4. Unique Magic
At the entrance of the village, reached after a carriage ride along a long, winding mountain road.
I had been humming a tune inside the carriage, blissfully unaware of anything, when the coachman called for me and I stepped outside.
"Lady Hero... um... we've arrived, but... are you certain this is the right place?"
The scenery I'd glimpsed through the window was unmistakably the road leading home.
"Yes! This is it."
The coachman looked at me with a troubled expression, and I, wondering what the problem could be, turned my gaze toward the entrance.
The village had been... erased from the Empire.
To be precise, only the foundations remained; there was not a single trace of a living soul to be found.
Charred fragments of burned-down houses, and what could only be assumed to be the mangled shapes of corpses.
I couldn't hold down the nausea rising in my throat.
Turning my back on the coachman as he tried to say something to me, I trudged into the village on unsteady legs. To watch the spaces of my childhood memories—all shattered, nothing left but wreckage—was like living through a nightmare.
Mom... Dad... Yuwol...!
I wandered in a daze, then broke into a run toward my house at the edge of the village.
After years of training, I could run faster now than I ever had before—so fast that I doubted even during practice sessions I had ever moved this quickly.
I arrived in front of the house.
Our home, perhaps dealt with more leniently than the ones deeper in the village, had kept its shape—nothing but scorch marks remained. Its form was still there.
But in a way, it would have been kinder if it had crumbled into ash and vanished on the wind.
Despite the fire and destruction everywhere, hanging clearly on the interior wall were things that had never been there before. Human skulls—severed from their bodies. I knew exactly whose they were.
Mom. Dad.
I collapsed to the ground.
Tears fell. I wanted to scream, but no sound at all came out of my mouth.
Then the thought crept in. Yuwol...! Don't tell me Yuwol, too...?
Dread swallowed me whole.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, I couldn't say—but only two bodies had been found in the house, both presumed to be my parents.
I asked the coachman to help me bury them. He grudgingly agreed, and without caring that my dress was being ruined, I gathered up every body that could be recovered.
After burying all the unidentified dead behind the mountain, I stood before my parents' grave.
"Mom. Dad. Yuwol... I swear I'll avenge you."
I had already figured out who had committed this atrocity.
In front of the chief's house, a thick demonic aura had lingered despite the considerable time that had passed. And above all, the crest left on the ground was unmistakably the one I had learned.
The crest of two overlapping crescent moons—the mark given to the second-in-command of the Demon Realm.
Fear, grief—none of it mattered anymore.
Every demon who crossed my path from this day forward would never be left alive.
And you—those who harmed my family—will never know a peaceful death.
I will sever your limbs and hang your parents' heads on display.
That much, and you'll be able to close your eyes in peace... won't you, Yuwol...
Three years had passed since I began training under my Master.
At twenty, I had grown into a frame better suited to the word "young man" than "boy." I had shot up in height, my shoulders had broadened, and of course, the endless repetition of training had given me a solidly built body.
Luna, too, had changed—no longer a pretty girl but something closer to a beautiful young lady.
We were always together. For the past three years, nearly every waking hour of every day had been spent side by side.
During the tedious lessons, during the sparring sessions where Yan beat me senseless, and even during the occasional magic lectures my Master gave us.
As I grew used to life here and to Luna, there were times I forgot I was even human.
When my Master and Luna said "we," they meant demons—but I had always been included in that "we." And I, in turn, had come to accept it as naturally as breathing. There was no dissonance in it at all.
From everything I had observed, Luna had once been a remarkably prickly person, but after so much time together, she had become the easiest partner imaginable to be around.
Luna, for her part, had been thoroughly displeased with me in the beginning, but somewhere along the way she'd warmed to me, and now carried herself with the air of someone who acknowledged me as her partner.
Even so, her overwhelming beauty would occasionally turn my cheeks red—I was, after all, at that age. And lately there was something oddly seductive about her, and a few times now I had been caught staring at her.
"Sirius... be honest with me. You were sneaking glances at me again, weren't you?"
It stung, truth be told, but as always, I played innocent.
"What are you talking about? You know that's just your ego talking."
She crossed her legs as if I were hilarious and mocked me again.
