The Modern Founding Chronicles of the Returned Demon King

The Modern Founding Chronicles of the Returned Demon King

Episode 19: Hell (1)

As night deepened, Lee Seo-yeon was tidying up the forge on the 5th floor.

“Phew, let’s finally go home…”

Wiping away sweat with a towel, she made her way through the stifling heat down to the first floor.

Tap tap tap tap-

As she stepped out of the elevator on the first floor, the frantic sound of typing echoed.

Hyude, sitting upright and pounding away at the keyboard, was working on the ‘Twilight Guild website’, according to what Seo-yeon had heard from her brother, Seo-jun.

Not wanting to disturb him, Lee Seo-yeon quietly slipped out of the building.

“Leaving for the day?”

“Ah!”

Startled by the chilling voice, she replied,

“Yes…”

Seo-yeon turned her tensed-up neck.

She was still afraid of Hyude. It was strange if she wasn’t, considering their first encounter. And then there was his mysterious identity.

Hyude made a proposal without halting his work.

“Princess Seo-yeon, would you mind waiting a little longer? The website will be done soon. Let’s leave together.”

“Uh, no thanks…”

The siblings had recently moved into a new apartment building, where they lived together, Hyude lived next door, and Jeong Ye-rin lived below them.

Hyude let out a hum while still gazing at the monitor.

With only a little work left, he said,

“Then, I’ll follow you in a minute. Go ahead.”

“Don’t… follow me.”

Hyude sensed her apprehension quite keenly.

“Heh, consider it my karma. I accept it.”

“I’ll, I’ll go ahead then…”

Lee Seo-yeon rushed out of the building, trailing off as she spoke.

“Phew…”

Finally, she let her guard down and breathed a sigh of relief.

The sky had completely darkened, and the tranquil night air nipped at her nose.

‘What exactly is Hyude’s identity…’

She had a hunch but did not want to apply it to reality.

Her parents had been devoured by a ‘demon’, although human involvement had been substantial in that process.

Absorbed in her thoughts, she walked alone through the streets.

Just as she entered a deserted walking path.

Whoosh–

Suddenly, her feet left the ground.

Strong arms gripped her waist, and a powerful hand covered her mouth. Even her floating perspective felt surreal.

“…Ugh!”

Seo-yeon was being abducted by unknown individuals.

The presumed leader spoke next to her,

“Head straight to the hideout. Execute the leader’s command promptly.”

“Yes.”

Seo-yeon flicked her eyes.

Five burly men, all wearing robes.

She tried to pry the hand covering her mouth with both arms, but as an ordinary person, she couldn’t muster the strength to break free.

Still, she bit into the inner part of the hand, attempting to fight back.

“Is that supposed to feel good? Go on, do it some more. Your face is rather exotic, isn’t it?”

Far from inflicting pain, she had only brought perverse pleasure to her captor.

Seo-yeon detached her teeth in despair.

“…What do I do?”

No matter how much she racked her brain, no way out came to mind.

Seo-jun was at the Dawn Guild, and she had just told Hyude not to follow her.

Which meant, nobody was coming to rescue her.

Just then,

“Remove that filthy hand

“Take your filthy hands off me, you wretched creature.”

A cold tone, accompanied by an invading scent of purity.

Kwaang!!

A violent bursting sound echoed behind her ears.

Her ears became muffled as her body was freed, but she couldn’t be happy when she was falling from a height of 10 meters.

“Ah!”

The concrete floor rapidly approaching.

Expecting the worst, she tightly shut her eyes.

Thud.

The hard sensation was just as she had expected, but there was a warm presence there.

Lee Seo-yeon slowly opened her eyes.

Moonlight seeping through her eyelashes, a gaze looking squarely at her.

“…Hyude?”

Hyude was holding her.

He landed softly and put Lee Seo-yeon down.

“Princess, are you alright?”

“Yes, thanks to you…”

“Please step back for a moment, Princess. I’ll handle them.”

Hyude faintly smiled and stepped forward.

The men buzzed as they confirmed his identity.

“Yes, how did you get here? We definitely sent people there too…”

“The first five have already been dealt with.”

Hyude wiped the blood from his cheek with his palm.

One of the enemies gestured dismissively.

“Li, lie! Those guys could demonize too! There’s no way they could be defeated so quickly!”

“… So, they were demons after all. I must report this to the Majesty.”

