Silence passes between us as I meet the gaze of the Demon Emperor.
His unusually brilliant violet eyes and the demonic energy drifting through the air felt oppressively heavy.
The Demon Emperor’s gaze left me and turned toward the Demon Sword Empress.
“Deputy Commander.”
“…Yes….”
“Explain.”
What an utterly obnoxious way to talk, you fucking lunatic.
I nearly frowned without realizing it, but managed to hold it back through sheer, extraordinary patience.
He looked like shit, and on top of that, why did he have to talk like that?
Was I the only one who found it strange? Everyone around us remained quiet.
The words were brief, but their meaning was clear enough. Having heard them, the Demon Sword Empress looked at me and tossed out a single word.
“…Newcomer.”
“Newcomer?”
“Yeah…. Our newcomer….”
The Demon Emperor’s gaze returned to me.
Interest appeared in his violet eyes.
Creak.
Then the bastard sitting on the throne slowly rose to his feet.
The demonic energy spread through the air surged once more.
‘…Oh, shit.’
I had no choice but to realize instinctively what was about to happen.
There was only one thing that this goddamn idiot would do in a situation like this.
“So you’re a newcomer….”
The Demon Emperor’s body, which had been looking down at me—
Flash—
disappeared before my eyes.
I tensed my body and prepared myself.
Though I had lost sight of him, I knew where he would appear.
Right in front of me.
The Demon Emperor appeared before me and—
“Ghk…!”
grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air.
Considering the bastard’s temperament, it was exactly as obvious as I had expected.
“Who sent you?”
“Hwk….”
The killing intent contained in his voice pricked every inch of my body.
The Demon Sword Empress merely watched, as though she had no interest in the matter.
‘Ah…. This fucking bastard, seriously….’
Was this what it meant to spit in one’s own face?
The more I looked at him, the only thing that came to mind was cursing.
“You are certainly a demonkin…. But your cultivation is no ordinary one.”
Crack.
“Ghk…!”
The pressure around my throat increased. Feeling it, I understood.
This moron must have decided that I was a genius, and his inferiority complex had kicked in of its own accord.
“I’ll ask again. Who sent you?”
Heat began to gather around the throat he was gripping.
If my answer was even slightly delayed, there was no doubt he would burn me to death on the spot.
Enduring the pressure, I somehow forced the words out.
“The Cult Leader… sent me….”
“The Cult Leader?”
At my answer, the strength in his hand loosened slightly.
Having heard that the Heavenly Demon had sent me, the suspicion in his eyes faded a little, replaced by questions.
A moment later, the Demon Emperor swung his arm and abruptly hurled me toward the wall.
Boom—! Craaack—!
“Grrk…!”
While flying through the air, I smashed through a pillar before crashing into the wall.
My body trembled from the impact.
Even though I had anticipated it and activated my qi blade, I had been unable to defend against it properly.
I barely managed to regain consciousness and cracked my eyes open. By then, the Demon Emperor had approached and was looking down at me.
“The Cult Leader… sent you to me….”
Tap.
He extended the tip of his foot and lifted my chin with it.
“You?”
“It was the Cult Leader… who ordered me to join the Black Flame Unit… and obey the Deputy Commander’s orders….”
“State your name.”
“…”
I flinched at the Demon Emperor’s question.
Oh. Right. Fuck.
I hadn’t decided on a name.
Cold sweat ran down my body.
What the hell was I supposed to say?
There was no time to think. If I hesitated, I would die instantly.
Whether the Cult Leader had sent me or not, this lunatic would undoubtedly kill me if he became suspicious.
What a crazy bastard, treating human life like this. His character was rotten to the core.
“You’re taking too long to answer—”
“Pal… Paljeolyeop.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted out an answer.
I figured I had to say something, anything.
‘Ah…. Fuck. Of all things, Paljeolyeop? Seriously, Paljeolyeop?’
In my haste, I felt like I had chosen the wrong name.
I had initially tried to say Gujeolyeop, but the surname Gu didn’t seem right, so I hurriedly changed it as the words left my mouth.
And what came out was Paljeolyeop.
Then—
‘…Shit.’
This was unquestionably a mistake.
Was choosing the name a mistake? No, that wasn’t the problem.
The openings I had shown in that brief instant.
The small hesitations. Even the expressions I had revealed in front of him.
Everything I had exposed because I was too steeped in peace to control myself properly—
For the man before me, all of it would have become the basis for suspicion.
Because he was me, I knew that all too well.
Crack.
His fingertips moved ever so slightly.
If I made one wrong move, I would really die here.
Before he could summon his flames,
I continued speaking to the Demon Emperor.
