This One's Mine
The demon and Seoyeun left. Only Dahong and Ruby remained on the rooftop.
"……."
Dahong leaned against the railing, staring off into the distance.
One year.
Not a bad stretch of time. Neither too long nor too short.
Pretty bold deal for a human.
'Grow Seha and subjugate me?'
Hee-hee.
A chuckle slipped out.
Ruby padded up to Dahong's feet.
"Nya."
"What."
Ruby plopped down, rubbing its butt against her shoe, and looked up at Dahong.
"Nyaong."
"Hungry? Hm... yeah, it's about that time."
Dahong scooped Ruby up, and it went limp in her arms. She looked down.
The sports field. The gym. The corridors by the main building.
Most of the students had already cleared out. The after-school academy felt deserted.
And there.
Seha came into view. Walking side by side with someone.
A man in a suit. The demon she'd brushed past in the hallway earlier.
'…….'
Dahong gazed down at the two of them.
Seha was smiling. Seemed excited, chattering away about something.
The man smiled back. A soft, gentle smile.
Then.
The man patted Seha's shoulder. Twice. Acting all chummy. Natural motion.
But Dahong saw it. Something seeping into Seha's shoulder.
Flesh. The demon's flesh.
Living flesh.
Dahong's eyebrow twitched.
Seha kept smiling, oblivious.
"……."
Made her mood sour. Daring to touch her meal ticket.
Dahong grabbed Ruby's head with one hand and tucked it against her chest.
Then—
She hopped over the railing.
Whoosh.
Her white hair trailed behind like a long tail, vanishing.
Seha walked alongside Hyeonho, grinning ear to ear.
"Oh, so you only need to draw like 70% of the summoning ritual, then?"
"Yeah, just the essentials. After that, you pin it down with mana so it can't resist. Once you hit B-rank or so—"
Hyeonho abruptly cut himself off.
Someone stood in front of them.
White hair. Red eyes. Black cat cradled in her arms.
No one had been around just a second ago.
"Seha."
"Dahong!"
Seha shouted.
"Dahong, where'd you go? I was waiting forever!"
"Went out for a bit of fun."
Dahong answered Seha's question, then turned to Hyeonho beside him.
"……."
Those red eyes glared daggers at him. Hyeonho's eyes twitched.
Tch.
'Insolent bitch.'
He clicked his tongue silently, inaudible to anyone. He itched to rip her throat out and drain her blood right then, but he held back. Once he stole this kid's body, she'd be his puppet anyway.
Instead, he plastered on a friendly smile.
"Ah, you're the summoned beast I saw earlier."
Dahong ignored him completely, looking away. Perfect dismissal.
Seha was the one who reacted.
"You two know each other?"
"Yeah, we bumped into each other in the hall briefly."
Hyeonho smiled as he replied.
Seha turned to Dahong, beaming.
"Dahong, get this—he's a demon summoner too! Same class as me! First one I've met!"
"……."
Dahong didn't respond. Instead, she strode right up to Seha.
"...Dahong?"
She reached out toward his shoulder.
Brush.
Like dusting off dirt, she swept her hand over it.
"Wh-what?"
"Had some dirt."
"Oh, thanks."
Seha replied casually, sensing nothing.
Hyeonho was the shocked one. The parasitic seed he'd so carefully planted had vanished like dust.
Impossible! A mere low-rank demon destroying my seed...!
His eyes bulged.
Dahong grabbed Seha's shoulder with the same hand and yanked him toward her.
"?"
Seha's head thudded right into the side of her chest.
Her red eyes fixed on Hyeonho.
"This one's mine."
"……."
Silence fell over the three of them.
"...Huh."
Hyeonho opened his mouth in disbelief—just as Seha flushed red and shoved Dahong away.
"P-people aren't objects, you know!?"
Dahong said nothing. Still glaring at Hyeonho.
Hyeonho forced a smile.
"Looks like the summoned beast really cherishes her master."
Soft smile. But beneath the surface, his teeth ground together.
Ridiculous.
A low-rank calling dibs with 'mine'?
"……."
But Hyeonho kept smiling. If anything, this worked out better. He could accelerate the plan.
"Ah, since we're all here, how about some practical training?"
"Practical training?"
"Yeah, your summoned beast is right here too."
Seha's eyes sparkled.
"I'll summon something matched to your level, and we spar. Gotta get the hang of giving orders to your beast."
"I'd love that!"
Seha answered excitedly.
Dahong stayed silent.
Seha turned to her pleadingly.
"Dahong, that okay? Come with us."
"……."
"...Dahong?"
"Yeah."