Hyude calmly nodded, his hand on his chin.

Lee Seo-yeon exclaimed in surprise.

“Are you alright, Hyude?”

“Oh, I always keep my finger on Control Save, so there’s no need to worry.”

“No, I wasn’t talking about the homepage…”

Lee Seo-yeon looked at him awkwardly.

Hyude replied with a smile and turned his head toward the enemies.

“The Majesty told me today.”

His menacing gaze met theirs.

“If anyone dares to covet my treasure, make it abundantly clear who they dared to touch.”

“… You’re so relaxed.”

Faced with an unusual aura, the enemies tensed up.

“Princess Lee Seo-yeon is a gem to both the Majesty and myself. You are not worthy to even touch her.”

A long, smooth hand reached into his cloak.

“If you still intend to covet Princess Lee Seo-yeon, you will pay the price accordingly.”

The atmosphere tightened, as if a bomb was about to explode. The enemies hesitated.

Hyude then took out his ‘Demon Whip’.

He lightly extended his opposite hand.

“Barrier Creation.”

A transparent hemisphere spread 50 meters in radius from his hand.

“Sound Blocking, Perception Hindrance.”

Sound Blocking, Perception Hindrance.

Just as the names suggest, the abilities blocked sound within the barrier and hindered perception of the barrier from the outside.

These abilities were imbued with the intention of protecting the privacy of their noble master.

Hyude glanced at Lee Seo-yeon.

“Princess, would you close your eyes for a moment?”

“No, I’ll bear it.”

“Indeed, you are the sister of the Majesty.”

Hyude smiled gratifyingly and stared at the enemies.

Tension filled the visibly nervous enemies.

“Let’s get started.”

Swoosh!

As the whip hit the ground, a sharp sound reverberated.

When the sound died down, piercing eyes looked them over.

“It’s education time, you unruly brats.”

“Everyone demonize!”

At a man’s shout, their robes began to burst open.

A red body reaching 3 meters in height. Muscles tightly coiled.

“Hurry and kill! Fulfill the leader’s command!”

Four sets of demonic eyes turned toward Hyude.

For a moment, silence passed between them.

Boom!

Breaking the silence was a human transformed into a demon.

A red mass shot through the air at high speed.

Whoosh!

The demon, having quickly reached Hyude, swung its arm mightily.

Hyude’s pupils moved slowly and then fixated on the demon.

Snap!

A black whip lashed out, drawing an elegant curve.

At an invisible speed, the whip dug into the demon’s skin.

Crack-!

With that, the demon was mercilessly torn apart, leaving a bloodstain on the lamppost.

Looking at their colleague who was ended in a single night, the enemies were horrified.

“W-What…?”

“Don’t hesitate, charge!”

However, with the shout from the demon assumed to be the leader, they quickly regained their senses.

One demon lowered its stance, preparing to charge.

Shik!

But even before that, Hyude’s figure blurred.

By the time the demon recognized Hyude again, he was already whipping the demon in front of him.

Crack!

The whip, breaking the speed of sound, transformed into a blade and cut through the demon’s neck.

The head, now separated from the body, spun in the air before landing on the ground.

“Got him!”

Suddenly, another demon charged from behind Hyude.

Thinking the moment Hyude lashed the whip was an opening, it aimed for it.

However, there was no such opening for him.

Kiyaak!

The whip, which had been flailing in mid-air, bent at an unreal angle, brushing past Hyude’s shoulder.

Seeing this, the demon could only be shocked.

‘T-Teeth…?’

The tip of the whip opened up, revealing countless teeth inside.

It swallowed the demon’s head and chewed it up mercilessly.

“This can’t be…”

Hyude turned his head toward the despairing voice coming from the side.

He then released his grip, letting the whip demon eat its fill.

“I won’t kill you immediately.”

Hyude approached with measured steps, and the demon instinctively retreated.

“I will give you a special opportunity to have an audience with the Majesty.”

“Damn it…”

The demon, overcoming its fear, seemed to be preparing to charge, but then it stopped.

Soon after, it charged toward the real demon approaching it.

However.

Crash!

It was slammed into the ground with a single blow from Hyude.

***

“…And here, this is my blood and Lady Dawn’s blood. The larger one is 200ml, and the smaller one is 10ml.”

