Touch It and Pop
Silvio returned to the Organization's hideout and stepped into the conference room where the officers who had finished the operation were gathered.
"What the— Who said anyone could just sit there?"
Silvio had been about to speak into the subtly tense atmosphere of the room, but his expression twisted sharply. Someone was sitting in the seat reserved for the Organization's leader. It was not that he was scowling because the chair was his own. The seat was supposed to be left vacant—and someone had taken it without permission.
"Just because the Master isn't here, you dare to—"
"Hey! Uncle Silvio, long time no see."
"M-Master?!"
Silvio had been drawing up his mana in fury when the figure who had been pressing a hood low over his face and keeping his head bowed suddenly lifted his chin and pulled the hood back. Silvio froze in shock.
Short, bleached-white hair. A young man wearing a smile full of mischief. It was unmistakably Yong-Ha, the leader of the Organization who had been confirmed dead.
"Y-You were alive?!"
"Yeah. More precisely, I came back. I did die once, after all."
Just as the family had speculated, Yong-Ha had revived using a magically created clone body that lacked a soul. He shook his head.
"Why choose a method like that?"
"I didn't have any confidence I could shake Grandfather and Aunt's pursuit."
Yong-Ha shrugged and let out a long sigh. It had been pure gambling. He had never been certain it would work.
"I'm relieved it succeeded. If we transmit the method of overcoming death to the entire Organization—"
"Ah, that's impossible. No one but me can do it. And the side effects are brutal. You can see that, right?"
Yong-Ha waved a limp hand. Only then did Silvio study him carefully. The overwhelming strength he had once felt from Yong-Ha was gone.
"As you can see, I'm S-class now."
Overcoming death had been good, but experiencing death once had damaged his soul. It was a blessing that he had not been tainted by the madness of a true Demon. Instead he had plummeted from SSS-class to S-class. Recovery was probably impossible.
"…That's regrettable, but I'm glad you're alive, Master."
Silvio had hoped to fight the family on the strength of infinite resurrection and was disappointed—but the disappointment was outweighed by genuine joy that their leader had returned. He smiled from the heart.
"Thanks for holding the Organization together while I was gone. From now on, I'll pull my weight."
They had done more than hold things together; they had even laid the groundwork for the Organization to fight the family. Yong-Ha broke into a broad smile, and every officer in the room, Silvio included, burst out laughing with him.
While the 12 Vassals and the Elders bought time against the Demons, Jeong-Hoon did not sleep. He simply monitored the real-time feeds from the satellites with restless eyes.
"Are you not tired, Gaju?"
"I'm fine. Everyone else is working hard. I can't be the only one sleeping."
It had been twelve hours since the Demons appeared. Another twelve still remained. Fernandez, believing Jeong-Hoon needed rest, urged him to close his eyes even for a little while, but Jeong-Hoon shook his head and refused.
"I may not look it, but I've always had pretty good stamina. Before I became Gaju, my schedule got so messed up I once worked three days straight without sleep."
Remembering his days bouncing between day-labor jobs at the dungeon logistics center and the like, Jeong-Hoon shrugged. Fernandez suddenly pressed a handkerchief to the corners of his eyes.
"So a day or two without sleep is no big deal— Fernandez?"
Jeong-Hoon, who had not been watching him, turned when Fernandez went oddly quiet.
"Gaju."
"Ah, yes? What is it?"
"What are the names of the insolent dogs who dared to abuse you so that you could not even sleep?"
"…Excuse me?"
Fernandez wiped away tears with the handkerchief and asked the question in a voice thick with murderous intent. Jeong-Hoon flinched despite himself. The killing intent was not directed at him, yet it was so immense he could not help shrinking back.
"Within twelve hours I shall tear out every one of their hearts and bring them to you. You need not worry."
"We don't need revenge killings like that! You're even worse than Butler Ju!"
The specific method of murder made it clear this was no joke. Jeong-Hoon shook his head and hastily calmed Fernandez down.
Meanwhile, on the monitors showing the Demons the 12 Vassals were fighting, one of the family's warships was firing shells the size of a human torso.
Eight of the 12 Vassals had been deployed to stall three Demons. The heart of the operation was not the Vassals themselves so much as the pinnacle of modern weaponry the family had stockpiled over the years. Not magic or martial arts that relied on mana, but the science humanity had built up after the sealing. How well that science worked against Demons would decide the success of the entire plan.
They threw everything they could mobilize: attack helicopters, self-propelled artillery, bombers, multiple-launch rocket systems, tanks, warships. And the results were highly encouraging. Despite the sealing power that kept the three Demons regenerating, they had succeeded in pinning them down at the first engagement zone.
"It's so successful I almost feel proud."
Dong Sa-Seong, the 12 Vassal who ran the military contractor Photon and oversaw weapons development, smiled. The other Vassals returned awkward smiles of their own.
"Sa-Seong hyung, success is great and all, but have you thought about how much money we've burned?"
The operation had succeeded, yet the cost of the nonstop bombardment all day was astronomical. The amount spent on this single operation already exceeded everything the family had spent since Jeong-Hoon became Gaju. Yeo Tae-Hyeon put the question to Dong Sa-Seong, who was simply enjoying himself. Dong Sa-Seong shook his head without hesitation.
"…If you start thinking about money, you can't run a defense contractor!"
"The Head Maid won't see it that way."
The moment Jeong I-Yeong—who handled the bulk of the family's money-laundering work—was mentioned, Dong Sa-Seong gave an awkward laugh.
"…What do we do? When she sees the bill she might actually kill me."
