Chapter 16: Founding of the Agricultural Corps (2)
“Stake him down!”
“……”
The Demon Lord’s roar echoed faintly in the distance.
The presence of the demons moved in perfect unison.
Hearing that, one of the Four Great Demon Generals, Asurat, opened his eyes. And thought,
‘Ah, is it today?’
Yes.
At last, today had come.
The days had been long.
That constant, stinging pain, sharp and tingling every single day.
Even with eyes closed.
Even when tears flowed.
That intense electric jolt that had scorched his sixth vertebra.
Was that all?
What about the smell of compost?
‘……’
His sense of smell had already perished. Fragrance? What was that again? Once upon a time, his nose had been able to perceive beautiful scents. There had definitely been such days.
But now, he couldn’t even remember the scent of ordinary air or breeze. He just thought maybe the air of this entire world was made of nothing but reeking compost fumes.
But now, even that was over.
Today marked goodbye.
Very soon, a new biological lightning rod (?) would take his place! And that meant he would be set free! Finally! Today, of all days!
“……Hoo.”
Asurat lifted his head with great effort.
And there, he saw a welcome flag waving.
[(Congrats) Inauguration of the Second Lightning Rod (Cheers)]
…Yes.
It wasn’t a dream.
This was really happening.
That fluttering flag with its clear lettering. The new stake being driven firmly into the ground beside him.
Even the figure of General Pikamir of the First Star Legion from the neighboring area, tightly secured to that stake — all of it!
‘Heh heh… Hehehehe…!’
He was overjoyed.
He felt like crying.
No — he actually did tear up a little.
“Mmgh! Mm-mm! Mmm-mmm!”
From the stake beside him, muffled groans of Pikamir could be heard. Asurat turned his head and saw the man staring at him, wearing a desperate expression and a look of total confusion.
So Asurat smiled affectionately.
‘Heh heh. Of course you're confused.’
As someone who had already gone through the same ordeal before, he fully understood how Pikamir felt.
Pikamir’s entire body was visibly charred. Clearly, Credos’ lightning had scorched him. That would’ve left him limp and helpless.
‘To be tied to a stake in that condition… it's dreadful.’
Of course, that was only the beginning.
What came next was even worse.
And that was…
“Wrap the straw mat!”
The Demon Lord's roar rang out.
At that moment, a tearful smile spread across Asurat’s face.
‘Ah, at last!’
He was being freed.
The straw mat that had bound him all this time.
That demon-exclusive restraining item, looted by the Demon Lord's predecessor from the Holy Crusade Order. Its formal name was something like “Purification Shroud of the Corrupt,” but Credos had declared the name too long and simply called it “the straw mat.” This hideous, malicious tool—
He was finally being released from it!
‘The day has finally come!’
With trembling excitement close to ecstasy, Asurat waited.
Now the low-ranking demons would come running, just like they had when they bound him — only this time, to unwrap the straw mat coiled around his body. Then, they’d transfer it to Pikamir.
Then he would be free.
He could escape this torment.
No longer would he have to suffer as a living lightning rod! …That’s what he thought, heart thumping in anticipation.
“Straw mat! Straw mat!”
“Straw mat! Fresh straw mat!”
“Let’s roll it up! Rooooooll! Fresh straw mat!”
The low-ranking demons didn’t come his way. They dashed off in a completely different direction. And then, they picked up a straw mat — one that looked exactly like the one wrapped around him!
“……!”
Huh?
Why?
How come?
‘There’s… another straw mat that looks exactly the same?’
Is this… right?
That one… isn’t a knockoff?
Asurat wanted to deny the visual information his eyes were feeding him. But reality was cruel. The new straw mat was rolled tightly, expertly, and flawlessly around Pikamir, like a housewife of 30 years wrapping leftovers with plastic wrap.
That was the end of it.
The Demon Lord gave some kind of speech.
The demons cheered about something.
Then, without a single glance back, they all left in a crowd.
…Whoooosh.
A harsh wind blew across the Abandoned Land, kicking up dust. A dense cloud of it swept past Asurat and Pikamir, still hanging side-by-side in their straw mats — not brushing their cheeks tenderly, but slapping them full-on.
“…….”
Ah, life.
Only now did Asurat realize: just because a second lightning rod was inaugurated, it didn’t mean the first one had to retire.
And he came to one more realization — a brutal truth: the Demon Lord’s grudge ran deeper and more vicious than he had ever imagined.
‘……’
The Prince Who Drinks Blood, once a terror to all.
Asurat raised his head, eyes brimming with tears.
He smiled again, just slightly, to stop the tears from falling.
Why was he like this?
What did he want to say?
All his hopes from today drifted to the skies.
That one hope he’d allowed himself.
Even the disappointment he didn’t know he’d cry over — all of it.
‘……What even is this. I… geez… IU, damn it all…’
At last, the tears he couldn’t hold back rolled down Asurat’s face like pitiful, snotty chicken droppings.
♣
‘What a fine day, a wonderful day!’
…Crack!
The crystal orb shattered into pieces.
First Star Lord Sartul’s twitching eyes betrayed his lingering fury. And then he thought: damn, that crystal orb was expensive.
“……”
Well, he had more.
The real issue was that the Demon Lord, Credos, had discovered this side’s plans completely.
