Chapter 413
Chapter 413
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 414
Chapter Title: Finishing All Matters
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After wrapping up everything.
I was cutting through a park not far from JWK's premises on my way back to the hideout.
"Daddy! Yooni's teasing me!"
"Now, now. You two need to get along, okay?"
Maybe because of the nice weather, the park was filled with families, groups of friends, and all sorts of people.
It was a heartwarming sight just to watch.
As I stared at it blankly, memories from the past two years suddenly flashed through my mind.
It had been a short time, but so much had happened.
They'd felt a bit bothersome at the time, but looking back, they were precious experiences.
"……Hoo."
There probably wouldn't be any ordinary daily life like that for me anymore.
A sigh escaped me, but I quickly cleared my head. It was a situation I'd half-expected.
……No, this was just the beginning.
The future would bring even tougher and more dangerous events than this.
"Still, it's a little better."
Just this morning, I'd felt this stifling pressure deep in my chest, but sorting out a few things had lightened my mood considerably.
Of course, there were still things left to resolve.
……Like Ellin or Yoo Ah-yeon.
They were people who'd shared various secrets with me, so if I got the chance, I'd somehow clear up the misunderstandings.
"The problem is how to clear them up……
Yoo Ah-yeon aside, the issue was Ellin.
I couldn't predict how she'd react to seeing me use demonic energy, given her ironclad belief that I was a servant of the Rune Clan.
"No way she'd come looking for revenge……?"
I thought it over carefully, but it didn't seem likely.
[Binding of the Rune] was a secret technique usable only by those with the blood of the Rune Clan.
So she wouldn't jump to the conclusion that using demonic energy made me a demon.
She'd suspect, though.
"Hmm."
Not knowing where Ellin was made it impossible to predict her next move.
Rumor had it she was being chased by the Association over her bodyguard duties for Han Se-jin.
……Hope it works out for her.
Right then.
Swooooosh!
A strong gust of wind blew from somewhere, brushing past my body.
At the same time, a chill ran through me, and I sensed an ominous surge of demonic power.
Demonic power……
It was the same type of power I'd felt before.
I immediately looked up at the sky where the power was coming from.
Sure enough, a massive something with wings was streaking across the sky.
[An abnormal flow of demonic power has been detected. Citizens, please evacuate immediately.]
The massive creature vanished silently soon after.
And in my mind, an event from the original story similar to this flashed by.
That was a dragon.
Not Cruas, but one of Cruas's subordinates, like the "Demon Beast of Disease."
"Aaaah!"
At that moment, a scream erupted from somewhere.
I instinctively bolted toward the source.
It wasn't far.
—Kieeeek!
A boy collapsed on the ground, crying.
And in front of him, a black demon beast was making grotesque snorting noises.
It looked exactly like the "black demon beast," the familiar summoned by the disaster-grade demon beast "Demon Beast of Disease" that we'd subjugated last winter.
—My king. The Special Task Force is coming. You must evacuate.
Seon-hwa's urgent voice rang out.
As she said, with a black demon beast summoned right in the heart of Seoul, the Special Task Force would swarm in soon.
Right then, the black demon beast charged at the child.
Driven by the instinct to protect the kid, I manifested an orb and fired it at the beast.
Boom!
The orb shot straight toward the black demon beast's head and exploded.
Black blood sprayed as the beast collapsed.
Unlike before, it lacked the power of "disease," so the ground didn't get contaminated.
The child slowly opened his tightly shut eyes, saw the fallen black demon beast, then turned to look at me.
His face was trembling.
That's when someone who seemed to be the boy's mother came running over.
"Thank you! Thank you……!"
The woman hugged her child tightly and kept bowing to me.
—Grrrrowl.
A demon beast's cry echoed from somewhere again.
Before I knew it, three black demon beasts were slowly closing in, surrounding me.
I glanced at them, then turned to the woman.
"Evacuate."
"……Yes!"
As the woman scooped up her child, the boy shouted.
"B-Bro. You're Kim Sun-woo, right?"
His sudden words left me staring blankly at him.
What? How'd he know?
I was wearing a hat and mask; there was no way he could recognize me.
"You! Kim Sun-woo? What kind of way is that to talk to the man who saved you?! S-Sorry. My child spoke out of turn……"
The woman hugged the boy tighter and apologized to me again. I didn't think it was that big a deal, but I nodded.
The woman and child soon disappeared somewhere.
I watched their retreating figures in a daze and muttered.
"How'd he figure it out?"
Then a voice replied.
—It seems he recognized it from the magic you used, my king.
"My magic?"
—Your magic's light is much clearer and brighter than other humans'.
"Oh."
After acquiring the [Aesthetic Sense] trait, my magic's light had become more vivid than others'.
But the difference was subtle; it shouldn't have been easy to notice.
"Kid's got sharp eyes."
—Yes, it seems so.
I nodded and manifested another magic orb.
No matter the situation, dealing with the black demon beasts in front of me was the priority.
—Kraaaargh!
The black demon beasts charged at me swiftly.
I calmly manifested three magic orbs at once and released them.
Boom!
The orbs instantly blew the heads off all three black demon beasts.
They weren't high-rank, so it was an easy cleanup.
"……Hoo."
I stared at the corpses in front of me, lost in thought for a moment.
The reappearance of the black demon beasts.
It was one of the devices signaling the start of a new arc after the major "Demons" episode from the original story had wrapped up.
Now it was time for me to prepare for the new episode……
But this time, unlike sticking by the main characters, I'd have to prepare alone.
"Over there!"
Just then, three people came running with a loud shout.
Special Task Force agents who'd detected the black demon beast's power and mobilized.
I watched them blankly for a second, then slipped away.
