22 — Chapter 22

Were they trying to kill me? No, I didn’t think so. Going back over the conversation, that didn’t seem to be their intention. Unless… they were deceiving me.

This wasn’t the continent. This was the Demon Realm. A dimension crawling with fiends, monster beasts, demons, and demonkin.

I couldn’t even trust humans—how could I possibly trust anyone here? Distrust filled me completely.

“A conversation, sure. But right now my body itches for a fight. From what I’ve seen of your exploits, I think you’ll excite me.”

There was no avoiding battle. The atmosphere shifted. The air grew heavier. Their eyes scanned me from head to toe. Hands and feet shifted ever so slightly, ready to strike at any moment.

“Heh, I guess demonkin really do have spare lives to throw around?”

I suddenly hurled a blast of condensed internal energy. The ball of energy, no larger than a fist, shot forward at close range.

The demonkin raised their hand quickly to block.

Boom!

They stopped it with one hand. Their body was nothing like a human’s.

“…Yes. This is exciting.”

Blood dripped from the arm that had blocked the strike. Seeing that red blood made them feel almost human. I forced myself to think of them as nothing more than a strong human. That made it easier, even just a little.

They advanced toward me. I pushed my internal energy to its peak, unleashing everything without restraint. To protect myself. No—simply to survive.

The force of it whipped the air violently in every direction.

“…A strength beyond my expectations.”

While the demonkin was distracted, I shaped more energy. In an instant, five more blasts of internal energy formed around me. My power drained all at once, but at the same time, a faint trickle naturally began to refill.

The blasts fired together.

They were fast. But the demonkin dodged two and blocked three.

Crash! Boom!

The rocks shattered where they struck, the ground torn into craters.

The demonkin, body bloodied from blocking three blasts, just grinned wickedly.

“This isn’t magic. How are you doing this?”

It was a technique I had devised during training, piece by piece. They’d said the demonkin were watching me, yet they didn’t know about this technique.

So they weren’t watching constantly. Or this one’s information was outdated. Either way, the thought of being entertainment for the demonkin all this time made my skin crawl.

“Come on, human Kark. Let’s play.”

The demonkin charged. Then—vanished. Literally disappeared from sight, their presence erased.

Some kind of spell like Blink?

I sharpened my senses, searching.

Behind me.

I instinctively burst out with internal energy. The gathered energy condensed into a hardened barrier of protective qi.

Bang!

The impact rattled my head, my legs momentarily giving out. I staggered back, turning, and saw the demonkin standing there, both hands drenched in crimson.

Just looking at them left me sickened, a chill creeping up my spine. I circulated my energy, pushing it against that blood-red aura.

That was when the demonkin’s assault began.

Fast enough to leave afterimages, strong enough to smash boulders in a single blow. Even dodging at close range left my skin throbbing.

I wrapped my hands in force and struck back when I could. None of the blows landed clean, but I did manage to force them onto the defensive.

The demonkin grimaced as they blocked. That must have hurt.

I drew on even more internal energy, though I knew I’d soon run dry. I had to press harder.

The demonkin still relied only on fists and feet—no magic.

A crimson fist filled my vision. It loomed like a mountain.

I braced my legs, caught it lightly with both hands, and redirected it to the side. Then I spun, driving my foot toward the opening at their flank.

With a satisfying crack and a scream, the demonkin toppled backward. I had studied their attack patterns while blocking and dodging, and it turned out they were nothing but brute force—no technique, no structure. Compared to the martial arts I knew, their level was crude, almost like a wild beast that was simply strong and fast.

The demonkin staggered back to their feet. I didn’t give them a chance to recover.
A knife-hand strike aimed at the neck, then when they dodged, I twisted my fist and smashed it into their face.

They reeled. As my focus sharpened, the world seemed to slow. Their upper body swayed, struggling to regain balance. I saw the way their legs braced, desperate for stability.

I stepped forward half a pace, then struck with a footwork technique. Everything happened in a single instant, while they were still trying to steady themselves.

Thoom—

The ground trembled as force gathered in my palm.

I released it short and sharp, driving my palm into their solar plexus.

Thud—

The blow landed square.

Their expression, their posture—it was all plain to see. Time resumed its normal flow.

