81
To ☐☐’s house ☐☐
Baal turned his head to look at Yeon Ji-ho, and for some reason, tried to approach him. He couldn’t do so because he staggered as soon as he took a step.
“Baal!”
Baal, who was swaying as if struggling to keep his balance, jerked his head up at Yeon Ji-ho’s call. Staring at Yeon Ji-ho, Baal finally raised his hand and smacked his own head hard.
Like dealing with a broken machine, Baal hit his head without hesitation, and surprisingly, from that moment on, he started to maintain his balance properly. Baal once again strode towards Yeon Ji-ho.
“I said you’d die if you ran away.”
“I didn’t run away, I went to get help!”
“I’ll chew you up and swallow you.”
“…”
Baal’s condition was clearly not normal. His chest had a long sword wound, and from his wrists and ankles bound with broken chains to his thighs, his entire body was covered in wounds and bloodstains. However, Baal acted as if he couldn’t feel any pain.
He approached, looking only at Yeon Ji-ho, not even paying attention to Set and Chronos nearby.
“Baal. Step back.”
It was Set who blocked his path. As Set, who had stepped between Yeon Ji-ho and Baal, coldly spoke to Baal, Baal repeated the same words, muttering.
“I’m going to swallow you…”
“Baal.”
“I have to eat you, become one…”
Somehow, Baal acted as if he couldn’t hear Set’s voice. Unable to bear Baal’s attitude of muttering while staring at Yeon Ji-ho as if he had lost his mind, Chronos kicked Baal’s shin.
However, Baal didn’t seem to notice Chronos raising his foot, let alone feel any pain. As he kept trying to approach Yeon Ji-ho without stopping, Set finally raised his hand.
Thwack.
As Set struck the back of Baal’s neck with the side of his hand, Baal’s eyes rolled back. Baal, who lost consciousness with the whites of his eyes showing, fell to his knees with a thud.
“Haha, ahaha! To think that ‘Baal’ would end up like this. The gods are truly indifferent.”
Hadad, who had been quietly watching the whole scene, burst into laughter only after Baal lost consciousness. Seeing that the knights surrounding him didn’t move, it seemed Hadad was controlling all of them.
“Doesn’t he look just like someone drunk on drugs, Set?”
“…Hadad. What did you do to Baal?”
Even to Set, Baal didn’t seem normal. Although he never lived with the same thoughts as ordinary people, this was the first time he had been so blindly fixated on something. For Baal, the most important thing was always ‘himself’.
“What do you mean, what did I do? Don’t misunderstand, I didn’t do anything.”
Then why on earth.
Right now, Yeon Ji-ho was even more perplexed than Set. Although he hadn’t known Baal for long, he had thought he was a peculiar person. But Baal, whom he met again after being separated for a short while, was acting as if he had fallen in love with him…
“Baal is a special being, isn’t he? His ‘weight’ in this world is greater than that of most people.”
“…”
“So it’s natural that he would be more greedy than others.”
More greedy.
As he said those words, Hadad’s eyes, as if bestowed by his star, settled on Yeon Ji-ho. It was Hadad’s eyes that were sparkling with desire more than anyone else’s.
“Set, don’t make such an indignant face. The gods designed this entire world…”
Just as Hadad’s words were continuing, someone burst in from afar. It was Reckless, leading another group of knights.
“You and I are also just one of the roles within it.”
“Your Majesty!”
With Reckless’s voice, a sword rose like smoke from Set’s hand. As Set grasped the sword that had suddenly appeared, Reckless charged towards them.
As Chronos also assumed a battle stance at the same time, for some reason, Hadad turned away. If Hadad had joined in when Set’s group only had Set and Chronos as combat-ready forces, Set’s group would have clearly been defeated, but Hadad didn’t do so.
Even as Reckless rushed in and crossed swords with Set, Hadad only moved further and further away. Yeon Ji-ho quietly took in that sight.
