Back Of The Head

Tang Seo-ran drew a deep smile.
She lowered her gaze.

She saw a pathetic female writhing like a literal insect.

Moon Ha-yeon,
The woman who, decades ago, tried to stab her in the back without knowing the mercy she’d been given, held her head up stiffly.

Oh?
She even spat insults.

“What can you even do, anyway? Hm?”
“…You bitch…!!!”

Moon Ha-yeon gritted her teeth.
Her eyes burned with resentful rage, sending a glare sharp enough to shoot lasers.

That made Tang Seo-ran find her even more contemptible.
She lifted her leg,
and lightly pressed down on Moon Ha-yeon’s head.

Tang Seo-ran’s strength was mid-upper S-rank.
That alone delivered a shock to Moon Ha-yeon as if her skull had been crushed.

“Ugh!!!”
“Moon Ha-yeon, huh? Ha-yeon…”

Did you really think I wouldn’t know?

“That you planned to betray me…”

You thought I wouldn’t notice.

Tang Seo-ran calmly recited each thing, one by one.
She recounted Moon Ha-yeon’s plans from the start: to consume her and sit atop the throne.

Of course, even Tang Seo-ran didn’t know everything.
But the preparatory steps mentioned here and there were so detailed that they could be split into parts by Moon Ha-yeon herself.

Tang Seo-ran grabbed Moon Ha-yeon’s head and lifted it as if tearing at it.
She looked her in the eye and offered a sneer.

“Ha-yeon, this raid operation—why did you want it so badly? I knew it all.”

.
Commonly, the power of demons that live in the ‘outside’ world, as the inherent power demons possess.

They feed on a subject’s emotions,
And can wield power close to miracles.

In this process, those who accept and are transformed by demonic energy are commonly called ‘Demons.’
The important point here is that demons place great importance on the terms of their first contractor.

This was no exception even for the apex of demons, the 72 Demon Kings.
In fact, the stronger their power,
The more they were bound by rules.

Hundreds of years ago, Tang Seo-ran
was the one who first summoned the 72 Demon Kings into this world.

Her own sudden rise from at best D-rank to S-rank was because she was the one who first contracted with a Demon King.

“This is what you were aiming for.”

The position of the first contractor.
The descent and conspiracy of Tang Seo-ran and the 72 Demon Kings
Eventually collapsed due to the sacrifices of dragons, including the Red Dragon King ‘Kearis’, and the Blighted Ones.

Tang Seo-ran fled and survived by taking over other bodies.
The Demon Kings were sealed and buried, unable to reclaim proper selves or powers.

Because of that, the link between the two became incomplete,
And a hundred years ago it was severed for good.

In short, the current Demon Kings had no contractors.

“Trying to replace me by contracting with a Demon King—what a clever idea. It’s chilling, really.”
“…”

Tang Seo-ran giggled and looked at Ju Yuri standing beside her.
She reached out, and a gem was plopped into her hand.

Unusual demonic energy swirled within it.
It was surely the contract Moon Ha-yeon had engraved into Kazantia.

Tang Seo-ran raised it high.

“Nasty, poisonous… to implant this into her own flesh and force the ritual—what’s creepier is that she succeeded. Truly, the filthy blood has its own vitality.”
“…”
“Your plan was to finish this mission and hand this to me, wasn’t it?”

The clueless me would have carried out the Demon King’s descent again, and, bound by the engraved contract, would have been powerless and fallen to you.

“You planned to absorb the emptyened , right?”
“…”

Tang Seo-ran curled her lips up as she looked at Moon Ha-yeon trembling.

“That’s why I planned to stab you in the back during this raid as well.”
“…”

Tang Seo-ran briefly recalled the past.

The little brat who had nothing.
She boldly came and bent one knee,
And young Moon Ha-yeon shouted with eyes ablaze with ambition.
Seeing that, Tang Seo-ran thought she was the perfect woman to use.

“In the end, fitting of the filthy mongrel born of the Moon family… you were nothing but sordid blood to be used by someone.”

