The Sovereign of Demons
Dust poured down from the cave ceiling in a shower, and acrid debris scattered in all directions. Not only the fleeing small-time criminals, but even Weger and Roben, who had been locked in a bloody melee just moments ago, and Oden himself froze at the tremendous explosion, their eyes fixed on the depths.
Through the thick cloud of rising dust, a figure slowly emerged.
Thud, thud—the footsteps weren't particularly loud, but each time they struck the cave floor, the surrounding air warped grotesquely and grew heavier.
The one who stepped through the dust cloud was a sight straight out of a nightmare. A pitch-black robe pulled low over his head. The aura seeping from its hem was nothing like the pure, pristine mana of aura users—it was a viscous, space-devouring slime that oozed corruption.
"Gasp… w-what the hell is that!?"
Roben sucked in a sharp breath, overwhelmed by instinctive terror the moment he brushed against that energy.
Aura knights breathed in the clear mana of nature and stored it in their dantians. But the energy emanating from the robed man before them was utterly alien to anything born of the natural world.
Even Cael was taken aback by the sight.
'Huh? That thing?'
Seeing Cael's reaction sparked worry in Oden, who stepped forward with a hardened expression to block his path.
"Young Duke, it's dangerous. That doesn't look human."
"So it seems. The energy feels familiar… no, extremely dangerous."
"It's a demon. One of those cursed fools who've reached out to the devils."
"A demon? Ho…."
A familiar word. But unlike what Cael knew, in this fantasy world, it referred to worshippers of the abyss who brought calamity and curses.
A demon—tricky enough that four ordinary knights would struggle—was holed up in a border territory's black market, lording over a criminal syndicate.
The robed man slowly raised his head. His eyes, gleaming through the hood, weren't human; they were grotesquely slit like a reptile's.
"How dare you…. Invade my sanctuary…. You won't even die—you'll be flayed to the end of your souls."
The demon's voice grated like a beast's, inhuman iron.
He slammed his staff—topped with a red skull ornament—against the ground with a thunk.
"Ho? Is that right?"
The demon sneered at Cael.
"The young duke of House Restis. Kuhuhu, what a fine sacrifice walks right in. I'll personally strip your flesh from your bones and offer it on my altar. Kuhahahahaha!!"
Rumble—
Pitch-black demonic energy surged from the demon's body like a storm, instantly forming dozens of massive black fireballs poised to rain down on Cael's dais.
"Let's see you laugh in the face of hellfire! Kuhuhu!!"
Not even his Ascendant subordinates or Oden, an aura Expert, could breathe amid the heat and sheer magnitude of the mana; none dared extend their swords.
A desperate crisis.
Yet Cael, lounging comfortably in his chair at the dais's center, wore not a trace of tension—only a faint, amused smirk.
He propped his chin lazily, eyeing the clustered black fireballs.
"How utterly ridiculous."
Cael's gaze curved toward the robed demon with keen interest. What he felt wasn't fear or urgency.
It was pure absurdity mingled with a strange nostalgia.
The people here feared that energy as abyssal black magic, the power of demons.
By this world's standards, they might be right.
But Cael, bearer of Heavenly Demon Cheon Woo-jin's soul, pierced its true nature with flawless precision.
'Isn't that just demonic qi?'
Exactly.
The viscous power the robed man so proudly exuded was none other than the demonic qi Cael had breathed as naturally as air on the Shipman Mountain Range in his past life.
Of course, in purity and quality, it was far cruder and murkier than even the qi of low-rank Heavenly Demon Cult disciples—third-rate garbage, really.
Still, its essence was undeniably demonic qi.
A low chuckle escaped Cael's lips.
"Pfhh… You don't even know who the true master of demons is, fumbling with that pathetic knockoff and furrowing your brow."
Sensing something amiss, the demon shot back.
"What…?"
Then Cael rose slowly from his seat.
"Of all the powers to snag… you had to pick that one. What a buzzkill…."
The moment Cael took a single step forward, the ashen chaos qi neatly stored in his dantian warped in an instant into pitch-black, pure demonic qi and erupted outward.
