The Last Invitation

Flip.

Their lips parted.

It was a deceptively sweet moment.

But as if to prove it wasn’t an illusion, a transparent strand of saliva stretched between them like a thread.

“…”
“…”

Neither Ma Hana nor Yu Seha considered it dirty. It was a symbol of affection shared between lovers; they could feel nothing else.

‘Mwaa…’

Ma Hana flushed as if she’d stepped into a sauna. Her lower abdomen throbbed with a sharp, aching heat. A thirst surged through her like a wave—no amount of water could quench it. She understood: she wanted his seed right now.

Ma Hana slowly raised a finger and traced Yu Seha’s face, finer than her own. He was sculpturally beautiful, and that beauty matched a sunlike heart that put looks aside. She looked at him, bliss and desire coiling through body, mind, and soul.

‘Like this…’

She wanted to go through with it now, without looking back—lie beneath him and cry out in pleasure.

‘Ah, wait…’

If we do it now… we’ll definitely get pregnant…?

At that thought Ma Hana snapped back as if doused with cold water. It’s too soon—her body and mind weren’t ready. She hadn’t asked Seha’s opinion. She hadn’t accepted his confession.

‘Well, of course—aren’t we already lovers?’ she thought, but the order was wrong.

‘Mu, muang!!’

Her tail buzzed like a helicopter. Burying her head in Yu Seha’s arms, she hid her embarrassment as best she could.

“Se… Seha.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“N-next time… let’s do it later. Let’s both be a bit more grown-up first.”
“Okay.”

Yu Seha looked down at Ma Hana, his face flushed with the same desire. He swallowed and turned his head.

While Ma Hana briefly went to the stream to wash her face, Yu Seha added fresh logs and rekindled the embers.

The fire crackled and the red and scarlet flames rose like heat haze, giving an entrancing warmth.

As he watched, a sheepish message popped up.

Yu Seha smiled faintly. Suddenly it said something else.

‘I know without you saying it. I’m also a transcendent like you two, after all. I instinctively understand such functions. Also… I’m probably stronger than you two?’

‘We’ll see.’

The Demon King stumbled over his words; Yu Seha chuckled and dismissed it as a joke. He poked the campfire with his stick and continued.

‘It didn’t stop because of you two. It’s just… a little early… and Meowi might be in danger today.’

‘Yes, that’s right. Um… ahem, I guess I should pay attention now.’

Before he could carry that out, he had to resolve something he’d planned long ago.

‘It feels too much like a death flag…’

He didn’t want to be hasty.

Time would be plentiful from now on. I will always be by Meowi’s side. Meowi will always be by my side.

Yu Seha rummaged in his pack and toyed with a small, round metal object. In the moonlight it gleamed—an item forged from precious ore he had sought and prepared.

Commonly called a ‘ring’—a token promising a lifetime with a beloved.

It symbolized future and eternity—things Yu Seha, who lived only for today, felt least connected to.

He looked at it and vowed.

‘When all this is over…’

He would slip this onto Meowi’s delicate hand, and…

‘All of our kids.’

He would find rings that suited each of them and personally put them on.

Of course, he kept the thought to himself; he didn’t want to invite a silly jinx.

Anyway, to make that happen he needed a definite conclusion. Now was the time to settle things.

‘Sword Ghost So Hang-woo, Demon King Moon Ha-yeon…’

These were presences Yu Seha sensed instinctively somewhere out there. He had an inexplicable conviction that the endpoint of his story—the chapter’s conclusion—was not far off.

A slight chill stirred; Yu Seha opened his eyes.

He saw the campfire had gone out while he slept.

He snapped his fingers; a nail-sized pure flame leapt onto the logs and brought a pleasant warmth. Burning Flame Demon—perfectly tuned thanks to maxed stats and proficiency.

He watched the flames, then looked at the adorable fur bundle in his arms. Under the blanket, angelic Meowi drooled and muttered “kuu…” in her sleep.

He poked her steamed-bun cheeks with a finger. She clung to him as if she’d never leave his sleeping bag—unbearably adorable.

‘She must be tired.’

She slept so deeply someone could have carried her off without waking; she was completely lost in sleep.

Not surprising—only a few hours had passed since she learned of the tragedy tied to her parents.

There were also repercussions from the new power she’d gained. Yu Seha could see a massive lump of power radiating from Ma Hana as it adjusted and extended—undoubtedly her innate ability, [bewitching beast].

‘Fortunately, it doesn’t look like I need to intervene.’

He’d prepared to some extent. If this power refused to accept Ma Hana and threatened harm, he would isolate it, consume it with Complete Devour, copy it with the Eye of Reverse Heaven, and give it back to Meowi. That way Yu Seha could use [bewitching beast] without endangering her.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. I’m no longer a being of the human world, am I.

The word ‘impossible’ was gradually disappearing from his vocabulary. In truth, if he’d decided to, Yu Seha could have resolved this Trial in an instant; he hadn’t because it was tied to Meowi, so he intervened only at the end.

Yu Seha closed his eyes.

‘Demon King.’

‘Is it because of this power? The reason you brought me into this world.’

Silence stretched. Yu Seha smirked as the Demon King exercised his right to remain silent.

‘Will you explain everything when we meet later?’

He nodded, draped the blanket over Ma Hana, and stroked the crown of her head.

“Mmnya, Seha…”
“…”

Yu Seha woke not only because he felt cold but because the power that had silently protected Meowi was fading. He noticed it disappearing—once she acquired [Demonic Nature Beast], there was no reason for that protection to remain.

He clenched at the fading presence.

Yu Seha murmured as he examined Han Ara’s innate ability tingling in his hand.

“Thank you.”

For protecting our Meowi… Saved to the list.

Then he went back to sleep.

“Hmm…”

A rather late morning: the sun was high and the clock read eleven. The completely collapsed Trial had reverted to an ordinary mound of dirt.

Yu Seha planned to wake Ma Hana, who was still half-asleep. It was time to head home—but he couldn’t. The reason was simple.

“Ahem!”

Meowi clung to him like last night. Only now… she had turned into a mature form.

She’d grown to 180 cm. Black hair fell like a waterfall and brushed his face. Her explosively voluptuous body pressed and stimulated him everywhere—a literal ‘mmpuwaaang!’ shell clinging as if never to let go.

Troublesome. He knew she was still Meowi, but the unfamiliar body made touching awkward.

At that moment Ma Hana mumbled a terrifying bit of sleep-talk.

“Mmmnya… hehe Seha, I like you… I like you so much.”
“Meowi…”
“Hehe, I’ll squeeze it all out… every last drop… we’ll finish together with the kids…”
“…!?”

A chill ran down his spine. For twenty minutes—until Ma Hana, in full-bust mode, came to her senses—Yu Seha could do nothing but squeeze his eyes shut.

Time passed cruelly fast. Vacation ended; after enjoying precious time with the kids and training relentlessly, Yu Seha had somehow reached his third year.

The lonely private training ground Meowi used remained unchanged. Yu Seha suddenly opened his eyes.

—Kugugugugugu!!!!!!!!!!!

He turned his head. Beyond the window, a black pillar of light spouted intermittently like a geyser.

It wasn’t night but dazzling noon. The pillar thrust like a sword toward the sun—an invitation aimed at Yu Seha.

Vroom!

His phone in his pocket rang like mad. Letting it vibrate, Yu Seha nodded.

“…Yeah, I’ll be there soon.”

Moon Ha-yeon, the practically sole Demon King, was calling. At last, the time to make the final decision had come.