The Promise
Kuaaaaak.
The thick, ominous darkness that had blanketed the Gold Taeyang clan’s hideout began to lift.
"...Ah?"
The Gold Taeyang members, who had been wailing while drooling tears, snot, and saliva, finally regained their senses. As their vision cleared, they saw the monsters still in the middle of slaughtering their comrades.
"H-Hyaaaak!"
"Save me!"
The relief of escaping the Simgye Seonpo was short-lived. They shrieked at the prospect of the immense pain that was about to return. Their spirits were now completely broken. Having been tortured to the brink of collapse and forced to confront their own sins through the illusions of the mental world, they were shattered.
They were terrified of Drae. They feared when the mental world might descend upon them again, and they feared the physical agony. Under normal circumstances, they could have easily handled these monsters, but they were now so lethargic they couldn't even bring themselves to fight.
Drae descended, landing heavily in the center of the scene. He looked different than before. While he had previously maintained an air of leisure and amusement, he was now silent, his lips pressed tight, eyes downcast with a grave expression.
Drae moved his sword.
Thud. Crack!
The monsters collapsed one by one, their heads severed. They were fairly powerful creatures, but they stood no chance against Drae’s overwhelming strikes. Perhaps it was also because they had been weakened by long-term captivity under the Gold Taeyang clan. As the monsters that had been torturing them suddenly vanished, the clan members blinked in confusion.
"My Master?"
Josa, sensing the shift in the atmosphere, asked in a nervous voice. Drae picked up his sword.
Slash.
"Guh..."
Blatar, who had been struggling to lift his upper body while weeping, had his head sent flying into the air. His eyes lost their light. He was dead.
"W-Wait...!"
"He's coming!"
Drae swung his sword without a word. Every time he moved, six or seven of them were slaughtered in an instant. Josa was stunned to see Drae suddenly begin this massacre.
'Why is he doing this all of a sudden? Did he change his mind?'
Of course, even if they died, Josa could use his power to trap their souls and keep them in agony until the very end. But was there any need to go to such lengths?
The Gold Taeyang members tried to flee in every direction, but as those in the lead were cut down, they began to kneel one by one, begging for their lives.
They knew well that because of Josa’s power, death wouldn't bring them peace—only more suffering. But biological instinct, combined with the time they had spent with their loved ones in the mental world, made the concept of death terrifying to them.
"Please, spare me. Please... Gah!"
"Aaaack! No! No... Kuhak!"
Yet, Drae, who was slaughtering those begging for mercy, did not look happy. He looked as if he were being driven by something. He was clearly feeling impatient. Josa, bound to him by contract, was merely bewildered, unable to fathom the cause of that urgency. After the slaughter continued for a while, Drae, breathing heavily, spoke.
"Josa."
"Yes, my Master."
"Hide these guys in a secret place and keep them suppressed."
"Understood."
Josa didn't ask why he had stopped the torture. He felt a sense of crisis—that the current Drae was so impatient that even asking such a question might not be permitted, and that he himself might not be safe. Josa began moving the Gold Taeyang members to another dimension as ordered, while Drae continued to mutter to himself.
"Malice for malice, goodwill for goodwill..."
I didn't do anything wrong. This is the right thing to do. He repeated it, as if to convince himself.
"...There's no one here."
The woman surveyed the traces of destruction scattered about. Though there were dark circles under her eyes, her beauty was undiminished, instead radiating a unique charm. Her name was Glquein Lupuslong.
The instructor of Pruynar Academy, whose aura was distinctly different from usual, looked at the three people walking behind her and the white-armored knights whose very presence felt overwhelming.
"Spread out and search for traces."
The white-armored knights—the knights of the Graize family—followed Glquein’s instructions without a word. As an instructor at Pruynar Academy and a mage of the Igula rank, her words carried the weight of a king, and above all, the heir, El, had ordered them to fully comply with the instructors' commands.
