Demon King Girl (5)

Demon King Girl (5)

“Why? Why do you want to stay with me? You know what I’ve done, don’t you?”

“My answer is simple. Because you alone can’t harm me at all. If you really don’t want to, I won’t force you. So choose wisely.”

I returned to the room, and Kim Su-jung followed me in. I answered without any particular emotion.

In fact, it was a lie to say it was because she couldn’t pose any threat. If it had been a complete stranger trying to do that to me instead of Kim Su-jung, I might have split them in half on the spot even if they weren’t a threat.

So the fact that I’m paying this much attention to Kim Su-jung… it means I’ve grown somewhat fond of her. If I had to give a reason, I could say it’s because she showed kindness to me in the past when I had nothing.

“Do you want to leave? From my side.”

“…It’s shameless, but no.”

In the end, she hung her head low. From my perspective, this child’s obsession or dependency wasn’t a problem at all, but not knowing that, she was sincerely sorry.

“Then just go to sleep quietly now. A lot has happened while you were entangled with the evil spirit.”

“Okay.”

I deliberately put Kim Su-jung to sleep. Leaving her fast asleep, I quietly slipped out of the room.

There, Jeon So-hyeon was waiting, whom I had contacted using my phone.

“I’m really fine, I tell you.”

“You’re really strange after all. And suspicious.”

“What? You came to apologize and now you’re suddenly suspicious?”

She looked at me with troubled eyes, but I met her gaze without the slightest wavering. In the end, she was the one who averted her eyes first.

“I’ll apologize for earlier. First of all, I’m not something like a magical girl. The facility staff already know. I awakened psychic abilities because of this incident, but I can’t control it. It just comes out automatically when I see something evil.”

“Ah. So I’m an evil being?”

Jeon So-hyeon, who had been mumbling, slowly opened her mouth. Meanwhile, I learned for the first time that she couldn’t control it herself. Well, she wouldn’t have fired that power at me if she had known.

“…That’s not it. I don’t really know either. But since you seem fine, I guess you’re not evil.”

“I know that. But you don’t look happy. Perhaps you don’t like your ability?”

“It’s because I can’t control it. It’s meaningless, isn’t it?”

As I sat down, I casually brought it up, but she didn’t deny it.

“I hated feeling powerless. Even if I wanted to make money, I wanted to earn it through more honest and better means. But in the end, I was weak and my mindset was terrible. Despite the threats, debts, and whatnot, honestly, it’s surprising that Takillas didn’t kill me that day.”

“…”

When Jeon So-hyeon mentioned my name while sharing her story, I flinched for a moment. Of course, she didn’t notice it as she was looking elsewhere.

“So when I was told I had hidden, unknown power, I was happy. At least I thought I could have something.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’d use that power recklessly. What did you want to use it for?”

“Well, as Takillas said, I’m not that nice of a person, but since I’ve finally gained the power of Parma, I thought maybe I could help people like Su-jung who are affected by demonic power.”

Jeon So-hyeon answered with a smirk. I felt a bit strange. Confessing to a current Demon King about living a life of destroying demons.

These days, even the holy knights of the Continental Order wouldn’t say such things.

“And protect the people around you too?”

“Huh? Of, of course.”

She nodded, startled by my casual question.

“…Why did you say that to her at the end?”

As we left the lounge, watching Jeon So-hyeon’s retreating figure, Ren asked me about the intention behind my last words.

“It’s simple. Because nothing is eternal.”

I answered as if it was obvious.

This moment is clearly just a fleeting one. How long can I, the Demon King, continue to act as a magical girl, or rather, as Lee Jin-ah?

When Kim Su-jung and others around us are growing up rapidly. Jin-ah will be forever fixed in this form.

It means this relationship won’t last long, so my words to Jeon So-hyeon were also a request for the future.

“Y-You’re already saying such things.”

“Time flies, Ren. 100 years pass in the blink of an eye. Of course, it depends on how many things happen in between.”

I slowly returned to the room where Kim Su-jung was sleeping. By this point, I was eager to go back to the Demon Realm.

Even the great Demon King needs mental refreshment. Now that I knew this vacation spot was actually a new experience of labor, I had to return to properly rest.

