Chapter 11
Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Demons Among Us
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After the Great Cataclysm, countless threats emerged.
Gates and monsters surprisingly didn't pose a major threat to humanity. They could be controlled.
In fact, they were a blessing, providing the miraculous mineral known as mana stones.
Some even deliberately left gates uncleared, mining mana stones like a quarry.
The real threats to humanity were something else entirely.
First and foremost, fellow humans—villains.
Even this wasn't a dire threat, truthfully. As long as society held together, villains would always be a minority. They were a headache, sure, but they couldn't push humanity to the brink of extinction.
That changed when villains allied with other threats.
Namely, the Outer Gods.
Humanity had no idea what the Outer Gods truly were at this point.
At some moment after the Great Cataclysm, cults worshiping them sprang up worldwide. Everyone dismissed them as fringe sects, but they were anything but.
The Third World nations fell first, one by one, into the hands of these Outer God followers.
It was all hushed up, but surveys suggested over a fifth of the global population had already fallen under their sway. More extreme estimates put it at a third or more.
Fortunately, middle powers and above avoided that fate.
They eradicated every cult that appeared. The followers persisted like cockroaches, but their forces weren't overwhelming—yet.
Instead, advanced nations, especially first-world countries, faced a different infiltration.
Demons.
Most people couldn't distinguish demons from Outer Gods yet, but they were distinctly different entities.
More precisely, rival factions, each infiltrating humanity in unique ways.
Unlike the Outer Gods, who built cults and followers, demons targeted individuals.
They struck contracts with key figures in each nation, turning them into puppets and pulling strings from the shadows.
'I was floored when I first heard most Silicon Valley big tech firms had demon contracts.'
Demons didn't just tempt villains seeking power.
They preyed more often on the powerless but greed-ridden—like entrepreneurs and politicians.
Do-hyun had no clue how many S&P 500 giants had fallen into demonic clutches, beyond big tech.
'Washington's political scene is crawling with demon contractors. No wonder absurdities like California secession or the Philadelphia Massacre happen.'
He was starting to question if coming to America was the right call.
No one but Do-hyun could imagine it yet, but the U.S. situation was a total shitshow.
'On the flip side, fixing America means preempting a ton of schemes from Outer Gods and demons alike.'
Do-hyun eyed the demon possessing Cheng.
The demon blackened Cheng's sclera with demonic energy, then fixed its gaze on Do-hyun.
"What can a mere seventh-circle lackey demon like you offer?"
-!!
"You're just a subordinate anyway, aren't you?"
The demon before him was the Great Ghost.
Do-hyun didn't know its true name; the Chinese contractors just called it that.
Silicon Valley big tech crawled with similar demons—mid-tier trash under higher-ups.
-...You know of His existence? Whose pawn are you? I'll drag you to Him and dissect your soul piece by piece.
Cheng—no, the Great Ghost—reached for the laptop and initiated a hack.
A demon hacking? Awkward sight, but not incomprehensible.
Demons possessed intellect far surpassing humanity's. Manipulating human tech was child's play.
'At this stage, demons face restrictions on direct demonic energy use on Earth, so they rely on tricks like this.'
The Great Ghost had granted Cheng the Psychic Hacking skill. As the original, its prowess dwarfed the copy.
Now it was hacking Do-hyun's body—specifically, his nervous system.
'Hacking a living body requires Level 8 power.'
In other words, the Great Ghost's current strength equated to a Level 8 Nova, not mere S-rank.
But,
'Sloppy.'
Level 7 or 8—ridiculous in Do-hyun's eyes.
He was only Level 7 himself, but countering such amateur hacks was trivial. No fancy skills needed.
The Shadow Knight's forte was hyper-sensitive sensation.
Sensation boiled down to finely tuning the nervous system.
Even a Level 8 hack just blocked some synapses. Do-hyun bypassed them via alternate paths, nullifying it effortlessly.
-Wh-what? No soul evolution, yet you wield such ability?
The demon bellowed in shock.
"Got anything else? I'll wait—give it your best shot."
The Great Ghost gnashed its teeth, veins bulging as it tried deeper hacks.
No dice.
It couldn't breach Do-hyun's nervous system.
'Man, I wanna devour it already.'
He was stalling for the right moment.
Something was coming.
Finally, the demon abandoned hacking, surging with raw demonic energy in a burst of fury!
Ignoring restrictions, it resorted to brute force.
That was the cue.
Do-hyun heard the voices he'd been waiting for.
"It's a demon!!"
"You okay, sir?!"
