The Demon King's Castle
“This will be Demon King’s quarters.”
The corridor stretched on endlessly, lined with a red carpet that draped down like blood. Hundreds of rooms lined the halls, and the high ceiling gave it an airy feel no different from the outdoors. A massive castle unlike anything on Earth. Sung-tae felt a swell of pride at the thought that this was now his.
“So this is the Demon King Castle.”
“Yes. And now it’s yours.”
After entering the castle, Gepelt had taken over the tour in Garba’s place, as the wolf beastkin rarely visited. The old man, wrinkled like an ancient tree trunk, knew every nook and cranny from years spent here.
“This room is for the skeletons. They stay here normally and come out when needed.”
“I see. Skeletons, huh.”
“This is the skeleton archers’ room. They stay here normally and come out when needed.”
“……Got it.”
“This is the skeleton spearmen’s room. They stay here normally and come out when needed.”
“……”
The overly detailed explanations were a bit much. And just how many types of skeletons were there? Had Ignis run this place like an online game with no management talent, just recoloring and renaming the same monsters for his minions?
Come to think of it, those monsters who swore loyalty to me earlier… most of them were skeletons too, right?
A white wave of them had gathered. Over ninety percent were skeletons. There were other monsters mixed in, but they were just specks amid the overwhelming tide—didn’t change the fact that skeletons dominated.
“This is the succubi’s room.”
“Succubi!?”
“Yes. Is there a problem…?”
“Not incubi, right? No dudes!?”
“Succubi are female, as far as I know. An all-female species.”
Before Gepelt could open the door, Sung-tae flung it wide. But contrary to his hopes, the room was empty.
“……No one’s here?”
“Ah. I forgot. This used to be the succubi’s room. The previous Demon King Ignis found their voices annoying and tossed them all into the lava.”
“Kuh… Ignis!”
Sung-tae trembled with rage, clenching his fist until his gauntlet cracked with a creeeak.
Damn it! This armor suppresses my strength—I gotta handle it carefully. He eyed the crack anxiously, but with plenty of the tour left, Gepelt pressed on without pause.
After explaining the monsters and facilities at length, Gepelt finally brought him to the plaza.
“This is the throne room. Made specially for the Demon King.”
“Nice.”
A red carpet embroidered with flame patterns led to the central throne. The seat itself was red too, adorned with flickering, pointed flame-like decorations on the backrest and armrests. It was comically oversized for a human, but he wouldn’t sit there often anyway. Sitting still was a chore with his power. Now that he could control his strength decently, he could just head out adventuring without worry.
Fits that guy’s taste. Turned into a fire spirit, and now his style’s all red flames too.
He decided to take the seat for now and strode across the carpet. But the throne wasn’t the issue—his focus was entirely on the gauntlet.
It cracked earlier. This okay? It’s not gonna fail to suppress my power or anything, right?
Even as he sat and Garba and Gepelt knelt to pay respects, his mind was on the gauntlet.
“Your servant Gepelt greets the Demon King.”
“Your servant Garba greets the Demon King.”
“Yeah, got it. Huh? Wait. Just you two?”
Only two? Seemed pretty pathetic for a Demon King’s retainers.
“Regrettably, aside from Garba, the werewolf king, and myself, there are no subordinates strong enough to enter this place. The ones strong enough to be called the Four Heavenly Kings were all slain on Ignis’s whims.”
“Wait, Four Heavenly Kings? Where’re the other two?”
“Glak, the incubus king, is missing. Pleber, the flame spirit king, was contacted but… didn’t come.”
“Flame spirit king?”
Garba and Gepelt exchanged glances. After hesitating, Gepelt stood and spoke cautiously.
“Well, Pleber is one of the Four Heavenly Kings like us, but of different origins. Ignis, who kept killing his Heavenly Kings over and over, decided to make one with his own power instead—that’s Pleber.”
“I see. You can do that with magic, huh.”
“Yes. In a way, Pleber is like Ignis’s child. It’s only natural he wouldn’t come.”
It was sensitive info that had them watching Sung-tae’s reaction, but he was too busy worrying about the gauntlet.
If power leaks from this thing, adventuring’s screwed. And if I look like Ignis, that’s trouble too—gotta modify the armor. Maybe paint it?
“He probably sensed the Creator’s death and is mustering forces, so he didn’t come. If we—”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. It’s just Ignis’s creation anyway. Probably nothing special.”
“Mm. Understood.”
“Hey, that window over there—can it open?”
Sung-tae pointed to the massive window overlooking the outside. Gepelt nodded, approached, and swung his staff. The window vanished, letting cool outside wind rush in.
“Perfect. Alright then…”
Admiring the view, Sung-tae spotted a good target far off and pulled his arm back. An oddly shaped mountain on the horizon—the farthest one that wouldn’t damage his new home, the Demon King Castle.
“Please hold up!”
“Mm!”
“M-My lord!”
His fist wind pierced the air and slammed the target dead-on. A small mushroom cloud rose over the horizon, confirming the destruction.
Bit iffy, but this should be fine… right?
The crack in the gauntlet was gone already—maybe it auto-repairs. At least that was a relief.
“Anyway, seen everything, intros done, said what needed saying? Mind if I head to my room and rest?”
“As you wish, Demon King.”
“My lord. Shall I guide you?”
“Nah. I’m not a kid. I’ll go myself.”
Sung-tae slowly vanished down the carpet. The remaining two—not quite Heavenly Kings anymore, more like Two Heavenly Kings—stared at the lingering mushroom cloud and talked.