Reality having returned, Dong Sa-Seong muttered under his breath. Everyone shook their heads. For the sake of a perfect operation he had gone all-out and spent every piece of unused hardware he had been dying to fire. If Jeong-Hoon ever heard the final figure, he might faint on the spot.
"Ah, looks like one's trying to bolt. I'll be right back."
In the middle of the casual chatter Jeon Mun-Jae suddenly spoke up. Dong Sa-Seong radioed for the bombardment to cease. The Vassals waiting nearby opened fire with personal railguns—the same models they had used in New York—pressuring the Demon. While they did, Jeon Mun-Jae, body crackling with electricity, charged in with a double-edged sword and cut down the Demon Sha Wujing, who was trying to liquefy and slip away.
If they had only needed to stall with bombardment, there would have been no reason to keep eight of the 12 Vassals on standby. All of them were there precisely for moments like this: to check any Demon that weathered the barrage and tried to flee, then shove it back into the encirclement.
"I'm back. Still, naming the fish-head one Sha Wujing feels like a stretch, doesn't it?"
Jeon Mun-Jae kicked Sha Wujing back into the pocket and returned grumbling. Everyone shook their heads. It was a doubt they had all harbored many times but never voiced aloud. Hearing it said straight out made them shake their heads harder.
"Uh, President Jeon? Just so you know, Gaju can hear every word we say."
The youngest of the 12 Vassals had committed a verbal blunder that should never have left his mouth. Han Su-Ho, uncharacteristically serious, pointed it out. Jeon Mun-Jae only shook his head more firmly.
"No, seriously, doesn't it feel off? Monkey equals Son Goku, pig equals Zhu Bajie—that I get. But Sha Wujing…"
Even though they had not been fighting full-intensity battles, keeping focus for an entire day under relentless bombardment while checking escaping Demons was no small feat. Fatigue kept Jeon Mun-Jae from realizing his mistake; he simply shrugged. The others closed in to cover his mouth, but he used his combat instincts to slip past every hand with ease.
"…Uh, I'm sorry. I just slapped the names on while half-asleep. Did they bother you that much?"
"…"
A small sense of triumph on his face, Jeon Mun-Jae froze solid at the voice that came from right behind him.
"To commit such disrespect toward Gaju… Steward Jeon Mun-Jae. Are you plotting rebellion?"
"Gaju? Sir Fernandez? Head Maid? Uh, hang on? So what I mean is, it's not that the name is wrong, just that with my limited knowledge…"
It was not something he had heard over the radio; the people themselves were standing right behind him. Panicking, Jeon Mun-Jae stammered out excuses while the killing intent rising from Fernandez and Jeong I-Yeong was anything but ordinary.
"Uh, well, I didn't think it was that great a nickname either."
"I'm really, truly sorry."
A full day had passed. Jeong-Hoon, now moving to begin the actual subjugation of the Demons, shook his head at the endless stream of apologies coming over Jeon Mun-Jae's radio as he headed for the site.
"There was no real malice—it was just a joke. No one is going to hold you responsible, so relax."
Even if they were 12 Vassals, they were still young men in their late twenties. A slip of the tongue from exhaustion was only natural. Besides, it had not even been criticism of Jeong-Hoon—just a joke that the name did not quite fit.
"So don't worry about it."
"I can't tell which of you is the older one."
Watching Jeong-Hoon calmly soothe Jeon Mun-Jae, Fernandez muttered and shook his head. Between the three days Jeong-Hoon had been unconscious and the last two days of fighting, barely five days had passed—yet looking at the current 12 Vassals, Fernandez felt keenly just how hard Chief Butler Joo Yeong-Cheol had it.
"I believe from now on I should treat Chief Butler Joo Yeong-Cheol with a little more generosity."
"Butler Ju would be happy to hear that."
Jeong-Hoon chuckled at Fernandez's words, then focused on the monitors. The bombardment had ended; the waiting Vassals were now surging forward to suppress the Demons.
Si-Hwan, the first to accelerate, sprinted in and targeted the legs of the three Demons still regenerating. The goal was not to kill them but to immobilize them so Jeong-Hoon's sealing power could erase them. Removing their mobility was therefore critical.
"Gyaaaaah!!!"
Of the three, Zhu Bajie let out the loudest scream and thrashed. Twenty-four hours had passed; the infinite mana was gone, so recovery was slow and they were far more sensitive to pain. If they had been given time, like Anubis, to reflect on mana control while fighting a true powerhouse, they might have grown—but they were nothing more than ordinary S-class Demons who had never had that chance.
"I must be losing it. Thinking of S-class as 'ordinary'…"
Even though he possessed the power of the seal, Jeong-Hoon—still a Non-Awakened—was startled to realize he had looked down on S-class beings, then forced himself to concentrate on the fight.
With their mobility stripped by Si-Hwan's assault, Jeong I-Yeong and Han Su-Ho's magic activated. Gravity Hold crushed down on the Demons. Park Jin-Yang's gravity manipulation layered on top of it. Unable even to struggle, they were smashed flat against the ground. The remaining Vassals rushed in and bound them with pure mana alone.
It was a restraint deployed simultaneously by no fewer than six Awakened of S-class or higher. The Demons had no means of resistance.
"Gaju, preparations are complete."
He did not even need the radio. Jeong-Hoon was already walking toward the bound Demons. He felt not the slightest worry that they might break free and run wild. Part of it was trust in his Vassals—but more than that, from the moment he had arrived on site, even before they were suppressed, he had known by pure instinct.
Whatever fail-safes his future selves might have placed, a Demon was a being that would simply go pop and vanish the instant Jeong-Hoon laid a single finger on it.