CHAPTER 099
"It won't disappear, but Ermeore won't be able to cross the Aether River. She will have to return to the Underworld, you arrogant cat. Stupid thing, eating the food here. Keke."
Sephelia, hanging from the Emperor's hand, giggled.
Thinking she was now safe, she didn’t seem to care about being held by the Emperor. She merely stuck out her tongue, regretting she hadn't deceived him.
Seeing him up close, she wanted him even more. He was incomparable to the river god.
The rich scent of a male emanating from him made her mouth water. The calloused hand gripping her neck ignited a smoldering heat throughout her body.
Hearing Sephelia's words, a furious growl rumbled from Kaligo’s throat.
The sharp claws scratched against the rock in a desperate urge to rip apart her smirking lips.
“All creatures here are my children, so I'll give you a choice.”
Obiseut, with a motherly smile, began to speak.
The Demon King felt deeply humiliated that the Emperor and Arabelle were about to return safely to the human world. The thought of sending them back without a scratch made her blood boil, like the lava beside her.
But the idea of a little game with the snow leopard’s devotion lifted her spirits. She had missed out on the big catches, Maxwell and Arabelle, but Kaligo and Ermeore had their own stories.
The more sorrow and despair, the stronger her power grew. Kaligo's desperation and earnestness brought her satisfaction.
Obiseut’s mood brightened every time Kaligo looked at her and Sephelia with loathing.
“If you want to take Ermeore's light out of here, knowing that both her soul and body will perish, you are free to do so. For a fleeting moment, she will recognize you, if that is enough. But…”
Obiseut’s eyes gleamed with delight as she met Kaligo’s transparent gaze.
“Ermeore, with all her memories restored, will be tormented by guilt towards her tribe and the betrayal by her king. She will suffer from the realization that she can neither be with her family nor the king. The joy of reuniting with you will be nothing compared to the agony of her memories.”
Kaligo's eyes and lips began to tremble. As much as she hated to admit it, Obiseut was right.
Staring at the small flickering flame in the Demon King's palm, Kaligo realized the harsh reality. The king who swore love to her annihilated her tribe. Yet, she sacrificed her light to save him, falling into the Underworld. The king had already wed a princess from another land.
She had been thoroughly used and discarded.
In her obsession to rescue the princess, she hadn't considered the agony Ermeore would endure upon awakening. Though Kaligo had prepared for a thousand years to retrieve her light, she now saw it might bring only punishment to her.
Moreover, even if Ermeore woke, she would soon die as Obiseut said.
Unable to cross the Aether River to reach the land of the Lumen Saviors and mythical beings, her fate was sealed.
Realizing the bitter reality, Kaligo's head drooped deeply.
“Or will you stay here with Ermeore?”
At Obiseut's words, both the Emperor and Kaligo looked at her.
“Ermeore's soul will completely perish in a month. I will allow you to stay by her side until then.”
“What are the conditions?”
Kaligo immediately asked, knowing the Demon King wouldn't offer this without a catch.
Seeing Kaligo's quick wit, Obiseut's lips curled up.
“After Ermeore’s light is extinguished, you will become the main dish at my feast. Even top-grade creatures in the Underworld rarely live past a thousand years. Your sweetheart and chewy muscles will be the highlight of the banquet. Unfortunately, you’re small and skinny, so there’s not much meat.”
The snakes on Obiseut's head hissed at Kaligo, eager to devour her, licking their crimson lips with forked tongues.
“Don’t even think about it.”
The Emperor's low warning cut through his clenched teeth.
Obiseut was suggesting that Kaligo willingly become food for the creatures.
The Emperor’s red eyes darkened with disgust as he looked at the Demon King.
Ignoring the Emperor, Obiseut continued speaking to Kaligo.
“You know well that creatures here are absorbed into the Underworld when they die, becoming food for others. But souls brought from the human world taste terrible and have poor quality. They can’t compare to fresh meat.”
Obiseut and Sephelia's hungry gazes roved over Kaligo's body.
Hearing the word ‘fresh meat,’ the creatures below the rock howled in excitement.
“Enough nonsense. Move aside.”
