Chapter 38: Artificial Demons And Natural Demons (1)
“Demons are born in two ways. They can occur naturally or be artificially created.”
The demons known to the world were generally understood to be ‘naturally occurring’.
“Do you know the cause of the former?”
“Corruption?”
“…Yes, corruption.”
In the case of natural occurrence, it was generally believed to be caused due to the ‘rampage of superpowered individuals’.
[Hehehe, the demon within me is raging…! Bow down! I am the newly born demon, Devil Chong!]
[Agh, the name itself is so demonic!!]
[You’ve been weird since you were a kid, and now you’ve finally become a demon! Get out of the way, you devil, Satan’s spawn!]
[I’m not Satan’s spawn! I am Satan himself!]The desire to become strong.
The desire to possess something.
Hatred towards someone.
The sorrow of losing a loved one.
Anger and vengeance.
Obsession over a concept.
Madness caused by mental stress.
“There are many factors that corrupt a superpowered individual. What’s scary is that these factors are emotions that all ordinary people experience.”
The fact that superpowered individuals transformed into demons due to the excessive negative emotions of humans had been widely known as ‘routine’ since the great transformation.
“The first demon appeared in 2002 when a child born in 2000 was 3 years old…? Anyway, it started when he was still a toddler.”
“Do you remember? That one whose parents were murdered…?”
“Yes. A robber came in and killed his parents, and the baby awakened his power due to his parents’ pain and became a demon.”
Those who became demons all dramatically increased in strength.
Either their bodies would change, their physical abilities would significantly improve, they would turn into a completely different non-human entity, or they would remain in human form but embody evil itself.
“That child set himself on fire when he turned 10, committing suicide. After that, several more demons appeared. They called children who used their powers at a young age ‘monsters!’, and then the child, after watching monsters in TV movies, really thought he was the same and projected himself as such.”
“The ‘Snow Woman’ incident at Mount Fuji?”
“Yes.”
In a small rural village near Mount Fuji in Japan.
A girl whose hair turned white due to the awakening of her powers was teased by the surrounding children as a monster, and she thought she was a real monster like the ones on TV and became a monster-demon.
“She froze the children and tragically trapped herself in ice. That’s why we’re trying to educate and raise superpowered individuals in separate educational institutions, like this Sejong Island, rather than in places where ordinary people are.”
If you awakened as a superpowered individual from a young age, you had no choice but to be isolated.
It was so that superpowered individuals do not become demons themselves.
It was also so that non-superpowered individuals do not end up as their victims.
“And now that things are socially stable regarding superpowered individuals… everyone has reached the point where they create their own demons just because they are a little hot-headed. Whatever form that takes.”
[The existing demons are boring! I’m going to create my own demon!]
[Uh, that’s plagiarism.]
[……Aargh! I’m turning dark! I will destroy everything that calls the demon I created plagiarism!!]
Their desire for chaos, destruction, and slaughter was incomparable to ordinary people, and they wanted to eliminate anything to achieve their purpose.
“Whether it’s a demon, a superpowered individual, or a villain, it’s a really dreadful power. A superpower that the existing mankind cannot resist.”
So then.
“…As always, it’s true that this superpower has always been researched.”
Could we use the power of demons?
Could we turn ordinary people into superpowered individuals?
If we used the power of demons, couldn’t we also awaken ordinary people into superpowered individuals?
“The desire for people who do not have superpowers to have superpowers naturally arises.”
Then, couldn’t you enjoy youth and immortality by throwing away your aging middle-aged or elderly body and live as a demon?
“So far, there hasn’t been a single case where an ordinary person has become a superpowered individual, but the ultimate goal of this demon seed is to demonize humans.”
“…they want to awaken superpowers even if it means becoming a demon?”
“Yes. I don’t know how much more the main person knows compared to me, but I know more about demons than anyone else in this world. One of the reasons why I specifically came to Sejong Island is somewhat related to demons.”
“Because Sejong Island is a place that researches demons.”
“Yes. Many places, starting with Sejong Island, are researching demons. There are research institutes all over South Korea, and here on Sejong Island, experiments are being conducted most seriously and diversely.”
They called it a demon, and they read it as a superpowered individual.