When Tang Seo-ran finished speaking, Moon Ha-yeon, who had been glaring as if to kill, moved her mouth.
She spat ‘pth’ and dirtied her face with saliva.

Tang Pyo-rim, who had been watching, raised her eyes and tried to step forward,
But Tang Seo-ran raised a hand to stop her.

“You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that. I’ll reward you for that.”

Tang Seo-ran flung Moon Ha-yeon to the ground.
She opened her hand.
A green liquid laced with unmistakable poison coalesced into a sphere.

Tang Seo-ran’s innate ability: [Master of Poisoned Blood].
The power to manipulate and create any toxin that exists in this world.

Using that, she made a virulent poison,
And poured it onto Moon Ha-yeon’s right arm.

With a sizzling sound,
It literally melted flesh,
Severed nerves, and cut through bone.

“Kuaaah!!”

Moon Ha-yeon bit her lip and rolled her eyes.
Before long, her right arm was severed and tumbled across the floor.

“What a scream.”

Tang Seo-ran mocked Moon Ha-yeon foaming at the mouth.
She kicked her like trash.
She rolled like a rag and was hurled into a far corner against the wall.

Tang Pyo-rim, watching, asked.

“…Can’t we just not kill her right away?”
“Leave her, no matter how poisonous she is, what could she do in that state?”

With only one left arm, all her limbs had been torn off.
On top of that, she was poisoned by a variety of toxins from the earlier strike.
She was literally a pathetic, crawling insect.

Tang Seo-ran, as if she no longer mattered,
Turned her gaze away.

Beyond the sporadically shattered ice wall,
Ma Hana, still not understanding the situation,
and Ju Na-young were visible.

Tang Seo-ran completely ignored the lump of black fur and licked her lips looking at Ju Na-young.

Her plan in this participation was to eliminate all interfering beings and seize what she wanted.

First, she would strike the back of the head of the betraying Moon Ha-yeon.
At the same time, she wanted to check how well Ju Yuri, who had flowed in with the vines, had been brainwashed.

This succeeded perfectly by watching Moon Ha-yeon miserably dying in the corner.

Second was to retrieve the Soul Stone whose ritual had been conducted half-heartedly.
This was also completed.
Any contract engraved by Moon Ha-yeon could be removed later with time.

The final third, was to obtain dragon bloodline for complete power.

Why Tang Seo-ran obsessed over the Dragon Heart.
It was because Tang Seo-ran herself had been affected by the aftermath when the 72 Demon Kings were sealed.

She wasn’t so weakened that her identity had melted like the Demon Kings,
But the persistent collapse phenomenon
Was engraved on her soul like a fetter.

As a result, the bodies she inhabited could not enjoy their lifespan and aged rapidly.
The current body she occupied was no different,
It was literally the dragon’s curse engraved on the soul.

‘At least it lasted because Dragon Sword Mir’s blood flowed through it.’

Anyway, to completely shake off the fetter, she needed the power of the same dragon.
That’s why Tang Seo-ran was fixated on .
Because she knew a dragon’s strength better than anyone, she desired power all the more.

‘Ju Yuri is secured…’

Now, the woman visible before her.
Ju Na-young.
It is time to get her hands on her.

Tang Seo-ran smiled as she watched Ju Na-young shout, “Uh, sister…? Could it be Yuri sister?!”

In the short time she hadn’t seen her, the young girl
Had succeeded in inheriting the brilliant dragon blood.
She was truly a very good vial of elixir.

‘However…’

To firmly obtain Ju Na-young, first they had to subdue her so she couldn’t escape.
Additionally, it was necessary to thoroughly clean out the Academy.

To kill every hunter and faculty member of the Academy who thought they had won.
It had to be done to leave no aftershocks.

‘Everything is going according to plan.’

Tang Seo-ran was confident.

She judged that the side was already exhausted.
Her mere appearance here as an S-rank
Would be a catastrophe that pronounced death for them.

Her goal was to exploit countless windfalls by entering late once and launching an unexpected assault.
That was Tang Seo-ran’s ultimate objective.

Truly crafty and villainous thinking.

And in practice, she was not wrong.
Every circumstance flowed as she wanted.

