Demon King

[Are you sane?]

[…I don’t know. Have I found my mind? If I were sane, what would the world look like?]

[I think that you are.]

He was no longer stunned but didn’t move. He was out of energy physically, and even his mind was pushed to the limit.

[Why didn’t you kill me?]

[If I wanted to, I could’ve, but I don’t make a hobby of killing humans for no reason.]

I didn’t know if he would be hostile to me, but at the very least, he was a Fallen who was hunted by humans. He was silent for a moment, contemplating my words.

[You are really strong. How can I be as strong as you? Did you have a strong partner?]

[No, but I was lucky. I was born with good abilities.]

I may have been reborn as a goblin and suffered tremendously as a result, but I had a good family and a good partner. After the Great Fusion, I had also been blessed with useful abilities. But more than that, my environment wasn’t normal. I had Predation and the Ebon Heart and Rain and the others who stood by me. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

[I was weak at the start, though.]

[…Are you Fallen too? But how is such a human…no, are you really human?]

[It’s okay to talk about it more later, but I don’t have time now. So let’s focus on what we need to do now.]

[…What?]

I decided not to beat around the bush.

[If you want to live among the monsters, I will unlock your skills now and take you someplace safe.]

[…]

[But if you’re determined to go back into human society somehow, then become my subordinate. You won’t be able to laugh and chat with other humans, but you’ll at least be able to stay.]

[Is that possible?]

[It is.]

There was only one type of monster that humans weren’t hostile to, and those were the ones that had been tamed by humans. My ability to dominate was actually slightly different from that, but it was similar enough that it was indistinguishable to humans. If this ogre became my subordinate, he would no longer be a prey, but a part of someone’s army. My army. Touching him would be like stealing- a rebellion against the morality and order that humans were desperately defending. It wouldn’t be a forgivable offense, so he would be safe enough.

Humans hadn’t been hunting the Fallen because they were monsters that were threats to humanity, but rather as a way to level up. Even though that motive couldn’t be openly revealed, it still lurked below the surface. The moment the large guilds couldn’t justify their actions, everything would become too complicated for them to try and hunt this Fallen in secret. It was only really a valuable monster to hunt when anyone could go after it without worry.

[But…what does it mean to return to human society if we can’t mingle with humans?]

[Currently, you would only be talking to them as they die.]

[…]

[You have to find the purpose in it, not me. I can only promise you one thing.]

I thought of my past up until now, and of the people I had met. I thought of the future, the things that I may face, and the path I would take.

[By being my subordinate, you will have the chance to find the reason behind all of this.]

[I felt angry, but I never thought I could do anything about this.]

The ogre raised his head. I could tell that, despite Lee Chan-yu’s monsters, humans kept flocking to the surrounding area to see what was happening.

[But now, I’m sick of living with the monsters, breathing the same air as them.]

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, a bloody and dry laugh.

[If there is a way to live other than as a monster, even if it leads to death, I would be more than happy to choose it. And I will follow the one who made it possible.]

[That’s enough for now.]

The conditions were perfectly established; the Domination skill was able to express itself completely in a way that no one could cut through the relationship that bound the ogre and me as master and servant. I could feel his presence completely, the destructive power he had in him, and the deep sorrow and anger in his heart.

[My name is Fate.]

[I am Cain Russell. I’m British, originally.]

I stopped briefly, curiosity rising in me about how in the hell he had gotten from England to Korea. I decided to postpone that question for later. Right now, I needed to focus on clearing up the situation that was unfolding here.

[Khahahah!]

Once the domination was established, the mana of Jinma began to flow into him. Although it wasn’t enough for him to evolve, the wounds on his body began to recover immediately, and I could tell he was stronger. I was convinced that Cain could become a higher-level entity if he took a step forward, which also meant I had to train Lee Chan-yu as well, so he wouldn’t be pushed around by the new recruit.

[Whoo…]

He opened his mouth, his voice filling the air.

[I feel a lot better now.]

“The Fallen has recovered!”

“Damn it. I knew that guy would do something like this…!”

“Now, this one belongs to me.” Before the surrounding humans could grow too courageous, I declared this.

“From now on, if you touch Cain, I will consider it a declaration of all-out war against Rebellion.”

“What…?”

“Don’t listen to him!”

“Cain, bow down.”

[Okay.]

He leaned down slowly, and I kicked off the floor to climb up onto his shoulder. He was well over six meters tall, so when he stood up, I could look over all the people here. It had a different feeling to it than floating in the air. Solas excitedly descended onto Cain’s head, acting like a child. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to play with him now.

