“Shield?”
“Yes. Student Gang Hanbyeol, you must know by now, but crimes and incidents like this occur frequently in Academy City. That is why Shield and Sword are always suffering from a shortage of personnel. Moreover, Shield… no, we, the Ten Great Families, believe that Academy City will soon be exposed to even greater dangers.”
“…Why is that?”
“Because Tacheon has revived. I imagine you are also aware of the head of the Demon Association, who has not shown himself for a long time. Therefore, we believe there is a high probability that evildoers and criminals who follow Tacheon will begin running rampant in Academy City. Signs of that are already appearing in various places.”
“…”
“So if your acts of chivalry are not going to end with this incident, please consider joining Shield. I will write you a letter of recommendation. The same goes for Student Do Gyeonwoo and Student Yeon Haneul.”
Gang Hanbyeol was quite familiar with Tacheon, the head of the Demon Association.
After all, he was the opponent his master, Seo Jeongjin, had once fought in a life-or-death duel.
“…So Tacheon was alive.”
“Yes, according to what has been confirmed. It is information certified by the heads of the Ten Great Families.”
“I see.”
Tacheon was the evil of the world, and his master’s enemy.
Which meant he was his enemy as well.
Having heard news of his survival, Gang Hanbyeol’s face hardened.
And so, summer vacation was coming to an end, and the second semester was about to begin.
* * *
Gang Hanbyeol contacted me the morning after I had spent a night at the Mado Min Clan.
After eating breakfast with the people who had remained at the main house, in the place where the exchange gathering had been held the day before, I returned to my room and answered his call just as it came in.
“Hello? Hanbyeol, did everything get resolved all right yesterday?”
[Gyeonwoo, hi! Thanks to you, I think everything yesterday worked out well! What happened was…]
Judging from the brightness in Gang Hanbyeol’s voice, it seemed the broker gang episode had been cleared smoothly as well.
Sure enough, the result he told me was no different from what I had expected.
After hearing the details over the phone, I was able to feel relieved inwardly.
‘Good thing nothing happened.’
According to Gang Hanbyeol.
It seemed he had heard from Gwon Boram about the Demon Association’s revival, and had also been urged to join Shield.
It followed the flow of the game.
“So what do you want to do?”
Having quietly listened to his story, I asked Gang Hanbyeol what he intended.
Then, without the slightest hint of hesitation, he answered immediately.
His voice carried firm emotion.
[I want to save people in trouble. I don’t want to just sit by and watch Academy City get terrorized by villains like this, either. So I’m going to join Shield.]
“Yeah? Then I’ll join too.”
[What? You too, Gyeonwoo?]
“As someone from the Divine Sword Do Clan, I can’t just stand by and watch Academy City fall into their hands. You said earlier that the sheriff would write me a recommendation letter too, right? That works out well. Let’s join Shield together. If you and I join forces, what wouldn’t we be able to do?”
[…Are you serious?]
Gang Hanbyeol asked again, as if he couldn’t believe it.
Hearing his trembling voice through the phone, I gave a wry smile.
‘He thinks I’m joking.’
My decision to join Shield wasn’t something I had made on impulse.
I had been keeping it in mind ever since I realized my previous life five years ago.
‘After all, it’ll be easier for me to interfere with the story if I’m by Hanbyeol’s side.’
Yesterday, I had promised Yeon Haneul to wait two and a half years until graduation.
In order to keep that promise, I needed to take a slightly more proactive approach to clearing the story.
All the more so if I wanted to shorten that deadline.
That meant I had one more reason to join Shield.
Starting from the second semester, I would be busy in many ways, but I had no choice but to accept it.
Hiding those thoughts, I shamelessly answered Gang Hanbyeol’s question with one of my own.
“I’m serious. You don’t want to do it with me?”
[No, of course I welcome it. If you’re there, I’ll feel reassured.]
Gang Hanbyeol laughed refreshingly.
I chuckled along with him and chatted for a while.
Then, once we ran out of things to talk about, we ended the call.
“Then I’ll hang up. See you when the semester starts. Have a good vacation.”
[Yeah! You enjoy the rest of your vacation too! When we get back, let’s call the others and have a meal together!]
During the three days we would be staying at the Mado Min Clan’s main house.
Yeon Haneul and I were scheduled to tour Jeonju under Min Arin’s guidance.
