Chapter 45 – Demon King Girl (5)
“Why? Why do you want to be with me? You know what I’ve done, right?”
“My answer is simple. On your own, you can’t hurt me at all. If you really dislike it, I won’t stop you. So choose wisely.”
After returning to the room, Kim Soo-jung followed me inside. I answered her without any particular emotion.
In truth, the reason that she posed no threat was a lie. If someone I had never met had made that kind of move against me, even if they were no threat at all, I might have split them in half right there.
So caring this much about Kim Soo-jung meant… it ultimately showed that I had grown somewhat attached. I could have used the past, when she showed me kindness when I had nothing, as a reason too.
“Do you want to leave? From my side.”
“…As shameless as it is, no.”
Eventually, she lowered her head deeply. Such childish obsession or dependency didn’t bother me, but she was genuinely apologetic, not knowing that.
“Then just sleep quietly. While you were caught up with the demon spirit, a lot has happened.”
“Okay.”
I intentionally put Kim Soo-jung to sleep. Leaving her, who fell asleep instantly, I quietly stepped out of the room.
There awaited Jeon So-hyun, who I had contacted via my phone.
“I’m really fine, you know.”
“You’re definitely peculiar. And suspicious.”
“What? You come to apologize and suddenly start doubting me?”
She looked at me with troubled eyes, yet I met her gaze without any wavering. In the end, she was the first to look away.
“First, I apologize for what happened earlier. I’m not a magical girl or anything. The facility teachers also know now. I awakened my powers due to this incident, but I can’t control it. It just comes out whenever I see something evil.”
“Aha. So I am the evil presence?”
Jeon So-hyun, who had been mumbling, slowly opened her mouth. In the meantime, I found out for the first time that she couldn’t control it herself. Well, she wouldn’t have shot that power at me if she knew.
“…That’s not it. Honestly, I don’t know either. But seeing you fine, you must not be evil.”
“That’s good to know. But your expression doesn’t look good. Is there something about your ability that you don’t like?”
“It’s because I can’t control it. It’s pointless otherwise.”
I subtly tested her as I sat down, but she did not deny it.
“I hated being powerless. Even when trying to earn money, I wanted to do so with dignity and purpose. However, I was ultimately weak, and my mindset was pathetic. Honestly, the fact that Takilas didn’t kill me that day is a miracle.”
“…”
As Jeon So-hyun opened up about her story and mentioned my name, I instinctively flinched. Of course, she was looking at somewhere else and didn’t notice.
“So when you said I had hidden unknown powers, I was happy. Just thinking that I could have something.”
“It doesn’t seem like you’d use that power for something pointless. What were you planning to do with it?”
“Well, as Takilas said, I’m not that good of a girl. But now that I finally have the power of a demon, maybe help Soo-jung and those suffering under demon powers.”
Jeon So-hyun answered with a chuckle. I felt a bit strange. Confessing to the current Demon King that she would live a life of eliminating demons.
These days, even the holy knights of the continent’s church wouldn’t say such things.
“You’ll protect the people around you too, right?”
“Huh? Of course I will.”
Surprised by my offhand comment, she nodded vigorously.
“…Why did you say such a thing to her at the end?”
As we left the break room, Ren asked me about the intent behind my last words while watching Jeon So-hyun’s back.
“It’s simple. Nothing is everlasting.”
I responded as if asking why I was being asked something obvious.
This moment is merely transient. How long can I, a demon king, continue to act as a magical girl, or rather, Lee Jin-ah?
When the likes of Kim Soo-jung grow up, Lee Jin-ah will remain fixed in this form forever.
It implied that this relationship wouldn’t last long, so what I told Jeon So-hyun was also a request for the future.
“Are you already saying such things?”
“Time flies, Ren. A hundred years goes by in a flash. Of course, it depends on how many events happen in between.”
Slowly making my way back to the room where Kim Soo-jung was sleeping, I felt an urge to return to the demon realm by this point.
Even the supreme demon king needs a mental refresh. Having realized that the holiday was not a true vacation but a laborious experience, I needed to return to rest properly.
“So, where’s that bastard Mamute? I just want to smash him and relax.”
