Demon King (1)
Sometimes it happens. Those moments when anxiety creeps in for no apparent reason. A suffocating tightness in the chest, the heart pounding faster than usual.
“……”
Sioli Mobilra. The elven mage who had chosen Unique difficulty. She was in exactly that state right now.
What is this…?
Sioli had watched Choi Yun-seok and Miller's conversation from start to finish. But she couldn't make sense of it at all.
Like it or not, she had rolled through the battlefield with Yun-seok during the mission. There was no way she couldn't gauge each other's strength.
Yet here he was, exuding that confidence despite their numerical disadvantage? At first, she thought he was just some weirdo. But…
No, there has to be a reason.
Even now, an inexplicable unease slithered up from her toes. Her instincts, which had saved her in countless crises, were screaming. She was missing something important.
And… was the terrain here always like this?
After receiving the order to kill the shrine maiden who had escaped the holy site, Miller had been given a map meticulously crafted by the rangers. Sioli had studied it multiple times too. The map marked their current position as a typical ridgeline, not this narrow canyon.
Dismissing it as a mere notation error didn't sit right—too many things felt off. As she carefully scanned her surroundings, she finally realized what she'd overlooked.
What the hell? This place is all wrong.
Holes riddled the ground everywhere. Grass and trees were swept away like a typhoon had passed. And that cliff about 30 meters away—the cut was far too clean to be wind erosion.
And above all…
Demons?
At the cliff's edge lay the bisected corpse of a demon. That's when she caught the contradiction in what Yun-seok had said earlier.
He said he brought her out from the holy site, right?
In other words, they'd kidnapped their shrine maiden. No way the heretics wouldn't send pursuers.
Yet a full day had passed, and by the time they arrived, Yun-seok was perfectly fine. How was that possible?
She glanced sideways at the demon corpse again, and suddenly, the answer clicked.
Which meant…
Oh no…
A jolt like lightning shot through her body. But she had no time to freeze. She had to stop him—right now, before Miller stepped beyond the line without a care.
Sioli reached out toward him. But.
“Wait, stop—”
Too late.
Thud.
Miller's toe touched the ground. Almost simultaneously, Yun-seok's hand met Miller's cheek.
Why a hand instead of a sword? As that question arose—
Shaaaaaa—!
A fierce wind howled from below the cliff. And something turned to powder, scattering in the air.
It took a moment to register. Miller had vanished without a trace.
Having dragged Miller into the Arena and dispatched him in one go, Yun-seok returned to his original spot.
No sound but the wind. He stared at the frozen group—who seemed to have forgotten to breathe—and asked.
“What about you?”
“…We'll head back.”
The response came from the mage, Sioli. The tagalong soldiers and challengers offered no objection. They all vaguely sensed it: Yun-seok was beyond what their power could handle.
“……”
The soldiers, who had charged in so boldly, turned and retraced their steps.
Yun-seok watched for a moment, then suddenly halted them.
“Hold on.”
Was Miller turning to dust from a mere gesture that shocking? Yun-seok hadn't even drawn his sword or chanted a command. Yet they flinched at his call.
“If you have any blankets or food, could you spare some?”
“…What does that mean?”
Sioli swallowed hard, her eyes intense with resolve, and asked again.
“Are you saying you'll skin us alive and turn us into meat chunks?”
“……”
Yun-seok was speechless. How did a simple request for blankets and food twist into that?
But staying silent would only let the misunderstanding snowball.
“I mean exactly what I said. My charge is still a child, and she's not well.”
“Ah… Okay. If that's it…”
She didn't seem embarrassed at all. Sioli packed the requested items from her bag, set them on the ground, and withdrew.
This should tide us over for the mission.
Yun-seok transferred the supplies to his subspace bag and returned to El. He draped a blanket over her sleeping form, then boiled jerky and water in a pot. For when she woke.
That's when El murmured in her sleep.
“Mister… no, please…”
Rick Gersey. What kind of man had he been? Yun-seok couldn't stop thinking about it.
Day 8, 9, 10. Aside from occasional heretics coming for El, no other visitors.
With both sides locked in a staring contest across the plains, waging war, they apparently lacked the resources to throw everything at Yun-seok.
During this time, Yun-seok cared diligently for El. Beyond mere protection—feeding her, putting her to bed, even helping with bathroom breaks.
Having lost her sight recently, El needed assistance with every aspect of daily life.
She's probably watching this and cringing at my dark history, like last mission.
