Demon King

“Caesia, this can’t be!” I turned, surprised to see Mireina heading toward me. A translucent film had formed around her to block out the rain, but the more surprising thing to me was that she was even alive in the first place. Hundreds of those monsters had been swarming these plains. ‘Even if most of them had been focused on me, it’s a bit strange none of them went for her…’ She blushed and bowed her head down as my gaze settled on her.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I wasn’t even a little helpful. If I hadn’t been injured earlier, maybe I would have been able to help…”

“How did you survive?”

“I don’t know… I was hiding, and the monsters just passed right by me. It was like that before…”

‘What sort of talent do you have?’ If it were so easy for the elves to survive in hiding, they would have nothing to fear from these monsters.

“But first! Get into this shield!” She grabbed onto my hand and pulled me to her, into the translucent shield protecting her from the rain. I almost retaliated out of instinct, but I didn’t feel any hostility from her actions.

“This is the rain that follows that wind of Eutinus. It’s bad news to be caught in it for long. How do you not know… well, I suppose I know why you don’t.” She let out a sad sigh. I quietly retracted the bloody fangs I had used earlier back to my waist.

“Caesia, have you already broken free so fast?”

“…Huh?” What she was saying made no sense.

“There were hundreds of monsters here! There’s no way that you’ll stay bound to the Rookie’s Battlefield. You must’ve killed the monster that was your partner in that final wave.” The words she was saying didn’t make much sense, but it gave me thought.

‘Did the stronger elves escape from here early after the Great Fusion?’

Perhaps in the early days of the Great Fusion, these monsters roamed about but weren’t hostile as they were now. Maybe the elves had plenty of chances to come face to face with the monsters that were once their partners? ‘That has to be it.’ I heard from Lee Chan-yu that natives had begun to appear around that time, and more hadn’t since then.

“…”

“I suppose it makes sense, you haven’t been here for long.” I looked at her again, meeting her gaze. Mireina’s eyes were steady; I was confident she wasn’t trying to lie to me or trick me.

“After this rain stops, the Wind of Eutinus will be done. All the monsters around here have already been killed, so it should be safe here.”

“Then?”

“Then you can return to Earth. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine here.” My legs became weak at her words; the thought of killing her right here and now crossed my mind. She still didn’t seem hostile, though, and seemed to be concerned that I would be worried about her if I left her alone. ‘If this is all some act… she’s got skill.’ I struggled with the idea of trusting her. Still, I had to act with caution. She must’ve seen me do something that an ordinary elf couldn’t, and I had to figure out what.

“You… did you see me eat those monsters?”

“Was that to prevent them from fusing? Those monsters are hard to deal with even using advanced magic, so I was surprised you could just eat them! Then you were using that weird black smoke. That must be some special ability you have?”

“…”

“But is your stomach okay? Those are some dangerous monsters, I don’t know how you will fare after eating so many of them.”

“No, I’m alright.” This woman was undoubtedly, very weird. But she was starting to win over my trust; I was beginning to believe that she wasn’t dangerous. ‘Just a weirdo.’

“Mireina, as you said I’ll be heading back to Earth soon. But I have something I want to ask of you before I do.”

“Yes? What is it? Is it important?”

“Yes, extremely.” Mireina looked at me, a serious expression across her face as the rain pounded down onto the shield above us. I stepped back a bit, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“Don’t tell anyone about me or…my abilities.”

“Why?”

“It’s something that I want to keep secret.”

“…Okay.” She peered into my eyes and then nodded. She pulled two rings off of her hand and handed one of them to me.

[Covenant Ring [290/290] – Unique Rarity. Two rings paired together, they are activated by swearing an oath by two people wearing them. If the oath is broken, the wearer will lose all of their magic, and the other will know.]

“Here… Promises between friends are important. I mean, these aren’t originally for that but…” Mireina blushed as she informed me of what they did, making me think they had some other purpose. Still, I accepted them. It was an easy way to ensure that she kept her promise instead of just taking her at her word. Mireina swore not to tell anyone about me and then turned to me with eyes full of light.

“If I’m still here the next time you return… will you spend time with me again?”

“Are you asking me to swear to that?”

“Yes!”

I agreed, seeing nothing to lose by doing so. I bid my farewells to Mireina, who was jumping about in glee as I opened the door to the dungeon. Thus, I began the short and empty crossing back to the Black Palace, as thoughts ran through my head. “Are the elves really as bad I was led to believe?’ Out of the countless elves, was the one I had met just coincidentally the only one with a clear mind? There was so much I didn’t know, and I didn’t think that what Rain had said was wrong. All I could do was wait to gather more information.

Making my way back to the dungeon, I checked in on Lee Chan-yu, who seemed to be doing fine. Once I had confirmed he was alright, I went ahead and opened a new door. To the dedicated store? No, it was too early to drink, and I didn’t want to talk to Rain yet. Not to Jinma’s Tower either, even though I had begun to understand how to fight with my soul, I didn’t know if I was ready to challenge the third floor yet. There was no telling what awaited me there, so it was best to deal with that for last.

No. Instead, I opened the door to the Garden of Nak.

“You’ve arrived.” L was sitting on a chair near the table. Her head raised to greet me as soon as I stepped through the door. Mireina was considerably beautiful, but next to L, it was like comparing a candle to a bonfire. She was radiant, a violence to her beauty that refused to change or adapt. I sat across from her, shaking my head to clear myself of the fluttering sensation in my stomach- equal parts fear and anticipation welling inside of me.

“I wasn’t waiting.” L said shamelessly. I wanted to bring up the traces she had left of her presence in the store, but doing so might welcome retaliation. ‘Best not to mention it.’ L frowned, raising her eyebrows slightly at me. She seemed to be considering something for a brief moment before she nodded at me.

“I can serve tea, if you would like.”

“No, I’m okay. I had been thinking of coming a bit later. I figured it would be too early for me to challenge the second game, but now things have changed. My tolerance for abnormal statuses has risen, and I even learned how to use my soul as a weapon. Even if I fail, it’ll be a good chance for me to get used to these new skills.”

Only

“…So.” L’s voice turned to ice, and I realized my mistake too late.

“You didn’t show up because you wanted to see me. You’re only here to train.” The room had felt so warm and cozy before, but currently, the temperature had plummeted. Cold energy emanated out from L, threatening to crush me. What bothered me most about the situation, however, were the small teardrops forming in her eyes. It was enough to send countless emotions raging inside of me. Guilt, disappointment, anger- They all intermingled inside and drained me. The power of a soul, which I thought I was gaining control of, was useless to me now. ‘Is this really her power?’

“You look silly right now.” It ended as quickly as it had started, her hands moving up to cover her face. When her hands lowered, her face was once again expressionless. A little bit of red around the eyes, but best not to mention that.

“Fate, remember this. It is not an easy task to be forgiven for embarrassing a woman. No matter how much I mean to you, or you to me…”

“Alright. I will remember.” I felt a need not to leave it like this, so I nodded quickly to her words before she could continue. She looked a bit disheveled by my reaction but kept her mouth shut tight and instead just nodded. ‘I have no choice but to remember.’ Her every word and action were burned into my mind.

“Let’s go ahead and begin. The second game is about building walls.” L had finally succeeded in suppressing her emotions; her face was blank as she said this.

And so, time began to pass.

By the end, I had spent 3,600 gold as the entrance fee to the Garden of Nak, finally winning a victory over L. Two days later, Lee Chan-yu and I stood in front of the boss room on the 4th of the Black Palace District 7.