Ch.74Chapter 3. Where There Is National Pride, There Is Dueoksini (1)

I wondered if Dueoksini might appear.

With that thought in mind, I was keeping an eye on Ermina while also surveying the surroundings, but I never expected her to show up like this.

‘Where did she come from?’

Why did she appear from the sea?

And why was she running across the water?

In my etherealized state—the so-called “Goblin’s Cap”—I carefully observed where she had come running from.

On the sea.

Something was floating there.

Like a periscope poking out from below, as if someone was just peeking their head above water.

‘A submarine?’

No way.

They have a submarine prowling around Sejong Island?

If so, why not just observe from the submarine? Why would Dueoksini appear—

“Magnificent, truly magnificent! Your attire! To choose such clothing means that the face behind that mask must be beautiful enough to harmonize with it, no, beautiful enough to perfect such attire!”

Let’s not overthink this.

Just follow my instincts.

She was riding in a submarine, spotted Ymir transformed into the Magical Girl Golden Magistrate on the shore, and immediately ran across the water to reach her.

That’s all there is to it.

If I think any deeper, strange thoughts will flood my brain and make me cringe, so I decided to accept the phenomenon as it was.

“Ah, what might your name be?”

“This woman is—”

“I didn’t ask the Western wench.”

Just as Ermina was about to speak, Dueoksini pointed at her and sprayed mana.

“Huk…!”

“How dare a blonde foreign wench interrupt a conversation with a noble person.”

“This, this woman…!”

“Silence. I am currently conversing with a noble person. A Westerner from thousands of miles away should not speak out of turn.”

That wasn’t mana.

It was killing intent.

She was pressuring Ermina with irritation and killing intent simply because she interrupted her conversation with Ymir.

“Ahem. I apologize. So, what is your noble name?”

[I… call myself ‘Platinum Sun’.]

“Platinum Sun…? Hmm….”

Dueoksini crossed her arms and tilted her head for a moment.

“Could you be the golden female knight who appeared at the restaurant district…?”

[I have embraced the beauty of this country and accepted its ways.]

“Indeed. In that case….”

Dueoksini spread her arms and smiled broadly.

“To be inspired by the beauty and spirit of our country! Wonderful. Nothing is more admirable than when a foreigner becomes immersed in and inspired by our ways, even more so than our own people embracing them! Wearing Joseon attire and adopting a Joseon mindset, you are already a splendid peninsular person!”

[I take that as a compliment.]

“Of course! It is a compliment! Whether you’re a foreigner or a Korean pretending to be foreign, you’ve already proven your spirit through your attire. In that sense, I, Dueoksini, would like to make you a proposal.”

This must be the main point.

“Would you like to join our ‘Wijungcheoksa’?”

[…Wijungcheoksa?]

A familiar name.

At the same time, it’s a completely out-of-place name in 2025, one that doesn’t fit at all.

Anyone who has studied Korean history would have heard this term at least once during the enlightenment period.

“Yes. Wijungcheoksa. An organization dedicated to preserving what is right and rejecting what is harmful. Protecting tradition, eliminating foreign influence.”

[Sounds like quite an extremist organization.]

Wait.

I’ve been noticing this, but Ymir’s speech pattern keeps changing.

As if she’s imitating the Goblin…?

“It might seem extreme. But if you join us and listen to what we have to say, you’ll see differently.”

[No.]

“Won’t you at least hear us out?”

[I dislike your organization’s name from the start.]

Dueoksini’s body stiffened at Ymir’s, or rather Platinum Sun’s, firm rejection.

“Why is that?”

[I came to this island and saw what you’ve been doing. Especially what you did in the plaza last time. You planted something demonic in a human body, didn’t you?]

“Ah, you mean that. Yes, I planted a demon seed in someone who was trying to spread harmful foreign things.”

[That’s contradictory.]

Ymir gripped her spirit rope tightly and pointed it at Dueoksini.

[You claim to be Wijungcheoksa, yet you turn Korean students into demons?]

“They were already demonic beings.”

[That makes no sense. You say you want to reject harmful foreign things, yet aren’t you creating those very ‘demons’ from the harmful West?]

I deeply sympathized with Ymir’s criticism.

I mean.

This person has a name like Wijungcheoksa.

And is determined not to even use English.

Yet what she controls are ‘demons’?

If I were in Ymir’s place confronting Dueoksini, I would have said:

[So demons are Western things, and Western things are bad and harmful, but it’s okay to use them?]

It got through.

The words I wanted to say came out of Ymir’s mouth.

“…Hahaha!!”

Dueoksini burst into laughter, holding her stomach.

“My, my. How do you know so much about our Wijungcheoksa?”

[What?]

As expected.

