The New Demon King

A master I was seeing for the first time,
No, it was Tang Seo-ran’s flustered expression that made Moon Ha-yeon smile.
She couldn’t help herself; it was too satisfying and deliciously vindictive.

That’s right.
Moon Ha-yeon knew.
Her opponent was that Tang Seo-ran.

She was someone who had contracted with the Demon King and maintained that relationship longer than anyone else.

Therefore, from the moment Tang Seo-ran appeared here, Moon Ha-yeon aimed to catch her off guard.

She deliberately gave up the demonic energy,
Making her believe she had seized the initiative.
Seizing that gap, she activated the contract she had engraved into Kazantia at the <Temple of the Demon King>.

Whatever else, Moon Ha-yeon was now the first contractor.
She had priority to confront the Demon King and could execute the contract she had embedded within.

‘……’

Of course, for Moon Ha-yeon this was a gamble.
The contract itself wasn’t mutually entered into in the first place;
It had been forcibly inscribed onto a partly resurrected Kazantia.

‘Originally it was meant to aim at mutual destruction between Tang Seo-ran and the Demon King…’

She was stabbed in the back by Tang Seo-ran,
and in the end it had led to this point.

It was effectively Moon Ha-yeon’s final move,
And the only way she could pull off a miraculous survival.

Naturally, that didn’t mean it was without risks.
If the ‘Demon King’, the transcendent being before her, resisted with full force, even she would have to be prepared for obliteration.

So originally she planned to stall Tang Seo-ran as long as possible and try to persuade her or whatever else…

‘…What is this?’

Demon King Kazantia.
He seemed indifferent to his own fate and handed everything to Moon Ha-yeon.

It was bewildering to such an extent…
he only spat out a few unpleasant words.

I saw everything. I thought you were an amusing child… but you were better than I expected. One thing’s for certain: you were more entertaining than Tang Seo-ran.

“……”

I’ll watch you for a while.

Even if you take all my power,
I’ll see whether you lose yourself.

Let me say this in advance: rising to the ‘Above’ isn’t all pleasant. It’s the kind of place where you can very easily lose who you are. I regretted it after I rose as well.

“Fuck, I don’t even know what you’re saying — I’ve lost all my limbs right now and can’t see straight, okay?”

If you’re going to give something, just hand it over and get lost!

Kazantia smiled as if amused.
Soon, what he handed over was…
Half bitten as if someone had taken a bite,
A heart torn away about halfway.

Crackle-!!!

<Sacrifice Ritual>.
The cost of a primitive, uncivilized, and above all cruel sorcery passed down since ancient times.

It began to take place.

Tang Seo-ran panicked.
Shaking her head, she released the Demonic energy she had been gathering toward Moon Ha-yeon as if in a frenzy.
But the flying Demonic energy immediately vanished and was collected as payment.

“Ah, ah!!!”

Terror welled up in Tang Seo-ran’s eyes.
Soon something that looked like black hands clung to her from all directions.

She felt her cells being crushed as if carved apart one by one.
Tang Seo-ran screamed in the pain of her soul being torn away.

“Ah, no, no!!!”

Tang Seo-ran shouted without stopping, desperately opening her mouth.
She tried to cajole and plead for sympathy from the shell of the Demon King.
Then she hurled every curse and even some plausible proposals at Moon Ha-yeon at the center of the Demonic energy.

At last, what she said in the end was…
A line that made one’s brows knit involuntarily.

“S-someone save me… please.”
“……”

Moon Ha-yeon, clutching the heart in her hand, grimaced at those words.

A hollow emptiness and rage rose inside her.

She would have preferred if she had screamed like a villain,
or at least left a decent warning with some grand words,
or cursed to the end; that would have been better.
Then as the superior she served, as a clan master, she might have retained a shred of respect…

In the end, the one who had sat in the seat Moon Ha-yeon so desired, the queen of evil who had reigned for centuries,
The essence of the person Moon Ha-yeon had heard about and aspired to since childhood was…

Nothing different from an ordinary person who trembled begging for her life.

“Fuck…”

For the sake of getting rid of a piece of shit like that…
She was so loyal?
To sit in a seat like this…

‘Kim Min-su is dead…?’

