The Red Flower Falls
As the girl turned her back and fled, two more demons that had already transformed lunged forward. —Boom!
"Kyaang!" I grabbed the nearest one by the neck and twisted it clean off. Then I rushed the remaining beast just as its long snout was about to tear into the girl's head. I caught its tail at the last instant and yanked it back, then climbed up its spine and rained punches into its skull and eyes.
"Kweeeek!! Kweeeek!!" The pig-faced monster let out a few ear-splitting squeals before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud. The girl met my eyes for a brief moment, then spun around and vanished into the darkness once more.
From behind came a familiar voice I had heard before.
"Well now, if it isn't the young lady's guest."
The butler who had greeted us yesterday and given his explanations wore a spine-chilling smile. Every time the headlights swept across his eyes, they flashed crimson.
"I distinctly recall asking you to avoid nighttime outings. You really are quite the troublemaker…"
"…So you were a demon."
"That word is rather distasteful. We prefer the term 'chosen people.'"
"Shut your mouth. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Would you even understand if I told you? How could a mere ignorant fool comprehend our sacred cause?"
His reply was polite enough on the surface, but the tone dripped with deep-seated hatred for humans. The feeling was mutual. Every time I fought these beasts, the old memories came flooding back, twisting my insides.
I scanned the surroundings. The workers and guards who had been disguised as humans had long since shed their disguises. They snorted and drooled, their single horns and massive frames marking them as mostly third-rank demons—creatures closer to beasts than thinking beings. Only the one pretending to be the butler still wore a human face, watching me with those repulsive eyes. If there was a truly troublesome opponent here, it was him. The way he mimicked human behavior while commanding the third-rank demons suggested he was at least second-rank.
I recalled the faint beastly scent from the one I had met yesterday. If even a demon in human guise leaked that smell, it meant an extremely powerful individual—one that could not fully contain its presence. Getting distracted by Yeon Minha's sweet particle fragrance and failing to notice had been a painful mistake.
"Grrr…"
"Puh-ruk…"
The two-legged beasts tightened their encirclement from all sides.
"Your courage is commendable, but do you truly believe you can defeat this entire pack alone?"
"…I don't see why not."
"Puhaha. Even arrogance has its limits. What a shame. Once you're dead, that brat will fall right back into our hands."
The still-human demon sneered openly now, having abandoned any pretense of courtesy. I kept replying, buying time. Normally, slaughtering creatures like these would be trivial, but I had left my blade at the cradle because weapons were forbidden on private property. That wasn't the only problem. Demons were difficult opponents because of their versatile abilities. Their physical durability was monstrous, and those of second-rank or higher could even cast black magic. Even if I blocked their spells with Blockade, I would still have to face bodies several times stronger than a human's. Third-rank demons I could handle at my current level, but the one imitating the butler was another matter entirely.
Demons grew exponentially stronger with each additional horn. Both physically and in black magic. That was why facing a second-rank demon alone was considered reckless unless you had at least three mages in formation. I tried to push Predictive Eye past the fourth path, but my heart kept seizing with pain, as if it had not fully recovered, wasting the magic formula. Could I really take him on at this level?
"Ugh…"
The demons closed in. I stopped thinking and settled into a stance. Why these beasts had infiltrated the safest noble estate in the country, what "sacred cause" the demon had rambled about, why they had kidnapped people—none of it mattered until I survived. Their breathing and the stench of their mouths grew close enough to feel.
At some point, I counted silently. One. Two. With each number, the demons bared their gums, trembling with the urge to charge. Then three.
As if on cue, every maw lunged at me simultaneously. Their jagged teeth and heavy forepaws were lethal, but their cow-sized frames left plenty of gaps between them. I slipped through the openings, striking vital points and soft bellies. When that failed, I smashed their heads into the ground. Some convulsed and went still. Others I blinded with my fingers before snapping their necks from behind.
"Kweeeek! Kweeeek!"
"Keheung! Kehek!!"
Their cries were loud enough to scramble the senses. The ground reeked of blood and filth. At least their numbers were steadily dwindling—that was some small comfort.
—Thud!
"Haa… haa…"
After kicking aside the last dog-like corpse, I turned toward the high-ranking demon who had been watching from a distance. The face that had been wearing a sadistic human mask was now twisted with disbelief.
"Haa… I told you it wouldn't be impossible."
"How dare you… slaughter the revolutionary warriors…!"
The demon muttered in a voice thick with rage.
"Warriors? They were pathetically weak. Let's finish this. You don't look much different."
"You damn mutt…!"
The demon's temper flared at the insult, just as expected. Particles of the atmosphere began swirling violently around his body, forming a small vortex. The energy converted into demonic power and spread through him. His frame swelled to nearly twice the size of a third-rank demon. His skin turned bronze, muscles bulging as if about to burst. His horse-like snout split wider, and multiple twisted horns sprouted from his forehead and behind his ears.
"…Hah."
More than five horns. A low groan escaped me. This was a second-rank demon bordering on first-rank.
—Kwoooar!
Finished with his transformation, the demon bent his legs and leapt straight at me. I rolled aside, and a violent shockwave rippled outward. He spread his palm and muttered something in the beast tongue. A sinister crimson sphere began to swell in his hand. Just before he could throw it, I pushed the wave from my heart to its limit.