Because the heir, El, had issued the order with such an unusual intensity, not just regular members, but three of the captains—the ones known as the "Scales of Graize"—had come. Among them were Fred and Marien, who had traveled from Mirph to Sers with Drae previously. Marien silently directed the knights, but Fred swallowed hard as he looked at the traces around them.
The smell of blood. A stench of blood so thick it made his head spin. The splatters of blood and fragments of flesh scattered about made him not want to imagine the level of violent, unsanitary combat that had taken place here.
The strange thing was that the traces suggested a one-sided slaughter. Could it be that Drae had been unilaterally attacked? No.
This was evidence of a small number overwhelming a large one. Furthermore, those under the protection of the Holy Dragon knew one more fact. The energy that permeated this place was...
Glquein frowned at the thick demonic energy, something she had felt once before—a power that could not be easily dismissed.
Click. Click.
Mullin walked up beside Glquein. She made no effort to hide her unpleasant expression.
"It's demonic energy."
"Yeah. Demonic energy."
She narrowed her eyes, agreeing with Mullin. A man approached the two of them.
"If the demonic energy is this thick, it means a big shot among the Demon Kings has arrived."
The one who spoke was Alfred, a man with a neat appearance and his hair slicked back. He looked at Blurt, a stern-looking elderly teacher, as if demanding an answer.
"I've already contacted friends dispatched to the Demon Realm."
"Efficient."
Unlike Alfred, who nodded in satisfaction, Blurt’s face was quite serious. It was understandable. Interactions with demons were frequent enough to be considered normal in this world, but contact with a Demon King—especially one emitting such evil energy—was a different story. If a battle had occurred with a Demon King, it would escalate into an international issue, violating non-aggression treaties between nations. Even if a battle hadn't occurred, it was an undeniable fact that a Demon King had descended.
Usually, the reason a Demon King is called to the human world is to form a contract. If they were truly trying to form a contract with a Demon King, it was a significant problem, as it would be an illegal entry by a Demon King without following official procedures, as well as a violation of contract law. Moreover, judging by the traces of Ryunar, it seemed they had successfully formed a contract. If a battle had occurred, they could hold the demon side responsible, but if a formal contract had been signed, the human involved would be punished according to the laws of the human world.
The instructors, possessing vast knowledge, realized from the density of the contract traces that the parties involved were quite powerful. They were currently hunting down the members of the Gold Taeyang clan one by one, but it didn't seem like those guys had the level of power to leave traces like this. If so, the contractor was probably...
"Where did Instructor Drae go?"
Alfred’s remark, seemingly indifferent yet piercing the heart of the matter. They had received information that their colleague, Instructor Drae, had fallen into a trap, and upon hearing Lenea’s grave warning that a big shot had arrived, they had rushed here with all possible preparations. And what they found were traces of destruction and slaughter with no one in sight. They had come to save a colleague, but now they were in a situation where they had to suspect that very colleague.
"Looks like hundreds died without much effort."
Glquein snorted, as if she couldn't believe it.
"That man. He didn't seem like someone who would do something like this."
Alfred stared at Glquein before speaking.
"They said his servant was in danger. There were also reports that people associated with him were attacked. He has every right to be angry."
"So? You want me to overlook the fact that he contracted with a Demon King?"
"......"
"Since when have you been so compassionate? Alfred."
To Glquein, the Demon King and the demonic energy might be one thing, but a contract with them was not a matter to be taken lightly. Alfred, knowing Glquein’s sensitive spot, did not reply further.
"Haa."
Mullin pulled a bottle of liquor from somewhere, as if she had a headache, and popped the cap. She looked like she was about to gulp it down, but she clicked her tongue and put the bottle back down.
"That idiot."
She had no idea where Drae had disappeared to. However, she thought she understood his goal. Drae knew that they—the instructors and his acquaintances—would come looking for him. So, he had moved to a different location to avoid being interrupted while doing 'something' to the Gold Taeyang clan members. That was the only way she could think of it. The problem was that not only the clan members but also the people they had kidnapped had vanished.
'Do not cross the line.'
