Chapter 81
Chapter 81
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Massacre of the Shape-Shifters
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"W-What the hell..."
A group made up purely of demons, without any official rank.
True to form as a collective of various demons who had joined forces, their skills were incredibly diverse.
From demons in pitch-black forms approaching Yong-un with the faces of his former comrades, whose memories he had lost...
To massive, bull-headed demons brimming with superhuman strength.
But.
Amid that group of theirs, a calamity named Yong-un had arrived.
Boom!Squish—
One footfall forced even the superhumanly strong demons to their knees.
Boom!
Keeeeeek!
A second footfall sent the bull head flying into the air in an instant.
Boom.Crunch.
A third footfall.
The bodies of the demons wearing the faces of old comrades twisted as their heads were torn off, blood spraying everywhere.
"H-How..."
Demons are born from countless wars that humans couldn't even imagine.
In that process, even demons hesitate when facing someone wearing the face of an old comrade or family member.
But Yong-un had no such hesitation—not even the one that even demons, synonymous with ruthlessness and slaughter, possessed.
He even grabbed the collar of a demon dying with the face of a former comrade and mercilessly unleashed a soul-ensnaring spell.
Swish.
"Urk..."
The leader of the black-formed demons, who shifted shape under Yong-un's gaze, shuddered and trembled.
"Jaruma Viscount of the Moblang Clan."
"No way..."
The leader of the Moblang Clan, who had been shifting forms and devouring other demons.
Jaruma Viscount staggered backward.
"Don't think reading others' memories is a privilege granted only to you."
Jaruma Viscount bit his lip as even his true name was revealed.
"How dare you! A mere human—!"
Whoosh!
Yong-un's form flashed past Jaruma Viscount in an instant.
Jaruma's rage was short-lived.
With eyes filled with shock, his head slowly turned, fixing on Yong-un's retreating back where his neck had been severed.
"Human or demon. The moment you get complacent, you're already dead."
Thud.
The head of Jaruma Viscount, who had long ruled this Demonus called Jumak-dong, fell clean off.
Yong-un reached out toward the collapsing body of Jaruma Viscount, blood gushing like a fountain.
A mana stone was pulled from the center of Jaruma Viscount's chest, landing neatly in Yong-un's palm.
Then he turned his gaze, scanning the remaining demons.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This isn't the first time I've killed a viscount."
"U-Uwaaaah!"
The devil of blood and slaughter.
Demons who had risen to their ranks as victors of countless wars screamed in terror at the sight of the death spirit named Yong-un.
Having lost their will to fight, they tore open the package labeled "retreat" after "battle" and chose the darkness of flight.
"R-Run away!!"
As the demons, who terrorized humans, fled in a disorderly retreat, Yong-un pocketed the mana stone.
Sensing the presences of his subordinates nearby, he raised his demonic energy.
"I can't let my enemies turn on my men."
Muttering to himself, Yong-un summoned his crimson-black demonic qi and opened a festival of slaughter.
A festival with demons as the main course.
The operation called Ghost Soul Annihilation was perfect.
The path they had walked to their target was carpeted with the corpses of demons and monsters.
It was exhausting, but a meaningful time to confirm the results of their training so far.
All the assassins of Ghost Soul Annihilation, including the One Ghost Soul expert Myung-su, unleashed every bit of power they had trained, cutting down demons and monsters.
But their unimpeded advance finally tensed up for the first time since encountering demons, blocked by a new obstacle: a demon unlike any before.
"Cheon-il."
He called Cheon-il as usual to confirm the demon.
But the response came in Cheon-il's trembling voice.
"Hyung..."
"It's okay. We feel it too."
They were the assassins of Ghost Soul Annihilation, trained under Yong-un's guidance.
They could tell that the demon before them was on a whole different level from those they'd faced so far.
True to receiving the most guidance, the expert kept his eyes fixed on the demon and asked Mu-hee.
"How's the Dragon Corps holding up?"
"They're still fine for now. But... the shadows say they won't make it here."
Gripping the daggers in both hands tighter at Mu-hee's words, the expert said,
"Then we'll handle it ourselves."
"Hyung...? That's..."
As the expert steeled his resolve, Cheon-il's trembling voice rang out again, as if sensing something.
"What is it?"
The expert, feeling it too, asked Cheon-il.
But the answer came not from Cheon-il, but from the peculiar demon standing before them.
Swish.
Suddenly, the demon pointed at Cheon-il with his index finger.
The expert blocked Cheon-il's path, summoning dark green poison qi and crossing his daggers.
"Heh, up close it's clear. That kid... he's one of us."
"What...?"
What did that mean?
The demon, who had gifted them all with tension, slowly raised his arm to show his forearm.
Everyone, thinking a skill was coming, gathered their mana and prepared for battle.
But contrary to their fears, the demon's raised arm merely revealed a black pattern with a faint crackle.
"A black... pattern...?"
Just a black pattern.
But it shocked the Ghost Soul Annihilation assassins more than any skill could.
All eyes turned to Cheon-il.
Precisely, to the forearm of Cheon-il, whose skin was grayish like a demon's.
"It's the same..."
Cheon-il, who had gained great power through a contract with a demon.
The black pattern on his arm—from the demonization granting him grayish skin, grayish eyes, and gray bat wings—matched perfectly.
The expert quickly fixed his gaze on the demon and bit his lip.
"You've heard from Sword Tiger, haven't you? Having the same pattern as Cheon-il means..."
