Chapter 203
Chapter: 203
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 203
>Chapter Title: Louise (6)
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>“How are you feeling? Any dizziness?”
Louise asked as she supported Seongjin from the side.
“Yeah.”
Of course he was fine. His father, possessing Sir Sharon’s body, had completely healed him.
But Louise, unaware of this, still wore a worried expression.
“You lost quite a bit of blood. Wouldn’t it be better to have a physician take a look?”
“I’m okay. Didn’t the holy knight just leave?”
“Of course, as per Your Highness’s orders, I quietly summoned only the exorcist. However, Your Highness... while she was treating you, her presence felt a bit...”
“Hm?”
“...No, it’s nothing.”
Louise shook her head and rose from her seat.
Her face, now devoid of even the faint worry, bore only the cool composure unique to a capable servant.
“Meal time has long passed. You must be hungry, so I’ll prepare some light refreshments.”
Seongjin scratched his cheek as he watched her leave the room with measured steps.
‘No way. Did Louise notice that Father had possessed Sir Sharon?’
The more he thought about it, the more impressive she seemed. Even with imperial blood spilling everywhere, she hadn’t panicked and had handled everything calmly.
She was bold, and her instincts were sharp too.
[What the hell happened to you?]
Once Louise had left the room, the Demon King immediately began grilling Seongjin, as if he’d been waiting.
[Your father came here borrowing that crazy knight’s body. Just when I thought he was treating you, your soul’s presence suddenly grew faint. And that woman left the room right after. What exactly happened?]
‘Oh, really?’
Seongjin’s soul had visited the soul realm created by the Holy Emperor. Yet his soul hadn’t fully left his body, nor had his body died.
‘Is it something like that? When the Rift opened in the imperial palace, I felt like my body existed in two places at once...’
Dimensional travel might not simply mean moving a long distance from one place to another.
Lost in thought, Seongjin heard the Demon King excitedly add,
[Oh, and don’t be shocked, Lee Seongjin! I discovered something huge in the meantime! Do you know exactly what happened after you drank that potion tea?]
At the time, the Demon King said he’d been in his cozy nook inside Seongjin’s mind, as usual.
‘Your nook?’
[Yeah. There’s a perfect spot in your head for a soul to reside. I love setting up shop there, propping my chin and peering out.]
Setting up shop? Propping your chin?
Aren’t you a bodiless soul?
[Then after you drank that tea, oh my god! Something happened in my nook—suddenly, my butt started flashing with light!]
...Leaving aside whether souls have such body parts, that imagery felt oddly unsettling.
But his mind flashing with light—could that be?
[Ta-da! Turns out the place I’d been using as my nook was none other than your soul crystal!]
Buoyed by his new discovery, the Demon King was now sprawling out in Seongjin’s mind, soul fully extended.
[Amazing, right? Mores has one too! It never lit up before, so I didn’t notice. No wonder it felt like such a comfy space for a soul!]
‘......’
[Same with those twins. Unlike regular humans, it’s precisely centered at the back of the head! This confirms one thing: that soul crystal resembling a demon beast’s is definitely inherited from your father’s bloodline!]
Ah. That must be a trait of the Kornsiim clan.
The Holy Emperor had briefly explained their clan earlier. Apparently, the entire clan formed a vast mental network through soul terminals.
It almost sounded like the traits of hive-minded demon beasts.
[But get this? My nook was far more refined and magnificent than the twins’! A flawless 24-faceted core with seven elegantly arched spires extending symmetrically in all directions! Honestly, I’ve never seen such a complex and beautiful soul crystal...]
Chattering excitedly like a kid in front of a supercar, the Demon King paused, puzzled by Seongjin’s lukewarm reaction.
[...Not impressed?]
‘Well, no.’
He’d already heard about it from the Holy Emperor.
Besides, after the dramatic events in the soul realm, getting excited over every little detail felt trivial. It had been an emotional rollercoaster in such a short time.
[Tch!]
Irked by Seongjin’s lackluster response, the Demon King grumbled.
[This is no fun! I’ve been preparing something special for you these past few days through that soul crystal, and if you keep this up, I won’t show you!]
‘You prepared something? What is it?’
Seongjin felt his interest spike.
Something told him this “preparation” wasn’t trivial.
Lately, the Demon King had been holing up in his mind more often—must’ve been working on that.
[Tch! Forget it. It’s obvious you won’t be surprised anyway. Just pretend you didn’t hear. Don’t blame me if you’re disappointed later.]
The Demon King huffed indifferently, but the emotions transmitting through Seongjin’s mind told a different story.
Ask me. Ask me more.
Thump thump thump.
Vibrations of pure excitement pulsed from him unfiltered, like a heartbeat.
‘...He really prepared something amazing, huh?’
But did this guy realize his feelings were leaking straight to Seongjin like this?
Feeling a pang of sympathy, Seongjin gave a wry smile.
‘What is it? Come on, tell me. I’m dying of curiosity here.’
After some coaxing and placating to soothe his ego, the mollified Demon King finally spilled.
[Remember a while back when you stole my spirit eye?]
How could he forget?
His optic nerves had nearly burned out, leaving him potentially blind forever.
[After that, I thought it over carefully. Regardless of the method, the fact that you could share my spirit eye means you must have a corresponding sense.]
The first time Seongjin suggested sharing senses, the Demon King had insisted it was impossible since his wasn’t “vision.”
Yet contrary to expectations, Seongjin had effortlessly hijacked it and used it to slay the demon tree—though the aftermath was gruesome.
