Demon King

“I feel so refreshed…”

“You did sleep for a while.” That must be one of Rain’s powers. Not only did it put you to sleep for a reasonable amount of time, but it also had some other effects depending on his intention. He may not like Mireina, calling her a hybrid instead of her name, but he considered her to be important to me at the very least. Mirena turned to face me, making me realize I wasn’t using my illusion to appear as an elf anymore.

“Oh, Caesia, you’ve changed! You look better than before, actually.” Her reaction was not one that I expected.

“It doesn’t really matter but thank you. You can call me Fate instead of that.” Her eyes opened wide, and mannerisms became shy.

“Is that a nickname between us?”

“It’s time to wake up… that’s my real name.”

“Your real name…” It wasn’t a fake name like Caesia; it was my real name now. I was Fate, and no one else. The name Kang Si had already disappeared from my status. I was confused between what was real and what wasn’t, but now I had a new sense of clarity. I was the Jinma Fate.

“Alright, I’ll call you Fate. So, where are we? Is this place dangerous too?”

“No, it’s not.” I checked the connection between us as I responded, confirming it was still intact.

“I don’t have to return to that battlefield anymore, and neither do you.”

“How?”

“Because you’re now my subordinate.”

“…huh?”

“Yeah.” There wasn’t any other explanation as to what happened. After I obtained that muffler, my capacity had increased enough that I could take on other people as my subordinate. Mireina had taken on that role. I didn’t ask her to, but she must have expressed a desire to become one without me knowing. It wasn’t easy to dominate someone with their own will, after all. But as a result, she had become subordinate to me and not to the Rookie’s Battlefield. Now that I had evolved into a higher entity, anything that belonged to me wouldn’t be beholden to a system like that battlefield.

I didn’t know if that logic only applied to me, however. It was entirely possible, and perhaps likely, that the Knights of Elakatra fell under a similar category as me. That would mean that the Rookie’s Battlefield had some other purpose rather than just to protect the elves, as they remained there despite having the ability to leave. Not that it was something I could understand or should worry about. I couldn’t even enter the battlefield anymore, now that I wasn’t an elf. It was possible Mireina could if she chose not to be bound to me. That thought was enough to make me laugh. ‘Mireina, go fight the knights all by yourself. Yeah, right.’

“Why did I become Fate’s subordinate… did you just laugh at me?”

“No…”

“Hm.” She paused in thought as she observed me.

“I think I know why now.”

“Why?”

“That’s a secret.” Mireina stubbornly refused to answer, so I decided to let it go. If she was convinced not to tell me, it was better for me not to push the subject. It occurred to me as I looked at her that Lee Chan-yu wasn’t connected to me as my subordinate yet. I came here and figured out all of this before I had a chance to meet up with him. I had to go back into the dungeon for him.

“I want to go too.”

“If you can hide yourself, I’ll take you. Elves tend to attract too much attention.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Then, watch the house.”

“So, I’m in charge?” Mireina was yelling happily. I suppose it didn’t matter; the castle was quite large and only had a few inhabitants, after all. I went back to the dungeon, happy she was safe at the castle.

[Where are you?]

[I just arrived on the 7th floor. I just saw the message you sent, Captain. Are you done?]

[Yeah, I am. I’ll give you the details in a bit.]

I no longer had the sensing skill, but I didn’t lose the power. All of those skills had combined into my body, making it as natural as breathing to use them. Now, my area of detection was even wider, large enough for me to find Lee Chan-yu rather quickly. I went ahead and cleaned up the dungeon as I went, devouring the monsters. They couldn’t affect me anymore, given my evolution, but they weren’t really worth my time. I couldn’t get experience or skills from them, and the recovery from Predation wasn’t much either. Now that I was a Jinma, my stamina and magic recovered quickly. Predation, however, would only function properly against other monsters of this higher system. No point in using it on these monsters.

[Oaaaahhhh!]

Lee Chan-yu was hunting high-level monsters with his hellhounds, one of them tearing through an owlbear’s neck as soon as I had arrived.

“Captain.” As soon as the battle was over, he turned to me. His eyes went wide with a moment of fear, and he took a step back.

“Did you change again?”

“How’s this new form? Better?” I changed my skin to resemble more of a human through my illusionary item, his agitation diminishing as I did.

“That’s better.”

“A lot has happened, but before that.” I reached a hand to him; his understanding became immediate as he let a sound of admiration.

“Is it possible now?”

“I have no desire to force you into being my subordinate. Will you?”

“I told you my answer was the same since we first met.” He shrugged and grabbed my hand without hesitation. At the moment, I could feel an unbreakable bond between us now, like the one I had with Mireina. He was now my ally, and I would give him strength in return. That was the power of my domination skill, born as a result of evolving beyond the top-level leadership.

[Kiahhh!]

[Guohhh!]

At the same time, the hellhounds under his control began to evolve as well, through the power of my mana as it flowed through Lee Chan-yu. They had now reached an advanced level.

“It looks like they’re stronger than you are now.”

“Shut up.” It looked like the power I possessed would affect his followers, but not him. Perhaps he was now able to break through his own limitations now that he was bound to me. Not just through the limit of being a high-level monster, but maybe even past the system he was in?

“If you’re with the Captain…” Lee Chan-yu muttered to himself as if he were thinking of the same thing. He entered the boss room on the 7th floor, a dark shadow leading to the outside still within. He returned to his human form, his muscles tense as he looked at the dark portal.

“Captain, is it alright? Can we go out like this?”

“I guess it’s safe since the boss was defeated.” Anyone who came to this dungeon now looking for a reward would be sorely disappointed.

“I’m anxious all of a sudden.”

“Go.” For Lee Chan-yu, it was a return. For me, it was the first time I would face the outside world since becoming a monster. Anxiety, fear, and anticipation swirled inside me.

“Wait a second, Captain. I’m still not mentally prepared…” I hid my anxiety and leaped toward the shadows, grabbing onto Lee Chan-yu as I went. The pressure was overwhelming, the dungeon moving out from underneath us. Soon, we were in a dense forest full of trees. The air was fresh, much different than that of the underground dungeon. The density of mana was lighter, too, making it easier to breathe. While the air of the battlefield had been refreshing, I hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of the Wind of Eutinus while I was there. Now, though, I could breathe comfortably.

The sun shone brightly over us, drenching us in light.

“It’s the real sun.”

“We’re really outside.” Lee Chan-yu called a small bird to him with his skill, commanding it to fly up and scout the surroundings. It returned shortly with a report.

“I see. This is Seonbuk-gu, the mountain where the dungeon is located.”

“Seongbuk-gu…” That had also been the place where I lived before. I closed my eyes, my mind full of thoughts of my family—those people who loved me so much, even though I wasn’t actually related to them.

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s find a place to crash first.”

“That’ll be great. You have money?”

Only

“You have money too!”

“I’m going to spend it all on jajangmyeon.”

“That costs like a bronze!”

Lee Chan-yu and I, in an appearance no different than humans, talked the time away as we descended the mountain.

“Block, damn it!”

“They’re coming from the mountain!”

“What about the elves? They’re supposed to help us!”

And I witnessed a scene of battle: a war between humans and monsters.