Demon King

“Most places like the mountains and forests have been branded too dangerous since Chaos Souls’ appearance.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

Even though the distance between civilization and monster-infested lands would only take about twenty minutes on foot to cross, the value between the two territories was markedly different. The land outside of the concrete barriers built by human power was worthless if it couldn’t be protected and, as such, could be bought cheaply for silver. The next day, after we stayed at a hotel Lee Chan-yu found, I acquired a plot of this cheap land outside of the protected area of Seongbuk-gu. I hadn’t run into any issues needing identification or paperwork, as the person I bought the land from had been in the battle the day prior.

“Thank you so much for your help! I didn’t think you’d want to stay in Seongbuk-gu.” The man was in his mid-30s and was going bald a little bit. With his help, the process of acquiring a real estate contract was a breeze.

“I intend to stick around and observe those Chaos Souls for the time being.”

“I see. As a citizen of Seongbuk-gu, it’s reassuring to have you around… but why are you trying to settle down on the mountainside?”

“It’s more comfortable for me, and there’s nothing dangerous to me out there.”

“I wish I could be strong enough to speak with such confidence.”

“With the monsters scattered about this world, you need to be strong.” The man laughed in response to my off-handed comment.

“My partner was the president of a small business. I’m afraid this is my limit; if I wanted to raise my level, I would have to jump into some advanced dungeons. I want to be strong so that I don’t die, but I’d have to face death to become stronger. It’s almost funny.”

“Ah, is that so?” I didn’t think he was wrong fundamentally. We just happened to be different.

“Would you like to start by building a house? I have an acquaintance who is good with architectural magic that I can introduce you to.”

“No, that’s alright.” After finishing up my purchase, Lee Chan-yu and I headed to Bukhansan, where the land I had acquired was located. There was a time when the mountain was managed by the government and was a popular hiking destination. Now, however, the roads had been irreparably damaged due to a lack of management. The Great Fusion had also changed the terrain to be rockier than it had been.

But just because of that, and the appearance of monsters didn’t mean people stopped going there. Several large guilds flocked to the dungeons within the mountain range. Bukhansan itself was where the Black Palace District 7 dungeon was. However, the land I bought was a bit further away from that since it had already been secured by other guilds. It had initially been misunderstood to be a simple goblin dungeon and didn’t attract much attention. But now that it was known for the difficulty spike at the later levels, it had become a hotspot. At least, until the guild’s combat units were annihilated by the ‘elves.’

They were blinded by the possibility of rewards and failed to kill the elf, and thus the humans had become anxious that they would make an enemy of the entire elven race. Added to that, the allied forces of several large guilds had been completely annihilated. It was clear that the Black Palace wasn’t the type of place that could be conquered by just one or two big guilds, and there was no guarantee of reward. Ultimately, that encounter had gone well. The increasing hostility between humans and elves, or, more specifically, the Elakatra, was fine by me.

“It’s really out in the middle of nowhere.” Lee Chan-yu muttered to himself, spreading out the monsters he controlled to sweep the area clean. There were no people around this far out in the wilderness, but there were plenty of monsters.

“So why did you refuse his offer of an introduction? You planning on building a hut by yourself?”

“We can’t leave our home to outsiders.”

“So, we’re building a hut.”

“No, a citadel.” I cut him off by raising a hand, activating the Belkena spell. The wind began to blow, bending the trees. A fire began to form, consuming an entire tree, while the land surrounding us began to change, stone walls emerging. Lee Chan-yu was staring forward with a blank expression.

“Captain…?”

“It’s not something that I can finish instantaneously. Can you bring some monsters here?”

“No, it’s already going plenty fast!” He began to yell out orders to his monsters as I laid down the foundations for our new fortress with my mana. It was kind of funny to me how much the game I played with L was helping me out now.

“It’s a bit tricky with the terrain…”

“Is that so?” Little by little, mistakes began to pile up due to my unfamiliarity with the land’s mana. It wasn’t difficult to keep the magic steadily going, however, despite it.

[Kururururahh!]

“He brought some food.”

“Please keep bringing them.” The number of monsters that Lee Chan-yu was accumulating was no joke, but the efficiency of my mana recovery had dropped. Even if I absorbed all of them, it wouldn’t have restored much. I needed to focus on leveling up soon.

“I need to go steal some stuff from the Black Palace.”

“One of the larger guilds got it staked out, be careful.”

“I know, thanks.” I needed to fight other higher-leveled entities. If I went to some remote place where humans dare not tread, I would undoubtedly encounter monsters that could pose a threat to even me. It would be a suitable place to train away from the prying eyes of the Elakatra, too. But there was a better place to train in than the wilderness.