[So I’ve been poking around your various senses in your mind, checking for anything that syncs with mine.]
Indeed, his fidgeting in Seongjin’s head these past days must’ve been that research.
‘I’d given up, but you were diligently working on it alone?’
It must’ve been tedious work.
The Demon King replied incredulously.
[Given up? What’s there to give up on? I knew that wasn’t the case, so I figured I’d prepare in advance while I had time.]
‘Prepare?’
[Exactly. Knowing you, if you needed it, you’d do it again without hesitation. But I’m the Fire Demon King, wielder of Gehenna’s Flames. Charge in blindly like last time, and your brain might actually burn to a crisp. Better for me to find a safer way, right?]
‘......’
Seongjin couldn’t deny it.
And deep down, he felt a twinge of gratitude toward the Demon King for going to such lengths for him—something unthinkable just months ago.
‘So you’re saying you’ve made some progress?’
[Of course. Behold.]
After some rummaging in his mind, the Demon King crowed triumphantly.
[Ta-da!]
In that instant, a new sight truly unfolded before Seongjin’s eyes.
The same multicolored world of radiant light he’d seen before.
‘This is...’
The blue glow of the furnace fire, and the warm blue air emanating from it.
Pink chills seeping in from the windows and walls.
He could even see people beyond the walls.
The faint yellow silhouette outside the room matched Sir Carmen’s presence.
And shadows of people moving between the upper and lower floors...
‘This is incredible! Hey, Demon King! You really pulled off something huge!’
At Seongjin’s genuine admiration, the Demon King burst into booming laughter.
[How’s that? The power of this Demon King! Now do you grasp even a fraction of my greatness?]
Seongjin marveled, looking around.
The faint shadows bustling down the hall were likely maids or servants.
In contrast, those with bright blue or yellow glows were clearly knights with strong auras.
The one diligently moving in the rear garden shone so brightly it was nearly golden—undoubtedly Sir Masain’s presence. Ever the training fanatic.
[Truth be told, I was getting suspicious these past few days with no results. No matter how hard I looked, you had no ‘spirit eye’ sense. At least until this morning.]
The Demon King continued explaining as Seongjin scanned his surroundings wildly.
‘So how did you succeed?’
[The potion tea.]
‘Potion tea?’
[Yes, Lee Seongjin. You drinking it confirmed everything! That you don’t actually have a spirit eye!]
‘...What?’
Seongjin was baffled by the unexpected answer.
No spirit eye?
Then what was that sensation that day? And what about what he was seeing now?
[I only clearly realized it after your soul crystal activated. What synced with my spirit eye wasn’t yours—it was your soul crystal itself!]
The Demon King pressed on excitedly.
It turned out the sensations he detected were received by the soul crystal as thoughts, then converted into visual information Seongjin could perceive.
[I thought it was odd from the start. My normal vision is a multicolored spiritual glow. But what we shared was totally different—like every possibility of every object in the world unfolding as light at once!]
‘Light of possibilities...’
Seongjin could guess what he meant.
Against the demon tree, he’d foreseen every branch, every arrow, even every air current.
[What you stole wasn’t my spirit eye. You just seized visual control, forcing us to share vision.]
‘Hm.’
[So I saw what you saw, and my spirit eye followed your gaze. The thoughts it produced were received by your soul crystal, converted to visuals, then looped back to me through your eyes!]
He rattled on so fast, he sounded winded despite not needing breath.
[That convoluted, overlapping info flow happened simultaneously for every nearby object! No wonder your eyes and nerves couldn’t handle it—they necrotized!]
‘......’
Half-listening to the complex explanation, Seongjin glanced around.
Indeed, long after first receiving the sensations, there was only a mild warmth now—no pain.
‘You figured out how to fix it.’
[Yep. Simple once I understood the principle.]
The Demon King shrugged, his excitement cooling.
[We were forcibly bound to the narrow sense of ‘vision.’ So if I transmit thoughts first, before that happens, we’re good. Your soul crystal converts it to match your vision.]
‘The soul crystal...’
[Yeah. It’s usually dormant and can’t receive external thoughts, but transmitting from inside activates its functions somewhat. Though prolonged use might strain your nerves a bit.]
No, but this alone would be a huge help.
A sudden premonition struck Seongjin.
The Holy Emperor had warned in the soul realm: avoid drinking the potion tea recklessly.
That implied situations warranting it might arise repeatedly.
Realizing this, Seongjin sincerely praised the Demon King.
‘Well done! Next time bear meat steak’s on offer, I’ll grab two plates for you, pride be damned!’
[Muahaha!]
It was then.
Thud thud.
From down the hall, a distinctly unique shadow approached the room.
Slender and emitting a soft purple glow amid the yellows and blues. Its aura activation was concealed somehow, but it was undoubtedly a powerful aura user.
Knock knock knock.
After polite knocks, Louise entered pushing a tray laden with dinner.
“I’ve brought your dinner, Your Highness.”
She then startled, staring straight into Seongjin’s eyes.
“Your Highness, your eyes...”
After sharing thoughts with the Demon King, Seongjin’s pupils flickered with a faint red glow, barely discernible to ordinary eyes.
“Haha, Louise, you’ve got sharp eyes.”
Seongjin smiled at her in praise.
Her nose was incredible too. Definitely not your average servant.
“Oh, and Sir Carmen?”
At the prince’s sudden call, Carmen peeked through the open door.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Even looking again, you’re still lacking in training. What’s with that brightness? Train harder.”
“...Pardon?”
Amid Seongjin’s abrupt scolding, Carmen alone stood there bewildered, clueless.