The Demon King Descends
Since I had already grasped O Junsu and his group’s movements in advance, I was able to find them easily.
As it happened, they were in the middle of conspiring together while reviewing their plan.
Thanks to that, I was spared the trouble of persuading my friends and guiding things into the situation I wanted.
At first, my friends had followed me half in doubt, but after witnessing the scene of the conspiracy, they were all enraged.
We immediately set out to wipe them out, and we showed no mercy in subduing them.
Lisa, who had very nearly been kidnapped by them, was especially furious.
“Just what were you thinking, plotting to kidnap me? This is a clear crime. It could even develop into a diplomatic issue if things went wrong. No matter how I think about it, I simply can’t understand.”
The battle, which began with Yeon Haneul swinging Sanullim, ended quickly without any particular twist.
Unlike usual, Lisa took part mainly by striking directly with her ringed staff. Catching her breath, she questioned the fallen bastards.
Perhaps the more she thought about it, the angrier she became despite trying to calm herself down, because she kept poking the men writhing on the floor with her staff.
‘She must be really angry….’
In the game, Lisa had never once gotten angry, and because she was constantly and unintentionally swept up in incidents related to Kang Hanbyeol, she had established the pure and delicate image of a princess who needed to be rescued.
Seeing that very Lisa look down at them with contempt, trample them with the heels of her shoes as though they deserved it, and jab their backsides with her staff was quite shocking.
If any player who liked her had seen this sight, they surely would not have been able to hide their astonishment.
It was then that the men answered her question.
“I-It wasn’t a kidnapping… We were just going to escort you respectfully… Urgh!”
“Do you think softening the expression changes anything? If I don’t consent, then it’s kidnapping. Isn’t it?”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding… We were truly going to escort Your Imperial Highness respectfully after receiving your consent. We had no intention of harming you, urgh!”
“It’s no use saying that. Consent? Yes, I’m sure you were going to get it from me. While surrounding me and threatening me in an oppressive atmosphere. Did you think I wouldn’t know that method? And why, of all people, were you trying to kidnap me?”
Lisa snorted with a hmph.
Having seemingly learned, in her own way, how to inflict pain more effectively, she no longer merely poked them but even twisted the staff around.
‘She’s not… enjoying this, is she?’
Maybe it was just my imagination, but there seemed to be a strange thrill at the corners of Lisa’s mouth.
It was a side of her that felt somehow unfamiliar.
Meanwhile, a student who had been holding back groans of pain opened his mouth to answer the question.
“T-That’s…! Because there was a rumor that Your Imperial Highness and Kang Hanbyeol were lovers…!”
“…What did you say? Me and Hanbyeol? Lovers? Are you saying you believed a rumor like that and decided to do something like this? Hanbyeol and I aren’t in any kind of relationship, you know? We’re just friends…!”
“That’s right! Lisa and I are just friends. We’re absolutely not like that! I’m not interested in Lisa! And I never will be!”
“…That is true, but hearing Hanbyeol say it so flatly hurts my pride for no reason. It makes it sound as though I have no charm as a woman. And I’m not interested in Hanbyeol either, you know?”
“Ah, is that so? Sorry! I guess I didn’t think that far! Anyway, we’re just friends, not dating, okay?”
After hearing the student’s words, Lisa frowned, then soon glared at Kang Hanbyeol as though displeased.
Realizing he had misspoken, he gave an awkward laugh and apologized.
Ignoring their light quarrel, I approached the student who seemed relatively easy to talk to.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“…”
“Even if you didn’t get to attempt the kidnapping and only made a plan, that alone is enough to make a problem out of this. You probably believe O Junsu will protect you, but from O Junsu’s point of view, this is an easy situation to cut off the tail, so I’m not sure he’ll really protect you. All he has to do is shut his mouth and say he knows nothing about it. As things stand, there’s no connection to him, is there?”
“What do you… want from us?”
The student whose plan had been exposed to us knew his position well.
That was why he showed not defiance, but obedience.
So I made a coaxing proposal.
“Spill everything you know. O Junsu will eventually pay the price for plotting this. Then you’ll be dragged in with him. But if you cooperate with us by providing information…”
“You’re saying you’ll take that into account?”
“That’s right. What will you do? If you act now, you still have a chance to save yourselves.”
“…”
They had no choice.
Before long, after getting the answer I wanted, I lifted the corners of my mouth.
“Gyeonu, what are we going to do now?”
“What else? We’re going to find O Junsu and give him a good beating. Everyone’s coming, right?”
“Judging by what these people said, there are hunters from the Black Magic O clan at the villa, as well as people from prestigious black magic families. Is it really okay for just us to go?”
We had made sure to record their testimony.
With this, we had the materials and justification to condemn O Junsu.
If so, we could also shape the situation to our advantage.
I answered Yeon Haneul, who cautiously expressed her concern.
