Sehee couldn’t forget the first time she saw Mercedes. Mercedes caught her eye at once. She was so pretty that Sehee’s head became blank for a moment. It was like this even though Mercedes had no clear expression. Sehee wondered if she was a doll.

Thus, she was surprised at this moment.

‘Her expression...?’

Mercedes’ cheeks were slightly puffed up as she looked at the backs of Grid and Basara. Her usually always calm eyes were shaken and the water in them made her feel pitiful. Unlike Yura and Jishuka, who distinguished Satisfy from reality, Mercedes seemed quite agitated by Grid’s marriage.

Mercedes’ expression was very vivid. It was so different from her usual appearance that she seemed to be a completely different person. Now Mercedes was absolutely a young woman. The weapons she had always carried looked heavy and awkward today.

Irene was the one who reached out to her. She smiled and soothed Mercedes, despite being the one who should feel more sadness than anyone else. “Don’t be disappointed. The order of second or third doesn’t matter. His Majesty’s love for you won’t change forever.”

She had first-hand experience with Grid’s love, so she could say this. Mercedes looked down at her cold gauntlets and nodded. “Yes.”

I am sorry to show an inappropriate appearance for a celebration day.

I fully understood My Liege’s position, etc.

Mercedes couldn’t bear to say such words, so she gave a brief answer. She thought there would be tears flowing if she said anything else.

Her liege, who loved her a few days ago.

Her liege, who she believed she would be sharing with her queen, married someone else. Mercedes felt embarrassed, sad, and jealous.

That night, on the city wall illuminated by blue moonlight.

“Mercedes.” Grid fell to one knee and held out a ring inlaid with transparent jewels. “Marry me.”

Not long ago, Grid and Mercedes confirmed each other’s hearts. The two people were so hot that they melted the ice caps of the Chaos Mountains. They heard each other’s breathing, not the screams of the monsters. It was their sweat, not the blood of the beasts, that wet the bodies of the two people. How many times did the two of them do it on that day...

Omitted.

...Therefore, Grid was obligated to take responsibility for Mercedes. Even if it wasn’t an obligation, he wanted to turn it into an obligation. He definitely wanted to be with Mercedes. Grid had been fascinated by her a long time ago.

“I’m sorry, but our marriage ceremony won’t be grand...”

Grid’s lawful wife was Irene. Basara had the status of former empress and a legitimate line of descent of the empire. Thus, he had to hold a grand wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, this was a special case. The marriage to Mercedes should be done as decisively as possible. This was the greatest courtesy toward Irene.

“If it is okay with you— no, you must marry me...”

It was even before Grid finished speaking.

Nod.

Mercedes nodded vigorously. She was looking down and her expression couldn’t be seen. However, Grid felt it. Just as he felt her mood behind him during the daytime wedding, Grid’s transcendent senses clearly analyzed Mercedes at this moment.

Therefore, he hugged her as hard as he could. It was to let his heart be conveyed.

“...I lob you,” Mercedes felt relieved and confessed what was in her heart.

The pronunciation was blurred by her sobbing, but the appearance of her ears that were red out of embarrassment made Grid smile.

“Me too.”

In response, Grid rubbed against the top of Mercedes’ head with his chin. The ruler of knights was surprisingly small. The top of her head could barely touch Grid’s solar plexus. It was something that people didn’t know. Mercedes usually exuded a sense of pressure which had the effect of making her look bigger.

Tens of thousands of stars shone as if to bless the two people.

***

“Are you really going to just watch? You will just come back to life if you die. What are you so scared of?”

“The damage is too great. You are a legend, so you won’t die easily, right? I think it would be better for you to come forward.”

“Alas, it is distressing. If there was a competition to choose the best bastard in the world, you would be first.”

“What about you?”

“I think I would be third place.”

“You don’t have a conscience.”

At the East Continent...

Old Sword Demon and Hwang Gildong were still on an adventure together. Trapped in a fence made by the gods, they wandered around the entire kingdom to liberate the poor people who believed in fake faith. It wasn’t known how many life or death crises they had crossed in the fight against the yangbans with innate transcendence.

However, the two of them still didn’t trust each other. They didn’t rashly entrust their backs to each other despite crossing so many life or death crises. This meant they understood each other well. The person they cherished most was themselves. Their definition of justice was extremely realistic.

Fight for others, but don’t sacrifice themselves.

They tried to follow the path of righteousness but they turned a blind eye according to the situation. They couldn’t be blamed. Just because their definition of justice was realistic didn’t mean it was false. Furthermore, they had the grand goal of destroying the yangbans. They should never die until then.

“You should’ve fully understood it by now. Never insult the gods again.”

At a city in Kaya...

The yangbans, who had been trampling the lord into a straw mat, finally relieved their anger and left. Hwang Gildong and Old Sword Demon sighed with relief from where they were hiding in the distance and watching the scene.

“They didn’t kill him. Perhaps it is because they are conscious of people’s eyes. I’m glad since I was worried.”

"I agree.”

Recently, the yangbans had become rowdy. They noticed that the seal of the red phoenix and black tortoise were released, and felt irritated. They didn’t kill as recklessly as before, but they still couldn’t endure it and vented their anger when they encountered something unpleasant. The unpleasant reasons were usually pretty insignificant. For example, the lord was beaten up just because he entertained them with cheap wine.