The Awakener Terror Suppression Unit operators, entering on Do-hyun's signal!
'Can't catch a demon without an audience.'
Do-hyun glanced at their body cams.
Everything from here would stream live to JB PHH's ops room.
And beyond—to the top.
All the way to the Pentagon in Washington.
The whole U.S. government was glued to today's incident.
Do-hyun stepped forward lightly.
The demon recoiled in primal fear.
Too late.
"It's show time."
His blade flashed, its gleam hitting the retinas of countless viewers through the cameras.
Do-hyun's hunch was spot on.
Pentagon basement level 3, E-Ring B3.
The National Military Command Center (NMCC), heart of U.S. defense ops.
The military's top brass gathered, monitoring the terror attack at Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii.
"We need to drop a bunker buster on that silo right now!"
"A bunker buster on the U.S. mainland—at Pearl Harbor? Have you lost your mind?!"
"Better than letting the astral silo meltdown!"
"No guarantee a bunker buster destroys it completely. Short of tactical nukes, we can't be sure!"
"Did you just say nukes? On a U.S. military base?"
This incident had spiraled beyond Brigadier General Frankie and Hawaii command's pay grade.
Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs Chairman, Navy Chief of Staff, Ops Director—all voices raised.
No clear answers, though.
Every option was a nightmare.
"...What does POTUS say?"
President of the United States—the military shorthand.
"...No contact."
"How long since the incident? Still?"
"...He's tangled in a scandal—arrest or not. Even if we reach him, he'd just meddle, not help."
Sighs rippled through the NMCC.
Best bet: Bomb the silo pre-meltdown.
But who pulls that trigger?
Only POTUS could.
"Mr. Secretary, your thoughts?"
"I... oppose. The fallout's too much."
"No other options...!!"
The Secretary shook his head firmly.
A political appointee—he wouldn't shoulder it alone.
"We're just watching? Worst case, the whole Honolulu island gets contaminated with astral energy."
"That's why... this stems from JB PHH's security lapse..."
"This isn't about blame... Fine, I get it."
Then, shocking turn.
Thwack!
The Joint Chiefs Chairman punched the Secretary!
"Chairman...?"
"Oops, fist slipped. With our chicken-livered Secretary off to dreamland, decision's mine now?"
"Yes, sir!!"
"Martial law's declared? Prep bombing immediately."
"MOP? Or tactical nuke?"
The Chairman went silent.
MOP—Massive Ordnance Penetrator.
Devastating, but the silo was shielded by astral energy. No total destruction guaranteed.
Tactical nuke for certainty? Even he hesitated.
Then,
"Why not wait a bit...?"
"Smith?"
The youngest there, mid-to-late thirties, three stars on his shoulders.
Super Force Commander Smith Edward, Level 8 Nova—the U.S. military's strongest Awakener.
"Agents are moving in on the terrorists now."
"Three S-ranks, right? Hawaii Super Force can't handle that."
"Field commander's request."
Brigadier General Frankie had begged the Pentagon: Trust Do-hyun, just a little longer.
"Prep the strike anyway. Can't wait forever."
Minutes dragged like eons.
Then, horrific update from Hawaii.
"Villains summoned a demon!!"
Chairman winced, eyes shut.
Three S-rank villains were bad; a demon made suppression impossible.
"Bombing, then..."
But mere seconds later,
"Demon's been eliminated!"
"...What?"
The ops room monitors showed live body cam footage.
Two villains dead nearby; a sleek Asian man faced the demon's vessel.
The demon's aura screamed doom for the slender guy...
Then, unbelievable scene played out.
Slash-!
Splorch!!
"...??"
Every general blinked.
Demons—humanity's archfoe.
Everyone knew their might.
What the hell was this?
"Who's that superhuman...?"
Super Force's Smith stayed mum.
He'd gotten the brief, but knew zilch solid about Do-hyun. The report was absurd anyway.
Suspected Korean Devil-rank villain, Genocider?
Sticking to facts,
"America's new hero."
Chairman and all blinked again.
But it wasn't over.
"...Meltdown's started."
"Not too late. Blow the silo now."
"Evac that hero off-base! Strike in five!"
Yet another twist.
"Uh... Kim—that hero—says he'll enter the fusion reactor and remove the astral body to stop the meltdown!"
"...What? Impossible."
"Ah!! Jesus!!"
Viewers gasped in horror.
Do-hyun was doing the impossible.
Meanwhile,
Do-hyun's watchers weren't just Pentagon brass.
The terror had gone global as breaking news.
Media, online platforms, streaming services worldwide buzzed about Pearl Harbor.