Chapter 20. Demon Subjugation (1)
“Hyung! Hyung! We’ve got a big problem!”
In one corner of the Grand Realm of Holy Spirits, the world of the Constellations—
Inside a rather small throne room meant for B-Rank Constellations, two young men, one with golden hair and the other with silver hair, sat on the floor while staring into their own Observation Devices.
They were the Constellation known as the ‘Golden and Silver Children’, one of the rare two-person Constellations.
Normally, the position of a Constellation belonged to a single individual.
However, in special cases where someone could not properly exist as a Constellation alone, a paired Constellation like this could sometimes be formed.
“Geumgak hyung! Look at this!”
“Eungak, you’re noisy.”
Geumgak and Eungak.
Those were the real names of the two young men who made up the Constellation known as the ‘Golden and Silver Children’.
Originally, they had been attendants of Taishang Laojun.
In the Grand Realm of Phenomena, they were famous as the monsters who appeared in Journey to the West and troubled Tang Sanzang and his companions.
In truth, Geumgak and Eungak had only pretended to be monsters in order to give Tang Sanzang’s party a trial.
However, because the image of them being evil monsters who fought Sun Wukong was so strong, they were not particularly popular among Contractors in the human world.
“A video like this was uploaded to Constellation Tube. Take a look.”
“What is it?”
Geumgak paused the video he had been watching on his own Observation Device and leaned toward the one Eungak was holding.
[SHOCKING! A CONTRACTOR WHO BEATS UP A CONSTELLATION?!]
Geumgak frowned the moment he saw the provocative title.
Although they were brothers, Geumgak and Eungak had very different tastes.
Eungak liked vulgar, worldly entertainment, while Geumgak hated that kind of thing just from seeing the title.
That was why they had bought two Observation Devices and usually watched whatever they wanted separately.
“Hey, that title alone makes me want to throw up. How many times have I told you not to give views to clickbait videos like this?”
“I’m telling you, it isn’t clickbait. Just watch it once.”
“How is that not clickbait?”
Geumgak snorted.
“Those clowns always follow the same pattern. They take something everyone already knows, make a huge fuss over it, then spend the whole video saying nonsense like, ‘Could this possibly mean such-and-such?’ before ending without giving any useful information.”
“Come on, seriously! Just watch it! It’s not like that!”
Eungak shouted in frustration and pressed the screen.
The video began to play.
— “Get lost.”
— “Huh? Did I hear that wrong? What did you just say?”
“What the hell is this?”
Geumgak frowned as he looked at the men confronting each other in the street.
“That guy... I’ve seen him before.”
“That’s Jason.”
“Ah, right. The ‘Leader of the Expedition.’ He had the power to descend to the human world, didn’t he?”
Jason was another B-Rank Constellation, just like Geumgak and Eungak.
He was a Greek Constellation who had gathered a large number of Contractors and built up a considerable faction.
That Jason was currently arguing with a human man.
— “You seem pretty confident. How about having a match with me?”
— “A match?”
— “Let’s fight. If you win, I’ll back off cleanly. But if I win, you sign a contract with me.”
— “Sounds good.”
“Is he insane?”
The words slipped out of Geumgak’s mouth automatically.
“Why is a Constellation fighting a Contractor? Jason’s crazy enough for suggesting it, but why is that human agreeing? Is he seriously insane?”
“Right? He looks crazy, doesn’t he? But keep watching.”
Eungak spoke with a smug tone.
“I’m telling you, this is amazing.”
“...”
On the Observation Device, Jason and the human man faced each other.
— “I’ll finish this in one hit.”
— “Hmm?”
Boom!
The human man kicked off the ground and charged forward.
His fist slammed directly into Jason’s face.
“...”
Geumgak bit his lip and checked the title of the video again.
[SHOCKING! A CONTRACTOR WHO BEATS UP A CONSTELLATION?!]
A groan escaped his mouth.
The title was not clickbait at all.
There wasn’t even the slightest exaggeration.
This really was a ‘shocking’ video of a Contractor beating up a Constellation.
“What the hell is this guy?”
