Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Hunters Contracted with Demons
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Hunters who had contracted with demons.
In the past, they were glorious figures who protected countless people from the threat of gates.
Now, they were potential risks that could become yet another demon.
That was the reality of hunters contracted with demons.
If he hadn't encountered them...
If he hadn't taken them as his subordinates...
"I probably would've thought the same."
Yong-un, returning to the house of the Phantom Demon Assassins, looked around.
It had once been an empty shell of a place, but now it was a precious space indispensable to the Phantom Demon Assassins.
He headed up to the second floor.
In one of the rooms on the second floor, the words "Yi Gui-hon Cheon-il" were written in a child's careful handwriting.
Opening the door and stepping inside, the unique demonic energy of Cheon-il permeated the air everywhere.
Among them, a drawing on the bed caught Yong-un's eye.
'Il-gui-hon hyung, Barum hyung.'
Above the child's pure drawing, the boldly pressed Chinese characters stood out.
The same went for the ones beside it.
'Poison Witch noona, Dancer noona, Sung-min hyung, Kim-gu hyung.'
And finally.
'Sovereign hyung.'
A drawing resembling himself took pride of place at the top, drawn the largest.
A smile naturally crept onto Yong-un's lips.
'Precious family.'
Did family have to share blood to count?
This was true family.
Pulling his gaze from the bed, he carefully examined Cheon-il's room.
The dark, cursed child that Cheon-il had once been seemed to have vanished.
In his place was Yi Gui-hon Cheon-il, growing up surrounded by love, his pure heart blossoming into kindness.
Yong-un's smile faded slightly.
In its stead, a small resolve took root.
"Just as you stake your lives on my orders..."
Strength gathered in Yong-un's lips.
"I will become your unshakeable pillar, protecting you all."
Imprinting the room full of Cheon-il's love in his eyes, Yong-un stepped out.
The War God, who had seemed ready to fight to the death at any moment, backed down in a way uncharacteristic of him—knowing full well he'd lose.
"Is it fear of death, or are you biding your time for the future?"
The War God's retreat didn't sit entirely well with Yong-un, who yearned to crush the strong.
Still, he was the only one in this world who truly pleased Yong-un.
Yong-un appreciated the War God so much that he accepted all his flattery.
But he had no desire to mend their now-completely shattered relationship over this incident.
'I have Cheon-il and Barum.'
Though it was a situation shaped by the world's rigid framework, Yong-un had known something like this would happen eventually.
He was well aware of what hunters contracted with demons meant to hunters and people worldwide.
Beings who might turn into demons at any moment.
Latent evils, bombs that could become humanity's calamity without warning.
'Humans' who absolutely had to be eliminated.
But Yong-un was different.
Taking Cheon-il and Barum as subordinates had taught him much.
No matter what others thought, those were just others' opinions.
They didn't apply universally.
Barum was a special case—a full demon, even.
Yet he harbored no desire to harm humans.
Cheon-il was the same.
Even if he demonized, Cheon-il wouldn't hurt others.
He simply carried out the Phantom Demon Assassins' orders as one of them.
They didn't threaten anyone who wasn't an enemy.
However.
Even Yong-un couldn't be certain they'd remain that way forever.
Barum was already a demon possessing a body, so that was fine—but not Cheon-il.
Cheon-il was just a hunter contracted with a demon.
Like the Demon Cries, he could lose his body to the demon at any time and start harming people.
All he could do was...
"Exhaust every effort to prevent that day from coming."
Slither.
It was then, as Yong-un solidified his inner resolve.
His shadow rippled, and Mu-hee emerged from within.
"Sovereign!"
He thought she might be here to tease him like yesterday, but her urgent expression said otherwise.
"What is it?"
"Ch-Cheon-il... Cheon-il is acting strange."
Cheon-il?
Was it because he'd just been worrying about Cheon-il?
Yong-un's eyes widened.
"H-He can't control his demonization."
The fresh resolve he'd made.
The day he'd prepared for Cheon-il, uncertain when it might come...
Might have arrived sooner than expected.
"Lead the way."
Yong-un's voice rumbled low.
"Wh-where... is this..."
Clank.
It's dark.
Damp and unpleasant.
His voice echoes as if he's at the deep end of a cavern.
And before Cheon-il, in the midst of it, stood a prison of iron bars.
"Wh-why... why is this place back again..."
But this wasn't unfamiliar to Cheon-il.
On the contrary, it was all too familiar.
Every night before he learned to control his demonization, it appeared in his dreams.
After fully making the demonization his own, it was the first time it had reappeared before him.
Clank.
Cheon-il hated this place where strange iron chains scraped against the ground.
Even when cursed as a damned child,
Even when beaten by guildmates,
Even when he came to covered in blood from gates,
Every evening without fail, Cheon-il awoke here.
Clank.
When the chain sounds reached him, goosebumps erupted uncontrollably over his body.
But from the moment he met the Sovereign, became Yi Gui-hon of the Phantom Demon Assassins, and gained control over his demonization, he no longer came here.
'I... thought I'd forgotten it by now...'
What could have brought it back?
The reason this nightmare had returned.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
"Eek!"
The iron bars, like a cage holding something captive, rattled violently.
Cheon-il startled and fell backward.
Tears welled up in his wide eyes.
It was different.
Normally, only the chilling chain sounds would echo.
There had never been massive hands gripping and shaking the bars like this.
Let alone anything threatening him directly.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Jet-black massive hands shook the bars so hard they rattled fiercely.