Really…
It was pathetic like a dog.

Crackle-!

Soon, Tang Seo-ran’s lower body was ripped off,
And she began to be pulled away by something.
She clawed at the ground and cried out something.

Having purposely closed her ears, Moon Ha-yeon watched the sight closely and made a vow.

‘I will never…’

I will never meet such an ugly end.
Even if I claw my way up desperately to survive, I won’t beg like that.

‘If I’m going to die…’

I’ll die cleanly.
That way, I can say something to that bastard who’s already gone to the afterlife.

-Aaaaaaaah!!!!!!

Finally, Tang Seo-ran was sucked into an unknown orb.

Moon Ha-yeon felt that her soul had been severed.
Tang Seo-ran’s spirit was no longer anywhere in this world.

She could no longer be reincarnated…
Or revived by anyone.

“……”

The hollow end of someone who had ruled the shadow world for centuries.

Moon Ha-yeon shook with fury and shed tears.

“……”

A few hours later.
Inside the abandoned factory.

The Sword Ghost watched silently ahead.
A heat swirled at the center of the factory as if a bonfire had been lit.
But there was no sign of a medium anywhere.

Only the phenomenon of energies clashing and spreading within the Demonic energy circle drawn on the floor existed.
The Sword Ghost silently stared at the two colliding energies.
One was green, the other purple.

The Sword Ghost was ignorant of Demonic energy;
He knew nothing of sorcery.

Complex formulas or principles of demonic arts,
Were matters that had nothing to do with him.

But as the saying mastery of everything goes,
Those who reached the extreme had certain commonalities, even if their methods differed.

It’s not for nothing that the final realms of nothingness and Demonic energy,

, transformation to an immortal and ascension, are likened to one another.

‘……’

The Sword Ghost silently watched their struggles.

More than eight corpses were scattered around him.

Hunters who sensed the Demonic energy emanating from the factory had swarmed the area.
And before they could contact anywhere else,
They had all been dealt with in the blink of an eye.

The Sword Ghost sat atop their bodies stacked like a chair.

Crackle-!

How long that tedious time lasted,
The fiercely clashing flames soon changed into a single color.
It grew and gradually transformed into a gate.

Click.

The Sword Ghost gripped the Ghost Shadow Sword at his back, then slowly released it.
But at the sight of the woman who appeared, he let the sword fall.
Uncharacteristically, the corner of his mouth twitched.
It soon spread into a deep smile,
and then into a low but unmistakably manic laugh.

It was like witnessing Yu Seha evolved into a transcendent being, shedding bounds, a kind of rapture.
He witnessed a similar exhilaration with his own eyes.

Step, step.

The one walking out was Moon Ha-yeon.
However, like Yu Seha had been…
Well, not to the same extent,
There were noticeably sporadic changes.

Abnormal body parts were visible here and there.
Black scraps of cloth fluttered around her body.
Lastly, her pupils were utterly reversed, taking on what is commonly called inverted eyes.

A potent and almost pure Demonic energy surged, far surpassing all previous things.

She looked no longer like a terrestrial living being, but like something else.

The Sword Ghost who had descended asked.

“You did it.”

A reply full of certainty.
The being before him, Moon Ha-yeon, answered the question.

“…Yeah.”
“I see, congratulations. So, what’s next?”

Moon Ha-yeon couldn’t answer immediately.
She spread her hands as if asking for a moment.

Moon Ha-yeon felt as if her skull were about to shatter.
Fortunately, it stabilized little by little and quickly.

She had forced all the cost onto Tang Seo-ran and annihilated her.
As compensation, she succeeded in inheriting all the power and authority of Demon King Kazantia.

Moon Ha-yeon lowered her gaze and checked her body.
Cracks appeared here and there as parts split and regenerated repeatedly.
Through those gaps surged a power that only a Demon King could exert.

The irony was that this overwhelming power was being somewhat controlled by the mere mortal Moon Ha-yeon.

Contrary to Kazantia simply handing it over,
The power of a Demon King isn’t something easily handled.

If this method could have worked, Tang Seo-ran would have done it long ago.

