Anyone who was in charge of proposing and mediating was bound to be talkative. Perhaps it was a characteristic that was necessary for the position, but from Eugene’s experience, those who were talkative were simply fond of chatting. As such, he endured listening to Georg for more than an hour before fishing for answers, and he succeeded. Even devils were nothing compared to vampires when it came to the art of deception, and Eugene was none other than the Vampire Origin. However, there was another reason Eugene was unaware of. If it were any other vampire besides Eugene, it would have been impossible to force Georg, a devil ranked in the top ten, to speak the truth.

It was because the higher ranking of the devil, the more power their words would contain. It was a powerful but subtle authority that allowed them to see through lies and induce others to tell them the truth. And Georg’s main specialty as a devil was ‘talking.’ As such, he had secretly put power into his words while he blabbered for over an hour. Since he could not overcome Eugene with force, he intended to make use of his specialty. He already had experience winning over Eugene’s contracted spirit, so he was hopeful that he could succeed. When he noticed Eugene agreeing with his words for more than an hour, he became convinced that he had charmed Eugene. However, he had been greatly mistaken.

He had been charmed rather than Eugene. He had simply made a fool of himself in front of the Dark Clan’s founder, the champion of delusion and seduction.

“So those who are in your world never want me to come back?” Eugene asked.

“Fuck…” Georg muttered with a look of distress. He then responded while shrugging his shoulders, “Now that it has come to this, there’s no use hiding it. That’s right. The ten devils do not want you to return our world.”

“Why?” Eugene asked.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? You caused a major disruption to the order of things many times. It’s obviously better that you are gone. In fact, after you left, our world has been quite peaceful,” Georg answered.

“…”

Eugene had seen the Demon World through the translucent barrier, and ‘peaceful’ was the last word he would have used to describe it. If that was considered peaceful, then what was it like when he was—

“S-sir, w-what are you…” Mirian mumbled in a frightened voice as if she had imagined something she shouldn’t have imagined.

Eugene ignored her and continued, “After hearing what you had to say, I have to imagine that you are here to prevent me from returning rather than helping me. Is that right?”

“Uh, well…”

“It’s right, then,” Eugene said.

“It’s right…” Mirian echoed.

“…”

Eugene became certain of it when he saw Georg slowly avoiding his gaze. The real purpose of the devils, including Georg, was to prevent his return to the Demon World.

‘If I can make good use of this…’

Eugene quickly planned ahead before speaking nonchalantly, “So what would you do if I told you that I would return to that place?”

“…!”

Georg flinched before answering with a servile smile, “Well, do you have a reason to do that? Our world no longer satisfies your curiosity anymore. In the first place, you came over to this world because you no longer had any interest in our world. I don’t know if you have a good reason to return—”

Eugene cut him off. “Are you stupid? I lost my memory, which means I have no recollection of your world. In other words, your world is the new world for me.”

“…”

“Hmm. The Demon World…That means I can run wild without having to worry about anything, right? And since I was already one of the ten strongest devils before I crossed over, there had to be many devils and demons who would want to come under me. Ah, and my old subordinates are still there as well, right? Maybe some of them are still waiting for me…” Eugene pointed out.

“Kieeeek! Sir! Even if you get new lackeys, I’ll still be your right-hand spirit! I’m your subordinate number one!” Mirian shouted.

“Of course,” Eugene answered.

“Kieeeeeeeeeh! Sir, yes sir!” The spirit broke out into a wide grin at the thought of becoming the first spirit to have devils and demons as subordinates.

Meanwhile, Georg was greatly taken aback by Eugene’s words. It felt as if Eugene were ready to return to the Demon World at any moment.

‘Is he really planning to go?’

Georg was already set to receive compensation from the other top strongest devils in exchange for taking care of Eugene. However, this wasn’t a problem of compensation. If Eugene were to return to the Demon World like this, the other devils would be very disappointed or angry at him. If it were only one or two of the top ten, Georg could plot and escape, but there would be nothing he could do if they all decided to attack him.

‘Am I fucked? N-no!’

Georg was a clever and manipulative devil. He felt that he had to make haste when he realized that his survival was at stake.

Georg hurriedly reasoned, “N-no, but is there really a need for you to return? From what I can see, there will no longer be any existence or power that can interfere with you in the near future. Rather than choosing the difficult path of returning, you could stay here and—”

“You’ll be screwed if I return, right?” Eugene asked.

“…”

“At the very least, you’ll be in a difficult position, right? If what you were saying is true, then there should be more than just one or two devils who will hate to see me return… And all of them are in the top ten, right? The strongest and most dangerous beings. I don’t think they will leave you in one piece. I mean, after all, they are devils, right?” Eugene asked.

Georg responded, “Haha! I don’t think you know very well since you left our world a long time ago. I am also in the top ten. Who would dare to—”

“Really? You’re saying that everything will be fine, right? Then, I should be able to return. I was reconsidering since I thought you might be in trouble—”

“Reconsider.”

Georg answered faster than the speed of light.

Eugene erased the worried expression off of his face and asked with a grin, “Reconsider?”