Thinking of the face of the instructor who seemed like a fool and a sociopath, yet was actually quite kind in his own way, Mullin put the bottle away. Searching would be useless. Nevertheless, they couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
A few days later.
Whatever happened to Drae, daily life continued as usual. There was only one notable point. The Hero, Kaits, was discovered by a passerby collapsed in a vacant lot, unconscious, which turned the country upside down. There was a lot of noise about whether he had been attacked, but it calmed down for the time being after he testified that he had just fallen asleep from exhaustion. Various people were questioning the upper echelons of Narnia about what they had been doing while the Hero was subjected to such grueling work, but that was none of the concern for some people. Those people were the ones looking for Drae. Drae was still missing.
"Do you think this makes any sense?!"
"...!"
El’s angry voice shook the room. Fred hurriedly bowed his head.
"I gave you a week and gave you command. And yet, you still can't find one person? A person who disappeared along with thousands of cheap, gold-dyed, tanned-skin idiots, and you can't find them?"
"......"
Fred, one of the captains of Graize, felt the heir’s genuine anger directed at him for the first time in his life. Rather than feeling angry at El’s unreasonable rage, a sense of sorrow and fear washed over him. El was a kind girl. Even if she seemed cold and sharp to those she didn't know well, she was actually quite considerate. Moreover, she was infinitely generous to those she allowed into her heart. How much had Fred benefited from her kind heart? That was why he had been jealous of Drae, whom El seemed to genuinely cherish, and had acted sourly in Mirph village. Even when Fred had been arrogant back then, El hadn't shown this level of anger.
'I’ve been trying so hard to get back into the good graces of the lady who has been strangely cold to me ever since...'
Because of Drae, who hadn't been found despite pouring all their efforts into it for days, Fred was having his competence doubted and was paying dearly for the karma he had accumulated.
"And you call yourself a captain in charge of one of the Seven Scales of Graize? Huh?"
"...M-My Lady."
"...Are you trying to talk back to me now?"
At the voice that turned cold in an instant, Fred quickly shook his head. And to show that he had no intention of doing so, he bowed his head again. Even when he had opposed Fred dating Flat, it was never to this extent...
Then, a voice suddenly cut in.
"He will be safe."
"...Flat."
A handsome man sitting quietly with his hands clasped on the chair opposite El. Fred inwardly rejoiced, wondering if the freeloader who only ate was finally earning his keep. He, who had stopped wearing his regular knight’s uniform and started wearing civilian clothes at some point, spoke again in a calm voice.
"Drae will be safe."
"That... must be true, right?"
"Of course."
It didn't sound like comfort; it sounded like he was stating a calm fact. Moreover, his tone was accompanied by a certain bitterness.
El was quick-witted and sensed Flat’s mood, but she had no room in her heart right now. How could she not worry when he had vanished with thousands of vicious criminals who ruined the minds of women and their lovers?
"...I have to go interrogate them."
Interrogation.
That referred to the Gold Taeyang members who had been caught while daring to scout Graize from afar without knowing their place. El walked toward the dungeon with a bold stride, as if to say she wouldn't accept any counterarguments.
'I’m going to kill them.'
She even considered torture, something she had never done before. El went down to the dungeon, accompanied by Fred, who was panting as he chased after her. And upon arriving in the basement, she smelled the thick scent of blood.
"......"
And she saw. The gruesome corpse of a Gold Taeyang member, his upper and lower body severed against the wall, spilling his entrails...
"...My Lady. Please step back."
Fred blocked her view to prevent the delicate girl from seeing the cruel sight. For some reason, El opened her eyes wide and sniffed the air, then gasped as she regained her senses.
"W-What, how did this..."
El, looking around, stopped speaking when she discovered the family knights collapsed on the floor. An intruder? In Graize? Who on earth?
'The alarm didn't go off?'
High-level alarm magic should have sounded even if it were destroyed, but there was nothing. At that moment, Marien, the head of the knights, rushed into the dungeon.
"My Lady! You are safe."
"Yes, Marien. But, did you find him?"