Moreover, Moon Ha-yeon was literally dying here, so she was far from being a vessel fit to receive it.

What made all this possible was Moon Ha-yeon’s innate ability,
The Legendary skill, [Samra Unity].
Commonly called, [Fusion of All Things].

It was based on the vile talent unique to the Moon clan — the ability to bind anything into one.
A miracle, possible because a flower full of malice bloomed from a pile of filth.

Moon Ha-yeon breathed softly.
The phenomenon where Yu Seha, having become a transcendent, gained stats just by breathing.
That was now happening to her too.

[72 Demon Kings ‘Kazantia’ vessel fusion successful.]
[You are no longer ‘human’. You are classified as a demon. As your rank increases later, you will ascend to Demon King.]
[Your pitiful soul adapts to the vast vessel and grows stronger.]
[Your stats increase.]
[Your stats increase.]
[You win the ‘Sacrifice Ritual’. Tang Seo-ran takes the price of all defeat. Tang Seo-ran’s soul is completely annihilated. She can no longer reincarnate or be resurrected; she will wander the void and suffer forever in eternal hell.]
[Your vessel slowly cracks. Unlike transcending rank, there is now a limit to your lifespan.]
[Entities of the ‘Above’ have noticed you. The laws of the world will constrict you.]

These were undoubtedly the changes visible because she had become a transcendent.

However, unlike Yu Seha’s absurd adaptability and comprehension,
She didn’t show immediate adaptability sufficient to apply in combat.

That was natural.
Moon Ha-yeon’s talent couldn’t compare to the monstrous genius that was Yu Seha.
She couldn’t instinctively use everything over 100% as he could.

Moon Ha-yeon needed time.
To adapt, to study,
She needed time for trial and error one by one.

Moon Ha-yeon understood that,
And answered accordingly.

“…It’s still incomplete, you know. I need some recuperation.”
“Is that so? Perfect timing — I also needed to refine the Guiying Sword a bit more. Good.”
“…Refine? You, who have already reached the pinnacle?”

Moon Ha-yeon’s question, as if asking what kind of joke this was.
The Sword Ghost laughed softly.
Moon Ha-yeon, staring at the Sword Ghost, suddenly asked.

“…Wounds.”
“……?”
“I’ll heal your wounds — let me see your eyes and ears, and that severed arm, there’s a corpse over there we can take one from and attach—”
“—No.”
“…What, you don’t trust me? I’m a Demon King now, a transcendent — I can do things like this without breaking a sweat.”
“No, it’s not that.”

The Sword Ghost looked at the hollow shoulder.
To him, that arm was a gift offered to a rising star who would open a new era.
At the same time, it was the tuition a master paid to a pupil.
Although Yu Seha himself would hate it enough to throw a fit.

“I have no desire to be fixed. Ear, eye, or arm… even if I didn’t have any of those, it wouldn’t make me weaker.”
“…Then at least make me a sword? If you use Demonic energy, you could prepare many better blades than that old-fashioned numbered sword.”
“I don’t need even that.”

The Sword Ghost gripped the long sword at his waist.
He no longer needed a variety of weapons.
That’s why he had left Han-seong’s relics untouched.
Surely those would be examined and eventually pass into Yoo Se-ha’s hands.

The Sword Ghost no longer missed Ji Han-seong.

What remained for him now was…

one last confirmation.

“Now one blade is enough; I don’t need variety anymore.”

Moon Ha-yeon, watching, asked tentatively.

“…Yu Seha?”
“Yes. The next time we meet will be the final lesson — the day my neck will end up in his hands.”
“…You’re such an enigma. Why go so far as to talk like you’re going to die?”
“I will die.”

The Sword Ghost stated calmly.

“The next time I meet him, I will be defeated by Yu Seha.”
“…Isn’t he stronger now?”
“That’s true, but it’s still insufficient.”

The step I have taken forward,
Cannot compare to the steps my disciple will take.

“That’s enough.”

For me, it’s the far edge of the cosmos I could never reach even by burning everything.
He may not have wished it, but he has already set foot in the realm of celestial bodies.

