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It was because he shared a contrasting opinion to theirs, which went along the line of, ‘The Demon Empire is our enemy. How could we accept their surrender now after all this time? I can never acknowledge them. We should completely wipe them out given the chance.’ His opinion sparked disagreements and fiery arguments. The responses from the Cassiubia League were even more passionate than he expected.

“You might not know because you came from the Celestial Realm, but it’s different for us natives on Liber! We fought them for thousands and thousands of years! It’s been a tiresome and excruciating battle between our forces!” Even Mangil, who usually respected Chi-Woo, shouted fiercely.

“We have to consider Liber’s greater good? Don’t make me laugh! Do you think those scums will help us? No! They’ll join hands with the Sernitas in the end and try to bring us to ruins again! Shouldn’t you know that better than anyone else!?” The half-demon Murumuru, who already loathed demons, shouted with veins popping out of their throat.

The Celestial Lights shared similar responses. They wondered if they really needed to accept the demons despite the League’s fierce refusal and the risk of causing a feud with their close allies. Still, in consideration of Chi-Woo, they showed a bit of support for both sides, but that only poured oil on the fire. Soon, the conference room was divided into two sides: one for the Cassiubia League, and one for the heroes, and shouting matches erupted from both sides. Due to how great their difference was, it was almost impossible to find common ground for compromises. And after the debate intensified further, Chi-Woo clutched his forehead as a dull headache began to form. This was the arrival of the pain that they had predicted would come.

***

Even after a couple of days passed, there was no conclusion. Yet time continued to pass until the destined day came, and the large number of refugees they had anticipated arrived at Shalyh. Around noon, crowds flocked to the city walls and gates like clouds, but many of them had been waiting since early in the morning to take a look at the refugees. Discounting the dead, it was no exaggeration to say that at least half of the missing persons among humanity had been captured by the Demon Empire.

Perhaps not all those captured would’ve been able to escape the Demon Empire, but many hoped to see their loved ones. While fervently believing that the missing were still alive, they had endured until now with only the hope of seeing their loved ones again, which led them to wait at the gates anxiously since dawn. Finally, the city’s gates opened. Perhaps it was because they had survived from the ravages of war, the refugees looked terrible at first glance.

The refugees were hurriedly let in, and the crowd who had been waiting rushed up to them. There was no point in trying to control them; they wouldn’t listen. And no one could stop a crowd of people who had been waiting day by day just for this moment. And in this mess of a reunion between the city’s residents and the refugees, desperate cries calling for family members, lovers, friends, and others rang all around the gates.

Of course, not all would be able to find their lost family members again. People were aware of this, but they were all desperate. They hoped that even if their loved ones weren’t in the mix, they would at least hear news about them. Furthermore, since the size of the refugees was significant, many also thought they had a good chance of finding who they were looking for.

Soon afterward, what one hoped only in their dreams turned into reality. Events that could only be called miracles began to arise, and those who had reunited with their lost loved ones were swept by a feeling that they couldn’t put to words. Was there more to say? They simply hugged one another and shed tears. In such instances, one could think it was a very emotional and touching scene.

Yet as everyone knew, reality wasn’t so dream-like for all, especially in a world like Liber. And even those who managed to meet their loved ones couldn’t simply shed happy tears about their reunion—no, there were many more instances where they couldn’t. It was because the majority of the refugees’ mental and physical conditions were so dire that many wondered how they had even managed to survive the journey to Shalyh.

The stories went like this. A wife saw her husband being carried toward the gates. In a fit of excitement, she ran up to her husband, only to realize that he was missing both arms and legs. Her husband didn’t say anything but silently cried, and the wife wailed.

“Honey? Honey! Why…!”

“…”

“Ailee? Ailee! Come to your senses! This is your dad! It’s your daddy!”

“Heh…”

A father cried frantically while holding onto his daughter, who only stared back with hazy eyes while drooling from the corner of her lips.

There were many people like them. It was only expected considering that the Demon Empire didn’t consider slaves as living creatures, but commodities. They treated slaves as items, and if one considered how many great demons possessed perverted hobbies, it was too optimistic to expect their captives to return in one shape.

And this wasn’t only the case for the human natives, but also members of the Cassiubia League. About five out of ten met their tribemates in despairing conditions. It was the same for the heroes.

