Demon King

“The western outskirts are defenseless! Stand up straight!”

Humans and monsters were colliding in the buildings and roads I had known well. A fast-food restaurant I had often visited when I lived here was being destroyed, a boar half the size of it rampaging through it. Huge explosions went off around its body as it was being repelled by the humans.

“Fuck, more incoming!”

“They’ll be here soon!”

“How…” I muttered, unsure of what exactly I could saw.

“When did this world become a dungeon?”

“It didn’t.” Lee Chan-yu responded immediately, denying my claim.

“It’s not a dungeon. It’s just that a large number of monsters appeared here.”

“Is this common?”

“If it were, there wouldn’t be much left.” We were running forward, a giant eagle swooping in from above us as we advanced.

[Kiii!]

“There are still civilians left?!”

“It’s too late for them. When it goes in for the kill, throw the net!”

I drew my Twilight Sword, holding it at the ready. When the eagle descended to claim my head, I swung forward. The eagle screamed briefly, cut off by my sword, cleaving its head off.

[You received 1 gold and 80 silver.]

“It’s weak, but…” There were too many people around to be binge eating. Not like there would be much of a benefit from eating it, anyway. It just felt like a waste to not eat it, no matter how weak its energy was.

“He killed an intermediate monster in one shot?”

“Are they from a guild?” As the attention began to gradually shift to us, Lee Chan-yu tapped on my shoulder.

“We should organize and consider this first, Captain.”

“Yeah.” I burned the eagle’s body, turning to gaze out at the army of monsters rampaging through the roads and buildings that were so familiar to me. Nostalgia filled me as my memories of my days as a human came to mind.

“You may be strong, but if you blank out, you’ll get hurt!”

“Enemy ahead!”

Humans, hiding by buildings or signboards, were attacking the monsters as they advanced on the road. They used bombs and magic to whittle away at them as humans with swords and axes went out to block their advance. I couldn’t help but admire them for their struggle to live. I supposed that if I wanted to blend into this society again, it would be necessary to help them. It should be alright even if I were a little flashy about it too.

“Don’t worry about killing too many of them, just enough to make them think we’re strong.”

“Got it. Don’t be too violent.”

“Alright.” I kicked off the floor as I responded, bursting forward. Black roses stretched out from my fingertips, enveloping a group of monsters near a small clothing store and entangling them like fish in a net.

“Haaaah!” I swung the black rose net around, applying lightning to it as the monsters within tried to break free. They could do nothing as I let it fly through the air, aiming it right at a group of monsters that had just crossed the building’s rubble. The monsters that weren’t crushed by the weight died from the shocking net.

“Which guild are you from?”

“An overseas one?” In the end, I used a black rose to clean up all the monsters that were near me. Using Ubiquitous, I moved swiftly through the air above the battlefield. Many of the humans who used ranged weapons or magic tried to thin out the flying monsters, but there were still too many of them.

[Kiahhh!]

[Kyak!]

The monsters screamed and rushed me as soon as I appeared in front of them, blasting poison and fire from their mouths. Some of them even tried to drain my mana. But they were all attacks based on mana, and mana handled by the sub-system was too weak to properly hurt me. I spewed out my own mana, dispersing their attacks and melting them before they could reach me.

[Kiii!]

“Weak!” Lunatic Trickster, black lightning, flames, and ice all filled the air around me. The mana that had come from Jinma swept through the air like a storm, knocking away all of the monsters that had taken flight and easily rebuffing their magical attacks. My magical ability had changed the most during my evolution, the Belkena being exceptionally good at both martial arts and magic. The process of moving his mana to create magic shortened as well, making it exceptionally quick to use. I was still more confident in my sword skills than my magic, but I didn’t want to show all of my abilities to people I didn’t know.

“Damn, it’s coming from the air!”

“Run away! It’s impossible for us to defeat!”

[Kwoaaah!]

[Ahhhhhhh!]

The roar coming from the monsters on the ground increased, and the ones in the air were acting oddly now. They weren’t trying to kill the humans; now, they were gathering in one place. It was something I was familiar with.

“Now, I know…” They were acting similar to the monsters in the Rookie’s Battlefield. Thinking back now, I could tell that I felt it when I had been killing these monsters—that tiny fragment of a fallen and deformed soul.

“Hey, come down here!” I ignored the calls of the humans below and drew the Twilight Sword. The monsters gathering together kept increasing, dark grey energy emanating from the center of them.

