The Modern Founding Chronicles of the Returned Demon King

The Modern Founding Chronicles of the Returned Demon King

Episode 14: Magic and Security (2)

The man who turned into a demon, Yoo Chang-su, looked down at the man who had hindered his mission.

‘How dare you interfere with our divine Order.’

Originally, the ‘Order’ granted to the ‘Patriarch of Greed’ was to kill humans consumed by greed and offer them as sacrifices.

That was exactly what Ahn Seo-jin.

So, I had planned to complete the mission by ambushing him during his lecture, but…

During the practice, a man released a massive spell, and it blocked my most powerful attack.

As if he had known it would happen.

And that’s not all.

The source of the man’s magic was not ‘magic power’ but ‘magi’.

I don’t know how he acquired that power, but I’ll find out once I capture and interrogate him.

‘Why aren’t the people outside coming in?’

For a moment, I wondered.

I had specifically ordered the ‘believers’ to come in if they heard a loud noise, but strangely, no one entered the lecture hall.

The security forces outside are, at best, A-class, so it was odd.

‘That’s not important right now.’

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I looked at the man in front of me.

At first, I was uncertain, but it was clearly Lee Seo-jun, the recently infamous S-class hunter.

If he could neutralize my surprise attack with his magi, there was no doubt about his strength.

Even though I had transformed into a demon and gained strength beyond an S-class hunter, I couldn’t let my guard down and needed to deal with him quickly.

‘A small loss for a greater gain in the future.’

Shhh!

I gathered the magi within my lungs.

The magi filled my throat.

“Fall asleep.”

A chilling purple mist seeped out between my icy teeth and spread out in an instant.

“Ah! Move, move!”

One by one, people fainted. They were knocked out, unable to adapt to the highly concentrated magi.

But this was enough. I could kill them while they were unconscious.

“…..”

In a flash, the lecture hall fell silent.

This technique consumes the granted magi permanently but yields results to match.

So, that S-class hunter must have fainted as well. I need to capture him quickly.

Just as I turned my head towards where Lee Seo-jun was,

Thump, thump,

Ominous footsteps echoed in the mist.

“How disgusting.”

A figure shimmered within the terrible magi.

“It’s the magi of those I despise.”

It was too clear to be a mistake in my vision.

“How exactly do you possess this magi?”

His gaze, a mixture of contempt and scorn, made my demonic body feel powerless.

Soon, a trembling voice slipped out.

“H-how is this possible?”

“Shut up. I ask the questions.”

His fierce eyes made me flinch.

“How do you have this magi?”

Could he be a member of the Cult of Great Sin? Another who received a different divine Order?

“Cult of Great Sin? Divine Order? What are those?”

I involuntarily took a step back.

…What? Did he read my inner thoughts? Or did he already know about the Order of Sin?

“How strange. You don’t even have the ability to turn into a demon, let alone any ability at all. So how did you become a demon?”

“Ah…”

“Answer me, Yoo Chang-su.”

My name, my abilities, my thoughts. All of these pieces of information felt as if they were laid bare before him.

“How… how can this be?”

He definitely doesn’t know me. We met for the first time today, and we haven’t even exchanged full names.

But he seems to know everything about me.

“If you have a mouth, then answer, you insolent one.”

My mind went blank, not a single thought floated in.

I instinctively kept retreating every time he took a step forward.

Finally, when my back touched the wall, I managed to gather my senses.

“Damn…”

How he resisted the magi, and how he used magi, I don’t know. But if it comes down to mere brute force, I, now transformed into a demon, should be superior.

Suppressing my fear, I bent my knees.

“Hmm.”

He too seemed to recognize the impending situation and stopped in his tracks.

Seizing the opportunity, I kicked off the ground toward him.

Even then, he just stared.

It was terrifying, like throwing myself off a cliff.

“Die!!”

Whoosh!

Overcoming my fear, I swung my ferocious right hand, but it hit nothing.

‘He disappeared…?’

I slowed down, scanning the area.

His afterimage had vanished, only a faint purple magic energy flowed.

“Sure enough, you are definitely a demon.”

I looked up at the chilling voice seeping into my skull.

It was Lee Seo-jun, hovering above me.

I tried to dodge quickly, but it was already too late.

Crash!!

With immense force, my vision was dragged down, and my face was suddenly planted into the broken ground.

… It was just one hand.

With just one hand pressing down on the back of my head, it felt like someone had hammered a nail into it. I couldn’t get up.

“Move!!!”

Bending my arm to rise, or flailing my legs, nothing changed.

I tried to swing my left hand to remove his hand pressing on the back of my head.

Thump!

‘Caught it…?’

But that too led to a futile result.

