Chapter 7
Devil in Abhracax
Minerva shrugged with a playful glint in her eyes.
“What’s your biggest question? I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“… Can you really answer anything?”
“As long as it’s something I can answer.”
Her attitude was as if to say, “Go ahead and try me if you dare.”
Having obtained her consent, I decided to give it my best shot.
“Why was I summoned here?”
“To be honest, it’s because you’re the only utterly hopeless candidate warrior left at this point. I never would’ve imagined it’d be you, of all people.”
“…”
Damn. If I’d been summoned because I was good at something, that’d be one thing—but being called here because I’m terrible makes it all feel so clear.
Even back in school, whenever I was summoned to the principal’s office, I’d always feel uneasy if I had something weighing on me. Anxiety gnawed at my chest, making me restless. I fidgeted while nervously fingering the edge of my nails and couldn’t help but glance at Minerva sidelong.
“Are you planning to punish me?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s a relief. So, what do you want me to do?”
Minerva answered offhandedly, and I immediately raised an eyebrow.
“Something simple—I just want you to take care of an item for me.”
“An item?”
“Yes. This item.”
With a meaningful smile, Minervra waved her hand in the air. There was a flash of bright green light, and a magical circle illuminated a glowing orb suspended in mid-air. A little larger than a palm, the ellipsoid slowly descended into Minerva’s waiting hands. Without hesitation, she handed it over to me.
“What… it’s an egg, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s an egg. More specifically, the egg of the Demon King.”
“Demo…?!”
For a moment, I thought I must’ve misheard her. Staring wide-eyed at Minerva, I saw that she remained perfectly calm, unbothered by my shock. I stumbled over my words, questioning her further.
“If this is the Demon King’s egg… what’s inside?”
“The Demon King, naturally. Haven’t you ever seen dinosaurs hatch from eggs?”
“But if it’s the Demon King… that thing we’re supposed to summon and defeat, right?”
Minerva shook her head side to side, her sharp gaze piercing through me as her expression turned unusually serious.
“The being sleeping inside this egg isn’t just any ordinary Demon King. Candidate Warrior Park Jeong-yong.”
“Is it like a Tyrannosaurus Demon King then?”
Though my tone dripped with sarcasm, Minerva didn’t react, her expression betraying no hint of emotion. She simply looked at me with an eerily calm and serious expression. Her stillness made me feel slightly awkward for my own sarcastic remark.
Attempting to recover, I scratched the back of my head, when Minerva spoke in a low, solemn voice.
“Long ago, this egg belonged to the last Necromancer who once destroyed the continent you have been summoned to. It’s also the only offspring left behind by Witch Diana Espada.”
Minerva paused for a moment and glanced downward. I, still confused by her words, merely licked my lips in silence and felt compelled to mutter.
“Is this Diana person a reptile or something? Some kind of oviparous creature?”
“…”
“Alright, stop staring like that. You’re giving me the chills with that disappointed look.”
Judging by her increasingly sharp gaze, it seemed Lady Minerva was starting to get annoyed at my flippant attitude. It wasn’t just the look—it felt like tiny needles pricking all over my body.
From my perspective, I was teetering on the edge of losing my mind. If I knew what was happening, I could at least nod sympathetically or even clap along. But being summoned here without any prior knowledge leaves me struggling to react meaningfully.
“… Sigh. Didn’t you explain this earlier? First Plane, Fourth Plane…”
“Yes, you did.”
Apparently recognizing my confusion, Minerva sighed before breaking into her explanation. I leaned back into the chair, narrowing my eyes slightly, as she was finally about to clarify the underlying reasons behind this bizarre situation.
“In this Gaialant Dimension, there are four coexisting planes of existence: First Plane through the Fourth Plane. The First Plane is what you’d call the mortal realm, the second is the Celestial Realm, the third is Hell, and the fourth is what most people refer to as the Demon Realm—the Land of Nothingness.”
Minerva counted the planes on her fingers. Up to this point, I understood clearly. I gestured with a nod for her to continue, which she did with a slight inclination of her own head.
“Centuries ago, a Necromancer named Diana Espada, who had been hiding in Hell, set foot in the Paradiso Continent. She was the one prophesied to bring about the world’s destruction.”
“So? And?”
At this point, Minerva’s expression began to sour. “As bound by law, we in the Celestial Realm were forbidden from interfering in the mortal planes at that time. So we relied on prophecy and summoned a hero from the human world to stop Diana Espada. And this marked the first ever summoning of an interdimensional being onto this land.”