‘How did they escape the Rookie’s Battlefield? They are similar to a soul monster, but aren’t quite the same…’ It was clear once I had thought about it. The Knights of Elakatra must have brought them here, after somehow figuring out how to replicate that same phenomenon that would occur on the battlefield. If the monsters here began to acquire the strange abilities of those soul monsters, and the Wind of Eutinus began to blow here on Earth, it would be a real disaster. Despair on a scale unlike that on the Rookie’s Battlefield. Maybe if I waited for them to finish fusing, I could learn more about the Elakatra’s goal, but I began to notice a weird movement in the space where they were converging. I couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

[Wonderful!]

The monster birds were unrecognizable now as they gathered in at one point to form a huge mass. I had to suppress my disgust as I watched the negative energy spew out and distort the space around them. The process of change was much more grotesque to watch here than it had been on the battlefield. I hefted my greatsword, filling it with the power of my skill Reaper. Immediately, as if recognizing my intent, the mass began to shoot out hundreds of lung tendrils from its lump-shaped body to stop me. It would’ve been a lot more dangerous than the monster I faced before on the battlefield if I hadn’t evolved.

As I swung my sword, dozens of the tendrils were severed and burned away. More came for me immediately, but I was fully prepared with Ubiquitous to jump away. My alter ego remained in my place, full of my mana. As the tendrils constricted around it, the alter ego exploded, burning away the tendrils.

[Gyaaaaaah!]

I stood right in front of the monster’s body, new tendrils rising out of it to try and grasp at me. I severed them easily, devouring them whole with the power of Predation. The humans that had been fighting before were now fleeing, allowing me to go all out without fear of observers.

“It’s just a little different from those soul monsters.” I wondered what the knights’ goal was. What sort of will was driving them forward, if any at all were? Perhaps the Great Fusion itself had been aimed at the knight. As always, questions that I couldn’t resolve floated through my mind. I pushed them aside, cutting through the monster’s body with my greatsword. The energy of the Reaper skill stretched out like a scythe, severing through the monster as it followed the trajectory of my sword. Maybe if I waited a bit longer, it would reach the higher-level system, but it was little more than a mass of malice and magic right now. My Predation made quick work of the part I had cut off.

[Ooh-oooooh!]

Suddenly, the area of space where the huge mass was cracked open as if it had been cut by a sword, a brilliant light pouring out of it. From inside it, a creature wearing shining armor sprung out.

[Oooh!]

“…” I didn’t have time to register what had happened, the creature jumping straight at me with a war hammer in hand. The radiant light pouring forth seemed to suppress the mana of Jinma that was welling inside me; it was mana that was the polar opposite of my own. I used Ubiquitous to temporarily evade him as I considered this.

“It’s not over!”

“Keep running!”

I could still hear the shouts and screams of the humans that were still on the battlefield, but I pushed them out of my mind. This monster appeared in a place where the monsters were fusing. Was this the goal of them fusing, or were they drawn there to devour this creature?

[Kiii!]

Only

The monsters on the ground were focused on the armored figure, howling in the air, but Lee Chan-yu wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. His hellhounds were gnawing at the monsters on the ground, working at reducing their numbers. I turned my undivided attention to the armored figure, glad that I could rely on Lee Chan-yu to take care of the rest. I prepared myself to strike out with my sword, eying my target. The monster rocketed forward, colliding into me as I used Detection to analyze its strengths and weaknesses. This armored soul monster was as fast and strong as it was massive. But it didn’t belong to a higher system, and that was what mattered.

I trapped him in the air by stretching out a black mine, activating Lunatic Trickster to add to its power. I even sacrificed some of the equipment I had laying about my inventory to add to it. The creature flew forward in a straight line, taking the brunt of the trap head-on. As it staggered, I rushed forward and stabbed my greatsword into its chest.

[Ahhhhhhh!]

Its armor couldn’t protect it from Reaper, eroding and melting away under my attack.

[You received 382 gold.]

[You obtained a Fragment of Light.]

The monster lost its life, and its power floated in the air before falling to the ground. Before it could land, I quickly stored it away in my inventory. The humans who had been hiding were returning; their eyes focused on me. Amazement, excitement, joy, gratitude, doubt, and jealousy. All these emotions were intermingling within the gazes of those around me. Unmoved by it all, I remained in the air and thought.

About new enemies, about the Jinma, about the knights.