The thought made him chuckle. Hearing it—
“Why are you laughing? Something on my face?”
“No. Just remembered something funny.”
“What? Tell me!”
Was it the lonely time trapped in the holy site? Or having no one else to rely on? Either way, El treated Yun-seok much more comfortably than three days ago.
Once, curious how she could be so at ease after such trauma, he'd asked. Her answer was striking.
“You're like him, mister. Your voice, your vibe. Though you're cooler.”
Rick Gersey wasn't a name Yun-seok had made up on a whim. It was on the mercenary tag in the inn room when the mission started.
Probably a real person from this era, like Wellington or Kanna.
In the original history, he'd rescued El from the heretics, protected her for three years—practically a father to her.
To understand manager-El, Yun-seok needed deeper insight into him. So during their time together, he gathered info.
The more he learned, the more mysterious Rick became. Despite three years together, El knew nothing of his past.
She said she hadn't asked because the past didn't matter. But Yun-seok sensed otherwise.
Feels like he deliberately hid it…
Still, he didn't seem like a bad guy. No one like that would risk their life protecting a stray like El for three years.
There had to be a story, and Yun-seok was dying to know it. But for now, it was unsolvable.
“Looks like we have company.”
As he chatted face-to-face with El, Yun-seok stood.
Noon on day 11. Amid the raging battle on the plains, visitors arrived—about 30 strong.
“You're back.”
He murmured shortly to Sioli, who caught his eye first. She'd fled like she'd never return—what brought her now?
“We're not here to fight. This is the saintess. After I told her your stories, she insisted on meeting you.”
With Sioli's brief intro done, the saintess pulled back her deep hood.
Yun-seok froze upon seeing her face. Years had passed here, aging her a bit, but he recognized her instantly.
“Kanna Blitz…”
“You know me?”
Of course. They'd stuck together for 45 days last mission.
But that memory was his alone.
“Then we can skip the intros. Straight to the point: hand over the girl. For justice in this world, she must die.”
Kanna cut right to it. Give up El; she had to die for the world's sake.
Her sharp voice drained the color from Sioli's face as she listened.
“S-Saintess…? You said it'd just be talking, no fighting…”
“Yes. This is the talking. The persuading.”
“……”
Sioli clamped her mouth shut. Killing the shrine maiden meant mission failure for Yun-seok. Demanding it to his face? This wasn't persuasion—it was begging for death.
Mentioning the Tower might label them heretics too, so she stayed silent.
Meanwhile, Yun-seok focused on Kanna.
She's changed a lot since then.
El had called her “big sis” affectionately—their bond was close back then. What happened to Kanna in this history?
“I heard your story. You two were close once…”
“The one past I want to erase. All heretics must die.”
Kanna cut him off coldly. Yun-seok felt the deep-seated hatred in her voice.
But El…
“Big sis…? Is that you, big sis?”
El shuffled slowly toward Kanna's voice. Sightless steps precarious; Yun-seok steadied her before Kanna.
“Elizabeth Lorwen…”
Kanna trembled violently, eyes on El swirling with emotions.
“If I hadn't saved you then, Sir Wellington wouldn't have died. And I… I wouldn't have gone through that…”
Yun-seok glimpsed it then, briefly: what Kanna endured, the shift in her heart.
“Wh-what do you mean, big sis?”
El, just thrilled to reunite, missed the change.
“Die… die!”
Emotions overwhelming reason? Kanna drew a hidden silver dagger from her sleeve, lunging at El.
With Yun-seok there, it was futile.
Thud.
He struck her nape, knocking her out.
Sioli looked flustered—she hadn't expected such extremism.
Blind El didn't even know she'd been targeted.
“Big sis? Big sis?”
Sensing something off, El flailed from Yun-seok's arms.
And then—
“Aaaah! Aaaack!”
El clutched her head, collapsing. Staring into empty space with unseeing eyes, she muttered.
“No, don't…! Don't die! You can't die! Aaaah!”
Yun-seok halted mid-rush to her. Not hallucinating.
A precognition vision?
The thought surfaced, but her agonized screams intensified. Voice cracking, body feverish like a flu patient.
Unable to watch, Yun-seok shook her shoulders. Snapping back, El clung to his arm, pleading.
“Mister, save mister, please. He's here.”
Did she truly see the future? If so…
He might meet him directly this mission.
Rick Gersey. The enigmatic mercenary shrouded in mystery.