“Why would only we go? The more people on our side, the better. I’ll ask Hyowon to call some of the others, and I’ll ask Sieun to move the student council. Once Sieun hears this recording, she won’t be able to respond passively.”
From now on, we would gather as many forces as possible and storm the Black Magic O clan’s villa.
Smiling at the thought of catching O Junsu off guard, I contacted Do Sieun.
After hearing the situation, she immediately sent a reply.
[Do Sieun]: Got it. I’m going too.
* * *
—Who am I, you ask? Do not try to know about me, child. However, if you continue to live, the day will come when you learn of me.
That day, the old man in the white suit vanished without revealing his identity.
Because it had happened in the blink of an eye, O Junsu could not shake the feeling that he had dreamed it all.
However, as if to prove that his meeting with the old man had not been a mere dream, a staff with a crystal skull standing out upon it was gripped in his hand, and power was seething inside his body.
—Just who was he…?
O Junsu could not help but wonder.
But feeling a fear that told him he must not know, he set the question aside and vaguely decided to regard it as an unexpected fortuitous encounter.
More than anything, his desire to take revenge on Kang Hanbyeol came first.
From that day on, blinded by vengeance, he devoted himself to mastering the power he had received from the old man.
That was why he had secluded himself in the Black Magic O clan’s villa.
The villa had an environment suited for casting black magic.
It was also to design a stage in order to lure Kang Hanbyeol in.
That effort ended today.
“Tomorrow.”
Tomorrow night, he would defeat Kang Hanbyeol here and repay the humiliation of losing to him.
Having completed every preparation, O Junsu muttered as he looked down at the forest spread below the villa.
In his hand was the staff he had received from the old man, the one he did not let go of even when he slept.
‘Come, Kang Hanbyeol. This time, I’ll make you regret ever messing with me.’
He had taken control of all the family’s hunters and employees staying at the Black Magic O clan’s villa.
The same was true of the students who had visited the villa out of concern for O Junsu.
Once an order was given, they would not hesitate to block Kang Hanbyeol’s party when they stormed the villa.
The forest on the villa grounds was also in a state where the ambient mana was so unstable that it would not be strange for a Rift to occur with only the slightest tampering.
It was all thanks to the staff the old man had given him.
The staff contained the power to bewitch minds and cause Rifts.
So powerful that even he himself could not recognize that he was being swayed by it.
“…”
O Junsu believed without a doubt that the feelings he held toward Kang Hanbyeol were entirely his own.
He did not consider the fact that the staff was stimulating his emotions and interfering to some extent.
He merely longed desperately for the time of revenge to arrive.
It was then that the employee who oversaw the villa opened the door and entered.
“Young Master, we have a problem.”
“A problem? What happened?”
“Well…”
O Junsu, who had been looking out the window in a daze, came back to his senses.
Soon, after hearing the employee’s explanation, he had no choice but to twist his face in a grimace.
“What? Kang Hanbyeol has come?”
Not only that, but Kang Hanbyeol’s friends were there as well, along with student council members led by the student council president, Do Sieun.
O Junsu could not hide his bewilderment at a situation he had not anticipated.
Moreover.
“They say they entered the mansion without permission.”
“…”
It seemed the plan had been exposed.
An ominous anxiety, as if something had gone wrong, came over him.
* * *
The outskirts of District 23 of Academy City.
We found the Black Magic O clan’s villa, surrounded by forest on all sides.
Beyond the wall, part of the villa situated on the hill came into view.
Do Sieun, who was looking up at the scene beside me, reacted with reluctance.
“With the materials you sent, we can prove O Junsu’s charges to a certain extent. Considering the severity of the situation, we can also request that O Junsu, as a suspect, voluntarily accompany us for questioning. But as long as he’s only a suspect, we don’t have the authority to arrest him like this… Since you said you were going, Gyeonu, I did bring some Public Security members just in case, but… how about thinking it over one more time?”
“Think it over? How?”
“First, we request that he voluntarily accompany us. Then, if he refuses, we secure his custody by issuing an arrest warrant. Setting foot inside the Black Magic O clan’s villa has the potential to turn this from a student-level issue into a family-level issue. To avoid that, it’s better to follow procedure.”
This was not something to act on purely out of emotion, but something to decide after calmly reconsidering.
Do Sieun admonished me in a worried tone.
Her words were not without reason.
It was the normal judgment.
But since I knew the future that was about to occur, I could not back down here.
I raised my voice and argued back.
“You’re not wrong. But if we respond the way you say, we might miss the right timing. We have to catch him on the scene when we can. If we follow procedure, O Junsu might destroy the evidence, and in the worst case, we might give him time to flee. So wouldn’t it be better to make an emergency arrest?”
