Chapter 416
Chapter 416
Translator: penny
Chapter: 417
Chapter Title: The Name of the King
Ha-ryeong and I destroyed several more hidden magical beast colonies scattered around Mongolia and China.
In the process, I was able to steadily practice Partial Rampage to use demonic energy, and along the way, I learned a few things.
['Partial Rampage (A)' proficiency has increased by 5%.]
['Fatigue has accumulated from prolonged demonic energy use. Mental strength has greatly decreased.']
['Your body is adapting to demonic energy.']
['Adaptive trait 'Demonic Energy Adaptation (C)' has been acquired.']
First off, Partial Rampage was heavily influenced by my mental strength.
The more I used it, the shorter the time I could maintain my reason, and I could feel my mental strength dropping sharply.
To be precise, it seemed like 'demonic energy' itself was the cause, not the rampage.
Human bodies were the natural antithesis of demonic energy, to the point where there was a condition called 'demonic energy addiction.'
"......Now I can't even hold it for a second."
Today alone, I'd used Partial Rampage three times, at three-hour intervals.
I'd tried to exploit the lack of a cooldown by spamming it, but the first use lasted 10 seconds. The second, 4 seconds. And the third, I couldn't maintain even a second of reason.
It was like some kind of rechargeable ability.
After a full day of rest, my mental strength would recover, and I'd be able to hold 10 seconds of reason again.
"Huu......"
After taking a short break inside the colony, a sudden curiosity struck me, and I turned to Ha-ryeong.
"Ha-ryeong."
At my call, Ha-ryeong turned her gaze to me.
"By any chance, are you still in contact with Ja-un?"
It was something I'd been wondering about for a while.
Ha-ryeong had been trading various pieces of information with Ja-un based on the intel from the King of Prophecy.
Recently, they'd even traded over Jin Cheon-woo's journal.
Ha-ryeong paused in thought for a moment before answering.
"Right now, contact has been unilaterally cut off."
"I figured as much."
Given that I—the one Ja-un hated so much—had become the leader of the demons, it was only natural.
As I nodded, Ha-ryeong spoke up this time.
"Your Majesty. May I ask you something as well?"
"Sure. Go ahead."
"I'd like to know why you're so fixated on slaying black magical beasts."
It was a question about the 'black magical beasts,' but not entirely just that.
It was asking for the reasoning behind all the actions I'd taken as 'Kim Seon-woo' and 'Kim Jin-woo' up until now.
And I realized that to move forward as Ha-ryeong...... no, as the Demon King, the answer to this question was crucial.
I stared blankly up at the colony's ceiling before answering.
"To advance toward the future."
"Yo..2?"
"I've mentioned it before, right? That I possess a power similar to prophecy."
At the mention of prophecy, tension flickered in Ha-ryeong's eyes.
"I know the future of this world in broad strokes. And the black magical beasts...... no, the disaster-grade magical beasts and the destruction of the world they will bring—I know that too."
To be exact, it was 'Lee Seo-jun's death' brought about by the disaster-grade magical beasts, but for me, that was tantamount to the world's destruction, so it amounted to the same thing.
"......The world's destruction. You mean to change the future?"
"That's right."
"......As I thought, you are."
Ha-ryeong muttered something incomprehensible to herself.
Her eyes, lost in memories, were filled with longing.
"Ha-ryeong?"
At my call, she shook her head.
"......It's nothing. More importantly."
Ha-ryeong turned her gaze toward the cave entrance.
"Shouldn't we head back soon? The Association might come barging in."
"Yeah, we should."
It had already been 10 minutes since I'd started resting off the rampage aftereffects. We couldn't just sit here forever.
The moment I tried to stand, my legs gave out.
Whether it was a side effect of excessive demonic energy use or mana exhaustion, my body wouldn't move.
As I felt a moment of embarrassment, Ha-ryeong stared at me intently and said,
"......Among all the kings in history. No, you seem overwhelmingly the weakest."
"......What?"
What the hell, she's suddenly dissing me.
I stared at her in disbelief for a moment, but it wasn't wrong, and it didn't seem loaded with any deep meaning, so I let it slide.
"By any chance, do you know that each king has a symbolic title?"
Her out-of-left-field comment made me look at Ha-ryeong.
"A title? There's something like that?"
"Yes. You must know the title of the first king."
"Is it the King of Prophecy, by any chance?"
"Yes, that's correct. The first king's title is the 'King of Prophecy.'"
I already knew that, so I wasn't too surprised.
"And the second?"
"The second king's title is the 'Nameless King.'"
The Nameless King......
"That's different from what I imagined. I was thinking something like 'Traitor,' 'Immortal,' or 'Tyrant.'"
"His name, his origins—all that information was unknown when he ascended the throne, which shocked demon society and earned him that title."
I'd learned one more thing about demon traditions I hadn't known.
Though whether you could really call it a tradition when it wasn't that old was debatable.
"So, has my title been decided?"
"No. There are various candidates floating around among the clans, but nothing concrete yet."
Now she had me curious.
What were the demons calling me?
"What are the candidates?"
"The most frequently mentioned one is 'Revolution.' Since you defeated the second king and ushered in a new era for the demons."
"That's a title slapped on from the perspective of the first king's loyalists, thoroughly."
Ha-ryeong gave an awkward smile for a moment, as if I'd hit the nail on the head, then spoke again.
"For reference, the second most mentioned title is 'Weakest.'"
"......What?"
As time passed, I gradually adapted to life as the 'Demon King.'