“The Cult Leader… told me to deliver this message… in case the Deputy Commander found it difficult to believe me.”
The Demon Emperor’s body, which had been about to move, stopped for a moment.
Perhaps because I had invoked the Heavenly Demon’s name, no answer came. But I could read it in the Demon Emperor’s expression.
Those eyes were telling me to go on.
Seeing that, I swallowed lightly and spoke.
“…‘There are only two promises left’…. He said that should be enough.”
“…”
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
‘Goddammit.’
An insane wave of killing intent poured from the Demon Emperor’s back after hearing my words.
What kind of person lived while releasing this much killing intent with a single movement?
No wonder he wouldn’t live out his natural lifespan, the idiot.
With a temper that vile, I couldn’t help wondering how he had been raised.
But that was all.
He would not attack me.
With what I had just said, he would have learned that the Heavenly Demon valued me to some extent.
Only the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Emperor knew about the promises.
Since I had appeared knowing about them, his suspicions would only deepen, but for the moment, he would have no choice but to hold back.
After giving the Demon Sword Empress the order to wait, the Heavenly Demon had not sought out the Demon Emperor until the Demon Sword Empress died.
Conversely, there was no chance that the Demon Emperor would seek out the Heavenly Demon first.
That would serve as a plausible excuse.
Even if he was angry enough to want to kill me, the Demon Emperor would not kill me.
I met the Demon Emperor’s eyes and let a brief silence pass between us.
Whoosh.
The Demon Emperor turned his back on me first.
‘Phew.’
Just as I had expected.
His killing intent had not lessened, but at least I felt as though I had made it past the immediate danger.
Cough.
A short cough brought up blood.
The attack had apparently turned my insides upside down.
‘That fucking bastard….’
What the hell was this way to treat a person?
As I coughed and spat out the remaining blood, the Demon Emperor spoke to the Demon Sword Empress.
“The deputy commander is to come to the commander’s office for a report later.”
“…Understood….”
After confirming the Demon Sword Empress’s answer, the Demon Emperor left the main hall.
Watching him go, I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.
That bastard had left because he was afraid he might kill everyone after losing control of his temper.
‘What a fucking moron.’
There wasn’t a single thing about his actions that I liked.
Ptui.
I spat blood-stained saliva onto the floor and rose, my aching body protesting.
My bones screamed.
Crack. Just as I circulated my qi to calm my insides, someone approached me.
He was a man with brown hair and striking black eyes. He was someone I knew quite well.
‘The Silent Fist.’
The Silent Fist, Hwangbo Seon.
A member of the Hwangbo Clan, and someone who had once served under me.
Seeing him like this was strangely nice.
The Silent Fist, who had suddenly appeared, looked me up and down before speaking.
“Follow me.”
He tossed out the words and began walking.
‘…’
It felt strange being spoken down to by that bastard.
Immediately after the Demon Emperor disappeared, the people in the main hall finally let out the breaths they had been holding and began rising one or two at a time.
I wondered what I should do, but there was no other option, so I followed the Silent Fist for now.
At the time, I did not know.
Until I made my way outside the main hall, stepping around the collapsed rubble—
For some reason, the Demon Sword Empress had been staring fixedly at me.
******************
The place I reached by following the Silent Fist was an area filled with living quarters.
It was another place I knew very well.
It was none other than the area the Black Flame Unit used as its base, so that was only natural.
‘…’
The Black Flame Unit? What a fucking awful name.
I had muttered it without thinking, and for a moment I felt as though I had grown accustomed to it.
But that was impossible. Just imagining it made my stomach churn.
I entered the quarters, dusted myself off roughly, and changed into fresh clothes.
Apparently, this was to be my lodging. There seemed to be several others who slept here with me, but—
‘…It should be fine. Most of them will be out wandering around anyway.’
Ssshhh….
As I changed clothes, the Red Serpent emerged from inside my robes and greeted me.
I snorted with laughter. It was funny how the thing appeared the moment everyone else had disappeared.
‘You must have been pretty uncomfortable.’
The Red Serpent had come to this world with me as well. I realized it while the Demon Sword Empress had been gone for a while.
Until then, the Red Serpent had hidden its presence and held its breath inside my robes.
Was I supposed to call it fortunate that it had come with me?
Though it was a little troublesome, I decided there was no harm in it.
After all, there had been times when it had helped me survive.
‘Come to think of it….’
Around this time, red demonic beasts should have continued appearing throughout this world.
‘Would getting demonic stones here even mean anything?’
If this really was a false world as I suspected, obtaining them would be meaningless.
‘Still, just in case, I should try to get some later.’