In a little while, the three of us had decided to go look around the hanok village together.
And by the time we returned to Seoul, we would truly feel that there was very little summer vacation left.
Before we knew it, the second semester was drawing near.
* * *
Criminals who sought to avoid society’s punishment tended to hide in places strongly cut off from the outside world.
For them, Academy City, or terrain with many mountains and islands, could be called ideal locations.
Chiaksan, located in Wonju, Gangwon Province, likewise met those conditions.
Furthermore, the Hunter Association had even estimated it to be a likely hideout.
Even so, because of the area’s characteristics—its rugged mountain terrain and the frequent occurrence of rifts—hunters could not bring themselves to properly search it.
There was also the fact that a large-scale search had once been conducted before, yet had produced no particular results.
‘That’s because they cast a barrier so it wouldn’t be found easily, and hid it deep, deep in the mountains. Let’s see… how was I supposed to go from here again?’
But just as the hunters suspected, a considerable number of notorious villains were hiding in Chiaksan.
There was even a base of the Demon Association there.
As a result, people who had recently heard, little by little, of Tacheon’s revival were gathering there.
They had instinctively sensed signs that villain society was about to be unified.
Whether by Tacheon.
“…”
Or by someone else.
For example, a being who would topple Tacheon’s supremacy and stand newly at the summit…
Either way, the villains had a premonition that something great would soon happen.
And as if to affirm that premonition, Tacheon notified those who had received power from him or carved the Demon Association’s crest into themselves through the path connected to their souls.
“Thankfully, I arrived without getting lost. How long has it been…? It’s nice to be back after so long.”
Today, he had something important to say regarding the revival of the Demon Association, so those with the will should gather at Chiaksan.
One of the Six Demons, known as the six pillars of the Demon Association.
The reason the Puppet Demoness Lee Gahyeon had created a clone and come here was precisely because of that.
Having taken over the body of a male hunter, she looked around at the evildoers who, like her, had gathered to meet Tacheon.
Most of them were familiar faces.
‘Looks like all the Six Demons came.’
The middle-aged man leaning against a tree with two swords at his waist was Moon Shadow Sword Mo Hwidam.
The old man sitting on a large boulder and chewing on a mana stone was Iron Dragon Tak Wonho.
The woman wearing a skirt slit open on both sides inside the coils of a giant serpent was Demonic Beast Lady Sim Jieun.
The man wearing a triumphant expression while surrounded by demons was Swift Arm Lee Chansu.
The little boy wearing a cone hat that half swallowed his face, and clothes that did not fit his body, was Child Skin Song Yejun.
Lee Gahyeon’s gaze lingered for a long while on the other Six Demons besides herself.
At that moment, Mo Hwidam slowly opened his eyes.
“Is that you, Lee Gahyeon?”
“Oh my. You recognized me right away? Your intuition really is something, isn’t it?”
“Where did you leave your main body?”
“In Academy City. I finally managed to sneak in with my main body without getting caught, so I can’t come out even if it would be a shame, can I?”
The second person to speak to her was Song Yejun.
Lee Gahyeon spoke warmly to the two people who had recognized her identity.
At the same time, she observed the reactions of Tak Wonho, Sim Jieun, and Lee Chansu.
‘Except for Swift Arm, they recognized me.’
Unlike Mo Hwidam, Song Yejun, Tak Wonho, and herself, who had known one another since the Demon Association was founded, Sim Jieun and Lee Chansu were beings who had taken the new seats of the Six Demons after Tacheon’s whereabouts became unknown.
From the reactions they showed in that instant, Lee Gahyeon could roughly guess the difference in ability between the two.
If she had to choose the weakest of the Six Demons, it seemed it would be Lee Chansu.
“Tch, it would’ve been nice if you’d come with your main body. And if you came, why’d you have to come in a man’s body of all things…”
Meanwhile, Lee Chansu, who had demons around him, seemed to be under the mistaken impression that he was the strongest.
Lee Gahyeon looked at him and smiled brightly.
“I can tell what you mean by that, but what a shame. I’m only attracted to handsome men, you see. I have no desire to roll around in bed with someone like you. If you want to do anything to me, you’d better fix your face with plastic surgery first. Of course, you should know that overly artificial beauty isn’t to my taste.”