Their back bent like a shrimp as they were sent flying. I chased after them with light steps, hurling blasts of internal energy in rapid succession.

Dozens of strikes slammed into their exposed body. The deafening roar of impact echoed across the land.

This was the first time I had unleashed myself like this after reaching the Realm of Transformation. Confidence surged within me.

The demonkin twitched where they lay sprawled on the ground.

End it now. Cut off their head.

I formed a blade of energy and advanced.

“Heh-heh…”

They forced a laugh. And in the next instant, everything changed.

A crimson aura surged like heat waves, then exploded outward in a storm. When the distortion cleared, a transformed demonkin stood at the center—horns sprouting, wings spread, their body larger and thicker, radiating overwhelming power.

Just looking at that fighting spirit made my skin tingle. There was no way I could win.

My confidence collapsed, forcing me to my knees. Faced with the overwhelming difference, I swallowed dryly.

“To think you’d actually trigger a combat transformation. Your growth truly dazzles, more fitting for the Demon Realm than the human world.”

They brimmed with the composure of the strong. The demonkin walked toward me slowly, leisurely, yet I felt bound as if caught in a spider’s web.

I swallowed again and fired off three blasts of force.

They raised a hand and blocked them casually. That same crimson aura wrapped their palm. The impact seemed to jolt them a little, but I understood now—my strikes couldn’t harm them. They blocked with ease.

Before I knew it, they were right in front of me. No escape.

I struck without hesitation, both hands wrapped in blades of energy, channeling power evenly through my limbs. High concentration guided my movements as I unleashed attack after attack.

Feints layered with deception, hidden strikes woven into every direction. The demonkin distinguished them all and slipped past effortlessly.

Every strike was useless. Whenever I kicked, they dodged or blocked with ease. And when they countered, their blows were so ferocious that even a moment’s lapse would be fatal.

My focus narrowed tighter and tighter, but fatigue built up quickly.

My breath grew ragged, my arms and legs heavy. One wrong move and I would stumble over my own attack.

A mountain-like fist came crashing toward me. Instinctively, I repeated the same trick as before—catching it lightly with both hands, diverting its force, and letting my body flow naturally into the demonkin’s open flank.

“If the gap is this wide, then techniques are useless.”

The demonkin stopped their fist and grinned at me. My body, which had just redirected the blow, twisted awkwardly on its own.

“Was it like this?”

They mimicked my footwork technique. The stance was only an imitation, but the raw power in their palm was real—more than real.

I hastily gathered all my energy into my upper body, forming the strongest protective qi I could. A faint glow spread across my skin. The demonkin’s eyes glinted strangely.

The strike landed.

“Guhk!”

A scream tore out of me before I could stop it. My breath caught in my throat, blood rising to my lips.

Thanks to the protective qi, no bones broke. I forced my floating body down with Thousand-Jin Drop, slamming heavily into the ground.

I steadied my breath, quickly circulating energy for emergency healing.

I had to avoid them. A hundred plans flashed through my mind.

Lure them.

I pulled back. The demonkin pursued. I turned and ran outright. Their presence loomed right behind me.

I stopped suddenly and spun. The demonkin was already almost on top of me.

Gathering a surge of mana, I shut my eyes and cast the spell right in their face.

“Light!”

It was only a 1st-class spell, but with that much mana packed in, it was blinding. Even with my eyes closed, it felt like staring into the sun.

The demonkin screamed. Their eyes had to be scorched.

I immediately chained into 4th-class spells, spreading them in layers around the demonkin. Then I conjured three blasts of force, driving them into the creature’s lower body.

My mana plummeted to less than half in an instant. Dizziness hit me like a wave.

“Light!”

I cast it again, this time directly in front of their face. Even with eyes shut tight, the damage would be brutal.

“Graaagh! Human!”

A roar of rage burst out, swelling with explosive force. I instantly cast Blink, pulling myself out of their range.

“Blink! Blink! Blink!”

I fired the spell three times in quick succession, putting as much distance between us as I could. Still not safe.

I pushed my internal energy into my body and invoked my movement arts at maximum. Sprinting at full tilt, then used Blink again whenever I regained focus.

Finally, I layered on Haste, doubling my speed. It was reckless—one stumble, one pebble in my path, and I’d be sprawling. But survival mattered more.

