Chapter 27
Apostle Beris (1)
Johan and Gaf rode without stopping for half a day and finally caught up with the pilgrimage procession.
The pilgrims, situated atop a high ridge, were preparing to make camp.
Even in the pitch-black night, their campsite shone brilliantly.
The clerical robes they wore and the tents they had erected glowed pure white, imbued with divinity.
It was a safe zone surrounded by holy power. An ordinary demon could not even approach the ridge.
The same applied to Johan. He would not burn to death thanks to Kazan’s Ring, but the moment he touched the divine power, his true identity would inevitably be exposed.
As soon as Kazan’s Ring absorbed the divinity, the priests would notice the anomaly.
They would all go on high alert. No demon could escape their surveillance.
“This is as close as we can get. Gaf, don’t go any farther.”
Johan spoke from the mountain peak opposite the ridge.
Gaf snorted.
“You called it cheap glow-in-the-dark paint, but it seems even you’re afraid of divine power.”
“If I were afraid, I wouldn’t be standing here. You’re the one who needs to keep your nerves in check. We’ll be moving soon.”
Gaf gazed toward the ridge. Nearly a hundred troops were stationed there. Among them were surely priests who wielded divine magic and monstrous holy knights.
They were going to attack all of them with just the two of them?
No matter how he thought about it, they had no chance of winning.
Gaf’s expression darkened.
Johan smirked.
“Are you nervous?”
“What makes you so relaxed?”
“Because I’m certain this will work.”
Johan opened his backpack and pulled out a jar covered from top to bottom in talismans.
It was a relic shrouded in dark energy. The mere sight of it was chilling.
Johan said,
“As I told you earlier, there isn’t much for us to do. We use this relic to draw their attention, steal the Great Saint’s coffin, and that’s it.”
“What in the world is inside that jar?”
A rare trace of tension appeared on Johan’s face.
He spoke in a low voice.
“The Twelfth Apostle of the End. More precisely, it contains a fragment of the Archdemon Beris.”
Gaf frowned.
“You mean the Beris from the scriptures?”
“That’s right. The demon whom the Great Saint Margiel tore to pieces five hundred years ago. As you already know, his soul was divided into ten fragments and scattered throughout the continent.”
“You’re saying one of those fragments is inside this jar?”
“Exactly.”
“…I find that impossible to believe.”
“Then see it with your own eyes.”
At that moment, Johan yanked away the talismans.
They formed a high-level sealing spell, but centuries of weathering had rendered it ineffective.
No one had maintained the spell for hundreds of years.
The negligence of the heads of House Myatro had brought about a horrifying consequence.
The responsibility abandoned by one generation could only be borne by the next.
The seal came undone in an instant.
In the original story, it had been a witch who summoned the Archdemon into this land. Now, it was a half-demon.
Although it was merely a tenth of his soul, the consequences were far beyond what mere mortals could endure.
The moment pitch-black smoke surged from the jar, Gaf collapsed to the ground. Blood streamed ceaselessly from his eyes and nose.
Johan convulsed like an aspen leaf.
The unleashed malice pressed down on the entire area like gravity.
A horrifying shriek erupted.
“Kihahahaha! A mere five hundred years! To one such as I, who has existed for eternity, it is but an instant! Margiel! Behold! I have cast off my chains and manifested upon this land once more! The prophecy of the Apocalypse shall be fulfilled yet again!”
As though his voice itself contained death, mountain birds lost their lives and plummeted from the sky.
The surrounding trees and soil began to rot.
Nature itself was withering away.
Johan and Gaf covered their ears and groaned. The crushing pressure was so intense that they could not even raise their heads.
The manifested demon was truly a being on an entirely different plane.
Even divided into ten fragments, Beris possessed such majesty that mortals were nothing more than insects before him.
‘…Just as I expected. He’s horrifying.’
In the original story, even Ilea had been unable to look directly at Beris. Even a witch who commanded demons had been crushed beneath the presence of a superior predator.
Naturally, Johan could not resist Beris’s majesty either.
It was only common sense.
And yet, something strange happened.
Johan was slowly raising his head.
