The Return of the Real Demon King
Demon King—this was the name the state had bestowed upon a superhuman.
Throughout history, there had only ever been three beings called Demon Kings.
The first was a man who had appeared in India long ago, in an age now past.
Den Devesh.
He was an S-class reincarnated superhuman known as the Demon King of the Plains, and when his synchronization with his past life collapsed, he had gone berserk.
The Demon King’s reincarnation had come crashing down upon him, and he had nearly turned all of India into a sea of fire. It was then that superhumans came to understand exactly what happened when an S-class superhuman lost control.
A human disaster, through and through. With no SS-class superhumans in that era, stopping him had been all the more difficult.
The second was the one known as America’s first villain, the man who had appeared in the United States.
Eric Evans.
He had tried to wage war against America while bearing the reincarnation of the Demon King of the Deep Sea.
He, too, was an S-class superhuman, but unlike Devesh, he was perfectly sane.
He was simply a man consumed by malice, one who nursed a deep resentment toward America itself.
He operated on a different scale from the other S-classes and inflicted tremendous damage on the United States.
He became famous for the tale of how the man called the Four Thousand Righteous Warrior, then the symbol of America, had fought him back while losing his left arm and left eye in the process.
In that sense, Demon King was also a label given to those who bore such reincarnations.
But exactly ten years from now.
...the real Demon King would descend.
Yu Jin knew that the true Demon King would descend upon this cramped little country of Korea.
Unlike the other two, he was someone who did not possess the Demon King’s reincarnation at all, yet called himself the Demon King and became a human disaster.
And that person was—
—Demon King Park Deokin.
The greatest villain in history, the one who had brought Korea to the brink of annihilation.
That was Demon King Park Deokin.
A madman who controlled four spirit legion commanders and used hundreds of spirits to create catastrophes of unimaginable scale, declaring that he would slaughter all of humanity.
Yu Jin knew the face of that apocalyptic being who had shouted that he would become the Demon King and set the world ablaze. And yet—
...what the hell is this?
The moment he first saw the man introduced as Park Deokin, Yu Jin felt every hair on his body stand on end.
It’s definitely him, isn’t it?
Demon King Park Deokin. Was this really the same man Yu Jin had seen before? He had to think about it for a long while.
For the villain he knew, the man was far too—
...fragile.
Weak. Timid. A man who looked as though he had spent his whole life hunched in on himself.
For the Park Deokin who had once been called the Demon King of the End, it was far too strange. And also—
Why is he
appearing in this era as a knight?
Yu Jin couldn’t understand it. But that was only natural.
...This isn’t something I know.
It was too different from the past he knew.
As far as Yu Jin knew, Park Deokin had never moved as a knight, and he had never appeared at this point in time.
Where did it all go wrong?
What had he done wrong?
Then, like a passing shadow, someone surfaced in Yu Jin’s mind.
...Lee Jinwoo.
Lee Jinwoo.
A man his own age, a man who had attended the same school.
Is he the problem?
The moment he met that bastard, the moment he realized that bastard’s future had begun to change, everything had started to go crooked.
Then when had the past of the Lee Jinwoo he knew begun to change?
Was that because of me?
Was this the butterfly effect?
Were the cause and effect born from the tiniest beat of his own wings? Or—
...is Lee Jinwoo himself the problem?
He didn’t know.
But one thing was certain: everything had started to become tangled.
...At the very least.
Yu Jin’s Lee Jinwoo had been different from the one before him now.
Even the weapon he used wasn’t like that.
He had used a longsword, not the somewhat thick blade this one carried.
Wasn’t he called the Knight-Lord? Yu Jin remembered him as an S-class superhuman who had gone on a bloody rampage against terrorists.
...Everything has changed.
That Irene had suddenly come to Korea.
That the Association had created a new knight order called the Sixth Knight Order.
That Demon King Park Deokin had appeared out of nowhere.
Everything.
It’s all different from what I knew.
Different from what Yu Jin knew.
Twelve years.
A regressor who had returned to the past, traveling back across twelve years of time.
Yu Jin bit his lip.
* * *
While Yu Jin and the Association president were still deep in conversation, Park Deokin and I were seated on a bed, talking.
“This is a wiretapping device, something the old military used back in the day. They treat it like a relic, but... it’s not worth that much.”
“...”
“It’s called a CPP. It can be heard from far away, but the sound quality is pretty awful. On the other hand, its effective range is quite long.”
“How far is long?”
“Roughly ten to fifteen kilometers.”
“That’s pretty far, isn’t it?”
“I’d say so. If you assume mages are throwing up barriers, then considering that it can still transmit voices through those, it’s absurdly far.”
Park Deokin kept going, looking at the device in his hand.
“Something like this is usually used for... genuine national-level infiltration missions, or by spies. It’s surprising that they’d put something this hard to get into a mere branch office.”
“...”
“And at this level of quality...”
He continued speaking without pause, wearing a remarkably serious expression, and I eyed him strangely.
“By the way, hyung, how do you even know all this?”
“Hmm?”
At my question, Park Deokin’s eyes widened slightly.
“Ah... ahaha. I’ve always had a bit of a hobby in this area. Comes with the job, too.”
“...Your job?”
I recalled the background profile I’d seen for Park Deokin before. From what I remembered, there hadn’t been much there to suggest anything like this.
“I just worked in communications for a while... Things I picked up then, that’s all. Looking into this stuff on my own is just a hobby. I’m really into military gear.”
“...Ah, I see?”
I answered as if I’d accepted it—while at the same time, Hero's Super-sensory activated.
[Hero's Super-sensory has activated.]
With the skill active, I could read Park Deokin’s reactions in finer detail.