‘After I’m done here, I’ll have to go back there.’ I had already technically accomplished my goal of finding my family; my parents were dead, and my sister wasn’t in a position to know who I was. Once I finished creating a base for my activities in human society, I had to return to the places that needed me. That was Jinma’s Tower, where L and A were trapped in. It wasn’t the only citadel in that world; no doubt, there would be things inside that could threaten me and help me grow. My hands didn’t stop as my thoughts unraveled and rearranged themselves. Like the conductor of an orchestra, I managed the symphony of mana flowing the air with my hands. The wind turned to fire, and pressure molded the earth to form a towering stone pillar.

“Captain, where did you even learn architecture?”

“Are you an architect?” I retorted, shutting Lee Chan-yu up as I continued to build the fortress. Time passed, and night arrived, but I continued to control my mana without moving an inch. Since there was no point in watching me work, Lee Chan-yu roamed about the area doing other things. The groundwork was already complete, and the main castle structure was built up to the first floor. I had already organized the interior a bit as well.

Although I had already done all of this myself, it wasn’t a task I could complete in a single day. However, if my level and the level of my Belkena skill rose, I could probably work faster than this. Thinking about this, I stayed my hand and halted the work. I felt someone approaching from a distance but decided to stand there without hiding. Since I had already cleared out the trees in this area, I could see them coming from the side. It was the person I had seen yesterday—my sister. I hadn’t looked at her yesterday, but now I could see she had grown quite tall. The year and a half since I saw her had resulted in a much more significant change for her than I thought.

“We meet again.” I hadn’t shown her my face, so I didn’t think she would recognize me, but I suppose tricking someone with a level of 150 wasn’t so simple.

“Are you building this?”

“Yes.”

“We also have a base on this mountain. Oh, my guild is called Erkindra.” My expression was one of boredom for just a moment before I smoothed it over. I already knew all about it, as I had learned it from the balding man earlier. It had been one of the reasons why I decided to settle in this location.

“As the master of that place, I came to greet the people who helped so greatly in the battle. I didn’t realize it was you…”

“I’ve been stuck in a dungeon for quite some time, but the world has changed so much. I’ve decided to stay here while I figure some things out.”

“I see.” She didn’t inquire any further about the dungeon I mentioned, and I couldn’t help but think of how much she had changed. ‘Was she this mature before? Has time really changed her like this? How bitter…’

“I’m Kang Si-yeon, twenty-one years old.” She could tell I had no intention of continuing to talk, so she broke the silence.

“Twenty-one?”

“What? I’m really twenty-one.” She did look older, and slightly more mature, but she couldn’t be any older than seventeen by my memory. As I examined her closer, I could tell she was wearing a bit of make-up as well. This was probably her armor. When you’re younger, people look down on you, so she tries to make herself appear older. She was the head of a group; I didn’t have to think hard about whether a seventeen-year-old or a twenty-one-year-old would be more respected.

“I’m Fate, twenty-three.”

“Fate, is it?”

“Yes.” She made a look I didn’t like, my heart stiffening in my chest, although I was careful to keep my expression blank. I had to be careful not to reveal my identity.

“You seem to be about twenty-years-old yourself. Are you just pretending to be older?”

“No.” Her expression remained as I tried to laugh it off and deny her accusation. She rolled her feet and her cheeks puffed up, looking like the very image of a cute high schooler.

“Then, should I use honorifics to refer to you?”

“Just keep it simple, that’s more comfortable for both of us.” I retorted and waved her off.

“We’ve greeted each other, so you can go. Does a guild master really have so much free time?”

“I’m not busy unless there’s a battle. The other members take care of most of the work.”

Only

“You speak so proudly.”

“Will you be making a guild? I could assist you if you are.” I thought about it for a moment. I had created this fortress to observe the movement of humans around the Black Palace and keep an eye on my sister, who worked around here to protect her. So I supposed it wouldn’t be bad to have a casual relationship with her so long as I didn’t reveal my identity.

“I think I’ll take you up on that once the castle is built.”

“Did you already pick a name?”

“Rebellion.” She paused for a moment but then quickly nodded with shining eyes.

“That’s a good name.”

Three days later, the fortress was completed, and my Belkena skill had become Lv2. I created the guild Rebellion with Lee Chan-yu and myself as the only members. With my sister and that balding man’s help, it was exceedingly simple to create one.

After taking care of all of that, I left the castle to Lee Chan-yu and opened the door to head into the underground castle.