It was extraordinarily painful, but strangely enough, it was not enough to kill him.
According to the original story, he should not have been able to move so much as a finger. Yet he was far freer than he had expected.
‘Was the original novel’s description exaggerated?’
But Gaf’s condition was far too pitiful for that to be true.
He had his head pressed against the ground and was writhing in agony.
The original novel had not exaggerated in the slightest.
A mortal could not even look upon an Apostle of the End.
‘Then why…?’
Just as bewilderment overtook him, the mass of malice swept toward Johan. A voice like metal scraping against steel burrowed into his eardrums.
“How peculiar. What are you?”
Only then could Johan see Beris’s true form.
He was a grotesque being clad in an ashen robe. Beris twitched his enormous hooked nose and stared at Johan with two vertically slit eyes.
His mouth, far too small compared to his eyes and nose, moved incessantly as though he were chewing something.
He looked profoundly bizarre.
“I asked you a question, insignificant creature. What are you?”
Every syllable bore tremendous weight as it pressed down on Johan.
Resisting the pressure, Johan opened his mouth.
“Lies probably won’t work on you, so I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know what I am either. But there is one thing I know for certain. I’m the one who freed you.”
The muscles in Beris’s face twitched faintly.
He was displeased that Johan had addressed him without honorifics.
His pride had been deeply wounded.
A demon who showed no respect to an Archdemon. A mortal who could resist the presence of an Apostle.
Johan was truly an incomprehensible existence.
Even Johan himself found it difficult to understand what was happening.
‘…Was there some hidden detail in the Demonic Chronicle that I didn’t know about?’
Regardless of their race, mortals naturally felt fear and reverence toward transcendent beings.
Johan was different.
He suffered beneath the pressure, but neither fear nor respect welled up inside him.
Even divided into ten fragments, an Apostle’s presence belonged to an unfathomably higher realm. Yet for some reason, it had little effect on Johan.
It was difficult to determine why. Even if he contemplated it now, he was unlikely to find an answer.
For the moment, he needed to focus on the present.
Beris spoke.
“…You claim that you broke my seal? Very well. I shall bestow upon an insignificant creature such as you the honor of bargaining with me. Tell me what you desire.”
Beris was the Apostle who presided over contracts.
Before he was sealed away, he left behind a form of contract magic in the world.
It was magic that granted the person who released him the right to make a deal with him. In other words, Johan could enter into a direct contract with an Apostle.
Regardless of what was exchanged, it was an unparalleled opportunity for any mortal.
He could ask for a body that never aged or demand to be taught great magic.
He could even settle for wealth and glory.
The mortal would also have to pay something in return, but in truth, the Apostle would receive nothing.
That was because no mortal could ever free what Beris desired.
Though it was called a transaction, a contract with Beris was essentially the same as granting the mortal a wish.
Johan spoke.
“Over there. Do you see that ridge?”
Beris twitched his nose.
“Margiel’s servants. They are more tenacious than cockroaches. Even after five hundred years, they still swarm together in such numbers.”
“There’s a red-haired woman among them. Her name is Shaperia. Erase her from existence completely. That is my condition for the deal.”
Beris blinked his vertically slit eyes. He spoke as though he could not believe what he had heard.
“That is all?”
“Yes.”
“I cannot understand you.”
“I’ll say it again. She must be completely erased from existence. The deadline is midnight tonight.”
Beris snickered.
“To squander an opportunity that will never come again in your lifetime. You are truly foolish, yet I find you rather intriguing. Therefore, I shall keep you by my side. In exchange for erasing that woman before midnight, you will become my subordinate. Do you agree?”
As the condition of the contract, Beris was demanding Johan’s servitude.
Every demon desired to become the subordinate of an Apostle.
There was no reason to refuse.
In fact, it would not have been strange at all if Johan himself had asked Beris to accept him as a subordinate in exchange for the contract.
Johan nodded.
“Fine. The moment Shaperia is erased from existence, I will become your subordinate.”
Gaf, still sprawled on the ground, groaned and glared at Johan.
If Johan became Beris’s subordinate, Ilea would automatically become entangled with an Apostle as well.