“Ah, wait, isn’t that him?”

“Who? Huh…uh…?”

There was a small number of heroes among the refugees. They had arrived at Liber as recruits, but had disappeared without a trace after failing to reach the assembly point. Many thought these heroes had simply gone missing and were surprised to find out that they had been captured by the Demon Empire as slaves. They didn’t fare any better than the other refugees; instead, most of them were in even worse states because they had been treated as rare toys. Their conditions were so clearly severe and terrible that the Celestial Realm’s heroes also flew into rage.

They had wished for the missing to be alive, but they returned to them in states that were worse than being dead. Facing such a cruel reality, many first refused to believe what they were seeing. And when they finally managed to accept reality somewhat, tears flowed down their faces, and mournful cries erupted from all around.

After a long time, the commotion began to settle down a bit, and the crowd that had only been shedding tears while refusing to accept reality found themselves filled up with a new emotion: rage. Not just those who had found their families and tribemates in terrible states, but also those who had failed to find their parents, siblings, and companions. They freed themselves from their sense of loss by replacing it with vengeance. Their aimless rage was directed to one particular target, and without exception, every single one of them jumped up to the city walls.

There was a considerable crowd still waiting outside Shalyh. Though most of the humans and Cassiubia League refugees had entered, the Demon Empire’s survivors were still outside. It wasn’t that they chose not to come inside, but that they couldn’t. They could easily guess what sort of treatment they would receive if they brashly went in. It was obvious that the demons and demonic creatures waiting outside Shalyh’s walls would be feeling very anxious.

It wasn’t long ago since their empire last crossed swords with humanity and the League. Of course, none of the surviving great demons had participated in the war. They followed Shersha’s will and didn’t respond to the call for general assembly till the very end. But as Chi-Hyun said, people only saw what they wished to see. The crowd burning up with fury couldn’t consider any of the aforementioned facts, and with their blazing eyes, all they saw were loathsome enemies. It was hard to tell who began it, but soon, there were yells.

“Piss off!”

With a furious yell, a rock fell sharply and strongly from the city walls. All sorts of shrieks and cries erupted. People shouted intense profanities until their throats felt like bursting and threw everything they could grasp. The Demon Empire remained still and quiet. With so many attacks flying toward them, it seemed they ought to protect themselves with a magic barrier. Yet they stood still as if they deserved the punishment. Shersha was among the group, and she stood in her spot, receiving all the crowd’s rage. The rain of attacks was reminiscent of the gate siege not too long ago. Then, with a heavy thud, Shersha wavered.

“Shersha?” Astarte gasped and tried to approach her, but stopped. It was because Shersha had raised a hand at her. Shersha shook her white, silverish hair, and Astarte gritted her teeth. It appeared a rock had hit her head straight-on, and blood trickled down from Shersha’s forehead. Seeing the great demons remain calm, the demonic creatures also stayed still; parents and children and lovers simply hugged each other or huddled together to protect themselves. However, the sight only rekindled the fire burning inside the crowd’s hearts. How could the demons act like this after rendering their parents, siblings, children, and lovers into such states?

“Those bastards, I should just…!” Eventually, humanity and the League couldn’t bear it any longer and pointed their spears and arrows at the demons.

“Stop!” With a sudden shout, a group quickly climbed up the city walls.

“What do you think you all are doing?”

Heads turned at the sudden command. Though they were all vicious and thirsty for blood, they had to stop when they saw the newcomer. That was how formidable the person was.

“What are you…!” Chi-Woo let out the breath he had been holding when he reached the top of the wall and looked around. Though he had expected the human and League refugees to be in bad conditions, he didn’t think it would be to this extent. After an awkward silence, a middle-aged man rushed forward, almost rolled over, and kneeled down.

“Sir hero! Please…look at my child!” The man wailed like he was puking blood. He wasn’t telling Chi-Woo to heal his child. He knew that even a hero wasn’t omnipotent. He simply wanted Chi-Woo to look at his child’s condition and empathize with him. And starting with that man, there came many other voices who began to call out to Chi-Woo. They rushed at him, relieving their sorrows and pain and hoping for Chi-Woo to understand. Chi-Woo became speechless.

From all around, eyes pleaded at him to mercilessly crush the evil party in front of them just like how he had protected Shalyh against the powerful alliance army. Their desires and wishes brought unexplainable pressure on Chi-Woo. It was a different sort of pressure than the one he felt when he faced the alliance army for the first time.

