89-90

Chapter 89: The Lee Man Corps 2

Demon King

The Lee Man Corps – 2

"It'll explode after three seconds!"

"The western outskirts are defenseless! Stand up straight!"

Humans and monsters were colliding in the buildings and roads I had known well. A fast-food restaurant I had often visited when I lived here was being destroyed, a boar half the size of it rampaging through it. Huge explosions went off around its body as it was being repelled by the humans.

"Fuck, more incoming!"

"They'll be here soon!"

"How…" I muttered, unsure of what exactly I could saw.

"When did this world become a dungeon?"

"It didn't." Lee Chan-yu responded immediately, denying my claim.

"It's not a dungeon. It's just that a large number of monsters appeared here."

"Is this common?"

"If it were, there wouldn't be much left." We were running forward, a giant eagle swooping in from above us as we advanced.

[Kiii!]

"There are still civilians left?!"

"It's too late for them. When it goes in for the kill, throw the net!"

I drew my Twilight Sword, holding it at the ready. When the eagle descended to claim my head, I swung forward. The eagle screamed briefly, cut off by my sword, cleaving its head off.

[You received 1 gold and 80 silver.]

"It's weak, but…" There were too many people around to be binge eating. Not like there would be much of a benefit from eating it, anyway. It just felt like a waste to not eat it, no matter how weak its energy was.

"He killed an intermediate monster in one shot?"

"Are they from a guild?" As the attention began to gradually shift to us, Lee Chan-yu tapped on my shoulder.

"We should organize and consider this first, Captain."

"Yeah." I burned the eagle's body, turning to gaze out at the army of monsters rampaging through the roads and buildings that were so familiar to me. Nostalgia filled me as my memories of my days as a human came to mind.

"You may be strong, but if you blank out, you'll get hurt!"

"Enemy ahead!"

Humans, hiding by buildings or signboards, were attacking the monsters as they advanced on the road. They used bombs and magic to whittle away at them as humans with swords and axes went out to block their advance. I couldn't help but admire them for their struggle to live. I supposed that if I wanted to blend into this society again, it would be necessary to help them. It should be alright even if I were a little flashy about it too.

"Don't worry about killing too many of them, just enough to make them think we're strong."

"Got it. Don't be too violent."

"Alright." I kicked off the floor as I responded, bursting forward. Black roses stretched out from my fingertips, enveloping a group of monsters near a small clothing store and entangling them like fish in a net.

"Haaaah!" I swung the black rose net around, applying lightning to it as the monsters within tried to break free. They could do nothing as I let it fly through the air, aiming it right at a group of monsters that had just crossed the building's rubble. The monsters that weren't crushed by the weight died from the shocking net.

"Which guild are you from?"

"An overseas one?" In the end, I used a black rose to clean up all the monsters that were near me. Using Ubiquitous, I moved swiftly through the air above the battlefield. Many of the humans who used ranged weapons or magic tried to thin out the flying monsters, but there were still too many of them.

[Kiahhh!]

[Kyak!]

The monsters screamed and rushed me as soon as I appeared in front of them, blasting poison and fire from their mouths. Some of them even tried to drain my mana. But they were all attacks based on mana, and mana handled by the sub-system was too weak to properly hurt me. I spewed out my own mana, dispersing their attacks and melting them before they could reach me.

[Kiii!]

"Weak!" Lunatic Trickster, black lightning, flames, and ice all filled the air around me. The mana that had come from Jinma swept through the air like a storm, knocking away all of the monsters that had taken flight and easily rebuffing their magical attacks. My magical ability had changed the most during my evolution, the Belkena being exceptionally good at both martial arts and magic. The process of moving his mana to create magic shortened as well, making it exceptionally quick to use. I was still more confident in my sword skills than my magic, but I didn't want to show all of my abilities to people I didn't know.

"Damn, it's coming from the air!"

"Run away! It's impossible for us to defeat!"

[Kwoaaah!]

[Ahhhhhhh!]

