By mobilizing the demons in Volak’s territory, they were able to quickly end their exploration of the Devil’s Crystal Cave thanks to Woohyuk's knowledge from his past life.

While the hydra was strong, it wasn’t a worthy opponent against Woohyuk.

A giant snake with nine heads.

It had an absurd regeneration speed, but the speed would significantly slow down if the wounds were burned.

Woohyuk was also able to withstand the deadly poison it could shoot from its mouth due to the Basilisk's curse.

'The lightning magic that Volak cast from behind was also helpful.'

According to the system, a Demon King that was sealed in Lemegeton could not harm its master.

Therefore, Woohyuk could use Volak in battles without worries.

Volak also knew about that fact, but couldn’t do anything about it.

"Good work. Now go back into Lemegeton.”

“Yes, Lord Asura.”

Upon arriving at the village, Woohyuk unsummoned Volak because he didn't need him anymore.

Moreover, if he had demons accompany him in crowded areas, his reputation would deteriorate.

'I should also be careful not to appear before the imperial priests.'

Officially speaking, he was staying at the Ecclet County, the fief ruled by Leifina.

Therefore, he could not show his face to people he didn’t know.

While King Philip II was cooperating with Woohyuk, the followers of the G.o.d of Light were located everywhere, so he couldn't let his guard down.

As he walked towards Karin and Sion's house, Woohyuk rechecked the loot he had obtained in the Devil's Crystal Cave.

[Hydra’s Dark Breath]

Type: Personal Item

Effect: Alchemical and crafting material. Increases poison resistance of nearby allies by 20% just by having it in your possession.

[Green Dragon’s Token]

Category: Personal Item

Effect: One of the nine tokens required to become a Dragon Lord. Just by having it in your possession, you can increase your intimacy with Green Dragons and make a contract with them.

[Crystal of the Ancient Devil Harpes]

Category: Personal Item

Effect: You can summon the sealed ancient demon Harpes. After pa.s.sing his trial, you will be rewarded according to his subjective evaluation.

'The ancient devil Harpes.'

He had expected the Green Dragon’s token, but the ancient devil was unexpected.

This crystal was probably the origin of the cave’s name.

However, since there was a lot of work to be done right now, Woohyuk decided to postpone summoning the devil.

'An ancient devil might have a higher rank than the 72 Demon Kings.'

According to the information obtained from ancient doc.u.ments, there existed demons comparable to the 72 Demon Kings in other dimensions.

The trials of such beings would be quite difficult.

Considering the time it took him to clear the Memory Garden, this trial was likely to take a long time as well.

Creaaaak.

When he opened the door and stepped inside, he saw Helena and Karin near the lit fireplace making the cure with alchemical tools.

Allen and Reina were sleeping in the corner due to their exhaustion.

Meanwhile, Bailey, Dantalion, and Amii were keeping an eye on the ghost in Sion.

“You returned earlier than I thought. The ruin must have been easy to clear.”

“Demon King Volak and his men helped me out. They were quite efficient with their work.”

“You really are the successor of the Demon G.o.d. You're already using demon kings for miscellaneous work.”

Helena stirred using the ladle and glanced at Dantalion and Amii.

Then, Dantalion spoke with a fearful expression.

“We, we had no idea. We didn’t know that Lord Asura was the Demon G.o.d.”

“Tha, that’s right. We just thought you were a demon king from another world.”

Amii nodded and followed up.

Helena took the ladle out and pointed at Woohyuk with it, after she heard their excuses.

“Even if you knew, you would still have attacked him, right? That guy creates a mess wherever he goes, so it would’ve been troublesome for you to leave him be.”

“… We have no excuses.”

“Please use us as you wish. We will listen to whatever orders you give us.”

Dantalion and Amii had already lost their will to fight long ago, as they were both severely punished by Woohyuk.

Amii was plagued by the thought that he might whip her all night long in particular.

“Anyways, let’s finish making the cure now. The day is coming to an end.”

"Please don’t worry. We just have to add one more ingredient.”

Helena rummaged through her sack and pulled out a colorful mushroom.

As soon as he saw it, Woohyuk urgently stopped her.

“That’s a clown mushroom. Are you trying to kill our patient right now?”

"Huh? Isn’t this cordyceps?”

“They don’t look alike at all.”

It was at this moment Woohyuk started to seriously doubt her qualities as a saint.

When Woohyuk took out a cordyceps from his sack and put it into the alchemy pot, it started fuming white smoke and the color of the solution changed from light brown to blue.

“Oho, this is amazing. What color would it have been if the clown mushroom was used?”

“Black-blue. It would have been perfect to use as poison.”

Seeing how badly Helena had messed up even though he had written every single detail in the recipe he had given her, Woohyuk realized that she was as bad as Leifina at cooking.

As he vowed never to leave her in charge of dinner, Woohyuyk transferred the solution into a flask.

“Karin, feed this to Sion. Then the evil spirit will leave him. Helena, chant the divine spell in advance to purify the spirit.”

If the chief evil spirit weren’t purified, the plague would occur again someday.

Eventually, when the whole process was over, the evil spirit screamed and shouted at Woohyuk.

“Aaarghhhh! You! I will definitely get my revenge on you!”

“All antagonists who say that line end up destroying themselves in the end. Just disappear elegantly and with cla.s.s, Spirit.”

“f.u.c.k… Argghhhh!”

The evil spirit could not withstand Helena's divine magic and was extinguished.

Afterwards, when Sion opened his eyes, Karin ran to him in a hurry.

“Brother, how do you feel? Does it still hurt?”

"Not really. But I feel weak. I can’t exert any strength in my body.”

Sion had been possessed by the evil spirit for an extended period of time, so the life energy in him was low.