—Clang!
The sphere shattered like glass and scattered into the air. The horse-headed demon blinked in confusion, staring at his empty palm. I had allowed the transformation because his increased size would create more openings, but black magic was another story. Without weapons or a particle suit, leaving black magic unchecked was practically suicide. Taking advantage of his shock, I darted in low and drove my fist into his abdomen—only to hear the sound of striking solid ore rather than flesh.
—Boom!
The demon, now alert, swung his massive claws and forced me back. Third-rank demons had been manageable, but a second-rank one barehanded was pushing it. Another attempt like that and my wrist might shatter.
"…"
A sudden idea struck me. I glanced at the horns sparsely growing from his head. There might be a way after all.
The demon, having shaken me off, tried casting black magic again, waving his hands in frustration. Of course it failed. Finally giving up, the beast charged with thunderous hoofbeats. Despite his size, he was fast enough that I barely dodged.
—Kagagak…!
His claws grazed my mask with a metallic screech, and for a moment my vision swam. I shook my head, trying to dispel the sudden anxiety. The monster lunged again, trying to snatch me with his massive arms. I slipped past by a hair's breadth, used his arm as a springboard, and leapt onto the back of his neck.
"Kuark!!"
The enormous body thrashed wildly. He swung his razor-sharp claws, trying to tear me off.
—Slash!
"Ugh…!"
I tried to avoid everything, but the cramped space made it impossible. Several claws left gashes across my body. The poison on his talons burned sharply, clearing my mind. I braced one hand against his nape and reached out with the other, seizing one of his pointed horns. With all my strength, I wrenched it sideways. With a crack, the horn tore free.
"Kuark!! Kuark!! Kuooork!!"
The beast's frenzied thrashing threw me off, and I tumbled to the ground. Crimson demonic energy poured from the broken horn, leaking into the air.
"Puh-ruk! Puh-ruruk!"
Having barely recovered from the pain, the horse-headed monster glared at me with glowing red eyes. His horizontally slit pupils burned with indescribable fury. Horns were a demon's pride. Having one stolen, he would struggle to keep his sanity. His mindless charge was exactly what I wanted.
"Kweeeek!"
His muscles coiled like springs before he let out a roar and launched himself at me. I rolled aside, and he slammed headfirst into the concrete wall.
—Kwaaaang!!
The warehouse wall collapsed, burying him beneath the rubble. Before he could rise, I leapt onto his back and drove the broken horn deep into the gland above his heart, grinding it in with my foot.
"Kwek! Kweeeek…"
After several seconds of thrashing in agony, the monster finally went still.
"Haa… hah…"
I exhaled the breath I had been holding. The poisoned wounds stung, but there was no time to rest. I headed straight for the windowless building where the demons had been carrying the sacks. When I forced open the heavy iron door, the stench of blood and rot hit me like a wave. What could they possibly have been doing inside to justify all that talk of a "sacred cause"?
Following the stairs downward, the foul odor grew even more oppressive. Somewhere, water dripped steadily. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, a horrifying sight unfolded before me.
One wall of the basement was dominated by a massive, humming machine. Inside its translucent storage tanks, a dark crimson liquid sloshed. The sight of the horribly mangled corpses clogging the sewer was enough to tell me what the liquid was. Blood dripped from the long hoses onto the floor, where an enormous circular magic circle had been drawn. Every drop made the crimson lines pulse brighter. Unlike the clean, linear modern magic circles, this one was covered in intricate, curving ritualistic patterns. Though I had little knowledge of magic, I recognized it instantly.
It was a plague magic circle designed to spread clouds of concentrated poison in all directions—a large-scale black magic that sapped vitality and spread disease among those who could not use it. Such circles took a long time to construct relative to their size, but their effects were guaranteed, making them a common terror tactic in places with lax surveillance.
That was not the only strange thing. Though already enormous, the outer patterns extended in long lines beyond the building. I easily guessed where they led: toward the other Red Fire facilities. If the same circles had been installed there and connected… then a single, unimaginably vast magic circle covered the entire estate.
This place was not far from the capital's center, and it sat on high ground. If the magic activated, it would easily engulf the heart of the city. The death toll would be incalculable.
My mind raced. The ones at the scene had been demons disguised as servants and workers, but for them to treat this noble estate as their own domain was impossible without someone's tacit approval. And the only person in the Red Fire family who could overlook their activities was one individual—the family head. Yeon Minha's father.
"This is…!"
I immediately rushed outside. This place had long since become a den of evil. I did not know what kind of man her father truly was, but he was no longer the person Yeon Minha once knew. The urgency to escape burned in my chest.
The moment I stepped out, something small slammed into my chest again. It was her personal crow—the one that had brought Yeon Minha's note earlier. I wondered why it was still here, but its mournful cries tugged at my nerves. Despite its ordinary appearance, the crow was a first-rank magical beast. It possessed human-level intelligence and a developed field, making it nearly impossible to hunt with firearms. Its utility placed it closer to a spirit beast than a monster. There had to be a reason for its behavior.
"…Will you lead me to your master?"
—Caw!
As if it had been waiting for those words, the crow spread its wings and began guiding me into the darkness. Heart clenched with unease, I turned my back on the demon corpses and the suspicious basement, and followed the small bird.