The roar coming from the monsters on the ground increased, and the ones in the air were acting oddly now. They weren't trying to kill the humans; now, they were gathering in one place. It was something I was familiar with.

"Now, I know…" They were acting similar to the monsters in the Rookie's Battlefield. Thinking back now, I could tell that I felt it when I had been killing these monsters—that tiny fragment of a fallen and deformed soul.

"Hey, come down here!" I ignored the calls of the humans below and drew the Twilight Sword. The monsters gathering together kept increasing, dark grey energy emanating from the center of them.

'How did they escape the Rookie's Battlefield? They are similar to a soul monster, but aren't quite the same…' It was clear once I had thought about it. The Knights of Elakatra must have brought them here, after somehow figuring out how to replicate that same phenomenon that would occur on the battlefield. If the monsters here began to acquire the strange abilities of those soul monsters, and the Wind of Eutinus began to blow here on Earth, it would be a real disaster. Despair on a scale unlike that on the Rookie's Battlefield. Maybe if I waited for them to finish fusing, I could learn more about the Elakatra's goal, but I began to notice a weird movement in the space where they were converging. I couldn't afford to wait any longer.

[Wonderful!]

The monster birds were unrecognizable now as they gathered in at one point to form a huge mass. I had to suppress my disgust as I watched the negative energy spew out and distort the space around them. The process of change was much more grotesque to watch here than it had been on the battlefield. I hefted my greatsword, filling it with the power of my skill Reaper. Immediately, as if recognizing my intent, the mass began to shoot out hundreds of lung tendrils from its lump-shaped body to stop me. It would've been a lot more dangerous than the monster I faced before on the battlefield if I hadn't evolved.

As I swung my sword, dozens of the tendrils were severed and burned away. More came for me immediately, but I was fully prepared with Ubiquitous to jump away. My alter ego remained in my place, full of my mana. As the tendrils constricted around it, the alter ego exploded, burning away the tendrils.

[Gyaaaaaah!]

I stood right in front of the monster's body, new tendrils rising out of it to try and grasp at me. I severed them easily, devouring them whole with the power of Predation. The humans that had been fighting before were now fleeing, allowing me to go all out without fear of observers.

"It's just a little different from those soul monsters." I wondered what the knights' goal was. What sort of will was driving them forward, if any at all were? Perhaps the Great Fusion itself had been aimed at the knight. As always, questions that I couldn't resolve floated through my mind. I pushed them aside, cutting through the monster's body with my greatsword. The energy of the Reaper skill stretched out like a scythe, severing through the monster as it followed the trajectory of my sword. Maybe if I waited a bit longer, it would reach the higher-level system, but it was little more than a mass of malice and magic right now. My Predation made quick work of the part I had cut off.

[Ooh-oooooh!]

Suddenly, the area of space where the huge mass was cracked open as if it had been cut by a sword, a brilliant light pouring out of it. From inside it, a creature wearing shining armor sprung out.

[Oooh!]

"…" I didn't have time to register what had happened, the creature jumping straight at me with a war hammer in hand. The radiant light pouring forth seemed to suppress the mana of Jinma that was welling inside me; it was mana that was the polar opposite of my own. I used Ubiquitous to temporarily evade him as I considered this.

"It's not over!"

"Keep running!"

I could still hear the shouts and screams of the humans that were still on the battlefield, but I pushed them out of my mind. This monster appeared in a place where the monsters were fusing. Was this the goal of them fusing, or were they drawn there to devour this creature?

[Kiii!]

The monsters on the ground were focused on the armored figure, howling in the air, but Lee Chan-yu wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste. His hellhounds were gnawing at the monsters on the ground, working at reducing their numbers. I turned my undivided attention to the armored figure, glad that I could rely on Lee Chan-yu to take care of the rest. I prepared myself to strike out with my sword, eying my target. The monster rocketed forward, colliding into me as I used Detection to analyze its strengths and weaknesses. This armored soul monster was as fast and strong as it was massive. But it didn't belong to a higher system, and that was what mattered.

