Judgment from the Devil (2)

Yun Jaeho, as he was now, was the strongest person I’d met on Earth so far.

At least by the current standards, that’s how it was.

But he still wasn’t someone who could match up to me.

‘He definitely has skill, but…’

Who should I compare him to, really?

If I had to, I’d say he was about on par with that orc chieftain who became the very first sacrifice in the achievements I set in Mewzealand.

Even then, that chieftain was only the head of the weakest orc group.

Back then, he’d been a formidable enemy, and I’d nearly died trying to take him down.

So, I couldn’t say Yun Jaeho was weak by any means.

But for me, he wasn’t particularly strong either.

‘Is this the average for an executive in one of Korea’s four major guilds?’

Maybe he was the lowest-ranking executive.

Kind of like the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone with horns on their head.’

I didn’t know exactly what he had done, but Yun Jaeho’s power had surged from A-rank to S-rank.

There was a sword in his hand, wreathed in flames, though I didn’t know what kind of sword it was.

There were things I wanted to ask, but this wasn’t the time to waste on chit-chat.

“Let’s finish this quickly. There’s not long until morning.”

As I spoke, I took a step closer.

Yun Jaeho, seeing my relaxed demeanor, tensed up, veins bulging in his forehead.

“Don’t get in my way!”

Worked up, Yun Jaeho once again fired off something like a razor wind.

The sharp gusts, spinning toward me like shuriken, were cloaked in black fire.

It was the same attack that I couldn’t fully block earlier, even using Protect.

But now, with my full power unleashed, just the magic power radiating from my body was enough to neutralize it.

“Huh!”

The shuriken shrouded in black flames evaporated before they could even touch me.

Yun Jaeho, seeing this, gasped audibly and spread his wings.

“Why are you doing this to me?!”

With resentment for the world in his heart, he shot up into the air.

Yun Jaeho darted around, trying to establish superiority with agile maneuvers.

“Kgh!”

But I flew faster, and kicked Yun Jaeho in the back.

I was using my wings too, so keeping up with him was a piece of cake.

Yun Jaeho crashed to the ground and coughed up blood from the impact.

“Ugh… why… why are you trampling all over my life?”

He stubbornly lifted his head, screaming in anguish.

He was feeling as if everything he’d painstakingly built was falling apart.

Losing all meaning in life, he was thrashing around, desperate to rebuild it.

He had to scramble everywhere as if stir-frying beans with a lightning bolt.

He cared nothing for means or methods.

Even if it meant grinding up someone else’s life.

“Please, help me. Please, just make things easier for me!”

Boom!

He pounded the floor with a fist, weeping.

The hapless floor cracked under his monstrous strength.

“Mister… did you just say you wanted things to be easy?”

Watching Yun Jaeho cry out his frustration to the world, I spoke up.

I felt all sorts of emotions from his sobbing, so I couldn’t just leave it alone.

“That goes for me too. Sure, everyone has different standards, but wouldn’t it be great if we could live life just chilling, with nothing weighing on our hearts?”

That’s what people call a healing life.

Living free from work or pressure all your life, without ever having to worry about basic needs.

For example, those who live as hermits in the mountains.

Also, if you can find meaning in your life, that’s a healing life too.

As long as you have someone by your side, even hardship won’t poison your soul.

“I get what you’re feeling, mister. The pillar that supported your peace of mind has collapsed, so you just want to restore it as soon as possible. Am I wrong?”

I saw that a lot even in Mewzealand.

Back when I was only C-rank, I’d met a farming couple.

They too had lost their only child, and spent every day in mourning.

They even tried to offer up a sacrifice to bring their child back — just like Yun Jaeho was doing now.

“But the way you’re trying to put things back together is wrong.”

Even if I understand, I can never condone it.

Back then, that farming couple wanted to use me as the sacrifice.

A ritual that said: If you offer up several ‘human’ hearts, your wish will be granted.

For that, they tied me up with ropes, intending to cut out my heart.

They had their reasons. I understood.

But that understanding shattered quickly.

–How do you even see a demon like me as a human?

The couple had no answer to that one question.

People from the Reveli Empire all treated other races as livestock.

They would never recognize us as people.

Yet, when it came to sacrifices, they treated me as a ‘human’ rather than a ‘beast’.

It was completely absurd.

The couple exposed their true colors, saying, “We can’t use a real human as a sacrifice.”

Beyond a hidden door in the house were piles of non-human corpses.

And so, in a fit of impulse, I snapped the ropes and killed the couple.

But I felt no guilt at all.

“Want me to tell you the main trait of people like you, mister?”

“…”

“You’re two-faced.”

After that, I became stone-cold when dealing with people who’d lost family or friends.

But that didn’t mean I delighted in mocking the dead.

I just didn’t like the way people turned to crime or violence out of loneliness.

“I get that losing family hurts. But while you treasure your own family, did you ever stop to consider that other people’s families are precious too?”

“That’s—!”

“And you really think sacrificing those kidnapped people would bring your daughter back? Honestly, you didn’t believe it yourself, did you?”

There’s always a reason people get sucked into cults.

It’s because their desperate desire to escape real-life hells narrows their vision.

That’s why they lose the ability to tell whether a cult’s offer is true or not.

In the end, it’s just like falling for something you know is futile.