After coming to the Dawn Guild, I received various materials from Kim Eun-ha. Except for Kim Jin-woo’s 10ml of blood, I put everything into [Demon King’s Gluttony].

“I’ll be back in a bit, need to use the restroom.”

“Sure, I’ll be in the Guild Master’s office.”

I went into a restroom stall, locked the door, and then opened the pack of Kim Jin-woo’s blood, pouring half of it into my mouth.

[I’ve lived in a different world from others ever since I was born…]

Memories flood in. It’s a phenomenon I’ve already known about, so I didn’t pay it any attention. I opened my status window to make some adjustments.

[Relative Perception]

You live in a world different from others. When in use, your perception of time changes alone. Beware as excessive use can confuse you with the real world.

[Relative Perception]

Using this in battle will improve your dynamic vision, and more importantly, you can become much more efficient in training.

Indeed, it’s an ability fitting for an S-Class Hunter. I should experiment with this when I get back to my building.

After that, he headed to the office where the Kim siblings were.

Kim Eun-ha spoke to me while we were examining the loot.

“Um… Mr. Seo-jun.”

“What is it?”

“Ah, it’s just that, you know the secretary who was with you.”

Is she talking about Hyude?

Kim Eun-ha lightly bit her lip and then smiled faintly.

“No, it’s nothing.”

She must be curious about her identity. Understandable.

You also have a past like me.

But now wasn’t the right time.

“… But I’ve been bothered for a while, is there a stalker who’s snooping around this place?”

“No? There shouldn’t be anyone bold enough to snoop around all the way to the office.”

Makes sense.

“I’ll go check it out.”

I headed outside.

***

Jumping across the rooftops of three buildings from the Dawn Guild building, there were five adults stationed.

“…Based on the check, Seo-jun is indeed in the Dawn Guild right now. We should proceed with the plan as is.”

They were followers of the Cult of Great Sin and were responsible for tracking Seo-jun’s movements.

“What plan are you talking about?”

The next moment, a menacing aura erupted from behind them.

Their heads slowly turned, following a sharp blade-like sensation.

“It’s… It’s Seo-jun?!”

At the end of their gaze was Seo-jun, standing calmly. Until he spoke, they hadn’t noticed him at all.

“How…? You were definitely just at the Dawn Guild!”

“That’s none of your concern, you guys are…”

Seo-jun paused as he scrutinized them.

“From the Cult of Great Sin?”

“H-how did you…”

Ignoring their astonishment, Seo-jun drew his sword from [Demon King’s Gluttony].

‘I don’t need to use the sword, but…’

He wanted to test out his newly acquired [Relative Perception].

His penetrating eyes gazed at them.

“I guess I can leave one of you alive.”

“Shit! Everyone charge!!”

The demons who had transformed in an instant lunged at Seo-jun.

Demons swinging their fists with immense power.

Seo-jun activated his ability without a care.

‘Relative Perception’

Magi seized his brain and the world slowed down, enough to even see the subtle movements of the moonlight.

Beneath that cluster of light, he saw five red masses.

Seo-jun swung his sword horizontally. Frame by frame, each moment registered in his mind.

‘I twisted a bit.’

He corrected the blade’s path, realizing his action was not perfect.

He maintained that sword path with satisfaction, as if releasing a perfect work of art.

The force in his grip was just right. With this, he could perfectly ‘cut down one’.

He intended to spare one to extract information.

[Your majesty.]

Suddenly, a different scene unfolded before him.

A familiar apartment landscape. Demons standing off there.

A black whip sliced them.

It was Hyude’s ‘memory transmission.’

The next moment, a surge of force entered his grip, and the slowed world shattered.

Screaming—

What should have been a crescent blade became a full moon.

All the charging demons were severed in half, their upper and lower bodies separated, causing a red fountain of blood on the rooftop.

An instant of silence.

In that silent space, Seo-jun stood still, sword still swinging, and five demons lay sprawled as corpses.

Moments later, Seo-jun loosened his posture and stood straight.

Magi swallowed up the moonlight.

Grasping the situation, he growled.

“…These damn creatures.”

[Eliminate the Root] (In Progress)

Description: Remove the Greed Horde, one of the factors consuming the Earth. However, they will not stop at just this. Their influence, spreading around the world, will continue to grow, putting Earth at grave risk. Your mission remains unchanged. Prevent the imminent calamity.

Reward: 60 Worldview Causality Points.

(To be continued in the next episode)