In the early days of becoming the Demon King, all I could do was sigh over how I was supposed to live going forward, but nowadays, I had some leeway—I went out often, trained, or enjoyed leisure activities.
"......Yawn."
Even so, the overflowing free time was too much to handle.
Out of 24 hours in a day, 7 for sleep.
Even spending 8 on personal training left 9 hours.
Back then, I could've filled 8 of those with school classes, but now that wasn't an option.
And I couldn't just laze around guilt-free.
For reference, the magical beast colonies that had been encroaching on the Asian continent were currently stalled in their expansion, thanks to the Association and my subjugations.
This matched the original story's flow.
Cruas's underlings were probably pouring a ton of effort into resummoning familiars, buying time to recharge.
It'd be great to use this chance to go after the main body, but no matter what, the opponent was a disaster-grade magical beast.
Even with solid planning, victory wasn't guaranteed, and since Cruas's movements as their leader were unpredictable, I needed to steadily build up my strength.
And so, one day while lying in bed, bored and mentally drained......
Wei-ye, the demon now acting as secretary for the new Demon Council, came to see me.
"Your Majesty. Don't you think it's about time to prepare for the succession ceremony?"
"......Succession ceremony?"
My mind went blank for a moment.
Was this the succession ceremony I knew?
Wei-ye explained.
"As the name implies, it's a ceremony to celebrate the new king's ascension. Once it begins, demons scattered across the world will all gather in one place."
I'd felt this before, but these demons sure loved their events.
Even I, as 'king,' had been summoned here and there by Ha-ryeong.
"Do we really need to do it?"
"We must."
It wasn't Wei-ye's voice, but another woman's.
Turning my head, I saw Seon-hwa standing at the door, head bowed.
"The retired elders will gather for this event."
The demon elders.
I vaguely knew of them from the setting.
They were demons centered around those who served the first Demon King, who retired when the second Demon King took the throne.
"Though much time has passed since their retirement, they still command the respect of countless clans. Their presence will greatly help unite the shaky demon society after the recent change in leadership."
She had a point; I had nothing to say to that.
I thought for a moment, then nodded.
"What's the process for the succession ceremony?"
"There is a sacred relic passed down through generations."
A sacred relic. The uncommon name piqued my interest.
"The Chalice of Blood...... A legendary relic said to hold the blood of a god."
Just from the description, it sounded similar to the sacred relic 'Holy Grail.'
"The relic's effect is simple. If one qualified drinks their own blood from the chalice, they receive a divine mystery. And then......"
Seon-hwa trailed off.
"The king is granted a special authority. For example, 'prophecy' or the like."
A cold winter wind blew through the main gate of the Wizard Academy.
The suspension of classes due to the demon raid incident had ended, and students began trickling back into the once-empty school.
"Hey~ Long time no see."
"Yeah. Three weeks, right?"
"Wow. But Kim Seon-woo sunbae...... nah, calling him sunbae out of habit feels kinda weird now. Anyway, wasn't that seriously shocking?"
"Totally. I still can't believe it."
The students returning to school after so long all mentioned the 'Kim Seon-woo' incident as if by prior agreement.
"But there are rumors he's not a demon."
"You believe that cult? That thing where...... Kim Seon-woo is the hero destined to save humanity?"
"It sounded pretty convincing. His actions so far have been super unique."
"Still, that's too much. He got way too immersed. And apparently, that group has over 300,000 members now? Isn't that total overkill?"
"SBC's tying it to a cult and calling it Jin Cheon-woo Season 2—"
"Hey, shh!"
One student elbowed the side of the one chattering away.
The sudden action left the other with a puzzled look.
The elbowing student nodded toward one direction.
At the end of his gaze was Choi Seo-yoon, walking to school with listless steps.
"......Oh."
Choi Seo-yoon and Kim Seon-woo's relationship was already famous within the Wizard Academy.
From rumors they were dating to her being rejected 15 times—countless stories had circulated inside the academy for a year.
Since everyone knew Choi Seo-yoon's true feelings for Kim Seon-woo, they were being considerate, thinking of her sense of loss.
But to Choi Seo-yoon, it didn't feel like consideration.
That consideration only hurt her heart more.
She was usually skilled at managing her expressions, but not in this moment.
That's when someone latched onto her side.
"Seo-yoon!"
Startled by the sudden call, Choi Seo-yoon turned her gaze.
Beside her was Yoon Ha-young, smiling brightly.
She seemed even brighter than usual, and Choi Seo-yoon realized it was because she was conscious of the stares around them.
"Seo-jun and Ara are already there. Let's hurry."
An important meeting related to 'Kim Seon-woo' was scheduled for today.
Their destination was the Wizard Academy's personal training room.
Choi Seo-yoon glanced back, checking the hidden guards (Association watchers) inside the school, then entered the personal training room with Yoon Ha-young.
Opening the door to the private room Lee Seo-jun had mentioned revealed three people.
Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ara, and Shin Young-jun.
"Everyone's here."
Lee Seo-jun looked around at them and said so. Choi Seo-yoon gave a small bow in greeting.
"But why'd you want to meet here?"
"Because here, we can dodge the Association's surveillance."
The Association was watching outside.
But inside a private room, they could meet quietly without suspicion.
What important talk had brought them here?
"What did you call us here to say?"
At Shin Young-jun's question, Lee Seo-jun pulled something from his pocket.
Everyone's eyes widened at once.
"......What the hell. How'd you get that?"
"You sure you dodged the Association?"
To their questions, Lee Seo-jun nodded.
"I secured it safely, so no worries."
In his hand was the Compass of Bonds.