“Once you step in, a warrior’s duty is to keep advancing.”

In the end, Yoo Se-ha will meet Ji Han-seong.
As the successor who inherits my will…

“……”

Moon Ha-yeon made a strange frown.
Indeed, this mad old man was an incomprehensible lunatic.
But then, what did it really matter?

Just as the Sword Ghost had his own story,
Moon Ha-yeon had her own.

They were comrades who helped each other.
That relationship was enough.
The ends they would meet would be their own responsibility.

Anyway, just as they were about to leave the abandoned factory,

Moon Ha-yeon belatedly realized her right arm hadn’t fully regenerated.

Inside it was just a mass of Demonic energy, an emptiness with no bone, flesh, blood, or vessels.

She couldn’t even feel any sensation.
It felt as if it weren’t her body.

“……”

Moon Ha-yeon gave a bitter laugh.
Is this the kind of alien sensation that things called <Demon Kings> always have?

It didn’t feel good at all.

‘Like…’

She felt her personal identity as Moon Ha-yeon fading, becoming some unknown something…
Something human inside her was gradually disappearing,
And a constraining sense of becoming a cog in a vast system overwhelmed her.

Let me say it again in advance: rising to the ‘Above’ isn’t all pleasant.

“……”

Moon Ha-yeon looked up at the sky.
The radiant stars and the moon.
And beyond them, countless gazes could be seen.
Each carried the intent of those watching her for various purposes.

“So Hang-woo.”
“What is it?”
“…Do you always feel their gazes?”

The Sword Ghost nodded to the question.

“So you can see them now too. Yes… those are the very reasons I say Han-seong is alive and watching.”
“…Is that the ‘Above’?”
“Yes.”
“…That’s fucked up, like some voyeuristic perverts… By the way, you really shouldn’t be on this earth’s level, should you?”
“You seem to sense my power roughly. That’s right — I should have ascended long ago. I simply chose not to.”
“…So you’re an old stagnant pond deliberately staying in the newbie zone. Is that it?”
“Don’t speak in such low-grade terms.”

After finishing her questions, Moon Ha-yeon clicked her tongue and looked away from the sky.
She then removed the foreign object she had placed inside her chest.
It was the severed arm of Kim Min-su.

I’m sorry, but I cannot carry out that order.
By any means necessary, rise.
If it’s you, you can do it.

“……”

Moon Ha-yeon, staring, brought it to the place that hadn’t regenerated.
Demonic energy spread sluggishly like threads.
As if they had always been one, she absorbed Kim Min-su’s arm in an instant.
She deliberately restrained it from taking on a slim feminine form.

Moon Ha-yeon closed her eyes.
Naturally, Kim Min-su’s last moments came to mind,
And the boy who had driven a knife into his heart.

‘…Well, it’s a bit of nerve, isn’t it.’

She knew well that she had no right to hold vengeance against him.
They were the ones who broke in intending to kill everyone — on what grounds could they resent him?

Leaving that aside…
It was ultimately her actions that drove Kim Min-su to his real death.
If he’d tried to preserve his own life, he could have survived easily.

Therefore, this was
merely a pretext.

‘We should at least collect the blood price, right?’

“Sword Ghost, let’s go.”
“I don’t take orders from weaklings.”
“…Ah, I’m the master now!”
“Even so, you’re weaker than me.”
“……”

Moon Ha-yeon grumbled as she walked.
She cut through the dark shroud and stepped into it.

If you rise again, if you seize another chance,
when the time comes, reveal yourself proudly.
We who live in the shadows want to see you walk under a sun not granted to us.

Moon Ha-yeon answered in her heart that she understood.

So then

Kim Min-su?

‘Go ahead and wait for me; you’re good at waiting anyway, right?’

Don’t cry even if you’re lonely,
because after all…
I probably won’t live that long either.

‘Later…’

I’ll come to see you.

A few days after all the attacks ended.
Yu Seha, staring blankly on the sofa,
was playing with a clump of fur on his knee.

“…Mwaaah.”

Squishy.

“Mwaaah…”

Wriggle wriggle.

“M, mwaaah!”

Stretch stretch!

“M, mweuang, mweuang!”