Lying on the bed, I turned on my phone. Mamute’s location was a global issue anyway. It seemed the organization associated with him had been wiped out domestically, but I wondered if he would keep moving.
—
“The results of the experiments are now perfect.”
“Really?”
“I’ve understood one limitation clearly. The blood of the magical girl that serves as a base is ultimately the most important.”
“If the magical girl is weak, it’s useless.”
“You don’t want that either. You don’t want to be devouring strong magical girls.”
As the man on the screen asked, Mamute, with his mouth agape, slid out his long, thick tongue and licked his lips. The hot blood of a strong magical girl was one of his favorite delicacies.
“It’s simple. You can tear her apart however you want, just make sure to leave her alive and bring her to us.”
“Well, that’s fine, I suppose. Up until now, I’ve been enjoying her insides and tender thigh meat, but I’ll make sure not to eat her insides this time.”
“Oh. You can eat the digestive organs, though.”
Soon, a piece of data was transmitted to Mamute.
It was the data of S-class magical girls from all over the world. To Mamute, it was like a luxurious menu.
“We will also provide you with maximum support.”
“Good, then.”
He licked his lips at the pictures of magical girls appearing one after another.
Among them, one magical girl stood out prominently. With arrogant red eyes and long, black hair flowing down.
But more than anything, what caught his attention was the behavior displayed by this magical girl.
Literally the embodiment of an arrogant tyrant. Mamute knew well how much pleasure it would bring to crush that.
‘This arrogant face will surely have to be saved for the main dish.’
Mamute, licking the image of Takilas that appeared on the screen, did not choose her. Instead, he selected a completely different S-class magical girl.
Soon, he left the facility and soared into the sky.
The target he spontaneously decided on without a moment’s thought was in North America, across the Pacific Ocean.
Of course, to Mamute, who had no passport, the borders set by humans were meaningless.
“She should be crossing the Pacific by now.”
“…But, how exactly does he plan to lure out the magical girl, Serika?”
At that moment, the upper echelons of the organization, which knew who Mamute had chosen, were slightly panicked.
It was good to go to her, but the problem was how to draw the target out.
Even the mighty U.S. did not secure the identities of all its magical girls. The magical girl, Serika, whom Mamute had marked, was no exception.
The organization also didn’t know her identity, so what did he plan to do?
“What a crazy monster.”
However, as dawn broke, Mamute’s intent revealed itself, which caused even this wicked organization’s higher-ups to be astonished.
—
“…What is that?”
In the peaceful urban morning, thanks to the early hour, a woman discovered something in a somewhat deserted city.
Under the bright sunshine and clear blue sky, a moment of relaxation turned deadly when a figure over 2 meters tall with a smooth, pale head emerged from the shadows of the building.
“Ahhh… No!”
“Monster! It’s Mamute!!”
The woman who first spotted him screamed, and in an instant, her head separated from her body, soaring into the air.
Mamute swung his fingers, turning them into tentacle blades, and took another swing, bisecting the body of another person nearby.
“Ughhh!”
“Everyone run away!”
People screamed in unison and fled, startled cars began to accelerate, colliding with one another, turning the once peaceful city into a cacophony of screams and honking horns.
Mamute relished that intense chaos. Chaos was his strength.
“Please! Why are you—!”
Then, joyfully rampaging, he deformed his hand to grab something.
It was a school bus carrying children. The driver desperately pressed the pedal, but the bus, already half upturned, showed no signs of moving.
“Magical girl, come out… or else the kids will die.”
With a flick of his tongue, Mamute ignored the bullets fired by the police, flipped the school bus over, and began dragging it toward himself.
He understood magical girls very well. To lure them out, he thought to take children hostage.
“AHHH!”
“…”
At that time, someone launched a powerful kick at Mamute’s leg with a shout. With a crunch, Mamute’s head spun 180 degrees, revealing a police officer charging at him with an axe after dropping his empty shotgun.
“Hmph.”
A laugh of ridicule escaped my lips first.
However, just before Mamute was about to impale the officer with his tentacle, something flew in and struck his tentacle away.
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