Arundel raised a finger straight towards the opponent she was facing.
However, unlike Arundel’s bold gesture, no words came out of the other’s mouth.
“…What’s the name?”
“It’s Baphura!!”
Ah, Baphura.
Arundel remembered the cat demon she saw in the cemetery, but she couldn’t recall the name at the moment.
‘This human…’
On the other hand, Baphura seemed to have his pride hurt as she couldn’t remember him and was strutting around.
Baphura remembered Arue=ndel very clearly.
No, even if he didn’t want to remember, he had no choice but to remember.
He was happy to find a fool-like human in the cemetery, but that human already had a contractor, and moreover, that contractor was Hills. The cold sweat he shed at that time was more than he had ever shed in his life.
Of course, he also vividly remembered that humiliation.
“You were the human woman next to Hills at that time.”
Arundel didn’t answer and just scanned Baphura with her eyes.
Surely, she told him not to loiter among humans and to go back to the underworld, so why is he wandering around the village again at this late hour?
Whether he knew Arundel’s thoughts or not, Baphura let out a sneer.
“It seems that Hills is not here this time.”
Baphura thought.
It’s an opportunity to pay back the humiliation of that time.
But not right now. Baphura hid his sinister intentions. He wanted to enjoy this moment a little more before catching her.
As he smirked and stared at Arundel, clear eyes boldly stared back at Baphura.
“You.”
“Wha…What?”
Damn it. Stammering in front of a human.
For a moment, Arundel’s attitude of saying ‘you’ was so confident that it was rather Baphura who was flustered.
“Haven’t you seen Hills?”
At Arundel’s brazen question, Baphura clicked his tongue.
Has this human lost her mind?
He couldn’t tell whether she was stupid enough to announce that Hills was not around, or if it was a last prayer hoping that Hills would appear and save her even now.
Baphura, who had been smirking, paused for a moment.
‘…No. Does that mean he’s nearby?’
His heart became anxious in an instant.
If Hills really appears, everything will be in vain again.
‘Yes. An opportunity like today won’t come again.’
He wanted to enjoy this moment a little more, but this was enough.
He felt that he had to cook the woman in front of him right now to relieve the humiliation he had experienced then.
“Stupid human.”
Baphura exuded a gloomy aura and approached Arundel.
Hmm…?
But the woman was a bit strange. Unlike when he saw her in the cemetery, she showed no signs of retreating or being afraid. Has she really gone mad?
Baphura approached Arundel slowly with a puzzled look. Arundel looked up at Baphura, who was getting closer.
By this point, Baphura was also starting to feel uneasy. However, it would hurt his pride to back down here.
He summoned a black flame in his hand. This flame melts the skin along with terrible pain just by touching it.
Without hesitation, Baphura dropped the black flame over Arundel’s head.
Baphura, who had been watching the flame falling terrifyingly through the air with a satisfied look in his eyes, blinked for a moment.
‘Where did she go…?’
The human who should have been screaming in flames by now had disappeared from sight in an instant.
The black flame collided with the empty ground and quietly evaporated without a sound.
Baphura, who was flustered, looked around.
Then,
Thud-!
Baphura reflexively clutched his head at the shock that felt like his skull was going to crack. It took quite a while for the pain to disappear.
Holding back the tears welling up in his eyes, he opened his eyes. Blinking, he saw the human who should have been writhing in pain and dying looking at him with a fierce expression.
“Don’t glare at me.”
Arundel jumped high and swung the thick branch she was holding in her hand once again.
Baphura, who had been stupidly following the scene, rolled around screaming in pain at the dizzying pain he felt again.
Watching him, Arundel threw the branch she was holding onto the ground and dusted off her hands.
The branch, which was heavily imbued with divine power, was unbearable for a demon.
Arundel, who was looking at Baphura, spoke in a low voice.
“Sit down.”
Baphura, who had been clutching his head and cautiously looking around, obediently sat down in front of Arundel with a hmm- sound.
She was not the weak human woman of that time. The intimidation of her voice and actions was like a different person.
“Kneel.”
Baphura obediently knelt.
He felt a sense of deja vu about his current appearance, but it was not the time to think about such things.
Arundel’s green eyes shone faintly towards Baphura.
Afraid that he might get hit again if he misspoke, Baphura closed his mouth.
“Have you seen Hills?”
“I haven’t seen him.”
He was worried for a moment that he might get hit again if he said he hadn’t seen him, but she didn’t seem that violent.
But the relief was only for a moment, and soon Arundel’s ominous voice continued.
“But. I clearly told you not to bother humans and to live kindly. Why are you wandering around at this time? And near the village at that.”
“Ah… No. I think there’s some misunderstanding…!”
Baphura, kneeling, hurriedly waved both hands to deny it. Arundel silently looked at Baphura as if to say let’s hear it.
“I…I’m just doing a survey…or should I say research?”
“Research? What are you researching?”
Arundel asked as if she couldn’t believe it.
The word ‘research’ from the mouth of a demon was an incongruous combination, like a flower on an ice rink.
“You may not know because you’re a human, but the underworld has been a bit noisy lately…”
Baphura, who hadn’t noticed that Arundel’s power was divine power, hesitated as he looked around.
“Um…The demons are out of control.”
At Baphura’s words, Arundel sighed as if it was ridiculous.
“You’re talking as if you’ve controlled them before.”