“Look here, ma’am. No, grandma. If you’ve eaten that many more years than me, shouldn’t you be grateful? If anyone should feel it’s a waste, it’s me, so why are you talking like you’re the one who’s too good for me? Are you dying to get killed? Are you acting up because your main body isn’t here? If I feel like it, I can take a clone like you right here and—”
“Oh, really? Shall we test that? Whether you can beat me, even though I’m only a clone. There happen to be a lot of people watching, so we can have them judge. How perfect.”
It seemed that because she had been living as freely as a cat, paying no attention to the Demon Association all this time, she had been underestimated.
Taking the opportunity of the Demon Association’s revival, Lee Gahyeon decided to straighten out the hierarchy and discipline the organization.
It was at that very moment that the space between the two of them split open.
“That is enough. It has been thirty years since all the members have met face to face. We cannot have you fighting.”
“…”
An old man in a white suit abruptly walked out of the split space.
Tacheon.
The demons who had engraved the Demon Association’s crest instinctively realized his identity.
The villains who had been waiting there also caught on from the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, after sweeping his gaze around, Tacheon let out a cackling laugh.
“There seem to be many faces I do not recognize. It appears two of the Six Demons have been replaced in the meantime… Well, considering how much damage we must have suffered in the last decisive battle, it is only natural that some would have changed. Perhaps I should instead say it is surprising that as many as four remain alive and well. Even so…”
“…”
“One of them is not to my liking. What shall I do about this…”
“Urk…! Do you mean me?”
“Yes, I mean you. Judging by the signs, it seems you intended to mobilize those wretches around you and covet my seat. What great ambition you have. Did you perhaps think of me as some old man put out to pasture?”
“N-no! I had absolutely no intention of—”
“There is no use trying to deceive me.”
Tacheon’s eyes curved thinly.
Lee Chansu, who had been overwhelmed by his presence from the moment Tacheon appeared, could only panic.
Feeling an unknowable fear, he tried to widen the distance by stepping backward.
At that moment, Tacheon nodded as if he had made up his mind.
“Yes. Since I am reforming things anyway, I can kill you and fill the empty seat anew.”
With those words.
Tacheon lightly flicked his finger.
Immediately afterward, the space that had split without anyone noticing bit into Lee Chansu’s head as though it were alive.
Soon, leaving behind a clean cut surface at the neck, he collapsed limply to the ground.
The people could not come to their senses, stunned by what had happened before their eyes without giving them even a chance to respond.
Even the Six Demons, including Lee Gahyeon, doubted their eyes for an instant.
‘He’s grown stronger. While he disappeared all this time, did he comprehend some principle for handling space somewhere…?’
Lee Gahyeon could not help but feel tense toward Tacheon, who stood beside her.
Meanwhile, Tacheon paid no mind to the atmosphere of fear surrounding him and spoke.
“This fellow’s soul stone can be given as a gift to whoever becomes the new Six Demon. In any case… is there no one else besides him?”
“…”
“I mean those who harbor the ambition to defeat me and take my place. If there are any, do not hesitate and step forward. To borrow the words of the Fighting Demon… yes, I shall accept your challenges. If there is one who defeats me, then I, too, shall follow that person according to the law that the strong reign supreme.”
Tacheon declared it to those around him.
However, none of those who had intended to oppose him could step forward, and instead knelt as if in submission.
Having glimpsed the power with which he had so easily killed Lee Chansu, they had keenly felt the difference in rank.
Tacheon raised the corners of his mouth as he watched them lower their heads of their own accord.
Infusing mana into his voice, he proclaimed.
“I will speak plainly. Follow me. If you follow me, I will make the world you desire a reality. I do not lie. If you wish, I can even swear it upon my soul.”
“Can you create a world for me alone, where only the beautiful may exist?”
“It is possible. I promise you, I will create independent worlds for you, worlds for your sake where your ideals do not conflict. In those worlds, you will be able to achieve everything you imagine. You will become beings like gods, masters who govern an entire world. Therefore, even for the sake of that.”
“…”
“Do not spare yourselves. Move as you please. Do not hesitate; commit crimes to your heart’s content. In doing so, bring chaos to the world and collapse dimensional stability.”
In particular, plunge Academy City into misery.
Tacheon’s speech, simple, provocative, and without restraint, could not help but earn a powerful response from the villains who moved according to their desires.
Thus, under Tacheon’s command, villain society was once again unified.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss