Chapter 107: Ah, How Can I Resist Cheon Yu-hak’s Birthday Party! (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 107: Ah, How Can I Resist Cheon Yu-hak’s Birthday Party! (8)
Even if she didn’t look it, Lee Yu-na was acting incredibly rationally by her own standards.
Every time he made a bombshell announcement, she had suppressed the urge to leap out from the bushes. She had restrained herself from using her flail to grind the faces of those trashy bitches into the dirt when they tried to hit on Lilac.
She had even endured the moment those sluts almost caused her most hideous side to be exposed to Lilac.
It was all for one thing.
To resolve this doubt without Lilac ever finding out.
Kang So-hyun.
A friend she had made after entering the Academy, and a boy who had always feared her to an unusual degree.
At first, it was a mystery.
Neither her appearance, which drew unnecessary favor from everyone, nor her talent, which bewitched any man regardless of his preferences, had any effect on him.
He was the first person besides Lilac to be like that, but he hadn’t approached her with pure kindness like Lilac did.
Instead, he was wary of her and maintained as much distance as possible.
If he had stopped there, she would have dismissed it as him just being that kind of person, but he didn’t stop.
To be honest, since she was self-aware enough to know her personality was twisted, it was always a mystery why he treated her kindly even while keeping his distance.
It wasn’t love. Nor was it submission born of fear.
She was confident in her ability to sense the emotions of others, so she was nearly certain of this.
What he felt for her was always a faint sense of pity, sympathy—and responsibility.
But why? Who do you think you are? Why do you harbor such feelings for me? While harboring those questions, she simultaneously thought they could become friends.
She wasn’t the only one with secrets, and she wasn’t the only one he felt those emotions toward.
He felt similar things for Lilac, for the professors, and sometimes for other cadets.
If he doesn’t harbor affection for me, but he cherishes Lilac, isn’t that enough?
That was what she had thought.
However, if he knew all of her hideous secrets, and if there was a possibility he might tell Lilac…
She had to shut his mouth by any means necessary.
The reason he had been afraid of her until now would also make sense if he knew her true identity.
It felt like all the puzzle pieces were clicking into place.
“…Speak. What exactly are you?”
He stared at her for a long time without saying a word.
She didn’t know if he was thinking of an excuse, if he was going to get serious, or if he was just going to play the victim and deny everything.
…Perhaps, for the first time in a long while, she was feeling a sense of betrayal.
She thought she would never have to feel this way again.
Had she grown fonder of having a ‘friend’ than she realized?
The moment those regretful emotions surfaced—
“Whew…”
Demonic energy began to swirl around him.
A vast, thick demonic energy—incomparable to the tiny bit she had possessed since birth—hovered around him without spreading to the surroundings at all.
“The truth is, I can handle demonic energy.”
“…What? How?”
If he could handle demonic energy of this concentration, it wouldn’t be hard for him to figure out her identity. But there was no way an ordinary cadet, who wasn’t even born with the talent of a Black Mage, could handle demonic energy of this level.
The swirling demonic energy settled, and the moment a certain pattern appeared on his right hand—
The demon blood flowing through her half-demon body screamed.
It screamed that she must not dare question the owner of that mark, the agent of ‘That Person.’
That she should kneel immediately and beg for forgiveness.
What was it? She didn’t know the ecology or habits of demons. What on earth was that mark that it made such instinctive terror well up?
Was he a dangerous person after all?
“Ah, shit. What is this? You said you’d help.”
But then, the man who said that covered the mark on his hand with a glove he pulled from somewhere and approached her.
“Hey, are you okay? You look so pale. No, goddammit. What the hell is this…”
The emotions reflected in his eyes were purely worry, guilt, and regret.
Worry…? In this situation? For me?
Ah, come to think of it, that’s how it was.
On the day they first met.
When Lilac had brought someone along, betraying her expectations of enjoying lunch with just the two of them.
When she was seriously contemplating whether such a thing would ever happen again if she just crushed the other person’s skull.
Even though it looked like Lilac had dragged him along against his will, she had tolerated him because he felt sorry for her and worried about her.
Thinking back on it now, it was a bit ridiculous.
Would a guy who films a youth drama in the middle of the night just to hook her up with Lilac suddenly expose her identity to him?
Would a guy who can handle this level of demonic energy be afraid of her just because she’s a half-demon?
It was a nonsensical delusion.
…She had gotten worked up.
Yes, she hadn’t been rational.
She hadn’t lived a particularly rational life, but at least this time, it seemed she was the one in the wrong.
Because those bitches called her a ‘defective product,’ her nerves had been on edge, fearing Lilac would find out who she was.
She was also scared that the friend she had finally made would see her as something other than ‘Lee Yu-na.’
“Hey, can I ask you one thing?”
“…What is it?”
“What do I look like to you?”
To you, as a friend, am I a hideous half-demon, a defective succubus? Or am I the human Lee Yu-na?
“…Can I be honest?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You’re really not going to get mad?”
“…Just what kind of answer are you planning to give?”
He hesitated for a long time before looking at her with resolve.
“…A pink chihuahua.”
And that answer was quite far from what she had expected.
* * *
The Touch of the Devil told me it would help, so I should pay the price of the contract.
It said it wasn’t a real contract, but a provisional contract that would allow me to borrow its power whenever I needed.
So, without much thought, I cut off a bit of my Innate True Qi—about the amount I usually use for Reinforcement—and gave it. The moment I did, a storm of demonic energy swept the area.
What the…? The efficiency is this good just from giving a bit of Innate True Qi? Then why did that Black Mage bastard sell out his comrades’ corpses and still only manage that much?
But how do I handle this? It’s subtly different from mana, so I’m not sure how to control it…
Two questions popped up at once, but at least the latter was an unnecessary worry.
As if the vast demonic energy wasn’t meant for me to handle in the first place, it moved on its own and gathered in my right arm.
“The truth is, I can handle demonic energy.”
So far, so good. I could even act tough.
However, the moment the compressed, dense demonic energy drew a bizarre pattern on my right hand, the situation changed.
No, shit, what kind of retarded pattern is this now? The Black Shadow is enough.
Before that playful thought could even finish, Lee Yu-na’s expression distorted sharply, and she clutched her chest as if struggling to breathe.
What the hell, what’s happening all of a sudden?
-[Due to the hierarchy of the Demon Realm, a half-demon who hasn’t even awakened cannot dare to face a noble existence of Hell. You have currently been granted authority as a representative through a special provisional contract.]
-[That thing can no longer harbor doubts toward you. Furthermore, if you wish, everything you desire…]
‘Shut up.’
I hurriedly covered the mark with a glove, and only then did Lee Yu-na seem to recover slightly as she exhaled.
-[The help you sought was…]
‘I said help me, I didn’t say kill her! You crazy bastard.’
I’m screwed. I’m really, truly screwed.
The plan to lie about being a Lee Yu-na who could handle demonic energy completely vanished from my head.
Is she going to be okay?
I rushed over to Yu-na.
-If only it weren’t for you.
A woman who used to look at me with eyes full of loathing. Originally, she was a woman who would fail to become a hero, fall into demonic corruption, and burn out in her own love.
-I came all this way to kill you, and it’s still not enough?
Do I have to go this far? I had already committed too many wrongs to even harbor such a question.
That’s why I grabbed the woman’s neck.
It was a thin neck that felt like it would break at any moment.
It didn’t feel real that this was the lifeblood of a woman called one of the greatest heroes in this world.
The body of the one who had forged herself into a hero, transcending fate through pure hatred for me, was still as frail as when she was a student.
-If it’s funny, why don’t you laugh? Why? Did you grow fond of me because we fought so much? It’s disgusting, so cut it out.
With madness flashing in the two eyes staring at me, she grabbed my wrist.
I had already destroyed her entire body. I had also taken all her mana. What was here was not a hero, but a woman on the verge of death.
-If you don’t kill me right now, I will kill you no matter what. No, I’ll kill you even if I die. There’s no way I’d forgive you just because I’m dead.
It shouldn’t be possible, but I became uneasy.
So I put strength into my hand. It was still an unpleasant sensation.
No, wait. This isn’t my memory.
