The Line to Protect
The demon that had taken over Kim Su-jeong's body was the initial demon manipulated directly by Mammut. The single command input to that demon, as if programming, was characteristically Mammut's: to maximize the target's dark side and execute the desires that emerged from it.
Since Kim Su-jeong was already perfectly parasitized by that demon, she revealed her true nature based on dependence and obsession whenever she forgot, showing a strong obsession towards Jin-ah. The reason it wasn't noticeable to others until then was because the target of her obsession was an exceptionally rare being in this world, so every time she was hit and suppressed instantly.
Kim Su-jeong, who had to be satisfied with that ruthless and tough suppression that could make even the demon controlling her body flinch, unleashed her accumulated anger towards Jeon So-hyun, who seemed harmless.
"Am I... harmless, Su-jeong-ah!!"
However, Jeon So-hyun was not completely ordinary unlike what Kim Su-jeong's memories suggested.
Jeon So-hyun shouted with her bulging arm muscles and kicked her body with her foot. With a thud, falling together with the chair, Jeon So-hyun panted and looked at her arm. A green flash was flickering in both hands.
'With this power.'
She instinctively knew that this ability of hers could expel the demon that had infested her brother's body.
"Eh, ah-ah-ah!"
"Kyuhik!"
So, she stretched both hands and rushed forward. It worked. The moment she grabbed her hand, Kim Su-jeong, who was growling with black eyes, started screaming and foaming at the mouth.
"What's happening! Open the door quickly! Everyone!"
This fierce fight was calmed down only after the on-duty teacher who came upon hearing the commotion knocked on the door, shouted, eventually called someone, broke the door, and entered.
"?"
My ears perked up. Sitting quietly on the chair, the Magic Mirror side was noisy.
[Hey. Go listen and come back]
"I am your errand girl... ugh."
I kicked the slumping Ren on the floor and said. Ren grumbled and rubbed her butt, then trotted out.
"...Is anything uncomfortable?"
"No. Not really. If I have to say, I'm fine, but the inspection took too long."
Then the counselor sitting in front, a middle-aged woman who seemed like a psychiatrist, opened her mouth while giving me a look.
I sighed and shook my head.
It was necessary for peaceful life and normal person cosplay, but being treated like a virus patient in various inspections and mental health checks made me feel bad. I hadn't even been subjected to the experiment's reality.
"Just hold on a little longer. The other kids are having a really hard time right now. You might have some problematic parts too."
"Really? I don't think so."
I had no choice but to click my tongue. Is being too normal a problem? I had to move to catch Mammut, but being detained was outside my calculations.
"Hey! It seems like something's happened!"
At that moment, Ren, who had been sent out for scouting, passed through the tightly locked door like a ghost, waddled with her short legs, and ran over.
[What's going on?]
"Kim Su-jeong. Your friend who was possessed by a demon. It seems she was eventually discovered by others!"
[...What?]
"And, you know Jeon So-hyun? That girl was also caught. Something about her abilities."
[What nonsense is this?]
Ignoring the doctor's dumbfounded gaze, I yawned while leaning back on the chair and hardened my face at Ren's words.
"Really letting her go?"
"Re, really letting her go, Jin-ah. I inspected her."
"...Assuming so."
That night, I left the research facility. They stripped me naked, took photos, scanned, drew blood, and treated me like a bomb, locking me in a room with no privacy for half a day with the Magic Mirror, but since I didn't want to argue, I didn't object.
"Um, Jin-ah. I don't know how to say this..."
In the car heading to the nearby facility, my assigned teacher Lee Sun-young spoke with a haggard face.
"I was going to say this because it seems pointless to hide. Your friend Su-jeong is actually..."
"Possessed by a demon, you say?"
"Th, how did you...!"
I smirked and took the lead, making her eyes widen in shock.
"Did Su-jeong do something to you?!"
"No. Not really."
I couldn't say the things I was about to do, like using a wrench to knock her out or spiking her drink, but I kept my mouth shut. It was a chance to confirm that after being hit a few times, the demon got scared and timid.