I kept running until my mana bottomed out. In the distance, I spotted a massive monster beast.

Somehow, I had fled far enough to leave the demonkin’s territory behind.

I stopped, gasping for breath. My body felt heavy, leaden. I stretched out my senses, but no trace of the demonkin’s aura followed.

“Haa… haa…”

Relief loosened my legs, and I sank down.

After steadying my breath, I scanned the area again. A monster beast roamed in the distance—this wasn’t a safe place to cultivate. For now, I had to focus on restoring my stamina.

It wasn’t total defeat. But it was humiliating.

The transformed demonkin—a combat type, they had called it. The thought had already haunted me, but fighting one firsthand made it undeniable. Against that form, I stood no chance.

The fact that I was still alive was a miracle. Magic had saved me.

And still, it was a valuable lesson. Before transformation, the demonkin’s level had been close to mine. From now on, if I faced another, I would have to finish it quickly—strike without pause, cut them down before they had time to transform.

“Heh… haha…”

A laugh escaped me. I realized then—the demonkin hadn’t intended to kill me at all.

Magic saved me, yes. But in truth, they hadn’t been trying to end me.

I’d been lucky. But wait… were the demonkin still watching me even now?

I felt no foreign presence, no magic, no strange aura.

It was complicated. Too many thoughts at once. But all of them led to a single conclusion.

I had to grow stronger.

That resolve hadn’t changed since before. Reaching the Realm of Transformation hadn’t made me complacent. On the contrary, seeing a demonkin’s fight had pushed me to grind myself harder.

And still, I had stumbled into one like this.

I needed to be more careful. I needed to train even harder.

The truth was simple. I was alive today only because of sheer luck.

---

I trained constantly with one thought in mind—if I ever met another demonkin, I had to end it before they transformed. That was the only way.

So I practiced unleashing my power explosively in an instant. Over and over, until it became second nature.

And then, I finally encountered another. Far from the village, while roaming in search of demons, I spotted a mounted figure.

At first glance, I thought it was a demon. But as the distance closed, the familiar aura of a demonkin pressed against me—the same oppressive presence I had felt before.

“You’re no demon. Human?”

“Demonkin, right?”

“Hahaha. So you’re the famous human of the Demon Realm.”

The demonkin looked me over boldly from atop their black horse.

“You seem strong. How about this? I’ve hidden us from the Watchers’ eyes for a moment.”

These demonkin truly loved to fight. I didn’t know if it was some unwritten rule or a pact they made, but just like Aporso before, even this one minded the eyes of other demonkin.

They grinned as they stepped off the horse.

“To meet a human, not a fellow demonkin—how thrilling.”

Hearing such vile words spoken with genuine joy only made my stomach churn.

The demonkin loosened their body casually, then asked, “What is the name that makes you exist?”

It was nearly the same question Aporso had asked. Good. I would mislead them—and then finish it.

Secretly drawing my internal energy to its peak, I opened my mouth.

“Aporso.”

“…What?”

“That’s my name. Aporso. Why do you look so shocked? Ever heard of a human with such a name?”

The demonkin’s composure cracked, their face visibly shaken.

At that moment, my internal energy reached its limit. I unleashed it all at once in a single explosive strike.

With every shred of my being, I attacked.

---

The demonkin died.

Even that monstrous body, capable of blocking my force with bare flesh, couldn’t withstand condensed strikes unleashed at full power. They never even had the chance to transform.

I crushed them from the very start, pushing relentlessly until they fell. Only then could I stop.

I was left on the edge of collapse, barely clinging to consciousness with shallow, ragged breaths.

Still wary of hidden Watchers, I immediately drew out the crystal and began absorbing the mana. It shone brilliantly, greedily devouring the energy.

As time passed, the demonkin’s body withered away. The absorption went on far longer than with any demon—easily twice the time.

When I checked the crystal, I froze in shock.

Half as much mana as I had ever gathered until now had just been added at once. The amount was staggering.

If I hunted only demonkin, I could reach the level needed to manifest a dimensional teleportation circle in no time.

A strange excitement bubbled out of me in laughter I couldn’t quite hold back. Even when I killed demons, I had felt sparks of hope.

But now, killing a demonkin made the dream of escape feel suddenly real—close enough to touch.