I trapped him in the air by stretching out a black mine, activating Lunatic Trickster to add to its power. I even sacrificed some of the equipment I had laying about my inventory to add to it. The creature flew forward in a straight line, taking the brunt of the trap head-on. As it staggered, I rushed forward and stabbed my greatsword into its chest.

[Ahhhhhhh!]

Its armor couldn't protect it from Reaper, eroding and melting away under my attack.

[You received 382 gold.]

[You obtained a Fragment of Light.]

The monster lost its life, and its power floated in the air before falling to the ground. Before it could land, I quickly stored it away in my inventory. The humans who had been hiding were returning; their eyes focused on me. Amazement, excitement, joy, gratitude, doubt, and jealousy. All these emotions were intermingling within the gazes of those around me. Unmoved by it all, I remained in the air and thought.

About new enemies, about the Jinma, about the knights.

Chapter 90: The Lee Man Corps 3

Demon King

The Lee Man Corps – 3

Ubiquitous wasn't merely an ability that transferred me around; at its core, it was an ability that allowed me to be wherever I wanted. It was only showing its real ability now after it had evolved past the advanced level, but it was still impossible to float infinitely in the air with it. At least for now, that it was still at the first level. I lost my strength and fell to the ground, recovering my lost mana by the time I landed. The survivors were coming out from the carnage, going after the remaining monsters. The monsters were still giving a decent fight but were slowly being overwhelmed now.

I still didn't know what the goal of these monsters was; if they had intended to fuse and form that monster wearing the armor. Perhaps they didn't have any goal, no shadowy figure giving out orders. 'I'll figure it out later.' I swung my hand, mana gathering at my fingertips in the form of a lightning whip to lash out at the monsters within range of me. As the whip snapped, spheres of dozens of lightning bolts flared out, destroying the monsters. It didn't take long to clean up the rest of the monsters, and Lee Chan-yu approached me as the fight was drawing to a close.

"Captain, weren't you the one who said not to go too wild?"

"Ah, don't worry about it." That was something I definitely did not want to hear from Lee Chan-yu, who was being followed by three high-level hellhounds. Besides, I hadn't shown off all of my skills.

"What the hell are you…?" As we were conversing, one of the humans walked up to us. It was one of the men leading the charge earlier, one of their strongest, although he was barely past level 100. Lee Chan-yu quickly dismissed his hellhounds with his skill as he noticed him approaching.

"I've been down in a dungeon for quite some time. Is Seongbuk-gu normally so popular with monsters?" I asked as I looked around, acting as if it were natural.

"It has been since two months ago when that Chaos Soul appeared."

"Chaos Soul?"

"That's the name the elves call those monsters." The man grimaced.

"The elves…they didn't come even though they promised to help. If it weren't for you, we would've died here.

"Hmm." It seemed the relationship between humans and elves, or specifically the Elakatra, was worsening. I wondered if it was because of what I had been doing that made it so much worse. If so, I couldn't help but mentally pat myself on the back for a job well done. As I considered it, though, I wondered if I needed to be worried. My ears were pointed not unlike an elf's, after all. 'Although, now that I belong to this higher system, I doubt they can properly recognize what I am through my illusion anyway.' Looking around, I noticed that the eyes of all the survivors here were focused on us.

"Would it be possible for you to tell me more about these monsters? Especially that armored one."

"Of course. As humans with the same enemy, we should cooperate this much!" He smiled briskly at me, and I laughed in response. 'Humans with the same enemy? Yeah, right.' For large goals, it was easy to demand cooperation and camaraderie. But the moment a chance for profit appeared, so would they quickly turn to betrayal. After more than a year of living as a monster and seeing the ugly side of humanity, my trust in them had hit rock bottom. Ultimately, however, it didn't matter. It was good to be vigilant, but I wasn't really trying to build a relationship with these people. I was just playing along for now, so there was no need to worry about them betraying me.

"Follow me, leave it to the others to clean up."

"Hey, don't make us do it all!" One of the man's companions complained, but the man ignored them and guided us over to a still in-tact building. Monster corpses and gore painted the outside of it, but the structure was still in good shape.