"S-Sovereign hyung..."
Tears spilled out.
The bars blocking that horrifying monster seemed ready to rip apart any second.
"Hyung... save me, sob sob."
And it felt like it'd burst out and devour him.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Swish...
The black hand, furiously shaking the bars, stopped then.
The shadowy hand gripping the bars slipped inside.
'I-Is it over?'
Cheon-il sniffled, slowly crawling backward.
And as he tried to calm himself.
Flash.
Two grayish-black flames flickered inside the bars.
"H-Hiek!!"
He knew what they were without looking.
The monster slumbering in the cage.
Its eyes had ignited with grayish-black glow.
Then, the black hand passed straight through the bars, reaching out.
Gradually...
Stretching longer and longer without stopping, heading straight for Cheon-il.
"Stay away!!!"
Cheon-il screamed at the top of his lungs.
The black hand twitched and halted midway.
But only for a moment.
[Kuhuhuhuhu...]
With a bone-chilling low laugh.
Snap!
The black hand was suddenly right before Cheon-il's face.
"......"
Cheon-il's body froze solid.
The black hand blotted out his entire vision.
The instant he saw it, Cheon-il knew.
What it was...
'Cheon-il...'
'Cheon-il!!'
'Cheon-il!!!!!!'
And with the familiar voice echoing from somewhere, Cheon-il slowly closed his eyes.
Chaos reigned in the living room of Yong-un's family home.
Gong-woong-sal-gong's demonic energy clashed wildly with the grayish-black demonic energy of demonization, smashing furniture everywhere.
"Snap out of it!!"
Myung-su and Barum held down Cheon-il, who writhed in agony.
But with both Gong-woong-sal-gong and demonization coexisting in him, Cheon-il's power surpassed that of ordinary hunters.
Barum's superhuman strength faltered as his body rocked, and Myung-su's grip on his arm strained.
"The Sovereign's here!"
Mu-hee rose from the shadows, shouting.
As Myung-su and Barum turned, Yong-un emerged from the shadows.
"Barum, use your demonization."
"Yes."
Barum's wildly shaking eyes turned grayish-black.
The grayish-black energy surging over his body instantly transformed his frame and muscles.
His eyes blackened, and his enlarged body pinned Cheon-il down in one motion.
"Kraaaah!"
[Kraaaah!]
Cheon-il's voice and the demonized Cheon-il's voice echoed together.
The tattoos covering Cheon-il's body pulsed with grayish-black light, fading and reappearing.
Grayish-black skin erupted irregularly across him.
Thud!
Yong-un's form blurred like a Phantom Demon Assassin using Gong-woong-sal-gong, materializing before Cheon-il amid crimson-black mist.
He jabbed a finger into the center of Cheon-il's thrashing forehead.
Tap!
A sharp impact rang out, and Cheon-il's head hit the floor.
"Kaha..."
Deep breaths escaped Cheon-il's mouth as the twisted demonic energy began to subside.
"Whew..."
Only then could Barum release his grip and wipe his sweat.
Cheon-il's movements gradually slowed to a halt, bringing a tense calm.
"What happened?"
Yong-un's sharp question turned to the Phantom Demon Assassins.
The master craftsman Myung-su bowed his head in response.
"I'm not entirely sure, but... Cheon-il drank last night."
"Drank?"
"We believe that's the cause. This morning, the alcohol left his body, and suddenly this happened."
No trace of intoxication remained.
Even after dissipating, alcohol should leave some residue in one's energy flow.
Yet not even that could be felt.
"Meaning..."
Yong-un turned, placing a hand on Cheon-il's head.
"Something else consumed that intoxication."
"By 'something else,' do you mean..."
The Gui-hons looked puzzled.
But Barum, in a similar predicament to Cheon-il, understood.
"The entity contracted with Cheon-il?"
Yong-un nodded.
"The alcohol acted as a medium, accelerating their connection."
Barum's expression grew grave.
Though unwillingly, he was a demon who had entered this world through a contract with a hunter.
No one knew better than him how dangerous that link called a contract could be for Cheon-il.
"The intoxication Cheon-il consumed has already passed to where that thing resides."
"The connection has advanced."
Yong-un summoned his demonic energy.
He lifted Cheon-il's head into the air with telekinesis, suspending it.
"Time to wake him."
Crimson-black Cheonma energy poured from Yong-un's body.
The swirling energy carried his will straight into Cheon-il's mind.
Just like with the soul-enslavement technique, Yong-un's eyes turned crimson-black.
And he shouted.
"Cheon-il... Cheon-il!! Cheon-il!!!!!"
His final cry like a roar.
Twitch.
The voice Cheon-il had heard in his dream reverberated through the entire house.
And...
Cheon-il opened his closed eyes.
"S-Sovereign... sob sob."
Tears streamed from Cheon-il's eyes.
What had happened?
Yong-un gently lowered him from telekinesis.
Then, he pulled Cheon-il into a tight embrace.
"It's okay. I'm here, so everything will be fine."
"Sob sob..."
The elite Phantom Demon Assassin, Yi Gui-hon, who had slain countless demons and monsters.
The cool-headed, steadfast Cheon-il wept like the cursed child he'd been when they first met.
"It was scary, sob sob..."
"It's okay. Everything's okay."
He'd anticipated something like this might happen someday.
Hadn't he just renewed his vow through his conversation with the War God?
But that foreboding event...
He hadn't expected it to arrive so soon.