Whoooosh—!
Thick ink-black demonic qi exploded from Cael's entire body, shooting up as if to pierce the cavern ceiling and devouring space itself.
The demon's black magic aura flickered like a candle in a gale before the overwhelming demonic qi, then vanished without a trace, consumed.
"……!? What?"
The demon's slit pupils dilated in shock as he prepared to unleash his fireballs.
The dozens of black fireballs at his staff's tip scattered like mist and dissolved into the air the instant Cael's demonic qi touched them.
It wasn't brute force shattering the spell.
It was a command.
Before the absolute sovereign enthroned at the pinnacle of all demonic qi—the Heavenly Demon—even crude lesser qi wasn't permitted to hold form.
"W-what is this…! Why is my mana—!"
The demon flailed his staff in panic, but the black magic circuits in his body spasmed and locked up.
Cael descended the dais steps leisurely.
"Calling yourself a demon after scraping together that crude muck? Even the Heavenly Demon Cult's errand boys handle purer qi than you."
Cael's ink-black demonic qi slithered across the floor like serpents, coiling around the demon's ankles.
And in that moment, a change overtook the demon's body.
Thud—!
"Grraaaah!!"
The demon's knees slammed into the hard stone floor, shattering it—against his will entirely.
It wasn't mere terror weakening his legs.
The demonic qi within him had encountered its predator and instinctively enforced total submission.
"Grraa, aaaah…! My body, what's happening to—!"
The demon strained, veins bulging in his neck as he tried to lift his head from the ground.
But with each step Cael took closer, an overwhelming pressure—like a mountain crushing his skull—bent his spine by force.
Crack—!
His forehead smashed into the stone, splitting open and spilling blood.
He couldn't dare raise his head.
Couldn't dare meet those eyes.
Only pathetic groans leaked from his lips.
"W-w-w-what… is this…!"
Cael let out a mocking chuckle.
"Kukuk, at least you know your place."
Oden, Weger, and Ella watched in stunned horror.
The black mage who had spread ominous energy moments ago was now groveling like a frog on the floor, head bowed, without Cael so much as lifting a finger—just from his approach.
Cael nudged the demon's hair with his boot, looking down.
"Well? Still fancy stripping my flesh and bones for your altar?"
"S-spare me… mercy, Lord of the Abyss…! I was blind, failing to recognize your greatness…!"
Blind obedience and praise poured from the demon's mouth.
Cael found the situation hilarious—and intriguing.
'Hmm, Heavenly Demon qi holds clear dominance. This could be fun.'
His original plan was to end the black mage right there and eradicate Legnum from the territory.
But if this world's black magic stemmed from demonic qi, and his own as Heavenly Demon could force such absolute hierarchy…
The game changed entirely.
'Too wasteful to kill and discard.'
Cael's mind raced.
To seize real power in House Restis and prepare for coming calamities on this fantasy continent, he needed intelligence networks and shadow forces lurking in the dark.
And here they were: a useful criminal syndicate, groveling.
Not with flimsy oaths, but bound by the laws of qi to absolute loyalty—no whisper of rebellion possible. Perfect hounds.
Mischief and greed gleamed in Cael's eyes.
He withdrew his foot and commanded lowly.
"Raise your head."
At his permission, the invisible pressure vanished like mist.
The demon gasped, half-rising—but still knelt, eyes fixed on the floor, too terrified to meet Cael's gaze.
"What is your name?"
"M-Maltion, my lord. Noble one."
"Right, Malt. I was going to rip you limb from limb and burn this organization to ash. But seeing you grovel so pathetically, I've taken pity and decided to grant you mercy."
Maltion's slit pupils quivered.
"W-what mercy, my lord…!"
"From this day, the name Legnum—this filthy band of thieves—is erased."
Cael's declaration echoed thunderously through the black market cavern.
Hundreds of gang members, huddled in corners with weapons dropped, swallowed hard and held their breath.
"Instead, you will be reborn as my shadows, obeying only my commands. Do you understand?"