“Just give us your command! I will immediately go down and shred those bloody bastards apart!”

The Cassiubia League responded similarly. Their hands trembled as they clutched onto their bows, and they were barely suppressing their desire to shoot this instance. And while Chi-Woo stood at a loss for words, the Cassiubia League members accepted his silence as agreement and turned around. They immediately placed arrows on their bows and aimed down the city walls. They were about to shoot when they flinched.

“…A human?” They weren’t just humans, but human children. Children who looked to be about eight or nine were blocking the Cassiubia League.

“What?” They angrily growled. “Move aside if you don’t want to be shot before them.”

“No.”

“What?”

“You can’t.”

“What do you mean we can’t?”

“They helped us,” the children said, and the Cassiubia League snorted.

“That’s because they were all doomed! Piss off! Quickly!”

Though the children’s eyes wavered with fear seeing the sunlight reflect off the tips of the arrows, they persisted.

“They didn’t just help us escape. They disagreed with the war and didn’t participate in it.”

“What?”

“Though we were captured as prisoners of war, we weren’t really treated as slaves. They treated us just like how they did demonic creatures and strictly prohibited discrimination,” one of the children explained articulately. “I understand how you feel, Mister, but these demons are not the same as the others. They protected and took care of us. They even released the slaves captured in other territories.”

The League members stiffened hearing the child’s words. Now that they thought about it, they did hear rumors that among the great demons, there were very rare ones who treated their captured slaves as proper humans. There was a time when they had hoped that their captured loved ones had been brought there. But today, all that hope and expectations disappeared and turned to nothing. Thus, the child’s words failed to move the League members’ hearts.

“…So what? What are you telling us to do then? Even if what you are saying is true, they belong to the Demon Empire.”

“No…!”

“Stop. I don’t want to listen anymore. This is your last warning. If you don’t want to die, move aside, human child.”

The League members pulled their bowstring. The child flinched and looked around helplessly. Seeing their pleading eyes, Chi-Woo moved.

‘This will be harder than I thought,’ Chi-Woo thought with a sigh.

***

Meanwhile, a woman and man were watching the scene unfold at the city walls from a distance. From time to time, Noel glanced at Chi-Hyun, but Chi-Hyun showed no response. He simply watched what was happening and didn’t intervene like he said beforehand. It seemed that he was intent on letting the situation unfold as it would.

Noel licked her drying lips. She pitied Chi-Woo for having to deal with the mess. Right now, the only one who could lead this situation into the direction Chi-Woo wished for was Chi-Hyun. Of course, there would be grumblings and disgruntled faces if the legend stepped forward and accepted the Demon Empire, but the disagreement would end there as it had always happened.

The legend was a hero who had proved himself time and time again despite all unfortunate circumstances. Every step he took, he was walking on the strong foundation of trust and faith he had built; it was a weapon that only the legend possessed, and an asset not yet permitted to Chi-Woo. If Chi-Hyun would just provide his support, nine out of ten Celestial Realm’s heroes would show absolute support for the decision. Chi-Hyun must be aware of this fact too.

Yet he simply watched from afar as if he was watching some fireworks from next door, and Noel felt frustrated. Noel had a general guess on what Chi-Hyun’s intention was, but didn’t know why he had to go this far. She fully empathized with Chi-Woo in this situation and felt sorry for him. It was as if Chi-Hyun had thrown a headache-inducing problem at Chi-Woo, and Noel wondered if the brotherly bond that they had finally managed to mend would get broken again. Noel was especially worried about that.

In the end, Noel whispered from his side, “My lord, if you would just step in a bit…”

“No,” Chi-Hyun said firmly. “Then, the fulfillment of his condition might not be acknowledged.”

Noel tilted her head. She didn’t know what Chi-Hyun was talking about.

“What she wants isn’t collaboration, but for him to truly stand alone. She wants him to really go out of his comfort zone and accomplish what he set his mind to do,” Chi-Hyun replied.

Again, Noel didn’t know who Chi-Hyun was talking about. Chi-Hyun swallowed what he was about to say. Silence stretched between them once again before he broke it. “…As his older brother, I can’t stand in his way of progressing forward.”

With that, Chi-Hyun turned away.