I'd finished all my personal errands and returned to the hideout.
The pitch-black space. The musty demon atmosphere hit me the moment I entered, draining my energy.
The demons who spotted me bowed their heads in greeting.
I still wasn't used to yesterday's enemies now serving me, but I accepted it appropriately.
"My king. I heard you were attacked by black demon beasts. Are you unharmed?"
A black-haired woman with a mysterious aura approached and asked.
Wi-ye.
A demon with strength close to S-Rank, third in the hierarchy after Ha-ryeong and Seon-hwa.
She had a cold demeanor, but she occasionally came to me with blunt, considerate questions—that was her thing.
From the brief explanation I'd heard that morning, she was acting as the secretary-general for the new demon council centered around me.
"I'm fine. More importantly, can't you turn on some lights here? You're not bats—why live in the dark like this?"
It wasn't a diss; I'd been curious for a while.
Demons lived in spaces without light.
The original story explained it, but never specified why.
"Our kind has very poor ability to distinguish light from darkness. So we have no issue living without it."
"Oh."
If they couldn't tell light from dark well, there was no need to waste energy lighting the place.
Even demons had to conserve energy.
"……If it inconveniences you, my king, we'll illuminate the entire hideout interior soon. Please let us know anytime if there are other discomforts. We'd be grateful."
With that, Wi-ye vanished into the darkness.
I walked through the hideout interior again and opened the door to the temporary room assigned to me.
Creak.
Inside were Ha-ryeong and Gretel.
They'd faithfully followed my order to play together, it seemed.
"Gretel."
"Eung-ae!"
Gretel ran over with joyful steps upon seeing me. I lightly picked her up and smiled.
Ha-ryeong gave me a light bow, then reported.
"Thanks to the Blood Crystal you bestowed, my king, we're supplying the clan with the human blood it needs. We can't control every clan member, but we're also planning to minimize hunts for blood consumption as much as possible."
"Good."
"……However."
I looked at Ha-ryeong as he continued.
"The human blood supplied through the Blood Crystal lacks 'mana,' so some clan members are voicing complaints."
All living beings' blood contains mana.
Blood-dependent races absorb the mana in blood to grow stronger.
This meant even with Blood Crystals, we couldn't stop the war between humans and demons.
"First, prevent attacks on humans as much as possible. We'll find a way to supply the missing mana."
"Understood."
After that, Ha-ryeong gave a few more reports.
"We're planning to craft a throne. Do you have any preferred form or material?"
"A throne? No need for that. Forget it."
I had no desire to lounge on some fancy chair enjoying power just because I was the demon king.
But Ha-ryeong shook his head.
"To unite the scattered clan, we need a fitting symbol. The throne will serve as the power to bring them together."
He put it that way, leaving me without a retort.
"Then do whatever's convenient for you."
"……Understood, my king."
Ha-ryeong bowed.
As he started to leave while gauging my mood, I called him back.
"Wait."
"……"
"A request…… no, an order."
"Anything you say."
Ha-ryeong bowed his head.
"You heard about the black demon beasts appearing this time?"
"I've heard that black demon beasts appeared across China and Mongolia today."
The black demon beasts hadn't appeared just in Seoul.
Cruas's subordinates had nested in China and Mongolia, causing heavier damage there.
If left alone, the growing numbers would lead to even greater casualties.
We needed to destroy their base before it got worse.
And since I'd become king, using this power wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Prepare for a demon beast hunt with me."
"……Miss. Won't you eat today as well?"
The mansion of the Choi family, one of the five great noble houses.
A worried voice came from beyond the door.
"You've been fasting for two days straight now. The family head is worried too."
Choi Seo-yoon didn't respond.
It had been three days since her father had forcibly confined her to the main house.
The incident with Kim Sun-woo and the simultaneous loss of her freedom had broken her will completely.
"……I'll come back."
The voice faded away quickly.
Choi Seo-yoon stared blankly at the door, then lay back on the bed.
The last image of Kim Sun-woo she'd seen kept replaying in her mind.
The black, ominous energy rising menacingly……
And the Association designating that Kim Sun-woo as a demon and pursuing him.
She desperately wanted to chase down anything related to him right now, but her father had stripped her of all freedom, leaving her unable.
She'd never hated her father, even though he was always strict with her—but this time, she truly did.
"……Sunbae-nim."
So many questions swirled.
Was he still alive? What was the identity of that demonic energy she'd seen?
What were the other sunbaes thinking right now……?
Feeling her insides burn, Choi Seo-yoon turned her gaze to the TV—the only way she could learn about the outside world now.
[The demon incident that rocked the world has passed, but humanity faces a new threat.]
The news, which had been covering demon-related updates, shifted to new information.
Watching it, Choi Seo-yoon thought this incident would eventually fade into memory too.
[Eleven months after the 'Demon Beast of Disease' subjugation in Nepal, black demon beasts have reappeared on the Asian continent. China and Mongolia have suffered the most damage, and South Korea is also seeing casualties spread nationwide from black demon beasts.]
Black demon beasts. The impact had been so huge she still remembered clearly.
She'd heard Kim Sun-woo had played a major role in subjugating the Demon Beast of Disease back then.
[Seoul fortunately achieved early suppression thanks to a mysterious wizard, with no casualties.]
Then CCTV footage appeared on screen.
A man in a black hat and mask.
His silhouette felt familiar somewhere.
And a spark of light flickered in her previously lifeless eyes.
[After saving citizens, he vanished quickly, and his affiliation and identity remain unknown. However, according to the rescued citizens……]
At the same time, footage showed the man manifesting a magic orb.
A beautifully shaped orb floating above his palm.
Her eyes trembled greatly upon seeing it.
"……Sunbae-nim?"