"...!"
Marien was in the same boat as Fred, being questioned for not finding Drae, so she kept her face pale and maintained a rigid posture.
"We will find him soon. If you could just wait a little longer..."
"No. Not Instructor Drae! Even if I cherish him, I know I have to check if the family members are hurt first...! I mean, did you find the intruder?"
Had she subconsciously called Drae precious just now? But it wasn't a very important matter to Marien, who had tasted the lady’s kindness for the first time in a while.
"We haven't found the intruder. But we found traces."
"Traces?"
"...Yes. Actually, about what I said earlier about finding him soon..."
"......"
Marien’s explanation was this: The alarm magic had been completely 'destroyed' and ruined before it could even sound. What had cut the magic circle was a sword aura sharper than anything else. In other words.
"Drae, was he here?"
"It is only a guess, but perhaps the Gold Taeyang members that we, Graize, had captured..."
Marien, who had seen the corpses, frowned and continued.
"...It seems he came to kill them."
He had trespassed into one of the Ten Great Families just to kill people. Marien shuddered inwardly at the insane act that not only ordinary people but even nobles or powerful figures beyond status wouldn't dream of.
"...Drae."
The Drae El knew was someone who couldn't kill people. Why was he so angry that he would do this? No, in the first place, how much did she really know about him?
A few hours later. News arrived that the Gold Taeyang members who had been held captive in other Ten Great Families, and even at Pruynar Academy, had all died.
"So, why do we have to guard this place?"
Mullin’s blunt voice. She was in a foul mood because she hadn't been able to sleep lately and had only been working. Especially when Frostia, right next to her, would bang on the table filled with delicacies that would break a table, shouting, "Woo! This looks delicious too!"—it made her want to commit dragon-slaying. Mullin took her eyes off Frostia and looked at a man. Not just her, but Glquein, Blurt, and Alfred—all the notable instructors were gathered, surrounding one man. That man was the Academy’s vice-principal, Gyaier. He was sitting with a chair in front of the entrance to a certain bar. Gyaier said with a chuckle.
"Because he will come here."
"Why would a guy who’s busy playing butcher come here?"
"Oh, Mullin. Your manners toward the vice-principal... *Ahem*."
Blurt, who had instinctively warned her, turned his head away with a cough when Mullin glared at him fiercely.
"Because there is someone here who laid a hand on his precious servant."
"That regular knight?"
A knight who was trembling and drinking liquor with a pathetic look. In other words, he was bait.
"All the outsiders we had captured are dead. Even the ones we were hiding at the Academy."
That was right. It was shameful, but the Gold Taeyang members who had been captured after infiltrating the Academy were all dead. Most of those who had invaded were killed by Frostia, but the ones Mullin had captured separately were also dead before she knew it. She hadn't neglected her guard, yet the security had been perfectly breached without room for excuses. To think that someone could sneak into this fortress in the sky if they put their mind to it. Even the principal, Lenea, was tongue-tied at the secrecy and boldness. What made her even angrier was...
'That damn dragon girl. I want to tear her mouth open.'
Frostia, who was giggling while putting snacks in her mouth, seemed to have met the invading Drae. When she asked why she, who had been whining that her descent rate would be consumed, had become so active after all the Gold Taeyang members were dead, she said she had been recharged by that human—Drae. When she asked what he was like then...
"Hmm? Well. I don't know, he hugged me, injected Ryunar, and left right away."
She was sitting there saying things like this. Mullin seriously pondered whether that pig-like bitch was really the head of the Eight Demon Kings.
"What if he sneaks in again and kills only the target?"
"That will be impossible this time. Last time, he killed them in an instant while we were off guard, so we couldn't prepare, but... *Hehe*."
Gyaier cracked his knuckles. Mullin frowned at the inexplicable unpleasantness, as if she had heard the sound of machinery moving.
"Yes. I hope we meet soon."
