The New Demon King

A back alley a little ways from the slums.

Moon Ha-yeon leaned against the wall.
She gave a short, bitter laugh as she looked at the old man who had carried her.

“Well, go figure… I never thought I’d be glad to see you.”
“That’s good to hear.”

Moon Ha-yeon took the cigarette the Sword Ghost offered and put it in her mouth.
When the lighter flared, its sharp, distinctive scent crawled into her stomach.

It wasn’t an ordinary cigarette.
It was made from a notorious drug herb used in the underworld.
With the pain a little dulled, she finally felt she might be able to breathe.

‘…Damn.’

In other words, her body was in such a state that she had to resort to this.
It meant her condition was terrible.

Moon Ha-yeon glanced at the Sword Ghost.
To be honest, his appearance upon their reunion
Was somewhat shocking.

Moon Ha-yeon suddenly realized an obvious truth.

‘That old man can be hurt.’

One ear, one eye, and one arm were missing.
Judging by the bleeding, …
It seemed the injuries had been sustained not long after they parted.

Moon Ha-yeon asked quietly.

“Who did this to you?”

The Sword Ghost answered.

“Yu Seha.”
“Oh my, well I’ll be—really? That kid was that strong?”
“You were the one who warned them in the first place.”
“That’s true, but… you must have been quite the monster yourself.”
“…”
“So, what about the Overlord Sword and the Sword Empress? They must have joined her, right?”

She continued asking casually.
The Sword Ghost looked down at Moon Ha-yeon instead of answering.

His miserable, terrible state.
A ragged figure hanging on with only one arm left—
Was the worst sight, enough to kill a five-year-old child.

Even so, a blaze burned in Moon Ha-yeon’s eyes.
The gaze that had first captivated the Sword Ghost—
That would do anything to rise.
A resolve to accept anything into his body for the sake of life.

The Sword Ghost was certain this time would truly be the last.

As had been the case until now,
he spoke the words of the test.

“Ha-yeon.”
“…What now, all of a sudden?”
“Will you give up?”
“…”
“If you give up… I’ll protect you—I’ll keep you alive, even if it means saving the severed limbs or taking you abroad.”

Those were unbearably sweet words.
It was basically an offer to unconditionally spare her life.

After saying it, the Sword Ghost made a hand-chop motion from an angle and speed Moon Ha-yeon could never see.
He intended to cut her down if her will broke.

“…”

Moon Ha-yeon stared at him in response to the sudden question.
She smiled sardonically.
Just thirty minutes ago,

If she had been in despair then—
if she were the one who had clung to Kim Min-su and demanded they die together…
she would have said she’d give up.

‘But…’

She couldn’t do that now.
She rummaged and pulled out Kim Min-su’s severed arm.
The Sword Ghost watching her slightly narrowed his eyes.

“I couldn’t see, but I guessed—so he’s dead?”
“…Yeah, I tried to save him…”
“I see.”
“…”

Moon Ha-yeon brushed her hand across the back of the arm.
Perhaps because it hadn’t been severed long ago,
She could feel its unique warmth.

—It was an honor to serve you.

The boy’s face naturally filled her mind.
She remembered it and snorted a laugh.

Even she found it ridiculous.
What right did someone like her have to be indulging in noble memories or reflections?

‘I’m definitely going to hell when I die.’

That didn’t matter.
She didn’t care about after death.

So…
Here and now…
She renewed her resolve.

She looked at the Sword Ghost.
She looked at the old man who, as ever, was impossible to read.

“Give up?”

Bullshit.

“Never.”

I’ll make it happen.
At least until I’ve overturned this world…
I absolutely cannot die.

“…”

The Sword Ghost laughed deeply.
A wave of satisfaction swept over him that Moon Ha-yeon had passed the final test.

‘Yeah, that’s how it should be.’

The Sword Ghost sensed the bud of a flower filled with malice ready to bloom.

However, that was one thing…
Now it was time to talk practicalities.

“I saw Tang Seo-ran on the way here.”

At the name Tang Seo-ran, Moon Ha-yeon’s expression tightened immediately.

“Looks like she stabbed us in the back first, doesn’t it?”
“Fuck, you knew I would stab people in the back too?”