Dahong, who'd been glaring at Hyeonho, turned her head. Seha was looking up at her, puzzled.
"Got it."
She'd play nice with Seha for now. She'd promised Teacher Seoyeun not to let her true nature slip for a year.
The three headed to the training grounds together. Hyeonho in front, Seha beside him, Dahong a half-step behind.
Ruby glared lasers at Hyeonho's back from Dahong's arms.
"Grrr."
The tiny growls didn't stop.
The training grounds. A vast indoor space.
The floor was etched with mana-blocking rituals, the walls covered in shock-absorbing material.
They used a terminal to book an empty room. Even after hours, sounds of thuds echoed from upperclassmen training nearby.
Hyeonho stood in the center.
"Shall we begin?"
He snapped his fingers.
Snap.
A summoning circle bloomed, swirling with purple light.
Fwoosh.
Something emerged from the smoke.
A bit under two meters tall. Gray skin, empty eyes, slumped shoulders.
Humanoid shape, but no life in it.
Hyeonho smirked inwardly.
This one's a low-rank demon on the verge of promotion. Still low-rank, but its combat power rivals a weak mid-rank. No ordinary low-rank could handle it.
Perfect for putting that arrogant beast in her place.
"Low-rank demon. I'll order it to attack—dodge it."
"Got it!"
Seha tensed, assuming position.
Hyeonho gestured, and the gray demon lumbered forward slowly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Uwaa, what do I do? Dodge first...! Ah, Ruby! Here! Uh, Dahong...!"
Seha floundered under the pressure of his first real command, unsure what to do.
The gray demon closed in steadily. Then raised a massive fist at Dahong.
"Grroooar!"
Dahong watched with a bored expression.
A hollow shell stripped of soul and memory.
This wasn't a proper summoned beast. Just scraps left after a meal.
"Dahong!"
The instant Seha yelled—
Splat!
Hyeonho's hair whipped in the wind. Something had grazed past him.
"Ah?"
He slowly turned.
Behind him, the gray demon was smeared across the training wall as green sludge.
And right in front of him stood Dahong, hands in pockets, foot raised mid-kick...
"......Huh."
Seha blinked. He hadn't seen a thing.
"D-Dahong? What happened?"
"Kicked it."
Dahong said nonchalantly.
"H-ha. Demon-type beasts are aggressive by nature—unlike defensive angel-types—so power's never an issue."
"A-ah..."
Hyeonho tried to gloss it over. But his mind raced, analyzing.
Damn, what the hell? Isn't she just a normal low-rank? Or disguised?
"Demon summons have high attack power, so theoretically they can take down higher-rank monsters. Low defense means it's just theory, though."
"Ah, yeah... right..."
Seha recalled Dahong fighting the demilich. An incomplete one, but still S-rank. Equivalent to a mid-rank demon, maybe upper.
...Wait.
But even theoretically, did that make sense?
As Seha tilted his head, Hyeonho livened things up by unfurling another summoning ritual.
"Seems like a battle-savvy demon, so let's get serious."
Shwoosh.
Four summoning circles bloomed in midair instantly.
"Multiple summons!"
Seha's eyes widened. A feat only for expert summoners.
Four of them!
"Heh, my specialty."
Hyeonho chuckled.
Four demons burst from the circles.
"Grraaah..."
Far uglier than the gray one at a glance.
"……!"
Seha tensed again. The air grew heavy.
Especially.
The one at the front. Goat legs, hunched back with four long arms sprouting from it.
Its presence dwarfed the others.
"Th-this a mid-rank?"
"Pretty strong one. Alright, attack first this time."
Heh, fresh off the boat, but that one's upper-rank. Succeeded in planting the domination seed back when it was mid-rank. Let's see what you do!
Seha glanced at Dahong. Her red eyes bored into the demons.
"……."
The goat demon reacted first.
"Grrrk..."
Locking eyes with Dahong, it widened its gaze, then began trembling like a leaf.
"Huh? Hey, what's wrong."
Hyeonho frowned, sensing something off, but the demon didn't answer.
Instead—
"......KIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
It gaped its mouth, needle-teeth bared, and unleashed a scream that shook the training hall.
"Ugh...!!"
"Nyaaak!"
Seha and Ruby winced at the shriek.
Overwhelming mana crushed the space.
"What the—! What's going on!"
Hyeonho panicked, trying to force a command, but nothing worked.
The demon raised its four arms to its head and started squeezing.
Crack, snap, crunch...
"……!"
"G-gaaahhhhh!!"
Its neck stretched, flesh tore, blood sprayed, spine ripped free.
And so the goat demon met its end.
Hyeonho and Seha stared in utter disbelief.