“As expected. He already knew.”
“Yeah. That was definitely Pleber’s fortress, right? Probably.”
“Not just that insane life force—he can even gather info on things he hasn’t touched. Unfathomable.”
“I see it more as a warning: don’t leave enemies alive.”
“That’s all you got from it?”
Gepelt scanned the trail left by their new master’s departure. Golden life force lingered like a cookie crumb path.
“He pretended to wander off playing around, out of consideration so we wouldn’t freak, and took him out. Infinitely generous and caring to his own.”
“I see! If he’d said he was killing him outright…”
“We’d have thought of Ignis naturally. The monster who slaughtered even his loyal retainers.”
They felt the warm sunlight entering the throne room. They hoped their future would be this bright.
“We’ve got a good master.”
“Truly our lord.”
＊＊＊
“Hoo. Hoo.”
Lying on the bizarre stone bed, Sung-tae closed his eyes. This was Demon King Castle. Full of monsters. Any that resembled humans? Female ones, maybe?
I’m not trying to do anything. I just… miss women.
Tears like dew slid from his half-closed eyes down to his ears.
It’d been a week since arriving in this world. A week without porn, sexy pics, or even a glimpse of a woman. It felt like a month to his boiling twenty-year-old blood. And some inexplicable surge of lust wasn’t helping.
I just wanna see one. Human or not… as long as it’s female.
No butler to ask? He muttered absently.
“Someone come here.”
“You called?”
“Whoa!”
He jolted up, failed to control his strength, and smashed the bed. It sucked anyway, so he brushed it off and asked the suddenly appeared Gepelt.
“This bed’s crap. Durability’s zero. Can you swap it for a soft one, like humans use?”
“Of course. I’ll fetch one right away.”
“Wait!”
How to phrase this? Would he think he’s a perv?
But I wanna see one!
“Uh, can you send a monster servant? A female one.”
“Certainly. I’ll send one now.”
“Thanks.”
“Just doing my duty, Demon King.”
His heart pounded as he waited a full ten minutes. Gepelt returned and extended his staff.
“Here’s a bed for the Demon King.”
Whoa, magic’s wild.
Blue mana enveloped the stone bed from the staff’s tip. It vanished, replaced by a normal double bed—way too big for one person.
“And the servant you requested.”
“Mm!”
The servant stepped forward from behind Gepelt. But…
“A skeleton.”
“Yes. Female skeletal structure.”
“……”
I wanted warm flesh, not bones! He screamed internally but knew it was his fault for not specifying, so he tried again.
“Hey, no skeletons—got something more… normal?”
“Mm. You want a living being? Skeletons don’t sleep and are always on standby…”
“Doesn’t matter. Bring a live one.”
“Understood.”
Gepelt returned with a minotaur this time. The massive muscles screamed male no matter how you sliced it.
“An honor to meet you, Demon King! I’ll serve you from now on!”
“……Uh, a female one.”
“She’s female. Beastkin are hard to sex at a glance.”
This place was hopeless. The moment Ignis killed the succubi, it became a den of male despair.
Sung-tae gave up on a servant and switched requests.
“Never mind… you’re dismissed. Gepelt, stay—I need to consult you.”
“Demon King! Did I do something wrong!?”
“No! Just go! You’re creepy!”
After shooing away the pleading minotaur clinging to his leg, Sung-tae got serious with Gepelt. About the biggest obstacle to his dreams: the armor.
“I like this armor, but can you change its appearance? If I go out like this, everyone’ll think I’m Ignis.”
“Let me check. Never got a chance when Ignis wore it.”
Hm. Doesn’t want to be mistaken for that repulsive bastard.
Gepelt stroked the black armor with his wrinkled hands, infusing mana and sensing its flows. He finished, stroked his beard, and reported.
“Direct modification seems tough. It’s saturated with Ignis’s mana—designed to revert even if damaged or altered. Unless you grind it to dust, no dice.”
“Figures.”
Explains why the gauntlet crack fixed so fast. He nodded. Good to know total destruction prevents repair—no eternal curse.
“I’ll look into it more.”
“Yeah. Physically impossible, huh… What about this?”
Sung-tae hemmed and hawed, coughing awkwardly from embarrassment. He pointed at his crotch.
“Can’t change the whole thing, but maybe make this part detachable?”
“The inner thigh area?”
“Yeah. If just that’s removable, I’d be happy.”
Crucial issue. Couldn’t do anything like this. Dating was secondary—couldn’t even handle solo happy time.
“Hm. From my scan, each part has different strength and mana density… I’ll check there too.”
“Huh? W-Wait!”
“Mind spreading your legs?”
Humiliating, but he endured and spread them. Short humiliation for long happiness. Suck it up now, good times await.
“Hm.”
Kuh. So damn embarrassing.
No direct feel through the armor, but the pose and situation were mortifying. Like a prostate exam? Or circumcision?
“My lord. An invitation just arriv—”
Garba walked in right then, turned away, and backed out stealthily.
“My apologies. Didn’t know you had those tastes. Enjoy your time.”
Garba smiled bitterly and shut the door. He’d heard humans sometimes liked their own sex, but his lord? He didn’t want to understand humans, but he’d accept anything from his lord—so he quietly pretended not to see.
Sung-tae startled and called desperately.
“G-Garba! It’s not like that! Misunderstanding!”
“Demon King, don’t move too much. Hard to diagnose.”
“Krahhh! Damn it!”
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Sung-tae wailed.
“Ignis… Ignis!”
His curses at Ignis echoed hollowly in the bedroom.