suddenly came to a halt, the fog still thick in their sight, and nothing in view.

However,

Through the net of senses spread all around them, the two could perceive that something was happening beyond the fog.

A sudden, agile movement.

And, with its motion, the sudden disappearance of the demons.

As this natural association came to mind, Jann remarked in a quiet voice.

“Se… sir? This is…”

“It seems… that we have another guest besides us. I don’t know who it is…”

With those words, the two stared into the fog-filled front.

Afterward, something began to slowly walk towards them from beyond the fog.

And.

“Whoa… this is, could it be that I’d encounter a colleague in a place like this…?”

Jann reached out towards the emerging figure.

With a scream coming out of its mouth, Nico lit up a torch and swung it towards the figure.

At that moment.

-clang!!!

“Oof!…”

“….Huh?”

The next moment, another ax collided with Nico’s flaming ax.

Seeing that it was no ordinary ax but a weapon of the demon hunters, Nico and Jann’s faces began to show bewilderment for a moment.

The next thing I saw was the man standing unharmed close to the flames.

Dressed in black, holding a gun and an ax, with a grayish beard, a middle-aged man that anyone could tell was a devil hunter.

With a somewhat puzzled expression, he spoke to Nico, who was in front of him.

“…Would you… mind moving a bit?”

“…Sure…”