What If You'd Just Stayed Silent?
History books recorded that the descent of the Demon King was an event so rare it had scarcely occurred a handful of times across the continent's long ages.
The first emperor, chosen by the gods, pierced the Demon King's heart with his holy sword. Then the continent's frozen time began to flow once more, and the dead earth stirred back to life.
A faithful holy knight born in the far west led his companions to the far east, slashing and shattering the Demon King's true form. Only then did the catastrophe finally halt.
The northern hero swung his massive blade to freeze the very sky, cleaving and pulverizing even the Demon King's heart. Thus ended the era of extremes.
And so on. Every tale was the stuff of myth.
Stories proving that the Demon King could only fall to a 'hero'—one chosen by the gods, wrapped in layers of divine blessings. That was the common belief: no hero, no victory over the Demon King.
'They say a hero always pierces the Demon King's heart.'
No, the opposite. The one who pierces the Demon King's heart becomes the hero, revered as such.
Even if you fought through the demon hordes to reach it, fail to strike the heart, and you're no hero.
So Cheon Ji-hoo figured he could pierce the Demon King's heart just fine, hero or not.
It was divided into 666 fragments, after all. No reason to fear a splintered king.
The Silence Demon King, true to its name in its silence, finally parted its heavy lips.
“......I have devoured seven Demon Kings thus far, amassing their power. Foolish mage... I shall grant you a death you'll regret eternally.”
“Demon King of eight six-hundred-sixty-seconds...”
One or eight—made no difference.
The Silence Demon King stepped forward.
It kicked off the ground thick with Holy Landmines and charged. The triggered mines erupted, upheaving the earth in explosions. Dirt clouds billowed, stone shards flew.
From the swirling dust, it burst forth, slicing the haze with a handblade. Unfazed, Cheon Ji-hoo invoked Space Transfer to evade.
But.
“Halt.”
One word from the Demon King, and the ambient mana fell utterly silent, blocking the spell.
This wasn't a counterflow disrupting the formula mid-cast. The mana itself had gone quiet.
Mana: the universal energy essential for all magic. When it refused to flow, no spell could manifest.
Troublesome.
By then, it was upon him, fist whipping out in a graceful arc. Unable to dodge, the blow hammered into his gut. Cheon Ji-hoo flew back, tumbling across the ground.
So this is Silence's power.
He rose casually, brushing off the dust.
It had landed one hit, but the damage was negligible—thanks to the multilayered armor he'd wrapped around himself beforehand.
Hmm...
The Silence Demon King charged again.
No choice but to fight back. He began deploying magic.
Again, the Demon King interfered. The forming spell froze solid, inert.
“Then how about this?”
Even in harsh conditions, a mage finds a way.
If atmospheric mana went silent, complete the spell internally.
Impossible for ordinary mages, but Cheon Ji-hoo's body—remodeled by mana circuits—made it feasible.
Bones and flesh as the foundation.
Blood vessels and blood as the formulas.
Mana churned within, forging the spell. Even the Silence Demon King couldn't touch this; internal flows were distinct from external ones, perfectly sealed against leakage.
It closed in once more, black hair and ashen robes fluttering as it swung wide with its fist.
No second mistake. The instant the fist neared, light flared.
A spell untouched by silence materialized above him, gleaming fiercely.
The Holy Landmine detonated point-blank in a counterstrike. Blinding radiance overwhelmed it; the Silence Demon King couldn't withstand the blast and was hurled far away.
One hit returned.
And from here on, it was his turn to press relentlessly.
Before it could silence mana again, he rapidly invoked spells. Completed magic was beyond its reach—he'd just confirmed that in the clash.
“Halt!”
Its shout echoed from afar.
But he'd already finished: Holy Binding and Reversal, shaped in his hands.
Dozens of golden chains erupted from the magic circle, streaking toward the Demon King through dirt and empty air.
It punched them aside with brutal force, but the chains pressed on undeterred.
That was Reversal's effect. Whenever the chains shattered or veered off under its power, the spell inverted the mana flow, guiding them back on course.
A great archmage's magic didn't snuff out easily.
At last, the golden chains coiled tight around the Silence Demon King, radiating holy power that repelled the surrounding demonic energy and seared its flesh.
“As expected—worse than trash.”
A true, undivided Demon King would shrug off chains like these. It wouldn't be bound by mere holiness of this caliber.
“You damned cur...”
“Weakling mouthing off.”