Before enough time passed that the incident couldn't be resolved. 'No. Is it already irreversible?' The Demon Realm was completely turned upside down. 'To think... Inris, the 'Demon King of Color Dreams' belonging to the True Yeonok, which only has 13 members, was annihilated, and the one who did it was Drae.' Did that idiot even know the world had been turned upside down?
Ring-ring-ring.
Beep.
"...Haa."
Shin Jin-pae sighed in frustration and put down the communicator. If even one of the Gold Taeyang clan members answered, he could pinpoint their location. But no one was answering. Three days had passed since the Gold Taeyang clan had all 'disappeared' and the 'Demon King of Color Dreams,' Inris, had been annihilated. He felt like he was going to die of frustration.
'The Gold Taeyang clan, honestly, it doesn't matter if they disappear.'
They were just nuisances who had contracted with Inris. They were trash that had been ruined because they didn't know their place again this time. There was no reason to regret them. He was just curious about what Drae was doing right now...
Ring-ring-ring.
He made the call he had already made thousands of times without any expectation. Please. Anyone. Anyone, pick up. This communicator was close to an artifact directly connected to the Gold Taeyang’s soul. In other words, there was no fear of being wiretapped; as long as that person was alive, it would work. Takashi, who had been forcibly summoned and taken out using a skill a while ago, had been taken by the chairman. He had hoped to hear from him, but since he was undergoing treatment to recover from his half-collapsed mental state, this phone call was the only way for Shin Jin-pae to know Drae’s current situation. And.
Beep.
"......"
The other side. Picked up.
He hadn't had high expectations. There was a harvest. Shin Jin-pae asked in a trembling voice.
"...Are you part of the Gold Taeyang clan?"
The other side was silent. It sounded like there was noise.
"I asked if you were part of the Gold Taeyang clan."
He started to get angry. Because these bastards moved on their own, he had fallen into a crisis. He might even meet that guy he never wanted to see again—Drae. He felt like he was going crazy at that fact. Shin Jin-pae shouted with a fierce expression that shattered his image of being a sweet man to his employees.
"You son of a bitch! I asked if you were the Gold Taeyang clan! You idiot bastards...!"
[Jin-pae.]
"......"
Shin Jin-pae. Froze. He hadn't forgotten. He couldn't forget. Even if years, decades, or hundreds of years passed, how could he forget this voice?
[Jin-pae.]
Calling him by his name, with the same voice and title as back then...
[Is it you again.]
"...D-Drae."
For a moment, he couldn't think of anything. Shin Jin-pae grabbed his trembling throat and barely squeezed out the words.
"I, I... As you said. I lived diligently and, in my own way, kindly. That, that...! That! What was it..? Ah! Y-Yes, yes, yes, that’s right. Gold Taeyang clan. I didn't tell them to do it...! Those bastards, I clearly told them to serve you respectfully... Ah! I didn't tell them to commit those evil acts either! O-Of course, I knew to some extent, but they left my hands, they were in a different department, I didn't tell them to do it!"
He babbled. Shin Jin-pae pleaded in a servile voice.
"T-That, you said so too...! That if I survived on the hospital r-rooftop, you wouldn't touch me unless I moved first...!"
[......]
Beep...
The communication was cut off. This phone wasn't a true artifact, but a tool made to be infinitely similar to one. The effect of an artifact can only be canceled with the consent of its owner. Drae hadn't asked for anyone’s consent. The fact that the call was cut off in this way meant... the user. That is, the Gold Taeyang member, was dead.
In the first place, it made no sense that this phone could be used. In game terms, an artifact is a bound item. It is impossible to use it just by receiving it. It is only possible to use it after transferring it if you completely subjugate the soul of an outsider who has a mental defense skill. How on earth did he break the soul, and in what way, to take away and use the power that was the same as someone else’s artifact?
Shin Jin-pae once again confirmed one fact he hadn't doubted in the first place. That the one who killed Inris was indeed Drae.
"..."
Shin Jin-pae looked around the room. He felt like Drae would pop out from somewhere at any moment.
"...A-Ahhh...!"
The nightmare, once again, tore through Shin Jin-pae’s mind.