“The ones often used in these experiments are low-ranked superpowered individuals. Those among C-rank and below who could not ascend to B-rank or A-rank ran amok in that state. Not just villains causing accidents, but those who have thrown off their human skin and become demons.”
I played a video through a streaming site connected to the TV.
[Hahaha! Now I am perfect!]
“Many superpowered individuals have ‘turned dark’ and fallen. They internalized and accepted many villains, villains, and demons in many contents as their own. But those demons have an original ‘motif’, right? These are used to captivate them. Among those who have transformed into these unseemly things, they experiment with those who can be controlled.”
“Like that ‘Jeon Yu-bin’?”
“Yes. A succubus. You know, that girl I killed by transforming a second time. Lilith.”
“Ah, the demon that was there when you confronted Solar Platina?”
“Yes. If that person was also caught by a hero and arrested, she would likely have been arrested in a different lab than Jeon Yu-bin and subjected to a live experiment.”
I pointed down.
“This is what you call a demon seed.”
“Germ cells… right?”
“Yes. Specifically, they are made using women’s germ cells. Sejong Island seems to regulate the intensity somewhat due to the eyes of people, but there must be really terrible things happening in other places.”
Cruel experiments that could not be said with just words.
“Not just Korea. Human experiments are being conducted all over the world. There are even places conducting experiments on a national scale.”
How unspeakable it was, this madness that showed how repugnant humanity can become, spreading all over the world.
“In the case of Jeon Yu-bin, she probably had her reproductive cells’ extracted’ regularly.”
“… It’s said at least once a month, right? No, they could have just taken it out right away.”
“Maybe she even had to ‘give birth’ to the devil’s seed in a more horrifying way.”
“Did you verify the contents of the experiment?”
“No. There was no need to verify it, I had no desire to, and I didn’t want to see the researchers fleeing while I was verifying it. I killed them all in the meantime.”
I had reached a level where I could just look and know everything.
“If you artificially cultivate the egg of a woman who has become a demon, a demon is born. Using that egg to make some kind of cell, and through that, what’s created is…”
“The devil’s seed.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s terrifying.”
Brewer swallowed hard with a pale expression.
“It’s more horrifying and cruel than I thought. The fact that such things are happening on Earth gives me goosebumps.”
“But it’s reality. Jeon Yu-bin was probably not just a test subject but also a ‘host’ who had produced the devil’s seed several times.”
“What’s the basis?”
“It’s speculation, but isn’t it the fact that the appearance of Lilith and Jeon Yu-bin was similar? Suppose they make the devil’s seed from the cells extracted from the body of a succubus called Jeon Yu-bin, and that seed infiltrates another human and sprouts. In that case, it will resemble the host.”
“…So it’s not just because the devil’s appearance is similar to the old stories?”
“That’s correct.”
There might be someone who became a devil by mimicking Dracula.
Naturally.
But if you extracted the devil’s seed from Dracula, another power-user could become a devil-like Dracula through that seed.
“How do you feel? It feels like you’ve stepped into a world that’s deeper, darker, and dirtier than you thought, right?”
“It’s horrifying, but it’s a story we must know. After all, in the Gyeolsa, beings like Goblin or the boss consider demons as enemies, not allies to be persuaded or villains alike.”
“Right. Because the devil is nothing but an enemy to world domination.”
Gyeolsa opposed the devils and demons.
Even though all power users had the potential to become devils, the Gyeolsa, where power users held key positions, was doing its best to eliminate the devil.
“We’re eliminating the devils that could ruin the world we will rule. Quite a Gyeolsa-like, boss-like thought.”
I would protect the star that I would rule.
Sometimes I got the feeling that the Gyeolsa was a completely different organization from ordinary villain organizations.
“So, Brewer, you should be careful too. All power-users have the potential to become devils, and once they become devils, they can easily destroy this Earth for their own purposes.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. If the Goblin becomes a devil, what kind of devil do you think you’ll become?”
“…I don’t know.”
I hadn’t thought about it, but I might become a devil more powerful and horrifying than any other on Earth.
“If I were to become a devil, I’d like to be called this.”
“How? King Goblin?”
“No.”
“The One Who Ends the World.”
In other words, the Devil of Endings.