“I would’ve run over and helped right away if there were three less. It is a pity.”

“I would’ve gone out if there were even two less.”

“In fact, I think I could’ve gone out if there was only one less.”

“How childish.”

“Are you talking about yourself? Didn’t you start it first?”

The expressions of Old Sword Demon and Hwang Gildong were dark. They were angered by their powerlessness at having to hide and watch the violence of the yangbans.

‘If only this guy was a little bit stronger...’

‘If only this man was a bit stronger...’

The two men, who complained and resented each other, were by no means weak. Old Sword Demon was the strongest unofficial ranker, and Hwang Gildong was a legend who represented the East Continent. One person could deal with a few ordinary yangbans alone. Hwang Gildong could handle twice as much as that.

However, the number of yangbans encountered this time was 11. In particular, five of them had taken off their gats. They were sent down as objects of new worship by the Hwan Kingdom. In the aftermath of the revival of the red phoenix and black tortoise, the yangbans’s combat power wasn’t as good as before, but it was natural that they couldn’t come out.

“Sigh... How long do we have to stay in this city?”

The wounded lord was twitching on the dirt ground. He couldn’t support his body because his limbs were broken, but no one helped him up. They were busy bowing toward the direction that the yangbans left. It was also the reason why the lord was struggling. The reason he struggled to raise his broken body from the dirt ground was to kowtow to the yangbans.

It was a very disgusting and regrettable scene. Apart from the Cho Kingdom and Xing Kingdom, which were liberated due to Grid, the people of the other kingdoms were still living a miserable life.

“It isn’t far away,” Hwang Gildong replied while trying to turn away from the unpleasant sight.

“It is time for the army that left to help the West Continent to return.”

News of the Great Human and Demon War on the West Continent had reached the east. Many people had witnessed that a pointed-eared man had disappeared into light with the army of the Cho Kingdom and Xing Kingdom.

“Do you really think there will be demons among them?”

“Unconditionally. Even a mere yōkai can possess a human. Wouldn’t demons also have this ability? Some of them, who mixed in with the crowd to save their lives, will surely come to this land.”

“Hrmm...”

A few days later, Hwang Gildong’s prediction came true.There were a mixture of demons wearing human masks among the soldiers of the improved Cho Kingdom and Xing Kingdom. They suffered great pain from the divinity of the red phoenix and black tortoise. They fled from these two kingdoms in a hurry and scattered. A considerable number of them gathered in Kaya.

They were instinctively drawn to the power of the sealed blue dragon. They aspired to gain this power without knowing which monsters were guarding it. Moreover, the city where Old Sword Demon and Hwang Gildong were currently located was the entrance to Kaya.

“Um...?”

Hwang Gildog’s personality was trash, but he was still competent. He deserved to be a bigshot who had struggled alone against the yangbans for hundreds of years.

Old Sword Demon was marveling at Hwang Gildong, who was preparing to meet the approaching demons, only to become flustered. The demons, who were disguised as humans and giving off a stinky demonic energy—he found green hair that stood out within the group.

“Agnus...!” Old Sword Demon’s eyes were ghastly.

It was a few years ago when Agnus committed a massive massacre in the East Continent. Some of the people sacrificed by Agnus were friends of Old Sword Demon.

More than 100 people were killed by Agnus without understanding what was going on, including a father and daughter whom Old Sword Demon had barely rescued from the war, a mother and son saved from the swamp of poverty, and young boys and girls he looked after as a Daddy-Long-Legs. They were buried in the ground like garbage, rotted, and were resurrected with ugly faces to be used as soldiers.

The anger and pain Old Sword Demon felt when he heard the news during his travels were still vivid. His heart throbbed the moment he recalled it.

“Kill him...! I’ll tear him to pieces and throw him to the dogs as food!”

“Ehh? What are you doing...?” Hwang Gildong had no time to stop him. Old Sword Demon had already thrown himself toward the road. Hwang Gildong, who was about to follow, stopped.

‘Dammit!’

It was a street in broad daylight. As the startled crowd made a fuss, the energy of the yangbans scattered throughout the city immediately burst out. They seemed to be coming here with interest.

“This is dangerous... hey, Old Sword Demon! I’ll be avoiding you, so live or die on your own!”

Hwang Gildong ran away without looking back.

“You...?”

“Old Sword Demon! Shit!”

“......!”

Agnus faced a disaster. He sneaked onto the surface during the gap when the Overgeared members and rankers were busy preparing for the hell expedition, only to immediately encounter this monster. This... he could only describe it as really bad luck.

‘Nothing has gone right these days.’

No, it wasn’t just these days. His life had gone wrong from beginning to end.

Agnus could only laugh.

***

At the Tower of Wisdom...

Biban was grumbling that the size of the tower they moved to was uselessly large when his eyes widened.

Betty—she normally never left her room except to participate in the regular meetings, but now she visited Biban.

“I have to meet Grid. Take me there.”

“All of a sudden? Granny, we can’t just leave the tower casually as tower members. We have to move according to the procedures...”

“Baal’s Contractor... he is going to lose his qualifications.”

“......!”

The flustered Biban threw the floor cloth away.