“You do this even though you know better. It’s like being addicted to a drug. In your case, you’re practically the worst addict there is.”

Just like how that farming couple slaughtered non-humans, knowing it couldn’t work.

Yun Jaeho was no different—a mad butcher.

The shackles that held back his vicious nature were broken the moment his daughter died, and he lost his mind completely.

“For your own peace of mind, you ruined other families. That makes you a complete lunatic, you know.”

I, too, want a comfortable life.

But at least I can refrain from destroying other people’s happiness for my own gain.

Of course, it’d be a different story if someone messed with me first.

“Kuhuhuhuhu…”

Suddenly, Yun Jaeho got up, supporting himself on the floor, spread his arms wide, and laughed.

“KHAHAHAHAHA!”

His laughter turned maniacal, and he exuded an ominous energy.

“That’s right! My daughter Jisoo is dead! And the rest of my family doesn’t even exist for my sake! I’ll do anything to fill that void! Even if I have to kill you to do it!”

Suddenly, sweat poured down my body.

Turns out the temperature around us was skyrocketing.

Yun Jaeho was wreathed in black flames that radiated unbearable heat.

He looked like a ticking time bomb ready to blow.

“Khk!”

Maybe it was the price of drawing on that power, but blood gushed from Yun Jaeho’s mouth.

He bled so much, I wondered if he’d die from blood loss right there, but even then, he grinned wildly.

He’d already given up any lingering attachment to life—he looked set on burning himself out completely.

“The hell I endured… I’ll show you too.”

A wild vortex swirled up around him.

Fire-blackened wind started to radiate extreme heat.

Just touching it would melt steel and turn it into lava.

The space around us was bathed in a bloody crimson glow, just like a foundry.

He looked every bit the demon with an angel’s wings, rising from a volcanic crater.

“Hell Flame!!”

With that shout, a blast of black heat rushed toward me.

Ceiling and walls melted away, turning the corridor into a furnace.

The black fire and rivers of molten rock bathed everything in hellish colors.

Yun Jaeho’s madness to drag everyone else to hell was felt as clearly as could be.

But—

“‘Hell Flame?’ Oh, please…”

Even inside that inferno, I just snorted with laughter.

Yun Jaeho gritted his teeth and increased the heat, not believing I looked unharmed after taking his attack head-on.

“Aaaaahhhh!!”

Blood poured from his eyes, nose, mouth, and head.

The blast grew larger, punching through the floor above and shooting up toward the sky.

“You want to know what real hellfire is?”

[You have awakened the power of the demon race.]

[You can now use the new stat, ‘Demon King’s Power.’]

[You have met the conditions to use skills of the ‘Demon King’s Soul’ type.]

〈Soul of Calamity Flame〉

“This is how it’s done!”

Black flames swirled around my hands.

Not a rookie skill like ‘Hell Flame’, but a high-level technique I’d learned after becoming Demon King.

It costs not just magic power, but also a stat called dominion.

You need horns to use any of the ‘Demon King’s Soul’ skills.

KWAHHHH—

The black flames unleashed from my swinging hand incinerated everything in the air.

The blackened winds—and the black fire Yun Jaeho had stirred up—were all swallowed up by my ‘Soul of Calamity Flame.’

It was like a little stream being devoured by a mighty waterfall.

“How can this be…!”

Even if they’re both hellfire, the gap is immeasurable.

The flames Yun Jaeho copied could never compare.

Just before he was engulfed, Yun Jaeho saw it.

‘Devil…!’

KWAANG—

A tremendous blast shook the ground.

Not just at the factory, but all over the gate, the shock was felt.

Some hunters, hunting nearby, actually thought there was an earthquake.

“Kh-ck…!”

Yun Jaeho, completely charred, was just barely breathing.

He must have been tough to survive even that much, fitting for someone of his rank.

But this was the end for him.

“Jisoo…”

He reached his hand to the sky one last time.

Thanks to the heat melting the ceiling, he could see the sky above.

It might not have been the real sky, but Yun Jaeho still stretched his hand as if he’d reach it.

Finally, he gazed at his own charred hand—and stopped breathing.

“It’s over.”

After confirming he’d died, I went and picked up the jacket and muffler I’d left in the corner.

“They… burned more than I expected.”

I’d bought them for quite a lot at a department store.

Maybe I should just tell my parents I accidentally touched a heater and burned them.

Thinking that, I stepped out into the hallway.

At the end of it was a girl, crouched down, waiting.

“It’s settled. We can get out now.”

“…”

The black-winged girl shrank away, still wary.

Come to think of it, she’d said she couldn’t see.

Maybe she’d sensed my approach by sound—her every nerve was on edge.

“Relax. I’m not with those guys.”

“Then who are you? You don’t look like you were kidnapped, like I was.”

“You said you couldn’t see, right? How do you know that?”

“I can’t see faces… but I can sense presence.”

So, one of those awakened who lose their sight but heighten other senses?

Anyway, it was important to reassure her.

“Do you know Daesang Elementary?”

“Huh?”

“You’re Ha Eunseol from Class 10, 1st grade, right?”

When I first saw her, she looked familiar.

I’d often seen her in the halls on the way to the library.

Plus, the wings—and she’d gone missing a few months back.

Putting those clues together, I knew who she was.

“I came to rescue you.”

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

There were sign from previous chapters that Yun Jaeho wasn’t a good person…

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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