“Please reconsider,” Georg said.

“And the price of reconsidering?” Eugene asked.

“…”

Georg was expressionless, but he was on the verge of exploding with frustration and despair. He was cornered. He was properly driven into a corner after falling for one of the insidious demon king’s tricks.

“Well… If there’s anything… I can do…” Georg stammered.

“Anything?” Eugene asked.

“Anything,” Georg responded.

“Do you swear on your name?” Eugene asked once more.

Georg hesitated for a moment, then answered with a sigh, “Ha… I swear on my name, Georg. One thing. Whatever you want, I will do for you as long as it is within my capability. However, you have to promise not to return to our world.”

“I will,” Eugene said. There was no contract, no seal, or no witness. However, Eugene was certain that Georg would keep his promise. After all, he had received confirmation about it from both Princess Lilisain and Romari before he separated from them.

- A devil always keeps his word.

They could deceive and mislead their opponents with cunning, sweet words, but they had to keep their promises. Naturally, devils did not easily make promises to others. What they could obtain from a promise would obviously be great, but simultaneously, they would have to sacrifice something great. In the end, for Georg, preventing Eugene’s return to the Demon World was an important goal he had to achieve no matter what, even at the expense of his abilities as one of the top ten devils.

‘Damn it… Nothing ever comes easy.’

“There’s nothing free in this world. Give and take. It’s one of the principles of the world, and even a devil is no exception to the rule.” Eugene pointed out.

“That’s right! It’s one of the many truths of life!” Mirian exclaimed.

It was as if the Origin had read his mind. Georg had to cool himself off while glancing at the two, who were only choosing to say the most annoying things.

He couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “By the way, why are you taking me with you? Wouldn’t your vassal or your wizard be more helpful?”

“Are you stupid? It’s obviously because I don’t trust you,” Eugene responded.

“…”

“Besides, commanding an army is not for me. And it’s not like I can do whatever I want with the troops either since they were pulled from all over the place. There will be many things to pay attention to as well,” Eugene added.

It was true. The army was traveling northward behind Eugene, and it was a complex gathering of the original expedition from Maren, the allied troops, the Firebird Legion, and the private soldiers of the imperial nobles. Although Prince Localope was leading them as the representative, not all of them would be obedient to Eugene’s commands. In particular, the soldiers of the Firebird Legion and the imperial nobles were keeping an eye out for an opportunity to wrench control away from Eugene, let alone obey his commands.

He could force them to comply by force, but that would place Prince Localope in a difficult position. Eugene’s purpose was to establish Prince Localope as the next emperor. He couldn’t give the impression to the imperial army and the nobles that the next emperor was weak and easily influenced by others.

“And how will I know what you’ll be up to if I left you there? I heard that you were getting up to something while taking care of the monster uprising. Galfredik and Princess Lilisain apparently had to put you in your place,” Eugene said.

“That’s because I was going easy on them…”

“Regardless, it’s true that you were caught playing tricks. So why would I leave you next to the great army? The number of troops is no longer in the hundreds, but tens of thousands, with even the next emperor in their midst. If you were in my shoes, would you have left someone like me with them?” Eugene asked.

“It would have been like leaving a fish in front of a cat,” Mirian added.

“No, it would have been like leaving gold in front of you,” Eugene commented.

“I agree,” Mirian answered.

“…”

Georg was at a loss for words upon seeing the Origin and the spirit in perfect harmony.

“And you know, come to think of it…” Eugene said, and he continued while turning his gaze away from Georg, “I have a feeling that after this, your purpose here will be over as well.”

“Hmm? What do you mean? Absolutely not,” Georg said with wide eyes as if he didn’t know what Eugene was talking about.

Eugene gave a mysterious smile. “Stop with the nonsense. Your final destination is the imperial castle, right? There’s definitely something there.”

‘Motherfucker! You had been thinking that far ahead?’

Georg was shocked out of his pants. He had heard many things about Eugene in the Demon World, as well as after he had crossed over. After witnessing Eugene’s actions and personally experiencing the latter’s might, he concluded that most of the information he had heard was true.

However, Eugene’s remarks caught him completely off guard. And by the looks of it, Eugene had come to the conclusion after Georg was forced to relinquish some information just a few moments ago.

‘This is truly shocking. That’s why those devil bastards are so afraid of his return…’

Georg felt a shiver down his spine. The ten strongest devils weren’t considered as such because they were simply powerful. They were incredibly crafty and insidious as well. To be honest, Georg initially couldn’t understand why such powerful, intelligent beings were so wary and afraid of the Demon King of Blood, even though he had disappeared from the Demon World a long time ago. Georg had crossed over in his ignorance and due to his special status as the proposer and the mediator.

However, he was no longer ignorant. Now, he knew for sure.

‘This man… The Demon King of Blood is dangerous. I have to change my methods.’

Georg once again assumed his pride as a devil and composed himself before slowly answering, “I can’t believe you managed to figure that out. I have nothing to say. You are correct; my final destination is the imperial castle.”

“Tell me why,” Eugene asked. The air around him changed as well.