He’s lying.
That was a lie. I could feel the minute difference in his emotional expression.
What part is a lie?
Was the hobby a lie, or was the job a lie? Or maybe both.
What I knew for certain was—
He’s hiding something.
Park Deokin. He was someone with secrets of his own.
...Could it be
something related to terrorists, like O Jimin?
No, that didn’t seem likely.
Should I dig deeper?
Just as I was mulling it over—
Knock, knock.
I heard someone at the door.
“I’m back.”
It was Yu Jin’s voice.
* * *
“A wiretapping device?”
The moment Yu Jin returned, I told him about the device at once.
As soon as he heard, he frowned. We were in Yu Jin’s room now.
“...Hmm. There isn’t one in here.”
Park Deokin said this while looking around the room. So they hadn’t installed one in Yu Jin’s room?
“You mean there’s none in the room?”
“Yeah. Not in Mr. Yu Jin’s room. I guess...”
Park Deokin glanced at Yu Jin and went on.
“...they figured a wiretap would get found anyway.”
“...Hmm.”
Yu Jin reacted. I silently agreed with that.
It made sense.
If he was an SS-class superhuman, maybe Yu Jin could have noticed even a device like that, so it was possible they’d decided not to gamble.
“So that means the device was only in my room and hyung’s room.”
“That seems to be the case for now.”
“Is there any way to figure out more?”
“Hmm... I’m not sure. My skill has limits...”
Hearing that, I remembered what I’d discussed with Irene.
Park Deokin is a search-type.
He could identify things by remembering a person’s traits or the situation, or something along those lines.
But from the way he talked about the wiretap, there seemed to be more to it.
“Couldn’t you identify who planted it by tracing the device itself, or something like that?”
“U-uh... that’s a bit difficult. There’s a skill on the device, too. And the distance is far, like I said. At best, I can only manage about three kilometers.”
As he’d said earlier, the device allowed surveillance from a long distance.
If his skill couldn’t pick it up, then that meant...
It’s farther than three kilometers.
So the distance was quite substantial.
“That’s a shame. It’d be nice if we could figure it out right away.”
“Th-that... I’m sorry. I’m not skilled enough...”
“Ah, no. It’s not your fault, hyung. The problem is the situation.”
“Ufufu...”
At Yu Jin’s words, Park Deokin laughed foolishly.
He really seems to like Yu Jin, doesn’t he?
He seemed to like him far more than I’d expected.
Then Yu Jin picked up a sheet of paper beside him and began writing something with a pen.
I’ll speak in writing, just in case.
He had found the device, but since there might be more, he seemed to be preparing for the worst.
...A wiretap. I’ll have to report this to the branch chief again. Looks like they’re watching us from their side, too.
I didn’t expect them to go so far as to plant one from inside the room.
That only means we have to be that much more alert.
Yu Jin’s expression turned solemn. Watching him, I asked:
What are you going to do?
So a wiretap had turned up. I asked him what we should do now, and—
The plan itself won’t change. We’ll carry out the mission we were assigned. Tomorrow, we’ll head to Wolmi-do.
...Wolmi-do?
I froze at the name.
Yes. Since I heard the information points to Wolmi-do, I’m planning to search there first. Why? Is there a problem?
No. Nothing.
-Should I go with Mom?
The faintly rising voice that flashed through my mind made my mouth go dry, but I ignored it.
My answer had to match what I’d just said.
There was no problem at all.
There had to be.
* * *
Morning came, and I stepped out of the room. In case anything happened, we hadn’t talked for too long.
“Hello. I’m Jeong Hoyoon, and I’ll be driving you knights today.”
“...”
I froze when I saw the man who’d driven the car. Jeong Hoyoon. His real name was Ma Dongin.
...Damn.
At this point, hadn’t all the effort of speaking on paper and continuing our discussions become pointless because of the wiretap risk?
Anyway, the spy is already in place.
Just as a chill ran through me at the situation—
“I look forward to working with you.”
Yu Jin said with a smile. There was no way to act like we knew each other here, so I pretended not to recognize him as well.
“I’ll get you there safely.”
And so, we headed for our destination: Wolmi-do.
* * *
It took about forty minutes to arrive. Since it was rush hour, the trip dragged on a little.
“Your knight credentials have been verified. Please go in.”
Wolmi-do was a restricted zone. Entry required verification, but being an Association employee was enough, and the rank of knight could break through even that with ease.
Permission to enter the six restricted zones existing in Korea.
That was one of the privileges knights held.
I wondered if it was really right to call that a privilege, but it was an important authority all the same.
“Given the circumstances, I ask for your understanding that we can’t go beyond the entrance.”
Once we were some way inside, Ma Dongin spoke.
“Not at all. Thank you for your hard work.”
Yu Jin remained courteous, and Ma Dongin smiled in a friendly way.
“It was an honor to escort the knights. I hope you return safely.”
Just as Ma Dongin was about to drive off again—
Should I really let him go like this?
The terrorist’s spy.
I wondered if I should let him return at all. The problem was—
How am I supposed to explain that I noticed him?
That was the issue.
“Then I’ll head back first. I hope you have good results in your search for the villain...”
As Ma Dongin spoke, the engine started up.
Oh.
At the words he’d just said, my eyes widened.
This.
I think I’d found a way.
“Then let’s be on our way too...”
Just as Yu Jin turned his back and started forward to lead the way—
Shiiing.
I drew the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword from my wrist.
“Hm? Jinwoo?”
Yu Jin reacted when he saw me draw my sword.
And then—
“Why are you—”
Crack—!
“...Huh?!”
I smashed the car Ma Dongin had been riding in.
The car split cleanly in half.