The Emperor’s brows furrowed as he interrupted Obiseut.
There was no reason to listen to the Demon King's words any longer.
But then.
“I will accept the conditions.”
Kaligo walked forward, speaking in a low voice.
“If you let me stay by Princess Ermeore's side, I will become your prey.”
As his unwavering voice echoed through the cavern, the eerie air around the rock stirred with excitement.
The Emperor stared intently at Kaligo without saying a word.
The snow leopard's expression seemed resolute.
At that moment, the Emperor's eyes flickered with realization.
“Did you… follow me here thinking it might come to this?”
The Emperor asked quietly, and Kaligo avoided his gaze as he answered.
“I hoped to bring back Princess Ermeore's light, but I also considered staying here if you failed. I also thought it might be impossible to bring out her light.”
Kaligo's eyes, containing Ermeore's spark, shimmered sorrowfully.
“My body, which endured a thousand years, doesn’t have much time left in the human world. Thinking of that, I realized Princess Ermeore, absorbed by the Demon King, might not be able to revive. Especially since Esperal mentioned that the Demon King gained great power by almost fully absorbing the princess's Lumen Savior light.”
Kaligo lowered his head as he finished speaking.
“When I first descended and Obiseut showed me the princess’s light, I was certain. Even if I took it out, it would soon extinguish.”
“Then why… did you help me? You could have bargained with Obiseut from the start. You could have had more time with the princess.”
To the Emperor's question, Kaligo replied gruffly on purpose.
“Well, it wasn’t certain then... and I promised to help you. Even as a creature, I keep my word, unlike some.”
The Emperor stared at Kaligo silently for a moment.
If Kaligo hadn't been there...
It would have been a much more difficult trial.
Kaligo, with his extensive knowledge of the creatures, knew their weaknesses and had guided the Emperor on where to strike to defeat them. He had almost lost his front legs saving the Emperor.
The Emperor's throat felt dry as if he had swallowed smoke.
Obiseut's voice broke the silence, reaching the Emperor's ears.
“You made a wise choice. Now, make your vow.”
Just as the Emperor had sworn an oath to Obiseut before reaching the nine gates, Kaligo opened his mouth toward Obiseut's staff.
“Wait.”
The Emperor spoke slowly.
“Seems the Demon King, excited at the thought of fresh meat, has forgotten her daughter.”
The Emperor extended his hand, gripping Sephelia's neck.
“What do you mean? You can only kill the creatures in the nine chambers. That is the condition of this trial. If you harm my daughter, your oath by the Aether River with the gods is void. You cannot take Arabelle out.”
Obiseut, grinding her teeth, reached out to Sephelia.
“Kreeeek, Mother!”
Instead of releasing Sephelia, the Emperor tightened his grip on her neck.
“Such carelessness for a Demon King ruling the Underworld. The creature in the last chamber is not just the pathetic harpies and snake-bodied fiends…”
His ruby eyes arrogantly glanced between Obiseut and Sephelia.
“Your daughter is included too. Trying to deceive me means she participated as a creature in this trial. Just as I killed the creatures in the eight chambers, I have the right to kill the creature in the ninth.”
“M-Mother…!”
“No way…!”
Sephelia and Obiseut screamed simultaneously.
Thick veins spread like a web across Obiseut's face.
Sephelia had begged to enter the final chamber, wanting the Emperor. After being abandoned by the river god and ready to forsake her immortal life, she regained her vitality seeing the Emperor who had roamed battlefields.
She thought it wouldn't be bad for the bloodline of Heltered, blessed by the ancient gods and carrying the light of Lumen Savior’s love, to be near her daughter.
The Emperor was right.
Deceiving the trial-bound Emperor meant she obstructed him just like the other creatures he faced.
The Demon King and her other creatures had to remain neutral as the Emperor passed through the nine gates. By directly intervening, Sephelia had made herself one of the creatures in the ninth chamber he had the right to kill.
Even if the Emperor killed her, Obiseut, the Demon King, could do nothing.
One corner of the Emperor's mouth curled up leisurely as his voice, characteristically arrogant and confident, flowed out.
“Now, shall we start negotiating?”
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