Yu-na and I have no reason to kill each other, and the sensation remaining at my fingertips is nothing but an illusion.
Right?
Please.
I don’t know what I said to the trembling Yu-na, but she lifted her head.
She looked at me for a moment and then smiled hollowly.
Naturally, the hatred and loathing of the woman I saw in the memory weren’t there.
It was only natural, but that look in her eyes felt so incredibly relieving.
“Hey, can I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“What do I look like to you?”
For a moment, my heart felt like it stopped.
It was a question that felt as if she had peered into my memories.
What is she to me right now?
Is she the Succubus Queen who drove Lilac into a corner but ultimately failed to take his life and perished?
Is she the woman who reconstructed her entire being for revenge and took a spot as one of the world’s greatest heroes?
No.
Neither of those is ‘my’ memory.
One is just a possibility of a vanished future, and the other is nothing more than a lingering image in a goddamn memory whose owner I don’t even know.
Then, what is she to me?
A somewhat uncomfortable acquaintance, a tomboy who might explode at any moment, a severe Lilac-addict, and a girl with whom I’ve finally managed to form a relationship I can call a friendship.
“Can I be honest?”
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“A pink chihuahua.”
“…What?”
“I said, a pink chihuahua. From the moment we first met, you didn’t care about anything but Lilac, and you were bristling as if you were ready to bite someone at any second.”
She tilted her head in confusion.
“So to me, you’re a pink chihuahua. You’re vicious for your size, and because of that, I’m scared to death because I don’t know where you’ll bolt off to next.”
“Pfft.”
Hm?
“Pffft… hehe.”
…She’s laughing?
Honestly, I thought she’d throw a fit.
Judging by how she was clutching her stomach and chuckling, it seemed she was trying her best to hold it in.
The pink-haired girl laughed cutely for a long time before returning to her usual, strangely expressionless face.
“So you were scared of something like that. Yeah, I guess it could be scary.”
“…Is it that funny?”
“Don’t worry, at least I won’t bite you or Lilac.”
With a smirk, she stood up and smiled.
“We’re friends for now, aren’t we?”
-Would I even dare to call you a friend?
I forced down the doubt that flared up.
“It’s an honor.”
Because I won’t let things end up like that time.
Just as I was about to wrap up the incident, the cause of this whole mess spoke quietly in my head.
-[The Touch of the Devil requests to speak.]
‘…Shut up. I’m thinking of giving you to the Black Shadow as food.’
There’s a limit to crossing the line.
I was already feeling bad that I hadn’t been able to feed the Black Shadow anything decent since the Rose Dragon, and you…
-[I admit my failure, but in exchange, I have tracked the reverse summoning of the succubi.]
…Maybe I don’t need to turn it into food after all?
* * *
Beyond the Touch of the Devil, the demon smiled.
How could it not be joyful, having successfully engraved its mark on his body?
In fact, it knew that doing this would make him dislike it, and that he would overlook the fact that the mark was engraved in his panic.
It was a form of expectation management.
If one continues to do well, expectations rise, but wouldn’t the level of wariness toward a capable demon also increase?
So, it was better to make a big mistake at first and then gradually appeal with its competence.
So that he would let his guard down and slowly open his heart, while also remembering its mistake and not being too wary.
As long as the mark was on his body, even if it was a provisional contract, time was on its side.
* * *
“Girls, I told you not to fight in the human world.”
“Q-Queen…!”
“W-We’re sorry!”
“No, it’s fine. You filled your quotas, and thanks to you, I found a sacrifice that looks decent. Most of all, I was able to see a child I missed, thanks to you all.”
The Queen smiled seductively and nodded.
“So you were still alive.”
It was a smile closer to twisted obsession than affection, but it was undoubtedly a beautiful smile that would enchant anyone who saw it.
“Yes, it’s fine. It wasn’t enough to disrupt the plan. You can do better next time, right?”
“Yes!”
“O-Of course!”
The Queen’s hand stroked them.
“Everything is for the sake of the perfect dream street.”
The moment she said that, countless bat wings unfurled and fluttered as they sought out prey once more.
“Yes, for a perfect world where no one is sad.”