“I’ll say it again: Cain is a monster owned by the guild Rebellion. Anyone who tries to harm our guild’s assets should be prepared for the consequences.”

“Taming the Fallen…”

“Nonsense. A Fallen in town…?”

“If a guild war occurs, this is a matter that cannot be excused!”

A strange atmosphere settled on the crowd, thousands of emotions mixing among them. All sorts of intense and contradictory emotions swirled together, aimed toward me.

“An asset…what the hell do you think the Fallen are?!” My sister cried out, tears in her eyes. If there were anyone here who cared about human dignity, it would be her. I admired what she had shown today and could only imagine how much effort she had put in so far to fight through this world until now, how much pain she had gone through. I couldn’t let her do such dangerous things anymore.

“If you have complaints, bring them to me later. I’ll explain then.”

“You…?!” Today, she almost became an enemy of both human and elf-kind. Fortunately, I stopped her before it escalated that far, but tomorrow wouldn’t be the same for the guild Erkindra. A change was needed for all of us.

“Lee Chan-yu, let’s go.”

“Okay, Captain.” He let out a cheerful laugh and called all of the monsters to him. He could’ve let them wander back off, but he aligned them to show off Rebellion’s power and stepped in line with Cain. I patted Cain’s shoulder lightly, and he began to walk forward. The already damaged road collapsed a little bit more under his steps, but the humans around us were frightened enough to ignore it and let us pass.

“Cain, can’t you get a little smaller?”

[I don’t think so.]

“Is it not possible yet?”

We continued on together, not a single human stopping us. They were convinced I had the right to Cain after the battle and had to accept that the Fallen could be tamed.

“Please wait, human.”

The time for talking with humans was over.

“Are you claiming to have tamed this… thing?” An elf suddenly appeared before us. Or rather, an Elakatra had, not just an elf. It was a high-ranking entity that was no way inferior to the Red Blood clan, with a familiar type of red muffler around his neck. I stood on Cain’s shoulder and looked down at the elf, not thinking even in my wildest dreams would an Elakatra confront me here with a deferential attitude. Maybe that was the approach they took toward humans, to deceive them.

“Yes.”

“It is impossible.”

“Why?” The male elf of the Knights of Elakatra drew his sword and pointed it toward me.

“Because it is even impossible for our Elyos.”

“If you can’t do it, you think others can’t?”

“But…impossible!” The elf’s eyes were burning with anger, and looking closer, I could tell he was soaked in sweat. I remember one of the human’s telling me it wasn’t common to see the elves. Maybe they were moving more openly because of what had happened on the Rookie’s Battlefield? If that were the case, I couldn’t help but be happy about it. I jumped off of Cain’s shoulder and landed in front of him, looking straight into his eyes.

“What will you do to determine my abilities?”

“…None of the humans have the skill to control a monster with the intelligence of a fallen.”

“How do you know that?” The elf closed his mouth at the words I threw back at him, frowning. The tip of his sword shook a little bit and began to descend. All of the attention of the humans around us was focused on him, and he had a pitiful expression on his face. He must’ve been in a rough situation, so hurried to get here that he was soaked in sweat. Maybe he couldn’t withstand physical exertion despite being a higher-ranking entity.

“…It is commonly known, even by humans.”

“Just by logic and reason?”

“That’s right.” The tip of the sword was almost fully lowered, still trembling. He was angry with me, and I felt like I knew what he was thinking. ‘He wants to call me inferior, no doubt.’

“What a mistake, unlike the heavenly people.” I laughed lightly. I knew that, from today on, the Elakatra would be watching me. It had been something I was prepared for from the start. What mattered was how fast I could grow.

“You don’t need to make a mistake today.” I tapped him lightly on the shoulder, but just firm enough to push the tip of his sword fully to the ground. He gave me a look like he wanted to strangle me, but I ignored it.

“Even if you think you are in full control… the Fallen are more dangerous than any other monster. I have to kill it.”

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll take care of it myself.” I turned away from him.

Only

“Come on, let’s go.”

“It’s hard after something like that.

[I like this.]

“Myu.”

I could tell my sister and her guild members were chasing after us, but I didn’t dare stop them. I knew that the conversation would be necessary anyway, and it would be better to solve it now before that guy showed up again.

‘We need more information about the relationship between the humans and the elves.’

That was the day I got Solas, a new member of Rebellion, and made my first contact with the Elakatra on Earth.

It was the day Rebellion took its first step.