His hand easily caught my attack.

“This is the end. How do you have that magi?”

“Please, save me…!”

“…Just die.”

Roar!

Energy gathered in his hand like the floodgates of a dam opening.

The moment I felt it, I realized.

What he had shown so far was just the tip of the iceberg.

The magi that I had longed for was overflowing in him.

Soon, the tide of death loomed before me.

“Energy Bolt.”

Boom!

A massive black sphere engulfed my sinister head.

That was when Yoo Chang-su’s consciousness was severed.

***

[Chaotic Mob] (Completed)

Description: The unruly mob has begun to reveal itself to the world. If not stopped in advance, they will devour the Earth like bugs. And the fractures they create in the world will eventually become a massive calamity that will befall the Earth. Please deal with a member of this mob and thwart their objective.

Reward: Acquire [Absorption]. Gain 20 worldview causality points.

As I got up, a notification appeared. It was the quest reward I wanted.

The reason I’m fine from his magi is simple.

I’ve lived among real monsters for thousands of years, there’s no way I would fall for someone like him.

I chuckled and kicked the corpse, then examined [Absorption].

[Absorption]

Absorbs the refined magi from the magical beast you’ve killed, making it permanently yours.

So, if I use this on the monster I killed, my magi will increase?

I placed my hand on the demon lying beneath me.

Shhhh—

The tingling flow of magic power surged into my body.

[Magi increased by 23.]

When no more magi flowed in, I lifted my hand.

I straightened my bent knees and reached my hand into the violet mist this time.

[Absorption]

Sssss—

Like turning on a powerful fan, magic power began to be sucked into my hand.

The lecture hall that had once been filled with an ominous aura was now filled only with clean air.

[Magi increased by 13.]

I thought this would be possible since I killed the guy, it was as expected.

Just a single battle increased my magi by 36.

Was this guy not a demon but Santa, perhaps? I wanted to pat his head for being special, but it was too bad his head was gone.

“Your Majesty, you really had no problem after all,” Hyude approached me at that moment.

I asked him as he wiped off the blood smeared on his cheek with a handkerchief,

“So, are there any casualties?”

“No, some of the bodyguards are injured, but there are no fatalities.”

“I see. Good job.”

“I simply did my duty.”

Perhaps Hyude’s credibility will increase a bit after this.

Well, I’m still not revealing that he’s a demon.

“Sir… Your Majesty. If I’m not mistaken, the ones who attacked this place had ‘Adoniya Magi’, correct?”

“Hm, yes, they did.”

The magi that Yoo Chang-su had used was clearly not ‘Solomon’ but ‘Adoniya’.

All magi is not the same, it’s like comparing grape juice and orange juice.

The ‘property’ known as concentrate remains the same, but the fundamental ‘ingredients’ are different. Hyude and I could naturally distinguish that.

I hadn’t felt it the first time I met them.

“Why would these guys possess that magi?”

“I don’t know yet.”

What I do know now is that the magi is related to ‘Cult of Great Sin’. There’s one thing that comes to mind, but I’m not sure yet.

Let’s just keep in mind for now that Cult of Great Sin and magi are connected.

“Let’s leave when the ones who will fix the situation arrive.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I sat on the dead demon and waited for someone.

***

“I’ll go ahead!”

Kim Eun-ha shouted to her lagging teammates and quickly headed towards the destination.

She was on her way after hearing that there was a commotion at a lecture hall in the central district.

‘Monster…?’

Near the lecture hall, a red monster about 3 meters tall was indiscriminately torn apart.

She had thought that there would be casualties given the violent signs of battle, but the surrounding hunters were all merely unconscious.

Kim Eun-ha quickly entered, figuring that the situation here had been resolved.

She dreaded to imagine what the interior of the lecture hall, where there were likely many civilians, looked like.

“Is everyone okay!”

She flung open the lecture hall door. No response came, only her own clear voice echoing widely.

“Team Leader!”

Her team members, who arrived a little later, streamed in.

“What on earth is this…”

They were shocked by the sight before them.

Numerous unconscious people near the walls, the devastated floor of the lecture hall.

At a glance, it was an unsettling scene.

“The situation has already been sorted out by His Majesty, the Demon King.”

Suddenly, a grave voice broke through the silence.

Everyone turned their gaze in that direction.

A secretary looking obliquely this way. Beyond his twisted chest, an entity was seen looming over the massive body of a demon.

A noble aura that everyone had felt at some point captivated everyone’s gaze.

“Let us all express our highest gratitude to His Majesty, the Demon King, who has taken care of everything.”

It was the moment when the lecture hall transformed into a place of reverence.

(To be continued in the next episode)