Except for one…
Aside from a decisive, fatal variable.

Clack.
Clack.

“…?”

At that moment.

At the sudden sound of quadrupedal footsteps, Tang Seo-ran felt puzzled.

‘What is that?’

She couldn’t figure out why such sounds were coming from here now.
She naturally turned around.
Beyond the spreading dust cloud,
She narrowed her eyes at the appearing silhouette.

“…Hm?”

A man among the handsomest she had seen in many years appeared.
But Tang Seo-ran was not taken by his looks at all.

What bothered her was the grotesque half-human, half-beast lower body.
Its peculiar form was the lower half of a creature she’d seen many times.

A memory surfaced immediately.
There was no doubt.

‘Kirin…?’

The body of the ‘Four Deathly Beasts’ sovereign, the .
Thanks to that, Tang Seo-ran’s confusion did not clear up,
But became even more bewildered.

“…What?”

Tang Seo-ran felt grotesque bewilderment for the first time in a long while.
She had heard she was a monster countless times herself, but…

No, what the…
Isn’t that just a bona fide monster?

“…What, who is that?”

Tang Seo-ran murmured.
Tang Pyo-rim, similarly uncertain,
Noticed something in her eyes.

“Seo-ran, that’s him.”
“Who?”
“Yu Seha.”
“Yu Seha…? Who is he… ah?”

A brief memory flashed through her mind.

—Not an opinion, but I would like to mention a person to be wary of.

Yes, she remembered.

During a meeting, Moon Ha-yeon
Had blurted out that this was someone to be cautious of,
An Academy cadet who opened her mouth about it.

“Eh, I’m sure… I thought he was D-rank?”
“According to reports, he’s reached B-rank.”

Tang Seo-ran clicked her tongue.
She found it laughable that she felt even the slightest tension toward him.

Irritation welled up naturally.
Tang Pyo-rim, who quickly noticed, said,

“I’ll handle him, so check Kazantia’s condition. There’s an awful amount of Magi in the waiting—there must be a half-finished ritual.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you. Ah, you know this, but leave Junayang alone—she’s needed. The rest you can kill.”
“Of course.”

Having said that, Tang Seo-ran, without a care, turned with Ju Yuri.

This was none other than Deputy Master Tang Pyo-rim.
She was an upper A-rank in skill,
And was judged capable of finishing him without anyone noticing.

Crunch-!
Bang-! Kaboom-!!!

Ten seconds later,
If not for Tang Pyo-rim passing by bloodied and barely alive.

Bang-!

“…!”

A thunder different in caliber.
Tang Pyo-rim was driven deep into the wall.

Tang Seo-ran stared at her, who was literally a lump of blood, for about a second.
Dark poison and demonic energy coiled around Tang Pyo-rim’s hands.
It proved without a doubt that she had activated and used her abilities properly.

As mentioned earlier, Tang Pyo-rim was a Main with A-rank strength.
That she was reduced to that state in ten seconds meant…

‘…Crazy!?’

Tang Seo-ran felt a chill and shouted.

“Ju Yuri! Protect me right now!”
“…”

At the command, Ju Yuri reacted like lightning,
And spread her wings.

Turning the dragon scales covering her body into twin blades, she appeared behind Tang Seo-ran.

Immediately after, a sword strike imbued with overwhelming force descended.
Yu Seha, having closed the distance, brought down the [Sword of the Saint].

Ju Yuri did her utmost to block it.
Ju Yuri held for about two seconds,
And suddenly her knees buckled with a thud.

Tang Seo-ran watched the scene as if she couldn’t believe it.
At present, Ju Yuri had multiple poisons injected and various modifications completed.

Thanks to that, she had an astonishing
[100] level brute strength, a figure few even among S-ranks reached.

Yet she was purely overpowered in strength.
What this meant was simple.

‘…That half-human, half-beast monster brat…’

Is he stronger than Ju Yuri…?

Tang Seo-ran.
She had believed everything would go according to her plan,
An old fox who had lived long and waited for opportunities.

The variable she hadn’t anticipated.
It was Yu Seha,
and the overwhelming strength he had achieved.