"Hmph, anyway, Su-jeong was sent to another place for treatment. For now, will you stay with the other kids? According to regulations, you can't sleep alone at night."
"Sure."
"...You really have a steel mentality."
She smiled bitterly. Not that she had a steel mentality, but just that her standards for mental strikes were high, which would appear that way to others.
I had stopped acting like a kid because it was hard on my personality.
"Go... first, rest well. If you want to skip school tomorrow, it's fine."
The vehicle had arrived at the facility. Lee Sun-young took me to a place other than my room.
One of the rooms where kids of my age stayed, and there I would spread a futon on the floor and sleep.
"Hey, when you sleep, tie your hands."
"Yeah. And don't come close. It's dirty."
However, the two girls I greeted cheerfully were quick to show their true colors after Lee Sun-young left.
"Oh ho, I don't get it? Is that the right thing to say on first meeting?"
"Uh, why are we strangers?! We go to the same school! I'm Park Eun-young. This is Lee Ji-sun!"
I laughed it off, and one of them was flustered and pointed at herself and her friend.
Only then did I nod. Thinking about it, there were such kids. Since they had no interest in surroundings, if they weren't people like Hong Su-young or Gang Jin-su who approached first, I wouldn't remember their names or faces.
"Yeah. I get that. But I still don't understand the other things."
"You, you were told that you were experimented on alive!"
"You were subjected to a horrific experiment on YouTube where they turned living girls into monsters!"
These kids were giggling one by one, which was annoying. But what annoyed me to the point of frowning was not their high-pitched voices of ignorance.
"What if we suddenly turn on each other while sleeping and attack us? So, tie your own hands and sleep."
"And, h, to be safe, don't come close in case of infection."
The kids were too scared beyond reason, and that fear was clouding their normal judgment. What on earth put such absurd wrong knowledge into these kids' heads? Not just a couple, but in this era, it's common.
"I got all the inspections. Including the doctor's judgment that I'm fine. I wasn't experimented on in the first place. Of course, there are real victims. But are you turning those people into monsters? Unjustly wronged people?"
"But, the YouTuber Puma..."
"You'll know if you're facility staff. How the facility staff are viewed by others. But if it's divided even internally..."
I released my mana and crushed the kids. The kids who couldn't withstand the strong aura had their eyes unfocused, staggered, and soon lost consciousness and fell with a thud.
I hadn't planned to sleep well after today anyway. I laid the kids on the bed.
"...To catch Mammut?"
"Yeah. Instead, before that, fix one guy. It would be good if I can find where that YouTuber Puma is."
Is he evil or not? No need to distinguish.
The trash cyber racketeer who turns others' deaths and wounds into money by swallowing the flimsy excuse of delivering information, is there any way a kind person that magical girls can't touch?
My mood was very bad, so I immediately left the facility and flew into the sky.
"Takilas..."
"Takilas! Stop there!"
In the dark night, two magical girls without fear followed behind me crossing the empty space of the apartment complex.
"I said stop, but you keep maintaining distance. Did you receive orders? To follow me and monitor. Who is it? Aria?"
"Kuk, noisy! It's not like that!"
One magical girl shouted in frustration, but I didn't believe it. Since the intention was too obvious, I ignored them.
It seemed they thought I was chasing Mammut now.
"Wait! This isn't the place where Mammut is... Kyaaak!"
"When did I say I was going to kill that egg-headed guy?"
I exploded my mana, blew away the entire apartment balcony where the target was, and laughed sinisterly.
The young man sitting in front of the computer with messy hair from the wind was rolling on the floor screaming.
"Takilas, don't... stop!!"
"Cyber merchant who deals in death and wounds, you should have been prepared for this."
I ignored the magical girls' screams and shot shadows towards him.
In the moment of hesitation, the man's neck, which had been opening his mouth stupidly, flew away from his body into the sky. Probably that's what Aria was trying to stop.
But I don't stop. I don't hesitate. I am the king of the Demon Realm. No one can stop me.