“You’ve never seen him before either, right, hyung?”
“Was there a Contractor like that in Korea?”
A Contractor had beaten up a Constellation.
Actually, this was not completely impossible.
Looking back through the history of the Grand Realm of Fantasy, there had occasionally been humans who defeated higher beings such as gods and giants.
Constellations were transcendent beings, but that was mostly true when they were sitting upon their thrones in the Grand Realm of Holy Spirits and exercising their authority over humans.
Jason was not a combat-specialized Constellation.
So it was entirely possible for him to descend to the human world, fight a human there, and lose.
If I had been in Jason’s place, I wouldn’t have gone down that easily, though...
Still, no matter how weak he was, Jason was a Constellation.
In general, becoming a Constellation granted someone far better physical abilities than they had possessed as a human.
Even if Jason was considered weak among Constellations, most Contractors would not even be able to injure him.
What the hell did this guy used to do?
Geumgak and Eungak spent most of their days looking through their Observation Devices.
They were particularly interested in East Asia, so they knew all of the major skilled Contractors in Korea.
And yet, the Contractor who had just beaten Jason was someone they had never seen before.
“Where did a guy like this suddenly come from?”
“Exactly. If he’s that strong, he should’ve been famous a long time ago.”
While they were talking—
Ding!
A notification appeared in the lower-right corner of the Observation Device.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Looks like the Constellation who uploaded this posted another video. I subscribed to the account.”
“Really? Play it quickly.”
“Ah, it’s that same Contractor who beat Jason.”
This newly uploaded video showed that Contractor fighting several humans.
Of course, it wasn’t as shocking as watching him beat down a Constellation...
But for some reason, it was impossible to look away.
“The content itself seems more ordinary than the last one... but somehow this one feels even more entertaining.”
“Because he gets cut up over and over, then suddenly pulls out a mace and smashes everyone with it. Of course it’s entertaining.”
As he answered, Geumgak rubbed his chin.
“And I just realized something. The editing is really good. Even the captions are perfectly timed. Who the hell made this?”
“Maybe the Apostle in charge of him? There’s no way a Constellation would personally put this much effort into editing.”
“Maybe making videos is their hobby.”
“Still, the previous video was the first one uploaded to this account.”
“Wait a second.”
Geumgak checked the title of the video again.
“Prologue?”
“Huh?”
“Look at the title. It says ‘Prologue’ at the beginning.”
“Oh, you’re right. Does that mean more videos connected to this one are coming?”
“...”
“Hyung?”
“Eungak. Let’s find out which Constellation uploaded this video. And if possible, figure out who that Contractor is too.”
Perhaps a new star was about to emerge.
Thinking that, Geumgak began operating the Observation Device.
“Pandemonium being a threat to humanity is something that belongs to the past.”
At the Black Dragon Society’s camp, Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun were being served a meal while listening to Ma Taesu’s explanation.
“It’s true that Pandemonium’s army invaded humanity ten years ago. But after taking their own territory, they haven’t launched any major military operations. Of course, there have been a few small clashes.”
“...”
“They’re an intelligent race. They don’t indiscriminately attack humans like monsters do. That means negotiation is possible.”
Ma Taesu spoke slowly while watching Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun continue eating.
“Our Black Dragon Society sees Pandemonium as a new ‘nation’ that appeared beside us. If that’s the case, then we can form alliances with them and trade with them.”
“Um... is there actually anything to gain by interacting with Pandemonium?”
“The greatest benefit is military.”
Ma Taesu answered Seok Taejun’s question with a smile.
“Pandemonium’s military strength is considerable. If we can gain their cooperation, they’ll be extremely useful when fighting monsters or other Contractor factions.”
“Getting help from demons...”
“And that isn’t the only benefit. For example, there are highly skilled blacksmith races under Pandemonium’s rule. Their equipment is far superior to the standard equipment you can purchase from Apostles. Just gaining access to those items is already a huge advantage.”
Ma Taesu shrugged.
“Of course, there are also people who strongly dislike our approach. Hardliners like the White Banner Order believe Contractors should gather their strength right now and wipe out Pandemonium.”