‘Pikamir, that bastard…’
Sartul understood.
His trusted aide Pikamir had been staked out like a captured trophy. That meant the Demon Lord had squeezed all the info he wanted out of him. So he’d hung him up like worthless junk.
“……”
That idiot Pikamir.
He’d treated him like a right-hand man all this time.
And now, he spills every secret so easily?
“Tsks.”
How infuriating.
He was tempted to try life as a lefty for a while.
But even so, the real issue wasn’t that.
‘Demon Lord Credos. That bastard’s trying to bait me out.’
He could feel it.
Hanging Pikamir out in public like that was a blatant provocation. A move to stir him up, lure him out of the cliffs.
However…
‘Do you think I’m so easily swayed, Demon Lord?’
Sartul smiled with confidence.
This was the Cliffs of the Dead, which he ruled.
In this region, he was invincible.
No one could catch him.
Why would he leave?
‘This is a patience game that I will win. No matter how hard you try to provoke me, Demon Lord Credos, I will not budge.’
Sartul smiled with assurance.
He was absolutely certain he wouldn’t fall for such provocations. This was a battle he was guaranteed to win.
At least, that was true — up until Kim Jangcheol founded the agriculture-specialized demon unit, the “Agricultural Corps Youth Division,” and held a chuño feast right in front of Pikamir, the second lightning rod.
Chomp, munch!
“……”
Wow, they’re really enjoying it.
Crunch, gulp!
“……”
Was chuño… really that tasty?
So tasty that they could eat it like that, blowing on it gently, smiling with soot on their lips?
He didn’t know.
He didn’t know why he felt this way.
Why watching this made his insides boil.
Sartul clenched his teeth unconsciously while watching the footage sent by his reconnaissance ghost. He balled his fists. Then he tried to calm himself.
It’s fine.
It’s an obvious provocation.
Don’t fall for something this simple.
…Just as he resolved that—
The scout’s crystal orb zoomed in on someone’s face. The Demon Lord, Credos, was chewing a freshly roasted chuño with such joy and gusto, the close-up was disturbingly high-definition.
Slurp! Munch munch! Chomp chomp chomp, sluuurp!
“……”
Crash!
The moment he saw the Demon Lord blatantly and obnoxiously smacking his lips while eating potatoes, Sartul slammed the crystal orb with his fist, smashing it to pieces without realizing it.
And he made up his mind.
This wouldn’t do.
He would have to move, no matter what.
♣
This just wasn’t going to work.
There was no avoiding it.
“……”
Finally, just after leaving the heart of the Abandoned Land—
Upon reaching the edge of this cursed land—
Level 9990 NPC, Aged Kimchi, stopped walking for the first time.
And he listened.
A sorrowful voice echoed from somewhere.
“S-some… one… please… help…”
At first, he meant to ignore it.
But somehow, it gnawed at him.
Maybe it was a monster luring adventurers in. Even if so, it wouldn’t be dangerous to him. Then should he at least check?
After a brief pause, Aged Kimchi turned toward the sound. And thanks to that, he discovered them — not monsters, but two humans clearly in real distress.
“……Huh?”
The two widened their eyes at him.
One was a handsome youth with silver hair. The other, with brown hair, had a potato-like air. Both were in shambles. Especially the silver-haired youth, who appeared to have a broken leg poorly splinted, sitting slumped on the ground.
“A-a person! Please help us!”
The potato-faced brown-haired one cried out urgently.
Aged Kimchi approached them.
“……What happened?”
He didn’t understand.
This was still the Abandoned Land.
And yet, these were not demons or monsters — they were humans.
That he was meeting such people here, and even speaking to them—
“……”
He had never imagined such a thing.
Not even in his nineteen past lives.
Then—
“Go-goblins! We were attacked by them! They stole all our food and dragged us to their den… we barely escaped death. But the young master’s leg is broken, and I tried to support him but collapsed from exhaustion… sniff…”
Perhaps they thought they'd finally grabbed a thread of hope long since abandoned.
The brown-haired one sobbed.
It didn’t seem like a lie, no matter how he looked at it.
Aged Kimchi paused to consider.
Should he help?
He didn’t know.
But turning his back on them… he didn’t want to. These were the first actual “people” he’d met in this twentieth life.
Resolving himself, Aged Kimchi stepped closer and met their gaze.
“If that’s what happened, you must have suffered greatly.”
“Sniff… yes… we did…”
“Then, how can I help?”
“If… if it’s not too much trouble… could you take us to the nearest town or village…?”
“You’d like me to escort you there?”
“Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
The brown-haired one cried.
The silver-haired youth looked at him with grateful eyes.
…Yes.
If this meeting was fate, then so be it.
He had lived through nineteen lives of bloodshed and slaughter. And now, he had a chance to show kindness to someone.
In a way, perhaps this was…
‘A chance to wash away the karma of all that killing.’
Maybe that was what this was.
The thought occurred to him.
And at the end of that thought, Aged Kimchi smiled warmly.
And with renewed resolve to help them, he asked,
“Then, since we’ll be traveling together for a while, let’s start by introducing ourselves. My name is Aged Kimchi. And you?”
“Ah, we…”
The brown-haired one quickly wiped his tears and grinned.
“This here is the noble young master Reivaj Asrahan whom I serve, and I am his humble attendant, Dyoll Frontera.”