Chapter 9 — Mission Complete and a Surprise
The beautiful moment between them was abruptly cut short when Razan's phone began to ring.
Loona, startled, immediately pulled her hand away as if she had just been caught doing something embarrassing. Her ears twitched, and her tail flicked nervously. Razan simply let out a small, amused smile as he answered the call.
A voice came through the receiver, rough and business-like:
"Everything you asked for has already been delivered."
"Good," Razan replied, stretching his neck casually. "I'll check the quality of the package. If everything's in order, I'll hire you guys again. Until next time."
"Until next time," the voice echoed before the call ended.
Loona, who had been listening closely without being obvious, leaned toward him with curiosity practically glowing in her eyes.
"Who were you talking to?"
Razan gave her a sly grin.
"Oh, you know… just an imp company that travels to the human world to kill people."
Loona froze and blinked hard.
"You're telling me that you—the same guy who double-checks every mission ten times to make sure we're not killing innocent people—sent someone to kill humans?"
Razan lifted his hand in a calm, dismissive gesture.
"I didn't send them to kill anyone. Relax. There are some things in the human world I wanted, so I paid them to bring those things to me."
Loona stared, confused.
"What kind of assassin company accepts a request like that…?"
Somewhere far away, Blitz suddenly sneezed violently for no reason at all.
"They work for money," Razan continued, shrugging. "If I pay well, I don't see why they would refuse an easy job that pays the same as a hard one."
Loona had no argument for that. It made sense.
In Hell, as long as the cash flowed, morality wasn't even part of the equation.
Razan stood up and stretched, cracking his shoulders.
"Anyway… we should finish this mission already. Today was long enough."
He pointed at the pile of corpses scattered around the room. Loona nodded tiredly.
"Yeah… you're right. It's enough chaos for today."
Razan tilted his head.
"Did the client ask us to bring the bodies as proof, or do we just have to eliminate them?"
Loona checked her phone, scrolling through the mission details. After a moment, she lifted her head.
"No need to drag the bodies. We just have to kill them all and bring this spear back."
Razan groaned.
"Great… more work."
He picked up the spear and handed it to Loona. Together, they walked out of the building.
Once outside, Razan shifted into his half-dragon form. His black scales shone faintly under the crimson glow of Hell's sky. He wrapped an arm around Loona's waist and lifted off into the air.
"Point the way," he said. "Where do we deliver this spear?"
Loona pointed toward a massive skyscraper visible even from a distance.
"There. That's where we collect the reward."
Razan whistled.
"Even dead, businessmen still bleed workers dry… unbelievable."
A few minutes later, they landed in front of the building and walked inside.
Razan glanced at the receptionist and sighed sympathetically.
"Poor woman… even in a world full of demons, gods, and magic, she somehow ended up stuck in customer service."
He shivered remembering his old life on Earth—working nonstop while his boss bought a new car every three months.
Loona ignored his internal suffering and approached the desk.
"We completed the mission of your boss. We're here to collect our reward."
The receptionist looked at them with sharp eyes.
They looked harmless—especially Razan, who appeared like a handsome human teenager rather than a killing machine.
But she knew Hell well enough to never judge a creature by its appearance. That was the kind of mistake that got you killed before you even understood what went wrong.
"If you completed the mission," she said coolly, "you must know the requirement."
Loona set the angelic spear on the counter with a clack.
"Here it is. Now hand over the money."
The receptionist inspected the spear, checking the details to confirm authenticity. Satisfied, she returned with a large suitcase filled to the top with cash and pushed it toward Loona.
"Here's your reward."
Loona opened it, counted everything quickly, and nodded.
She grabbed Razan's sleeve and pulled him away from the counter.
"Well? Everything okay?" Razan asked as they stepped outside.
Loona nodded once.
"Yep. All as promised."
"Good. Then let's go home," he said.
Loona hesitated for a moment. Her voice softened.
"…Yeah. Let's go home."
Razan scooped her into his arms again and soared upward.
Back inside the building, the receptionist watched them disappear into the sky.
She turned toward her boss and asked:
"Lady Carmilie, why didn't you want to meet the one who completed the mission? You asked me to call you…"
Carmilie sat with her daughters, staring out the same window where Razan had vanished moments earlier.
"If you encountered a monster who could go berserk at any moment," she said quietly, "would you want to approach it—or would you prefer to let it disappear as fast as possible?"
She shivered as she remembered the aura she saw radiating from Razan earlier.
Inside that seemingly harmless boy, she had seen a colossal monster—something ancient, violent, and world-devouring. The only thing holding that nightmare back was a tiny hellhound girl at his side.
It was absurd.
Ridiculous.
Any Sovereign would laugh if she told them.
Yet she had seen it with her own eyes.
"Hell won't stay quiet for long," Carmilie whispered. "But as long as it doesn't harm my family… I don't care."
Meanwhile, Razan landed softly on the balcony of their apartment with Loona in his arms.
She hopped down immediately.
"What a tiring day… I just want a hot shower," she muttered.
She opened the door—
—and froze.
Right in front of her was a large sign that read:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOONA"
The entire apartment was decorated with colorful lights, ribbons, and party ornaments.
A birthday cake sat on the table, glowing with candles.
Loona's red eyes widened. Her ears went stiff.
"W-What… what is this…?" she whispered, stunned.
Razan stepped inside and closed the door behind them.
"I heard today was your birthday, so I wanted to do something for you," he explained. "So I hired those imps to buy these things from the human world. Hell's food kinda sucks, you know?"
Loona blinked several times, struggling to process everything.
"But… how do you know my birthday?"
"I went to the orphanage where you grew up," Razan said casually. "Gave them some money, and they told me the date. Since you hadn't turned eleven yet, I thought I'd do this."
Loona stared at him, a goofy smile creeping onto her face despite her best efforts to remain composed.
She hated looking soft.
But right now she couldn't help it.
Razan smirked.
"And you already thanked me enough when you let me pet those cute wolf ears earlier," he teased, reaching up to gently stroke them again.
Loona's tail fluffed up in embarrassment.
Outside the apartment, Hell raged as always—chaos, wars, demons shredding each other apart.
But inside that small home…
It felt like an entirely different world.