Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

"Ugh!" Gayoon exclaimed in frustration. "We've been here for over twelve hours!"

She lay her head down on the book she had been reading. Her eyes were sleepy and at that moment, she craved for a bed. Minho also put down his book. Dark circles were appearing under his eyes, making him look like a panda.

"We've been through so many books and no mention of that darn demon!" Minho cursed out loud.

Shinjin, on the other hand, was going through the books like a robot. Other than being a shaman, he was also an occasional guest lecturer in various universities which had courses on supernatural studies. Studying without sleeping for days is a norm for him.

"We can't give up now!" he snapped at them. "Just drink more coffee."

Gayoon had fallen asleep while Minho was on the brink of collapse. They had been sleep deprived for days due to Mina's hospitalization and Kanji's death. It was almost impossible to keep up with other work at that moment. They were already regretting to accompany Shinjin.

"We've gone through a hundred books," Minho sighed and put his book aside on the pile of discarded books. "Nothing!"

"Maybe we're looking at it the wrong way," Gayoon mumbled.

"Meaning?" Shinjin asked, flipping the pages of his book.

"Well, we can't find the demon Anyal," she said. "But he's associated with that princess right? The one who sold her soul? If we can't find Anyal, then let's look for his girlfriend instead. If she was a princess, then there must be some record of her. Maybe we should look up for royal family members who used to worship demons? Or were in that sort of voodoo."

"Demonology is not voodoo!" Shinjin snapped. "It's an articulate subject on the psyche of the supernatural and how it controls the world-"

"A bunch of voodoo!" Minho scowled. "Just look up the demon loving princess instead!"

Shinjin pursed his lips and headed for the demonology section. He searched for any book which might be related to the ancient kingdoms.

"Ah hah!" he exclaimed. "Found this."

He put a large book in front of Gayoon and Minho. It must weigh a ton because it was written on paper made of bamboo. The records were centuries old, written by scholars of that time in a very meticulous manner.

"These look as if they've been printed," Gayoon remarked. "Look at their neat handwriting."

"Definitely better than yours," Minho murmured. Gayoon jabbed him hard, causing him to yelp.

"Stop it!" Shinjin said sharply. He flipped the pages until he came across one thing which interested him.

"This!" he pointed at a passage. "Read this."

Gayoon and Minho looked over his shoulder. Minho cleared his throat to read it out loud.

"During the fifteenth century, the war between the two factions of the royal family had reached a breaking point," he read. "One faction was led by the heir to the throne, Prince Waeyong while the other faction was led by Princess Ahin, who claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne. Waeyong was the Emperor's illegitimate child but the Emperor had legitimized him which gave the boy precedence over his older half-sister Princess Ahin. As the Emperor's eldest child, Princess Ahin led an army against Waeyong to claim the throne."

"However, she was not a military commander like her brother and was losing the war. In desperation, the Princess turned to a dark shaman who promised her that she can win the war if she sold her soul to the devil."

"The fuck?" Gayoon frowned. "She believed that?"

"The shaman enticed the Princess and she ended up making the deal," Minho read on. "The Devil accepted her deal despite warning her that once the allotted time was over, he would come to take her to hell and there was no escape from it. The Princess did not heed to it and signed the deal, sealing her fate. She won the war and ruled the country."

"But the Devil had sent his minion, a lesser known demon named Anyal, to keep an eye on her. This demon's name is mostly lost in history but he was a Class A demon which meant that he worked directly under the ruler of hell. Anyal was supposed to collect her soul once her time was over but he fell in love with the Princess. However, there was no escape from the Devil's deal so he sought the help of many demons to help him overthrow their lord."

"However, the Devil knew of their plans and using his powers, he slaughtered the traitors and snatched the Princess' soul. Once the Princess' soul was sent to hell, he proceeded to curse Anyal. What happened to Anyal after that, no one knows but stories have claimed that he's still looking for his love. There have been many rumors of him possessing people to try and open the Gates of Hell, but there has been no concrete evidence."

All of them were quiet for a while. Shinjin re-read the part about Anyal.

"Class A demon," he stated. "No wonder he was too powerful for us."

"What's a Class A demon?" Gayoon asked.

"You know how in an organization, there are hierarchies?" Shinjin asked. "A CEO, then the Senior Managers, Managers then other employees? It's similar to that."

He took out a pen and paper to draw an organogram.

"On the top of the hierarchy of hell, is the Devil," he stated. "He's in what we call Class 0. Then comes the Class A demons. They work directly under him, following his orders. Sometimes they come out on Earth in order to collect the bad souls and throw them in hell. Most of the cults worship them so that they could get favors from the Devil. Pointless, really because in the end, they'll just end up in hell. That's their basic motive. Take as many people as they can in hell."

"Then comes Class B demons," he explained, writing it on the paper. "Unlike the upper class demons who have a mind and willpower, these are minions. They can talk and communicate but carry out the orders of their bosses. Think of them as entry level workers who can never get promoted."

"Sounds like Jongin to me," Minho muttered.

"And in the end are the Class C people," Shinjin stated. "These aren't demons but the souls who have been damned to hell. They receive daily punishment for selling their soul to the Devil. Burning, flaying, dissection, Castration. You know, the usual stuff. And then there are even worse methods but I don't know how true they are. But this is just the basic structure shamans like us follow. It's important for exorcisms. You see, Class B is easy to exorcise but Class A isn't. The Devil doesn't possess people but rather makes his minions do the work. Most of the time, it's the Class B who possesses others but if a Class A demon is summoned by a dark magic practitioner, then the process of exorcism is challenging. The person possessed might even die."

"Since Anyal is possessing a dead person's body now," he went on. "He must have gained a significant amount of powers over the years. It's not easy to possess a deceased person's corpse. In order to exorcise him, we'll have to combine the exorcism method of Class A and also use his weakness against him. In this case…"

He pointed at Ahin's name. "We'll have to use this name in the ritual," he concluded. "To kick the son of a bitch into oblivion!"

Gayoon was about to ask something when Minho's phone rang up. It was Mina. He answered the call.

"Mina, is everything alright?" he asked.

"Brother…" She started. Minho listened to what she was saying on the other line.

Gayoon frowned when Minho's expression changed and his eyes flared up. 

"What did you just say?" he asked in a quiet tone. "Kanji is there to meet you?"

"Yes!" Mina exclaimed. "And he's saying that he wants to give our relationship a chance!"