Cheon Ji-hoo brushed the last dirt from his t-shirt and poured more mana into the binding circle.
The chains wrapped around its mouth, sealing it shut.
Humiliated, the Silence Demon King thrashed, but each struggle only tightened the holy golden bonds further.
But a Demon King can't end here...
What set it apart from a regular demon? Just the mana-silencing ability?
He might've taken a surprised hit at first, but not twice.
“Well, even as a Demon King... just a blowhard after all.”
Seal the silence, and it was no different from any demon.
Judging by its state, the fragmented 666 Demon Kings symbolized its authorities. Just as heroes bore divine blessings from the gods, Demon Kings wielded demonic ones from their dark patrons—shattered into 666 for some reason.
...And it wasn't guaranteed that only the Demon King from my old world lurked on Earth.
Too optimistic to assume just one. HCU data from returners showed diverse dimensions: mostly standard fantasy worlds, but some with elves and dwarves swapped, others lacking even basic magic.
Elves mastering machines and metallurgy was a trip...
As he recalled the files and prepped his next spell, Cheon Ji-hoo flinched and looked up at the Silence Demon King.
It bared a feral, mad gleam, black eyes now fully darkened, weeping thick tears of viscous demonic energy.
“Yeah, no way it'd end this smoothly.”
Demons always pulled some unpredictable stunt. Feints against even him. Sacrificing whole villages as tribute to summon abyssal horrors.
What about the king they worshipped? Hundreds of times more insane, no doubt.
He widened the distance, pre-casting spells for a barrage. Then, analysis.
The thick demonic tears streaming from its eyes had drained the chains' golden hue—even with Reversal holding.
No point maintaining them. To conserve mana, he released Holy Binding and Reversal, reclaiming the power.
Deep breath in. He traced a vast circle with both hands.
A massive blue magic circle bloomed behind him, spinning slowly. Formulas interlocked, geometries meshed—like clockwork gears wound tight, whirring with a strange keeeen as it awaited release.
-ROOOOOAAAAARRR-!!
The Silence Demon King no longer wept tears; it drowned in them.
The sight filled his mind with revulsion. He'd seen plenty of horrors in the other world, yet this stirred fresh disgust.
Maybe the form itself disrupted sanity.
“A domain.”
Analysis upon analysis. This was erecting a 'domain'—the rift's native realm, pre-existing, now dragged to the surface.
Even decapitating the body he'd bound would've triggered the same.
What a pain.
The humanoid shape was just an avatar.
Now it manifested its true body.
The melted Demon King flesh spread across the ground in a liquid pool, forming a vast black puddle.
A nauseating sight, even to behold.
Ripples stirred at the puddle's center. The liquified body reformed.
Before it could act, Cheon Ji-hoo extended a hand to unleash his prepared spell.
A tiny droplet formed at his fingertip.
A question to reality: Can you birth a flow of water in this world?
Reality assented at once. Nourished by his mana, water flows emerged.
What hovered around him started as a mere brook, swelling swiftly into a raging river.
Water is the softest, yet the fiercest.
Formulas amplified the pressure; the massive current thinned to a silken thread—a peerless sword that could slice anything.
One final word sealed the query.
“Water Severing Beyond the World.”
Water births a flow that severs all.
The thread-fine stream lanced toward the Silence Demon King at invisible speeds, cleaving body, domain, everything.
It rent the Demon King's flesh, gouged the silence-choked ground.
Waves thrashed wildly, as if to bisect space and world alike.
Viscous demonic energies scattered. Cheon Ji-hoo exhaled long and slow.
With every trace of malice and murder sliced away, the air felt easier to breathe.
But relaxation was off the table. As history attested, Demon Kings pulled any stunt imaginable.
This one had devoured seven others. Beyond silence, seven more authorities lurked—tension stayed coiled tight.
Breath in. He scanned the surroundings.
Slowly, contemplatively, probing mana flows.
Mana flowed freely, unsilenced.
Then, the anomaly hit.
Cheon Ji-hoo let out a low chuckle for the first time.
“Hmm... didn't see this coming.”
The ground bubbled like a struck oil well, black pools erupting.
Hundreds of the Silence Demon King's bodies surfaced.
The moment he saw it, Cheon Ji-hoo tore open his own rift, slipped inside, and sealed the entrance.
A single step back for two forward.
What it'd shown was the authority of 'division'—a nasty one, not the sort erasable on the spot.
Thus.
“Let's take a breather.”
For peak condition, a brief rest.