"Long time no see…"

"Hm?"

"It's nothing." I shook my head, smiling bitterly. A young woman, this man's assistant most likely, greeted us inside and began to make coffee.

"So, they started to appear two months ago?"

"Yeah, not only here but in Seoul and the world as a whole."

"The monsters in the dungeon…"

"They're different, as you saw. If those elves had come to help, it wouldn't have been so bad." My ears pricked up at the mention of elves. Maybe I could get some information about the Knights of Elakatra from this man.

"They have powerful skills and artifacts, so why didn't they arrive today? Their timing is too good sometimes…" I drank coffee as he spoke, enjoying the bittersweet taste of it. It had been too long.

"We still don't know where the Chaos Soul came from."

"It wasn't from Hater." The man nodded.

"They're tricky to deal with too. When they gather in large quantities like before, they…"

"Fuse."

"Yeah. It looks like there are certain conditions to it, though. They have to eat enough humans or their own kind. But they'll make it happen." I thought back to the fusion of the Chaos Souls, how it was a little different from that on the Rookie's Battlefield. 'Are the Elakatra behind it? What for? And what was that armored monster?' I held my thoughts, waiting for the man to continue.

"And there's the demons too." My heart immediately began to pound.

"Demons?"

"You asked about it, that monster that appeared in the fusion. The elves call them demons. Like the Chaos Soul, they appeared two months ago as well. Wherever the Chaos Souls flock to, they appear as well." It was almost funny, thinking about it. That figure drenched in light looked more like an angel than a demon, but I figured it would be best not to bring up my familiarity with demons.

"The only thing for sure is that they're not from Hater. That means they're connected to Earth somehow." I wanted to shake my head. The Elakatra seemed to be using some sleazy means to tie themselves to the humans. The underworld the demons and Jinma belonged to was a part of Hater; that monster wearing armor also probably belonged there. Maybe not the underworld, but where? The sky? I figured I would ask Rain about it later.

"The demons aren't much different than the Chaos Soul; they're just stronger but still hostile to humans."

"Why do they only appear where the fusion happens? Perhaps…" Did the fusion happen so they could swallow up the demon, or did the fusion summon them?

"The two are hostile to each other. Some people think that the demons are chasing the Chaos Souls when they fuse." I felt as if something was tickling at my mind as he said that. The Elakatra wanted to use the Chaos Soul, but the purpose of that monster was still unclear. I was hoping to learn more about what was happening, but everything felt as if it were becoming more jumbled. I felt like a kid who knew nothing, and it frustrated me to no end.

"I'll just have to kill them all then." That was the conclusion I came to. All I had to do was identify the enemy; then, I could kill all of those who were my enemy. If I did that, I would be fine. I didn't notice Lee Chan-yu and the human, who were listening to me, trembling slightly.

"I'm afraid that's not really feasible, Captain."

"I'm going to do it."

"So, where are you from? You're so strong…do you not belong to a guild?" The man hesitantly asked me, his expression carefully guarded.

"I'm going to make one now, actually."

"Then, you could join our guild…"

"I'm alright."

"No, thank you." The man lowered his head, but he had already expected that would be the case. He knew our abilities were too high above his own. I stood up, a bloody smile plastered on my face.

"Thank you for all the information. Let's go grab some lunch, Lee Chan-yu."

"You're still hungry?" I lightly tapped him on the head and left the building. I couldn't let anyone know that I devoured the monsters I had killed in battle. He let out a short laugh, realizing his mistake, and followed after me. It was lucky he had whispered it quietly in the first place.

"So, what do you want to eat?"

"Jajangmyeon."

His response cut through the air, freezing my heart.

"The only Chinese restaurant in Seongbuk-gu was destroyed in the battle today."

"…What?" Upon hearing those words, it felt as if something broke inside of me. Intense, uncontrollable anger unlike any I had ever felt before filled me.

In the end, we had to head all the way to Jongno-gu to get some jjajangmyeon for dinner.