The Sword Ghost ostensibly sided with Moon Ha-yeon, but he was a madman who could go anywhere—an uncontrollable asymmetric force.
Thus Moon Ha-yeon, like with Kim Min-su, didn’t tell him everything.

He shrugged at the question.

“No, just a guess. Honestly, I never thought a bitch with your temper would quietly sit under someone.”
“…”
“Compared to your quiet naiveté, Tang Seo-ran’s personality as a sinister master is…”

This was the best time to sort things out.

“…Damn, no argument there. I was too stupid…”
“So? What will you do? Fix your limbs first like before?”

Moon Ha-yeon shook her head.
Doing that would be too late.
The moment she chose to get patched up, it would already be too late.
Whether Tang Seo-ran or the Association, none of them would leave her alone.

“Then, are you going to just die?”
“…”

Moon Ha-yeon fell silent.
She’d given that answer, but in truth she had no sharp solution either.

An awkward silence.
It was then.
A sudden, suspicious sound came from somewhere.
The sound came from inside the Sword Ghost’s pocket.

“Hm?”
“…?”

The Sword Ghost pulled out an oddly shaped ring.
The moment Moon Ha-yeon saw it, she recognized what it was.

“…That’s the covenant ring used between clan masters?!”

<Niflheim>, <Kalasutra>, <Tartarus>.

An artifact prepared for communication between the masters of the three major crime syndicates.

“Where did you get that?”
“Go Joo-geum—killed her and took it.”
“When the hell did that happen?! I was there too…”
“He grabbed it with the blade’s tip when he cut her throat. She wore it like a necklace.”
“Crazy, monstrous old man…”

Moon Ha-yeon, staring in stunned disbelief, felt a question at the voice emanating from the ring.

—Go Joo-geum, are you listening? If you’ve escaped, meet us there immediately. We need to plot the next steps.

The voice belonged to none other than Tang Pyo-rim.
Tang Pyo-rim is the Vice Master.
That she spoke instead of Tang Seo-ran meant…
That Tang Seo-ran’s situation was so bad she couldn’t even speak properly.

“She lost. What a stupid bitch.”
“Ha-yeon, that’s not something you should be saying, is it?”
“Ah, shut up with your nitpicking and be quiet!”

Moon Ha-yeon’s grinding objections rolled fiercely.
She’s Moon Bora’s older sister.
Moon Ha-yeon was also quite intelligent.

“…”

Moon Ha-yeon, who had been silent, suddenly exposed her chest.
Caring little whether her body was seen or not, she revealed the hollowed scar where the Soul Stone had been embedded.

She felt the pool of congealed blood there tremble.
It was a resonance response visible because a Soul Stone was surely not far away.

Moon Ha-yeon looked up at the Sword Ghost with a “maybe…?” expression.

“Sword Ghost.”
“What is it? I’ll say this up front: I’m not interested in your body. I’m old and no longer stand. If it’s a hug you want, find someone else.”
“Fuck, shut up… this is the perfect opportunity.”

If things go the way I think…

“Not only can we restore your limbs, but you can also get the most satisfying revenge on that bitch Tang Seo-ran.”

At the same time…

“You could also become strong enough to pique your interest.”
“…Oh?”
“But I can’t do it alone. I need you to help.”

With her one remaining arm, Moon Ha-yeon pricked her body to draw blood in several places.
She asked him to slash just enough to leave wounds.

“And finally, we need to subdue Tang Seo-ran—the bitch—in one blow.”

Can I ask that of you?

Moon Ha-yeon’s plea, soaked in desperation.
The Sword Ghost watched silently, then smiled.

He felt it instinctively.
The bud of a flower full of malice in front of him.
Now was the moment that bloom would open more brilliantly.

The Sword Ghost wanted to see it with his own eyes.
A flower that could stand against the overwhelming talent of Yoo Se-ha—
the filthy, history-steeped flower that was Moon Ha-yeon.

“Fine. I’ll play along until the end.”

An abandoned factory lot a fair distance from the Gonis Hunter Academy.
The meeting point they’d contacted via the ring.