Hadad’s white cape fluttered in the air.
“Chronos, take care of Ji-ho and Baal.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
Set’s swordsmanship, now properly unleashed, seemed too much even for Reckless to handle. He was barely managing to deflect the sword energy Set was pouring out.
Despite this, Hadad did not look back at Reckless and his knights. Rather, he was leaving this place with incredibly light footsteps. As if this was not where he should be.
“Haah…”
An inexplicably exhilarated breath escaped from Hadad’s mouth.
Hadad, who was leaving without a moment’s hesitation, had to clench his teeth to keep from looking back. Even for Hadad, it wasn’t easy to leave Yeon Ji-ho behind, knowing he was there.
He pressed his hand firmly over his violently beating heart and muttered.
“Ah… This is fun.”
Perhaps even more than with Gliese.
***
After Hadad left, it didn’t take long for Set to deal with Reckless and the knights. A few slashes of his sharp sword energy swept away the knights, and even Reckless was barely standing.
Finally, Reckless, kneeling before Set, closed his eyes like a knight humbly accepting death.
“Kill me.”
Set looked down at the kneeling Reckless, sword in hand. In fact, if it were the previous Set, he would have beheaded Reckless without a second thought.
However, Yeon Ji-ho was now behind Set. How many times had he, who lived in a world without nobles or slaves, seen death? As soon as that thought occurred to him, Set dispersed the sword in his hand like smoke.
Instead of cutting down Reckless, Set turned to Yeon Ji-ho and ordered Chronos, who was guarding them.
“Chronos. Can you carry Baal?”
“His legs might drag a bit… but, looking at him, it seems his pain sensitivity has dulled even more while I wasn’t looking, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Chronos, the shortest, roughly slung the enormous Baal over his shoulder. It ended up being more like dragging him with just the upper body on his shoulder, but no one seemed to mind.
Set was about to leave. Then Reckless, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly opened them and shouted at Set.
“Didn’t you say you would kill me!”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why should I grant you death?”
Set’s indifferent eyes fell on Reckless. Reckless, with eyes wide open, stared at Set for a moment, then spoke with a strange expression.
“You… Are you really Set Gorgon? That infamous demon?”
“Not worth answering.”
With those words, Set took a step. However, Reckless’s confused voice held Set’s footsteps.
“Strange. It’s strange… Why does it feel like your and His Majesty’s images have been reversed? Why on earth would His Majesty, who shone so brightly…”
This time, even Chronos turned his gaze to Reckless. Reckless, on his knees, kept muttering while clutching his head as if to tear it apart.
“No, no. There’s no way His Majesty could have changed. He who led us with such outstanding intelligence.”
“Was there nothing strange?”
It was Chronos who asked the question. Chronos, with Baal slung over his shoulder, quietly looked at Reckless.
“…Strange?”
“For example… being obsessed with something to an unusual degree.”
Chronos’s eyes rolled to Yeon Ji-ho. Then Reckless followed that gaze and spoke while staring blankly at Yeon Ji-ho.
“Ji-ho.”
“…”
“Bring Ji-ho… He kept repeating those words.”
“Do you know the reason for giving that order?”
This time, Reckless’s lips trembled. For Reckless, who had lived following Hadad’s orders since he was a prince, answering questions from those he had considered enemies all his life felt like treason itself.
However, Reckless couldn’t stop his mouth from moving. As if someone was controlling him.
“His Majesty only said this to me.”
“…”
Reckless’s neat lips moved several times. And the moment they heard those words, Yeon Ji-ho’s eyes widened as if they would tear. Among Set, Chronos, Reckless, and Yeon Ji-ho, only Yeon Ji-ho would understand Hadad’s words accurately.
‘Since the genre has changed for once, shouldn’t I follow it too?’
It was neither a metaphor nor a joke. Yeon Ji-ho was now certain.
Hadad was acutely aware that the world he lived in was a world inside a novel.