Arundel knew the demons well.
They have no laws or rules. They just pursue their own pleasure and fun. If they thought about the balance of the world as much as they do in heaven, the angels wouldn’t have had such a hard time.
“Keep talking.”
But, it was worth continuing to listen to Baphura’s words.
Although it was odd, it was especially strange these days. The way the demons were running around was not normal.
It’s like a river that has burst its banks, there must be another reason for it pouring out.
Maybe now is a good opportunity.
“So…So. Ha, how should I put this.”
Baphura, looking perplexed, swung his head from side to side and then exclaimed.
“The demons seem crazy.”
Arundel frowned and thought. It seemed that sane demons were rarer.
Baphura, who couldn’t read her expression, continued to explain earnestly.
“It started with the lower demons. Like they were drugged or something, they couldn’t communicate, and that stage gradually evolved and the symptoms appeared even in the higher demons.”
At his words, a memory flashed through Arundel’s mind.
The day when Royden was hurt instead of her.
The demon who was spewing strange things from his mouth was not sane. She thought it had lost consciousness by merging with a human, but maybe it was as Baphura said.
Arundel then began to take Baphura’s words a little more seriously.
“So I was out on a survey.”
“Who ordered you?”
“Of course, the Demon King…Hup.”
Baphura suddenly clamped his mouth shut, slowly lowered his hand, and glanced at Arundel.
“I’ve said too much for a confidential matter.”
It’s a human, so it doesn’t matter…Baphura muttered softly.
Arundel looked at his expression to see if there was any lie in his words. Baphura’s attitude looked innocent.
“But why are you investigating here of all places?”
Demons were appearing all over the country without regard to location.
But if you had to pick the place where they appeared the most, it was the capital in the north. It was also where the palace was.
It was right to do the investigation there.
On the other hand, this place was the safest place because it had the temple. So it didn’t make sense to come here and investigate.
“I don’t know the reason either. I just came here because the Demon King told me to…!”
Baphura, despite being a demon, couldn’t hide his expression well.
He had a sinister face when they first met, but now he was pleading for the truth like a cat that had been rained on.
Arundel nodded without any other suspicion.
“Get up.”
Baphura, who had been kneeling for a long time and had numb legs, got up from his seat with difficulty, rubbing his thighs.
“Really, you won’t bother humans?”
“Of course!”
Baphura looked at her pitifully. His eyes were full of unjust feelings.
He didn’t seem to be lying.
And anyway, he had helped her by teaching her how to get rid of the parasite last time.
Arundel, who had been thinking, opened her mouth.
“I’ll trust you. But if you get caught again, it won’t end well.”
Baphura, who had been kneeling and slowly got up, looked at Arundel and asked.
“…Can I really go?”
Arundel nodded without answering. But whether it was because of that, he hesitated and backed away.
He looked like a small animal afraid to show its back to a lion. Of course, Baphura was huge.
As he quietly distanced himself by backing away, Baphura turned around and ran away quickly.
As he got further away, the long, pointy-eared figure with its ears pricked up got smaller and smaller. Arundel, who was watching him, thought.
What would it have been like in the old days?
‘I probably would have gotten rid of it without mercy.’
In the eyes of Arundel, who was tightly bound by a sense of justice and responsibility in the past, there was a full sense of mission.
Fighting demons in a bloody war and protecting humans by sacrificing her own body.
That was the biggest reason for Arundel to live.
In this way, angels live with their own purpose and will.
On the contrary, angels without purpose will lose their existence. That is death to angels.
The reason why Arundel is struggling to return to heaven is also there. She doesn’t want to lose her will. She doesn’t want to face death like that.
But, now she doesn’t know.
She feels a little empty about what she has been living so hard for.
Of course, even now, if there are people in crisis in front of her, she will save them, and if the demons are running wild, she will mercilessly eliminate them. That doesn’t change.
However, now she wants to find a slightly different meaning.
Even if she doesn’t whip herself, she can maintain herself and live that way.
Suddenly, Arundel thought of someone.
Zion.
When she sees him, her heart tickles these days, and suddenly she feels stuffy as if something is stuck in her solar plexus.
Unpleasant physical symptoms led to such a desire.
She wants to find another reason, not the archangel who exists because of the demon. The meaning of life.
If she finds a meaning…
Arundel shook her head hard by herself. She had to try to cut off the thoughts that were tailing each other.
When she took a deep breath, the cold air filled her lungs. She felt a little sober.
“Today it’s hard to find Hills, shall we go back?”
Arundel spoke cheerfully to herself and smiled. But the lips that couldn’t rise even with effort, rather made a bitter expression.
She retraced her steps.
On the way, the rocky landscapes that she hadn’t seen while coming caught her eye.
On the road, there were plenty of tree branches and leaves that had fallen weakly. The withered branch crumbled with a crackling sound when she stepped on it.
Arundel looked down at the two broken branches.
The branch that should have reached high into the sky can’t find its place and rolls on the ground, and eventually collapses even under weak strength.
In the end, she is the same.
Finding a meaning is not an easy task. If an angel born with a destiny stays in the human world, it will lose its purpose and fade.
Arundel, who had taken her gaze from the branch, moved her steps again.
The faint breath that flowed out between Arundel’s slightly opened lips became a hazy breath and disappeared into the air.
Erasing the expectations she had unknowingly made.