"Well, when someone's as pretty as me, it's only natural to stare~ I know~ It's all because I'm so gorgeous, right~"
Then she sauntered up close to me and, lifting the neckline of her dress just enough to reveal the valley between her breasts, smiled with her eyes.
"Aww~ if you'd just been honest, maybe I would've let you see a little more~"
Not that she had any intention of showing anything—she just liked tormenting me.
Still, faced with her shameless provocation, my eyes had nowhere to go, and I scrambled to find somewhere—anywhere—else to look.
Desperate to change the subject, I brought up what we would be undergoing today.
"What do you think my unique magic will be, Luna?"
Unique Magic.
In the human world it was an unfamiliar concept; we had been taught that only an extraordinary few who had reached the very pinnacle of magic could ever manifest one.
But most demons—high demons especially—possessed one, and it was fair to say that the hierarchy among high demons was determined by their unique magic.
Each unique magic varied wildly in both nature and power depending on its user. That was why, I was told, most demons never revealed theirs unless circumstances absolutely demanded it.
Three years of mastering every basic magic course and combat application course had finally brought us, we were told today, to the level where we could seek out our unique magic.
"Hmm... you're not exactly lacking in talent, so I'd bet something decent comes out of you."
That much was true.
I wasn't one to brag, but I had learned that among humans, I possessed an overwhelming talent for magic.
To have reached the point of fighting Yan, a high demon, on equal footing in just three years—it was said that in the human world, I'd have been heralded as a magic prodigy destined for the history books.
Of course, against Luna, who carried the Demon King's blood, I lost. And against my Master—honestly, even thirty more years of training wouldn't be enough. Every spell I could summon never so much as brushed the hem of her clothes before dissolving into nothing on the spot.
"Hmm... personally, I'd like a wide-area attack spell."
In truth, I could already cast wide-area attacks even now, but my judgment was that this level wouldn't be enough to punch through Seria and everyone gathered around her.
Naturally—the mightiest warriors of humanity would be waiting for me on the other side.
Behind Amelia's castle stretched a vast clearing.
This was where we always practiced our magic—our training ground, and my Master's testing field for new spells.
Luna and I waited in the center of the clearing at the appointed hour, and my Master emerged slowly from behind it, looking exactly as she always did.
Three years meant nothing to a demon like her, and truly, not a single thing about her had changed since the day we first met.
I remembered, all at once, the day I couldn't contain my curiosity and asked her age—the day a torrent of water came crashing down on my head.
"So the day has finally come when I get to see my disciples act like proper human beings."
Spinning her parasol round and round as ever, she smiled.
"Now then. Who would like to go first?"
For a moment, Luna's eyes and mine met.
It was more or less an instruction to go first, but the feeling was mutual on this side too. With only two of us, comparison was inevitable—it was simply the way things were structured.
And in that context, being asked to go first in front of Luna, the Demon King's daughter, was tantamount to being asked to play the fool.
My Master, of course, was not one to spare anyone such considerations.
"Sirius. You first."
I'd hoped she might show a sliver of mercy today of all days, but not a chance.
"Yes, ma'am...!"
I had demonstrated ordinary magic in front of my Master hundreds of times over, but this time there was no telling what would come out, and it made me terribly nervous.
"Do not be nervous. Draw in a deep breath. And remember this: a unique magic resembles what your soul craves most of all."
What my soul craved most. I had no idea. I'd hardly ever thought about it.
My Master nodded, and before me, an exceedingly complex magic circle took shape and began to glow.
The sensation of having magic forcibly manifested by another's hand was far from pleasant. It felt like something inside me being seized by the hair and dragged out against its will.
Around me, enormous currents of maryeok coiled about me like a whirlwind.
And then the spiraling, endlessly cycling power soon settled into stillness.
A wind-type spell? If so, in terms of intensity, this was the kind of magic a rank beginner might produce.
That's it? Really?
I was dumbfounded. And no wonder—the unique magics of great archmages and supreme demons so often carried abilities beyond imagination. Summoning meteors, reversing the flow of time—there were countless legendary, impossible powers out there, and mine was... a breeze about as strong as fanning yourself with your hand.
I felt utterly hollow.
My face was scrunched up, unable to hide the disappointment—even with Luna and my Master standing right in front of me.
Then, in the silence that followed, Luna suddenly began to tremble all over and spoke.
"You... what did you just do to me?"
I... beg your pardon?