Demon King

“I barely noticed it.” I couldn’t say that I had become more aware of myself through my conversation with Batsago, and that had increased my ability, but my explanation was enough for the party.

“Then, captain, is the afterlife real for humans?”

“Don’t ask because I don’t know. I only know that the souls are heading somewhere.”

“He’s snatching them up and swallowing them to strengthen himself.”

“Alright.” I laughed bitterly as I answered Lee Chan-yu. It was because I was aware I wasn’t doing anything different than Lucifer. Maybe they were mistaken? I wasn’t attempting to stop the war because I didn’t want them to die, but I had to prevent him from regaining any further strength. That was all.

“Can he really become stronger through that?”

“The number is beyond our imagination. Countless humans.”

“That’s a nasty way to gain strength.” Again, I was thinking from a different perspective from Lee Chan-yu. But, after experiencing the dangers of Chaos Souls, I wasn’t able to take the idea of absorbing so many souls lightly. All of their eyes were focused on me.

“I don’t think that just because we want to stop the war between humanity. We will probably need to prepare for armed suppression.”

“Of course.” Rain nodded naturally, but the members of Rebellion and the demons didn’t seem to like that idea.

[It’ll be dangerous, captain. Wouldn’t that be like waging war against the world rather than stopping one?]

“If it goes well… isn’t that just world conquest?”

“The casualties will be huge…no, if we don’t get involved, more than that will die…”

Those were the thoughts of Rebellion’s members.

“It’ll be fine. We’re not there to conquer or anything, just suppress the war.”

“Only you can take care of their magic, though.”

“If we could just sweep them all away…”

Those were the thoughts of the demons.

“To wipe them all away…”

“Are you dissatisfied with my words, human?”

“Oh, don’t think about touching master Fate’s toys. Do you have nothing in that brain other than thoughts of fighting?”

“A toy?” I couldn’t help but bitterly smile at the difference between humans and demons. But now wasn’t a situation where I could listen to them all. After forcefully splitting them apart, I continued.

“I will divide the army. L and Rain will follow me. A, G, O, R, and Batsago will form their own legions.”

“With whom?”

“You can evenly divide those who are here.” The demons were getting excited about the prospects of battle. G tilted her head at me.

“What about Fate?”

“I will have L and Rain. I don’t need a legion.”

“Hey, can I have unnie?”

“Don’t call me that.” I was worried about Lucifer acting more aggressively to acquire L if he found out she was on Earth. But if she were by my side, even he would hesitate. A felt a tug on my cuff as I considered this.

“What about me, brother?”

“You will continue to conquer the dungeons.” No matter how fast they had grown, Rebellion’s members’ skills didn’t quite compare to the demons. I doubted they could be hurt in the coming conflict with the humans, but before we confronted Lucifer and Heaven, I needed them to be even stronger. Those dungeons filled with high-level entities would be the best place for them to train.

“If you find a Black Palace, report it to me immediately. Defeat all the dungeon bosses just like before and bind them to the underground.”

“Captain, are you worried about us? I wouldn’t hesitate if it came to killing humans.”

“No. I’ve considered many things, and I think this is the optimal way for us to proceed.” Uselessly sharp as always, Lee Chan-yu began to organize the guild members.

“If the captain moves separately, Si-yeon will be left alone, unfortunately! Then, she will join us…”

“Bye.”

[Wait, at least be on a team with me…!]

“Goodbye.” As I booted Lee Chan-yu and Katsuragi through the gate, my sister looked at me.

“Brother, take care of yourself. There are still a lot of elves on Earth.”

“When it gets dangerous, I’ll run right away. Cain, I’ll leave it to you.”

[I understand. You can count on me.]

I smiled bitterly and saw Cain and my sister off. I stopped Mireina before she could enter with them.

“Wait, Mireina.”

“Fate? Is this a proposal?”

“I have something to ask you to do.”

“Only me?” Her blank face hardened slightly as she understood why I stopped her.

“The battlefield?”

“Yes. It will be dangerous, but it’s important.”

“I’ll do it.” Her answer without any hesitation made me pause. I took a deep breath, letting out the feelings I didn’t need right now.

“We need information. Their troops, weapons, how many of them are higher entities…if possible, to what extent Lucifer’s strength he regained.”

“Is it alright to come back after spying?”

“Fight as little as possible. When it comes to protection and defense, your strength is hard to match, but it’s a bit difficult to turn that into an attack.”

“Huh…sorry for not being strong.”

“No, not at all.” I laughed and squeezed her shoulder, feeling the sparks in L’s eyes behind me.

“It’s possible thanks to the power you have. There is nothing to apologize for.”

“Huh.” I loosened the muffler around my neck and wrapped it around her. Even someone strong like L or Rain would find it hard to handle, but not Mireina. With her ability to protect her soul, it had no choice but to obey her.

“Wow.” The moment she put it on, her eyes opened wide. I could visibly see the energy strengthening her.

“My body feels so light that it might fly away.”

“You’re strong.” Her power had increased at least twice as much. There wasn’t such a dramatic change for me, but Mireina was something else.

“Since it’s Fate’s, the effect is doubled!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Huh!” Mireina opened a gate to the battlefield with a wide smile.

“Well…” L was frowning, the wrinkles on her forehead, making an almost audibly uncomfortable sound as she furrowed her brow. I looked away toward the demons.

“From now on, I’ll inform you of the specific actions you need to take. When and where to go, what to do there. How to interact with the humans.”

“I want to hear what Fate wants, simply.”

“We need to eliminate any variables keeping us from defeating Lucifer and Heaven.”

“How?” L asked, and I shrugged.

“Well, we’ll just put everything under my control.” Lee Chan-yu’s point was right when he asked how that was different from conquering the world. I didn’t deny his question because it was right. I didn’t want them to feel reluctant about it. I had been thinking of conquering Earth from the start. There was no other answer than that. I couldn’t put myself and those dear to me in danger to pursue the happiness and freedom of those I didn’t care about, even if it were billions of humans.

“It was impossible in Hater.”

“But not now. The years of living as a human changed me, just as the Great Fusion distorted the underground and Earth. I hate to say it, but it’s thanks to the Great Fusion that it’s possible.” L breathed in deeply, and A laughed. G smiled vaguely, R kneeled politely, and Batsago even applauded.

“So, demons.” I looked down beyond the walls, at the large army of demons and monsters.

“Now, we will conquer the Earth.”

It was the beginning of the war of conquest.