“So, where is that bastard Mammoth? I want to crush him quickly and rest.”

Lying on the bed, I turned on my phone. Mammoth’s location was a global issue anyway. It seemed the organization connected to him had been completely wiped out domestically, but I wondered if he would continue to move.

*

“We have now perfectly obtained the results of the experiment.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“We’ve clearly learned one limitation. The blood of the magical girl who becomes the base is ultimately the most important.”

“If the magical girl is weak, it’s useless, right?”

“You don’t want that either. Devouring strong magical girls.”

When the man on the screen asked, Mammoth opened his mouth wide and licked his lips with his thick, long tongue. The hot blood of strong magical girls. It was one of his favorite delicacies.

“It’s simple. You can eat any part you like, just keep them alive and hand them over to us.”

“Well, that much, yeah. Until now, I’ve only eaten the innards, tender thighs, and inner flesh as delicacies, but specially, I won’t eat the innards.”

“Ah. It’s fine to eat the digestive system though.”

Soon, a piece of data was transmitted to Mammoth.

It was data on S-class magical girls around the world. For Mammoth, it was like a luxurious menu.

“We’ll provide maximum support as well.”

“Good.”

He licked his lips as he looked at the photos of magical girls that popped up.

There was one magical girl that particularly caught his eye. Arrogant red eyes, long flowing black hair.

But more than anything, what caught his attention was the behavior this magical girl was showing.

Literally an arrogant tyrant incarnate. Mammoth knew well how much pleasure bringing that down would bring.

‘Trampling this arrogant face should indeed be saved for the main dish.’

Licking the face of Taquilas that appeared on the screen, Mammoth did not choose him. Instead, he chose a completely different S-class magical girl.

Soon he left the facility and rose into the sky.

The target he impulsively chose without much thought lived across the Pacific on the North American continent.

Of course, for Mammoth who had no passport, the borders set by humans were meaningless.

“He’s probably crossing the Pacific Ocean right now.”

“…But how exactly is he planning to draw out the magical girl, Serika?”

The upper echelons of the organization, who knew who Mammoth had chosen, were slightly flustered.

It’s fine to go find her, but the question is how to draw out the target.

Even the mighty United States hadn’t secured the identities of all magical girls within its borders. The magical girl Serika, whom Mammoth had targeted now, was one of them.

If even the organization didn’t know her identity, how was he planning to do it?

“Oh, that crazy monster.”

However, as dawn broke and Mammoth’s intentions became clear, even the upper echelons of this cruel organization were left dumbfounded.

“…What is that?”

A peaceful morning in the city. Thanks to the early hour, the downtown area was somewhat quiet when a woman discovered something.

On a bright sunny day with clear blue skies, when anyone would feel relaxed and off guard. From the shadows of a building, a monster over 2m tall with a smooth, pale head slowly appeared.

“Kyaaaa….ah.”

“A monster! It’s Mammoth!!”

The neck of the woman who first spotted him and screamed was instantly separated from her body and flew through the air.

The mammoth swung its tentacle blade again, this time slicing another person nearby in half.

“Aaargh!”

“Everyone run!”

People screamed and fled en masse, startled cars accelerated and crashed into each other, and the once-quiet downtown instantly turned into pandemonium filled with screams and blaring horns.

The mammoth enjoyed the intense chaos. After all, chaos was its power.

“Please! Why are you doing this!”

And then, as if enjoying itself, it transformed its hand and grabbed something without hesitation.

It was a school bus full of children. The driver floored the pedal with all his might, but the already half-lifted bus showed no signs of moving.

“Magical Girl, come out… or the kids will die.”

The mammoth flicked its tongue, ignoring the bullets fired by the police. It flipped the school bus over and started dragging it towards itself.

The mammoth knew very well about Magical Girls. It planned to use the children as hostages to lure out the Magical Girl.

“Aaaah!”

“…”

At that moment, someone let out a battle cry and struck the mammoth’s leg hard. With a cracking sound, the mammoth’s head turned 180 degrees, and in its view was a police officer who had thrown away his empty shotgun and was charging with an axe.

“Hm.”

A laugh of contempt came out first.

But just before the mammoth could impale the officer with its tentacle, something flew in and deflected it.