Demon King

“…”

“Fate?”

While spending time with L, I quickly stood up at the message from my younger sister. I was waiting for her to contact me, but I wanted a report on the changing situation. Not this odd, cartoonish line.

[Going through puberty again, Si-yeon?]

[Kak! Ugh!]

“What?” The moment the idea that a certain group would dare to take care of my precious younger sibling started a fit of intense anger inside of me. It occurred to me that in such a situation, I doubted my sibling would even be able to report it to me. If so, what sort of situation was it? Were the Elakatra raiding her? I had taken measures to prepare for such a situation…so what the hell was it?

“You look nervous.” L was staring at me, my embarrassment reflected in her transparent eyes.

“Now you know this relationship is a lie, do you think it makes sense?”

“Just because the beginning was wrong doesn’t mean that the accumulated time and emotions we’ve spent together are meaningless.”

“…It looks like the man I love is right.”

[Brother, quickly…!]

I couldn’t afford to joke with L anymore. I ignored her secretly emotional words and began to put on my clothes hastily; she puffed her cheeks and watched me quietly. She picked up something from the bed and held it out to me with that petulant look.

“Your underwear.”

“Oh, yes.” This time, as I went through the evolution to become a Belkatina, my ash-colored skin had turned white. By the time I was safely dressed, L slowly flicked her finger to materialize her dress over her porcelain white form. It would’ve been nice if I had such an ability, but I didn’t have time for the little things. I opened the gate in the ground and put one foot in.

“I need to figure out what happened. I may not be able to return for a while.”

“It’s okay, I’m used to waiting.” L replied and then looked as if she had more she wanted to say but was hesitating. She flinched away, then gathered her courage to approach me.

“I don’t know everything because you haven’t told me. But…”

“Tell me.”

“I think the current situation is outside of what you’ve assumed. Everything is moving so suddenly…especially that man who shares my name.” El. Not my lover here, L, but the head of the Elakatra. The first letter was the same, but everything else was different. I hadn’t thought deeply about that fact before, but L appeared to be under some stress from it.

“I think there may be something else, other than Elakatra. So…be careful.” She raised on her toes to gently kiss me. It was so cute I unconsciously stroked her hair.

“Don’t worry, I’m thinking about it too.” I left L, who watched me with anxious eyes and went up to Earth to check on my sister. Using Ubiquitous, it was easy to reach her quickly.

“Huh, ha…brother?!” She seemed to be in a building owned by Erkindra, her body lit up by some dark energy. It looked like it was restricting her, but it wasn’t. It was the mana of Jinma.

“How…this suddenly…!” I couldn’t understand any of her words, but I realized roughly what happened upon seeing the scene. My younger sister was trying to evolve into a higher system—the answer as to why was obvious. I ran wild underground and went through a massive growth that also applied to my subordinates. Since the members of Rebellion had already entered the upper system, it didn’t cause a violent reaction, but my sister was still in the lower system.

‘She even has the mana of Jinma now…’ I was expecting something like this, but watching her felt absurd. I was reluctant to admit that my sister was reaching a point where she could no longer be considered fully human. I knew she wouldn’t have any issues with it, but even so, my heart was heavy. She was undergoing an evolution that a human wasn’t capable of, but there was a problem. Her mana was beginning to run wild.

There would be no such thing as an imperfect evolution for those under my immediate control. It may be hard for her to deal with the power of Jinma due to my evolution, but she would be alright. The evolution should’ve ended instantly, but it dragged on due to the lag it took for it to occur, given that she was on Earth. The flow of mana to her hadn’t been smooth, and now the mana flowing out was enough to fill the entire building as it changed her. It was a bit horrifying to watch, but I smiled to reassure her.

“Don’t worry, you won’t die.”

“Ahhhhhhhh!” The evolution ended shortly after my arrival. Dozens of members of Erkindra rushed to investigate the mana, but I stopped them all from entering. They shouldn’t see her new appearance. In the aftermath of her evolution, she staggered half-drunkenly to her bed before turning to glare at me.

“Brother…how?”

“Congratulations on evolving.” I threw her a set of women’s clothes she wanted from Rain. It was a unique item I bought to give to her. Her clothes evaporated during the evolution process, torn apart by the mana, so she quickly snatched it up to investigate it.

“What is this… it’s unique, no…more than that.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you so calm while looking at a naked woman?!”

“You’re my younger sister.” Her body had matured again after entering the upper system, but it was nothing compared to L’s naked form. Not that I would ever share those thoughts out loud.

“It’s not okay because of that…!”

“Dress quickly or you’ll catch a cold.”

“I’ve evolved, so my new body wouldn’t catch a cold even if I fell naked in Antarctica!” She dressed with an unpleasant expression, wearing the cloth that contained immense magical power. It was more durable than metal armor despite being made of fabric.

“There’s something weird behind my back.”

“It’s the wings of Jinma. It’s like a symbol of the elves’ enemies, so don’t let others see them. You can control it with your mana, so try it now.”

“Huh…why did I suddenly become like this? Brother, what happened?”

“Well…” I went ahead and explained the situation of the Devil’s Night to her, deciding it would be best to explain it outright. She grew rather angry as I spoke.

“Why didn’t you bring me?”

“It was dangerous.”

“What if you died? I…”

“What if I took you and you died? I appreciate your concern, but you at least have to be able to keep up.” Tears formed in her eyes as she was unable to retort. I felt a bit sorry for my harsh words, approaching her to gently brush her hair before she started crying.

“I’m more worried about you than you are about me. I’m not trying to punish you.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying. You’ve grown stronger, so let’s fight together next time, okay?”

“That’s a lie too.”

“I’m not lying.” I thought the childish way my sister still acted was cute.

“Si-yeon, it’s an emergency so I’m heading in!” The door burst open as an uninvited visitor showed up. It was my sister’s right hand, Han Jia.

Only

“A war burst out between the US and China…ah…” When she found me stroking my sister’s hair to comfort her, her eyes widened. She glanced at my sister as if she didn’t know what to do.

“Si-yeon looks like she’s matured somehow…”

“She just evolved…”

“Ahhhhh!” Han Jia’s face turned red as she yelled in surprise. I didn’t want to tire myself out by talking to her, so I ignored her and opened the gate back to the underground.

“Whether it was planned by the elves or not, we’ll need to intervene. I’ll be right back with the rest of them, so you…”

“I’ll be beating Han Jia in the meantime!” I jumped into the basement as my sister lunged for Han Jia. After explaining the situation to L, who was relieved to see me, I headed out straight away to round up the guild members. It took me only seven minutes to return to Earth.

In those seven minutes, the world was undergoing a massive change.