He was the type you'd see anywhere and forget entirely — a background character, a face in the crowd.

  That was how Bephelgor was described in the novel.

  Bephelgor — one of the four Heavenly Kings of the demon army, bearing the title "Le Blanc." The Deceiver.

  A master strategist and tactician. Formidable, and yet ultimately defeated by the hero and his party. The surviving demons scattered across the continents in the aftermath.

  When the Pseudo-Demonic Crusade began hunting down the remnants, Bephelgor transferred his soul into a human body to avoid detection. That human would later rise to become General Lynx — the very man who led the crusade against his own kind.

  Ironic, isn't it?

  After the victory, Old York was awarded to him as a prize, along with the noble title of Baron. He used that position to quietly orchestrate the revival of the demon lord — and succeeded, as per the novel.

  He's going to be a massive headache in the future. His reach extends all the way to the capital.

  "Why won't it work on you?" Bephelgor's voice had an edge of real frustration now.

  "As I said — it's useless to try and control me." I smirked.

  His ability allowed him to control anyone indiscriminately. Under normal circumstances, it would have worked. But he was in a human body now, and that severely limited his range.

  "If you were in your true form, maybe," I added.

  "You...!" The frustration cracked through his expression.

  "What do you want?" He slammed the table.

  "I already told you. A relic that alters one's appearance."

  He brushed his chin, thinking.

  "According to one of my sources, such a relic does exist." He moved around the table to stand before me. "But what would you offer in exchange?"

  I stayed quiet.

  He smiled, slow and satisfied. "Even if you claim I'm Bephelgor — who would believe you? I have no demonic aura, and everyone in this city is under my control." His voice rose into something almost gleeful. "Your threat is meaningless! Hahaha!"

  "The last demon god fragment," I said.

  "Huh?" The laughter stopped.

  "I know where it is."

  "Impossible!" He reached for my shoulder — and immediately recoiled, hand burned.

  "Such divinity—! Who are you, the Saintess?!" He shook both arms frantically, trying to cool the burns. "Why would the Saintess know about this place?! There's no way a human could know where the fragment is! Where did you get this information?!"

  Bephelgor can distinguish truth from lies. It's one of the things that makes him the most irritating antagonist in the novel — more so than Adele and her entire operation, honestly — because so many of his tactics are perception-based.

  But that same ability means he knows I'm not lying.

  "I swear upon Chaos," I said, invoking the oath that binds everything.

  "Everything will return to the VOID," he replied, recognizing the weight of it.

  He sat back down.

  "Your relic is in the Grand Museum of the Mausoleum. Deepest chamber. Humans call it the 'Doppelganger's Ring.' It's heavily guarded — housed alongside the first hero's relics and artifacts from the old empire." He folded his hands. "That is the extent of my knowledge."

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  He leaned forward.

  "Now. Where is the fragment?"

  "The countryside of Sucilla province. An inconspicuous chapel — at the heart of the well beneath it. Rightmost town near the Verra mountain ranges."

  He couldn't find a lie in any of it.

  The Oath of Chaos works like a binding contract. If either party fails to hold up their end, the backlash is excruciating.

  Both sides had now exchanged what they needed.

  Which meant it was time for the hardest part.

  A handshake to seal it.

  Dangerous — Bephelgor would absolutely use the contact as an opening. But...

  [The Gods are repulsed by the being before you!]

  [A new quest has opened!]

  [Quest: Defeat Bephelgor!]

  Bephelgor, one of the four Heavenly Kings and the last surviving remnant of the demon army, is orchestrating the revival of his long-dead lord from the shadows. Many will die if his schemes succeed. Eradicate him completely to ensure the safety of the world!

  Rewards: ??? Penalty: Reduced Divinity and Affection points.

  There's a reason Bephelgor is so difficult to deal with in the novel.

  He's a hivemind — designed to manipulate silently and at scale. That's precisely what makes him so hard to pin down.

  I suppressed the divinity radiating from my hand and reached out.

  He looked surprised at my initiative — but extended his hand regardless.

  The moment we made contact, he drove the nerves from his body into mine.

  I clenched my fist and forced the impact back through his arm.

  The nerves ruptured. His hand dripped blood.

  "Gorilla bitch—! Who exactly are you—"

  I blew his head off before he could finish.

  But then — a knife, hidden at his side, thrust toward my abdomen.

  "You think you can kill me that easily? I built this city." The headless body kept coming, relentless, each strike sharper than the last. He lunged at my stomach — I blew his torso open instead.

  "Give it up." His voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "This entire city answers to me. Keep pushing and I will kill you."

  The room shook. Tentacles erupted from every surface. I imbued my fist with divine power and punched clean through the roof, vaulting up through the gap.

  A crowd was already waiting outside.

  "Let's see how long you last!" — said in perfect unison, like a single voice wearing many mouths.

  Right. The facts about Bephelgor:

  One — he's immune to holy magic. His nerves are the city; they sprawl through every wall and street and body within it.

  Two — he has no true physical form. The nerve network is his body.

  Three — he can steal abilities and use them as his own.

  Fighting Bephelgor meant fighting the entire city he inhabited. Which meant I had one priority: find his real body, fast.

  I knew where it was.

  I charged.

  The crowd moved in synchronized bursts — every twitch and pivot coordinated by the same will. I caught one of them by the ankle mid-lunge, twisted, and used the body as a projectile aimed at the archer taking aim from a rooftop. It hit. He stumbled — then reset almost immediately.

  A binding circle ignited at my feet. I sidestepped before it could close. The mage who cast it barely had time to register the miss before my fist connected with his face.

  The ground lurched. The building behind me began to shift — morphing, pulling itself upright into a massive golem. It raised one arm and launched a barrage of stone slugs.

  I moved through them, closed the distance, and drove my fist into its core.

  The impact rolled through it like a shockwave. The golem collapsed into rubble.

  A fighter — broad, heavy, aura burning around his knuckles — rushed in and landed a clean hit. The force carried me across the street.

  They're all skilled.

  I steadied my footing. A rogue materialized from the shadows, shadow-clones fanning out around me. His blades slashed in overlapping arcs.

  I spun into the rhythm of it, caught his arm mid-swing, and put his own knife through his jaw.

  A swordsman came next — blade already leveled for a lateral cut. I caught his sword arm on the way in, wrenched it from the socket, and sent it spinning into the heavy fighter across the street. The swordsman went down under a single blow to the chest.

  An arrow grazed my cheek.

  I turned. The archer was already nocking another. Before he could draw back, I grabbed a nearby druid by the staff mid-chant, crushed the hand holding it, and used the staff to cave in the archer's skull. The wood splintered on impact.

  "You monster...!" — again, in unison.

  "Shut up," I said.

  Now.

  "Faith Shop!"

  A window materialized in front of me as I kept moving through the attacks.

  [Faith Shop] Welcome, Blessed One. Current Faith Points: 1,500

  Rows of skills and items — none of them relevant right now.

  "Divine Eyes."

  [Skill: Divine Eyes — 1,000 Faith Points]

  Description: Grants the ability to perceive the true nature of beings and objects.

  Effect: Enhances vision to detect divine, magical, and hidden elements. Particularly effective against illusions.

  [Acquire Divine Eyes for 1,000 Faith Points? Y/N]

  "Yes!"

  [Divine Eyes acquired!]

  [Divine Eyes — now active!]

  My vision shifted.

  Things I'd never been able to see before became visible all at once — including the nerve network Bephelgor threaded through the city. A grotesque, sprawling web of them, interlaced through every wall, every road, every person.

  Yuck.

  They were everywhere. And tracing them back — they all converged underground.