Mu-hee continued,
"He's one of the original contractors who took over this place from the start."
The original contractors who plunged Korea into chaos.
The masterminds who turned this into a Demonus.
They had survived here all this time without dying.
Realizing their identity, the Poison Witch summoned swirling dark blue poison qi and twisted her face.
"This... looks like we've wandered into a scarier place than we thought."
If they'd lived here for so long, imagining how far their skills had developed was impossible.
But one thing was certain.
'At least...'
They weren't easy opponents.
They might even have to decide on a retreat here.
Just from the power and presence they felt, victory wasn't assured.
'What do we do?'
For the first time, the expert faced a major decision.
As the One Ghost Soul of Ghost Soul Annihilation, it was his to make.
He wanted to kill the demon before him and claim a great achievement.
This was the debut battle for both Dragon Corps and Ghost Soul Annihilation in conquering the Demonus.
Retreating here would mean Ghost Soul Annihilation's limits ended here.
The expert clenched his fist, about to issue the order to his Ghost Soul Annihilation comrades.
"Everyone..."
'Don't die.'
As he was about to order them to kill the demon.
Yong-un's command from before departure echoed in his mind.
The expert's words halted, his gaze shifting to his subordinates behind him.
Shiver.
He felt their intense tension.
The trembling from their bodies subtly shook his own through the air.
'Fear.'
Yes.
His men were afraid.
Yet they stood firm on shaking legs, for the name Ghost Soul Annihilation.
And because they were Yong-un's subordinates.
"What will you do?"
The demon before him closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.
A blue flame ignited in the center of his right black eye, shrinking to a point.
Rumble.
"Come now, enemies of demons. Don't just stand there bored—move."
The village of the sea of death, the Jumak-dong Demonus.
Its master personality, Sandra, looked down on Ghost Soul Annihilation with a smile.
Precisely at Cheon-il, demonized and meeting the demonic eye, and Mu-hee with her gray eyes.
"What the hell is this mess?"
Sword Tiger chuckled, rubbing his reddened white abdomen from the demon's attack.
"Hahaha, so what? We won, didn't we?"
Unlike the chuckling Sword Tiger, Jeong-won and Jong-hyeon blushed and hurriedly gathered their scattered clothes.
Amid the demon corpses littering the area.
Sword Tiger stood, laughing naked without a stitch on.
"Put some clothes on!"
At Jong-hyeon's shout, Sword Tiger tilted his head.
"Well, I guess you wouldn't have the confidence."
"That's not it!"
"Tsk tsk, so small."
Jeong-won threw clothes at him and stood, irked by Sword Tiger's pitying look.
"It's not small!"
"Ooh!"
Sword Tiger admired Jeong-won.
Jeong-won placed a hand on his hip and lifted his nose proudly.
But only for a moment.
He couldn't overcome the embarrassment creeping in amid the following silence.
"I shouldn't have come. This is the first subjugation that's been exhausting, tiring, and humiliating."
"Feels like we got the wrong boss."
Jeong-won joined Jong-hyeon's grumbling.
But Sword Tiger flicked their foreheads and picked up the fallen clothes to dress.
"How else would we have won? If we'd messed up, we could've been the ones lying there instead of the demons."
Here's what happened.
Sword Tiger, who'd haphazardly put on an upper garment, flew from a demon attack, losing his clothes.
But seeing the demons disguised as others fully clothed, he quickly stripped to distinguish them and took them down.
Then, true to their war experience, the Moblang demons started imitating the shirtless Dragon Corps.
To introduce a variable, they began stripping one by one, leading to their current state.
The Dragon Corps, now dressed, showed no sign of their flushed faces returning to normal.
"A humiliating victory."
Neither Jeong-won nor Sword Tiger could refute Jong-hyeon.
Even the confident Sword Tiger's face was red—how could he boldly say otherwise?
"A win's a win. Good thing this isn't the end of Dragon Corps' start."
"It might've been better if it ended so we could start fresh. Lucky no one else saw. Who could we tell about this victory?!"
"Urgh..."
He learned once more that casting directors didn't need to be strong.
Sword Tiger groaned, unable to counter Jong-hyeon's irrefutable point.
"Enough! Moving to the next operation."
"Don't change the subject!"
"Shut it!"
Jong-hyeon pouted and turned away at Sword Tiger's yell.
But contrary to their expectations, they learned someone had witnessed it all.
As they tidied their clothes for the next op.
A massive demon had been sitting in the rickety chair Sword Tiger had used earlier, smirking mockingly at the Dragon Corps.
Startled, Sword Tiger drew his sword, face hardening.
"Why are you just standing there? Being naked suits you all better, like before."
The shock was brief.
Shame flooded their faces with the massive demon's voice.
Sword Tiger lowered his head and asked in a trembling voice,
"How long have you been there?"
"Since about half the Moblang Clan fell."
"So you saw everything, huh?"
"Probably."
Clang!
Sword Tiger's form shot toward the massive demon faster than ever.
Bang!Crackle!
Sword Tiger's sword, infused with blue lightning qi, was blocked by the massive demon's red claws.
The rickety chair shattered, and the hulking demon was pushed back.
Smiling at being pushed back despite his immense strength, the massive demon asked Sword Tiger,
"What's your name?"
"Sword Tiger. And you?"
"Togma."
"A name soon to die. I'll remember it well."
Sandra and Togma.
The two black suns who created the Jumak-dong Demonus and had ruled as kings until now.
They now faced the Dragon Corps and Ghost Soul Annihilation.