Though I didn’t know whether I would have enough time for that.
‘At most, I probably have a few months.’
I didn’t know exactly what point in time this was, but I wouldn’t be able to endure here for long.
‘He’ll have already started investigating.’
At this point in his life, I was especially suspicious, so he would be spreading information around, trying to discover what kind of person I was—the man who had suddenly appeared claiming to have been sent by the Cult Leader.
Ah, damn it. Couldn’t that bastard just let it go?
‘Of course not….’
I knew him.
If it was him, he would never let something like this pass.
‘Sigh….’
The one thing I could call fortunate was—
‘He hasn’t realized who I am.’
More precisely, he hadn’t noticed the Nine Flame Fire Wheel Technique within my body.
That was what mattered.
The situation that would unfold if he learned about it was what worried me most.
—I’m actually you.
—I came here because of these circumstances, so please help me.
What would happen if I said that?
‘What would happen? I’d get fucking killed.’
There was no doubt he would snap my neck and kill me on the spot.
Even if I shoved every piece of evidence in front of him, he would never believe me easily.
He might even dismiss it all as a formation or an illusion and burn me to ashes.
‘I don’t even know how he would react.’
The Demon Emperor was me, but even I had to admit that I was in a severely twisted state back then.
He couldn’t be trusted.
So for now, I had to hide it.
‘…If possible, I shouldn’t summon my flames.’
Even if I tried to conceal this power, it was impossible to hide how conspicuous it was.
It was so noticeable that it had earned me that shitty nickname in the first place.
Ah, thinking about it pissed me off again.
I barely suppressed my emotions and thought about what lay ahead.
‘Assuming I hide my power…. What should I do now?’
I tried to think of what I should do from here on, but everything seemed bleak.
What, exactly, did this world want from me?
How was I supposed to end this trial?
I tried desperately to find a way.
‘Tsk.’
No matter how much I thought about it, things were suffocatingly hopeless right now.
Of all places, I had to be dropped into this hellish world….
‘Who else is there to blame? It’s my fault for going crazy over the Demon Heaven Corps.’
No wonder the reward had seemed absurdly good. If I had known I would end up in this mess, I wouldn’t have touched the Demon Heaven Corps or anything else for that matter.
Sigh….
Just as I was letting out a deep sigh with a miserable expression—
‘Hm?’
I sensed something unfamiliar from a distance.
I turned my head toward the presence, wondering what it was.
Bang—!
The door was suddenly flung open with a violent crash.
I wondered what fresh bullshit this was.
Then someone entered the building.
“Hey, runt!”
‘What?’
I focused on the rough voice and realized it wasn’t just one person.
At the front was the demonkin who had been guarding the building earlier. Several other demonkin had appeared behind him as well.
Every one of them wore a smile brimming with delight.
For some reason, those smiles irritated me.
After confirming that I had finished changing clothes, the gatekeeper chuckled and spoke to me.
“Our little runt, you probably don’t know since you just got here. But on your first day, we usually hold an important ceremony, you know?”
“Ah.”
At the gatekeeper’s words, I realized what was going on.
The initiation ceremony that every martial artist in a unit had to undergo at least once.
Along with it came the tacit beating intended to make the hierarchy clear.
Judging from the situation, these bastards intended to do exactly that to me.
“Ha.”
I let out a hollow laugh before I could stop myself.
Perhaps my laughter had offended him, because the gatekeeper’s expression twisted.
“This bastard’s laughing? Looks like he doesn’t know what’s in store for him.”
“Of course it’s funny, you asshole. What, am I not supposed to laugh?”
“What? You little son of a—”
“What’s your name?”
I cut off the gatekeeper and asked his name.
The demonkin behind him, including the gatekeeper, all deeply furrowed their brows.
“My name is Seokdoa. Remember it well.”
Seokdoa? Upon hearing his name, I frowned as well.
“That’s a name I genuinely don’t know. Not only do I not remember it—I genuinely don’t know it.”
“What the hell are you saying—”
“What a bleak world this is. I’m being looked down on by even a bastard like you.”
All I could do was sigh at how pathetic my situation had become.
To be treated like this by some bottom-rung nobody whose name I had never even heard of.
I glared at him, irritation filling my eyes.
“An initiation ceremony? Fine. Fucking initiation ceremony.”
I took one step forward and released my killing intent.
I filled my heart with demonic energy and bound it together. My eyes grew hot in an instant.
The demonkin flinched, startled by the force of my aura.
I pulled the corners of my mouth into a wide grin and spoke.
“Go on, then.”
This was actually perfect.
I had been looking for somewhere to vent my anger.