Even if he was healed, he had to rest without doing anything for a few days.

As Karin prepared vegetable soup for him,

Bam!

The door swung open and Petos ran inside.

“Lord Asura, I have something to report urgently.”

“Speak.”

“As a result of scouting around the village, I found a magic circle.”

The magic circle’s intent was to summon a ferocious demonic beast by sacrificing the souls of the villagers suffering from the plague.

While it wasn’t a demonic beast with the power to destroy a small kingdom like Charybdis, it would be quite annoying to deal with.

It would be preferable to remove the magic circle before it was triggered.

“So what did you do it?”

“For now, I used my ability to neutralize it, but... it was impossible to completely remove it since it was cast by an ent.i.ty higher than me.”

If it were an ent.i.ty higher than Petos, it was likely to be Aleister Crowley.

Petos guided Woohyuk and headed to the place where the magic circle was.

“Here it is.”

“It definitely isn’t an ordinary magic circle.”

The magic circle almost felt alive as it emanated a dark and eerie aura.

When Woohyuk approached the magic circle, members of the Witch Cult appeared one after another from the surrounding buildings.

They were wearing clothes with stealth magic imbued in them, and were hiding their presence.

“Seems like King Philip II didn’t have time to deal with the Witch Cult.”

"Indeed. He must have been busy purging the lords who sold their souls to the demons.”

“Would you like to play an active part in the battle this time? Since you're a high-ranking demon, you can easily deal with those guys, right?”

"Of course. Please leave it to me.”

Petos raised his hand with a smirk plastered on his face.

Immediately, dozens of pitch-black double-edged axes appeared in the air and began to relentlessly slaughter the enemies.

Spluuurt!

Blood burst out like geysers and stained the area.

Woohyuk watched the scene and fell in deep thoughts.

'Why did these guys appear?'

They normally would’ve retreated once they saw Petos.

Woohyuk thought about it for a while before he stopped Petos.

“Stop it. This is a trap.”

"Excuse me? A trap?”

“They are sacrificing themselves to trigger the magic circle.”

The magic circle that would summon the demonic beast needed a sacrifice.

However, since their original plans were ruined, they chose this extreme method.

Once Woohyuk explained the situation to Petos, a strong wind blew for an instant and the pools of blood on the ground began to flow toward the magic circle.

“d.a.m.n, we’re too late.”

Apparently, there had been quite a lot of sacrifices offered until now.

As Woohyuk took out Verserios and prepared for battle, Karin ran towards them.

"Wait! I will stop the magic circle’s activation!”

The protective necklace she was wearing was emitting a blue light that shone slightly differently than before.

Petos spoke as he expressed his curiosity.

“Oho, that’s an unusual type of divine power.”

“Do you think it’s possible to stop the summoning with Karin’s ability?”

“I'm not sure. I’m not certain about it, but it wouldn’t be a bad choice to leave it to her.”

She didn’t look remarkable on the outside, but she was a girl with talents good enough to be chosen by Saint Maria.

Woohyuk nodded and watched Karin's actions silently.

“I promised Saint Maria! I promised that when the necklace s.h.i.+nes in a mysterious light, I will pray to the Earth G.o.ddess!”

The people of the Eeth Continent could ask for help from any of the seven G.o.ds depending on the situation.

If one did not serve the G.o.d as one’s master, one would have to pay the price for their help.

But Karin wors.h.i.+pped the Earth G.o.ddess from the beginning, so she didn't have to pay that price.

As she knelt and recited a prayer, the surroundings were covered with blue light, and a black-haired woman with white wings appeared in the air.

'… An angel?'

In the current situation, the Earth G.o.ddess would never have appeared, as she was one of the G.o.ds who had rebelled against the Creator and was confined somewhere.

When Woohyuk was shocked by the appearance of the angel, she smiled and spoke aloud.

“Nice to meet you, Karin. I am Angel Ramiel, the representative of the Earth G.o.ddess.”

“H-h.e.l.lo.”

“Your desperate wish has reached the heavens, so there is no need to worry. This village will be restored according to His will.”

When Ramiel finished speaking, she turned her head and looked at Woohyuk with deep eyes.

Afterwards, when she disappeared with a dazzling flash, and the jet-black magic circle immediately lost its shape and s.h.i.+ne, and collapsed.

“The appearance of Angel Ramiel… It’s as the prophetic book had predicted.”

"Is this encounter important?"

“Well, you could say that. But I can't tell you about it right now.”

Helena winked at Woohyuk and shook her index finger sideways.

“I have no idea what's going on.”

He had never seen an angel in his past 40 years of life.

He was curious about this event, but that didn’t mean he could threaten or torture Helena.

He had to maintain friendly relations with Eteria Rodinus in order to get his hands on the Sangreal Chronicles.

Feeling the need to stay patient, Woohyuk approached Karin.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, but I can’t use the necklace Saint Maria entrusted to me anymore.”

The transparent crystal of the protective necklace was shattered.

As Karin wept, Woohyuk patted her head.

“Maria must’ve known this would happen. There’s no need to feel guilty.”

“This all feels like a dream. Is all the nightmares and despair over?”

“Who knows? For now, the epidemic was destroyed.”

It was impossible for humans who were not chosen by the G.o.ddesses of fate like Saint Maria to foresee the future.

Woohyuk left Petos in charge of cleaning up and went to join the others with Karin.

'That was interesting. The appearance of an angel.’

As far as he knew, angels were the va.s.sals of the Creator.

The appearance of such a being meant that the Creator had begun to intervene in this world from behind the scenes.

The angel’s intervention was probably according to his will.

The incident this time had fortunately ended without any complications, but he had to be careful in the future.

Woohyuk narrowed his eyes as he recalled what Helena had said.