Tang Pyo-rim, literally burned to rags.
And Tang Seo-ran, barely clinging to life, supported by her.
They had just managed to shake off their pursuers.

“Seo-ran, Seo-ran!”
“…”

Tang Seo-ran’s body was completely different from earlier.
The body of a villain whose name she didn’t even know.
Compared to her original body, it was an inadequate lump of flesh in every way.

Tang Seo-ran ground her teeth.

‘Ju Yae-young…’

Against Ju Yee-young’s demonic karma and murderous onslaught,
Tang Seo-ran had no choice but to abandon her eldest daughter’s body.

Thanks to that, they gained a slender opening to escape.
They fled at full speed, leaving Ju Yae-young scrambling to take the eldest’s body.

Of course, they couldn’t just leave in peace.
To buy time, she ordered Ju Yuri to carry out a near-suicidal act,
and, with Tang Pyo-rim’s help, barely escaped.

“…Tsk.”

Tang Seo-ran clicked her tongue in regret.
Ju Yuri had practically been the first fully realized dragon possibility she’d obtained.
To have used that up like this—of course she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a waste.
Still, since they survived, she considered it a bargain.

‘…Sigh, I have to admit that.’

Tang Seo-ran nodded.
She’d been too hasty.
Yes, far too hasty.

Trying to take it all at once,
she had ruined everything.

She could blame not knowing about the absurd monster Yoo Se-ha,
but in any case, greed had caused this disaster.

The price paid for that was too high.
She lost Ju Yuri,
And also the talented body that had inherited the blood of Dragon Sword Mir…

‘Did the soul suffer damage too…?’

She could see the tips of her fingers splitting and crumbling.
Even though she had switched bodies before it was too late,
the aftermath of the fight with Ju Ye-yong still took its toll.
She’d used the second ultimate of “Flames Spreading in the Heavens”: “Hell Driver.”

Tang Seo-ran’s soul, struck properly, was gradually shattering and weakening.
No matter how fresh and sturdy a body she occupied,
in this state, nothing would matter.

Tang Seo-ran asked Tang Pyo-rim.

“Have you contacted Go Joo-geum?”
“I did. I got a message he’ll come right away—if we wait, he’ll be here.”

Tang Seo-ran nodded.
Right.
After all, even as a low A-rank, he’s a clan master.

He wouldn’t die easily.
Even in this massacre, he’d have the capacity to look after himself.

Go Joo-geum was more specialized not in combat power but
in various shamanistic abilities.

By promising her a large reward later,
they planned to have her help control the soul’s collapse.

Anyway, having lost many clan members in this defeat, she’d need their help too.

“It’s fine.”

They could calmly rebuild one piece at a time.
They could start over.
They could flee overseas and recuperate for about twenty years,
then gather the villains wandering there.
In the meantime, seize and take control of a decent body.

They had already retrieved the most important thing.
Tang Seo-ran lifted a hexagonal jewel that had shrunk considerably in size.
Inside, the spirit of Kazantia shimmered like heat haze.

“With this alone, we can do it again as many times as we like!”

Tang Seo-ran’s confident shout.
Tang Pyo-rim nodded with a teary expression.

“Yeah, yeah! That’s it! Our Seo-ran—I’m by your side!”

Tang Pyo-rim stepped forward to embrace Tang Seo-ran.
Tang Seo-ran, however, stared only at the Demon King contained in the Soul Stone.

Thud.

In that moment, a long smoking pipe fell at Tang Seo-ran’s feet.
It was Tang Pyo-rim’s item, a conduit for activating her power.
Tang Seo-ran thought it clumsy.

“Tang Pyo-rim, your artifact fell.”
“…”
“…Pyo-rim?”

Puzzled, she turned her gaze.
And she saw.

Tang Pyo-rim staring blankly without saying a word.
Then, a straight line cut from Tang Pyo-rim’s brow down to her chin.

“!?”
“Se-Seo-ran…”

Tang Pyo-rim collapsed without leaving a proper farewell.
Tang Seo-ran hurriedly gathered her power.

Soon, in a darkened corner of the lot,
she saw an old man quietly sheathing a sword.
There was no doubt.

“…So Hang-woo?”