“That’s true too, but… Putting destruction of evidence aside, I don’t think someone from the Black Magic O clan would throw everything away and run… And if we search O Junsu’s dorm room starting now, I think we can respond appropriately to the destruction of evidence as well…”
“You heard the recording I sent you too. Given the circumstances, there’s a high possibility the conspiracy was plotted at the villa.”
“…Fine. Since we’ve come this far, let’s at least see if we can meet O Junsu. He might accept the request to accompany us without resistance.”
Do Sieun sighed.
Having reached a conditional compromise with her, I moved toward the front gate.
A short while after I pressed the intercom, a voice flowed from the machine.
[May I ask what brings you to the mansion?]
“I have business with O Junsu, who should be there. Please open the gate.”
[I apologize, but if you did not contact us in advance, entry to the mansion is not permitted.]
“Ah, is that so?”
With that, the voice cut off.
Since I had not expected much anyway, I shrugged.
Then I looked back at my friends, No Hyowon’s group, and Do Sieun’s group gathered behind me.
“They say they won’t let us in. Then we’ll have to force our way in. Though that was the plan from the start.”
“Wait, Gyeonu. Let’s talk to them again and have them open the gate smoothly…”
“I told you time is everything. We can’t give O Junsu time to respond. Even if we request that he accompany us voluntarily, do you think he’ll quietly accept? He’ll just refuse, saying there’s no compulsion.”
“If the student council pushes hard, he won’t be able to refuse either. Or we could transfer it as a hunter crime and have it handled that way.”
“That would be too late. It’s fine. I’ll take responsibility for this.”
“…Gyeonu, when you say you’ll take responsibility, you mean Shingeom Doga will take responsibility. If that happens, it could really escalate into an issue between houses….”
“I told you not to worry. Gang Hanbyeol, Nam Yuri, break down the gate right now.”
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
“Illegal trespassing? How thrilling! As expected of my Gyeonu!”
It was meaningless to argue with Do Sieun.
I quickly called Gang Hanbyeol and Nam Yuri and ordered them to destroy the main gate.
As if they had been waiting for this, the two immediately drew their weapons and followed my orders.
Do Sieun, who had failed to stop them in time, rubbed the corners of her eyes as if distressed.
“Gyeonu, are you really going to do this….”
“I’m sorry, Noona. But can’t you just go along with me this time?”
“Unnie, our Gyeonu is truly sorry…. But he’s always had a reason for acting this way, so please be understanding. Just as Gyeonu is speaking with confidence, what you’re worried about won’t happen.”
“…Alright. The gate is already destroyed, so it’s no use trying to stop you anymore. I’ll go along with what you say for now.”
“Thank you, Noona.”
“Thank you, Unnie.”
Fortunately, thanks to Yeon Haneul covering for me, Do Sieun wore a complicated expression but no longer blamed me.
“Thanks for helping me.”
“You’re really going to be okay, right?”
“It’s fine, just trust me.”
“Okay, I’ll trust only you.”
I conveyed my gratitude to Yeon Haneul in a low voice so the others wouldn’t hear.
Naturally taking on the role of leading the group, I stepped onto the grounds of the Heukma O Family’s villa.
I ignored the warning alarms blaring nonstop from all directions after breaking through the gate by force.
“Let’s hurry to the villa.”
Soon, the villa would notice the situation and send people to stop us.
Not wanting to get bogged down by them, I urged my companions and quickly kicked off the ground.
Since the destination was the villa atop the hill, there was no fear of losing the way.
It was right then that I sensed something amiss.
───!!
From the direction of the villa—the only place illuminating the night around us.
A wave of mana so dense it couldn’t be taken lightly suddenly spread outward.
It was an ominous aura felt instinctively even without conscious awareness.
What it meant was unmistakable.
O Junsu was conducting a ritual to forge a contract with the Demon King.
“This… it’s a demon’s aura. But its momentum is no trivial matter…. Just how high a rank of demon did he summon to create such an aura….”
Lisa and the others who sensed the aura trembled involuntarily.
Even I had flinched at the aura that brushed past my skin in an instant.
So by now, everyone must have realized.
“….”
That though they didn’t know what was happening, a dangerous situation had occurred.
That they couldn’t simply stand by and let it pass.
We each looked toward the villa with rigid faces.
Before I knew it, a massive magic circle spread high in the night sky was flashing with light.
It was a magic circle that felt ominous at a glance.
Meanwhile, cracks formed here and there, and monsters began pouring out.
‘He must be quite flustered.’
This was originally a situation that would have occurred when O Junsu, having invited Gang Hanbyeol to the villa, suffered yet another defeat to him and, swept up by emotion, attempted to summon the Demon King.
But seeing as he had skipped that process and jumped straight into the ritual, it seemed he felt threatened by our approach.
‘This is actually better.’
I wouldn’t have to waste stamina fighting O Junsu tediously one more time.
There was nothing bad about it for us.
I had become the childhood friend of a mid-boss.