The Apostles had only one objective.
The extinction of humanity.
His daughter would be forced to contribute to that horrific evil without even being given a choice.
Gaf trembled violently as he struggled on the ground.
What kind of ending awaited him and his daughter?
He could no longer even begin to imagine it.
He regretted every single moment.
His desire to find his daughter had brought them to this point.
As he wallowed in self-reproach, demonic energy surged from Beris’s body.
The billowing smoke flowed into Johan.
A foreign sensation settled within Johan’s chest.
The contract had been completed.
Gaf watched the scene with despair in his eyes.
Beris snickered.
“Shall we begin by correcting that insolent manner of speech?”
“I’m not your subordinate yet. Deal with Shaperia first. If you fail, you will pay the corresponding price.”
Perhaps there was a timeline in which Beris failed, though the probability was one in several hundred million—or even several trillion.
The Beris of that timeline would be crushed beneath unimaginable karmic retribution.
If the Apostle who presided over contracts could not even fulfill a promise made to a mere mortal, it would mean that he had lost his very reason for existence.
He would have no grounds for complaint even if he were erased from existence.
Beris burst into wild laughter.
“Kihahahahaha! Did you say I might fail?! What an amusing creature you are! Watch with your own eyes and engrave it into your memory! Witness the omnipotence of your master!”
Beris shot into the sky in an instant. The hem of his ashen robe fluttered in the air.
Looking down at Johan, he said,
“When I return, I shall correct that insolent attitude of yours!”
He then flew directly toward the ridge.
Having noticed the anomaly, the pilgrimage procession was already preparing for battle.
The moment Beris departed, the pressure crushing the surrounding area disappeared as well.
However, Gaf did not get up.
He merely remained there, wallowing in despair and helplessness.
Johan spoke.
“Beris is gone. Shake it off and get up.”
Any mortal who came face-to-face with an Apostle would suffer an enormous mental shock.
Gaf’s reaction was perfectly normal.
He spoke in a low voice.
“…I finally understand what you’re plotting.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You intend to kill every human being.”
Johan frowned.
“Why would I?”
“If you don’t, then why did you agree to become the Apostle’s subordinate?!”
Gaf’s eyes were filled with hatred.
It was because Johan had dragged Ilea into this.
“I am not Beris’s subordinate.”
“Enough with your wordplay!”
Once Shaperia was erased, Johan would become Beris’s subordinate.
There was no chance that Beris would fail.
“This isn’t wordplay. I have no intention of submitting to some Apostle. If you don’t believe me, I’ll even make a contract with you, staking my life on it.”
Gaf stared intently at Johan. Confusion slowly filled the eyes that had been burning with hatred.
No matter how he thought about it, Shaperia would die, and Johan would become Beris’s subordinate.
There should have been no possibility of anything else, yet Johan continued to deny it.
Johan nodded.
“Come to think of it, I can understand why you’d misunderstand. You don’t know anything about Shaperia.”
“Then explain it.”
Johan shook his head.
“While Beris is wreaking havoc, we need to steal the Great Saint’s coffin. If we don’t move now, we’ll miss our chance. Besides, explaining every little detail to you is a bother. I’m under no obligation to tell you.”
Gaf let out a hollow laugh.
“You called us partners before. I suppose that was all bullshit.”
Partners were naturally supposed to share their thoughts with each other.
If one of them concealed everything, they could hardly be called partners.
For the first time during a conversation with Gaf, Johan felt as though he had taken a direct hit.
‘He caught me off guard.’
Johan said,
“Fine. Since we’re partners, I’ll share information with you from now on. In return, you must acknowledge me as your partner as well. I’m saying we should respect each other.”
Gaf rose to his feet, brushing the dirt from his knees. He spoke firmly.
“I’ll decide after I see how this situation plays out.”
Johan smirked and moved behind Gaf.
“I’ll make this clear once again. I have absolutely no intention of serving beneath anyone.”
With those words, Johan slipped his arms beneath Gaf’s armpits.
Before the startled Gaf could say anything, Johan took flight.
Their destination was the ridge, which had already transformed into hell.