“Western things are bad. Therefore, if we use Western things to attack people and commit evil acts, naturally people will hate and reject Western things.”

As I thought, Dueoksini was a rationally insane person.

“Dracula, succubus, orc, imp, lycanthrope…. People collectively call them demons. If such things kill people, surely people will hate and despise such Western concepts.”

[Why are you using English?]

“Because they’re bad things.”

As I suspected.

She’s insane.

“There’s a difference between a villain who has no choice but to commit evil acts and a ‘villain’ who is irredeemable trash. Do you understand? Expressing harmful things in English isn’t bad.”

[You’re mad.]

“I’m not mad. I’m simply following my beliefs, our organization’s beliefs.”

Dueoksini pointed at herself with her thumb and bowed again.

“Do you know what we call ourselves when facing enemies, though we call ourselves Wijungcheoksa when recruiting?”

[You introduce yourselves in English?]

“That’s right. We call ourselves ‘Pandemonium.’ Hehehe.”

Having revealed her other affiliation, Dueoksini pulled out something like a bead from her chest.

“That’s why we employ demons. Demons are evil, and defeating demons is what a righteous hero should do.”

[What nonsense…]

“Platinum Sun! If you won’t join our organization, I’ll turn everything around you into demons.”

[What?]

Dueoksini’s body disappeared momentarily.

Ymir lost track of Dueoksini’s movement, but I could perceive her.

Ultra-high-speed movement.

A speed that seemed relatively 10 times, no, 100 times faster than the surrounding environment.

How did I ‘perceive’ it? Simply because the technique Dueoksini displayed was already one of the abilities I knew about.

Either she moved quickly through simple physical enhancement.

Or she spread particles that affected time, slowing it down around her.

Though I don’t know exactly what it was, the fact that I recognized it means I can somewhat counter it.

It’s within the range of my imagination, within the knowledge of abilities I’m familiar with.

[When did she…!]

But Ymir doesn’t know.

Not knowing, she couldn’t perceive the opponent’s movement.

If it had been an attack directed at her, her body and mana would have reacted first to counter it despite the high speed, but it wasn’t aimed at Ymir herself.

“Kyaaak!!”

“Huhu. Ermina Sternfeld. If you’re confronting Platinum Sun, you must have done something wrong. No, it doesn’t matter whether you did wrong or not. You’ll become a demon and go berserk anyway.”

[Stop it!]

“Oh my. It’s already too late.”

Thwack!

Dueoksini reached forward with her hand, and that hand—

“…Huh?”

Failed to penetrate.

The hand that was meant to pierce Ermina’s spine exactly could only dig into her back.

“What’s this…?”

[…Sorry, but I’ve already placed a curse on that woman.]

From a distance I can’t see clearly, but it appears Dueoksini’s hand is blocked by the spirit rope that Ymir had bound with her turtle shell binding.

“Hmm. Impressive magical power. To think that a curse placed on someone could act as a protective barrier…. Indeed, you are strong. I want to make you one of us even more—no…!”

Dueoksini inserted the demon seed into Ermina’s body.

“Become an adversary of Pandemonium and become a hero! Whether you want it or not, you who wear clothes with our style will become this country’s true hero!”

Whether Ymir wants it or not, they’ll force her to take action and make her a hero.

A crazy idea.

“Aaaaargh!!”

Ermina screamed.

Ymir hurriedly tried to swing her spirit rope, but an enormous amount of magical power exploded from Ermina’s body in an instant.

‘No.’

This woman.

Does she have no patience at all?

“Ah, aaah…!”

Ermina instantly became a demon.

Her skin quickly turned purple, and demonic horns began sprouting from her head.

“Now, go mad. Yes. Your name shall be…’Naberius.'”

Dueoksini patted Ermina’s back and stepped away.

“Ah, aaah…! You, you…! I will definitely, kyaaah…!!”

Her body twisted like a zombie as she began to go berserk, and Ermina lunged toward Ymir.

“Then I shall alert people to the commotion here! Hahaha! Here, there’s a demon!!”

Dueoksini took out her smartphone and reported a “villain appearance” while bursting into maniacal laughter.

“People will be here in 5 minutes!! And you will defeat this foolish Western demon in front of everyone!!”

And then.

“Now, Naberius! Hurry and be defeated by Platinum Sun—”

WHAM!

Naberius slammed her head into the ground.

“You—”

[Demons shall be executed.]

By me.

[Yo.]

In my Doji Rider form, I stood in front of Ymir and pointed my bat at Dueoksini.

[Hisashiburi.]

“What?”

[Why are you looking at me so strangely?]

I tapped the bat against my palm as I adjusted my stance.

[Is there a problem with greeting an oni in Japanese?]