Demon King

But the space I was in now was a little different. It didn’t appear in the world but rather was hidden behind it. As such, it could only be reached with powerful magic. Truly, it was hidden very deep, although it still belonged to the world. In a sense, it was like the ultimate form of the inventory system that everyone had. Usually invisible, but still connected to us.

“It was an unstable fusion, as you might predict.” Rain looked up at the sky, which was covered in dark red clouds, constantly swirling and colliding as they spat forth black lightning.

“Is the underground battlefield that Lee Chan-yu went to, here in this world?”

“That’s probably the case, though I don’t know the details.” He gave me a bitter smile.

“The Great Fusion. I wonder if it must have been caused by you.”

“What a shocking declaration to make with such a straight face.”

“Who can say. We know nothing more than you, and we have nothing.” When he finished speaking, he looked up to the sky to leave me to mull over his words. I was expecting something like that, to some extent. Otherwise, so many things up until this point would have been too arbitrary, too coincidental. I became a goblin and was born in the Black Palace, not anywhere else. I had been connected to the shop, the tower, and the garden. These things were proof that I had been once in contact with the truth of the Great Fusion.

But now I was like this. Jinma’s power had been restored, at least slightly. My memories were sparse and filled with holes. ‘But what do these people think?’ I didn’t know why they were trapped here, but I could only guess at what Rain’s feelings might be, trapped in such a castle.

“Doesn’t it make you anxious?”

“No, I’m happy.” He took a cigarette out of his pocket and placed it in his mouth. I had never seen him smoke before, so it was an odd but refreshing sight. Maybe he had been refraining from doing so because the store was an enclosed space, or because he was working.

“I enjoy having conservations with you like this. I thought I had lost everything, but there is still so much here for me. I’ve been enjoying watching you grow on your journey.”

“Such kind words from you.”

“Haha, don’t let it go to your head.” It was an odd conversation, but it energized my heart.

“Then, on to the reason I’m here.”

“Tell me what you want to know. It’ll cost you, though.”

“What the hell do you use all that money for?”

“Gold is a valuable commodity for both elves and Jinma. It’s permanent. Don’t mistakenly think it’s only useful as a currency.”

“Permanent?”

“Do you get the gist of it?”

“Only about five percent.” I already knew that he wasn’t taking my money simply because he liked gold, but I still knew nothing. Well, that question was just a light jab. I removed the main dish from my inventory: the bodies of the Chaos Soul and that armored monster that I encountered on Earth. Rain’s expression immediately hardened as soon as he saw them.

“I see.”

“You know about it?”

“At least I know what the elves and those who lead them are aiming for. They want to erase everyone but elves from the world.”

“Please explain.” He pointed at the body of the Chaos Soul.

“This is an imitation of the soul monster you told me about. It’s not from the Rookie’s Battlefield, but they must’ve thought they could use it when they saw the process of a human soul transforming into a monster there.”

“How?”

“The hybrid… no, look at that human.”

“…Hm?” I complied and looked at the corpse of the armored monster born from light that he was pointing to. I noticed that what I thought was a monster now had the form of an elf. When I had killed her, she didn’t have any elven features. But now… no, the magic must’ve been dispelled by Rain. This was undeniably an elf. I felt like someone hit me on the head with a hammer.

“I had thought this light monster and the Elakatra were separate forces.”

“It was disguised by the magic of the one who leads the Elakatra. It’s no wonder you didn’t notice at first.”

“The one in charge of the Elakatra…” It was magic powerful enough to completely deceive not only my eyes but my senses and mana. Considering my own level, it would only be natural that humanity wouldn’t notice it. I recalled the mana of pure white light that appeared alongside this elf. ‘Was that the mana of their boss? No wonder they deserve to be called Elyos…’

“No, that’s an ability that anyone with Elven blood has at the core of them, even hybrids. It just happens to be weaker and cannot be properly expressed. That power you saw means that the monster had developed its abilities through its own strength.”

“Mireina can do it too?”

“If the hybrid was given enough time and had the talent to handle Jinma’s mana, then yes.”

“Huh. No, wait. Rain, what did you say earlier? You said this body was a human.”

“I see the soul rather than the body. By judging just the physical form, it is definitely a hybrid.”

“Hahaha.” I laughed as soon as I grasped what he meant. The body was of an elf, but the soul was human, which meant…the corpse before me was a soul monster that had killed an elf and took over its body.

“I was thinking about this the wrong way.” Until now, I had thought it would be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between a monster that had taken over an elf and a normal one. I thought the scattered elves on the battlefield would view each other with mistrust as a result. However, if there was a way to differentiate between them, that entire premise would be wrong.

“It’s impossible for hybrids, but it would be possible for an elf. More than that, they have learned to manipulate the soul monsters.” The Wind of Eutinus. It was now clear who had made it. The Elakatra had magic to control the soul monsters who had mutated with the sole purpose of stealing bodies.

“It would be easier than controlling a normal monster. The quality of their soul has deteriorated, and their sense of reason has been lost. They’ve discarded too many essential parts of their soul.”

“What terrible creatures to cling to life and target others’ souls.”

“If the monster eats the soul of an elf or a hybrid and takes over their body, they could develop their strength even more through slaughter and fusion.”

“It seems like the Elakatra are making soldiers to destroy Jinma.”

“I see…” He let out a sigh.

“All of the hybrids that died on the Rookie’s Battlefield may have been used as sacrifices to these monsters.”

“…”

“Don’t you feel like this monster’s ability is similar to your own?” I had thought they killed the soul, but the Wind of Eutinus made it clear to me when they began to merge. With my Demon’s Claw, I could devour them. It was tailored to me, but still similar to their own ability. They merged into each other and became stronger, taking other monsters into their body to grow. It was similar, in a way, to my Predation.

“…Is the leader of Elakatra aware of me?”

“Of course.” Maybe they were someone I was connected to in the past. I couldn’t say for sure, however, with my fragmented memories.

“They created the Chaos Soul to destroy humanity. Monsters that try to devour human souls, but not elven ones.”

“So they’re using Earth as an experiment site.” Chaos Souls to annihilate humans, and a soul monster to annihilate Jinma. Both were controlled by the Elakatra, who were trying to nurture troops that were harmless to them but lethal to their enemies.

“If so…” One question still remained.

“They may have guessed that Jinma has a connection to Earth.”

Only

“It’s possible.”

“Why would they send that soul monster in the form of an elf to Earth before it was completed? I would only let it go when it had been strengthened to the point where no one could touch it.”

“…That’s it.” Rain had a bloody smile upon his lips as he responded.

“They don’t know the situation here.”

“They don’t?”

“That’s right.” Rain laughed darkly.

“They couldn’t properly check it out. It’s what you despise the most, Fate. They were arrogant.”

It was an eerie but confident laugh.