This first phase had been a success. But earlier, hadn’t she mentioned that Diana Espada had already “destroyed the world once”?
As I anticipated, Minerva’s expression grew increasingly grim as she continued to recount the unfortunate events.
“But something unexpected happened that we hadn’t accounted for.”
“Did the hero go on strike or something?”
I joked, but Minerva grimaced, pinching the bridge of her nose in apparent exasperation. “If only he’d gone on strike. No, he instead betrayed humanity and became a pawn of Diana, helping to bring about the destruction of the entire continent.”
“…”
“He was named Han. After his betrayal, he became not only Diana’s strategist but also her knight and, in a sense, her parent. Together, they became notorious as ‘The Witch’s Knight Han.’”
I was astounded by the revelation. Wow, you don’t hold back, do you, Han—First Hero. I must say, you’ve left quite the mark on history.
“So, the world was pretty much destroyed, and all kinds of monsters replaced humans across the continent…”
She continued explaining the world’s history in great detail, but it grew so extensive that I quickly lost interest and let my attention wander. Cutting through the details and summarizing what I grasped:
The destruction of the mortal realm had loosened the restrictions placed on the celestials. This led them to directly intervene to eradicate the evil entities plaguing the First Plane. The current hero-summoning ritual was part of this endeavor.
However, the mysterious disappearance of Diana also prompted a countermeasure from her side. She placed a curse to spawn a unique entity, the Demon King, specifically designed to oppose the heroes summoned to combat her.
Thus, the celestials, through a series of rigorous tests and incentives, trained heroes to survive encounters with the Demon King as effectively as possible. Through numerical superiority, or what one might simply call “ganging up,” they managed to maintain a stalemate between the human and demon factions.
“In this situation, an egg containing the fabled immortal Demon King, the sole legacy of the Witch Diana, has been discovered.”
That’s exactly right.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—it was discovered and recovered first by the hero’s side rather than the demons’, leaving us with a dilemma: how to handle this egg.
It’s incredibly durable—resistant to destruction.
It won’t hatch easily.
And although it hasn’t hatched, it’s undeniably alive, pulsating with vitality.
Our knowledge of the egg remains severely limited. There’s still so much we don’t know about it.
This situation prompted the celestials to take drastic measures. They decided to conceal its significance by assigning it to a hero least likely to attract attention, someone who could discreetly observe the egg’s activity under the radar.
After hearing all of this, I finally had my answer.
“So, basically, you’re handing me this epic ticking time bomb?”
“…Handing it over to you? What does that mean?”
“Dumping it on me, you know.”
“Ah, yes. Precisely correct.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Minerva nodded in cheerful agreement. Isn’t there a saying that one shouldn’t spit on a smiling face? Frankly, I felt like slapping her. Truly.
I stared quietly at the egg for a bit before asking, “Why me, of all people?”
“I already said it—you’re the only hopeless candidate warrior left…”
“That’s a lie.”
My certainty caused Minerva to immediately shut her mouth.
I stared her down, taunting her, “Sure, I may be gullible, but I’m not stupid. Would you really hand over such an important item to some random, unverified candidate who’s utterly hopeless? I know that’s a lie.”
Minerva chuckled in response, her amused tone clearly mocking.
“What if I’ve already determined that you know I’m lying? What are you going to do about it?”
“Something must be done, obviously.”
“Care to try?”
In that moment, Minerva exuded an overpowering presence. Feeling my breath hitch, I instinctively clutched my chest. She observed my discomfort before withdrawing her pressure.
As I glared, Minerva’s mouth curved into a crooked smile.
“Please don’t glower at me like that. Even we in the Celestial Realm aren’t so devoid of conscience that we’d offload something like this without consideration.”
Leaning forward suddenly, Minerva wore a sly smile.
“We do have some perks prepared for you, considering you’ve been assigned such a special mission.”
“Perks?”
“Yes, perks.”
She gave a quick nod before gesturing with her hand. The familiar green light flared before my eyes, followed by a translucent panel appearing before me.
[Special Privileges for Egg Guardians]
The heading at the top was written in unfamiliar script.
I glanced between the panel and Minerva, who simply shrugged and encouraged me.
“Take your time to read. Ask anything you’re unclear about. If you decide to protest later on, it won’t matter.”
Challenge accepted. I began scanning the contents of the panel, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
So, this is what they call “perseverance eventually pays off,” huh? After being pushed to the very end in the selection process, I’m now assigned this special mission. Life is truly unpredictable.
Smiling bitterly, I quickly set aside my wandering thoughts and focused intently on the information provided on the panel.
