Chapter 186 Part 2: The Betrayer (1/2)

(TL: Technically, there is no part 2. The author mislabelled this chapter as 186 instead of 187 and ran with it. In order to avoid potential future mislabelling on our side, I decided to label this as “part 2” and follow his numbering.)

Stepping through the teleportation gate felt rather different from being summoned –simply put, you took a step forward and voila, you’re in a different place. It was similar to Doraem*n’s Dokodem* D**r in that sense.

It was a difference of one step from the Prison of the Dead to Purgatory, and yet it took me from the slight chilliness of the Prison to the scorching temperatures of Purgatory.

Purgatory was essentially comprised of two words, red and black. Red was the lava flowing throughout the area and black were the rocks that solidified from the magma.

Because devils were born with an innate resistance to a certain degree of heat, my first foray in Purgatory wasn’t met by a wave of sweltering heat but rather a more comfortable temperature. Standing in this fiery resort, I felt the mana in my leap in joy. However, now wasn’t the time to bask in the changes in my body. I immediately rushed in front of the betrayer and blocked her off before the molten river, right hand raised: “Return the devil egg.”

She was merely an ordinary two-star head imp and clearly wasn’t a match for me. Had it not been for the fact that she was still holding onto the egg and that I was worried that it would fall into the river, I would’ve snatched it back already or even chucked the Grimoire of the Dead at her from a distance away.

“Mas…ter…”

She was very afraid. Her eyes quivered in terror as she barely managed to look me in the eyes. ‘If you’re so afraid, why did you betray me in the first place?’

Before I could get it back however, a rush of air erupted from my flanks. I hurriedly tried to dodge but I still ended getting hit anyway and was thrown violently aside.

My body landed on the solid ground of Purgatory with a resounding thud and continued rolling off into the distance till I finally impacted with a stone pillar nearby. The shock of the crash stunned me momentarily as I laid there sprawled out on the floor, unable to lift my head at all.

“It seems like you still haven’t figured out your situation yet, my dear Master.” Came the voice of One-eye. He was completely relaxed at the moment as if he had just unloaded a heavy burden off his shoulders.

Gritting my teeth, I raised my eyes to find his right arm wrapped around the female imp hugging the devil egg and his eyes sneering at me from that towering vantage point of theirs. “I bet you’re really confused right now. Honestly, it’s not that strange at all. Who told you to be so alluring, my dear Mas—hmmm, why am I still calling you Master? Forget it, that’s just a minor detail.”

‘D*mnit…I get it now, he’s the mastermind behind all this! He used his position to bribe that female devil in order to have her lure me into this gate…that devil egg is an important legacy of Mo Ci’s that she left to me…he knew I would chase after it without any hesitation…if even One-eye betrayed me…who else has betrayed me? Nine-finger is his subordinate so they’re definitely in cahoots with each other. What about No.3 and Big 4? What are their views on this? Did they know that he was planning to revolt?”

‘But I don’t remember seeing One-eye interact with the female devil much, so how did…that’s right, that period of time when I was summoned to the human realm…it must’ve happened then…other than this female imp, who else did he bribe?’

‘Well, thinking about all that is pointless now, more importantly, what is he up to? What does he stand to gain from betraying me?’

“Master, I bet you’re wondering why I betrayed you, am I right?” As if he had seen through my thoughts, he coldly chortled twice before turning to the female devil beside him. Then, under the expecting and bashful eyes of that imp, he spat at her with a deafening *ptooey*. The look in her eyes turned into one of shock as One-eye swiftly withdrew the arm he had around her and gave her disdainful smile: “Did you really think that I was interested in you? Don’t you know that your body has a certain stench about it, the stench of a low level imp sickens me. I prefer a high-blooded female devil like the Master…”

“Boss, I can’t hold them for much longer…”

Just as One-eye was about to reach the height of his pretentiousness, that potato, Nine-finger, appeared from the teleportation gate and began yelling for help the moment he made landfall: “Boss, save me quick…”

“You moron.” Snapped One-eye, his moment of triumph completely ruined by now. However, that didn’t mean he was going to give up on Nine-finger either. After ensuring that I was incapacitated for the time being, he turned around to assist Nine-finger.

Right now, Nine-finger could be said to be a mess. There was a noticeable claw mark running down the right of his face and his left arm was broken. Grinning toothily, he sprinted towards One-eye, not even bothering to fully get to his feet as if he was a dog that had finally reunited with his master after a long absence.

“Can’t you even hold back one person? Exactly how useless can you get?”

“But…I can’t beat Big 4 and No.3 together…” Pouted the berated devil. Seeing me prone on the floor, his next instinct was to try and help me to my feet. “Master, what are you doing on the floor? Quick, let me help you up…”

“Scram.” One-eye swiftly kicked the devil, forcing him back four to five steps before he was finally able to stabilize himself. “I haven’t even had a chance to touch her yet so what makes you think you can? Also, you need to get your facts straight here, we are traitors now, stop with the Master this, Master that, so annoying.”

“Nine-finger, you b*st*rd, stop running!” It was then that Big 4 and No.3 appeared as well. Upon landing, they immediately set about chasing after Nine-finger. Unfortunately, Nine-finger now had One-eye, a four-star Demon Child, standing beside him. Even with the two of them, the power of a four-star wasn’t something they could hope to resist. All it took was a couple of kicks and punches from the traitor to defeat Big 4 and the already severely injured No.3.

“Worthless, you two have always prided yourselves as the strongest protectors of the Master, well look at you two now. Alone, I was easily able to defeat both of you.”

Completely confident in his victory, One-eye prattled on with his showboating. At the side, Nine-finger scratched his head in confusion before densely pulling out the rug from under One-eye: “Boss, I thought you said not to use ‘Master’ anymore? Why are you still calling her that then?”

“Shut up!” Snapped an incensed One-eye before giving Nine-finger a resounding smack on his face.

“Boss…”