“I see...”
“But that isn’t realistic. Pandemonium isn’t an opponent that can be defeated so easily. If we tried attacking them right now, all we’d accomplish is increasing the number of corpses.”
Come to think of it, they had already found many dead Contractors earlier.
“I understand your explanation.”
After finishing everything that had been served, Kang Yujin finally spoke.
“Your policy doesn’t sound bad.”
“What?”
Seok Taejun stared at Kang Yujin with wide eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, it’s just... that wasn’t what I expected. I thought you’d say something like, ‘How can you cooperate with demons? That’s unforgivable.’”
“You said they aren’t hurting many people right now.”
“But in the past...”
“That happened in the past.”
Kang Yujin spoke calmly.
“It’s a matter of priorities. If there are monsters actively killing humans and demons quietly minding their own business, then obviously we should deal with the monsters first. And if we can borrow the demons’ strength during that process, then it’s better to use it.”
“You have quite a rational way of thinking.”
“But.”
Kang Yujin looked directly at Ma Taesu.
“That only works if there’s some guarantee that Pandemonium won’t attack humans again in the future.”
“...”
“Even if Pandemonium isn’t attacking humanity right now, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re still a threat. They’ve already done it once before.”
They had already invaded humanity in the past.
Even if they were quiet now, no one knew when they might point their blades at humans again.
“If you’re ignoring that possibility and cooperating with Pandemonium just for immediate benefits... then you won’t have anything to say when people call you a heretical faction that betrayed humanity.”
“...”
“K-Kang Yujin, isn’t that a little too harsh...?”
Seeing Ma Taesu fall silent, Seok Taejun looked uneasy.
“No. It’s an accurate point.”
But Ma Taesu nodded.
“What surprises me more is that you said it without hesitation while sitting right in front of me.”
“I was just being honest.”
“Then I’ll answer your criticism. Just keep in mind that this isn’t the official answer of the Black Dragon Society. It’s my personal opinion.”
Ma Taesu lowered his voice.
“I have absolutely no intention of becoming a shameless man who sells humanity to demons.”
“...”
“The reason I want to strengthen ourselves through dealings with Pandemonium is partly to prepare for the possibility that we may clash with Pandemonium in the future.”
After saying that, Ma Taesu shrugged and added,
“To tell you the truth, I’m fairly ambitious. Someday, I dream of bringing Pandemonium down and taking everything they possess for myself.”
“I like your honesty.”
At the very least, Ma Taesu was better than Cheon Muhyeok, whom Kang Yujin had met before.
Thinking that, Kang Yujin stared closely at Ma Taesu’s face.
“Not long ago, another man approached me just like you did.”
“Is that so?”
“He wanted to sweet-talk me into doing work for him. For his own goals.”
“...”
“You’re treating us this kindly for the same reason, aren’t you?”
“Haha. How embarrassing.”
Ma Taesu smiled and swept his hair back.
“I’ll be honest. I want your cooperation in what’s about to happen. Of course, ultimately, I’d like you to join my team and work with me.”
“At the moment, I have no intention of joining your team. We were planning to head toward the metropolitan area.”
“Hmm...”
“But I can still help you with what you’re trying to do.”
“If things go well, our side will do everything we can to make sure you reach the metropolitan area safely.”
It was convenient dealing with someone who understood things quickly.
“I should make this clear. I won’t help with anything wrong.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already figured out your upright personality.”
After saying that, Ma Taesu’s expression became serious.
“The truth is, a traitor has appeared inside Pandemonium.”
“A traitor?”
“That traitor left Pandemonium’s territory and is trying to hide in the human world. From Pandemonium’s perspective, sending troops into human lands just to chase one traitor would create too many problems. So they asked our Black Dragon Society to eliminate the traitor instead.”
“So we just need to catch that traitor?”
“We also have to deal with the humans who are cooperating with them.”
“Those humans aren’t part of the Black Dragon Society, I assume?”
“Correct.”
Ma Taesu nodded.
“They’re a kind of religious organization known as the ‘Morning Star’... Have you ever heard of them?”
